Running Into Luck: Roshan Maloney

This article was published on 08/23/2011 on http://eugenedailynews.com/2011/08/23/running-into-luck-roshan-maloney/ and is re-posted here with permission.



Nancy Glass – EDN

Most 10-year-old boys like getting toys.  You know, something to play with; Tonka Trucks, toy cars or maybe a toy gun; something to spur the imagination.  Not singer/songwriter Roshan Maloney.  But then again, Roshan Maloney was not your typical 10-year-old east Indian born boy. Born in 1986 in Hyderabad, India and relocating to the United States, to Eugene in fact, when he was a few weeks old.  At the age of 10, his parents got him a piano.   Maloney says ” It was fun for about a month, then it became a chore.  I absolutely hated it.  After completing high school,  I started playing piano again, and never put it down.”  Growing up as only child, Maloney says, his childhood was “pretty normal” and he never really got into any trouble. “I was kind of lonely kid- I usually dealt with it by escaping into my imagination. That’s probably why I live in my head so much as an adult” he tells me.  In addition to piano, Maloney learned to play the guitar as well as the melodica, and he’s working on a cool way of incorporating it into his shows.

Roshan Maloney

With the unenviable position of being the guy all of his friends came to as a sounding board, Maloney says music was/is his form of therapy.  “I was always the friend that friends would confide in.  Yet I could never really talk to anyone, or share how I really felt about things. When I found music, it was like a whole ‘nother world opened up for me. It definitely started off as a kind of therapy.”
With The Black Keys in his iPod today, Maloney likes all kinds of music depending upon his mood.   “I feel like I go through different seasons of genres. Weeks will go by and I’ll just have hip-hop on my iPod.  The next day I’ll start feeling “socially conscious” with a “stick-it-to- the-man” attitude, so I will spend a few weeks listening to indie rock.  Then I’ll spend some time digesting the empty calories of whatever is top 40 at the time.   But at the end of the day if I’m humming a song after hearing it once on the radio or in a friend’s car…that song is definitely making it on the iPod.”
From such songwriting icons as Smokey Robinson and  Stevie Wonder, Maloney draws inspiration from his heroes consistent ability to write incredibly powerful songs.  “Those guys were churning out hits that were decades ahead of their time.”  He also is in profound awe of today’s current artist Bruno Mars.  “He is doing crazy things right now.   He’s writing hits for himself, but more impressively he’s writing hit records for other people. He wrote Cee-lo Green’s “Forget You”, he wrote Matisyahu’s “One Day”, he also wrote “Wavin’ Flag” for the world cup last year. He’s really an Incredible songwriter.”

Bryan Thompson, Jeremiah L. Scott with Maloney

The elusive element of inspiration is often times a curse for musicians; however, not so for Maloney.  “I pretty much write songs about how I feel at any given time. With that being said, usually the best songs have come from a place of heartache or during some difficult time. Take, for example, the song off his latest EP, “The Black Dress“  “Mr. Entertainer.”  Maloney explains; “I wrote Mr. Entertainer after a string of failures. That song has an air of arrogance to it,  but it’s inspiration was quite the opposite.“  Having thrown away a couple of really big opportunities, he was feeling like he had really blown it.   He recalls, “I invested all my emotion into these opportunities and after continued heartbreak I started to build these walls so I wouldn’t care anymore.”  Like all of us when things don’t go our way, or when failure’s fingerprints end up all over us somehow, Maloney found himself going through the motions; never feeling like he was good enough. In his own words, he says “it was a poisonous way to think. I didn’t want to live my life like that. I had to either change the way I was thinking or choose a different profession!” So on drive home one night he wrote the story of “Mr. Entertainer“, a song about believing in yourself even when you have no reason to believe.  Keenly, Maloney ever so slyly tells me “until you believe in yourself and believe in your own potential it’s hard for anyone else to.”
Getting it out of your head and down on paper isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Not only is inspiration critical, you have to just let the feelings and emotions bare themselves without the nit-picking element of self-criticism.  Maloney tells me how he goes about writing a song, and how, most of his songs are really, never finished.   “I usually start with an idea of what the song will be about;  a feeling that it should convey. Then I start playing around with different chord progressions until I find a sound that I like.  With incoherent lyrics I start scatting out melodies. Once those pieces are put together, I pick up the pen and start plugging in lyrics.  Then I spend the next year picking apart the song.  I never consider any of my songs done.  Even after they’re on the album, I hear things I still wish I could change.”

