THE LOCALS: A Friend to Muppets And Rapping Cats  

We here at Midwest BEAT Magazine are happy to take full responsibility for introducing... errr... make that unleashing...the raucous acousti-rock sound of The Locals on Northwest Indiana.                                                          

This quirky quartet first came to our attention last November, when they submitted a CD and media kit for consideration in regards to the annual “Region Rumble Showcase” our publication presents at the Star Plaza Theatre each fall. 

      Their materials screamed for attention from the moment they arrived, as the box containing their latest  CD and biographical information, had hints of bright red fur protruding from every crevice and seam.                       

       Curiosity got the best of us.  We ripped open the box to discover that it was fur-lined like some kitschy novelty prop from an “Austin Powers” film, but the fur itself looked disturbingly like the carcass of Elmo.   

      Could they be dastardly enough to have “deep sixed” the day-glo muppet, who at last report was still missing in Grouchland?  We could not help but think the worst as we stared at the box full of gnarled red tufts.  Were we really free of that giggling varmint? 

     If we promised them a feature in the magazine, would they consider tucking Barney in for nice long “dirt nap”?   Well, it couldn’t hurt to ask.  

      Meanwhile, we reached for their CD –– “Baby Buddhas & Little Einsteins” –– whose cover was...you guessed it...more red muppet fur.  We were dying to know what kind of music could possibly be made by people with minds twisted enough to package their product in what looked like a box of road kill scraped up by the Sesame Street Dept. 

     Eleven songs later, it was decided that whether they took the contract on Barney or not, we had to do a feature on this eccentric and eclectic quartet who hail from the Wrigleyville section of Chicago.  They were refreshingly different -- a strange folk and pop hybrid -- with just touch of grunge and some damn good fiddle playin’. 

       Staying consistently left of center, The Locals, are really not... local that is.  Only their Evanston-born drummer, Ross Rutherford, is native to the area.    

      Fiddle player Dave “Goldy” Goldman hails from the land of real picante sauce -- El Paso, Texas.   Bassist Christy Nunes left sunny San Diego, California to come to Chicago (ummm...why?).

       At least songwriter/singer/guitarist and band leader, Yvonne Doll,  can claim Midwestern roots as a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, where she got hooked on music early on through her music teacher mother. While in high school, Doll played piano and alto-saxophone in high school.  

      “I’ve played music since I was little because of my mom, and I’ve been writing songs for as long as I can remember,” she said.  “As a teenager, music took a back seat to art for me.  I was way more into painting than playing.”  

     In fact, Doll came to Chicago to seek a degree from the Art Institute of Chicago (which she got), but while living here became deeply enamored with the local music scene.  

      Doll arrived in town fresh out of high school in the early 1990s with little more than an old guitar on her back and a box of paint brushes under her arm.   

     She quickly hooked up with other artistic types, which lead to her moving into an apartment building occupied by other bohemian types.  That is where she met Goldman, then the roommate of the band’s original drummer Dave Buss (who left for health reasons in 2001).  

      Goldman used to play bass, but one day while Doll and a bunch of musical compadres jamming with Buss, Goldman went into the closet and pulled out his fiddle.  “Our jaws just dropped when he started playing,” remembered Doll, who made sure Goldman never went back to bass. 

        Doll had arrived in Chicago when the city was a hotbed of musical talent, especially the Wrigleyville region.  Artists like Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, Local H, Urge Overkill and others were being wooed by record labels who were hoping to find the next Smashing Pumpkins.   

     Doll soon became a fixture at open mic nights in coffeehouses and clubs.  She eventually cut a solo album -- “Bliss” -- in 1996 and while recruiting some backing players to flesh out her sound managed to assemble what eventually became The Locals.     

     The Locals have been rocking together for about seven years now and have two solid group albums under their collective belt, the first being 2000’s “My Kind Of Freak.”    

      Nunes is the wildcard of the group, bringing with her a strong funk and jazz background that adds a nice street groove to Doll’s predominantly pop compositions.  The two hooked up while Nunes was still anchoring the rhythm section for another Chicago singer/songwriter, Ripley Caine.    

     “We’re just the perfect foil for each other,” laughed Nunes on why she came to get “localized” with Doll.  “Yvonne writes great songs, but lets everyone have their say,” she said. “We have established our own sound and we are all great friends who have a great time playing music together.”   

      The Locals, have established quite a wide geographic gig base in the last year or so as “Baby Buddhas & Little Einsteins” has generated interest at college and public radio stations.    

     “We’re actually getting quite a bit of radio play these days,” said Doll.  “Different stations are playing different songs, but ‘Dear’ and ‘Blue’ seem to be a favorites.”              

        This latest album is doing considerably better for the band than either Doll’s “Bliss” or their last collective effort, “My Kind Of Freak.”   “We’ve really grown as a group a lot,” suggest Doll on why this collection is doing so well.  “I think that really came through on this album.”  

     “We travel all over the Midwest now and pretty much play out every weekend,” said Nunes, citing Missouri, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois as their regular stomping ground.   

      “And now Northwest Indiana,” chimed in  Doll, referring of course to their showcase set at the Midwest BEAT’s February 14 “Valentine’s Sweetheart Bash” at Soprano’s in Griffith.   “We are also playing at Cronies Gin Mill in Kouts next month (March 22), so I hope the Hoosiers are ready for us!”

       “We’re generally kind of weird people,” mused bassist Christy Nunes, responding to questions about a hidden track on the CD that concerns a rapping cat and a squealing pig.  “Our drummer has a cat named Kit-Kat who has developed a persona as a rapping cat and that little track came together at about 3 in the morning.”  After massive alcohol one might guess. 

      Sadly, as one reads the very fine print on the back of Baby “Buddhas & Little Einsteins,” there is a disclaimer stating – “No Muppets were harmed during the creation of this album!”  But the gnarled red fur that lined the press box?   

       “It was just faux Elmo fur. We have yards of it,” confessed Nunes, who admitted to having an unnatural pre-occupation with the wise-cracking furballs.  “I have one of those Time/Life subscription series where they send you like three DVDs every month, so I have quite an extensive collection of Muppet videos at home,” she said.

     The Locals’ web site -- www.LocalsRock.com -- is personally maintained by Doll, who gets her artistic ya-yas out doing the design work. “It’s not the same and working with oils and a canvas, but it is a creative outlet for the artist side of me,” she said. 

      The web site gets a lot of hits these days, because of the many on-line contests – where fans can win everything from band CDs and t-shirts, to custom Locals lunchboxes and free passes to shows.  

       In fact, the site is so extensive, that even Kit-Kat, Goldman’s rapping feline has her own bio page.  What more reason could you want for surfing over. 

THE LOCALS perform on Friday, February 14 at SOPRANOS in Griffith

 with TRISTEN, AUTUMN DAWN and BITTERSWEET

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