BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Live music that’s not (officially) dance music but can make for a good boogie.
Not a bad way to spend a Saturday in Bethlehem.
The Christmas City’s very own George Hrab and The Expanded George HraBand — featuring familiar faces from around town and previous performers from the Philadelphia Funk Authority — will be jamming live at the Ice House, 56 River St., at 7 p.m. Saturday.
General admission tickets are $20 and can be secured on the Eventbrite ticket site.
The ensemble includes Eric Kenlin, Vinnie Puccio, Matt Asti, Kiera Wilhem, Raysa Michelle and CJ Steinway. The fun will continue with appearances from special guests Neil Wetzel, Slau and Dale Gerheart.
You can catch a live, full-album and full-ensemble run-through of Hrab’s seventh studio album, “Terpsichore.” That’s 50 minutes of music, featuring 10 tracks and four interludes.
That’ll be preceded by a quartet set, with performances of Hrab’s songs from previous albums.
‘I want my MTV’
Did you watch MTV back in the day?
Hrab wants the upcoming performance to evoke that nostalgic feeling he used to have when jamming to the music of Talking Heads, The Police, Elvis Costello and Duran Duran on TV.
Hrab said “Terpsichore,” a namesake courtesy of the Greek muse of dance, is a sort of homage to the diversity of groups shown on the channel.
“The idea of the record is to call back to that kind of 80s dance music that wasn’t intended to be dance music, but that you could dance to it, rhythmically is really interesting.”Bethlehem musician George Hrab, on his album "Terpsichore"
“The idea of the record is to call back to that kind of '80s dance music that wasn’t intended to be dance music, but that you could dance to it, rhythmically is really interesting,” Hrab said.
It's “just fun to boogie to, but also might have a little bit of depth to it once you start looking at the lyrics or sort of the construction of the songs.”
Look out for lyrics that are “twisty, clever, ironic,” he added.
Notable tracks
Hrab said he’s gotten a great response for the album’s tune “Stop Shouting.”
“White Noise” is a kind of spoken word jam with influence from Frank Zappa’s “Dumb All Over.”
“Pretty Awful” draws inspiration from how attractive people seem to be able to get away with atrocities like murder, Hrab said.
“Maybe we’re all fixable on some level, no matter how broken we may feel.”Bethlehem musician George Hrab, speaking on his song "How Do You Do It" from "Terpsichore"
Hrab mentioned his love for the British TV series “The Repair Shop,” and said the tune “How Did You Do It” talks of taking an object to the shop that seems unfixable and listening along as it comes out good as new in the end.
“Maybe we’re all fixable on some level, no matter how broken we may feel,” Hrab said.
The members
Hrab has brought on many musically talented friends from over his years of performing to join in the action.
“It’s a real amalgamation of sort of lifelong friends and de facto family members whom I just unbelievably respect and who are very generous with both their talent and their time, and who seem to enjoy the kind of stuff that I write,” Hrab said.
“This is the best ensemble of original music that I’ve ever been involved with.”
After more than 20 years of performing, drummer Eric Kenlin said he’s as excited to perform as he’s ever been.
“It’s a real amalgamation of sort of lifelong friends and de facto family members whom I just unbelievably respect and who are very generous with both their talent and their time, and who seem to enjoy the kind of stuff that I write."Bethlehem musician George Hrab
He said Hrab’s drumming on the record keeps him on his toes since it’s “deceptively simple-sounding” but has lots of nuance.
“While we share a lot of influences, we play differently,” Kenlin said.
“So once the record is made, it’s my job to kind of get inside of the music and inside of George’s head and figure out what this all means.
“It kind of forces me to elevate my game because I have to find all those pieces and determine which things are important and try to shine a spotlight on those things that he did that really make the drum parts work.”
“It’s an unenviable task to be a drummer in a drummer’s band,” Hrab said of Kenlin’s role in Saturday’s performance.
“And he’s just been unbelievably excellent at it.”
The two became friends following Kenlin’s graduation from Moravian University, where Hrab also was working when Kenlin first enrolled as a freshman.
Vinnie Puccio has been playing bass alongside Hrab to some degree or another since the turn of the millennium.
Hrab said he “couldn’t believe how great of a player” Matt Asti was when they first met.
Asti will be playing the keyboard in Saturday’s performance.
“He’s just a ridiculously talented sax player, a great educator and a great human."Bethlehem musician George Hrab, speaking on Neil Wetzel
Kiera Wilhelm, a member of Bethlehem City Council, a Moravian graduate and a friend of Hrab for more than 30 years, will sing backup vocals.
Neil Wetzel, Moravian’s current music department chairman, will play the saxophone during the show.
He was a first-year teacher at Moravian while Hrab was a “wee freshman” at the school.
“He’s just a ridiculously talented sax player, a great educator and a great human,” Hrab said of Wetzel.
Hrab’s fellow Philadelphia Funk Authority alumnus Dale Gerheart will join the group to sing a tune, and Slau — who’s worked as Hrab’s engineer and co-producer — will pick up a guitar on a tune, as well.
‘It’s all about the preparation’
CJ Steinway is the group’s second keyboard player, who’s handling horn and string parts along with a variety of synthesizer and percussive sounds during the upcoming show.
“It’s like being a sound effects man on an old-timey radio show — honking horns and slamming doors,” Steinway said.
Steinway said the tunes are “harmonically adventurous and layered,” requiring him to do his homework and even transcribe the parts by ear with some guidance from Hrab.
“It’s like being a sound effects man on an old-timey radio show — honking horns and slamming doors."CJ Steinway, keyboardist with George Hrab and The Expanded George HraBand
He said he was honored to say this live, full-album performance with Hrab, whom he’s known since 1989 after they met as music students at Moravian, would definitely be going on his resume.
Raysa Michelle will cover backup vocals and some percussion parts, including shaker, cowbell and tambourine.
Michelle also sang some parts on the original studio recording of “Terpsichore.”
Hrab and Michelle met in their days of jamming together among the ranks of Philadelphia Funk Authority.
The performance will be “a treat for the senses and a memorable experience,” and those enjoying it should keep an ear out for some comic relief, intelligent songwriting and infectious vision within the songs, Michelle said.
“I would say this might be the most musically challenging repertoire I have prepared for so far. It has been a challenge in the best of ways. I feel like I have grown as a vocalist and a percussionist as I have been practicing to play Terpsichore Live.”Raysa Michelle, backup vocalist and percussionist with George Hrab and The Expanded George HraBand
“I would say this might be the most musically challenging repertoire I have prepared for so far,” Michelle said.
“It has been a challenge in the best of ways.
“I feel like I have grown as a vocalist and a percussionist as I have been practicing to play Terpsichore Live.”
Audience experience at forefront
As lovers of live music, Hrab said he and the other group members take the audience experience seriously, recognizing there’s plenty of other things people could be doing with their time.
But some choose to come see your show, he said.
“If someone comes to your little coffee shop, or your performance or your open mic, whatever that thing may be, you’ve got to respect that and be like, ‘I’m going to entertain the hell out of you as best as I possibly can,’” Hrab said.
“And that’s what’s gonna happen on Saturday.”
Hrab said you can find his music anywhere you listen to your tunes.