The Black Dress EP

Yet new material is ever-present with the singer/songwriter.  “I’m constantly writing. I have a lot of songs on deck and on paper.  But for the time being I’m really focusing on this album, “The Black Dress” EP.  Released in May of this year, this EP contains 6 original songs, including the piano driven title track.  The song “Mr. Entertainer” illustrates Maloney’s (apparent) ease with being in the spotlight.  You’d never believe this man ever got “butterflies in his stomach” before his performances.
Stage fright is something almost all musicians find ways of overcoming.  Thankfully, Maloney got some good advice early on in his career that really works for him.  ”I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get nervous before shows. I had an acting teacher in college tell me that everybody gets butterflies, but the trick is to make those butterflies fly in a row.”
And making those butterfly’s fly in a row is exactly what Maloney does on stage in his live performances.  Full of energy and engaging he hopes his songs will connect with someone in the audience,  “When I get an email from someone I’ve never met, telling me that they made a connection with one of my songs, it makes everything else worth it.”  The quintessential show man at heart, Maloney claims to maintain a measure of truthfulness to what he does… a sense of undeniable honesty in his songs.  And much like a freshman in the school of the music industry, one of his biggest hopes is “That it’ll always still be “me” up there.  The moment when I’m on stage playing and I’m completely transparent and whoever is listening can see me for what I am…that’s a cool moment. It makes all the other uncertainty worth it.”

Maloney at work behind the camera

Not only an accomplished musician, Maloney is also recognized as an accomplished actor.  He explains “I think music and film go hand in hand. They’re both storytelling and at the crux of who I am…I’m a storyteller. When I was kid I got to play in the yard and make-believe cops and robbers. Now, as an actor, I get to do the same thing.  I was always interested in art.  I used to draw all the time.  I would make home movies out of clay characters that I would create.  That reminds me, I need to ask my parents for those tapes…and then burn them so they never make it onto YouTube!”
While Maloney may be worried about clay characters hitting YouTube, he’s quite content on the bigger, silver screen.  It was his work as Hayden Levit, in the film short “Balloons Float to Heaven,”  which garnered him the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2010 Fox Film Festival.
Not so surprisingly, it was through his connections as an actor that his music video “Run Out of Luck” got made.  After shooting a pilot last year for a web-series called “Planning to Fail (Spectacularly)” he became good friends with the team that put it all together.  At the time, he was tossing around the idea of making a music video to Bryan Thompson, the director.  “He heard the song and loved it.  He and his team, Revolver DMS, made the video. It helped their reel and I got an incredible product.  Very much a  win/win. We were lucky enough to cast Portland model, Jillian Rabe of Jillian Rabe, LLC as the girlfriend and the rest was history. The concept and the execution was all Bryan.”

Maloney and his band

With a schedule that would make the workaholic look lazy, Maloney is always on the go.  “If I had free time I would sleep more. I daydream of sleep.”  But if he were to sleep at all, he tells me one of the scariest things would be ” I’ll wake up, look back, and realize that I wasted the best years of my life chasing an impossible dream. Or that one day I’ll have done everything I can do to climb the ladder just to realize that it was leaning up against the wrong wall the entire time.“  A fear that we all can relate to regardless of our age or our profession.
Maloney believes that life should be lived with passion and a love for the people around one.  To that end, he’s a consummate professional in that he believes “in whatever you do, do it with all of you.” He adds, “my hope is that when people come to see me perform they can hear that in my music, and see that when they see me.”Despite the fact that it’s only his name on the posters these days, his band is critical to his success.  ” I’m fortunate to have really great musicians for friends and band mates. His band, consisting of Kyle Cunningham plays lead guitar, Ryan Charboneau on bass, Stephen Temple on drums and David Smith on guitar is a like a family.  “We all grew up together in church, fight like brothers, and genuinely have a strong bond with one other.”

