"Possessing a triple threat of one of the best singers in town, one of the most amazing bass players you'll ever hear and one of the most rhythmically literate drummers around, The Whitney Barricklow Band is a must-see. Barricklow has sharp lyrics, fantastic melodies, abundant charm and one of the biggest, best voices that you'll hear almost anywhere."
Dale Johnson, CityBeat, 9/04
Whitney Barricklow Band is powerhouse, power-pop
foursome. They are known for their high energy live shows, stellar vocals, and
top notch rhythm section. The band consists of Whitney (guitars, vocals), Mark
Szabo (lead guitar), Chris Walker (bass), and Shawn Elsbernd (drums). They came
together in June of 2003 as a trio (without Shawn, and with Mark on drums).
They welcomed Shawn into the band in late 2004, Mark switched to guitar, and
they happily turned into a full blown rock band. Recent shows of note include
the Midpoint Music Festival 2003 and 2004, Homegrown Music Festival 2003/2004,
Chicks Rock Fest 2004/2005, Taste of Cincinnati, and appearances on WAIF 88.3,
WNKU 89.7, WCPO Channel 9, and WXIX Fox 19.
Press
Cincinnati's CityBeat
12/03
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Locals Only: The Mouse That Roared The Whitney Barricklow Band: A djembe, a bass, a guitar and a big, big voice
"Whitney's disconcertingly humble," says Mark Szabo, who plays djembe (a West African drum) and guitar with The Whitney Barricklow Band. He says this in light of Whitney's tremendous singing voice and formidable songwriting abilities. Mark's assessment of Barricklow makes even more sense when Whitney says, "I'm not a radio listener. I heard The Beatles last year for the first time. I've heard their songs in passing. We did (Beatles) songs in choir, like, (sings) 'Ob-la-di, ob-la-da,' that's the Beatles, right? I'm weirdly musically naíve. There will be a really well known band and someone will say something to me (about them) and I'm completely clueless. It's kind of embarrassing sometimes." The Whitney Barricklow Band is Whitney, who sings and plays acoustic guitar, Szabo and Chris Walker (also of The Walker Project and Derrick Sanderson's Soul Experience). They've been together as a band since June 2003. First, it was just Whitney solo in May 2002, and then, "Chris and I did something, Mark and I did something, then all three of us did something," says Barricklow. When asked about her influences, she names Karen Carpenter first. "I bought a copy of Close To You on CD and played it in the car. She sang along with every song, note for note. It was eerie," says Szabo. Continuing with her influences, Barricklow says, "Extreme. Remember them? The Sundays. My influences are so bad because I really don't listen to the radio! Let's see, then there's Debbie Gibson! She was 16! She was writing all of her own songs, and it was cool seeing someone five years older than me writing her own songs." It says a great deal about the Whitney Barricklow Band's sound (as well as the singer herself) that it really isn't marked by what you hear every day. There's a groove and an incredible intelligence, both mental and emotional, behind the lyrics. And then there's her voice, this lovely, harmonic, exploding thing that sometimes sighs, sometimes teases and sometimes just detonates. "We're kind of in the middle (of Rock and acoustic). We're not laid back, strumming a guitar, singing tunes by candlelight -- we've got an element of Rock going on," says Barricklow. Szabo brings strong musicianship to the band's sound. "He has a musical understanding of how to play drums, which a lot of drummers around town lack," says Walker. "He understands songwriting. He plays percussion to a song and understands the dynamics of the song -- what to play here, what not to play there. You can't ask for more than that. He plays the djembe like a (full drum) kit; he hits the highs and the lows." Walker "brings his monstrous bass" to the band, says Barricklow. "I feel that we're similar people. I love the way he writes bass lines; they're exactly what I hear in my head." Then there's the lyrics. In the seductive "Wicked Slick" she sings, "Your music is delicious/You wicked slick ambitious man/You keep me coming back for more." There's no adequate way in print to get across her phrasing of the word "man." Like speaking Chinese, sometimes how you say something speaks volumes. Mood-wise, her songs sound sunny, but, more often than not, there are dark undertones. "If I didn't have the pain (there), I wouldn't have the song, so ya gotta pick the song," Barricklow says. "Sometimes it's easier to write when you're miserable. That's why it's cool and more of a challenge to write when you're happy." Her songwriting spurts come in three month cycles, she says, admitting to being in a bit of a slump recently. "I was telling Mark the other day that sometimes I get lazy about not immediately going to write something down," she says. "I'll get inspired about something and I'll have four lines pop into my head and I go, 'Ahhh, maybe I'll finish eating dinner first.' But when I'm really strict about it I write more. Just because you catch that stuff instead of letting it go. It's such a discipline. " 'Getting into your muse,' that's what I call it when I'm feeling dramatic. But it's true. I feel like I have a muse. I wrote a poem about it. My muse is in my head. It's like a curly-haired little angel girl -- she just floats around." "Curly-haired?" asks Szabo. "Angel?" Walker further inquires, to billows of laughter.
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