Boasting a host of West Michigan connections, the lively Americana-hued trio just released an EP with an album’s worth of material still to come. It plays SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids tonight (June 1).
Michigan-Bred Folk: Barbarossa Brothers, from left, Drew Pentkowski, Loren Kranz and Ryan Fitzgerald. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Updated June 1, 2016
THE BAND: Barbarossa Brothers
THE MUSIC: Michigan-styled bayou folk-rock
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE BAND: 8 p.m. Wednesday (June 1) at SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids for the Local Spins Wednesdays series
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Individually, they’ve played with some impressive Midwest artists, including Frank Bang & The Secret Stash, Harper and The Ragbirds.
On the Air: Barbarossa Brothers at WYCE.
They share influences and musical inspiration from the likes of The Band, Paul Simon, Tom Waits, The Grateful Dead, Stevie Ray Vaughan and “great songwriters.”
And together, not only have they jelled as the “Michigan-bred, bayou folk-rock” trio, Barbarossa Brothers, but they feel as if they’re emissaries and ambassadors of the Saginaw area’s music scene from which they sprang.
“There’s a lot of really great musicians that we came up with and looked up to,” said drummer and percussionist Loren Kranz, who concedes there simply are too few venues in the Saginaw and Bay City area to support all the bands. “There’s a ton of talent over there. I wish people knew it better.”
They recorded their 2015 EP at Kyle Austin’s Woodshed Recordings in Grand Rapids, “The Woodshed Sessions,” and are at work on a new recording project. Through it all, The Barbarossa Brothers are starting to let people know better just what that region offers.
Aiming to Stretch Their Legs Beyond Michigan: Pentkowski. (Photo/Anna Sink)
As Kranz puts it, the band – Kranz, guitarist-singer Drew Pentkowski and upright bassist Ryan Fitzgerald – is “trying to raise a little awareness” of that scene across Michigan and beyond.
“We are so proud of our Michigan music scene and so fortunate to travel this state and make music,” Kranz said. “Playing more and more Michigan festivals every year is a big goal for us. … If you think about it, we live in the perfect spot to do what we do. We’re no more than a few hours away from anywhere you’d want to go in Lower Michigan.”
The band was formed a few years ago, with all its members hailing from the Tri-Cities area. Fitzgerald and Kranz played together in high school, where the name “Barbarossa,” aka “red beard,” first surfaced, inspired by a bandmate’s “bushy red beard.”
The pair later met Pentkowski, “a killer blues guitar player.” After each of the musicians spent stints with other bands and became “dissatisfied as sidemen for other artists,” all three eventually reunited. And the music they generated “really began to shine,” said Kranz.
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What resulted from the partnership is a unique blend of harmony-laden Americana, folk-rock and knee-slapping, acoustic-driven fun.
In Studio X: Kranz and Fitzgerald. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Kranz said that will be evident tonight after opening performances by Grand Rapids’ eclectic duo Emma Loo & Sam Kenny and Americana’s Nordlund when The Barbarossa Brothers plan to unleash a “blistering” set.
“We’ll be serving up old-school grooves that swing like crazy, paired with some tasty musicianship and great songs. We’d like to think our sound is strong yet supple enough to appeal to everyone form the most casual listener to the hardcore musico.”
Doors open at 8 p.m. at the Tip Top; admission is $7 at the door. Get details online here.
The band already has numerous musician friends and fans in the Grand Rapids area. Expanding the trio’s audience with shows across the Midwest is a long-term goal, though band members conceded that between day jobs and schedules, it can be difficult to find time for all of the touring and recording they’d like to do.
“Eventually we’d love to make them (tours) a little longer and stretch our legs a little bit,” Pentkowski said. “It’s just a matter of getting our name out there.”
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE with Barbarossa Brothers (7/17/15)
On Friday morning, the band stopped by the studios of WYCE-FM (88.1) for Local Spins on WYCE to perform a couple of songs and talk about their music. Listen to the podcast here and watch a video of their performance of “Fire and Gasoline” below.
Episode No. 46 of Local Spins on WYCE also featured brand new tracks by the Michigan bands The Great Indoors, The Go Rounds and Ned Rouse, along with songs from Drew Nelson, Olivia Mainville, Murder Party, Potato Moon, The New Midwest and Tomas Esparza.
VIDEO: Barbarossa Brothers, “Fire and Gasoline”
Barbarossa Brothers (Photo/Anna Sink)
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