FYI
FYI August Music News
This month we speak to promoter/music fan David Bash about the International Pop Overthrow music fest at the Black Cat Bar on August 17 and ask Five Questions of Listen Local host Cathryn Beeks about the Game and keyboardist Josh Weinstein about his new album, Mind the Gap.
THE RETURN OF THE INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW!
Cat 22
Touring pop music festival, the International Pop Overthrow, returns to San Diego on August 17 for a night of music at the Black Cat Bar, featuring Super Buffet, Rick Kingo featuring Cherry Fez, True Stories, Cat 22, Hawk Foxman, and Steve Rosenbaum. We asked event organizer, David Bash, about some of his favorite IPO moments.
“Well, of course my induction to the Cavern Wall of Fame will likely always be #1, but as far as bands playing…#1 will probably always be Material Reissue in 2011, in Chicago,” Bash said. “The name International Pop Overthrow was, in part, derived from wanting to pay tribute to an iconic power pop band, Material Issue, whose debut album from 1991 was called International Pop Overthrow.” In 2011, Universal Music Group did a 20th Anniversary reissue of the album. “Tragically, the band’s lead singer/songwriter, Jim Ellison, had taken his life in 1996, but the surviving band members really wanted to pay tribute to the album, so they recruited a beloved local musician, Phil Angotti, to take Jim’s parts, and the band went out as Material Reissue, which I’m very proud to say I named. The first official show they ever did was at IPO Chicago in April 2011, and I’ll never forget it. We packed a sizable room, and the band was on fire, particularly Phil, who seemed to have Jim Ellison’s spirit imbued in him. It was a transcendent night!”
According to Bash, one other show in particular stands out. “Another favorite moment was having another power pop icon, Off Broadway, play IPO Chicago in 2003. It’s probably the best performance I’ve ever had at the festival, and it left everyone in attendance slack-jawed.”
https://internationalpopoverthrow.com
FIVE QUESTIONS FOR CATHRYN BEEKS
Cathryn Beeks
A tireless champion of San Diego’s music scene, Cathryn Beeks continues to perform regularly as well as host her online radio program, Listen Local. Here we ask her five questions about one of her signature events, The Game, which has songwriters pen a tune to a given title.
How do you pick the song title ideas for The Game?
I like to offer two titles to choose from each time. I have a list full of ideas people have submitted. I like titles that aren’t too specific, titles that can have various meanings or entendres. Sometimes I try and use titles that correlate with an upcoming holiday or current affairs, etc. When I hit a wall, I’ll text Jeff Berkley or Steve Poltz and usually they hit me back with a doozie to use.
How many songs do you think have been created for The Game over the years?
On average, we had an event every other month for the past 20 years with an average of 15 to 20 songwriters presenting their songs. We took a few years off from doing it live but we continued via zoom throughout the pandemic. So, while I was told there would be no math, I’d venture to guess that well over 2,500 songs have been created because of The Game. And that doesn’t count the many people who wrote songs to our titles but couldn’t attend the event.
What’s your favorite song to have been written for The Game?
That’s impossible to answer. Too many excellent songs have been written and professionally recorded. When I listen to people’s albums I’m always like, “oh! that was a game song!” Some of the most memorable songs were written to some unique titles like “Walking with My Shoe Laces Untied,” which was submitted by Jack Tempchin, and “Dandelion Bus Route,” given to us by Steve Poltz.
Do you participate each time?
Almost always. There have been a few that I just couldn’t break the block, but those occasions were rare. I’m not saying all of them were GOOD, lol but I keep most of them in my set list. My album Mood Swing from 2009 is ALL game songs.
How can people get music to you for airplay on your program?
You can e-mail Cathryn@ListenLocalRadio.com and attach a WAV or MP3 or a downloadable link to one original song per month, and your audio intro message file by the 25th of each month. You can record your message however is easiest for you or call 858-353-5317 and leave your message on the machine, including your song’s info, band news, upcoming shows, etc. and we’ll play it before your song. Please note that no songs will be played without your intro message.
FIVE QUESTIONS FOR JOSH WEINSTEIN
Josh Weinstein
Keyboard player Josh Weinstein is one of the busiest musicians in town, gigging with everyone from Jeff Berkley to Johnny Vernazza. Here we ask Weinstein about his early musical memories and his new solo album, Mind the Gap.
How long have you been performing? What or Who inspired you to be a musician?
