Record Observer: Your live performances have an energy that’s closer to a punk rock show than to what you’d expect from a country rock band. How much of your show is planned, and how much is off the cuff?
Pacifico Rik: Well, let’s see. We always bring a set list, but we never follow it. We love to kick off with a cover just for the hell of it. And we’ve been known to launch into tunes that we’ve never even thought about playing before, let alone have rehearsed..
Scoutmaster Keith: We once won a $50 bet at a show by whipping out a totally impromptu version of Abba’s “Dancing Queen”.
Pacifico Rik: yeah, well, she dared us.
RO: What about the stage banter?
Pacifico Rik: Oh, hell, I never have a clue as to what I’m going to say until it’s already been said. The wilder the crowd gets, the more I start showing off with my big mouth, and that can get me into trouble sometimes! A lot of the time though I’m just trying to make the rest of the band laugh, and if the audience gets it too, all the better.
Lightning Collins: Seems like the more redneck the crowd is, the more fun the show ends up being.
Thick: No, the more drunk the crowd is, the more fun the show is.
Scoutmaster Keith: No, the more drunk YOU are, the more fun the show seems to you.
RO: What has been the best Clams moment so far?
Scoutmaster Keith: There’s been a few, but over the winter we played a benefit show for victims of the Haiti earthquake way up north of Baltimore at Looney’s in Bel Air. There were some REAL bands there, like Kelly Bell, the Cheaters, Jimmy HaHa from Jimmie’s Chicken Shack. It was great to be able to share the bill with so many big names and get such a positive response from the audience. And together we raised something like seven grand for the victims. That’s my favorite.
Pacifico Rik: Yeah, that was a good day.
RO: And the worst moment?
Lightning Collins: Ok, I got this one. The day of our first show, we decided to have one last rehearsal that afternoon to make sure we were ready. Big mistake. It was January, and we were rehearsing in an unheated garage and freezing. We played like crap, we broke strings, the bass amp kept cutting out, and I was sure that Rik was going to go postal on everyone.
Pacifico Rik: Yeah, I’ve had nightmares like that before. I remember heading over to the venue and feeling like I was being led to the gas chamber or something. But amazingly, we put a little beer in us, got up in front of a good crowd, and actually sounded pretty damn solid.
RO: Are you big fans of social media?
Scoutmaster Keith: We love social media. We’re constantly going back and forth, talking with our friends, fans, whatever you want to call them. It’s a great tool.
RO: Which ones do you use?
Pacifico Rik: Websites? Facebook is how we stay connected to our audience. We’re always asking them for feedback, and keeping them up to date on our latest shenanigans. And ReverbNation is basically our official band website. We’ve got music, videos, photos, our gig calendar, and blog on there, all kinds of stuff. And we run our email list through it. We used to use MySpace, but ReverbNation is so much better. We also dabble in Twitter a bit.
RO: Dabble?
Pacifico Rik: Yeah, I mean, I still don’t see the point of it.
RO: Well, thanks for your time, guys. This has been…..interesting. Any final parting words?
Lightning Collins: Just wanted to say thanks to you, and to everyone who thinks that we’re worth paying attention to.
Thick: And look for our new CD Raw Barn, in stores soon.
Pacifico Rik: And if you’re so inclined, please call WRNR in Annapolis, MD, WTMD in Baltimore, WCTR in Chestertown, MD, and WLVR in Bethlehem, PA and request the Roadhouse Clams. We will love you forever.
www.RoadhouseClams.com
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The Roadhouse Clams / Blog
Huge Week in Clam Land
Man, the good stuff is coming fast & fuuuuurious, dahlings!
In the past 7 days, your Roadhouse Clams have:
--been selected by top radio station WCEI to be the house band performing on their rockin Halloween Party Cruise on Friday, October 29.
--inked a deal with an A-List venue (NightCat in Easton, MD) to host our official CD Release Party on Friday, November 12.
--added WLVR in Bethlehem, PA to our growing list of radio stations that feature Clams music. Excellent.
--been asked to perform at the amazing Eastern Shore Brewery on Saturday, November 20, as part of their Brews & Blues Showcase Series.
--been featured in a bad-assed photo essay in The Examiner, by renowned photo journalist Michael Rhian-Driscoll.
Not bad for a 7 day span.
And none of this is even remotely possible without your support and passion. We love y'all Clammers!
Hope to see you at a show REAL soon.
Hugs,
Pacifico Rik The Roadhouse Clams www.RoadhouseClams.com
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Airplay
Muchas gracias to WLVR up there in Bethlehem, PA for joining the growing list of radio stations who are brazen enough to play the Roadhouse Clams.
LVR is not only the official radio station of Lehigh University, but it's also the top-ranked signal in the entire Lehigh Valley, commercial or otherwise! So they obviously have an idea of what they're doing.
Even if you're not up there in the land of steel and bratwurst, you can still check out there stream online at www.WLVR.org.
Tracks from our upcoming CD Raw Barn will debut tonight (9/30) between 8p-10p on the popular Radioasis show. Check em out, and be sure to make a request. They've got a media advance of the full CD.
