The Giant Steps

The music scene in Dayton has always been packed with great talent. From the new-age bluegrass and folk artist Todd the Fox, to the great indie rock band Me and Mountains, to the energy Orange Willard brings to each set-the Dayton music scene is impressive.
However, a lot of people outside Dayton don’t see that way. Actually, they don’t see anything. The popularity of the music scene in town has dropped some, to where only the people in the town are really the only ones that pay close attention to what’s going on. And with the accessibility of local music (websites, Facebook, record shops), the scene isn’t what it once was.
Matt Luongo noticed this dilemma, and wanted to change it. For eight years Matt crafted an event that would bring Dayton music back to the way it used to be, and also have major recording acts come to the party as well. Thus, the Downtown Dayton Revival Festival became reality. The festival just had their first weekend take place on September 8th and 9th.
The first performance to get the festival started was Dayton’s own, The Giant Steps. Their slow, psychedelic sound made the early crowd slowly ease themselves into getting ready for a full day of music. The Giant Steps blasted the stage with smooth guitar play that was well beyond their years of age (the oldest members are close to, if not already, 17 years old).
Bronze Radio Return made their presence known early in the day. The band’s soulful, indie rock provided the crowd to get into the music early and often. After their set, the lead singer, Chris Henderson, met up with me and just raved about how the festival was going. “This is incredible”, Chris mentioned. “The people here are amazing. I can’t wait for us to come back.”
Griffin House talked about being a waiter when he was younger. He mentioned that he was just awful at it. He was so bad that he knew that it wasn’t going to make enough to pay rent. So, he took his guitar with him after work one night, went to a corner, and just playing and singing. People started dropping money down for him, and he soon realized that this was going to help him make money (and pay rent). House’s alternative, very mainstream-friendly sound had the crowd singing and dancing to his music.
One of the most powerful performances on the first day of the festival was the one that Kristy Lee gave. Kristy immediately engaged the crowd that brought her in with open arms. She talked about having gone through bad breakups, seeing her friends go through rough times, etc. Her music was very Adele meets Tracy Chapman-stripped down vocals with amazing acoustic guitar play. It was truly a performance that a lot of people, including myself, left talking about.
One act treated us to a show that was very much like seeing Phish-a psychedelic rock band with instrumental play that is simply out of this world. The band is Dayton’s own, The Werks. The chilled out band ripped on their guitars as if they were gods standing on the clouds of the sky. The play of the bass was impressive. The drum play was off the charts. The crowd danced throughout the whole set with freedom and joy, as if they channeled themselves to the days of Woodstock. The Werks had everyone in the palm of their hands. For the people that follow them, this set was just another fantastic show. To the others that were seeing them for the first time-they will make it a point to make it to see them time and time again from this point on.
Wheels brought a show that made everyone in the crowd completely stunned. The 5 member band from Yellow Springs brought a show that was filled with folk rock and bluegrass. The band showed their musical range throughout their set, including a brilliant Dr. Dog cover. Their dreamy play of the harmonica and banjo only enhanced the experience of watching Wheels perform.
Guster has always been known to always have a show that is different. During a recent tour, they requested their fans to bring things to put on the stage. For example, they ask their fans to bring matchbox cars to put on the stage during one of their sets. It’s fun for the band and their fans to have that interaction. At the Revival Festival, Guster made a young girl become a fan for life. The lead singer, Ryan Miller, noticed a young girl that was holding up a sign mentioning that this was her first concert. Miller asked the young girl to come up on stage, and they wrote a song together on the spot. Everyone in the crowd loved it. If anything, this was the top 5 moments that the weekend brought us.
Guided By Voices came home to Dayton to be part of the inaugural event. They haven’t lost a step after all these years. Robert Pollard and crew took the stage as if they were still in the teen years. With their garage rock influenced sound blaring through the guitars, their trademark short songs, and their punk-like attitude; it was simply tremendous to see the boys back home. They gave their old fans more reason to - Mostmetro.com

