August 1, 2009 8:00pm
Rumba Cafe
2507 Summit Street
(614) 268-1841
$7
Ages 18+, under 21 pay $2 surcharge at door
Two Cow Garage
http://www.myspace.com/twocowgarage
A fierce and edgy alt-country band from Columbus, OH, Two Cow Garage takes the twangy melodies of vintage country music and fuses them with a muscular, amped-up attack that recalls Nirvana or Dinosaur Jr. as much as the Jayhawks or Blue Rodeo. Two Cow Garage was formed in the fall of 2001 by guitarist and singer Micah Schnabel, who was born and raised in the rural Midwestern community of Bucyrus, OH. Weaned on vintage country, Schnabel didn’t care much for the mainstream rock that dominated radio, preferring harder and edgier sounds. At 18, he moved to the relatively big city of Columbus and started playing with drummer Dustin Harigle. Chris Flint, a guitarist and lawyer who used to manage the Lilybandits, saw an early version of Two Cow Garage and was struck by their passionate energy and Schnabel’s songs; he signed on as the band’s manager and part-time guitarist, and with the addition of bassist Shane Sweeney the group’s lineup was complete. In the fall of 2002, Two Cow Garage released their first album, Please Turn the Gas Back On, through Shelterhouse Records; the band supported the disc with a relentless tour schedule that put 332,000 miles on their van’s odometer over the course of two years. 2004 saw the release of their second album, The Wall Against Our Backs, which received rave reviews from critics while the band kept up their punishing tour schedule, which was captured on video by fan and filmmaker John Boston in his documentary The Long Way Around: One Badass Year with Two Cow Garage. Two Cow Garage’s third album, aptly titled III, was released in April 2007. - ©1992-2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Austin Lucas
http://www.myspace.com/austinlucas1
Austin Lucas, descendant of a family from Indiana to whom making bluegrass and folk music comes as natural as breathing, escapes his environment by throwing himself on punk and hardcore music. Participation in a row of obscure bands leads him to the Czech republic in the end. He performs solo and plays in the Orc-core group Guided Cradle. To everyone’s surprise he arrives at the family’s gate with the announcement that he wants to record a cd. The furniture of the living room is pushed aside and exchanged for a tangle of amplifiers, boxes, microphones and miles of cables. Father Bob is a complete band by himself and sets himself behind the mixing table. playing banjo, violin, ukelele, guitar and sings in the background. His sister Chloe Manor sings a few duets with Austin and quadruped Flicka growls and rhythmically scratches the itching spots on her body. Surely the lyrics Austin wrote for the eight songs do itch as well. The carefully cultivated crust of our society is blown to smithers with the stroke of a sledge hammer. Like an americana punk variation on Kafka alienation and general collapse of modern mankind are put into strong lyrics, and all of this in a voice that tears open the earth. Between the opening chorus My breath is a hammer/ My insides are taxed like an anvil/ My heartbeat’s a tremor/ And I have not love but for nicotine and the closing verse I was cursing the flaws of my ignorance and youth a textual and musical zenith in light music unfolds in our still so young century. -koos gijsman, heaven magazine
Mike Hale
http://www.myspace.com/mikehalemusic
There’s not much to tell. I sing and play guitar in the rock bands GUNMOLL and IN THE RED. This project, this style of playing and singing is exactly what you would hear if you came to my door any given day of the week. This is what i do when i’m all alone. It’s my favorite thing in the whole world. I love small rock shows, my 77 standard, dogs, and job. I truly miss the South, but love my new life in California. Don’t plan on moving back anytime soon. Definitely hoping to play out as much as possible. all invitations welcomed.