Red Tail Hawk

By Katie Lovett Features Editor The Daily News of Newburyport Thu Feb 24, 2011, 03:59 AM EST

It's a concert series that only comes along every 20 years.

The Firehouse Center for the Arts is marking their two-decade milestone with a 10-show bash that will span the course of several months.

"One of the reasons we are here is because of the talented musicians we have locally," said Kimm Wilkinson, director of productions for the Firehouse. "We want to highlight them. With our 20th anniversary, we want to celebrate those with us from the beginning who brought us to where we are now."

The concerts will begin this weekend and continue through November.

Taking the stage will be a variety of local favorites and well-known bands, including Pleasant Valley Social Club, Red Tail Hawk, Kate Redgate, EJ Ouellette and Crazy Maggie, and the Beatles tribute band, All Together Now.

For the musicians, the chance to play during the anniversary celebration is a tempting one.

"We are all Newburyport natives, pretty much born and raised here," said Ben Zanfagna, the songwriter for Red Tail Hawk. Having grown up in the city and having visited the Firehouse to see performances, the band feels fortunate to play on the stage, he added.

The band's members, which include songwriter/singer/saxophonist, Benny Zanfagna, bassist/arranger, Mike Gruen, producer/multi-instrumentalist Alex Sandman and drummer/arranger, Brett Bashaw, were all friends as they grew up together.

"It's so cool; it's just so cool," he said. "We are humbled by the opportunity. It's a great honor."

Formed last year, the group of 20-and-30-somethings came together after the four members all returned home after leaving Newburyport. They are in the process of creating a full-length record and releasing their first extended play album.

The music is "eclectic" with elements of rock, acoustic, roots and jazz, Zanfagna said.

"We are all musicians of varying tastes," he said.

For Bill Plante, who will kick off the series Saturday at 8 p.m. with the Pleasant Valley Social Club — and fellow members Ed Passarella, Jeff Philcrantz, Tod Campbell, James Fitzgerald and Albert Lamaron — the show is a homecoming of sorts.

"Back then, I was a member of the group that was featured as part of the Firehouse opening celebration," he said. Their song cycle focused on the life of an early settler "Great Watt" or Walter Bagnall.

"It was a terrific experience to do that," Plante said. "The place was brand-new; there was just a tremendous sense of energy in the air."

With the concert, the band of six years is celebrating with the city, he said.

"We'd like to give something back to the community," Plante said. "Music is an opportunity for fellowship, craft, creativity — love. That's what this is all about."

During this weekend's show, the group will be joined by Dave Drouin of The Brew on guitar, and Lynne Taylor and Liz Frame, of Liz Frame and the Kickers, on vocals and percussion.

"The songs are the heart of this group," Plante said.

The concert series allows for members of groups like Plante's — who have full-time careers and for whom music is a side job — to move from playing at restaurants and benefits to the Firehouse stage, Wilkinson said.

The series will introduce their music to the community and "to celebrate and support their endeavors," she said.

The series is sponsored by the Institution for Savings.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: 10-for-20 Music Series

WHEN: Now through November

WHERE: Firehouse Center for the Arts, Market Square, Newburyport

TICKETS: Call the Box Office at 978-462-7336 or visit online at www.firehouse.org
- Newburyport News

For the record, I think the production on this EP is spectacular.

Lyrically speaking, Benny Z has a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve. In the past, with a more pared down sound, his style has been almost too vulnerable and diaphanous. This new incarnation of Ben Zanfagna’s music, however, which includes Mike Gruen on Bass, Brett Bashaw on Drums, Alexander Sandman on Guitar/Keys/Production, and Ben on Vocals, Guitar, & Tenor/Soprano Saxophone lends itself better to his style of writing. His straightforward and transparent words are supported more substantially by the multiple tracks of instrumentation and harmony, and the arrangement of said layers is ideal.

The acoustic beginning of “Trees” into the symphonic harmony-ridden climax is an energetic and organic opener, leading into the the 70's arena acid-rock “Bilderberg” that reminds me, strangely enough of Twin Shadow’s “Castles in the Snow” mixed with Pink Floyd’s whole Dark Side of the Moon (ok I know that’s a crazy comparison but I think it’s the harmonies – “Your Elvis song in my ear That moonlit voice that I hear”/ “All that is now All that is gone All that’s to come”). A tiny hint of an organ on “I Do” is my favorite little touch, a sweet marriage of sax into a rhodes-ish fade out.