And, don't forget about these other champions of indie music who are playing us as well:
WCTR 1530am Chestertown, MD WINX 94.3fm Easton, MD
As always, we thank you for your support.
-RC
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Roadhouse Clams Interview with the Record Observer Part 2, on Reverb Nation
Record Observer: Your live performances have an energy that’s closer to a punk rock show than to what you’d expect from a country rock band. How much of your show is planned, and how much is off the cuff?
Pacifico Rik: Well, let’s see. We always bring a set list, but we never follow it. We love to kick off with a cover just for the hell of it. And we’ve been known to launch into tunes that we’ve never even thought about playing before, let alone have rehearsed..
Scoutmaster Keith: We once won a $50 bet at a show by whipping out a totally impromptu version of Abba’s “Dancing Queen”.
Pacifico Rik: yeah, well, she dared us.
RO: What about the stage banter?
Pacifico Rik: Oh, hell, I never have a clue as to what I’m going to say until it’s already been said. The wilder the crowd gets, the more I start showing off with my big mouth, and that can get me into trouble sometimes! A lot of the time though I’m just trying to make the rest of the band laugh, and if the audience gets it too, all the better.
Lightning Collins: Seems like the more redneck the crowd is, the more fun the show ends up being.
Thick: No, the more drunk the crowd is, the more fun the show is.
Scoutmaster Keith: No, the more drunk YOU are, the more fun the show seems to you.
RO: What has been the best Clams moment so far?
Scoutmaster Keith: There’s been a few, but over the winter we played a benefit show for victims of the Haiti earthquake way up north of Baltimore at Looney’s in Bel Air. There were some REAL bands there, like Kelly Bell, the Cheaters, Jimmy HaHa from Jimmie’s Chicken Shack. It was great to be able to share the bill with so many big names and get such a positive response from the audience. And together we raised something like seven grand for the victims. That’s my favorite.
Pacifico Rik: Yeah, that was a good day.
RO: And the worst moment?
Lightning Collins: Ok, I got this one. The day of our first show, we decided to have one last rehearsal that afternoon to make sure we were ready. Big mistake. It was January, and we were rehearsing in an unheated garage and freezing. We played like crap, we broke strings, the bass amp kept cutting out, and I was sure that Rik was going to go postal on everyone.
Pacifico Rik: Yeah, I’ve had nightmares like that before. I remember heading over to the venue and feeling like I was being led to the gas chamber or something. But amazingly, we put a little beer in us, got up in front of a good crowd, and actually sounded pretty damn solid.
RO: Are you big fans of social media?
Scoutmaster Keith: We love social media. We’re constantly going back and forth, talking with our friends, fans, whatever you want to call them. It’s a great tool.
RO: Which ones do you use?
Pacifico Rik: Websites? Facebook is how we stay connected to our audience. We’re always asking them for feedback, and keeping them up to date on our latest shenanigans. And ReverbNation is basically our official band website. We’ve got music, videos, photos, our gig calendar, and blog on there, all kinds of stuff. And we run our email list through it. We used to use MySpace, but ReverbNation is so much better. We also dabble in Twitter a bit.
RO: Dabble?
Pacifico Rik: Yeah, I mean, I still don’t see the point of it.
RO: Well, thanks for your time, guys. This has been…..interesting. Any final parting words?
Lightning Collins: Just wanted to say thanks to you, and to everyone who thinks that we’re worth paying attention to.
Thick: And look for our new CD Raw Barn, in stores soon.
Pacifico Rik: And if you’re so inclined, please call WRNR in Annapolis, MD, WTMD in Baltimore, WCTR in Chestertown, MD, and WLVR in Bethlehem, PA and request the Roadhouse Clams. We will love you forever.
www.RoadhouseClams.com
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Part 1 of the Roadhoue Clams interview with the Record Observer
Record Observer: Ok, let’s get the boring questions out of the way first. Where are you guys from, and how’d you get started?
Pacifico Rik: Like Johnny Cash says, we’ve been everywhere, man. But home is Maryland’s Eastern Shore, right down in the QAC. We’re surrounded by corn, rivers, and F-150s with loud exhaust pipes. As far as getting together, the five of us had been sitting in at each other’s shows for years, so it only made sense to do something a bit more permanent. From that very first Roadhouse Clams rehearsal, we knew it was the right call.
RO: What’s with your band name? I’m guessing there’s a story there.
Pacifico Rik: Trust me—you don’t want to know the details. Let’s just say that the next time you find yourself in the wilds of Western Georgia, and you see a little tin roof joint in the middle of nowhere that offers a quote-unquote fresh seafood raw bar, make sure you order the chicken instead.
RO: How do you describe your sound? It’s not quite rock, not quite blues, and not quite country.
Scoutmaster Keith: Honestly, we call it Drinking Music. Beyond that, to fit it into an official genre, we actually have no idea. We’re not TRYING to write anything—we’re just writing what comes natural. So, you’re getting a little classic rock, and a little old school country, and a little beach bar all mixed up together, with lyrics about what’s on our warped little minds.
