Howard Brothers Band
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Howard Brothers Band

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"10th Great Atlanta Blues Festival"

We really enjoyed listening to your music. Your sound is innovative and creative - Dr. Love


"ClassX Radio"

The Howard Brothers Band was soooooo freaking loud, but so incredibly good! It wasn't like the place had a million people in it, or was sold out by any means, but they took the stage and performed like it was."
- ClassX Radio


"Time-trippin' trio works a '70s vibe on 'Catch the Party Train'"

BY interveiw by brian baker | Posted 08/27/2008

Hanging with the Howard Brothers Band is like time tripping through calendars past. To drive home the point, guitarist/vocalist Steve Howard, his bassist brother Aaron and their uncle, drummer Tim Blankenship, draw me into a foosball game in the basement of Mason's Brazenhead Cafe at the start of our interview. I haven't touched a foosball table since college, evidenced by some sloppy goalkeeping, but luckily Aaron is good enough for both of us and we eke out a narrow victory.
"For the record, we kicked their asses," says Aaron afterward Ah, the advantages of rose-tinted hindsight.

For that same record, while HBB may glean inspiration from '70s hall-of-fame Blues Rock on their debut CD, Catch the Party Train, the trio doesn't practice historical revisionism. They prefer celebration without glorification.

"First it was him, breaking out Robin Trower and Mahogany Rush albums," says Steve Howard, nodding toward Blankenship. "At the time, he and I were in a band called Affinity which was '80s Rock and Metal. I was only 16, and he had me listening to old Montrose, Pat Travers ... good stuff."

The Howards and Blankenship have been working and playing around town in various forms over the years, most recently characterized by Steve's stint in Severed.

When he began writing songs that clearly didn't fit the Metal mold, he recruited Blankenship to help flesh them out during occasional basement jams.

With Severed's 2005 demise, Steve decided to form a new band around his '70s-influenced material. When an early bassist departed, Steve recruited his guitarist brother Aaron, convincing him he should drop a couple of strings. The Howard Brothers Band was officially launched.

When their original drummer couldn't commit to regional touring, the Howards convinced their uncle Tim to fill the void, and HBB became a family affair. Almost immediately they began recording, but fate dealt them a bad hand: Blankenship's mother -- the Howards' grandmother -- fell ill and passed away last summer. The loss exacted an understandable toll.

"We listened to everything back and you could tell we were depressed," says Steve. "I was like, 'We're going to have to do it over. That's all there is to it.' It was a rough summer."

After scrapping much of the recording done during that difficult period, the trio went back to the drawing board, revisiting the material with a fresh perspective and a renewed sense of purpose. But once again, progress was derailed by a succession of issues, including therapy for Steve's nerve damaged left hand, Aaron's neck surgery and Blankenship's back surgery earlier this year.

"We're the most broke down band in the city," says Steve with a laugh.

Blankenship did his drum tracks in January and went under the knife the following month. While he recuperated, the Howards recorded their parts in Steve's home studio. In the midst of finishing Catch the Party Train, HBB has been active locally at Loveland's Shady O'Grady's, among other local spots, and done a good deal of regional touring, going into Pennsylvania, West Virginia and all over the general tri-state area. Wherever they play, they bring a solid work ethic.

"We put the effort in," says Aaron. "You get back what you put into it and we put as much into it as we can."

"And it's not always about the money," says Blankenship. "We practice more than most bands, we're traveling quite a bit and doing the jobs, too. We'll go out of our way to play for a few people or a lot."

Part of HBB's mission statement was to reflect the visceral Blues Rock vibe that was so prevalent in the '70s. They've captured that essence on Catch the Party Train and amp it up even further during their live appearances.

"It's more about keeping a vibe alive," says Steve. "The '90s music scene got real boring for me and so I turned hard to the Blues and it evolved back into this '70s Rock thing. We wanted to go for that timeless genre. It might sound like something from the '70s but we're from 2008, and we're OK with that."

A powerful aspect of HBB's dynamic sound is obviously the genetic connection. The two-brother-and-an-uncle set up is a natural.

"We keep writing, and it just flows out of us because we're related," says Aaron. "We all like the same stuff."

Another part of HBB's raison d'etre is trying to recapture the spirit that was rampant in the local music scene in the '80s, when Short Vine was always happening and bands and audiences shared a special, more personal bond.

"We like to create a party atmosphere," says Steve Howard. "Just have a good time. From traveling around, we see a lack of that in Cincinnati, and our city is big enough to have a good time. We're having a good time. Come out and have one with us. Get off the couch."



- City Beat Magazine


"Jammin with The Howard Brothers Band"

http://www.eastsidevibe.com/AugustHowardBrothersBand.html

1) Introduce the band and tell us where your from and how you all got together.





I am Aaron Howard and I play Bass, I am Tim Blankenship and I play the drums, and I am Steve Howard and I am the guitarist/vocalists. We are family. Aaron and Steve are brothers and Tim is our uncle. We all pretty much grew up on the east side of town in ..Loveland.. and ....Milford..... Steve and Tim have been in bands together on and off for the last twenty years



2) Eastside Howard Brothers Fans have been talking about your debut CD "Catch the Party Train". Tell us about the making of it and when was it released?





The cd was released in August of 2008 and was almost entirely recorded in our home studio. We had so much fun putting this material out, we got to bring in our friend Pete Laub to play some percussion and we are excited to start the progress over again as we have really played it out hard over the last year with extensive weekend warrior like touring all over the region. It was long strange trip leading up to that release. Some of the songs from party train were written the very first day Aaron picked up the bass over 5 years ago. Back then they had more of a Candlebox, Extreme, and Tesla type vibe. Steve and Aaron then went on to play in a metal band (Severed) for a couple of years and it wasn’t till that came to an end did we decide to create the Howard Brothers Band. When the brothers recruited Tim back to jam is when those songs really took shape and become what they are today. And while the songs have been totally re done and sound nothing like they did when they were first written they actually go back some time.

3) We have to say, the CD rocks! We love how the track "Better" is reminiscent of a Tesla tune, one of the best (and most under rated) 80's bands ever. Tracks "Remember" and "When I'm Gone" are definitely "Trowerish" (that's always a good thing). Another cool tune "Devils Reign" incorporates a didgeridoo and tribal drum intro to a heavy Trower-esque guitar riff with tough Soundgarden like vocals stapled to it. Very cool. The title track "Party Train" combines hard edged spinning metal riffs with rap like vocals, another tune with a fresh 2009 flavor. The track "Want" is perhaps the down and dirtiest one of all, screaming solos and cool effects make this tune stand out too. "Passing Time" is an introspective Endeavour; it may even qualify as the CD's ballad (heavy but perhaps it still qualifies as a ballad nonetheless). Overall the CD has a 2009 sound steeped in powerful classic rock riffs with pedal to the metal guitar and rock solid rhythm. Bottom line, we dig brothers, we dig.
Share with us the feedback you've had so far on this original creation.





First of all, wow, thank you for all of those kind words. Some of the comparisons are new and very complimentary; we love all of the bands you mention. We got a lot of similar responses as far as the trower. We got a lot of Gov’t Mule as well. The response has been great world wide. We are currently on the radio across Europe and a few places in ..America.. including ....New York.... and our own Webn and Classx. Our online cd sales in ..Europe.. actually are better than in the States. We get a huge response from our live shows, which is where we shine. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. We look forward to putting out the next round of ideas and see if they are as accepted.


4) We get a lot of local bands making comments about "....Cincinnati.... doesn't like original music" and the like. If you’re a reader you already know we focus on original music (and we're in ....Cincinnati.... so there). We also get more feedback from original artist's work than cover bands. How do you see the ....Cincinnati.... music market in terms of popularity of original artists?





....Cincinnati.... is rich with very talented musicians. For all of us in the biz we see it easily, and I think bands do a great job of promoting too. The local media like Eastside Vibe keep it alive for sure. Over all the music scene is hurting locally in the terms of fan turn out. Could be a sign of the financial times, but it seems to have been this way for quite a while. We play out a lot and we hit big cities and small towns. We would go out as far to say, ....Cincinnati.... bands can hang with any of the bands we have seen on the road. Bottom line is Cincinnati has great original bands that I would put up against any other city, just not enough people getting out to appreciate it. So in my best Bootsy Collins voice I would like to encourage everyone to get out and see a band you normally would not by saying you got to Catch the Party Train, Baby.


5) What percentage of your live show is originals vs. covers? What drives the set list?





Depend on the style of show. We play 100% original usually for "concert" style shows. These are usually about 60 to 90 minutes. We also do "cover or bar style" shows, that run from about 10pm till 2am, but that always includes our originals as well. If we are told we can't do our originals, we don't play that venue, so for those it is probably 70% cover. HBB has played over 70 shows with approximately 40 of them being the all original “concert style” and the remainder the cover or bar shows. When you like to play as much as we do those bar shows are a necessary evil to fund the traveling and the recording and the partying. Those shows tend to become real parties.





As far as what drives the set list? High energy all the time. We like to smack you in the face from the first note. Each set is a concert in an arena to us. We don’t care if we are playing for 20 or 2,000. Our goal is to win anyone over that has not seen a live HBB show. Guitar oriented Rock and Roll drives the list.



6) You guys are all over town, playing electric and acoustic, any particular favorite places to play?
Any memorable moments/shows that really stands out?