The music scene in Dayton has always been packed with great talent. From the new-age bluegrass and folk artist Todd the Fox, to the great indie rock band Me and Mountains, to the energy Orange Willard brings to each set-the Dayton music scene is impressive.
However, a lot of people outside Dayton don’t see that way. Actually, they don’t see anything. The popularity of the music scene in town has dropped some, to where only the people in the town are really the only ones that pay close attention to what’s going on. And with the accessibility of local music (websites, Facebook, record shops), the scene isn’t what it once was.
Matt Luongo noticed this dilemma, and wanted to change it. For eight years Matt crafted an event that would bring Dayton music back to the way it used to be, and also have major recording acts come to the party as well. Thus, the Downtown Dayton Revival Festival became reality. The festival just had their first weekend take place on September 8th and 9th.
The first performance to get the festival started was Dayton’s own, The Giant Steps. Their slow, psychedelic sound made the early crowd slowly ease themselves into getting ready for a full day of music. The Giant Steps blasted the stage with smooth guitar play that was well beyond their years of age (the oldest members are close to, if not already, 17 years old).
Bronze Radio Return made their presence known early in the day. The band’s soulful, indie rock provided the crowd to get into the music early and often. After their set, the lead singer, Chris Henderson, met up with me and just raved about how the festival was going. “This is incredible”, Chris mentioned. “The people here are amazing. I can’t wait for us to come back.”
Griffin House talked about being a waiter when he was younger. He mentioned that he was just awful at it. He was so bad that he knew that it wasn’t going to make enough to pay rent. So, he took his guitar with him after work one night, went to a corner, and just playing and singing. People started dropping money down for him, and he soon realized that this was going to help him make money (and pay rent). House’s alternative, very mainstream-friendly sound had the crowd singing and dancing to his music.
One of the most powerful performances on the first day of the festival was the one that Kristy Lee gave. Kristy immediately engaged the crowd that brought her in with open arms. She talked about having gone through bad breakups, seeing her friends go through rough times, etc. Her music was very Adele meets Tracy Chapman-stripped down vocals with amazing acoustic guitar play. It was truly a performance that a lot of people, including myself, left talking about.
One act treated us to a show that was very much like seeing Phish-a psychedelic rock band with instrumental play that is simply out of this world. The band is Dayton’s own, The Werks. The chilled out band ripped on their guitars as if they were gods standing on the clouds of the sky. The play of the bass was impressive. The drum play was off the charts. The crowd danced throughout the whole set with freedom and joy, as if they channeled themselves to the days of Woodstock. The Werks had everyone in the palm of their hands. For the people that follow them, this set was just another fantastic show. To the others that were seeing them for the first time-they will make it a point to make it to see them time and time again from this point on.
Wheels brought a show that made everyone in the crowd completely stunned. The 5 member band from Yellow Springs brought a show that was filled with folk rock and bluegrass. The band showed their musical range throughout their set, including a brilliant Dr. Dog cover. Their dreamy play of the harmonica and banjo only enhanced the experience of watching Wheels perform.
Guster has always been known to always have a show that is different. During a recent tour, they requested their fans to bring things to put on the stage. For example, they ask their fans to bring matchbox cars to put on the stage during one of their sets. It’s fun for the band and their fans to have that interaction. At the Revival Festival, Guster made a young girl become a fan for life. The lead singer, Ryan Miller, noticed a young girl that was holding up a sign mentioning that this was her first concert. Miller asked the young girl to come up on stage, and they wrote a song together on the spot. Everyone in the crowd loved it. If anything, this was the top 5 moments that the weekend brought us.
Guided By Voices came home to Dayton to be part of the inaugural event. They haven’t lost a step after all these years. Robert Pollard and crew took the stage as if they were still in the teen years. With their garage rock influenced sound blaring through the guitars, their trademark short songs, and their punk-like attitude; it was simply tremendous to see the boys back home. They gave their old fans more reason to - Mostmetro.com

The music scene in Dayton has always been packed with great talent. From the new-age bluegrass and folk artist Todd the Fox, to the great indie rock band Me and Mountains, to the energy Orange Willard brings to each set-the Dayton music scene is impressive.

However, a lot of people outside Dayton don’t see that way. Actually, they don’t see anything. The popularity of the music scene in town has dropped some, to where only the people in the town are really the only ones that pay close attention to what’s going on. And with the accessibility of local music (websites, Facebook, record shops), the scene isn’t what it once was.

