- The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 4, 1997 Getaway to cruise in A2 Group to bring eclectic sounds to Tower Records By Victoria Sallpande For the Daily Opening for a band at shows is a lot like playing the lottery - you never know what to expect. When Ann Arbor's Getaway Cruiser opened for Tuscadero, a band that had just recently signed to a major label, at The Shelter last August, tIh and didn't know it would be signing to a major label, Cony 550, only months later. That Tuscadero show was the first time someone from a label came out to see us, and it ended up working out pret- P1 ty smoothly because that's the label we're with;' said Getaway Cruiser guitarist Get Drew Peters in a recent interview. Peters, along with his brother/guitarist Chris, drummer Dan Carroll and bassist Mark Dundon, formed Getaway Cruiser in February of last year with a singer who left a few months later. It wasn't until then that Dina Harrison, who was still with the local funk band The Bucket at the time, joined the band on vocals. "We did our first show with Dina after knowing her for about three days with three practices," Peters said. "rtom ajazz and funk background himself, Harrison seems 6ft in well with the eclectic sound of Getaway Cruiser. As 'with bands like the Afghan Whigs and Luscious Jackson, the band's sound relies heavily on the combination of different genres like hip hop, blues, jazz and rock. "It's always been hard for me to categorize music. UJ fa Especially when I first joined this band and everyone asked me what kind of a band it was. I didn't know what to say. I hate trying to fit types of music into little slots," Harrison said. Those different musical influences fuel its "Phones Calling" EP released on Skillet Records, a label run by Chris Peters and Carroll. On "Phones Calling," the ability to experiment with drum loops, sampled hip-hop beats and different instruments like the harmonica and accordion in songs like "Bad Time," "Everyone's Wrong" E V I E W and "Birthday" set Getaway Cruiser apart from your average rock band. way Cruiser "My brother and I listen to a lot of Saturday at 1 p.m. music and, you know, there's a lot of Tower Records things that can be done in a song. There's Free a lot of instruments that we hear that we've still haven't yet to buy;" Peters said. As a relatively young band, Getaway Cruiser had an under- standable concern about signing to a major label too soon. "I think (getting signed) happened pretty quick. I was expecting to have a long road to hoe. It happened a lot sooner than we expected. Just having A&R people come out to our first five or six shows was pretty surprising and then when they started making offers, we were even more surprised," Peters said. If signing with Sony 550 seemed to happen quickly, the band has learned from others' experiences, bad and good, with labels. "We really trust our A&R man. I mean obviously you have (From left to right) Mark Dundon, Drew Peters, Dina Harrison, Chris Peters and Dan Carroll are Getaway Cruiser. no guarantees whatsoever- except for what's actually in print. They try to put in as little guarantees as possible," said Peters. "We don't have to explain ourselves very much to (our A&R man). I think he really gets us. He gets us the most out of everyone outside of this band," he added. While the new album won't be released until early next year, the band has already made plans to start recording songs with the Butcher Brothers (Urge Overkill, Cypress Hill) pro- ducing for at least two months. "I want to make sure that this is a record that I can listen to and have very, very few if not no complaints about,"said Peters. With their positive outlook on the future of their music, the members of Getaway Cruiser are also hopeful about the state of music in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area. "It's not a terribly huge town, but if you look at what's going on in terms of the size of the town, I think it's pretty impressive. Nothing's really gone to the next level, but a lot of things are looking like they will. There's a lot of bands around here in Ann Arbor and Ypsi that are doing some pret- ty significant things, but nothing that's all over MTV It seen like that's what it takes for anyone to appreciate it unfortu- nately, but that's the way it goes." Can ten years of interracial LOVE survive centuries of interracial HATE? WEDDING BAND 'Wedding Band' to march into Trueblood By Alice Childress Directed by Michele Shay TRUE B LOOD j THEATRE April 3 - 5, 104-12 at 8 PM April 6, 13 at 2 PM Tickets are $14 Charge by phone: 313-764-0450 Student seating is $7 