Bloomington locals return from tour

Following a summer containing a Midwest tour, a battle of the bands competition and the release of its second EP “Roastin’ Ma Pups,” local band The Calumet Reel will take the stage at The Bishop.

Lead singer David James, electric pianist Scott Schmadeke and guitarist Drake Ritter, all juniors and Indianapolis natives, have known each other since kindergarten.

They met roommates bassist Glenn Myers and drummer Andy Beargie, who both graduated last spring, at a Riley benefit concert on Kirkwood in 2009 where Beargie was helping with sound.

“David, Drake and Scott were the first act, and I asked them if they needed a drummer,” Beargie said. “I told them my roommate played bass, and it went from there.”

Beargie described The Calumet Reel’s sound as Americana and throwback rock ’n’ roll. The first EP, titled “Music Man,” was released in early 2010 and was mastered with the help of a friend, 2008 graduate Eric Day.

“We got some radio play on WTTS, but when you release your first thing, you don’t have an audience to listen to it right away,” James said. “It has built up over the last eight months.”

The band competed in the Bluebird Nightclub’s 2010 Battle of the Bands competition in late August and made it to the semi-finals.

“We didn’t make it to the finals, but our friend’s band did, The Broderick, and we were happy to see them move on,” Beargie said. “Next year we will see if we can do it again.”

Shortly after the battle of the bands, The Calumet Reel left for a 12-day Midwest tour through Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Missouri. This was the first tour for each of the members.

“We brought X amount of CDs and sold three-fourths during our first two shows, which was a blessing and a curse,” Schmadeke said. “The van didn’t break down, we had a floor to sleep on everywhere we went, and we met some amazing people along the way. It was a success.”

After a two-day break following its tour, the band had a release show for its second EP on Aug. 25.

James said the band spent time recording the album in different houses instead of studios.

“We did everything on our own — wrote it, mixed it, mastered it,” James said. “It aided in making the album sound like we wanted. It’s the best set of songs we’ve released so far.”

The Calumet Reel is currently in the process of promoting the release through shows and has sent the EP to local radio stations and publications.

The band’s next steps include performing around Bloomington, looking into being signed by a label and releasing a full-length album.

“It would be great to have the support of a label, if not for this EP then for the next one,” Beargie said. “However, there is potential for us to do it on our own.”
James said that after the tour, he couldn’t be prouder to be a band doing well in Bloomington.

“The Bloomington music scene has more to offer than a lot of other cities I’ve been to, primarily because of the campus,” he said. “There is a lot of word-of-mouth, grassroots promotion. I’m really happy this is where we’re getting started.”

In addition to today’s show, the band has what Schmadeke describes as the “big show of the month” opening for Matt Pond PA at 8 p.m. Oct. 3 at The Bishop.

“We have a decent run of shows here in town coming up,” he said. “We’re trying to promote by playing as much as possible.”