Waling their way through the Midwest, Thunders will bring its high-energy rock show to Village Green Records and Be Here Now on Saturday.
Thunders and Hotfox will play an early show at VGR, followed by a later show at Be Here Now. While both bands have been away from Muncie for a while, they have continued making plenty of noise across the Midwest.
Playing a brand of "tripped out overdose, gritty, sleazy, garage rock," Chicago's Thunders will return to Muncie, where they have plenty of roots.
Having lived in VGR for some of his senior year at Ball State, Ryan Reidy, lead singer and guitarist in Thunders, graduated with a history degree from the university in 2007. Commuting from his parents' house in Hartford City, Ind., to school during his last semester, VGR's upstairs couches came in handy to Reidy.
"There was like three times a week where I'd sleep on the couch there," Reidy said.
Reidy is no stranger to Muncie's music scene. In fact, he played with Travis Harvey, owner of VGR, in a band called revel in the morning. He also played in Ari Ari for two years, oftentimes touring while he was still in school.
"I played a lot of shows in Muncie and stuff, but really, I was doing a lot of touring when I was in college," Reidy said.
With their most recent album, "Beautiful Baby in the Bummer of Love," Thunders stuck to their scuzzed out, feedback-heavy rock 'n' roll sound.
"Thunders picks up where Nirvana and My Bloody Valentine left off," Harvey said. "A wallowing guitar racket with layer upon layer of effected guitars and catchy melodies."
Reidy and Tyler Watkins, from Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, made the album in Chicago in 10 days, with Reidy recording the majority of the instrumentation and vocals himself.
It was through Watkins that Reidy developed his relationship with the members of Hotfox, one of whom, Duncan Kissinger, plays in Reidy's live band.
"When Hotfox were recording their record with Tyler a couple years ago, I was in the studio, just hanging out with them," Reidy said. "I played on one of the songs on that album."
Although Reidy spent a lot of time at VGR during his college days, he admitted he hasn't played a show in Muncie for more than two years now. Despite the distance, he still is excited for the opportunity to express his appreciation to Harvey.
"I'm really proud of Travis, and I'd really like to be a part of whatever he's doing," Reidy said. "I think he's doing a really good thing for the community."
After moving to Bloomington, Ind., Hotfox has built upon its fan base immensely, in turn grabbing the attention of My Old Kentucky Blog, a blog featuring independent music.
Founder of the blog Craig "Dodge" Lile said his eyes had been on Hotfox for a good amount of time, prior to the band signing with his label, Roaring Colonel Records.
Lile originally heard about the band through the owner of Indy CD & Vinyl in Broad Ripple, Ind., Rick Zeigler. Zeigler hosted Hotfox at some in-store events, giving the band a chance to open at some of the shows sponsored by his blog, titled MOKB Presents.
After talking to Watkins, Lile decided to talk to the band about being on his label.
"I talked to my friend, Tyler, who was recording their debut album, and he only confirmed everything I was seeing and hearing," Lile said. "They're fantastic guys, a great little brotherhood working together and having fun."
In addition to supporting Hotfox through his record label and blog, Lile said he has also posted many tracks by Thunders on MOKB.
Lile said he hopes the signing of Hotfox while its members are still young will help in grabbing the attention of a bigger label that will be able to support them more than he can with his financial limitations.
"My label, Roaring Colonel, is really an incubator ... we are always hopeful that we'll act as a launching pad," he said. "I want as much success for them as can be mustered. My job has been to get their name out there, give them as many opportunities as I can, but I can't really give them what they need to be big."
For more information on the show, go to VGR's Facebook page, as well as for information on a performance by Arrah and The Ferns on May 6.
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