WaterStreet

Date March 11, 2004



It was four o'clock on Sunday afternoon and the parking lot at the Blount Seafood Factory Store on Water Street in Warren was packed with cars. The store was closed, however, and the red pick-up truck, yellow motorcycle, and blue sedan in the lot didn't belong to shoppers: They belonged to the small group of Barrington natives who've set up a practice space on the Warren waterfront, and re-created themselves as the band "Water Street."

After more than a year of playing together and with 50 hours logged in the recording studio, the band, which still plays concerts throughout Rhode Island, plans to release its first CD this May. It's a big step for a group that started as two high school buddies jamming in a loft above the Blount Seafood Factory Store.

"Right now it's basically a passion. All of us want to play music forever," said Matt Colasanti.

Last Sunday, four band members lounged in the slant-roofed apartment above the store after an afternoon practice. Four couches provided ample seating space. Foos-ball set and pool table beckoned. A purple tapestry and party lights are the official decor, but a model helicopter, a bike, a pile of plywood, and an antique mini-organ adorned the corners. Black handwriting covered the plaster walls.

"We write all our songs on the walls," Mr. Colasanti said.

Also drawn on the wall was a calendar, with the word "Show" scrawled on May 17th. Mr. Colasanti said that was the day "Water Street" had their first concert last year, after the Barrington High School graduates reunited to play music at local clubs for themselves and their friends, most of them 20-somethings who grew up here in town.

Local boys

Band members said their ties to Barrington run deep. Mr. Colasanti, singer and guitar, graduated from Barrington High School in 1997. Steve Blount, keyboard, graduated in 1996, while bassist Matt Greiner and guitarist Dave Porter, were in the class of '95. The men said they knew each other at the time, and played sports together, but they weren't close friends.

All that changed after college, when they found themselves back in town with musical interests and nobody to play with. Mr. Colasanti said he ran into Steve Blount's father, vice-president of Blount Seafood, at the Fleet Bank in Barrington. The senior Blount said his son was living above the factory store and playing a lot of piano.

Mr. Colasanti called Mr. Blount, and the two started jamming together in the space on Water Street. They got in touch with the other band members, including Barrington native Brendan Power, who played drums before he left the band to take a new job and get engaged. The current drummer is Chrys Jackson, a Cumberland native.

Always, they said, the Water Street digs were crucial to their group, which plays a mixture of jam music and rock, with a reggae note here-and-there.

"This turned into a place where everyone came to play and our friends would come listen," Mr. Porter said.

And those friends showed up in droves when the band started playing at local clubs. The band's first show was at the Wheelhouse Tavern in Warren on May 17, 2003. Since then, they've played at clubs throughout the East Bay, Providence, all around Rhode Island, and in New York. They said they play several times a month, drawing anywhere from 30 friends in New York to a "wall-to-wall" crowd at a place like The Topsider in Bristol.

Their goal, they said, is to finish an album this spring: They've logged 50 hours in the studio so far. They also want to play more shows in New York, where there bassist is a student. But meanwhile, they all said, "Water Street" is a local lifestyle as much as a sound.

"It's not just the band itself, but all our friends," Mr. Porter said.

"It's not so much that they support us, but that we support them and help them have a good time," Mr. Colasanti added. "It's a give and take relationship."

Sunday afternoon, 4 p.m.

The bottles, cans, and cardboard from last night's "huge party" above the factory store were stuffed neatly into trash cans and boxes. The ash trays were empty, and the open window let in a breeze that fluttered the curtains.

Practice finished, the band members were sprawled on a few of their many couches. A tape of the afternoon's work played in the background. Mr. Porter slapped his leg with a plastic bottle to keep time, while Mr. Colasanti perched on the edge of the pool table, smoking a cigarette.

The calm was broken when Mr. Porter and Mr. Jackson, in unison, shouted "woo, woo" along with the tape. Then they made eye contact and burst out laughing.

"This is our party song," Mr. Porter said.

Footsteps on the stairs announced Mr. Blount, who came in after unloading a truck of seafood across the street at the Blount plant, where he works as a jack-of-all trades.

"You smell like clams," Mr. Porter said.

Discussion followed about when the band had its next show. Mr. Colasanti, pul - Barrington Times

WaterStreet’s debut album, Osmosis, is finally printed, pressed, and ready for purchase. Because of this important occasion, the band has a reason to celebrate. On Saturday (the 17th), they’ll be taking over the Call. The night prior, they’re at Acme Underground in NYC, showing that audience what they’re made of. CDs will be available at both shows and on the web at www.cdbaby.com/waterstband. Listen for their first single, "City In the Summer," on the radio.

- Providence Phoenix