Black Eyed
Blonde Proclaim: “We’re Here to Rock!” Chris
Manson January
16 , 2003 Issue
Wander
into Fudpucker’s in Destin any weekend night, and it won’t
be long before you’re drawn into the Down Under Bar as Black
Eyed Blonde pounds away into the night. It is this explosive sound—
what Dan Collins (bass/vocals/guitar) simply calls “rock
and roll”—that has made the group a mainstay on the
Gulf Coast music scene for the past two years. The hard-rocking
quartet—which also includes Brian Peet (drums), Ken Gettinger
(lead guitar) and Lootinant Dan (bass/vocals)—perform songs
by Cake (Short Skirt, Long Jacket), Sublime (Santeria/Same in
the End) and Weezer (Island in the Sun) to name a few. David Cox
stood in on lead guitar last Thursday night and contributed some
accomplished fretwork. “We’re all from different parts
of the country,” Collins said of his bandmates. “I’m
from northeast Ohio near Cleveland. Brian’s a military brat—no
distinct place that he calls home. Lootinant Dan’s from Georgia.”
One endearing quality about this band is their lack of seriousness.
“We make jokes to keep ourselves sane,” Collins said.
The between-song commentary is very funny and sparks a great rapport
with the $2 drink night crowd. Somebody jokingly asks BEB to play
Cherry Pie by the mostly forgotten ‘80s hair group Warrant.
A little later, as if working his way through the alphabet of
pop-metal has-beens, a BEB fan requests a tune by Winger. Collins
starts to sing the chorus of She’s Only Seventeen before
getting back to business as usual. “Green Day always works
and the Violent Femmes really go over. We do some older alternative
stuff and newer stuff like Jimmy Eat World to draw in females,”
Collins said. “Gotta get the girls in here, then the guys’ll
come, we get a crowd.” Collins explained that while the band’s
set list has changed to accommodate the women in the audience,
the lineup has remained pretty much intact since BEB’s inception.
Samantha (she keeps her last name a mystery) joined the guys in
June and adds her vocals to No Doubt tunes and ‘80s classics
by Pat Benatar and Blondie. “We bring her out for the second
and third set once the crowd gets loosened up,” Collins said.
BEB’s newest member is also working with Collins on an acoustic
rock CD that Peet is producing. “It’s original stuff,
song-oriented, Radiohead meets (Red Hot) Chili Peppers. We hope
to get it out by the end of the year,” Collins said. He added
that the album would be more relaxed than the group’s usual
high-powered rock. Currently, the band does not perform original
tunes, but Collins plans to add an acoustic “unplugged”
set to the Thursday night gigs. He, Samantha and Peet will do
“fi ve or six originals” in an intimate setting. “Vocally,
we pass it around a little bit. If you play with us, you have
to sing lead a little bit,” Collins said. He considers himself
primarily a bass player, sporting the fi ve-string bass preferred
by today’s “numetal” bands. Collins is a huge fan
of Red Hot Chili Peppers—Black Eyed Blonde takes its name
from one of that group’s old songs—and its famous bassman
Flea. Another of Collins’ bass idols is Abe Laborel, who
has done session work with everyone from Steely Dan to Hanson.
“He also wrote the theme song to CHiPs,” Collins said.
“He’s a monster bass player, killer stuff. Also, Tony
Levin’s a real cool bass guy. He gets all the cool gigs,
with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and fi lling in for (Yes’)
Chris Squire with Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe.” As
Earth Wind & Fire’s Let’s Groove fi lls the Down
Under bar between the band’s sets, Collins adds that he loves
“old school funk.” Catch Black Eyed Blonde at Fudpucker’s
every Thursday through Saturday starting at 10 p.m. The band also
have their own web site, the informative and amusing www.blackeyedblonde.com.
(Top)
Wander
into Fudpucker’s in Destin any weekend night, and it won’t
be long before you’re drawn into the Down Under Bar as Black
Eyed Blonde pounds away into the night. It is this explosive sound—
what Dan Collins (bass/vocals/guitar) simply calls “rock
and roll”—that has made the group a mainstay on the
Gulf Coast music scene for the past two years. The hard-rocking
quartet—which also includes Brian Peet (drums), Ken Gettinger
(lead guitar) and Lootinant Dan (bass/vocals)—perform songs
by Cake (Short Skirt, Long Jacket), Sublime (Santeria/Same in
the End) and Weezer (Island in the Sun) to name a few. David Cox
stood in on lead guitar last Thursday night and contributed some
accomplished fretwork. “We’re all from different parts
of the country,” Collins said of his bandmates. “I’m
from northeast Ohio near Cleveland. Brian’s a military brat—no
distinct place that he calls home. Lootinant Dan’s from Georgia.”
One endearing quality about this band is their lack of seriousness.
“We make jokes to keep ourselves sane,” Collins said.
The between-song commentary is very funny and sparks a great rapport
with the $2 drink night crowd. Somebody jokingly asks BEB to play
Cherry Pie by the mostly forgotten ‘80s hair group Warrant.
A little later, as if working his way through the alphabet of
pop-metal has-beens, a BEB fan requests a tune by Winger. Collins
starts to sing the chorus of She’s Only Seventeen before
getting back to business as usual. “Green Day always works
and the Violent Femmes really go over. We do some older alternative
stuff and newer stuff like Jimmy Eat World to draw in females,”
Collins said. “Gotta get the girls in here, then the guys’ll
come, we get a crowd.” Collins explained that while the band’s
set list has changed to accommodate the women in the audience,
the lineup has remained pretty much intact since BEB’s inception.
Samantha (she keeps her last name a mystery) joined the guys in
June and adds her vocals to No Doubt tunes and ‘80s classics
by Pat Benatar and Blondie. “We bring her out for the second
and third set once the crowd gets loosened up,” Collins said.
BEB’s newest member is also working with Collins on an acoustic
rock CD that Peet is producing. “It’s original stuff,
song-oriented, Radiohead meets (Red Hot) Chili Peppers. We hope
to get it out by the end of the year,” Collins said. He added
that the album would be more relaxed than the group’s usual
high-powered rock. Currently, the band does not perform original
tunes, but Collins plans to add an acoustic “unplugged”
set to the Thursday night gigs. He, Samantha and Peet will do
“fi ve or six originals” in an intimate setting. “Vocally,
we pass it around a little bit. If you play with us, you have
to sing lead a little bit,” Collins said. He considers himself
primarily a bass player, sporting the fi ve-string bass preferred
by today’s “numetal” bands. Collins is a huge fan
of Red Hot Chili Peppers—Black Eyed Blonde takes its name
from one of that group’s old songs—and its famous bassman
Flea. Another of Collins’ bass idols is Abe Laborel, who
has done session work with everyone from Steely Dan to Hanson.
“He also wrote the theme song to CHiPs,” Collins said.
“He’s a monster bass player, killer stuff. Also, Tony
Levin’s a real cool bass guy. He gets all the cool gigs,
with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and fi lling in for (Yes’)
Chris Squire with Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe.” As
Earth Wind & Fire’s Let’s Groove fi lls the Down
Under bar between the band’s sets, Collins adds that he loves
“old school funk.” Catch Black Eyed Blonde at Fudpucker’s
every Thursday through Saturday starting at 10 p.m. The band also
have their own web site, the informative and amusing www.blackeyedblonde.com.