Matt Luongo noticed this dilemma, and wanted to change it. For eight years Matt crafted an event that would bring Dayton music back to the way it used to be, and also have major recording acts come to the party as well. Thus, the Downtown Dayton Revival Festival became reality. The festival just had their first weekend take place on September 8th and 9th.

The first performance to get the festival started was Dayton’s own, The Giant Steps. Their slow, psychedelic sound made the early crowd slowly ease themselves into getting ready for a full day of music. The Giant Steps blasted the stage with smooth guitar play that was well beyond their years of age (the oldest members are close to, if not already, 17 years old).

Bronze Radio Return made their presence known early in the day. The band’s soulful, indie rock provided the crowd to get into the music early and often. After their set, the lead singer, Chris Henderson, met up with me and just raved about how the festival was going. “This is incredible”, Chris mentioned. “The people here are amazing. I can’t wait for us to come back.”

Griffin House talked about being a waiter when he was younger. He mentioned that he was just awful at it. He was so bad that he knew that it wasn’t going to make enough to pay rent. So, he took his guitar with him after work one night, went to a corner, and just playing and singing. People started dropping money down for him, and he soon realized that this was going to help him make money (and pay rent). House’s alternative, very mainstream-friendly sound had the crowd singing and dancing to his music.

One of the most powerful performances on the first day of the festival was the one that Kristy Lee gave. Kristy immediately engaged the crowd that brought her in with open arms. She talked about having gone through bad breakups, seeing her friends go through rough times, etc. Her music was very Adele meets Tracy Chapman-stripped down vocals with amazing acoustic guitar play. It was truly a performance that a lot of people, including myself, left talking about.

One act treated us to a show that was very much like seeing Phish-a psychedelic rock band with instrumental play that is simply out of this world. The band is Dayton’s own, The Werks. The chilled out band ripped on their guitars as if they were gods standing on the clouds of the sky. The play of the bass was impressive. The drum play was off the charts. The crowd danced throughout the whole set with freedom and joy, as if they channeled themselves to the days of Woodstock. The Werks had everyone in the palm of their hands. For the people that follow them, this set was just another fantastic show. To the others that were seeing them for the first time-they will make it a point to make it to see them time and time again from this point on.

Wheels brought a show that made everyone in the crowd completely stunned. The 5 member band from Yellow Springs brought a show that was filled with folk rock and bluegrass. The band showed their musical range throughout their set, including a brilliant Dr. Dog cover. Their dreamy play of the harmonica and banjo only enhanced the experience of watching Wheels perform.

Guster has always been known to always have a show that is different. During a recent tour, they requested their fans to bring things to put on the stage. For example, they ask their fans to bring matchbox cars to put on the stage during one of their sets. It’s fun for the band and their fans to have that interaction. At the Revival Festival, Guster made a young girl become a fan for life. The lead singer, Ryan Miller, noticed a young girl that was holding up a sign mentioning that this was her first concert. Miller asked the young girl to come up on stage, and they wrote a song together on the spot. Everyone in the crowd loved it. If anything, this was the top 5 moments that the weekend brought us.

Guided By Voices came home to Dayton to be part of the inaugural event. They haven’t lost a step after all these years. Robert Pollard and crew took the stage as if they were still in the teen years. With their garage rock influenced sound blaring through the guitars, their trademark short songs, and their punk-like attitude; it was simply tremendous to see the boys back home. They gave their old - Mostmetro.com , By Tommy Johnson

Live on Kaleidoscope: The Giant Steps
By Juliet Fromholt - WYSO.org , By Juliet Fromholt

Live on Kaleidoscope: The Giant Steps
By Juliet Fromholt - WYSO.org , By Juliet Fromholt

By Don Thrasher
Portions of this story appeared in The Dayton Daily News
Teenage years are about change, personal exploration and growth. It’s not surprising Ohio rock band Giant Steps — whose members are 16 year olds David Busarow (vocals, rhythm guitar), John Winch (bass) and Sam Pickard (drums), and 14-year-old Jack Badgley (lead guitar) — is experiencing a corresponding evolutionary period.

