Brad Yoder is one of the area's more interesting and prolific songwriters. Because he plays mostly smaller venues, however, and is rarely accompanied by a backing band, there's a tendency to pigeonhole his music.
"If you're a guy with an acoustic guitar, you're pretty much a folk singer, even if all you play is AC/DC covers," he says.
Yoder debuts his new album, "Used," tonight at the Rex theater on the South Side. The new material might surprise those who have heard Yoder only at area coffeehouses. There are some of his trademark neo-folkie acoustic songs, but they are balanced by tunes that are bolstered by fuller arrangements and instrumentation.
And there are some songs, notably "Stranger Selling Roses," where he takes a Dylan-like step away from an acoustic sound to full-blown rock 'n' roll.
"The people who really know my songs know that my writing is diverse," he says. "The things I've written lately are a bit poppier."
"Used" is Yoder's first release since 1999's "Talk to Total Strangers," a live album. He began recording the new disc in 1999, but as he sings in the opening line of the title track, his "whole life is held together with duct tape." Because Yoder is an independent musician, financial considerations - handbills for his show herald "Used" as being "three years, countless hours, five credit cards later" - delayed production a few times.
The end result, he says, was worthwhile.
"With this record, I wanted the final product to be the way I wanted it to be," he says. "I spent too much time and money on it for it to be otherwise. And I learned a lot of things as a result of everything I had to go through."
What everyone else will learn is that Yoder has quietly become one of the area's more accomplished and multifaceted songwriters.
The aforementioned "Stranger Selling Roses" is a Cream-style, '60s-era rocker that benefits from guest appearances by Mike Gaydos (on psychedelic guitar) and vocalist John Schisler of New Invisible Joy. "What You Don't Know" is a catchy, hook-laden tune that would be a hit single in a perfect world.
To flesh out his songs, Yoder also employs several of the area's top musicians, including drummer Jere Bucek and bassist Randy Venturini of Crisis Car, ex-Rusted Root percussionist Jim DiSpirito, DJ Supa C, vocalist Heather Kropf and Peter Beckerman of Mr. Small's Funhouse.
Yoder would like to expand his performance base to more local and regional venues, and wouldn't mind signing with an independent label some day. But for now, he's just relieved to have a new record to tout.
"We could rattle off a dozen amazing records that didn't make any money," he says. "But the cool thing is, I have a lot of specific people who listen to my records and are waiting for this."
Now, it's time for everyone else to catch up.
| Brad Yoder |