 Vowing if he couldn’t do music or act, he “would probably go somewhere tropical and sell bananas” Malone isn’t about to stop creating finely crafted well written songs, engaging music videos or dramatic acting roles anytime soon.  If you’ve not seen him yet, he’s playing next at “Flock the Village 2011” at Crescent Village on Friday, September 9th, the huge kick off party for the 2011 Oregon Duck Football season; Roshan’s hometown team.
You can check out his website at  www.roshanmaloney.com

This is Tyler Fortier

This article was originally published 09/03/2011 on http:eugenedaily news.com and is re-posted here with  permission.

by:  Nancy Glass – EDN

Any living creature evolves with time.  That is to say, it develops other features, and then turns into another living being.  Such is the case with Eugene singer songwriter Tyler Fortier (pronounced For-teer). He certainly doesn’t look old enough to have released six albums since 2007.  He doesn’t look like a man who once fronted a punk band with pink and purple hair.    He certainly doesn’t look like a man who ever was a baseball jock.   No, at first glance, Fortier looks more like a man who is a “starving artist” who loves nothing more than drinking whiskey, hanging with his fiancé and writing songs that entertain his ego.  But then again, looks can be deceiving.

“If there is a purpose of my music, I’m guessing it’s something therapeutic.  It’s a channeling of emotions.  I don’t choose to write.  It’s hardly ever a conscious thing.  It just happens” Fortier tells me.

Tyler Fortier

While talking with Fortier I was able to discover a world that exists between his ears.  I was able to take a peek at his hard-earned emotional landscapes and listen to some of the most honest and sincere music this man can create.  To put things in perspective, I checked on Wikipedia the discography of some well-known bands. At the age twenty-six Fortier has released as many records as The Doors, (in a four-year span) two more records than Led Zepplin and two more than Cream.
Trying to understand how it is that at twenty-six years old he has 6 albums out, (with another one on the way) Fortier tells me, “that’s a tough one.  I can’t explain the fact that I write so much.  There was a 4 month period where I wrote, and wrote, and wrote, and I haven’t written much of anything good lately.  A door opened up somewhere in my mind.”
That opened door has given way to an extremely productive year for Fortier.  In October he’ll release his seventh album, Bang on Time, marking the third release this year.  In February he released …And They Rode Like Wildfire Snaking Through The Hills ‘Neath The Scarlet Sun.  In April he released, Fear Of The Unknown.
I was able to hear two tracks off the soon to be released record Bang on Time; Will You Love Me and The World is Moving Slow.  Both songs are still in production, however, Will You Love Me is a slow intimate confession of fear and loneliness sung with harmonies echoing each sentiment.  The World is Moving Slow is a more up tempo song that is more about finding a home in the world.  For these songs, Fortier has a somewhat expected style; think Springsteen meets Lovett meets Petty.
“Matt Greco engineered and mixed both of the last two records” he tells me.  “He is amazing.  He’s only 23 and is extremely advanced in his engineering and mixing skills.”
Fortier also saw his biggest tour this year, with performances in 8 states, including 2 showcases at South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.
That kind of schedule could make a lot of ‘working musicians’ look bad.  However it takes a lot of tenacity and perseverance as well as time to build up to such a level. Since his first band he  knew he wanted to do music. “My first band was called The Marshmallows.  I was in the sixth grade.  We played once for a group of friends and I’ve had the performing bug ever since.  I then played in punk bands, called Odd Man Out in the eighth and ninth grade, which later evolved into the band 24 HRS throughout high school.  I remember we played once on top of a chili truck at the Rose Festival in Portland.  If there was a strong wind, I don’t think we would have made it out alive.”

Fortier second from the left

Born in Portland in 1985, Fortier grew up in Camas, Washington and formed an athletic identity early on.  “I focused most of my time on sports until I was eighteen; though I did balance a bit of music (playing bass and singing in pop punk bands) from the age of thirteen on.  “I wanted to be a professional baseball player because that’s all I ever did was play baseball.  As I got older (into high school) I had thoughts about being a teacher.  I’m not sure why?  I still play around with ideas of becoming a counselor/teacher/therapist” he tells me.
With very supportive parents who (as Fortier puts it) “have my back no matter what” he’s always felt guided and encouraged towards pursing what makes him happy.  He is quick to point out, “monetary value has rarely, if ever, been lumped into this category of, “happy” he tells me. “My dad used to play guitar and sing me to sleep often; it’s an extremely fond memory to say the least.”
His own musical tastes rooted in strong songwriting, Fortier remembers the first song he ever recorded.   “There is a cassette tape somewhere of me walking around as a very small child in my grandparent’s house singing the Loggins and Messina song, “Danny’s Song.”  The first CD  he ever bought was Billy Joel’s, River of Dreams in the fifth grade.  Over the years his tastes have branched out to “some strange musical fixations”  including Ace of Base, No Doubt, Everclear, and Metallica.
It wasn’t until his senior year of high school that he discovered acoustic music and started to really play.  “I never performed for anyone, except for the occasional impromptu performance at a party” he says sheepishly.