“We’re continuously trying to push our music so it’s continuously a new sound,” Winch said. “We’re never totally satisfied.”
Giant Steps, formerly known as The Outliers, is comprised of four musically inquisitive students from The Miami Valley School. The progressive-minded rock group’s musical growth is chronicled on the new album, “Transitions,” which got its official release at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton on Friday, May 25 (2012).

“We got really tired of The Outliers,” Badgley said. “It sounds like a blues band.”
“I looked it up on iTunes and it was a Christian country band,” Winch said. “That hurt.”
“Giant Steps is a John Coltrane song and he’s one of my heroes,” Pickard said. “We all started in jazz so he’s been a big influence. We like ‘Transitions’ for the title because we were changing the band name and transitioning in other ways.”
The material on “Transitions” was recorded by Steve Falearos at Babblefish Studios in Franklin.
“Steve was great,” Busarow said. “He wasn’t opposed to criticizing stuff we did, which I’m not complaining about. It really, really helped.”
“We haven’t really experienced anything like that before,” Winch said. “The recording process is a lot different than playing live. It’s a lot more professional. We weren’t just going crazy and doing wild jams. There’s a lot more format to everything. It really gave me a new perspective on music.”

THE BOYS OF SUMMER
Although they are spread out between the Dayton suburbs of Centerville, Oakwood and Beavercreek, the young musicians have formed a tight bond. The older members, Pickard, Winch and Busarow, are juniors but they have been playing together since seventh grade.
All their time working together paid off in September 2011 when the group won the summer-long Dayton Band Playoffs at Canal Street Tavern.
“We expected before each round we were going to lose,” Badgley said.
Winch agreed. “It was a given we were going to lose and we kept winning,” he said. “It was weird.”
It’s not unusual for teen bands to do well in the annual Dayton Band Playoffs at Canal Street Tavern. In recent years, young groups such as Dangerously Hot and Good English have dominated early rounds of the single-elimination contest, bringing out relatives, family friends and others to vote for their favorite band, only to lose to older, more experienced musicians in the finals. However, this crew was able to buck that trend at take the grand prize.
“The playoffs were the first time we’ve played consistently in front of a lot of people,” Pickard said. “It was great.”
“One of the interesting things about the band playoffs is we practiced as many of our songs as we could but we also wanted to come up with new material as much as possible,” Winch said.
This was a period of experimentation and growth for the young musicians.
“There are songs we’ll probably never play again, but it was the first time we could do the trial by error thing with our songs,” Busarow said. “Before we were like, ‘That’s pretty cool,’ but it was partially biased.”
“Everybody has different influences from different places, which all contributes to what we’re doing and mixes together into kind of our own sound,” Pickard said.
“Jazz is actually the primary style of music we play,” Winch said. “It’s a big influence on all of us but we like to make our own interpretations of stuff. We started playing rock because we thought it would be a fun time. Now we’re working that jazz influence into our rock.”
Advancing to the final round, meant the group had four rounds of semi-finals, with two sets of music per night, to tighten written material and sharpen its improvisational skills.
“The playoffs were good because we could come up with ideas a few hours before at practice and then go to Canal Street, sort of experiment and see people’s reactions,” Pickard said. “We came up with some new material on the spot. Everyone would shift into a totally different groove and that turns into a song. It was pretty cool.”
“We’ve been pretty lucky so far,” Busarow said. “The band playoffs were great.”

A PRIZE WITH BENEFITS
Not only did the Dayton Band Playoffs provide practical experience, the contest’s grand-prize — 40 hours of studio time at Babblefish Studios — allowed Giant Steps to record the new album, “Transitions.”
“We laid down the basic framework for the songs with bass, drums and guitar and then we went back and added stuff after that,” Pickard said. “It takes a lot of patience. It definitely gives you an appreciation for musicians who put in the time to make an album.”
The musicians t - By Don Thrasher Portions of this story appeared in The Dayton Daily News

By Don Thrasher
Portions of this story appeared in The Dayton Daily News
Teenage years are about change, personal exploration and growth. It’s not surprising Ohio rock band Giant Steps — whose members are 16 year olds David Busarow (vocals, rhythm guitar), John Winch (bass) and Sam Pickard (drums), and 14-year-old Jack Badgley (lead guitar) — is experiencing a corresponding evolutionary period.

