MAGIC
UNICORNS
WHO ARE WE?
Got the phone call in early 2013: any chance Human Radio can get together for a quick set to help raise funds for a good friends cancer treatment? With four out of five original members of the band already in Nashville (where the show was to be), all it took was for keyboardist/lead singer Ross Rice to make it down from Woodstock New York, where he had lived for the last "lost" decade. Rice made the flight, and the band found themselves in front of a boisterous live crowd for the first time in way too long, savoring the singalong and the sweat. At the post-gig Thai feast, all members agreed it would be pretty amazing to give it one more go. After all, everyone still got along, nothing to lose, and nobody had lost any chops in the intervening years.
So, Rice moved back to Nashville in late 2014. Having (with his wife) fully raised his two kids and left his job teaching at the Paul Green Rock Academy, why not? Upon return, it was regular rehearsals, some better than others. Time was (and is) hard to come by: Steve Ebe teaches private drum lessons by day, heavily in demand for live performance at night. Steve Arnold balances family life with running a landscaping business, sometimes touring with celebrities. Kye Kennedy is likely the most respected tube amplifier doctor in the business, with his own P3 amp product line, and Peter Hyrka almost single-handedly holds the Venuti/Grapelli hot jazz violin torch in Nashville, with his always-popular Gypsy Hombres.
But just being in a band of friends, when everyone has good feelings for all, no dark axis, heals all old wounds. And where before Rice would often bring fully realized demos for the band to learn and interpret, this time everyone brought ideas, and band jams--recorded with a single condenser mic in omni, center of room--yielded fully realized songs once re-assembled via software. A modified lyrical theme emerged with more metaphysical overtones than the tart and clever wordplay of the debut. And when the opportunity arose to start the recording process at Joe Pisapia's studio, the atmosphere of basic recording was far more inviting, absent the pressure the band endured near the end of its "first run" to come up with the magical song that would save their foundering career.
Will great optimism (and some nervousness), Human Radio rises to face a new millenium, embracing the new concept of crowdfunding with their Kickstarter campaign, which has its deadline JUNE 6. If successful, the band will have a CD release in the fall, and schedule live dates, as well as a special video shoot, documenting new and old material, much of it unreleased. Keep in touch with the band through this webpage, as well as Facebook and Twitter, for further information regarding upcoming shows and events.
For more about the history of the band, please see the "Brief History" page under "About the Band."