Dan's Papers - June 13, 2008 - Backbeat: Good News for Femmes Fans

Fans of the seminal alternative rock band The Violent Femmes ("Blister in the Sun," "American Music") will be thrilled to learn that Gordon Gano is still making music. And he'll be bringing his latest quirky folk-rock-meets-punk act, Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers, to The Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett on Friday, June 13. Gano collaborates with the Ryan brothers, who are originally from Huntington, and former members of New York City's the Bogmen. This gig is the last of the handful of shows the group has played so far, so Femmes and Bogmen fans won't want to miss it.

While the trio will be performing songs from their slew of new material, you can expect to hear a new rendition or two of Violent Femmes' tunes, says Brendan Ryan, the group's keyboardist. But they do have a lot of new material to choose from. So far, they've written more than 30 new songs, recording 22 of them. "I think people can expect to hear some music that is brand new and fresh, in which they can probably hear musical influences that make sense according to our musical backgrounds," Ryan said. "Most musicians that I know don't like explaining their own sound because they are trying to break new ground, and hopefully that's the case here. Except I do think that it's fair to say that it sounds like the Violent Femmes meets The Bogmen. It's pretty hard to escape that one!"

Longtime fans of the Femmes, Billy and Brendan Ryan met Gano years ago at The Blind Tiger Ale House, a bar in Greenwich Village. By then, the Bogmen were broken up, only reconvening for the occasional benefit show, and the brothers were making a living scoring films (The Heartbreak Kid). The Femmes were no longer releasing new music, but played together occasionally (and keep and eye out for their cover of the Gnarls Barkley hit song "Crazy" on iTunes at the end of the month).

With music as the common denominator, the three hit it off. Gano opened for some of The Bogmen reunion shows. Brendan Ryan played on a song on Gano's solo album Hitting the Ground. This evolved into writing songs together. The Ryans would write and record songs in their home studio, and then drop them off in Gano's mailbox. Gano would write the lyrics and they'd all collaborate on the direction that best suited the song. "Sometimes we left it as bare as its original form and sometimes we completely flipped it around," said Brendan Ryan. One song, "Man in the Sand," went from a Jerry Garcia-style waltz to a punk rock song.

Then they decided to hit the studio, bringing in Warren Bruleigh, who produced Gano's solo album and co-produced several Femmes' albums, to record at The Carriage House, a well-known studio in Stamford, Conn. "Warren's from the 'less is more' school of thought and I think that paid off in the end," Ryan said. "He and Gordon have made many records together, so they had their own language. Billy and I caught on towards the end." The group is currently putting the finishing touches on the album and plan on releasing it whether or not they have a label.

The gig at The Stephen Talkhouse is the last show Gano and the Ryan Brothers have planned for a while, though The Bogmen will be reuniting for a pair of shows on August 29 and 30. Tickets for the June 13 show are $25 and can be purchased at www.stephentalkhouse.com. For more information on Gordon Gano and the Ryan Brothers, go to www.myspace.com/gordonganoandtheryanbrothers.

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