“We’re continuously trying to push our music so it’s continuously a new sound,” Winch said. “We’re never totally satisfied.”
Giant Steps, formerly known as The Outliers, is comprised of four musically inquisitive students from The Miami Valley School. The progressive-minded rock group’s musical growth is chronicled on the new album, “Transitions,” which got its official release at Canal Street Tavern in Dayton on Friday, May 25 (2012).

“We got really tired of The Outliers,” Badgley said. “It sounds like a blues band.”
“I looked it up on iTunes and it was a Christian country band,” Winch said. “That hurt.”
“Giant Steps is a John Coltrane song and he’s one of my heroes,” Pickard said. “We all started in jazz so he’s been a big influence. We like ‘Transitions’ for the title because we were changing the band name and transitioning in other ways.”
The material on “Transitions” was recorded by Steve Falearos at Babblefish Studios in Franklin.
“Steve was great,” Busarow said. “He wasn’t opposed to criticizing stuff we did, which I’m not complaining about. It really, really helped.”
“We haven’t really experienced anything like that before,” Winch said. “The recording process is a lot different than playing live. It’s a lot more professional. We weren’t just going crazy and doing wild jams. There’s a lot more format to everything. It really gave me a new perspective on music.”

THE BOYS OF SUMMER
Although they are spread out between the Dayton suburbs of Centerville, Oakwood and Beavercreek, the young musicians have formed a tight bond. The older members, Pickard, Winch and Busarow, are juniors but they have been playing together since seventh grade.
All their time working together paid off in September 2011 when the group won the summer-long Dayton Band Playoffs at Canal Street Tavern.
“We expected before each round we were going to lose,” Badgley said.
Winch agreed. “It was a given we were going to lose and we kept winning,” he said. “It was weird.”
It’s not unusual for teen bands to do well in the annual Dayton Band Playoffs at Canal Street Tavern. In recent years, young groups such as Dangerously Hot and Good English have dominated early rounds of the single-elimination contest, bringing out relatives, family friends and others to vote for their favorite band, only to lose to older, more experienced musicians in the finals. However, this crew was able to buck that trend at take the grand prize.
“The playoffs were the first time we’ve played consistently in front of a lot of people,” Pickard said. “It was great.”
“One of the interesting things about the band playoffs is we practiced as many of our songs as we could but we also wanted to come up with new material as much as possible,” Winch said.
This was a period of experimentation and growth for the young musicians.
“There are songs we’ll probably never play again, but it was the first time we could do the trial by error thing with our songs,” Busarow said. “Before we were like, ‘That’s pretty cool,’ but it was partially biased.”
“Everybody has different influences from different places, which all contributes to what we’re doing and mixes together into kind of our own sound,” Pickard said.
“Jazz is actually the primary style of music we play,” Winch said. “It’s a big influence on all of us but we like to make our own interpretations of stuff. We started playing rock because we thought it would be a fun time. Now we’re working that jazz influence into our rock.”
Advancing to the final round, meant the group had four rounds of semi-finals, with two sets of music per night, to tighten written material and sharpen its improvisational skills.
“The playoffs were good because we could come up with ideas a few hours before at practice and then go to Canal Street, sort of experiment and see people’s reactions,” Pickard said. “We came up with some new material on the spot. Everyone would shift into a totally different groove and that turns into a song. It was pretty cool.”
“We’ve been pretty lucky so far,” Busarow said. “The band playoffs were great.”

A PRIZE WITH BENEFITS
Not only did the Dayton Band Playoffs provide practical experience, the contest’s grand-prize — 40 hours of studio time at Babblefish Studios — allowed Giant Steps to record the new album, “Transitions.”
“We laid down the basic framework for the songs with bass, drums and guitar and then we went back and added stuff after that,” Pickard said. “It takes a lot of patience. It definitely gives you an appreciation for musicians who put in the time to make an album.”
The musicians t - By Don Thrasher Portions of this story appeared in The Dayton Daily News