Weekly View » Joe O’Gara

Howe Alumni Throw Annual Block Party

Joe O'Gara — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 05:10:39 +0000

This year’s Howe – Irvington Block Party will cap off two days of events in Irvington celebrating the alumni of the eastside high school.
On Friday, August 21st, the Thomas Carr Howe High School Alumni Association is hosting the 1st Annual “Alumni” Homecoming Football Game & Sock Hop. The game against Broad Ripple will begin at 7:00 p.m., and the Sock Hop will begin at 8:30 p.m. and end at 11:00 p.m. Tickets for the football game are $3.00 each and tickets to the sock hop are $5.00 each..
On August 22 from 5 – 11 p.m., the 9th Annual Howe – Irvington Block Party will take place, rain or shine, on both Ritter Avenue and Johnson Street, just south of Washington Street in Irvington. In the event of inclement weather, the party will move into the Irving Theatre.
There will be food trucks at the block party to provide food and non-alcoholic drinks for those attending the evening’s festivities: Chef Dan’s, The New York Slice, Flying Cupcake and Sully’s Famous Hot Dogs.
Two local bands that feature Howe alumni in their respective lineups — Blue Alchemy and The Rhythm Rats will provide this year’s musical entertainment. The Rhythm Rats will also debut their CD of all-original music, at the block party.
Admission is free, but donations are accepted. For more information regarding the 9th Annual Howe – Irvington Block Party, go to the event’s Facebook page.

The Rhythm Rats Perform at the Howe-Irvington Block Party Aug. 23

Joe O'Gara — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 05:11:31 +0000

Even though some bands take issue with being the “opening act” at a concert or a festival, one local group is ready to make the most of that position at an upcoming event.
“Once we’re on that stage just try to get us off of it!” challenged Dave Mansfield, drummer of the local blues quartet The Rhythm Rats. “We, the band and the crowd, are going to have a good time!”
The event that will lead off with The Rhythm Rats is the 8th Annual Howe-Irvington Block Party. And for Mansfield and the band’s guitarist “Fast” Johnny Scharbrough, it will be an opportunity to catch up with some of their fellow Howe High School alumni.
While a student at Howe High School, Scharbrough (Class of ’77) was in the band The Cruisematics, a group that included several of his schoolmates — Bob Tanansovich, Dave Shadioe, Scott Thomas and “Smoking” Dave Wyatt.
“I had my first pro bar gig at Chubby’s (Wadsworth) Club LaSalle on Michigan Street,” Scharbrough said. “I ended up hosting the bar’s weekly blues jam for seventeen years.
“Guys like Yank (Rachell, a legendary blues mandolin player and Indianapolis resident) would show up and sit in with whoever was onstage at Club LaSalle. It was a fun place to play music.”
While Scharbrough has been a mainstay of the Indianapolis blues music scene, Mansfield’s musical background is of a different genre — punk rock. David was the drummer for local punk bands Cerebus and Latex Novelties prior to hooking up with The Rhythm Rats.
“A lot of local musicians grew up in the same neighborhood as Johnny and I did (around Christian Park),” Mansfield said. “Guys like Tony Burton, Joe Mattingly and ‘Smoking’ Dave Wyatt.
“You had two bands, Cerebus and the Cruisematics, who lived within a half-block of each other. You really didn’t have to look far for guys to play music with back then.”
While blues and punk rock are two types of music not normally associated with each other, Scharbrough says that having a drummer with Mansfield’s background is beneficial to The Rhythm Rats.
“The thing with Dave being an ex-punk drummer is the power and tightness his playing brings to the band,” Scharbrough admitted. “I haven’t been in a band with this kind of feel since the Cruisematics!”
Scharbrough added that playing with Mansfield and the other three members of The Rhythm Rats, singer Billy Gee Miller, bassist Ray Valanot and harmonica player/vocalist Allen Strattyner is a welcome change from his last group the Circle City Blues Band.
“We (the CCBB) only had two practices in five years!” Scharbrough said, “I tried to keep it together, but the drummer and bass player ended up hating each other. You definitely can’t survive with that stuff happening. With the Rhythm Rats we’re practicing in Dave’s basement every week!”
“Billy is 76 years old and still an amazing singer!” Scharbrough boasted. “I mean 76 years old! And he’s still going strong today.
Scharbrough recalled the night when Valanot joined the band that would become The Rhythm Rats.
“Last fall we were playing a show at the Sugar Shack,” Scharbrough said, “and Ray sat in with us for the last three or four songs that night. And we just clicked! That’s when The Rhythm Rats were born.”
While The Rhythm Rats aren’t shopping a demo or looking to be “the next big thing” in the music industry, Mansfield said that he and his bandmates know to never say never.
“If someone writes a check, we’ll cash it!”
The 8th Annual Howe/Irvington Block Party, hosted by the Howe High School Class of 1977 will be held on Johnson Street (one block east of the intersection of Washington Street and Ritter Avenue) and Ritter Avenue (just south of Washington Street) on Saturday, August 23rd. This year’s Block Party runs from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
The NY Slice & Sully’s Famous Hot Dogs are this year’s awesome food vendors, while Whiskey Business Sports Bar and Entertainment will have a beer garden on Ritter Avenue.
In addition to the Rhythm Rats, the live entertainment for the 8th Annual Howe/Irvington Block Party will be provided by emcee Pete Anderson, Rising Son, and Blue Alchemy.
Admission is free. For more information regarding the 8th Annual Howe-Irvington Block Party, go to the 8th Annual Howe-Irvington Block party’s page on Facebook.

