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Somebody To Love 3:000:00/3:00
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0:00/4:01
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If I Needed Someone 2:200:00/2:20
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No Matter What 3:140:00/3:14
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Paisley spark: From remnants of local '70s bands, a supergroup is born
When retro-rockers The Paisley Project took the stage May 17 at the CMA Blues Festival in Ashland, music lovers in the audience could have been forgiven for having a distinct sense of deja vu. Or, that itching one gets at the back of one's brain when one sees someone they know, but can't quite place.
The chances are good -- if they've lived in MetroWest for awhile -- that they'd seen keyboardist Linda Chase, bassist Tim Leavitt, guitarists Tom Yates and Dave Lavalley, and drummer Mike Macrides onstage before. Only the time was 20 years ago, or more, and the bands they were in were very different. Bands like Image, Ice, Numbers or Fair, Yates & Betschart -- bands that toured throughout the Northeast and were fixtures on the once-burgeoning MetroWest live music scene.
"I had admired Dave and Mike when they were in Numbers," says Leavitt, a lifelong resident of Southborough. "I had followed a lot of Tom's projects, and Linda -- geez, I've known her forever. She played my wedding.
"It wasn't until 25 years later, though, that we finally put it together," Leavitt chuckles.
Call them a modern-day Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Or, if that's before your time, call them the next Audioslave. But with The Paisley Project, it seems that MetroWest has itself a bonafide supergroup, uniting pivotal creative forces from some of the region's premier rock bands of the late 1970s into a new group specializing in the music of that classic rock era.
"About two years ago, I had this real urge to get back into playing live; I really missed it," says Lavalley, a Natick resident who plays rhythm guitar and shares lead vocals with Chase, Leavitt and Yates. "So, Mike and I started jamming with Tom, without really thinking about what it might become. Then, I got to thinking about having a strong singing partner -- and I'd always just thought the world of Linda.
"So, one night we went to see her at Ken's, and proposed the idea of a collaboration to Linda," Lavalley says. "She was excited about the '60s and '70s rock we wanted to play -- not the sort of 'classic rock' repertoire that we've all done about 500,000 times."
Leavitt, a guitarist by trade, was the last to join. He was convinced to switch over to bass, and The Paisley Project was officially launched.
"We all bring different sounds to the band," says Lavalley. "When Mike and I were in Numbers, we did a lot of stuff that focused on vocal harmonies and tight rock -- bands like CSN, Squeeze, The Pretenders, The Police and Genesis."
"Fair, Yates & Betschart played a lot of early Genesis, Jethro Tull, The Kinks," says Yates, a Hudson native who now resides in Stow. "We were the house band at Timothy's Spirits Co. in Framingham for five years, and they pretty much let us play whatever we wanted in those days."
Today, The Paisley Project plays everything from '60s British Invasion bands like The Beatles, The Hollies and Gerry & The Pacemakers to psychedelic classics like "Incense and Peppermints" and Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love." Motown classics, hard rock, '70s singer-songwriter anthems -- nothing, it appears, is outside their range.
"We go from Cream to The Monkees in our shows," Lavalley says. "If it was a good song then, we're into it. Someone at one of our shows said that we play music that takes them back to a time when they didn't have a care in the world, and that's exciting for us."
Lavalley is candid about the change in the audiences to whom The Paisley Project find themselves playing. "Back then, we were playing places like Timothy's Too, Sir Morgan's Cove and the Chateau de Ville, and our audience was 20-year-olds on the make," he chuckles. "Now, we're about playing for 40-somethings who are looking to revisit good memories from their past. We do a lot of outdoor gigs, corporate events, that sort of thing."
This summer is already shaping up to be a busy one for the band. Upcoming gigs include a June 28 show at the Hatch Shell in Boston, opening for Tommy James and the Shondells, as well as a July 26 show at The Center for Arts in Natick and an Aug. 9 show at Maynard's Sit'N Bull Pub.
Since their personal musical heydays in the late '70s and early '80s, the members of The Paisley Project have kept themselves busy with pursuits both musical and otherwise. Macrides owns Hercules Press in West Roxbury, where the band often rehearses. Leavitt came off the road 20 years ago, and stepped into a job at Control Technologies, where he remains to this day. Lavalley is currently taking what he terms "a musical sabbatical," after many years in the computer industry.
Yates and Chase kept their feet most firmly planted in music as a profession. Yates describes himself as a "full-time musician," who works part-time at an organic farm in the area. Chase, meanwhile, sings at local spots such as Ken's Steak House in Framingham, works as a producer/arranger for other artists, and records vocals and music for commercial jingles and soap operas.
At present, the band is sticking strictly to covers, but say that the idea of writing original material has been by no means ruled out. "It's a little early to think about writing songs...," says Yates.
"...But everyone in this group does write," adds Lavalley. "We all have a backlog of our own material. But we think it's best to focus on one thing at a time."
In a group which unites so many creative individuals, it would seem that The Paisley Project would beg inevitable questions about chiefs vs. Indians, or how a number of overzealous cooks tend to spoil the broth. How do the five musicians combat this?
"Age," says Chase, wryly, before chuckling. "We've all done this long enough to know that the final result you hear is the most important thing. I probably could have gotten a lot further with a bigger ego, but I just love singing harmonies too much."
"Our song selection is diverse enough that we all get to have our own moments," says Lavalley.
"And we've always really been fans of each other," says Leavitt. "So, when I get to hear Dave or Linda get into a groove, I just love it."
Chase agrees, "We really are happy listening to each other. That's why it works."
The Paisley Project perform June 28, at the MDC Hatch Shell in Boston. For other upcoming dates, and more information, visit www.paisleyproject.com.
By Josh B. Wardrop / News Staff Writer
Sunday, June 1, 2003