Lightning Collins: I think we all have a bunch of similar artists that we listen to, but we also head in different musical directions too. For example, Rik digs Wisconsin polka and likes to wear lederhosen.
Pacifico Rik: Roll out the barrel.
RO: Where and when was your first show?
Pacifico Rik: Two days after last New Year’s Eve at Night Cat, on a brutally cold night in Easton, MD. Night Cat is a killer regional venue that regularly books national acts like Marshall Crenshaw, David Johansen, the Nighthawks, Christina Havrilla, Kat Parsons…you know, REAL artists. Putting us in as a headliner was like showing a Jenna Jamison film on Vatican Movie Night, but promoter Mark Mangold was cool enough and brave enough to give us a shot, and we tore it up in there. I guess there were sufficient numbers of people in town who were curious enough to wonder what our train wreck of a roots band was all about and we ended up loading the room.
RO: Tell us about the new CD.
Lightning Collins: Well, Raw Barn is our first CD and we recorded it pretty much live at LSP Studios right there locally on the Shore with engineer Les Lentz. It’s nine tracks straight from our live show, with some amazing guest appearances by a couple good friends like Kate Russo, Derek Ferrell, and Chris Sacks, and I think it captures what we do really well.
Pacifico Rik: Yeah, we really wanted to do whatever we could to deliver the Clams live sound, without a ton of studio tricks and fake BS. It was like “plug in, turn up the amps, and hit the record button”. Not exactly rocket science, but it worked.
RO: Your music has a lot of references to drinking and alcohol.
Thick: Yeah, and?
RO: Well, I’m wondering if you ever feel the need as a band to be more responsible with your lyrics.
Thick: No.
RO: Ok then, moving right along, you recently did a photo session for the new CD with noted music photographer Greg Miles (www.GregMilesPhotography.com) How did that come about?
Pacifico Rik: Greg was awesome. We got him a copy of our demo though a friend of a friend of a friend while he was down in New Orleans working with Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He dug our stuff and sent an email asking if he could shoot us on his way back to New York. We were like “uh….sure, as long as you’re using a camera and not a handgun.”
Scoutmaster Keith: Greg was totally easy to work with, and a genius. He made us look almost-”
Thick:Human?
Scoutmaster Keith: That’s close enough.
Part 2 to follow...
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"What were you THINKING???" The stories behind the Raw Barn.
Yep, folks is always asking about the ideas behind our songs. The truth is that our songwriting influences come from everything from big-breasted girls on beaches to the sound that a Pringles can makes when you open one up. You never know what is gonna hit you when. And that's the God's honest truth.
So, here is, well, what we were thinking when we wrote the tracks for our new CD, Raw Barn:
1) I Like You Better (when you been drinking) RIK: "Yeah, this is a truth about my wife. She's usually all serious during the day, but get a few glasses of adult beverage in her after hours and watch how fast that hair gets let down. Boogity Boogity Boogity!"
2) Lauderdale Stomp RIK: "It's a proven fact: cold weather sucks. This song's all about blowing town and headed down south to the land of palm trees, tiki bars, and early bird specials. In other words, it's about going home."
3) Farmville Baby KEITH: "Yep, it's true. I used to date a girl who lived in Farmville, VA. But this song's about a hot Russian chick instead."
4) The Girl I Love is in Love With a Girl RIK: "Another true story. I met this amazing woman not that long ago, who is sexy as all-git-out, and cool as hell. It sure was depressing when I found out that she plays for the other team. Not for her; she can do whatever she wants with her life. But we need more females like that on OUR side."
5) Workin For The IRS KEITH: "I have no idea what I was thinking. I wrote this one back in high school. Nuff said."
6) Glasses LIGHTNING: "Keith has a thing (Rik says it's a fetish) for librarians. This tune is a tribute to hot four-eyed females everywhere."
7) One More Time THICK: "Everybody's been involved in a strange, effed-up relationship at some point in their lives. This song is for everyone who has ever said 'that's it. I'm done with dating, and I'm giving up on love forever', because we all know that's bullshit."
8) Trailer Park UFOs REV JOHN: "Keith started out writing this one, and then handed it over to Rik to make it even more mentally imbalanced. The funny thing is that we totally know the people in the song."
9) Shore Girl RIK: "Keith and I had an acoustic residency gig a few years ago at a place called Joshua's over in the QAC. They had this amazing manager named Rebecca who loved us and gave us free beer all night. And she was damn cute too. So I wrote this one for her, and for every sexy, down-home Eastern Shore girl we've ever met. Shore Girls rule. We love y'all!"
So that's it. It ain't rocket science, Just five guys with some guitars, a drum kit, and a 2-for-1 Happy Hour buzz going strong. This CD is meant to be played loud, and is best when paired with ice cold beer or good sour mash whiskey and a pile of friends who like to get as wild and idiotic as YOU (and we) do. Just make sure that someone more responsible is driving.
clams@BrightsideMarketing.com
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