The Dragline Brothers have been rocking in the valley for six years, honing their craft in preparation for their first official album, which is tentatively due this spring on Non-Prophet Records.
Formerly known as the Redtails, the Dragline Brothers met while living around the Athens area and attending Ohio University. The actual brothers in the band, guitarists Seth Riddlebarger and drummer Bram Riddlebarger, were playing a show with bassist Andrew Weiland, also of the Snails, when future saxophonist Jesse Dillon happened to be in attendance. Dillon enjoyed the performance and afterwards called the band up to buy them a drink.
I was so happy to see a band that I really liked that I called them up to have a beer
Dillon said.
It was the only call we got Bram added.
More recently, the Dragline Brothers have been mixing up the lineup to experiment with different sounds by adding We March guitarist Curtis Frey. Frey has played bass, drums and keyboards for the band, acting as the band's jack of all trades.
We have friends who are multi-talented Weiland said. We write slightly more complex songs now
and adding other musicians has helped that.
It's musical chairs on stage
Bram added.
The band said it bases its songs off traditional influences in country and blues mixed with a punk perspective.
When the band recorded its first official album at Workbook Studios in Columbus, it tried to use freshly written songs.
We've done a lot of recording
but it has mainly been stuff we give away to our friends
Seth said. This will be the one we actually call our first record
even though we've made lots of recordings.
The Dragline Brothers have been working on the album for more than a year to a point that their friends doubt each release date. But the band is confident the record will be out in a couple of months. Seth said money issues have been the biggest dilemma in getting the record pressed for release.
Lyrically, Seth does most of the song writing for the band. His topics range from the classic rock 'n' roll song that deals with relationships to a tongue-in-cheek perspective of the band's confused place in a frenzied modern world.
I wouldn't necessarily say our songs are political
Weiland said. It's about dealing with a world that's chaotic and has been chaotic for as long our cultural memory goes back.
Ultimately, Seth sees the band's sarcastic social perspective on life as being filtered through the eyes of debauchery.
The Dragline Brothers play with Trouble Man on Friday night. The performance will also be a celebration of Bram's 30th birthday, which is Sunday. The doors open at 10 p.m. and admission is $4.
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