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I remember seeing The B-Sharps, a then-group of very young men rockers, in 2006 for the first time, then again in 2007, at which point they were a well oiled stage machine. By 2008 the Sharps were not only the best live band in town, but some of the members were finally old enough to legally enter the bars they'd been playing for years. Then, just a few months ago, the Sharps called it quits on the same day they released their excellent sophomore record, The "B" Is For Party. Great rock bands, the ones who get on stage, play loud, bounce around and own the audience, only seem to ever get so far. They splinter or fizzle or overdose or move on, almost always to something more song-oriented. That, or they end up with the dreaded "bar band" tag, playing a mix of covers and originals in exchange for drinks.
Nick Allison (vocals, guitar) and Mitch Fraizer (lead guitar), founding members of the Sharps, have moved on from their Sharps days in the best way possible, bringing their stage energy and songwriting prowess to Church Shoes, a quartet that feels like a natural artistic progression from the artists' beginnings.
"People seem to be surprised at how different Church Shoes sound when compared to The B-Sharps," Allison said in a recent interview. "I always try to stress that the only major similarity between [Church Shoes] and the Sharps is that we have Mitch Fraizer on lead guitar. Even though I'm still doing the majority of the writing, the songs are not the same. I'm saying and doing things I never would have in the Sharps, partly because I never wanted to and partly because I didn't know how. The B-Sharps couldn't play Church Shoes songs and Church Shoes can't play The B-Sharps songs. All the personalities that shine through in both bands are too strong and too different."
Bassist Max Forbing, a mutual friend of Allison and Fraizer from high school - and originally from Fort Wayne - spent time in San Francisco and Austin, Texas before moving back to the Fort, where he became fast friends with the Sharps boys.
"Max did the singer/songwriter thing in Austin before moving back to Fort Wayne. He's easily one of the most talented musicians I've ever come across and is a genuinely out there kind of guy."
Next up is drummer Gabe Pastura, another friend from high school.
"Gabe used to tag along with The B-Sharps on some of our tours, just to get in on the fun. One time, after finishing up a gig in Nashville at 3 a.m., he piloted our van straight through to Fort Wayne. He's a great drummer; there's nothing about him that isn't pure rock n' roll."
But, before we get into the twangy, energetic and more lyrical sounds of the Shoes, there's a lifelong bond to discuss.
"Mitch and I met before either of us even knew how to read. We both attended the same Catholic school together and were naturally best friends. We fell in love with rock n' roll at a very early age and our parents each bought us our first instruments around the same time," Allison said when asked about Fraizer.
"I remember walking into the guitar store to show my dad the bass I'd been begging him for and Mitch was there with Mr. and Mrs. F, holding his recently purchased purple Squire. So we've literally been playing together for as long as each of us has known how to play. Artistically, it's been very interesting to see how each of us has developed, me as a writer him as a player. We approach songs from completely different - yet complimentary - angles. Also, because we have been playing together for so long, we can musically read each other minds. I can show Mitch a song I've just written and he'll know where I'm going with it after the first few chords."
Emerging as one of the standout songwriters of the Fort Wayne scene with the release of the B-Sharps Cherchez Kahuna in 2009, live shows featuring new songs made it obvious that Allison's writing was quickly growing, thus requiring a new outlet.
"Earlier this year I knew I needed to do something other than what I was already doing. I was depressed and uninspired. The band I was in was a parody of its former self and was falling apart at the seams. I wrote this song called "Camera" and then, one morning around 5 a.m., while continuing a night of heavy drinking, I went to Max's apartment and recorded a demo of it two other songs I had written years ago that the Sharps never played," Allison explained. "I woke up the next evening, drank a bottle of wine, called Gabe and Mitch and never looked back.
"I never planned on starting a side project, really, but we had our first practice in April and it was pretty evident that this is where it was at. I still can't comment on being a frontman because I still don't really think of myself as one. I've always hated lead singers. Give it time though; eventually I'll be getting my Freddy Mercury on."
Things took off from there, the Shoes quickly establishing themselves as one of the area's most exciting live bands. The songs kept coming, each one good and often different than the last.
For the band's first release, a Chain Smoking Records-released 7" vinyl single, the Shoes recorded with local music scene mainstay Jon Ross. The result are two instantly lovable rockers; the A-side, "Kill Your Dog," written by Allison, is a garage band/blues mash-up with great vocals while the B-side, "High and Naked," written by Fraizer, is a rough and rowdy anthem for lowlifes. Anyone who has seen a Church Shoes show will already know these songs well, but Ross' production is perfect, capturing the duo's chemistry better than any other session has to date. The two songs are, in this writer's opinion, two of the best I've heard out of Fort Wayne, ever. Classics.
That 7" scheduled for a November 26 release show at The Brass Rail, the band plans to keep busy, heading into the studio on November 2, where they will begin recording their debut record, which should be out on Chain Smoking Records in March of 2011. And, well, they have other plans, too. Big plans. Hold your breath … wait for it ...
"We'll be on the road as often as we can, out promoting our 7" until the album comes out," Allison said. "But, in March, we plan to pack our bags move to Austin, Texas. We have a very affordable place worked out that will be available to us and we just can't pass the opportunity up. Fort Wayne has been very supportive but [we feel] it can only take us so far. We don't know how long we'll be staying down in Texas, but hopefully we won't be back for a while."
So, on the bright side, we FtW Rockers have four, maybe five months left with one of the most promising new bands the Fort Wayne music scene has produced in recent memory. Then, come March, as a bigger tease than even that last great B-Sharps record, we'll have a Church Shoes record to celebrate. Best we make the most of these closing Church Shoes Days; no matter how few they may number, rest assured, they will rock.
Written by G. William Locke
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