They say, “You Can't Keep A Band Together!”... but we did! CD Out June 9th.

RUNAWAY HOME

They say, “You Can't Keep A Band Together!”

They say, "You can't keep a band together."  Raw words fly out in anger, unlike their refined lyrical counterparts.  Egos collide, guitars fight, mandolins, basses and drums conspire and voices off stage whisper and sometimes scream utterances of descent. They say, "You can't keep a band together."  Copyrights compete for fans’ affection and writer's pride 'till the meaning of the song beneath is the least note heard.  The bio defies the actual; the actual defies the dream and the dream is deferred.

They say, "You can't keep a band together."  The singer quits, the bass player finds a better gig, the new retreats, the old reclaims.  The venue goes under, the van breaks down, the station changes format, the demographic narrows and “oh no, the gig is really in Eastern Time Zone!” That naive vision formed in basements, garages and around kitchen tables grows jaded on tired platforms, in empty rooms and across long stretches of highway.  The solo stage beckons, the "real job" boxes you in and the girlfriend, the boyfriend, the husband, the wife, the children, the bills, the  bank account, the sacred spaces and the much needed time alone - they all beckon and at times they stalk. 

They say, "You can't keep a band together."  The grown-up world mocks. The unsold CDs whine.  The club owners’ shenanigans steal and then there’s the wrong date in the newspaper as the posters and hype lose out to the one thing that could sink your heralded gig!  You know, like you might be playing a big Arts Center in Wisconsin the very night that OJ Simpson is out driving his white Bronco while your entire audience stays at home to watch. Reality TV really is the bane of live music! All would be a complete disaster if not for the much maligned chutzpah that allows you to say, "the next gig, the next record and the next year....we're gonna' make it!

They say, "You can't keep a band together."  "You're too old," "you're too country," "you're too loud," "you're too boring," "too crude," "too early," "too late," "cheap," "expensive," "original," "derivative," "demur," "demanding," and a personal favorite, "you're too good!"

Yep! They say, "You can't keep a band together."  Ok, ok, it’s true - sad, but true. Except....this band is still here!  We’re still together!  Maybe we're just lucky, but quite frankly we haven't had enough of that smirking Lady Luck to show proof.  Maybe we've got a cushion, but only if bloated visa bills, dwindling savings accounts and family mercy count as cushion.  OK - maybe we're just plain stubborn, desperate or tough-as-nails.   Yeah....those who know us would say, "Lose the word ‘maybe’ in that sentence." 

Well, I know that you can keep a band together.  You can keep a band together because singing in harmony bridges all doubt and writing songs truly from the heart and soul penetrates the deafened ear.  You can keep a band together because some nights the cross-picking guitars give birth to overtones that rush the heavens and lift the weight and because the fiddle, bass and cajon have your back while you do it.  You can keep a band together because the one CD you sell is to the fan who was not a fan before the show and that two-hour set just felt like five minutes -  and you'd do it all again the next night for free (well, after expenses anyway)!

I think when all is said and done, you can keep a band together because as artists, that's who you are and that’s what you do.  You do it night after night when there is no money, no audience, no angle, no reason, no nothin', and on those seemingly rare occasions, when the stars rise instead of fall and the universe seems to align......well, you do it then too.

Please join Runaway Home as they celebrate their debut CD at World Music Nashville June 9th. @7pm.  Call World Music for details and tickets at (615) 425-0256.  Free CD with every ticket purchased.

-        Mark Elliott, Runaway Home – www.runawayhomemusic.com