OOT News

By: Krista Doran

I have been writing the “In The Spotlight” segment of the Out On The Town for several years now, and I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting, seeing and talking with so many great bands in this area. I really consider myself blessed to have had these many opportunities to write about all of them. There are some incredibly talented musicians in this area and I am proud to write these stories about every one of them so that more people can appreciate all the hard work they put into their craft. Every so often however, I will feature a band that really grabs my attention because of their true dedication to providing excellent entertainment. That is why this month I decided to feature Steamboat Annie.

Steamboat Annie formed several years ago out of the ashes of what used to be the popular local cover band, Gear. Founding member of Gear and current drummer for Steamboat Annie Johnny Callan, asked his sister Kelly Callan to sit in on some songs after the original line-up had some personnel changes. At the time, a female fronted band was kind of an anomaly, and Kelly brought her dynamic stage presence and strong vocals which really helped to define the band. Not too long after, Johnny met current Lead Guitarist Josh Bornstein while they were both attending Temple University. They were both Secondary Math Education majors, and prior to this Josh majored in music. Johnny recalls; “Josh would often bring his guitar on campus so he could sneak into into a practice room in between classes.” John took notice and approached Josh, asking him about his playing experience. From there Johnny and Josh formed a friendship and Josh auditioned for Gear. Gear eventually evolved into Jinx, and that was when Bassist Mike Laster came on board. After a few really fun years of making music, they parted ways and Kelly, Josh and Johnny went on as a trio to form what is now Steamboat Annie back in 2004. Mike returned to playing a few years later to round out the quartet.

It’s been almost 9 years now since the current line-up of Steamboat Annie formed. As Kelly stated, “We are actually a very tight, dysfunctional family! To see each other that often every single weekend, every single practice and every single gig for this length of time, you either love and respect each other or you fire someone! There is a mutual respect and close bond that we share. We genuinely like each other and we hope it carries over into our performance.” Steamboat Annie plays a great mix of all genres of music; Classic Rock, 80’s music, Pop, Modern Country, Alternative…you name it, they do it! Their show is a super fun ride through all these different genres, with a sound and visual quality that is top notch and professional. They work hard at what they do and their dedication is why they are one of the most popular cover bands on the local scene right now. Johnny explained, “The care and time we put into making music really matters to us. We are firm believers that hard work and dedication trumps gimmicks.” I could not agree more. If you have the talent to back it up, you do not need any type of gimmick and that is one of the many things that sets this band apart from many of the others. Johnny went on to say, “It’s the effort that produces quality. And, at the end of the day, being in a band is about playing music. Our first priority is to always deliver our best performance and that includes a good sound and light production. If you can convey to the patrons that you care about entertaining them, they will engage you and they will return again and again. We have made so many loyal friends over the years and continue to allow us to do what we love. Without them, we’d still be playing in the basement! We are really grateful for their support.”

When you go to see Steamboat Annie live, you will notice the care they put into setting the mood for the audience. They will usually start off with some Classic Rock favorites and sprinkle in some Country and some Contemporary music. After everyone gets settled in and having fun, they turn things up a notch to get people up and moving. Throughout the night they construct a consistently fun and energetic performance, taking much pride in their musicianship and their connection with the audience. Kelly is often regarded as “The Dork” of the band. She is hilarious, quite clumsy and has learned to embrace it. Even after all these years she still gets stage fright! Kelly explained, “I have gotten much better over the years, but it can still grip me from time to time.” Meanwhile, John is “The Rock Star”, Mike is “The Ham” and Johnny is “The Drummer” (no other descriptor necessary!) These different personalities blend so well on stage because they make fun of each other and just have so much fun doing it!

I asked Kelly what she felt is “different” about Steamboat Annie and she told me, “We really ARE family! Josh and I have been in a relationship for 14 years and Johnny is my brother. Growing up, Johnny was always playing in some heavy Metal band and I was the Country girl. We were as far apart on the musical spectrum as you can imagine! Our mom tried time and time again to get the two of us to play together in a band but I hated his Heavy metal music and Johnny would almost vomit at the thought of playing Country! So while he was rocking his long mullet and spandex, I was in my boots singing Reba McIntyre! But fate eventually stepped in and here we are!”