Book Binder Loves Life On the Road

Joe O'Gara — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 05:11:57 +0000

“Nobody ever became a folk singer to get rich.” — Roy Book Binder
For seventeen years, singer/songwriter Roy Book Binder lived a life just like one of his heroes, writer Jack Kerouac — in an RV going from town to town, playing his music and telling his stories.
“Those seventeen years living in the RV were great,” Book Binder admitted during a recent conversation. “I always wanted to live an unorthodox life and by living in an RV all those years I did just that. I had P.O. boxes in small towns in California and Florida, and a phone with an answering machine in the attic of my brother’s home.”
The 70-year-old Binder has been entertaining audiences in the U.S. and Europe with his storytelling and finger-picking style of guitar playing for over 40 years and even though he now lives in a house in Florida, “Book” still spends six months a year travelling in a RV and sharing his songs and tales of his life.
“I enjoy the fact that when I get to a gig I have my own coffee grinder,” Binder said. “I have always hated to rely on other people.”
Born in Queens, New York, Book Binder joined the Navy after graduating from high school. While serving on an air craft carrier, Roy met three fellow sailors who helped shaped his future.
“One guy was a guitar player who taught me how to play a few chords,” Book Binder recalled. “The second guy had a collection of blues records that I loved listening to when I had the chance. The third guy was into Jack Kerouac and wanted to be a beatnik, and tour the country like Kerouac did in a minibus, which he did after he left the Navy.”
When he returned to New York, Binder met and befriended folk singer Dave Van Ronk. It was during this time that Binder met legendary blues musician Reverend Gary Davis. He would spend two years learning from and performing with Reverend Davis, a man Book considers one of his greatest influences.
“Back in the late 60’s I hung out with people like Reverend Davis, and young musicians like Dave (Van Ronk), the guys in Roomful of Blues, Happy and Artie Traum,” Book said. “We were a bunch of kids who loved playing music.”
Binder’s storytelling has been a part of his shows since the days he performed in hootenannies in Greenwich Village back in the 60’s.
“When I first started out I had three songs that I played at the hootenannies in Greenwich Village,” Binder recalled. “One day I was offered the chance to play a half-hour gig at a junior college in Rhode Island. Well, I wrote another song, which gave me four to do at that show. They were going to pay me $50 so I had to find a way to fill the rest of my half-hour on stage, so that’s how my storytelling came about.”
Binder has appeared at many of the major blues and folk music festivals in the U.S. and Europe, including Merlefest where he has hosted the acoustic blues stage. Binder has toured with Bonnie Raitt, Hot Tuna and J.J. Cale.
“My shows are very entertaining,” Binder said. “My audiences are made up of all different ages. The young people who come to my shows are not watching ‘Dancing With the Stars’. I hope that they’re hipper than that!”
Binder also shares his musical talents by spending time giving guitar lessons and performing at the Fur Peace Ranch, a music and guitar ranch run by Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) in southeast Ohio.
“It’s been a great life,” Binder said. “I’ve been married to my wife for 15 years. I love to entertain people and see their faces, their reactions to my music.”
When asked if he’s ever considered retiring from the road, Binder told a story about the legendary high-wire artist Karl Wallenda.
“Wallenda was once asked why he continued to perform the high-wire act when he was in his 70’s and Wallenda replied ‘I have to. When I’m on the wire, it’s life. The rest of the time is just waiting.’
“And that’s how I feel about my life. I look forward to performing before a good crowd. Let me at ‘em! (laughs)”
Roy Book Binder will be performing at The Irving Theatre on Sunday, October 27th. Opening act will be Audio Diner. The show is open to all ages and scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15. For more information contact The Irving Theater at (317) 356-3355.