Like many people in my demographic, it was really the Beatles who made music seem like magic to me. I couldn’t believe human beings had made those songs and sounds. I’m not sure I became a musician because of them; I came to them a few years after they broke up. But they were definitely baked into my love of music in general.
I’ve been playing music since I was a kid. I began writing songs essentially as soon as I started playing music and always figured I’d grow up to play music and write songs full time. I don’t remember a time in my life before I thought of music as a thing I did, or where I ever thought I’d end up doing something else. I’ve had some side trips along the way–I’ve really tried to do other things! But they never “take”; I always end up back at music.
My mother was a full-time musician—a folk singer and songwriter who was active in the Greenwich Village folk scene at the time. Her mother, my grandmother, was a classical cellist who played with the symphony and had her own radio show each Sunday on the CBC. My dad was also a music fanatic who ran in “showbiz” circles, so music was everywhere when I was growing up. By the time I started piano – which, at the time, they generally wouldn’t let you do before age 10 or so—I’d been begging for lessons for years and playing songs by ear.
How old were you when you gave your first performance, what song did you play, and how was it received?
It’s a good segue from the last question. I had a band in middle school and high school, and we entered a Battle of the Bands, playing the medley that begins with “Golden Slumbers” and goes through “The End,” on Abbey Road. We won one round and absolutely killed in the finals but lost to the band that turned out to be the kids of one of the judges. Many life lessons learned there!
I am pretty sure my first solo performance was for an old-age home; I rented a Wurlitzer 200A and played old standards my mother had music from her Real Book—“Autumn Leaves,” “How High the Moon,” that kind of thing. Then I played a few “real” gigs as the entertainment in a restaurant—same deal, rented Wurly, and I actually got paid. I remember “Hotel California” being one of the songs I played. I can’t imagine I was older than 12.
The high school version of our rock band played gigs and parties, though we didn’t really “gig out” like some others did. We were just some guys who played in a band together. I sang, too. All rock stuff—Led Zepplin, George Thorogood, Bob Seger, Allman Brothers. Stuff from the rock station in town. And the funny part is, I was taking piano lessons this whole time and only playing classical repertoire. I remember playing “Un Suspiro” by Liszt, but I can’t remember anything else I played. I did write a classical-style composition at the time and remember submitting it when applied to colleges, so it must have been pretty decent.
What groups / performers are you working with besides on your own music?
I play in Jeff Berkley & the Banned. I play with Josh Taylor and Sandi King in their associated projects. I play with blues guitarist Johnny Vernazza. I run a Pink Floyd-themed mainstage act called Carry the Stone. I play in a James Taylor act called Never Die Young, a yacht rock band called High Tide Society, and a ’90s-themed band called The Big Lewinsky. I’ve played some dates with the blues singer Janiva Magness. I do a fair number of duos/trios, with Christian Taylor, Jesse Ray Smith, Chloe Lou, and others. I play in a couple of corporate wedding bands. And, of course, a lot of “crimes of opportunity” gigs with one-off or more occasional projects—plus fairly regular recording sessions. And, of course, gigs as “me” as well.”
Your new album Mind the Gap has gotten a great reception. What was the response like to your previous musical works?
Well, my last album was in 2009, so there’s been a 14-year gap in releases. Before then I’d had a decent trajectory. My first album, Petty Alchemy, came out in 2003 and one of the songs (“There Ain’t Nothing Sadder Than a Saturday Night”) received airplay on the NPR station there, WNYC. My next one was called “Brooklyn Is Sinking,” and that one was picked up by a legendary DJ on WFUV named Vin Scelsa, who invited me in for a two-hour in-studio and ended up putting my record on his “Best of” for that year. When NPR.org put out there year-end Best list, they incorporated his selections, so I ended up on that list too. Then my 2009 album, Love & Alcohol, got a decent amount of “left end of the dial” airplay, so good reviews, and was sync-licensed by MTV for four of their shows. And then…crickets.”
When it comes to, Mind The Gap, what are you happiest about?
In terms of what I’m happiest with, I want to say first and foremost that the raw fact of the way that Jeff Berkley at Satellite Studios and Robb Robinson of Robinson Mastering made it sound in the final mixing and mastering stages is incredibly satisfying to my ears. Ultimately, we make the art we’d like to consume, and as someone who takes the world in through the ears, it really pleases me to encounter the type of sound they elicited.”