Fortier in the studio with Matt Greco

Who could have predicted which doors Fortier would open simply by listening to acoustic music?  After graduating high school in 2003 he moved to Eugene and completed the audio engineering program at Lane Community College.  It took him actually going through the entire program before realizing he wanted to do something else.  “I realized the technical side of sound wasn’t the side I was as interested in as I thought (though I do love recording, as I practically live in my studio).  In 2005, I started to perform solo and slowly began to grow and evolve into more of the sound people hear today.  I took a break from school to record my first album “drunk” at Sprout City Studios here in Eugene in 2006.  Then I ended up going back to school and graduating from the U of O in 2010 with a Sociology major/Writing minor.”
Fortier illustrates that there are many elements to writing a song.  And there are many ‘lives’ a song must endure before being released on a record.  “Songs for me, usually start with one lyrical line and from there, they build.  There are a few different stages in writing a song whether it takes 5 minutes or 5 weeks to write it.  The song evolves from the time of  conception till the time you perform it live.  Once it’s performed live the song can go one of three ways:  1.  the song could die there on the spot, 2.  keep its form or 3.  continue to evolve to what it needs (this could be a chord change, a different time signature or verse melody, or even key change).
A song then takes another life in the recording stage.  This is where I think a song truly lives or dies.  A good song unfortunately turns into a “bad” song pretty fast without the right production, recording, or intent.  I think there are four completely different “arts” in place that dictate the life of that song:   1. Writing 2. Performance 3. Production 4. Recording.  It’s my opinion that most people don’t understand that there is more to a song than simply writing it, performing it and or recording it. the studio.”

Tyler Fortier

“I think writing is the most fun element for me.  To sit with my ideas, to build and bring something to life; I love writing.  Inspiration on the other hand doesn’t come as easy as he would like.  “Inspiration comes and goes.  It’s like some days people feel really motivated and they make a to-do list.  They feel productive and decide to make some life changes.  But these kind of thoughts don’t happen every day (at least not for me).  I think we all know the sensation of a feeling coming over us, but then it’s gone; emotions, motivation, inspiration, etc.  Sometimes inspiration comes over me and then it’s gone as fast as it came.  It does seem, however, that the best songs always come by surprise.  And it seems when I’m not over-thinking or trying to force creativity, doors open up.”
It’s through this kind perseverance Fortier has doors opening up before him.  With a successful year, he reflects on his career.  “As an independent artist, the most challenging aspect for me is selling myself.  Poster printing, show booking, press kits, promotion, web updating, CD pressing and design.  I hate it all.   I just want to write songs and perform them for people who appreciate them.  I would rather play to a room of one who is attentive than to a room full of a hundred loud, indifferent listeners.  The really good shows are few and far between.  Good shows, to me are, attentive people who make an effort to connect to my lyrics, sign up on mailing list, purchase my music…it’s a really good feeling.”
“Anytime I sell a CD, honestly, is my proudest moment.  It’s so hard to make money as a traveling musician.There have also been a few occasions where someone has messaged me or told me that they really love a song of mine and listen to it all the time.  That’s enough to make a guy burst with pride.”

Fortier with Erin Flood

For Fortier connecting to his audience is a talent that seems to come as naturally as it does mysteriously.  “I think making people feel invested in a song, or in you, is a very tricky thing.  It’s a challenge to make people feel; whether that is happiness, sadness, thoughtfulness, or reflection, or anything at all.”
As a full-time singer/songwriter performer Fortier does make that connection with his audience, despite the fact that he hates selling himself and confesses “I’m not that good of a musician.  In fact, I don’t consider myself a musician at all.  I sort of play guitar.  I sort of play piano.  I kind of sing.  I’m a writer so I feel I am limited to what I can do musically.”

