STREET BEAT: LOCAL BAND PROFILE

by Ernie Thomas

Urban Twang, multi-instrumentalist Max Getzel notes that a big contributing factor to his band’s music is the unique relationship with his songwriting partner. 

 “We’ve got a kind of Fleetwood Mac thing going on with this band.  Our singer Trish Clausen and I are divorced,” said Getzel, adding that they remain roommates and songwriting partners.   

The five other members of the uni-sex group –– vocalist/flutist Karla Sue Magnan, drummer Joe Bertram, rhythm guitarist Chris VanDenBerg, bassist Steve Siculan and harmony vocalist Joey Coffey –– often joke that Getzel and Clausen should to fight more often so that they can keep a stream of good songs coming. 

The two first hooked up in the early 1980s and formed a pop/ska group called The Eccentrics, who later turned into Price of Passion, a jangly guitar-driven alt-pop band.

 In 1992, the duo shifted styles and began performing what is now commonly referred to alt-country or Americana roots music.  The change over came largely because the [then] newly married couple had two acoustic guitars in the group at the time.  The name Urban Twang simply best defined to people their sound. 

Hooking up with college-based/student-run indie record imprint, A.E.M.M.P. (pronounced “amp”) Records, Urban Twang had a collection of early demos released in 1994 which generated enough buzz to get them prestigious gigs.  They opened shows for Dave Matthews, The Samples and many other rising stars of the early ‘90s. 

In 1995, Urban Twang recorded more than a dozen songs of varying flavors and styles, but ultimately buried about a third of them after learning that diversity was not necessarily seen as a good thing in the modern music business.  

  “When I was growing up, bands covered a lot of [musical] ground on albums.” said Getzel.  “Led Zeppelin would do an acoustic song, then a bluesy number and then rock hard on the next track.”  

When record folks heard Urban Twang stretching their boundaries in a similar fashion, the band was quickly advised that doing so only confused people and would hinder their career opportunities.   

Ultimately, the group bowed to conformity and released a less eclectic collection of songs called, Go Call Delia, which featured traditional country-inspired fare.  It got them played on stations as diverse as WXRT, WGN-AM, US-99 and WBEZ (NPR) and allowed them to open shows for artists like The Marshall Tucker Band, David Allen Coe, Dave Alvin, and the late Johnny Paycheck. 

Last month they released their long-awaited sophomore CD, Vintage, via Chicago's Sweet Pickle Music.  When recording Vintage at Hammond's Thunderclap Studio with former Twang member John Carpenter producing, the band decided to stop trying to please those in the record biz.      

 “Last time we tried to make a record that we thought would fit in,” said Getzel.  “This time we just tried to make a good CD; a CD we were happy with; a CD that captured the band at this point in time.  I think we’ve done that.”  Songs can be heard at: www.UrbanTwang.com  or www.sweetpicklemusic.com.  

The song, “Better Days,” has already been given a few spins on WXRT by DJ Richard Miline on his “Local Anesthetic” program. 

Urban Twang is getting media attention thanks to Chicago director Terry Green’s indie film, “Almost Salinas,” starring John Mahoney (“Frasier”) and Virginia Madsen (“Dune”).  Their song “If Liquor Were A Woman,” is featured in a key scene.

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