There is some debate as to the exact historical moment when Rock and Roll was born in America, but most agree it was conceived at the crossroads of Blues and Country music in the years following World War II. Buffalo, New York, original Americana band Flatbed taps deep into these early influences and augments their style further by including highlights from the last sixty years of popular music to form a unique yet approachable roots rock sound.
From humble beginnings as an acoustic song writing trio, Joelle Labert (vocals), Michael Tinsmon (bass), and Derek Bassett (vocals & guitars) received accolades from a local music scene generally inhabited by cover bands and tribute shows. After successful opening sets for such national acts as Carbon Leaf, Al and the Transamericans, Quick Sand, Grady and Bobby Bare, Jr., the group decided to continue embracing the historical path of American music by adding drums and electric instruments to the mix. Working under the name Flatbed, the project expanded on their existing song writing with more energetic live performances, which helped bolster their audiences and earn multiple Buffalo Music Award nominations in the last four years.
With the 2007 release of their eponymously titled studio recording, Flatbed "revealed an instantly likable, home-brewed, country-based collection of songs splitting the difference between the Cosmic American Music of Gram Parsons and New Riders of the Purple Sage and the folk-based country of Emmylou Harris" - Jeff Miers, The Buffalo News.
That first studio release was followed by a collection of songs recorded in 2008 at The University of Buffalo's Allen Hall Theatre for a live broadcast on National Public Radio's affiliate WBFO. Simply titled "Flatbed Live in Allen Hall," the recording captures more of the band's live stage energy and is currently available for download at cdbaby.com. Meanwhile Flatbed is currently working on a second studio project slated for a late 2009/early 2010 release.
After the departure of a few early band members, Flatbed settled into its current, more streamlined roster in the fall of 2008 and continues to gain more fans with every live performance. With the addition of seasoned drummer Ian Belknap and long-time friend Nathan Montague on harmonica and acoustic guitar, Flatbed continues to move toward the future by reinterpreting their influences and entertaining growing audiences with their original take on American music.
Thank you for adding us to your circle of friends! We hope you'll take a moment to visit our page and listen to some of our songs! Here's our video for our song 'Miss You' ~ we're filming our next one right now! ~ Enjoy!!
Thank you so much for playing on Saturday, we tip our hats to you, dear friends. There were some good vibes going on and we were glad you were a part of it. R&R
FRIDAY *5.2.08 Battle of the Live Hip-Hop Bands @ Nietzsche's 4 Live Hip-Hop Bands, all live instruments,battling for Studio Time, Cash, and Prizes from our sponsers,Scion, Wasteland Studio, Allentown Music, and Deep Thinka Records - Askews Livematic Vibes / Kinda Like Dreamin / Narrow Minded Youth / Atherton (Toronto) also headling the evening is TYPE:RELEVANT & Q Boogie Da Poet 248 Allen st.
Youn'ce should oughta write some songs in one of them song cycles what blends Deflatermaus with The Incredible Hulk. I don't exactly know how that would work. Or maybe one that blends Peer Gynt with the Teapot Dome scandal. Not too shure about that one either, but how about a Country-Rock Opry based on "The Music Man", except instead of a town brass band it could be a modern Americana band, and the musicians (played by Flatbed) would be people pretending to be robots, and the town would be on another planet in the near-distant future where everyone wears a mask and they have never heard any kind of music except one copy of Anne Murray's greatest hits that survived the colony ship crash. Or what about one about a colorblind darts champ that hits the hobo trail and while on his journey of self discovery he befriends a young lady on the run from the Salvation Army who can hypnotize stray cats into doing her bidding. They fall in love and in the end the train goes off a cliff because the cats wake up from her hypnotizing spell and cause a fracas in the engine and jam the controls on full speed towards the unfinished bridge while the two lovers sing themselves into oblivion. You can use these if you want for free.
Attention Songwriting Persons: More Farm Implement Disaster Songs please. Maybe one about a wee Butter Churning Lass with tendonitis who had a date and couldn't go on it because she couldn't open the Motrin(tm) bottle or give hand jobs no more. No, that's lame. Maybe one about a Crop Duster Pilot who gets a weevil in his eye, loses his depth perception and wipes out an Amish barn building weekend. Or one about a pipe smoking manure spreader driver who loses control after he sharts himself in his hot tractor seat and crashes into a roadside fireworks stand and catches everything all on fire and shit. Or one about the plight of the Irish Jews during the potato pancake shortage of 1987. Just a few idears for you'nce.
Sometimes I like to listen to my Flatbed recordings. Other times I just think about listening to them, and whistle the catchy bits, or hum "Lonely Dispatcher" to myself, or occasionally play a medley of Flatbed songs on my Melodica. Mostly, though, I can't go see them play their songs LIVE because I am a great distance from the where the location of the performances is at.
Now that I am finally 21, Dan invited me out to the Sportsmen to see you guys play last weekend. I was so excited until I remembered I had previous plans :( I hope you guys had an amazing show and I’ll try to make one soon!
Hello, Hope all is well. Stop by and check out the new track "I'm Not Doing Anything To Feel Sorry" from the upcoming release "InVitro." Comments and constructive advice are always appreciated.
So, I'm on my way to Buffalo this week for a wedding, and my husband says "who's playing at Nietzsche's while we're in town?" So I do a quick search and I find their schedule and it's some band I've never heard of. So I do a bit more searching and I find their MySpace page. And boy, do some of those faces look familiar! It's been 10 years since I lived in the Buf (and even longer since those days when I fell in a hole at Broadway Joes) but I'm glad to see that Mike still plays bass, Schmitty cut his hair and Derek still is the best looking one! (That was always the theory of many of my women friends). It wasn't hard to find even more lost souls (this MySpace thing is a riot) by scoping out your friend list. Looks like everyone still plays somewhere...Uncle Shecky, Scotty James, Omit, Chuck Root, Nathan is still on the harp now and again, coming to you live from a gay bar in Nashville. Well, who am I? I'm just a girl who used to drink a lot of beer and watch a lot of bands play. I also used to room with Omit in a shitty apartment on Englewood - ring a bell? I now live in Sarasota, Florida, and I'm a few months away from becoming a mom for the first time. My husband is also from the Buf (had to go all the way to Florida to find him), and both our families still live there. So, I picked up a copy of the CD and perhaps I'll get a chance to see you guys live next week. Hope someone remembers me...I have a lot of great memories, and still have a load of great tapes/CD's (found the Spludderduds one when I moved...GREAT to work out to). Peace....Karen (Burgess) Chiantella
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