Thoman Plays For Family & Friends

Joe O'Gara — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 05:11:57 +0000

One Saturday afternoon last August Chris Thoman was at his part-time job at Lawrence Tool Rental when he received a call from an aunt asking him for a favor. A BIG favor.
“My aunt Cathy called and asked me if I could come to her school’s alumni block party that evening and perform,” Thoman recalled. “It seems that members of one of the bands scheduled to play had come down with the flu and they had to cancel.
“I said ‘sure.’ My aunt Cathy, and the rest of my family have always been there for me, so I didn’t hesitate when she asked me to do her this favor.”
Chris’ aunt, Cathy Thoman, was the chairperson of the Howe/Irvington Community Block Party committee, and her choice of a “fill-in” act for last year’s event was a big hit with those who heard the 25-year-old singer/musician perform his set of country and southern rock songs. The younger Thoman’s set was such a success that he has been asked to perform at the 7th Annual Howe/Irvington Community Block Party this Saturday evening, August 24.
“I have songs that are my favorites to play,” Thoman admitted, “so I decided to stick to country and southern rock songs that night. I figured that a lot of the people at the block party liked those types of music.”
Thoman, a 2006 graduate of Lawrence North High School, started playing a guitar his freshman year of college (“because chicks dig it,” he admitted with a laugh). Chris had asked for and received a $150 Yamaha acoustic guitar for his birthday. With the help of an instructional DVD that came with the guitar, Chris started to teach himself to play the instrument, and proceeded to “drive my parents crazy by playing the same three chords for what seemed like forever! (laughs)”
As his confidence in playing the guitar grew, Thoman started performing at “open mic” nights at bars and clubs while a student at Purdue. Chris quickly pointed out that his favorite place to play his guitar and sing was at family gatherings at their cabin on the Ohio River.
“Our family has always been into music and we get together at the cabin it gives us the chance to sing and play music together,” Thoman said. “I’ve always had a lot of fun playing music for and with my family.”
Having grown up on country music, Chris has an appreciation for the genre’s artists who “started at the bottom and worked their way up the ranks. Guys like Elvis, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and Darius Rucker, going back to his days in Hootie and the Blowfish.”
When he graduated from Purdue in 2010 (with a double major in Organizational Leadership and Entrepreneurships) Chris had to make a decision regarding his future. And he received support and advice from his family regarding the situation.
“It came down to where I asked myself, ‘Am I going to take a shot and go to Nashville to pursue a music career or stay here, get a 9-to-5 job and play music from time to time?’
”My parents suggested that I do the music on the side and if someone discovers me then see where it takes me. I took their advice and appreciate their support in my decision.”
The 7th Annual Howe/Irvington Community Block Party, hosted by the Howe High School Class of 1977, the Irving Theatre, and the Antique Mall by Jack and Jill will be held on Johnson Street (one block east of the intersection of Washington Street and Ritter Avenue) and Ritter Avenue (just south of Washington Street).
The event gives the “kids” of earlier generations the opportunity to get together for an evening of food, drink, music and the chance to recall school days past.
This year’s block party will feature live music from: Chris Thoman, Audio Diner & Deeper Roots with professional sound, staging & lighting from Warren Sargent & Kings Light Productions. Food and drinks will be available from two local food trucks. Admission to the 7th Annual Howe/Irvington Block Party is free.
For more information regarding the 7th Annual Howe High School All-Alumni Block Party, go to the Thomas Carr Howe/Irvington Community Block Party 2013 page on Facebook.