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GET RIPLEY-IZED |
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STREET BEAT FEATURERIPLEY STREET…by Ernie Thomas
In truth, they have only worn the Ripley Street moniker for the last two and half years. “We used to be called Threshold, but there was a band in California with that name and it’s the name of the Moody Blues production company and we just never liked it all that much anyway,” said the group’s vocalist/frontman, Ken Williams. Several suggestions were tossed about when the time came to change the band’s name, but the six members could not agree on one. “I was driving to the beach one day and saw the sign Ripley Street and thought it sounded like a great name,” said Williams. “Then I started thinking how Ripley street runs through so many different types of neighborhoods –– poor, middle class and rich. Our music is diverse like that too.”
A typical Ripley Street show these days is about half original songs, culled from their 2003 self-titled album, which is in its second pressing. Since last August, more than 1,000 copies of the 12-song CD have been sold at shows and through their web site www.ripleystreet.com “As a band, we’ve really pushed hard these last few months,” said Williams. They were featured on ESPN/AM-1000 radio last month, as guests of the “Silvy and Carmen Show”, where they played live over the air and were interviewed. They were also April guests on the NIGHT ROCK program, which airs Sundays at 6pm on X-ROCK 103.9fm
Along with performing some original songs tonight, Williams expects to
sing plenty of classic covers by artists like Grand Funk, Beatles,
Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin. They also give the Ripley Street
“treatment” to a handful of recent hits by newcomers like Jonny Lang and
Train. The band’s history runs deep. Williams and rhythm guitarist Mark Rossi have been in and out of bands together for thirty years. Lead guitarist Charlie Jones ran in the same circles with his bands and is likewise a longtime friend of both men. “We’ve all be playing a long, long time and are from the same musical place, which is why this band works so well,” said Williams, who spent the late ‘80s and early ‘90s rocking the Western states as a member of the touring group, Ground Zero. Rounding out the line-up since Ripley Street’s inception have been keyboardist Theron Schmeckpeper, bassist Guy-Joseph Guercio and drummer Tim Majkowski. And the "family" keeps growing. Charlie’s son, Billy Jones, recently came on board as the band's acting manager. Williams and Jones do a lion’s share of the songwriting for the group, but all the members write and contribute to the band’s songbook. The group recently added a brand new song to their stage repertoire –– “Needle” –– which is expected to appear on their sophomore album. Their original songs are melody-driven and would have been at home on late Seventies/early Eighties rock radio charts. Ripley Street’s songs are in the same vein as groups such as Toto, Starship and Huey Lewis & The News. While the band can rock well on a track like “Foolish Pride,” they are at their very best when yanking on heartstrings with smooth cuts like “Anything,” “Heaven (Has A Price)” and “Now Or Never.” “There is a LOT of emotion in our music,” concluded Williams. "I think that is why people really seem to like what we are doing and why things are starting happen with the band." |
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Together for the better part of six years, Ripley Street, just
may be the best kept secret the region has when it comes to classic
sounding rock ‘n’ roll. 