Good Brother Earl

By Regis Behe
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 1, 2004


"Cain & Abel," a song on Good Brother Earl's self-titled new album, encapsulates the band's diversity. Originally performed acoustically during live shows, the band transforms it into a high-octane rave-up that would sound great in a roadhouse with sawdust on the floor, or at a huge outdoor amphitheater.
"It's a song that, we don't really know what to call it," lead singer Jeff Schmutz says. "It's sort of like bluegrass and techno at the same time. So it's really a hybrid that came out of nowhere."

It's also an apt description of Good Brother Earl, which unveils the CD Friday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Station Square. Schmutz and bassist Dan Paolucci come from rock backgrounds, while fellow members Skip Sanders (keyboards), Paul Fitzsimmons (guitars) and drummer Alex Peck are steeped in jazz.

"That combination makes it hard to describe," Paolucci says.

But if a similar diversity works for the Dave Matthews Band, Good Brother Earl shouldn't have a problem attracting fans. The new, handsomely packaged release has a heartland feel and tone that is immediately familiar. The band's repertoire ranges from "No Man's Island," a cinematic driving song to the bluesy "Waking Up in the Same World," to "Lonely Heart," which uses Sanders' clavinet to create a haunting, ethereal melody.

While Schmutz and Paolucci are the principle songwriters, they both insist the process is collaborative.

"I usually just have a chord structure, a melody and some words," Schmutz says. "It's 'hey guys, I have a song,' and within 10 minutes everyone adds their little thing to it."

Formed in 2001, the band has released a live album of original material, but decided to concentrate on live performances before going into the studio.

"Because it's so hard to get on the radio now, the only resources you have to get fans and get your name out there is to put on a great live show," Paolucci says.

"It's been a complete guerilla promotion," Schmutz says. "You go out and beg people to buy tickets, and you play everywhere you can."

The group has played at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, been an opening act at the Big Shindig at the Chevrolet Amphitheatre for Guster and Maroon 5, performed in New York City and was joined by Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley for a few songs during a set in Washington, D.C., last year.

Now, it's a matter of getting the music heard. While there's no discernible niche the band easily fits in -- perhaps Americana? -- Good Brother Earl intends to use its diversity as a marketing tool rather than a limitation.

"We've always said once we get through the first door, we'll catch on," Schmutz says. "We've had kids who are 8 years old come up and tell us they love us, and people who are 60 say they love us. So, we like to think there's something for everybody."


Regis Behe can be reached at rbehe@tribweb.com or (412)320-7990.

- PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE REVIEW

By BRIAN PALMER
Staff Writer
April 02, 2004


It's hard to describe the kind of music Good Brother Earl plays. It's a little bit of rock, a little bit of country and a little bit of jam, all mixed together to make an incredible sound. The combination of music is hard to compare to any other music released today. And all of this comes from right here in Pittsburgh.

Formed in 1998, GBE started playing the college circuit, working hard to get its name out there. The band members moved around the Northeast, playing at various venues in Ohio, New York and Maryland. Last summer, they played Lollapalooza when it came through Pittsburgh. They have also shared the stage with Maroon 5, Guster and Marc Broussard at the Big Shindig.

While the band was playing a show in Washington, D.C., Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley joined them onstage and jammed alongside the band members for three of their songs. And they joined in for one of Boyd's songs, "True Reflections."

Needless to say, GBE has made a name for itself already, and is working on expanding on that reputation as it releases its new, self-titled album tonight, at a record-release party at Hard Rock Cafe.

Some of the songs on this album were released on earlier albums, but GBE feels that this is the sound it has been looking for all along. The release is powered from track one to track twelve with a lyric-driven rock sound that takes you on an emotional ride you don't want to stop.

With the deep and sometimes raspy vocals of front man Jeff Schmutz, the emotions are heartfelt through every song, especially on the tracks "Another Rainy Day" and "How Many Times." These songs remind you of the emotional vocals and lyrics of The Clarks' Scott Blasey.

With songs that swing with smooth rocking guitars like "The Stranger" -- which also has a very prominent piano part playing right behind the guitars -- GBE mixes different sounds through all of its songs. The result is an eclectic sound that never gets boring.

Songs that rock with driving guitars and hard-hitting drums like "Waking Up in the Same World" and "Six" keep the music driving forward. They don't lose a beat and keep your toes tapping at the same time. All of the songs have powerful lyrics like in the chorus of "Six" Schmutz wails, "It gets lonely in this place/ there's a boy behind that face/ I'm in need of some kind of miracle/ return my heart to gold/ always falling down is growing old."

And GBE even has the sweet songs that resonate along with the powerful rocking tracks, songs that are laid back and have lyrics that make you think. One example of this would be the track "Firefly," where Schmutz sings about remembering his younger years when there were care-free times, late in the summer spending time catching fireflies.

The last track of the album, "Lonely Heart," is an upbeat love song, filled with strings strumming through the verses and ringing loud in the chorus. Schmutz sings about finding love by chance and having to deal with distance in a relationship. "It's a timeless tale of boy and girl and chance encounters/ throw in an airport gate an empty slate and send some flowers/ so I hear that absence makes a lonely heart grow fonder/ is there no limit to where a lonely man will wander?"

