SCENE SCRIBE
By Michael Swanger scenescribe@mchsi.com
Rosewood Thieves steal time to tour between recordings
Erick Jordan, the 23-year-old singer-guitarist for one of New York City’s hottest DIY rock bands, The Rosewood Thieves, vowed that if he ever formed a band he wouldn’t wait every few years to release a new album. Growing up in “the woods of Pennsylvania,” he hated having to wait for the next record by his favorite bands.
Three years after forming The Rosewood Thieves, a mix of ’60s London and ’70s California, Jordan has kept that promise to himself (and his fans) as his band [guitarist Paul Jenkins, organist Mackenzie Vernacchio, bassist John Estes, drummer Mark Bordenet] prepares to release its fifth recording. “Live at the Basement — Nashville, TN,” a limited edition EP that is already sold out and will soon be available via download from iTunes, follows up the group’s 2006 and 2007 EPs “From the Decker House” and “Lonesome,” as well as last year’s full-length debut, “Rise & Shine,” and this year’s “Heartaches By The Pound,” which features six songs written by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member and soul music legend Solomon Burke.
Considering its ambitious recording schedule, perhaps it should come as no surprise that The Rosewood Thieves have little time to tour as they make their way to Des Moines for the first time on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at the Vaudeville Mews.
“We try to keep things going as much as possible ourselves,” said Jordan last week while visiting his parents in Pennsylvania. “It’s a lot of fun making EPs between albums. It keeps things fresh.”
And busy.
Though they haven’t been road warriors, the band’s music hasn’t gone unnoticed. Burke supported them recording his songs for “Heartaches By The Pound” after hearing demos of their studio work, publicly stating “For the first time in my life, I have actually been amazed at the purity of another artist understanding my messages in song, and taking it to the next generation.”
Jordan grew up listening to traditional soul music by the likes of Otis Redding and Joe Tex and was later drawn to John Lennon’s covers of R&B hits. When he discovered Burke’s music, he began to research the soul singer’s career before taking his bandmates to see Burke perform one night in NYC. Inspired by the show, they quickly recorded some of Burke’s material to share with their friends. But they were so pleased with the results that they decided to release them on the album.
“We were going on tour when we finished up the tracks, and I mentioned it in an interview. That’s when Burke’s people heard about it. We sent him the rough mixes, and he sent us a nice note that we used in the liner notes of the album,” Jordan said. “At first I thought someone was playing a trick on us, then I realized it was really him. It was cool to have his blessings.”
Burke isn’t the only rock legend The Rosewood Thieves have crossed paths with. Last year, the band was asked to record their version of The Turtles’ “Happy Together” for a nationwide LG Electronics television advertising campaign. Their music has also caught the ear of television music programmers who have featured their songs in television shows “Entourage” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
“Television is a great way to reach a lot of people in a short time,” Jordan said.
The young singer-guitarist noted that the band embraced the pressure to record a live album, hoping it would further test its boundaries, knowing that it doesn’t tour as often as other bands do. The results, recorded live during a two-night stint in Nashville, he said, were pleasing.
“We wanted to challenge ourselves, so we rehearsed and rehearsed, knowing that the music would last longer than just those two nights,” he said.
Jordan and company will further test their mettle this fall and winter when they temporarily leave NYC to move west to write and record — you guessed it — their next album.
“When we started the band and had to deal with record labels, we understood that the one thing we could control was our music,” he said. “So we decided to be a band that would immerse ourselves in the studio. So far, it’s worked out.” CV
The Rosewood Thieves play Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. at the Vaudeville Mews. $10.