Everyone in the band has a pretty impressive background in music. Kelly performed in Bandstand USA in her formative years. She would later take her love of Country music and front the very successful Country act, 90 Proof. During this time, she had the honor to open for national acts such as Kitty Wells, Waylon Jennings & The Gatlin bros. Josh studied guitar with Greg Kettinger and majored in Jazz Performance at Temple University. Josh joined Gear with Johnny and Kelly at the ripe young age of 22 and has been with them his entire professional musical career. Recently, Johnny had the privilege to play at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame as a part of the DeVry University corporate band. Previous to Gear, Johnny had played in several bands in the Buck County Area including Ask Alic, Instinct and Praz. Mike’s background is in Classical music and some years later Jazz, but he obviously has Rock influences as well. Some of his previous cover and original bands were: Medusa, Bad Manners, Bottoms Up, CopyKat, The Jinx, and Almost Famous. In addition to all of this, Kelly has traveled to Nashville to record her CD of original Country music called, “Kelly Callan, Rust & Rhymes” and explained, “It made a little noise and received some airplay. The CD is no longer for sale in stores, but you can get yourself a copy in the back of the “Steamboat Vannie! They are still available for sale at our gigs, but you better hurry, I only have 999 left…..out of the 1,000!” Recently, they have begun incorporating some of her songs into the sets and have been very well received!

When I asked the band what they wanted everyone out there in OOT Land to know the most they told me, “We believe the music should always be the hero. It’s not about flash or individual glory. For us, we play as a unit and support each other musically. It may not make us different, but it does make us sincere. We recently took over booking ourselves and this is our busiest year to date! It sounds silly to say, but we feel like a new band. We are now fully self-sufficient and we own our own brand. That’s not to say that we do not owe a great deal of gratitude to those in the industry that have offered their support and friendship. We would like to thank The Out on The Town magazine, local radio, open mic nights, local venues and bar owners who continue to promote and support local music, among many others, that help keep us all going. In the end, we are grateful. IT’S ALL ROCK & ROLL AND IT’S ALL GOOD!”

You can catch Steamboat Annie playing pretty much every Friday and Saturday night throughout the year. They travel all over NJ and PA playing at many popular clubs, bars, taverns, private parties and corporate events, or any venue in need of great party music. They will be playing quite a bit down the shore this coming summer at great spots like The Oceanic, The Bayshore Inn, Boardwalk Bar & Grill and several others. You can check out their full schedule and also listen to some music samples at www.reverbnation.com/steamboatannie. Take the time to go see this band, because you won’t be disappointed! Steamboat Annie is: Kelly Callan-lead vocals; Johnny Callan-drummer; Josh Bornstein-lead guitarist and Mike Laster- bassist, lead & backing vocals.

By:  Krista Doran

It’s been 6 years now since “Fish” started playing in the area and what a 6 years it has been for this highly motivated and energetic band!

Fish Out OF Water started out as just a hobby and as Lead Guitarist Brian Kelly explained, “It originally was just meant to be a little hobby/garage band type thing, but over the years we started playing more and more….We found out that we all really loved it, and so we stuck with it to this day!”  The band plays a great mix of cover songs and will play anything from Classic Rock and Country to Pop, Dubstep, Hard Rock and even Techno.  Their versatile set lists have made them extremely popular and their seemingly innocent “boyish” looks make the girlies go crazy!  But because of their great selection of songs and musicianship, they will appeal to every age group, male or female!

I had the pleasure of interviewing lead Guitarist, Brian Kelly a year or 2 ago and I am happy to see that the band is still doing quite well.  There are so many bands that come and go in this area, but “Fish” definitely has staying power.  I asked Brian to describe a show to me and he explained it like this:  “From the very first song, we bring the energy HARD….Girls are dancing, guys are dancing….everyone is drinking.  By the time the second set comes, very few people are sitting at the bar, because we have them all on the dance floor.  By the third set everyone is singing along!  It’s one GIANT PARTY!”  I also asked him what was different about the band and he explained, “We put our own “rocked up” spin on all songs we play.  For instance, we’ve taken the song “Sweet Caroline” and put a rocked up twist on it.  You really just have to see a live show to really understand how exactly we manage to make everything ROCK the way we do!”

If you go to see Fish Out Of Water LIVE, you are going to notice their shows are usually packed…..Everyone is drinking, dancing and having a great time and that’s what they do…They bring the party!  They also take the time to consistently learn new music to keep their shows fresh and exciting for their fans. This is a band that really gets the crowd into the music because they all really enjoy the music they play.

I asked Brian what he thought the band would really want everyone to know, and he told me “A Fish Out of Water show is not just a “show”…it’s a PARTY.  We want to party with the people that are there watching our show.  We don’t just want to perform music as they watch.  We want to get EVERYONE involved both during our sets and during our breaks in between sets.  It only takes one show and you will be hooked!  I promise!”

Fish Out Of Water is:  Gary Smith – Lead Vocals; Santiago Cannon – Bass/Vocals; Brian Kelly – Lead Guitar/Vocals; Aaron Van Allen – Lead Vocals/Guitar and Tim Burns – Drums.

You can see the band playing at some great local spots including Rho (formerly Katmandu), various shore points and casinos, Havana in New Hope, Mad River Manayunk, Finnegan’s Wake, and they are doing a vertical every Sunday at Sweeney’s Saloon in NE Philly. Go check them out because I know you are going to enjoy it! See www.fishoutofwaterband.com for the complete schedule.