Through the years, Good Brother Earl has gathered a strong fan base right here in the City of Pittsburgh. And the band members have worked as hard as any other band in the industry to increase that fan base. With this solid album -- crisp sounding, wispy vocals and powerful heartfelt lyrics -- GBE looks like it's on the right foot to move forward in an industry that needs a make-over in the form of great, original music.

The self-titled album is available at CD Warehouse in Oakland or online at www.goodbrotherearl.com. Or better yet, go to the CD release party tonight at Hard Rock Cafe, and pick up a copy from the hands that put it out there. Catch Good Brother Earl tonight as they celebrate their CD release in festive fashion at Hard Rock Cafe. The 21+ show starts at 9:30 p.m. with tickets set at $5. For more information, call (412) 481-7625.

- PITT NEWS (UNIVERSITY)

Friday, April 02, 2004

By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Last spring, Good Brother Earl was booked to play a fund-raiser in D.C. as the opening act for Boyd Tinsley, the charismatic violinist for the Dave Matthews Band. When Tinsley's band couldn't make it, the violinist offered to show up anyway and jam with the boys from Pittsburgh.

There wasn't even time for rehearsal. "He came up on stage, and he was just Boyd Tinsley, this big presence, slinging his hair around," says Good Brother Earl frontman Jeff Schmutz. "All we had to do was tell him what key the song was in."

Good Brother Earl and Boyd Tinsley were a perfect fit, considering how strong an influence the DMB was on GBE, a band also made up of an acoustic singer-songwriter backed by a crack band of jazz-trained musicians.

"We were aware of it," Schmutz says of the similarities. "That's one thing we get at our shows -- 'Play some Dave Matthews!' Any twentysomething white guy with an acoustic probably automatically gets lumped in with Dave Matthews."

There was also the fact that on "Work in Progress," Good Brother Earl's previous record, a live one, sounded like a band with a serious jones for the DMB.

But -- surprise! -- that's all changed with a new self-titled release that the band considers to be its proper debut. Good Brother Earl has tightened the songs, added some sonic muscle and studio sheen and it sounds like its own band, albeit one influenced by the likes of Pearl Jam, Ryan Adams, U2 and even the Southern gothic band Sixteen Horsepower on the alt-country freak-out "Cain & Abel."

"We were trying to get a little bit more poppy, a little bit more mainstream. We probably started out with a little more of the jam-band thing in mind, which was cool. The last record we did was a live one; we wanted to capture our improv solos and stuff like that. This one we wanted to get in the studio and put a little more industry shine on it."

Good Brother Earl formed in 1998 when Schmutz, a North Hills native, returned from college in Delaware and hooked up with bassist-songwriter Dan Paolucci. They eventually settled on band with three players packing solid jazz backgrounds: guitarist Paul Fitzsimmons, keyboardist Skip Sanders and drummer Alex Peck.

"The cool thing with this band is that Dan and I will come to them with an idea. I just usually have a vocal melody, the lyrics and chords with a guitar. And they all add their own part. I think their jazz background plays a part in that but always ends up sounding better than I thought it would in my head. We jell really well together."

What helps set them apart from any old jam band is that Schmutz and Fitzsimmons approach the band with a greater degree of intelligence and thought put into the lyrics. Schmutz lists everyone from Matthews and Eddie Vedder to Bob Dylan and Paul Simon as influences.

His writing chops are evident from the opening track of "No Man's Land," when he sings, with a bit of Steve Earle-like growl, "I wish you were a lot of things/but seldom things come true/this place smells of loneliness and things that trouble you/you're the stranger on the street that stumbles talking to his feet/walking like the funeral that no one came to see."

"Both Dan and I put a lot of time into our lyrics. I don't know if sometimes it shoots us in the foot," he says, "because pop songs today are usually these quick, three-minute songs about a girlfriend or a breakup or something really easy. I think sometimes we put a little too much thought into it."

Not that the band couldn't fix the occasional over-reaching lyric with a little dressing. "The great thing about being in a band like this is that you don't get lumped into singer-songwriter genre. You try to write the best songs you can, but there's always the really good guitar line or keyboard line over top of it."

Although Good Brother Earl has delivered a tighter set on its latest release, it isn't planning to deconstruct its approach as a live band

"We went into it thinking we would trim it up for the album, but we will do the extended guitar solos and things on stage. I don't think we'll ever abandon our jam roots."




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Scott Mervis can be reached at smervis@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2576. ) - PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

Good Brother Earl doesn't have MTV beating down its door yet, but the Pittsburgh band is getting some attention from American Movie Classics. AMC is using the GBE song "Lonely Heart" this month in its promotional campaign for "Movies at 8." GBE joins past "Movies at 8" contenders Robert Randolph, Ben Jelen and Sondre Lerche.

"Waking Up in the Same World," another song from its latest, self-titled record, has been added to the Unsigned Band Channel on XM Satellite Radio.

You can find Good Brother Earl in acoustic mode playing live from Joseph-Beth Booksellers at the new SouthSide Works on East Carson Street at noon Sunday as part of WYEP's annual Alternative Souper Bowl food drive benefiting Hearth, a community outreach program for homeless and displaced women with children. The band will also be at Mr. Small's Theatre next Friday with Lovedrug, Eric James and School of Athens
- PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE