Minor Rewind

The old adage is you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But the K.C. band Minor Rewind wants people to judge it by its covers.

“A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, cover bands. Blah. Whatever.’ But none of the songs that we play sound the same as the (original) versions,” lead singer Maddison Ogden says. “We work hard to play them differently.”

The band will be performing with Act Naturally at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, at Cafe Acoustic Concert Hall, 1918 Frederick Ave.

Originally formed in high school, the five-piece band has talent beyond its years and is able to cover songs from Queens’s rip-roaring “Tie Your Mother Down” and Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” to alt-rock favorites like Bishop Briggs’ “River” and Alabama Shakes’ “Gimme All Your Love.”

It speaks to the wide range of musical tastes and talents in the band, from Ogden’s dexterous voice, Andy Bielby’s talented guitar work and the stunning rhythm section of Dax Mullendore on drums to Robert Showers on bass and Richie St. John on keyboards and guitar.

When the band was younger, it was used to be people lowering their expectations. After all, it was a bunch of young kids, what were they going to do — play Green Day covers?

“We show up to a gig and these people are like, ‘Oh, these little kids aren’t going to know what the hell they’re doing’ and then we’ll come out with ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’” Ogden says. “I love surprising an audience like that.”

With Ogden leading the band, she says she feels people underestimate her.

“They’re always like, ‘Oh, she’s not going to know what she’s doing. She’s got blue hair. She’s not going to know what to do.’ It’s just funny to blow them out of the water,” she says.

Growing up singing in a church choir and listening to artists like Heart, Ogden was used to strong female voices empowering her to let her emotions out through song. But it was a Canadian pop star that really got to her.

“It’s embarassing, but I think as a young kid, listening to Justin Bieber was really what got me super into (music). I was like, ‘Oh I can do this. He’s super young, I can do it too,’” she says.

Joining the School of Rock band when she was young, Ogden got promoted to its premier House Band and eventually, its All Star touring band.

“It was a big, big deal for School of Rock and big deal for any musician’s dream, being as young as 9 and being able to tour the U.S.,” she says.

Ogden’s dream was realized when the School of Rock tour ended up in Chicago, where singers from the group, including Ogden, were chosen to perform with the alt-rock band Portugal. The Man at Lollapalooza.

“(They were) like, ‘We need a few singers. We’re going to sing ‘We Are The Champions’ by Queen.’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re Portugal. The Man,” Ogden says. “The next day at Lollapalooza at Grant Park, I got to sing on the main stage in front of 50,000 people.”

That opportunity led to multiple gigs, including auditioning for NBC’s “The Voice” in California and opening for bands like John Schlitt of Head East and Petra.

The next step for the band is to start performing and recording its original tunes while paying the bills with its unique spin on cover tunes.

“We really want to do originals and get to the point where 96.5 (The Buzz) is playing our music, where we can tour the U.S. on our own and just be able to do what we want to do together,” Ogden says.

Where the music might take the band and what type of music it will be playing is anyone’s guess. Ogden says she’s currently listening to everything from punk and alt-rock bands like Neck Deep and Highly Suspect to R&B star SZA and pop-rock band Paramore.

“I love all kinds of music. I’m not against anything. Well, maybe country,” she says, laughing.

Andrew Gaug can be reached at andrew.gaug@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SJNPgaug. - St. Joe Live