MUSIC - APRIL 2, 2003

Lansing’s Flatfoot: Breaking out of the cellar

By CHRIS WARDELL

The guys in Flatfoot have come a long way since their formation in the fall of 2000. The Lansing-based band is getting ready to release its first album, “Down in the Cellar,” and a couple of headline shows will follow to help promote it. Not bad for a band that first began by playing exclusively acoustic shows at local coffeehouses like Espresso Royale and Café Latte. Flatfoot loves to perform live. They even have their own following appropriately dubbed the flatheads, who follow the band from show to show. The band will hold their CD release show Friday night at Mac’s Bar.

Flatfoot Flatfoot CD release show at 10 p.m. Friday, April 4, Mac’s Bar. 21+. No opening acts as of press time. Flatfoot also will play a quick acoustic set at Espresso Royale before Mac’s to give the under-21 crowd a show. Around 8 pm. Other performers are Dan Vaillancourt and Brian Lorente.

“The live show is very important for us. It is fine to sit and make hours of music in a studio somewhere, but I respect bands that can do it in person,” said vocalist-guitarist Aaron Bales. “We are all people with performance backgrounds of some sort, and we feed off of a crowd that’s into what we’re doing. We play music for those nights when you know you’re playing great, and the crowd knows it too.”

In addition to Bales, the band consists of brother vocalist-guitarist Jason Bales, bass guitarist Thomas McCartan, violinist Jon Nichols II, and drummer Joseph Irvin. They are mainly known around town for their raucous, country romping, stomping fests. This is Torch and Twang music. This is “Americana” or country-rock. The music may be a nod to Nashville, but don’t be surprised to see one of the band members sporting a Guns and Roses belt buckle.

“We try to keep our live show very up-tempo, see what we can squeeze into 40-minute sets. Tom and Joe especially want to put the pedal to the floor when we play live,” Aaron said. “Those who’ve seen our early acoustic shows have a fuller picture of our sound — we can do a nice three-voice harmony banjo-guitar-violin version of ‘Goodnight Irene.’ Our record will help to flesh out the image. It has plenty of rockers, but a song like ‘Indifference’ is also key to who we are.”

“Down in the Cellar” showcases the band pushing their talents to the limits, and resulting in a 13-song, harmonica laden, Crazy Horse-esque, slide guitar boogie rock celebration. Tracks like “Bottle For My Baby” conjure up images of the struggling alcoholic trying to quit the bottle to keep his woman from leaving him. If there was ever an anthem for the tear-in-your-beer country music lifestyle, this song could be it.

“Aaron and I, being the main songwriters, have slightly different styles, and if you look at which ones on the album are mine and which are his, there’s a definite difference.” said Jason Bales. “I’ve got more of the pop hooks going on, but he’s definitely got the raw, driving rhythm thing going on. We balance each other out, and we also provide enough contrast so that everything doesn’t end up sounding the same.”

Although the album is filled with banjos, harmonicas and a fiddle, pulling off the album’s sound live on a stage is a challenge, according to Aaron.

“It just isn’t practical to bring the banjo, pedal steel and all that on stage along with the electric guitars. We will bring lots of toys to the CD release show, but that is the exception. We love to rock, but we also like to play them sweet and sad and lonesome.”

With juggling their jobs, (Aaron is a teacher at Everett High School), college, and the rigors of everyday life, finding time for Flatfoot remains an obstacle.

“Oddly enough, I know several teachers at Everett who are in bands. I’m not sure if there’s any connection with the profession. Personally, it has been tough at times to strike a balance between my job, home life and the band,” Aaron said. “My wife Liz is very supportive, which helps. Everyone in our band is busy, but we make it work.”

His brother agrees, and although he’s committed to Flatfoot, he’s grounded in the idea of the band as a mere pastime for now.

“We’re all pretty easy going, and we’ve gotten to the point where we only need to practice once a week, and we’re lucky if we can get that in. We’re all pretty busy, Aaron especially, and we could certainly play more shows and practice more, but we do what we can without letting this thing take over our lives. We’re not about to quit our jobs or quit school to go to Chicago . . . to try and ‘make it.’ ”