The Rick Nease Band

Out of the ashes of BadMonkey comes Nease's first solo recording, a six-song set that is a welcome return from a Toledo music veteran. He writes sophisticated songs about relationships that pack catchy hooks and strong melodies in every tune. More a labor of love than an attempt to achieve mass attention, "Love + Consequence" is hopefully just a sampler to hold us over until Nease records more songs.
- Rod Lockwood, The Toledo Blade - The Toledo Blade

Rick Nease has crafted a thoroughly professional, emotionally satisfying set of six pop songs that sounds better than just about anything being played in Toledo on the radio right now.

But that doesn't mean a regional artist whose music mines the complex terrain of grown-up relationships pines for mainstream play on the heavily formatted radio stations that rule the airwaves.

"It's more of an artistic expression and creative venue for me as opposed to 'OK, here's my product. How am I going to shop it?' he said. "No one's going to sign it, there are a lot prettier people out there than me. I just make music from my heart and I love it."

Nease's disc, "Love + Consequence," is an old-fashioned EP, a reminder of a time when artists put out albums that only had half the material of a full-length "long player."

"I could offer the music at a little bit less money and get it into more hands and to more people," he said, explaining the release's brevity. "A lot of people just pick out a few songs anyway for downloading."

He'll unveil the songs, and plenty more, tomorrow night for a CD release party at Club Bijou.

The tunes cover a gamut of styles ranging from classic Beatles songcraft to power pop to sophisticated arrangements that pack catchy hooks into their melodies.

A veteran of Toledo's music scene for a number of years, the 50-year-old Nease was most recently in BadMonkey. The group received a fair amount of attention regionally and recorded one disc, but never took off, breaking up a few years ago.

Nease, who is art director for the Detroit Free Press, was at a loss for what to do, but he joined Toledoan E.J. Wells' band and played rhythm guitar for a while, enjoying his time playing someone else's songs.

Then he hooked up with Jason Kuehn, who produced BadMonkey's disc and started recording a few demos that eventually flowered into full-blown tunes. Wells helped him out with backup vocals, bass, and guitar work on the disc.

It took about a year to record as Nease worked around his job, serious eye problems (he has retinitis pigmentosa), and finding studio time. Now that he has "Love + Consequence" finished, he's eager to move on to new songs with the Rick Nease Band, which he wants to complete over the next six months.

Tomorrow he plans to play old BadMonkey tunes, tracks from the new disc, and some of the newer unrecorded material.

He said he's not concerned about scoring a recording contract or a "deal" that would provide greater distribution for his work.

"If you don't do it for the music and you don't do it for the love," Nease said, "then you shouldn't do it."
- Rod Lockwood, The Toledo Blade

- The Toledo Blade

Whoever wrote the instruction manual on rock n' roll forgot to tell Toledoan Rick Nease that 50-year-old musicians don't attract young crowds. With the Rick Nease Band headlining Club Bijou's main stage Feb. 3, he continues to prove that good music can be timeless.

Veteran of the Detroit/Toledo rock scene. Nease doesn't let his age get him down. With his soon to be released album, "Love & Consequence," the Rick Nease Band continues to break barriers of the rock genre. A recent performance at Mickey Finn's has now garnered a lot of media attention. "At my age, I should be sitting in my La-Z-Boy watching golf. But I've never been like that," he said. However, this isn't to say that age hasn't played a role. A few years ago, Nease was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease. "I'm going blind, but I'm coming to terms with it," Nease said, pausing. "It makes me want to write things that mean something. "The end result is a mature rock and blues sound, ripe with intensity and introspective thought. Layered with Nease's throaty voice and musing lyrics are the classic bluesy rock riffs and solos of Robert Tye, lead guitarist on the album. What comes out of this combination is a fetching musical melody with an undeniable groove that rivals Tom Petty or Neil Young. Of course, you won't find this with some alienated teenager and a stray Stratocaster "It takes time," Nease said. "I have no pretenses on being discovered or handed a fat contract. They don't make 50-year olds into rock stars, whether you rock or not, which is unfortunate." "Love & Consequence" tackles its title subject with fervor and emotion. The songs "Seriously" and "Try" highlight the album while exposing Nease's pop hook sensibility. Since their formation, The Rick Nease Band has also jammed at Headliners and the Dirty Bird in Toledo, as well as at Memphis Smoke and the Greektown Music Café in Detroit. Nease said he hopes to tour more regionally after the album is released. Are there any drawbacks to the age difference of rock audiences? "Well, when we played the Toledo Rockfest, we looked out into the crowd and felt really old. Everyone was young, tan and firm," he said. Nease laughed for a second, but then paused again. "It was terrible." The Rick Nease Band will play Feb. 3 at Club Bijou
- Michael Punsalan, Toledo Free Press Staff Writer - The Toledo Free Press

"Layering his organic rock n' roll with a popsmith's sense of melody, Nease finds there's still room for smart music."
Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press

- Detroit Free Press

Nease is a Northwest Ohio Rock n' Roll veteran whose played in the Detroit/Toledo scene for a number of years, most recently in the regionally successfull band, "BadMonkey." When they split up, Nease did side work for a while before striking out on his own, releasing his solo debut, "Love + Consequence", this year. The EP's six songs display a strong, classic pop-craft, without any gimmicks or extraneous concessions to current tastes or trends. Why we dig it: because it has the great vibe and songwriting skills of Tom Petty, Neil Young and Richard Thompson.
-Mariana Brown Bettman - Cincinnatti - The City Beat