Tyler Fortier and his band

Limited or not, Fortier surrounds himself with very talented musicians on stage as well as in the studio. While the band line up changes from time to time, it’s been pretty much the same with Ben Klenz-drums, Joseph Intile-bass, Matt Greco-keys, Abby Young-violin, and Erin Flood-vocals.  Erik Berg-Johansen has been filling in w/electric guitar, violin, and mandolin and David Michael Frank has also contributed with electric guitar.  I have an amazing  and talented cast of musicians to help sort out all of my madness.”
Being in a band and a relationship concurrently can sometimes be taxing.  Fortunately for Fortier, his fiancé, Erin Flood, is also in the band.  “She’s an amazing singer.  She’s also an incredibly talented songwriter.   It’s always great getting to do things with your best friend.”
Unplugging from the demands of work is often somewhat of art as well.  Fortier takes comfort in the everyday “normal’  aspects of life.  “I’ve been so engulfed with music over the last 2 years it’s hard to even think about relaxing.  To relax, I play with my dog, Topper, or spend time with my fiancée, or pretend I don’t hate golf.  Maybe I’ll watch the TV shows 30 Rock or Scrubs?  Or I might have a “quarter-life” crises about my career decisions and money issues…you know, the usual.”

Tyler with his dog Topper

Looking toward the future Fortier says “I am feeling pretty accomplished at the moment.  Also really run down after such a long, tedious, and diligent year.  I won’t be recording any CD’s for a while and any touring I will be doing won’t be too far from home.  In 2012, I hope these records will receive the proper promotion they deserve.  I think people hear 3 CD’s in a year and think that I am just recording everything I write.  The truth is, I’ve thrown away half, if not more, of all the songs I wrote in 2010/11. The songs on these 3 CD’s are well thought out, well constructed, and something I am very proud of.  It has been a long process to get where I am today, and I hope in a few years I am even miles away from where I am today.”
Tyler Fortier

The Eager Beavers: Exposed

This article was originally published  on  10/11/2011 on http://eugenedailynews.com and is re-posted here with  permission.

by:  Nancy Glass – EDN

When was the last time you had a conversation with anyone where you openly asked if you could pay them to leave?  Or, in a non-inebriated state, discussed the various names for men’s and women’s genitalia? Or discussed with any other person, who you weren’t paying to be your therapist, the time when you were touched by an uncle?
Surprisingly enough, in the world of the band, The Eager Beavers, you would soon come to understand such taboo subject matter makes for engaging songs.  Their style is much like The Andrew Sisters, strong vocal harmonies in a swing style but shockingly peppered with a Gilda Radner and Sarah Silverman flair. Granted, with a name like The Eager Beavers, one has to assume this isn’t your  run-of-the-mill girl band.   These four very talented women met early in 2011 as a vaudevillian-type ensemble and are capitalizing upon their unique experiences as women, which provides for humorous songs, engaging performances and their special style of truth-telling.
This quartet consists of four very different women who thrive on sharing their “truths” on  what being a woman means.  On vocals, guitar and ukulele is Jamie Jameson.  Ali Losik also on vocals, keyboard and upright bass. Jonna Threlkeld on vocals, saxophone, clarinet and banjo and Cindy Ingram on washboard and ukulele.

The Eager Beavers Photo courtesy Alexandra Notman

Jameson tells me, “All we can do is laugh at the strangeness of the world. We aren’t trying to make a statement, but life is ironic.  You can’t take life too seriously.”
Losik adds, “We’re not trying to make a statement. We’re telling truth as we know it.”
While Ingram adds, “I love the controversial nature of our music. As a feminist I feel it’s an act of reclamation of the right to be strong, sexy, defiant, to speak of things that women are not supposed to talk about.”
Threlkeld explains how the band got its start and how their name came about.  “The four of us first got together in February 2011. Jamie and Ali had played in the Whiskey Spots together for years and knew Cindy from her music promotion around town. Cindy met me at an open mic and got us all together. We met at Jamie’s place and I don’t think a single one of us knew what to expect. We didn’t know what we were going to do or try to sound like, but we knew that we loved the idea of an all girls group and began learning quickly that we all had something great and different to bring to the table. After a couple of hours, we all got up to leave our first session.   Jamie proposed the band name ‘The Eager Beavers.’  We all died laughing and that was that.”

