IU alums, faculty release indie album 'Life Songs' Jan. 20

B-Town House Band, a band comprised of several IU students and alumni recently released their indie album, “Life Songs.”

Released on Jan. 20, the album consists of a mix of folk, pop, rock, blues and some Latin songs, IU faculty and band member Ann Elsner said.

Elsner said the band first formed when she wanted to record a song she had written for her niece’s daughter, who was going to have surgery.

Elsner had other relatives contribute to the track and then gave it to girl.

“It really did help,” Elsner said. “It was a case where music really did help.”

Since then, Elsner has had other relatives and friends contribute to the album, she said. IU graduate Ben Fowler also had a leading role in helping compile the album.

“Everyone on the album is someone I knew or a friend of Ben’s,” Elsner said. “The band got its name after the fact that the first meeting was in Ben Fowler’s house.”

Elsner said she first got into writing songs after taking drum lessons from Fowler. At her first recital, she noticed that many students had written their own songs, so she decided to write one for her next recital.

“The song wasn’t very good, but it got better and turned into the track ‘Saturday’ on the album,” Elsner said.

During the next 20 months, the songs came to her one by one, she said. Now, she has enough material for a second album.

Several people sing on “Life Songs,” such as IU School of Optometry graduate student Andrea Walker, Jacobs School of Music graduate student Durand Jones and Joe Mellencamp, John Mellencamp’s older brother.

Even though there were a lot of members in the band, Elsner said it wasn’t hard to choose who sang each song.

“Everyone agreed Durand was so wonderful,” Elsner said. “It was not hard to recognize his talent. He could sing the phone book.”

Jones said he hadn’t expected to sing on the album.

“I play with a group, and the leader is Ann’s drum teacher,” he said. “She was looking for a sax player and Ben said, ‘You know, Durand sings, too,’ and she said, ‘Oh I’ll write a song for him.’”

Jones said he sang and played the saxophone for several songs on the album.
 
“My ultimate goal as a musician is to walk into any setting and be comfortable singing or playing music,” he said. “Ann really gave me an outlet to explore that a little more.”

Walker, who rapped on several of the songs on the album, said Elsner has made something for everyone.

The song “Blamin’ It on the ACA” is directly related to optometry students at IU, Elsner said. She said she wrote the song about the effect the Affordable Care Act had on her lab’s research assistants last summer.

She said that because of the act, the students had their hours reduced to twenty-nine hours per week. She said this was despite the fact that she had promised them a full work week all summer and had the money to pay them.

“The confusion is that they are considered temporary employees,” Elsner said. “It’s unfair and a big mess, and there is no solution. Next summer is coming up, and there is still no solution.”

While the future of her summer lab research assistants is uncertain, Elsner said she does plan to make another album.

For now, Elsner said she wants to see the album do something for her commercially.

“I’m hoping someone will want the songs for their wedding or play them in an advertisement,” Elsner said. “But I want to see it do something for the student talents as well.”

Follow reporter Katie Hogue on Twitter @KatieKay_91.