Post by franklima on Nov 20, 2008 23:38:43 GMT -5
a little mention of Ray and the Kinks in this article below...
Cats on Holiday rock Black Friday
Written by Brandon Wray | | news@toledofreepress.com
The band Cats On Holiday is bringing its self-defined “swamp pop” sound to Mickey Finn’s for a Black Friday party that will have it feeling more like Mardi Gras than the day after Thanksgiving, says front man Denis DeVito.
Cats on Holiday
DeVito said the Cleveland-based Cats describe their sound as “a journey up the Mississippi River, to the Ohio River and resting on the shores of Lake Erie.”
They blend Zydeco, country, Americana and virtually any other style of music into their own creation filtered through the lens of blue-collar Ohio guys and girls, DeVito said.
While he will not call the Cats a Zydeco band, he said “a blend of reggae and polka,” is its prime influence and what they normally get labeled as. They have instrumentation that defies genres: DeVito plays a button box accordion and washboard, while they also have a violinist, who he likes to say, “ain’t no fiddle player. She’s a true violinist.”
Originally from Ohio and fronting punk bands in the 1970s and 1980s, DeVito discovered this sound at an outdoor music festival when he was living in northern California. He “was blown away by the energy and craziness of the performing.”
Upon returning to Ohio, he began playing in a number of different bands. The Cats came into existence about eight years ago. They are regulars at downtown Cleveland hot spots, such as Fat Fish Blue (a Cajun eatery that recently opened a location in Levis Commons), Flannery’s and also off the beaten path, to locals mainly, at Flats West Bank favorite Flat Iron Café. They play all year long and especially enjoy outdoor festivals such as Kent State’s Folk Festival.
While they might sound like “we are jumping off the walls in New Orleans,” the Cats’ lyrics are pure Ohio, DeVito said.
Their new album “Workin’ Man” features seven original tracks that cover familiar topics like imagining how a guy living on the streets ended up there, a blue-collar man who ticks off his wife because she pushes him too hard, and a dream many Americans have: hopping a train like Woody Guthrie or Jack Kerouac and seeing where it goes.
The album also includes, as a special treat, DeVito said, four live “party” tracks the Cats do that make audiences howl, such as a “swamp pop” version of “You Shook Me All Night Long.” Other notable performers they cover “Cats-style” include Johnny Cash, The Band, Hank Williams and DeVito’s favorite group, the Kinks.
The Kinks inspired the band’s name. Early in their career, they toured the United States and did a country album featuring a picture of singer Ray Davies in a Southern juke joint with a sign on the wall behind him that said “Cats on Holiday.” DeVito always remembered, and when forming this group thought it would be a great moniker.
DeVito also likes to express his softer side, playing singer-songwriter shows with a couple of the Cats as backup.
“I like to say I am a songwriter first and a performer second,” DeVito said.
The band features Rick Christyson on guitar, Kristine Jares on violin, Brian Wildman on bass and vocals and Rod Reisman banging on the drums all day.
Cats on Holiday rock Black Friday
Written by Brandon Wray | | news@toledofreepress.com
The band Cats On Holiday is bringing its self-defined “swamp pop” sound to Mickey Finn’s for a Black Friday party that will have it feeling more like Mardi Gras than the day after Thanksgiving, says front man Denis DeVito.
Cats on Holiday
DeVito said the Cleveland-based Cats describe their sound as “a journey up the Mississippi River, to the Ohio River and resting on the shores of Lake Erie.”
They blend Zydeco, country, Americana and virtually any other style of music into their own creation filtered through the lens of blue-collar Ohio guys and girls, DeVito said.
While he will not call the Cats a Zydeco band, he said “a blend of reggae and polka,” is its prime influence and what they normally get labeled as. They have instrumentation that defies genres: DeVito plays a button box accordion and washboard, while they also have a violinist, who he likes to say, “ain’t no fiddle player. She’s a true violinist.”
Originally from Ohio and fronting punk bands in the 1970s and 1980s, DeVito discovered this sound at an outdoor music festival when he was living in northern California. He “was blown away by the energy and craziness of the performing.”
Upon returning to Ohio, he began playing in a number of different bands. The Cats came into existence about eight years ago. They are regulars at downtown Cleveland hot spots, such as Fat Fish Blue (a Cajun eatery that recently opened a location in Levis Commons), Flannery’s and also off the beaten path, to locals mainly, at Flats West Bank favorite Flat Iron Café. They play all year long and especially enjoy outdoor festivals such as Kent State’s Folk Festival.
While they might sound like “we are jumping off the walls in New Orleans,” the Cats’ lyrics are pure Ohio, DeVito said.
Their new album “Workin’ Man” features seven original tracks that cover familiar topics like imagining how a guy living on the streets ended up there, a blue-collar man who ticks off his wife because she pushes him too hard, and a dream many Americans have: hopping a train like Woody Guthrie or Jack Kerouac and seeing where it goes.
The album also includes, as a special treat, DeVito said, four live “party” tracks the Cats do that make audiences howl, such as a “swamp pop” version of “You Shook Me All Night Long.” Other notable performers they cover “Cats-style” include Johnny Cash, The Band, Hank Williams and DeVito’s favorite group, the Kinks.
The Kinks inspired the band’s name. Early in their career, they toured the United States and did a country album featuring a picture of singer Ray Davies in a Southern juke joint with a sign on the wall behind him that said “Cats on Holiday.” DeVito always remembered, and when forming this group thought it would be a great moniker.
DeVito also likes to express his softer side, playing singer-songwriter shows with a couple of the Cats as backup.
“I like to say I am a songwriter first and a performer second,” DeVito said.
The band features Rick Christyson on guitar, Kristine Jares on violin, Brian Wildman on bass and vocals and Rod Reisman banging on the drums all day.
