Throwing Stars to perform at The Bishop

Local band Throwing Stars will perform along with Secretly Canadian/Joyful Noise, Pravada and Marmoset at 9 p.m. Wednesday at The Bishop.

Throwing Stars began as a spin-off of the band Gentleman Caller and originally consisted of Kenny Childers and the husband and wife duo of Brian Winterman on guitar and Una Winterman on vocals. Although Childers has since left the band, Christian Rutledge, Jonathan Richardson and Michael Kapinus have joined on drums, bass and keyboard.

Brian and Una Winterman met as undergraduate students in Bloomington.

“We were at a basement show where my band was playing, February 10, 1996. That’s the anniversary we celebrate,” Brian Winterman said.

The others all met each other around the music scene, and currently Richardson and the Wintermans are neighbors.

“Most members of TS have been playing music for 20 years or more,” Brian Winterman said.

Each member has previously played for other bands with names like Magnolia Electric Company, Early Day Miners and The Hollows.

“Why do we start bands? God knows it ain’t for the money,” Winterman said in an e-mail.

But money isn’t the only problem. Working out a schedule for rehearsal also proves to be problematic for the band.

“We all have kids and day jobs, but we try to meet about once a week,” Winterman said.

Throwing Stars plays shows in Bloomington about once a month.

“We don’t want to play in Bloomington too much because we don’t want people to get sick of us,” Winterman said.

When it comes to the band’s music, Winterman said they get straight to the point.
“We tend to go right for the hook and don’t mess around very long building moods.
“Our song structures tend toward accessibility.”

“I could mention a lot of very “poppy” and unpopular bands that our structures and melodies are similar to, but that probably wouldn’t help our authenticity factor much with certain people. It might also bring back bad memories of the 80s for some people,” Winterman said in an e-mail.