This feels like a tentative taste of what this band is capable of. I’m looking forward to their show on March 12 at the Firehouse to see what else they’ve got up their sleeves.

(photos by lydia see, no use w/o permission)

from the band:

“Songwriter/singer/saxophonist, Benny Zanfagna, bassist/arranger, Mike Gruen, producer/multi-instrumentalist, Alex Sandman and drummer/arranger,Brett Bashaw have teamed up to form “Red Tail Hawk.” All members are Newburyport natives and were friends growing up. According to Benny, “We all studied music formally and independently, toured with national and semi-national acts and came home to reconnect. The result is a culmination of worldly experiences…”
Both Benny and Alex played with the band “Endway” during separate periods. First Benny helped co-write and produce Endway’s sophomore release ‘Action,’ and toured with the band for one year. After being signed with Wind-up Records as the producer/guitarist of “The Rideaways,” Alex joined “Endway” filling the role of bassist and co-writer on Endway’s third release, ‘Running Man’ (each available for free at endway.com). Among Mike Gruen’s accolades he studied at Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA and has shared the stage with some of the most prominent jazz cats in New England. Brett returned to Newburyport after playing professionally with pianist, Rob Gonzalez.

Zanfagna continues, “We are grateful to one another. Each player brings a unique approach to the songs and we all contribute to the arrangements. It is a rare artistic collaboration and the ceiling is much higher because of this…”

“Red Tail Hawk” will be releasing their debut record in the form of an EP this Spring. The band’s performance of Benny’s songs and Alex’s production create an eclectic mix of roots, rock, world, jazz and psychedelic. Inspired by a love for nature, and passion for living, look for “Red Tail Hawk” everywhere online and at http://theredtailhawk.com“

Purchase tickets online here: http://www.firehouse.org or call the Firehouse Box Office directly at 978.462.7336. - Lydia See

Songwriter/singer/saxophonist, Benny Zanfagna, bassist/arranger, Mike Gruen, producer/multi-instrumentalist, Alex Sandman and drummer/arranger, Brett Bashaw have teamed up to form "Red Tail Hawk." All members are Newburyport natives and were friends growing up. According to Benny, "We all studied music formally and independently, toured with national and semi-national acts and came home to reconnect. The result is a culmination of worldly experiences..."

Both Benny and Alex played with the band "Endway" during separate periods. First Benny helped co-write and produce Endway's sophomore release 'Action,' and toured with the band for one year. After being signed with Wind-up Records as the producer/guitarist of "The Rideaways," Alex joined "Endway" filling the role of bassist and co-writer on Endway's third release, 'Running Man' (each available for free at endway.com). Among Mike Gruen's accolades he studied at Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA and has shared the stage with some of the most prominent jazz cats in New England. Brett returned to Newburyport after playing professionally with pianist, Rob Gonzalez.

Zanfagna continues, "We are grateful to one another. Each player brings a unique approach to the songs and we all contribute to the arrangements. It is a rare artistic collaboration and the ceiling is much higher because of this..."

"Red Tail Hawk" will be releasing their debut record in the form of an EP this Spring. The band's performance of Benny's songs and Alex's production create an eclectic mix of roots, rock, world, jazz and psychedelic. Inspired by a love for nature, and passion for living, look for "Red Tail Hawk" everywhere online and at http://theredtailhawk.com

Better still, hear them live at the Firehouse on the Arakelian Stage in one of the most intimate venues around the North Shore, where the sounds of Newburyport will not disappoint! - Firehouse Center For The Arts

The sun is setting, the red-tailed hawks that hang out in the back yard are likely around somewhere, hidden in the dusk. The rehearsal is supposed to be starting now — about 45 minutes ago, actually, and the bass player is nowhere in sight. Will he show? No one knows. He’s got phone, car and work issues, apparently. A triple threat. Nobody seems too worried about it, they’re all pretty laid back about it — way too laid back. Clearly someone needs to stir the pot, and it looks like it’s gotta be me. Everybody else is too well adjusted. “You know,” I say. “You should fire his ass, if, for no other reason, to get even with him for the despicable way he treated you during the Dink era,” that period being a brief portion of middle school more than a decade and a half ago. Alexander Sandman laughs at the reference. As he probably should, since it’s such a terrible and, well, juvenile name for a band! Then again, right around the same time, Sandman was playing in an equally unfortunately named band, Dying Cat, a short-lived project with a logo showing a bloody cat with crosses for eyes. (“It was about being in a band,” he says, “not about being good — or especially clever.”) It doesn’t matter anyhow, because Benny Zanfagna isn’t biting. He wants to talk about Red Tail Hawk, his latest project, not temporarily wayward bassist Mike Gruen.