Ali Losik Photo courtesy David Heyer

Songwriter and keyboard player, Losik moved to Eugene in 2002 to attend grad school at the U of O after graduating college in Wisconsin.  When she was seven years old, she got a little keyboard for Christmas. She remembers,  “After learning how to play all the songs I knew, my parents decided it was time for piano lessons.”  For Losik, growing up, the hardest thing for her to overcome was Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and its restrictive effects.
“My right hand often just goes numb” she explains.  With two degrees in music she started performing in Eugene when she first arrived. “I played and sang in my own jazz combo. But, at the time, no one really liked jazz, so I started seeking out a lower-brow crowd. I had joined Jamie in the band, The Whiskey Spots, and after everyone else flaked out, we had Cindy and Jonna play with us. I still do solo, straight-up jazz shows if I ever have a free weekend.”
One of the two songwriters in the band, Losik explains how she gets inspired to write a song.  “Once I have an idea I can dig, the rest just spews out like unstoppable vomit. The best tunes, I find, I process for a while, then write everything down.  The song Touched By an Uncle had been percolating for some time.  Another song I wrote called My Pretty Little Pussy, a song about my cat, percolated for about a week, and then I wrote it in an afternoon.  I usually write the words first and then the chords and melody. But sometimes, like in the case of Squirt Alert, everything came together at once.  That one I wrote while I was camping, and sang it to my husband all night. He wanted to kill me,” Losik laughs. 

Jonna Threlkeld Photo courtesy of Phillip Pritting

Threlkeld’s interest in music began in the 5th grade when she got the Wizard of Oz soundtrack as a birthday present.  “I memorized the entire thing in a week. Then came The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkle, The Temptations, and Mama Cass. I love clarity in music. I love music that lets you really hear every part and makes you want to move, or feel something you couldn’t have felt on your own,” she says. “I have been in some sort of band, mostly school ensembles,  since I was in fourth grade when I started playing saxophone. I sang alone in front of people for the first time 8 months ago. It went way better than I expected. I met Cindy that night, and soon after, she introduced me to the other girls.”
I asked Threlkeld what kind of message she feels she’s sending to others when she performs. She tells me, “I tend to think a lot about what kind of message I’m sending when I perform. When you dance around on stage singing about…what makes the best lubricant, it’s hard to predict if your songs are ultimately going to help open up conversation about sex in a fun and healthy way, or if you just made the world a little bit dirtier.”

Cindy Ingram Photo courtesy Chris Birke

Ingram, washboard extraordinaire, became interested in music in a more indirect fashion.  “My ex ‘baby daddy’ is a musician. I spent a good eleven years supporting him in his music.  We were facing the possibility of divorce, so in an effort to find something we could do together, I started booking shows for his band, SILAS. I learned quickly that I had a knack for booking shows, marketing and general promotion. I then started booking other bands, managing acts and such. A few months later Steve and I broke up, the band broke up and I quit my job as a bureaucrat for the exciting challenge of being a full-time, self-employed music promoter. I ran my own business, Cindy Ingram Booking & Promotions, for almost six years, which included managing large festivals, creating events such as GRRRLZ Rock, Eugene Chosen, Kidz Rock and eventually managing the WOW Hall. About three years ago I went into the garage and banged on my son’s drums for the first time while listening to AC/DC. I liked being loud. A few months later I was in my first band, Chesapeake Blue. I did that for a while and then decided that I wanted to play the washboard. Months later I joined the bluegrass band, The Whiskey Chasers.  Then seven months ago I also joined this band,” she explains.
For Ingram the hardest thing to overcome has been “isms” such as classism, sexism, etc. all of which fueled her passion for the underdog. She tells me, “I am a first generation college grad and am driven to help other single moms deal with barriers to self-sufficiency and safety. I am also a survivor of sexual assault. I can’t overcome the challenge of being a women in a male dominated society, but I sure can make the most of it by embracing female positive environments, and having a good sense of humor about it.”

