Evening Redness is a musical force. The paths that these musicians took to get to each other has been vast. However, after hearing Evening Redness, it will make you wonder what took them so damn long.
Brent Billock spent 12 years tackling lead tenor roles on operatic stages throughout the U.S. before finally deciding to pick up a guitar and tell his own story. Now, drama and melodic focus dominate his rock compositions. Drummer Aaron Williams’ musical background includes marching band, classic rock, jazz, funk, classical, and a prog-metal stint with Cincinnati rockers Kill The Messenger. This wide range of experience drives his inventive rhythms. A founding member of Cincy Punk Fest favorites Shotgun On Blonde, Larry Geiger has given his lead guitar a more lyrical voice, full of bluesy angst to duet melodically with the operatic vocals.
Evening Redness is the CincyMusic.com Download of the Week! Go Grab Your FREE Download HERE!
Learn the words and head out to The Drinkery for the CD Release Show of Before The Dark on Friday, January 15th!
We sat down with Evening Redness for a chat before the big day!
CincyMusic.com: Tell about your debut CD, Before The Dark…
Brent: We’re excited about the CD. I’ve always loved the guitar-driven acts of the 90s, but my earlier musical experience has been classical, so I think you’ll hear an unusual blend of styles on it. Obviously, my writing puts the vocal melodies front-and-center, but there’s a lot of countermelody in the lead guitar, and plenty of indie rock crunch in the rhythms.
CM: What does the debut CD coming out mean to the band?
Brent: We started recording in October of 2014, so it feels great to finally have something to show for all that time and energy. For me personally, it means even more to see this come to fruition. Aaron and Larry have been in original music projects before, but I was singing Donizetti and Puccini until now. It’s a huge shift to tell your own story, using your own words and melodies, and lot of the lyrics on the album are deeply personal to me.
CM: How was the recording process?
Brent: Before The Dark was almost entirely a DIY project. We recorded guitars in an office park in Ft. Mitchell, recorded most of the vocals in my basement, and did all the editing ourselves. It was definitely a huge learning experience.
We did get help from some heavyweights of Cincinnati music. Ashley Shepherd from Audiogrotto recorded drums for us, Ric Hordinski at the Monastery (and formerly of the band Over the Rhine) mixed the album, and Dave Davis at QCA did the master. I’ve been a huge fan of all three of those guys’ work, so it was a big thrill to have them involved.
Aaron: Recording is always fun for me; it was a long day in the studio but worth it.
Brent: Yeah, Aaron’s tracking was a heroic effort. We only wanted to pay for one day of studio time, so he did all 10 tracks in a single day!
CM: What is next for Evening Redness?
Aaron: Working on new tunes.
Brent: Definitely that. I’m eager to get serious about writing again. With what we learned from the first CD, maybe we can do the next one in fewer than 15 months!
Brent: We’re also planning to play a lot more in 2016. So much of last year was spent producing this recording, so now we’re definitely itching to play live shows. That starts Friday, with our CD Release show at The Drinkery. We have some great friends joining us, The Whiskey Shambles and Lovecrush 88. Both bands are CEA-nominated, so we’re not alone in thinking they’re awesome.
