Found a Way

Jon Svetkey: old friend, new band

by John O'Neill

Jon Svetkey is familiar to many in Central Massachusetts as that smart-ass folkie who used to play at the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus. Things, of course, evolve -- the Old Vienna is now a receding memory and Svetkey is now a full-fledged, card-carrying rock-and-roller, fronting the four-piece Loomers. And while such a wholesale change would be unthinkable to most, it wasn't all that unnatural for Svetkey.

"I'm of the belief that you wanna listen to as much music as you can and let the music take you in," he explains. "I love all types of music. I like the understated eloquence of folk, but I really like the backbeat of rock and roll. What I do now, it's just a bigger sound, and that's also very freeing in many aspects. You can make a much bigger impact; it's like [comparing] working with charcoal or oil paints, sonicly speaking."

While the Cambridge-based Loomers have been on the scene for a relatively short time, they've already built a solid reputation throughout the region as a band whose live show teeters somewhere between a funk-groove love-in and an old Texaco Theatre skit. Which is to say they not only deliver the musical goods, they provide a few good laughs along the way.

With the release of their debut CD, Escalation, the Loomers now have a good reason to be taken a little more seriously. From the subliminal white-boy, funk-rock opener "Been there, done that" to the Tom Petty-ish "She's a Spark," Escalation is a quick study of 30 years of music influences. Svetkey and company move from the Jackson 5 harmonies on "Television" straight across to the Earth, Wind and Fire-driven soul of "I Will Be with You" to the Revolver-era Beatlemania of "Find a Way."

"A lot of what's being heard were the ideas of [producer and engineer] Bob Acquaviva," Svetkey elaborates. "He came up with the call-and-response on `Someday.' And he thought `Find a Way' had a real John Lennon flair, so he produced it like a Lennon track with double vocals. Bob brought a lot of insight into the studio."

The other big studio hero was Loomers guitarist Everett Pendleton who provided the lion's share of backing vocals that, alongside Svetkey's voice, gives Escalation its distinct sound.

"Everett is the most amazing singer I know, period," says Svetkey. "He can sing anything you ask him. He does three vocal parts on some songs!"

Escalation has already started to spread the Loomers (who are rounded out by the rhythm section of drummer Michael Cahill and new bassist Jack Cavalier) growing fan base, and was picked up for radio airplay by AAA and college stations nationwide.

"We got great airplay over the past summer and fall on noncommercial radio, 'cause you can't get on commercial radio without a big label. We were in medium and heavy rotation in 65 markets, but we had a guy working the album so it wasn't totally a surprise. We were surprised at some of the [songs] that were picked, but happy."

The Loomers recent success hasn't gone to anyone's head; Svetkey's been there before (including a nomination in the 1994 Boston Music Awards, runner-up in the 1993 Acoustic Underground Competition, and writing a novelty song that caught on as a hit on the syndicated Dr. Demento show) and therefore has no illusions about the future.

"It's the nature of the business. You do all that you can, and hopefully people recognize it. I feel I've been immensely successful because people have bought the CDs and come out to the shows. Record deal? It's icing on the cake at a certain point. It's nice to hold on to `maybe' but you can't let it rule your life. It took me awhile to realize that."

You can catch the Loomers this Saturday, March 7, at the Green Rooster Coffeehouse. Pamela Means also appears.

The Duke

Since 1967 when he first founded the now-legendary Roomful of Blues, Duke Robillard has been on a never-ending tour of delivering his message. Crisscrossing the globe, from Newport to Montreux, large festivals to small dive bars, Duke has spent the better part of 30 years playing guitar on stage alongside legends like Muddy Waters, Hollywood Fats, and Danny Gatton and played in bands as diverse as the Fabulous Thunderbirds and rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon's Wildcats. He's also never stopped exploring the range of postwar blues styles that have made him a favorite of Muddy Waters and Johnny Adams to Bob Dylan, who's Grammy winning album Time Out of Mind Robillard lent his considerable talent to.

Robillard returns to the area this Friday night when he stops at Gilrein's in support of his newest offering Dangerous Place (Pointblank/Virgin). Boasting 12 originals, Dangerous Place blasts full-ahead jump blues and swing, and with three-fifths of that album's line-up currently in the touring band, it should make for a night of scorching entertainment. See what all this "Cocktail Nation" fuss is about as Robillard lays down the original soundtrack on which this phony movement is based.