Cinemat to hold local band’s CD release concert

Locally based indie-rock band Gentleman Caller plans to unleash on fans a new, full-length album Friday at The Cinemat, 123 S. Walnut St.

Bloomington band The Country Death and New York’s The End of The World will also be performing in the The Screening Room. Rock starts at 9 p.m., admission is $3 and 14 beer selections are available for those of age.

Kenny Childers, Gentleman Caller front man, said the band came a long way since releasing “Ice Water” in 2001.

“Derek Richey and I made that record in his living room on a 4-track using concrete blocks for drum stands, shoes for mic stands and a karaoke machine for an amp,” Childers said.

Childers said he enlisted eight musicians, most of whom are now current bandmates, to help with the first CD release show.

“I kind of tricked them into being in the band by giving them the impression it was a one-of-a-kind show,” he said. “Seven years later, most of them are still involved.”
“Gentleman Caller Vs. The Elephant,” debuting tonight, is the band’s third album. And this time, no makeshift living-room production was involved.

The band’s label, Musical Family Tree Records, describes the 14-track compilation as “a croon that breaks hearts, a bark that warns of the bite to come, a whisper that channels a desperate, dying lover, and a poet’s pen that makes you think twice before taking any of his words at face value.”

Childers said he finds it difficult to draw a large fan base in a college town populated with transient students.

“Bloomington has always been a real hotbed of creativity,” he said. “It would be nice if the college kids support local original music more, as opposed to cover bands at The Bluebird.”

Andy Goheen, vice president of Spirit of ’68 Promotions, said local music lovers would not be disappointed with Friday’s lineup.

“Gentleman Caller plays beautiful folk/pop songs. Kenny’s intelligent lyrics and gift for accessible yet cerebral melodies, along with all of the band members’ musical experience in legendary Indiana bands, make Gentleman Caller a band that everyone can enjoy,” Goheen said.