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The online home of the Central Focus

FHCtoday.com

The online home of the Central Focus

FHCtoday.com

    Charlie Bartlett Would Be Proud

    I’m going to take a moment for shameless self-promotion. My friends and family gave me some flak for writing a blog all about the local music scene because, well, I’m a part of it. So why not live up to their expectations? For those of you reading this that don’t know, I’m in a band called The Ragstripes. If you haven’t deduced that by now, then may the Force be with you, because you’d have to pretty thick not to catch on.

    Anywho, The Ragstripes consists of yours truly and my best friends, senior, Nick Jones, and junior, Cory Mercurio. We like to call ourselves an indie-punk band, drawing our influences from larger acts such as blink-182 and Fall Out Boy, but also from lesser known bands like Tigers Jaw and Balance and Composure (who are both amazing and worth checking out, might I suggest their split EP).

    Catchy choruses are definitely one of our attributes, but we keep our lyrics honest and relatable. Although our lyrical content may be somewhat cliche (it usually involves the lady folk), we try to keep it real. We want to be a band that people can listen to and relate. We’re not just sitting behind the mic and whining, we want people to know that we know how they feel. That’s the goal anyway.

    One of my favorite movies comes to mind. In the movie, the main character Charlie Bartlett (which is also the title of the movie) proclaims to his classmates and peers, “You are not alone!” That’s what we want people to know. We’re loud, obnoxious, and think we’re hilarious; but we’re also real people who can relate.

    Nick and I have been writing and playing together since our freshman year, thanks to senior Pierce Bloebaum who used to be in a “band” with us, and the way we mesh is great. We’re like brothers. We know how each other tick. I’m probably jinxing it, but I feel like we have this great thing that really just fell into our laps, and we hope that whoever has heard and enjoyed what we have to offer

    In the next week, The Ragstripes will release their first kind of any recorded music anyway. Alumnus Drew Anderson has recorded us in the “Drewdio”, as we donned it, and is probably the best friend to the band. As far as our demo goes, it consists of five songs, all originals. “Better Luck Next Time, Scott,” “Sweeping Oaks,” “Moosejaw,” “Like Lions,” and “Eye to Eye” are the names of the songs. For anyone who is at all interested, the demo will be absolutely free for everyone all the time … probably forever. So once we’re finished in the Drewdio, find either Nick, Cory, or myself and pick up a copy! We’ll love you to infinity and beyond.

    “Like” The Ragstripes on facebook, follow me on Twitter (@ryanthesilver), as well as Nick (@i8poptarts2), and of course, email me at [email protected] with any questions or comments.

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