Big thanks to Chris Balusik for the awesome article in the paper.
You can read it online here, or pasted down below.
Local band kicks off 14-city tour
Lewis Brothers set to expand reach beyond Appalachia
BY CHRIS BALUSIK • The Gazette Staff • July 8, 2010
After just a few minutes of talking with the four members of the Chillicothe-based band Lewis Brothers, it comes as no surprise that the 12 original tracks on the band's debut album were collaborative writing efforts.
After all, put Russell, Rich and Jeff Lewis and Dennis Foreman in a room together, and it won't be long before they are finishing each other's thoughts and sentences.
That's been part of the band's regional artistic success, which its members hope will expand outside the borders of Appalachia during a 14-city tour launching at Chillicothe's Swanky Goat downtown Friday night.
"For the most part, I think someone will introduce a song that they've been working on and we shape it as a group," Rich said.
"That's the coolest thing," Foreman added. "Instead of it just being their song, like he said, the shaping part, everyone gets to be involved."
For example, Rich recalls one song Jeff had concocted in his mind as falling into the rock genre. Dennis heard the song and suggested it would come off better as in a swing style. With some additional work and collaboration, that's what it became.
"Just like that, the song shifted, and it's still still one of our more popular songs today," Rich said.
Lewis Brothers, which has quickly become a fixture at several area night spots and events, is the product of both family ties and those of the musical variety. Raised around music, three of the band's four members previously performed with other area music groups. When the time was right for them to come together almost two years ago, their previous visibility from other bands helped the new group gain access to local performance venues more quickly than a regular startup band might be able to.
The band took advantage of the opportunities, first playing primarily in front of friends and family and eventually establishing a broader fan base. The CD release, with its 12 original tracks and one traditional song, comes in part because of requests from that growing fan base.
Getting the band's debut album ready for public consumption was about a six-month process, from the original recording sessions done in a homemade studio in a barn across from the former Don's IGA to the mixing and mastering of the tracks and the creation of the album artwork. Rich said the group was deliberate with its debut and wasn't about to rush it.
"We wanted to do it to the point of being very proud of it," he said. "I think all of us are extremely proud of it."
That's not to say the process didn't have hiccups.
"We thought we had everything ready and thought, 'wow, we might have them ready by this day' because we wanted to sell them early, but they had a flood in Nashville, and that's where we were having it mastered at," Dennis said. "We couldn't catch a break there, they had water in the studio."
While each of the band members said they don't have a specific instrumental role in the group -- each plays several instruments and contributes to vocals -- Dennis is perhaps the most active in the promotional end of its operations. His work on the phones played a big role in lining up the tour covering 14 cities in 16 days, starting with Friday's Chillicothe performance.
Other cities on the tour include Muncie, Ind.; Louisville, Frankfort and Lexington, Ky.; Knoxville and just outside Nashville, Tenn.; Greensboro, Wilmington and Asheville, N.C.; North Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Roanoke and Durham, Va.; and Fayetteville, W.Va. During the stop in Knoxville, Dennis said the group would be a "Blue Plate Special," in which a local National Public Radio station will film the band and put members on live radio.
The band is looking forward to the tour for several reasons, including the chance to play some new venues and freshen up the act -- something it will do when performing locally by sometimes switching up the instruments used to perform certain songs. It is not, however, seeing the CD and tour as the first step toward any sort of future stardom.
"I don't think any of us have delusions of making a million dollars," Rich said. "I don't think our goal is to be conquerors of the world, but I don't want to sell ourselves short, either."
"What we did was made a piece of art," Dennis said. "We just want people to appreciate our art.
"Whatever happens from now on, we have a piece of artwork out there, and that's pretty cool."
Note: No toilets were harmed for this photo. Also someone out there from Wilmington, Ohio..email us so I can get your shirts to you.
