Clyde Frog, a band formed out of former members of Uptown Music Collective, will release "Bonnie and Clyde" Aug. 12 and will hold a CD-release party at 4 p.m. at the Crippled Bear Inn, 2967 Lycoming Creek Road.
Clyde Frog has been known as a cover band, but the group is excited to present its first original album at the release party.
"We are very proud of the outcome, and we all agree that the album will really bring something to the current Williamsport music scene," the band's guitarist Torey Harding said. "In the past, Clyde Frog has been known as a cover band, so this is a side of the band that many of our fans have never seen before."
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Clyde Frog, a band formed out of former members of Uptown Music Collective, will release “Bonnie and Clyde” Aug. 12 and will hold a CD-release party at 4 p.m. at the Crippled Bear Inn, 2967 Lycoming Creek Road.
Clyde Frog also has had a change in the lineup, with the current members being together for a year. The band was founded in the summer of 2005 and the current members are Loyalsock Township residents Tess Marshall on vocals; Dylan Rockoff on guitar and vocals; Garrett Gaetano on bass; along with Chris Kohler, of South Williamsport, on drums; and Torey Harding, of Elimsport, on guitar and vocals. Kohler and Harding are the only remaining original members.
"This current lineup has been together for a year and is the hardest-working group of musicians I have ever worked with," Harding said. "Everyone is extremely talented and brings so much creativity to the band in their own unique way. We rehearse two-to-three times a week. It has become a fulltime gig and everyone works so hard because we all just genuinely enjoy performing live music in front of people.
Clyde Frog also came together due to their previous experience with the Uptown Music Collective.
"Every current member in the band was a former Uptown Music Collective student," Harding said. "We owe a lot to Dave [Brumbaugh]. He has taught us so much about becoming professional and respectable musicians."
The summer has been a fast-paced and productive one for Clyde Frog, with about 35 performances between June, July and August, and recording the new album.
The members also are gearing up to further their education, with Harding currently attending Berklee College of Music in Boston for music business and music performance and Marshall attending Shenandoah University in Virginia for musical theater in the fall. Rockoff and Gaetano also will start school in the fall.
The members of the band individually have all always been involved with music. Kohler said his parents gave him his first drum set and drum lessons when he was in fourth grade. Kohler started lessons with Lou Feist, someone who Kohler said is his biggest musical influence. Four years after the drum set, Kohler began playing with the Uptown Music Collective.
Rockoff said he started playing guitar in sixth grade.
"I realized from the second I picked up the guitar, that I felt like it was an extension of me," he said. "I fell in love with the instrument and began to learn guitar on my own. I then joined the Uptown Music Collective to enhance my musical education in the areas of guitar, voice, music theory and performance."
The band performs an array of covers and Harding said their sound is full of energy and very dynamic.
"We really try to pull from all genres of music that inspire us, such as blues, rock and jazz, and create a sound that we call our own," he said.
Musically, the members of Clyde Frog bring all of their influences to the table. Rockoff credits Jeff Buckley as his biggest influence.
"He is my Elvis," he said.
Harding said his biggest influences are Neil Young and the Beatles.
"Their songwriting is legendary and simply will never be matched," he said.
The members of Clyde Frog realize the idea that people have of their generation, and believe that they can help change that generalization.
"With all the junk in music out there, I feel as though people come to the hasty generalization that music is dead.
"But they couldn't be more wrong. You just have to dig deep and search a little farther than what comes up first on your radio, TV or YouTube," Rockoff said.
As for the future of Clyde Frog, the band is excited.
"I just can't say enough about the musicians in this band," Harding said. "They are so talented and dedicated. I hope to keep working with these guys over the upcoming years. We are releasing our first album this summer, so we will see where that takes us, and go from there."
"The future for Clyde Frog is curious," Rockoff said, "Garrett, Tess and I are just beginning our college experience, while Torey nears the end of his and Chris is already out of school and a working stiff. But who knows. This album is just the start of us five making music together, and judging from the chemistry we all have as friends and musicians, I feel that we have a bright future as a band."
For more information on Clyde Frog, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/clydefrog band.
For booking information, email clydefrog band@gmail.com.