For the East Side, definitely JB's and the acoustic shows at Mama Vita's have reached legendary status on the party meter. Branching out I would say Bogart's, Northside Tavern, Southgate House, Madison Theatre. Our favorite places are where the people are having a good time and enjoying the music...no matter where it’s at.





There are lots of memorable shows but a lot of them we can’t remember, We have been blessed with playing with some big national acts. We did a show at the Mad Frog with our heroes from the Screaming Cheetah Wheelies who are now the band Stack, and they were very complimentary to us and our music. Very good feeling! Also, we went on the road with our good friends Grooveshire who are also from the Nati, and needed liver transplants by the time we got back. The Charleston and Pittsburgh shows were memorable to say the least. That show is always a party. The response from the Robin Trower show was also special.






7) What's coming up in the Howard Brothers live show schedule?





We have a few shows left before we bring it down a bit to go back into the studio. We are looking forward to playing the Grooveshire’s EP release show, we have another Acoustic show at Mama V’s in August, were doing a festival with Sonny Moorman Group and another Bike event for Harley Davidson and that is about it for the year. All of the best HBB updates and show schedules can be found at www.howardbrothersband.com and we encourage everyone to sign up for the mailing list there.

8) We love your blog entry titled "HBB sells Shady O' Grady's out of 5 kinds of beer" is this true? Are going for 6 next time?





This is absolutely true. Our fans drink a lot. We think our music encourages and makes it easy to get sloppy drunk.





Are going for 6 next time?





We set alcohol records frequently. We sold 5 1/2 bottles of 1.75 liter Jager at the Last Mama Vita's show and have two on the hall of fame that the band drank by ourselves. Mom should be so proud.


9) We're sure with your schedule you don't get much personal time on the other side of the stage but share with us some of your favorite local bands to see?





As we have mentioned before we really like Grooveshire and what they do. There are so many to mention but off the top of my head I really enjoy Bob Cushing, Scotty Bratcher, Pearlene, Dallas Moore, Noctaluca, The Ohms, Buffalo Killers, Heartless Bastards and I could go on and on. And we apologize up front to all of those who we spaced when answering.


- East Side Vibe


"Voted Best Modern Rock by Eastside Vibes 2009 Readers Chocie awards"

http://www.eastsidevibe.com/BestOf2009Winners.html


BEST MODERN ROCK BAND
Howard Brothers Band
www.myspace.com/howardbrotherband
The Howard Brothers showcase their talents on their latest CD catch The Party Train. Check out their website to see more. - East Side Vibe


"November 2009 Band of the Month"

www.cincygroove.com - Cincy Groove


"Kind Words From a local writer"

How are these guys getting so much recognition in town? I went out and listened to their music on their website. It's good solid rock. No frills, no gimmicks. It's in your face good old American Rock and Roll. I think I've found a local band that can actually write songs and play them! And after seeing the upcoming show list they must be doing something right. This band is booked solid and has been for months now according to their schedule. I've put off going to one of the shows but now it's time. OK Cincinnati, you wanted some real rock and roll, let's help support the local bands that are putting out the effort that The Howard Brothers Band is. Tons of promotion going on with this band. A+ for effort. A+ for music. A+ for keeping this town alive...GOOD JOB HOWARD BROTHERS! - post on citybeat.com


Discography

Catch The Party Train - Release August 30th 2008
Sophmore Release -due Spring 2010

Photos

Bio

The Howard Brothers Band began as a labor of love for Bassist, Aaron Howard and Guitarist/Vocalist Steven Howard along with their uncle Tim Blankenship, who has participated in many past projects dating back twenty years, and is credited with giving the brothers their start. Trial and tribulation is nothing new for this band. Their never say die work ethic and relentless gigging have not only thickened the bloodline in this family matter, but it has also given them the will to power through near career ending injuries and family demise. The result is a true brotherhood that has a magnetic pull, surrounding you in a positive vibe. With influences like Gov't Mule, Led Zeppelin, and the Screaming Cheetah Wheelies, woven into their original sound and tangled in a heap of groove, you are guaranteed a good time as you "Catch the Party Train" with the Howard Brothers Band!
HBB is currently recording the much anticipated sophomore release due spring 2010. Riding the success of the debut CD release “Catch The Party Train”, the band has recently enjoyed a six week radio feature on Axecalibur WITR 89.7 FM Rochester NY, Pulsions 70 transmitting in the east of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and in the south of Germany, as well as their home town ClassX 88.9 FM and Native Noise on WEBN 102.7. This has lead to shows with many Regional and National acts like Robin Trower, ZO2 and Seven Mary Three, Blessed Union of Souls and more, earning the band the reputation as a live force to be reckoned with.