But that’s kind of what the Red Tail Hawk's all about, anyhow. Not the real or imagined misadventures of its bassist, but the longstanding relationships, both personal and professional, of the players — relationships that run deep and long. These guys, all pushing 30, at least, now, grew up in Newburyport, they hung out, they played in bands. They went away, they came back and they continue to do what they love to do — play music. "We all studied music formally and independently, toured with national and semi-national acts and came home,” says Zanfagna.

He and Sandman played with Endway, a Boston-based punk-tinged emo band, during separate periods. Zanfagna co-wrote songs on "Action," the band’s second album, and toured with them for about a year. And Sandman filled in as bassist and co-writer on "Running Man,” their third release. He also played for Rideaway, a straight-ahead alt-rock outfit, and had a deal with Wind Up Records, one of the largest indie labels in the country — until 2009, when the singer decided he didn’t want to be in a band any more. The deal went south. Sandman came home and reconnected with Zanfagna, who had been playing in a duo with his father and had released an EP called "Father & Son Playing for Small Change,” another disc with a strange brew of influences — Americana realized through a haze of reggae and jazz. That band also featured Gruen, who played in EJ Ouellette’s rad-trad Crazy Maggy, teaches in Ouellette's Whole Music — and in-demand session player. That project is on the back burner for now, as Doc Zig, as Zanfagna’s father goes by, deals with some health issues. His son wanted to carry on and had been writing new material.

Drummer Brett Bashaw, who had been touring nationally with pianist Rob Gonzalez — and continues to perform with Port guitarist Josh Pritchard’s Ruin/Renewal — was initially brought in to play the sessions for the new album, but was locked into RTH when it became clear that the project had legs. He had never been in any bands with the others, but “aways knew that we would play together someday."

The name comes from the species more properly known as red tailed hawks, a name that had already been scooped by someone else. There are three of them — actual red tailed hawks, that is — living around Zanfagna’s home, in the shadow of Newburyport High School, presumably keeping an eagle eye out for Gruen. The band has just put the finishing touches on its eponymous three-song EP, which the band will “probably” have on the day of the show. “At least I hope we do,” says Sandman, (and, yes, he is related to the late, great Mark Sandman, frontman for Morphine).

The songs could not be more different from each other. “Bilderberg,” for example, opens with a big-ass, funky bass line, which, if you’re not familiar with the reference of the title — an organization with new-world-order ambitions, hoping to influence politics, banking, business, the military and the media — might just push you out onto the dance floor. Until the listener — or dancer — gets to the lyrics, like “Were you present in 1954/ When they started planning third World War/ My blood runs through red white and blue/ A bloodless revolution must ensue.”) Strident stuff indeed. The sound is dense, layered and has an almost aggressive vibe.

“I Do,” on the other hand, conjures up an image of a late night in a smoky jazz club and has a vintage soul feel, as Zanfagna pours out his heart without caring what anyone else thinks. “Tree” has a folkie, singer-songwriter feel to it, musically, and an unblinking self-assessment, lyrically.
All of this is just plain wrong, as everyone in the biz will tell you: It’s best to remain focused and, well, whatever you’ve always been, you should always remain. Find something you do well and stick with it. You don’t want to confuse your listeners, so fickle and so slow, which is not the game plan for Red Tail Hawk. “The music is a way for me to express the changes in me and in my life,” says Zanfagna. “I want to spark a civic discourse. The music is inspired by nature, politics and art … I don’t really care if we sound more cohesive.”

You can listen to the music online, or download it for whatever you think is fair, or take it for free, from the Red Tail Hawk bandcamp page. Doesn’t matter to the band, especially. “Either way,” says Zanfagna. “We want our music to be discovered and shared.”

And if you see the bass player wandering around somewhere, let us know.

JUST THE FACTS, MAN: Red Tail Hawk performs at 8 p.m. March 12 at the Firehouse as part of its “10 for 20” music series. Tickets are $16, or $14 for members of the Society for the Developent of the Arts and Humanities, the nonprofit organization that manages the venue. For more information, call 978.462.7336 or log onto firehouse.org. The band photo is courtesy of Lydia See.
- By JC Lockwood Newburyport Arts