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If I have a favorite neighborhood bar, it would have to be downtown Ypsilanti’s Tap Room. Once a sleazy shot-and-a-beer dive, it was transformed a few years back when musician Brian Brickley and his wife, Lisa, bought the business and turned it into the perfect neighborhood blues hangout. There is something about the blues and Ypsilanti that makes them go hand in hand, and the Tap Room captures it perfectly.
Brian Brickley is an excellent saloonkeeper. But while I’ve known for a long time that he also fronts his own band, the Martindales, I have to admit that I never paid much attention to that side of his work. It was not until a recent cold, windy Saturday night that I found myself in the club with the band and caught a full set.
The Martindales, which includes Brickley on vocals and Fender guitar, Rusty James on bass, Mark Boone on keyboards, and (that night) Curtis Sumpter sitting in on drums, is a typical post-Jeff Beck-Jimmy Page-Eric Clapton electric blues band with plenty of covers and long, extended blues jams, with the keys sometimes sounding like a B-3 organ, at other times like an electric piano. Brickley’s guitar was the focus as he showered the audience with some of the most amazing guitar licks I’ve heard in a local bar in years. I suppose if I hadn’t been drinking beer my mouth would have dropped open for the entire set.
My guess is that Brickley listened to the British blues guys, but there is no doubt he learned a few tricks from a wide range of the greats. At times he’s doing some straight head B. B. King riffs. Other times there’s some Luther Anderson thunder and fire. On other songs Brickley slips into a smooth T-Bone Walker shuffle, and then he downshifts on the next song into a Robert Cray mode. But the amazing thing here is that he takes all this stuff, adds a smooth pop covering to it, and makes it his own. The bonus here is Brickley’s cool blue-eyed southern rock voice, much like Gregg Allman’s. His voice has both grit and a casual soulfulness, and his singing is intense with a sweet country edge.
To cap it off, Brickley writes some damn good originals, too. He did only a couple the night I saw him, but the band’s eponymous new debut CD is loaded with fresh and very listenable tunes, from “Quietly Hold Me,” a sad and mournful ballad Eric Clapton might wish he’d written, to the street-smart “9 mm Brother.”
The Martindales are one hell of a blues band. I hope it doesn’t take the rest of the world as long as I did to figure this out. You can catch them at the Tap Room for their CD release party on Saturday, May 12.
-Alan Goldsmith
- ANN ARBOR OBSERVER
May-June 2004
Vol. 4 / Issue 3
With a name like “The Martindales”, I expected to see a gospel quartet appear on stage, wow was I ever wrong. I believe the lead guitarist is a well-kept secret in Ypsilanti; most of us had no idea this guy could even keep time, let alone be such a fine blues musician with amazing chops. They had the crowd jumping, with their original material, powerful solos, and great horns. These guys had choreography and everything. Twenty minutes just wasn’t long enough. I must tell you they finished their performance in 20 minutes exactly, not one second over (or under).
-Cindy Hayden
Jackson Area Blues Society President
- JACKSON AREA BLUES SOCIETY’S OFFICIAL BLUESLETTER
December 16, 2001
‘The Martindales’
Put this album on the CD player, put a beer in your hand, close your eyes, and heck, you could almost convince yourself you’re at the Tap Room.
The Martindales are the house band at one of Ypsilanti’s favorite watering holes, and this is their debut album. Their sound translates to recording just about as well as any bar band could hope, and the result is a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The style here is pretty much standard pub blues-rock, with a lineup of guitar and vocals (Brian Brickley), keyboards (Ravi Venugopal), bass (Rusty James), and drums (Tom Twiss), augmented by an occasional taste of horns.
All four are fine players, but one thing that makes this album stand out is the songwriting. The 10 tracks (divided up on the label into an imaginary “Side 1” and “Side 2” – nice touch) were all written by Brickley, and several are surprisingly good. He’s at his best with more personal songs; the social comment of “9 mm Brother” falls a little flat. But “Quietly Hold” and “Thinking of You” are downright pretty, and “Hang My Head” is a terrific blues number that could conceivably have a life outside the Martindales.
Anyone wondering about the group’s name will just have to pick up the album and read the explanation. “The Martindales” is available at the Tap Room bar, or e-mail Brickblues@aol.com.
-Bob Needham
News Entertainment Editor
- THE ANN ARBOR NEWS
Rocker Mitch Ryder asked The Matindales to help back him up at a recent benifit concert in South Lyon Michigan. After a brief opening set of Martindales originals, Mitch joined them on stage for some of his greatest hits including Devil with The Blues Dress, Jenny Take A Ride, Sock It To Me Baby and Little Latin Lupe Lu. The Near sell out crowd gave a standing ovation to Mitch and the boys from The Martindales. - On Tap Newsletter
Discography
"The Martindales," 2001. Currently working on second CD.
Photos
Bio
From The Ann Abor Observer.
....The Martindales... is a typical post-Jeff Beck-Jimmy Page-Eric Clapton electric blues band with plenty of covers and long, extended blues jams, with the keys sometimes sounding like a B-3 organ, at other times like an electric piano. Brickley’s guitar was the focus as he showered the audience with some of the most amazing guitar licks I’ve heard in a local bar in years. I suppose if I hadn’t been drinking beer my mouth would have dropped open for the entire set.
My guess is that Brickley listened to the British blues guys, but there is no doubt he learned a few tricks from a wide range of the greats. At times he’s doing some straight head B. B. King riffs. Other times there’s some Luther Anderson thunder and fire. On other songs Brickley slips into a smooth T-Bone Walker shuffle, and then he downshifts on the next song into a Robert Cray mode. But the amazing thing here is that he takes all this stuff, adds a smooth pop covering to it, and makes it his own. The bonus here is Brickley’s cool blue-eyed southern rock voice, much like Gregg Allman’s. His voice has both grit and a casual soulfulness, and his singing is intense with a sweet country edge.
To cap it off, Brickley writes some damn good originals, too. He did only a couple the night I saw him, but the band’s eponymous new debut CD is loaded with fresh and very listenable tunes, from “Quietly Hold Me,” a sad and mournful ballad Eric Clapton might wish he’d written, to the street-smart “9 mm Brother.”
The Martindales are one hell of a blues band. I hope it doesn’t take the rest of the world as long as I did to figure this out. -Alan Goldsmith
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