NYTROUS
Nytrous blog - sharing our thoughts
April 7, 2014 - Karen, aka KK
'it's about time'. well it all started for me in the beginning of october 2013 when i responded to a post looking for a musician for a band. i saw the post probably 2 weeks prior but didn't answer right away, thinking 'why would they want me - a classical musician who plays orchestra instruments'. a few more times, i re-read the post, thought about it again, but again didn't reply. finally, in typical kk style, i said what the fuck and sent a message. man am i glad i did!! this has been one of the most exciting 6 months of my life so far, and it's only the beginning. The music - i fell in love with the music right away!! the original songs are incredible - music and lyrics. i've played in plenty of other bands. even though i've always tried to stretch the boundaries of music styles, i never found the right mix of personalities, musical style, and arrangements. with nytrous, i feel like i walked into my dream band. my crazy musical ideas weren't so crazy, chuck & lance's crazy musical ideas were equally NOT crazy to me. and this is just the first 6 months! learning the nytrous originals has been a joy. chuck says 'learn the exact keyboard solo to 56', i say 'ok' and it happens. first time i play it in public, chuck's face lights up. lance says 'sing backup' in a few songs, i do, and lance's face lights up. what a joy!! play a beatles tune in bluegrass style - sure! play gypsy violin - sure! plug the violin into an effects pedal and rip lead guitar style solos with distortion and shit- sure!! play tenor sax in public after literally only playing the thing 3 times - sure! the sky is the limit when it comes to creativity with nytrous. i never thought i could be part of such an exciting and amazing rock band!! and the people - it's been interesting stepping into the mix with 2 lifelong friends who have been playing and writing music together for decades. chuck and lance have a kind of shorthand - a gesture, a word, a comment, a look and it means something. they are in sync and i'm pretty sure there are some great stories behind alot of these moments that i haven't heard yet. it was comfortable for me from day 1 - like i found some long lost big brothers that i always wished i had. and so far, chuck & lance don't make me choose sides when they disagree ;) i've always enjoyed playing a variety of musical styles on a variety of instruments. i didn't know it when i answered that post back in october, but nytrous is exactly what i didn't even know i needed until now. and don't worry - i'm still playing classical music, musicals, big band - whatever strikes my fancy. i'm extremely proud to say that nytrous is a significant part of the mix now. and you never know what to expect when you come to see a nytrous show, but one thing is for sure - it's a gas! onward & upward!! kk
December 12, 2013
It's been quite a week in Nytrous Land. We sprung our new secret weapon on the world, KK alias Karen Kessler, an orchestrating mummer. Now a rock and roller, and she can rock, and she's getting rockier by the gig. We played twice this week. First at The Hollywood Tavern in Rockledge ,Pa.The sound was great and our new trio line-up really jelled. Then on wednesday we competed in a "battle of the bands" at The Dubh Linn in Cherry Hill, N.J. Unfortunately we were the only band and we were up against 3 solo artists. They were all good but we rocked!! and we won the competition. Nytrous will be holding their holiday party at The Dubh Linn free of charge. We also get to come back and compete for the grand prize, as soon as they figure out what that will be. anyway can't wait to turn the trio into a 4pc. We should get back to playing with Vince next week and our sound will be pretty, pretty, pretty good. Hope to see you all soon. Onward and Upward!!
August 9,2013
Had one of the best musical nights of my life a couple of days ago. We had the opportunity to play at Dave and Buster's Open Mic. First The Whippettes each did a song with me backing them up on guitar. Then to my happy surprise David Wolf (Esq) arrived with his guitar and we had an impromptu (that can't be right) Gunk Reunion. Gunk was our first band formed in 1972 and we played ouir first gig in 1973 That's right 40 years ago this was a 40th reunion. It was great. (not talking musically) but it could be with a bit of practice. Looking forward to doing it again. Last but certainly not least Chuck, Rachel , Jesse and myself did a couple more songs. The sound system was well mixed and we sounded sweet. Unfortunately Vince couldnt make it but we still managed to kick some rock and roll ass. You can find pictures and videos on this site. Well, thanx for listening...Lance
JULY 24, 2013 2:38am
it was a little over 2 years ago when I said to Chuck, "i'm ready, it's now or never."
All my life I've wanted to make music. When I was young I always thought I would be a musician but like often happens life get's in the way. So we bought the house and raised the kids (and they are great kids) I have no regrets!!
Through the years Chuck and I would get together in the basement and would periodically jam. So it is true that we have been playing some songs for forty years. (you'd think by now we'd get them right) Anyway we made a decision to start playing our music in front of people again. We picked as our debut performance Kenn Kweder's Nuclear Hootenany at The Green Rock in Philly. We were joined by our high school drummer Ira Segel on his worldly percussion. I think we sounded ok and it was much fun. I was hooked. You can actually watch the video of this performance on our video page. We played the following week and we've been playing all over ever since. It was just Chuck and myself for a while plus my lovely daughters Rachel and Jesse affectionally know as "The Whippettes".
In the past few months we've been joined by Vince Butler on the drums. Vince has really energized our sound. Over the next few months you'll get to hear Vince on our recordings and hopefully see him live. To quote Chuck, "Vince is a gift from the musical gods to us" and I believe it!! Anyway I think this is enough for my first blog. this will be a place where Chuck and I can vent. We will try not to get all Ian Anderson on you and get too verbose. Thanks for Listening....