Jamie Jameson Photo courtesy Colton Williams

The band’s other songwriter, Jameson chimes in,  “In high school I dated a drummer for 5 years. He was always playing in different bands. Later, my husband played bass.  When we were splitting up his band left for a two month tour. The guitar player left his acoustic guitar at the house.  After a lot of persistence I picked it up, learning from various friends and books. I then enrolled in Lane Community College to learn the basics of music, but ended up staying a few years majoring in jazz guitar. That is what definitely made it possible to write music in my favorite style of music which is 20′s to 40′s swing. I then started a band called The Whiskey Spots that I played in, and wrote songs for which lasted about six years.”
For Jameson, inspiration comes in many different forms, “I end up hearing a funny, yet wrong joke, I work in a bar, so I hear a few. For the song Yer Mom I asked everyone I saw and texted everyone I knew to find out what their favorite names for genitalia were. Urban Dictionary also has very valuable information.  Or you can follow what Charlie Sheen says.  Ha Ha!”
With regards to the process of songwriting itself she explains, “Some songs are written immediately, but some take months. Or you hear a chord progression and know what fits where. I like to insert funny jokes I’ve heard into everything, especially songs. Everyone in this style performs covers true to form of this time period.  We still believe in the fact that lyrics mean something and identify with people. I guess in our case, we like to make people laugh in a South Park or Family Guy way.”
Two weeks ago the gals started laying down tracks at Fusion Bomb Studios for their debut CD scheduled for release in January 2012.  Not only do the girls have material for this CD (11 songs), but they are well on their way with material for their sophomore effort. Given the wide array of subject matter this band has in their songs its hard to believe that the girls draw a line when it comes to some subjects.
“Animal abuse is something we will never write about.  We will never write any kind of song that promotes racism either” Losik says.  However, such explosive topics as rape, abortion, and domestic violence apparently are fair game.

The Eager Beavers Photo courtesy Roger Rix

In much of the same context as the Vagina Monologues,  and despite their initial denial,  The Eager Beavers are making a statement with their music.  Ingram concedes, “We utilize powerful tools such as gallows humor and sarcasm to fight the barriers faced by the average female. We are a bit funny, shocking, sexy and darn musically talented.”
Threlked adds, “All four of us are very strong sensitive women.  Most women can relate to being taken advantage of by a man, or another human being.  We have just found a way to deal with it through funny songs and not being too serious.”
Even though the gals enjoy being on stage performing, being an Eager Beaver comes with a price.  How would you explain to YOUR parents you’re in a band whose material is of a taboo sexual nature?  For at least two members of the band, relationships with parents have been strained.  Not to mention the fall-out from their male fans thinking that these beautiful women have any intention or desires for them.  “My husband loves the fact I’m in the band and hates it at the same time,” says Losik.
But there are both artistic and emotional rewards for artistic integrity. Threlkeld explains, “After a show  we are met with so many smiles and kudos for what we are doing. I think in general, people really like and appreciate us bringing to the table, in a light-hearted way, topics that never get discussed but that so many people go through.”
Ingrid adds, “Recently I met some young women who told me they were inspired by me and one of them purchased a washboard.  I am just proud when I can stop thinking and just play without fear. This is when I am my best.”
Jameson responds, “I think when people enjoy what we are doing I feel happy to be doing what I’m doing.”
To help ensure people enjoy what The Eager Beavers are doing and recognizing they are controversial in their subject matter, the band actually reads a disclaimer during their set.  Much like the controversy of physical exposure, these women emotionally avail themselves to the naked and raw sentiment of their femininity and write about it in songs that are memorable.  Their three-part vocal harmonies provide a sharp contrast to the lyrical content, and are powerfully evocative and tight.  Their style is undeniably unique.
Fans who enjoy the Andrews Sisters song, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, or Ella Fitzgerald’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, would enjoy the musicianship of this band.  And for those fans with a penchant for sexually perverse, bawdy humor bordering on the disturbing, all the better.  Either way, these ladies are having a ball and are not ashamed.
Threlkeld sums up the band’s esprit de corps simply,  “Being in The Eager Beavers has been  amazing. The lyrics are so fun and the song concepts so meaningful, yet light-heartedly conveyed. We’re just having fun being women and musicians.”