Category: Event

A consummate entertainer, she inspires her audience as she swirls them up in funk, blues and soul rhythms. Her band includes some of Austin’s finest musicians including Appa Perry, Matt Farrell, George Rarey and Paul Buddha Mills.

Listen to the power in their latest recording “Coming Into Frame”. You can feel it. It’s crank-up the volume music, even when the heartfelt ballads kick in. And why so much power? Melanie Krahmer on drums and vocals, Rich Libutti on guitar. That’s why.

And, according to Sirsy a lot of credit goes to Grammy-winning producers, Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade (Hole, Radiohead, Dresden Dolls, Pixies). According to Melanie, known as Mel to fans and friends alike, “Our fans have said that the energy of our live show hasn’t translated onto our previous recordings. They are going to notice a different energy level on this record and it’s because of how Paul and Sean worked with us.”

Do you know what a click track is? It’s like a metronome and is used in recording to keep things perfect. Some believe it can take away from the spontaneity of a recording artist. According to Mel, “On some tracks, Paul and Sean didn’t use a click track on purpose. The result is a few of the songs vary in tempo to suit the mood and energy of the song.” In other words the recording is real. Rich, the highly talented guitarist for Sirsy says, “It seems ridiculous to remove tempo changes. Listen to ‘The Cost Of You’. It speeds up at the end. That gives it the intensity there.”

So “power” and “real” are the key words to describe the new recording and Sirsy itself. As Aftertaste Magazine said regarding Mel, “Bursting and belting out emotion and substance, she can be the queen of ‘in the groove’ rocking or be simple and delicate.” And get this, she also plays a full drum kit while standing up (she’s been featured in Modern Drummer Magazine), handles bass (played on a keyboard with her drumstick), and even throws in an occasional flute solo. Rich Libutti plays everything else, including seething guitar; bass (on a keyboard at his feet); and he is the anchor to Melanie’s on stage tornado. Just the two of them because, “We never found other musicians who understood”, according to Rich.

And they write. They write clever, smart songs that have more hooks than a tackle box. They both write the music. Mel takes care of the lyrics and they might set you back a few feet. They could even be called “dark” which is weird because when you talk with this duo the conversation is usually littered with laughs. But Mel says, “Calling the lyrics dark is appropriate, or maybe introspective says it better.” She is a student of the English language and lyrics are a natural art to her. But she studies before the work begins. “I do love to listen to other artists to get inspired lyrically.” Like Coldplay, or a somewhat obscure Irish band called The Frames. And, at times when a “more down home feel is needed”, Bruce Springsteen.

“I listened to a Jackson Browne tune ‘Shape of A Heart’,” Mel said, “and immediately wrote the words to our song, ‘Gold’.” “I didn’t take anything directly from his song, but it set a mood for me.” In “The Cost of You”, there is a poetic line which says, “But I spent the cost of you”. It calls to mind, the Joni Mitchell song, “Case Of You”. But Joni’s drinking a case of him and still standing on her feet. Mel’s had it up to here. She’s done.

Sirsy plays over 200 shows a year, bringing their indie rock sound to the masses and are about to expand nationally. “Coming Into Frame” will bring them beyond their east coast/mid-west comfort zone and into new territory including the south, and west coast. You will normally find them in the headline slot but they have also been special guests of such musical stalwarts as Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Maroon5, Train, RaRaRiot, Boys Like Girls, Third Eye Blind, Lifehouse, Blues Traveler, Cheap Trick, and many more.

Although the lyrics can be a little dark or introspective and the power of Sirsy can get pretty intense, “there is no sadness there”, Mel says. “On stage we radiate joy. It’s just us being free and playing music.”

“Coming Into Frame” is on Funzalo Records.

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“Little band, BIG sound”
-The Boston Globe (MA)

“Krahmer has one of most powerful and flexible voices you’ll ever hear, and their clever, smart songs have more hooks than a tackle box.”
-The Times Union (NY)

“Killer rock guitar riffs that are every schoolboy’s wet dream.”
-Instrumental Magazine (Scotland)

“Inventive rock and roll.”
-The Hartford Courant (CT)

Influenced further by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, Clay was being hailed as a young master guitarist by his mid-teens. The Dallas International Guitar Festival proclaimed Clay “one of the TOP 10 Guitar Players in Texas under 20 years old” after his performance brought down the house.

More recently, Clay Melton Band has received phenomenal feedback on their new EP from industry greats such as Grammy winning producer Jared Lee Gosselin (Velvet Revolver, Frank Zappa, Macy Gray) who said, “This kid is a force of nature!”

Also a Grammy-winning producer, Joel Soyffer (Joe Cocker, Doobie Brothers, Aloe Blacc) mixed and mastered the EP at Coney Island Studios.

Now well past the “teenage sensation” stage, 22-year-old Clay and his group, Clay Melton Band – featuring drummer Zach Grindle and bassist Raymon Minton – have developed a guitar driven pop-influenced alt-rock style that draws dynamically on his blistering Texas guitar influences.

Other tracks from the self-titled EP include “Remember,” which Clay penned at 17 and is the set’s representative “breakup song,” addressing our tendency to feed frustration rather than address real problems. “Stop & Listen” is a harmony laden power ballad tapping into the part of a relationship where one partner comes to the conclusion that he or she just doesn’t have the same desire anymore. In the song, Clay urges us to “Stop and listen to the soft sound of love, running away/So quiet in its escape/Then one day you wake/There’s nothing inside.”

The music videos for “Tonight” and “Home” were recorded at SugarHill Studios in Houston owned by Dan Workman (ZZ Top, Beyonce) who said, “I’ve had the privilege of watching Clay evolve from a gifted intuitive guitarist to a complete performer and songwriter. He has managed the hardest of Tasks: crafting a musical identity that lives up to the promise of a precocious talent.”

Recently reformed in 2016, after touring “300/365” from 1994-2003 and releasing 6 Full Length albums Speedeler is back to claim their turf as the kings of the rock n roll underground.
Their song “Screamer / Nothing to Me” was featured on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 soundtrack
Legendary Ramones Composer/ Writer/ Producer Daniel Rey Produced 3 of Speedealers Albums
2002’s album was produced by Jason Newstead.
Toured with: Motorhead, Morbid Angel, Reverend Horton Heat, Gwar, The Misfits, Zeke, Nashville Pussy, Fear, Karma to Burn, Murphys Law, The Hookers and many more.

Speedealer originally formed in 1994 in Lubbock, TX, under the name REO Speedealer. When REO Speedwagon served the band a cease-and-desist order on their moniker, they shortened their name to Speedealer. In 1998, the band released their debut, self-titled album on Royalty Records. The following year, the hard rocking foursome — made up of singer/guitarist Jeff Hirshberg, bassist Rodney Skelton, drummer Harden Harrison, and guitarist Eric Schmidt — released their follow-up record, Here Comes Death, on the same label. Royalty Records went bankrupt soon after the band’s second release, leaving Speedealer to their own devices for exposure. Label-less and musically driven, they played 309 shows in 1999 to stay in the public eye, pairing up with such like-minded, aggressive rockers as Zeke, Fu Manchu, Neurosis, and GWAR. Speedealer’s efforts finally paid off when Palm Records A&R; man Michael Alago (who signed Metallica to Elektra and White Zombie to Geffen) contracted the band to his label.