From The Cincinnati Enquirer:
Thursday, March 22, 2001
Catching up with ... Over The Rhine
As 'Films for Radio' comes out, life is good and
gettin' easier for OTR
By Larry Nager
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When Over The Rhine takes the stage tonight at
Bogart's, it will be the group's first show of a new tour in
support of Films for Radio, the Cincinnati band's new CD for
Virgin/Backporch.
Last year, Backporch re-released Good Dog Bad Dog,
previously available only through the band. Films For Radio
marks a major step ahead: It's the first major-label album of
new OTR material since 1994's Eve.
They've been there before. In 1993, I.R.S. Records
re-released their second independent album, Patience. That
release brought the band to the majors, part of a mini-boom for
Cincinnati alt-rock that included the Afghan Whigs and Ass
Ponys.
“Yeah, here we go again,”
Karin Bergquist says with a dry
chuckle. But there's a
difference, she adds, stirring
her morning cappuccino at the
Pleasant Perk in Pleasant
Ridge. “It just feels like, right
now, we're finally doing it right.”
First label came
unstuck
Over The Rhine got its
start in 1989 in local clubs like
Sudsy Malone's in Corryville.
OTR began as a quartet — Ms. Bergquist on rhythm
guitar and vocals, Linford Detweiler on bass, Ric Hordinski on
guitar and Brian Kelley on drums. The band signed to I.R.S. as
part of an artful folk-pop movement that included Cowboy
Junkies, 10,000 Maniacs and Sarah McLachlan.
But even critical raves and good radio airplay couldn't
offset the group's bad luck. Superstar manager Peter Asher
came to town to sign the band in 1994, but other than being a
good story, it failed to affect the group's fortunes.
“All that happened was Peter Asher showed up at Kaldi's
and shook your hand and told you you were a good songwriter
and he really liked the record, and a week later he left the
company,” recalls Mr. Detweiler.
In 1996, a year after I.R.S. re-released OTR's 1992 debut,
Till We Have Faces, the label became one of the earliest
casualties in the massive restructuring of the record industry.
Love kept OTR together
The band was right back
where it started. But this time
OTR had a national audience
that it has held onto, first with a
mailing list and later on the
Internet. OTR was one of the
first groups to take advantage of
the new technology, and it
nurtured a cottage industry,
releasing CDs on its own label,
selling them and other
merchandise by mail and in
concert.
Mr. Hordinski and Mr. Kelley left after the group's 1996
Christmas concert. For a while, Mr. Kelley returned
occasionally, but also performed with Mr. Hordinski's post-OTR
group Monk.
The OTR duo of Ms. Bergquist and Mr. Detweiler, who
married in the fall of 1996, got a break in 1998, hooking up with
the Cowboy Junkies' summer tour. They opened shows as
OTR, returning to augment the Junkies, Mr. Detweiler on
keyboards, Ms. Bergquist singing with Margo Timmins. When
the Junkies landed a spot on “Lilith Fair,” Karin and Linford
came along.
Focus on the show
It was an education working with the older, more
experienced musicians, she adds.
“I know I learned a lot just by being around someone like
Marg, who knows herself and has done this for longer than I
have,” Ms. Bergquist says. “I respect how she knows how to
handle herself. She's real wise.
“So many variables can go sour on tour, from hotels to
this, that, you name it. But the show is what you live for and
you focus on and the show is always first priority. And you
never take it out on your audience. That was probably the most
important thing I've ever learned.”
Teaming with the Junkies seemed finally to put OTR back
on track. After the original lineup broke up, novice guitarist
Jack Henderson replaced Mr. Hordinski, acoustic bassist Chris
Dahlgren joined on a temporary basis (he has since toured and
recorded with Blue Note Records band the Jazz Mandolin
Project) and Mr. Detweiler concentrated on keyboards.
Instead of Mr. Hordinski's edgy guitar textures, the
instrumental focus of OTR became Mr. Detweiler's piano and
organ, as the sound shifted from folk-pop to an occasionally
pretentious strain of Victorian/Bohemian art music. OTR was
at times so ethereal it threatened to blow away.
But Films For Radio, named for a radio play by local
writer/filmmaker Aralee Strange (1990's Etta James: A Film for
Radio) brings the band firmly back to its pop-rock roots.
“We wanted to make a left-of-center, literate, juicy, vibe-y
pop record,” explains Mr. Detweiler. “And I think we
accomplished that.”
Performing gets personal
Much of Films For Radio was taking shape before the
Backporch deal, he adds, with nine of the 11 songs written and
at least partially recorded. Ms. Bergquist's “When I Go” is the
newest OTR song on the disc, while the first single, “Give Me
Strength,” was written by Canadian pop singer Dido, best
known as the singer on Eminem's “Stan.”
One thing that has changed is the couple's philosophy
about performing.
“We were having a conversation the other day, how there
was really no difference between . . . the person that gets up
onstage and does an act and the person behind that act,” Ms.
Bergquist says.
“When you do something like music, it has to reflect the
person behind it, it can't be otherwise,,” adds Mr. Detweiler. “I
don't think I've been all that willing to admit that, necessarily, in
the past. But as I look back at all our previous recordings, it
gets easier from the standpoint of looking back, to see how
things that were going on did affect the music.”
Couple runs the band
Of course, now that the two of them run the show, OTR is
more of a reflection of Mr. Detweiler and Ms. Bergquist.
Mr. Henderson is a salaried member of the group, which
is being joined for the tour by bassist Chris Donahue and
drummer Dale Baker, both of whom have played for Sixpence
None the Richer.
One thing that the songs on Films For Radio reflects,
confesses Mr. Detweiler, 36, is the process of growing older
and realizing what's really important.
“I love thinking of these songs as short films,” he says. “I
remember telling Karin that, if this record has a theme, that all
the characters that are singing these songs in the first person
are dying to live a life worth remembering.
“They're all discovering that they're writing a story with
their lives, they're all asking the question, "How do I make my
life a good story?'
“They're not kids anymore. They've got perspective and
they want to take care of their lives and take care not to miss
the good part.”
For OTR, the good part remains the music and getting to
play it onstage.
No end in sight
That's one thing that hasn't changed through all the
record label hassles. Even after losing its I.R.S. deal, OTR
remained busy. In 1996, the band's Scampering Songs label
released Good Dog Bad Dog; later that year came the winter
solstice set, The Darkest Night of the Year; in 1997, Besides;
and, in 1999, to celebrate 10 years of music, OTR released
Amateur Shortwave Radio.
As Billie Holiday, no stranger to music business troubles,
once sang, God bless the child that's got his own. With their
own organization in great shape, Mr. Detweiler and Ms.
Bergquist see no end in sight, no matter what happens with
Films For Radio.
“It's a continuum, yeah,” nods Ms. Bergquist, 34. “And it
just feels like there are more pieces in the puzzle right now
that should be there, and it's gonna free us up to do what we
want to do, which is perform.
“So if this (album) goes well, then we're going to get to do
it a little longer than usual. After the tour, maybe we'll get to do
it again. If not, then back to Square One. We don't know what
else to do.”