Touring behind a new EP, the rootsy Michigan band revved up the latest edition of Local Spins on WYCE, which also debuted new tracks by The JetBeats, Coldville, Political Lizard and more.
Reared on Classic Rock: The Gasoline Gypsies performing during Local Spins on WYCE. (Photo/Local Spins)
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To say the Gasoline Gypsies are hitting their stride may be an understatement.
The Port Huron-bred rock, roots and Americana group that’s well established in Southeast Michigan won two Detroit Music Awards for their 2017 album, “Killin’ Time,” was named best original rock band in a Detroit TV station viewers’ poll and has built a devoted base of fans lovingly dubbed “vagabundos.”
Now, the Gasoline Gypsies – lead singer and guitarist Caleb Malooley, bassist Steve Briere, drummer Joe Makowski and guitarist Neal Love – are promoting their new “Vagabundos” EP with a tour of Michigan and Indiana venues leading up to the official New Year’s Eve premiere of a video for the band’s single, “Freaks and Non-Believers.”
Honing Their Sound: The Gasoline Gypsies have gotten heavier while maintaining their folk roots. (Photo/Local Spins)
(They also were named among three finalists for JBL’s 2017 ‘Best American Band’ contest, eventually losing out to their pals, Grand Rapids’ The Crane Wives.)
And as they’ve drawn more attention, kudos and fans, they’ve also honed their sound, which has admittedly gotten heavier over the years, especially with the addition of Love on guitar.
“We’re all kind of classic rock junkies, so we pull a lot of influence from that area kind of with our own spin on it obviously,” Malooley said.
Briere noted the band started in Port Huron “as more of a folk, country rock” trio and filled out its sound ever since, adding that Love has “really helped us round out our sound in the last two years. … We book ourselves as a rock band but I think people have trouble placing us. … We get described as everything from folk-rock to heavy rock.”
Neal Love (Photo/Local Spins)
Added Makowski: “I feel we’ve just gotten heavier without losing the folk base of it with harmonies and the soul behind it and the deeper meaning in the songs. You can really see the progression through our three albums.”
The band’s songwriting has gotten more collaborative in recent years and “fits together really, really well,” noted Malooley.
Band members also aim to enhance their Michigan fan base by building a bigger audience in West Michigan, stopping by the studios of WYCE in Grand Rapids for the most recent edition of Local Spins on WYCE, on their way to a headlining Kalamazoo show last weekend. Watch a video of their rousing, in-studio performance of “Freaks and Non-Believers” here, with the full radio show podcast below.
VIDEO: The Gasoline Gypsies (Local Spins on WYCE)
The band’s official video for “Freaks and Non-Believers” – which features some vagabundos fans as extras – gets released on New Year’s Eve at 20 Front Street in Lake Orion.
Love and Makowski (Photo/Local Spins)
“Our goal for this video is to spread it out to our farthest reaches,” said Malooley, who conceded the band is “ready for the next-step stuff” in its development, with hopes of touring more regularly outside the state.
Learn more about the Gasoline Gypsies and get links to listen to their latest “genre-transcending blue water Michigan rock” at thegasolinegypsies.com.
The Nov. 23 edition of Local Spins on WYCE also boasted the on-air debut of new tracks by The JetBeats, Political Lizard, Michigan Rattlers and Coldville, plus music from May Erlewine, Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish (this week’s musicians’ pick) and Billy Strings.
Listen to the podcast here. And check out previous episodes of Local Spins on WYCE.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (11/23/18)
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