The Catillacs
Versatile power trio releases new CD
by Kurt "Swingcat" Johnson
The Catillacs are a power trio that is versatile and can play blues, roots and rockabilly and a taste of country without breaking a sweat.
With their new CD release, Meow Mix, a take-off on their Catillac band name, they serve up all original material with only two covers on the CD. They celebrated their CD release party at the Cascade Bar and Grill in Vancouver with a full crowd. Special guests in the house played before and later in their sets, The Catillacs offered up a solid evening of entertainment.
To start the show, Lisa Mann did a fine solo set with just her custom-made bass to accompany her lovely voice. Later, guitar legend Jim Mesi joined in to offer up choice chops and sizzling leads to light up the crowd. All in all, a fine show!
The Catillacs have played together for about a year-and-a-half and are from Washington State. Richie Bean is the bandleader, vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. He arranges and writes the bands' original material. On the scene for over 25 years, Bean played all the major festivals and was a founding member of the Hudson Rocket Band and bandleader of King Juju and the Beats.
Bean talks about his vision for The Catillacs; "We want to continue playing semi-professionally. We want to play The Kennedy School, festivals and some of the better venues. We wouldn't mind going on some short tours. At this point, it's a hobby and we're just having a lot of fun."
Bean talks about the concept of the band; "The band was going to be a rockabilly band. But then we started adding blues. Then we started adding country stuff. Then we started doing originals. The original concept shifted to something different. But the good part is that we can play all those."
He mentions the new CD Meow Mix; "It's called Meow Mix because it has several different styles of music. It ties in with the Catillacs name. We wanted to show people we're kind of a band struggling for an identity. We're going to let the fans direct us and show us where to go next."
Bean describes his creative process for writing songs; "A lot of times, it starts with playing around with chords. If it's catchy, I'll keep coming back to it and a song is born!" Each band member brings something musically unique to the sound. Bean describes his style and what he adds; "I play with my fingernails so I can play lead and rhythm pretty much at the same time. I can have a full guitar sound with just one guitarist. I sing in a three-octave range. I bring a mixture of blues, rock and roll and country, folk and roots. What I strive for is to please everyone in the room. I spice it up. I try to play for the song and not put in a lot of unnecessary stuff."
On bass is George Burton. He relates his contribution; "I hold it together quite well because it's only a three-piece. It's also a little more complicated. It has its ups and downs because sometimes when Rich is doing a solo, I have to keep the melody going and keep up with the drums. As a bass player, you have to have a drummer you can click with. You don't have time to think about what you're doing, you just groove along. Susan and I, we kinda tell when we're going to do something else. When it's working, it's just nice and locked in."
Drummer Susan "Crash" Costa talks about what she brings to the mix; "I'm havin' fun up there and it comes across. That's the key. I think if you love what you're doing, it comes across to the audience. Man, I have fun! The bass player and the drummer, it's a team effort. I listen to what he does and he listens to what I do. So it just CRACKS!! It's the first time I've ever done this type of drumming before. I've never played blues in my life. I'm still rockin' out but in such a different way. It's more subtle and less drum kick. I'm a minivan driver now and I personally think that makes you a better drummer!"
You can see more of The Catillacs at their website: www.thecatillacs.com. Also see ad and Bandstand this issue.