While reaching out to several bands playing this weekend’s DIY Street Fair, I heard back from the Beggars’s Steven Tuthill, who was enormously generous with his time. While the band is well known to Detroiters and has been around for many years, I hail from West Michigan, so it was all new to me as I looked at the website and a barrage of sweet sounding rock ’n’ roll hit my ears.
The style and showmanship blew me away with an old-school sound reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Animals, and James Brown, (to name a few). Nostalgia-loving creatures that they are, the Beggars have released several of their albums in vinyl. When I asked Tuthill if the band preferred vinyl for its sound quality or otherwise, he replied that while many albums are on vinyl, they want to get their music out to fans and listeners in any way possible - vinyl, CDs, and digitally. He says, “Vinyl has a great sound, it’s fun to collect, and it’s a great, tangible item.” On that note, he mentioned that the vinyl was being produced by Detroit’s Archer Records, and that they are, “Keeping it Michigan-made when possible.”
As we spoke about the upcoming show at the DIY Street Fair (the band will playing at the Loving Touch), Tuthill said that we should be prepared for some spontaneous lyrics. “It’s fun to be situational and because one can get caught up in the moment and forget them.” An honest man if I ever met one.
When I asked if Tuthill had any advice for aspiring musicians trying to land a gig or book a show he said, “Be genuine...do your own thing. Appreciate what you do, and your audience.”
“Rock and Roll is a pretty great thing to be a part of and we want folks to have fun with it...the way kids did in the early days,” says Tuthill. “We would be scantily-clad if we were a little sexier.”
The full-length album Songs for the Summer of 2016 is scheduled to be available in early 2014, on vinyl and digital download. A new live record, Beggars Live 45 is available October 1st, on iTunes.
Find out more at beggarsrock.com.