with ID at the League Ticket Office Dept. of Theatre and Drama UM School of Music By Evelyn Miska For the Daily After having made its debut in Ann Arbor in 1966, Alice Childess' play "Wedding Band" returns from a 31- year hiatus. This new production is proud to have Broadway actress and Tony Award nominee Michele Shay as its director. Childess is the first black woman to have had her work produced pro- fessionally off-Broadway. This then led to more opportunities for other black playwrights to have their work produced professionally. Although she has written numerous plays, Childess is perhaps best known for her book "A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a its.n- Comedian Chri Tickets: $1 at Hillel 1429 Hill Street, (31 Sunday, April G, 1997 ti. Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan 8:00 pm on-students 3.TKTS to charge by phone. Sandwich," which was controversial enough to have been banned by a Long Island school district in the mid-'70s. Set in 1918, "Wedding Band" deals with the issues surrounding a law that banned interracial marriages. Revolving around the relationship between a white man and a black woman, the questions of secrecy and racism must be addressed. The play is subtitled "A Love/Hate Story in Black and White," which reflects the issues the characters must deal with throughout the story. Shay was originally invited to the University to direct a play called "Home," which required a cast of only three, and Shay decided she wanted to work with a greater num- ber of students. It was then decided that she would direct "Wedding Band," so Shay cleared her calendar and moved temporarily to Ann Arbor. Although ShayR has done some directing and pro- a ducing prior to A "Wedding Band," this is the first large-scale show Shay has done. "I've never quite done anything this big. This is my first full-fledged play with big budgets and more designers; most of the time we've had to make do with what we had, and we were mostly rich in talent," said Shay. Shay was particularly interested in the stories of the different women in the play and how they are affected by the absence of men due to the war. The relationship between the black and the white women and their similar- ities and differences were also of great Alice Childress' "Wedding Band" will grace the Trueblood Theatre this weekend. e pr interest to Shay. Not only does the play deal with the issue of racism, but it also looks at the lines between genders. "I'm extremely concerned about racism in the country - not only racism, but anything that separates us as people," said Shay. Shay said she also feels "Wedding Band" is a great opportunity to look E V I E W at the line between dding Band love and hate, and il 3-6, 10-13 at 8 p.m. one must ask Trueblood Theatre whether love is $ strong enough to overrule hate. "Love is the greatest and most impor- tant thing in the world," Shay said. While the play may address serious issues, Shay hopes the audience will learn from what is being presented. "I'm hoping that what comes out of this evening is love and the desire to grow;' she said. Not only may these issues be difficult for the audience to deal with, they also were difficult for the cast. Shay feels this may have been the greatest chal- lenge for the actors - to learn to deal with the hatred expressed in the play, and open their hearts. Shay said that the cast was up to the challenge though, and she thinks the incredible talent of the cast is one of the production-grcat- est assets. The castseems to be just as enthu* astic about Shay as a director, as Shayis about her cast. Ian Crick, who plays the character of Nelson, is especially excit- ed about working with Shay. "It's -the best experience I've had working on a show," Crick said. While this play does deal with seri- ous issues, there is a great romance going on at the same time. "It's a good romantic story, and it Ihs great colorful characters who have g senses of humor" Shay said. As a director, she understands that the audience wants to be entertained, yet at the same time, it is important to look at and deal with such sensitive issues. "We're shopping for entertainment on one level, but the other level is enlightenment;" said Shay. Shay's main goal with "Wedding Band" is to touch the audience. "I just hope people come with opE hearts and open minds" said Shay. ACID JAil EVERY Ei Bird of Paradise "Add it Up" "Blister in the Sun" "Gone Daddy Gone" VIOLENT FEMMES with Phil Cody AARIL 1 7 .A U of M Office of Major Events Production Gospel-Smoked Blues The Holmes Brothers Thursday April 3 Blind Pig ; IM.. 1 r1 .i'Fr TFrrm-i Z "- W.