The Porch Chops are a malleable crew of miscreant bumblers happy in their ignorance of all things non-Porchific. Most often you will find Porch Chops founder BRAD RIESAU on misc acoustic and electric guitars, harmonicas, vocals, beard and sarcastic asides...co-founder BUTCH ZITO on mandolin, guitars, vocals, hooks, dreams, o'clock...D. BATTERIA on drums, wig post, brush, dryer, mousse, sammich, binger...X-TIAN SALCEDO on bass, vocals, muckraking, sick humor, artsy leanings and occassional flailing guitaristics...MR. STEVE HOBSON, king of the gypsies, swingin' twangin' sangin' on a variety of stringed whoosies, our resident ringer and whatnot ...occassional appearances by frightening alumni and brave lasses and lads from the hinterlands may rouse you to excitement when least expected...everybody writes tunes except D. Batteria who rights wrongs...watch for occasional stealth ninja moves by jazz master alto saxophonist GREG OSBY when he is in need of a breather from the confines of REAL music....
Influences
Music, food, sex, Yankees, movies...oh, more specific...Beatles, Beatles, Beatles, Grateful Dead, Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, Dylan, prog rock, folk music, Elvis (both), Tex-Mex, Muddy Waters, King Crimson, Neil, RT, Van the Man, Topo Gigio, you name it and we have heard it, played it, butchered it, wished we could play it...we are like a budget-faux Cuisinart jukebox blending our myriad hours of heads between the speakers in blacklight lit hovels into a stew of gumbo-esque complexity and proportion. You may leave full and wanting more and you may have a bit of heartburn the next morning...so prepare yourself...TOO MUCH FUM...
Sounds Like
Train wheels on a teflon frying pan > Minnie Pearl's sale tag flapping in the wind > the mailman's gaping mouth as he delivers water balloons to 710 Ashbury > tuning forks shoved repeatedly in to Moon Pies > Carnitas, Carnitas, Carnitas...
Record Label
We release most of our music on our own rtRecords.
There's a new band in the PORCH CHOPS family...Stevie and Brad have joined forces with bassist Rob Grant and drummer Vinson Hendrix of The Cameltones and vocalist/keyboardist Marilee Loughead Calabrese and vocalist Guen Finley (both of whom sing with EB Hawkins Band) to form LOVE MINUS ZERO, a Bob Dylan tribute band. We'll be playing in the DE/PHILLY area in May, June and Sept of 2009 so check it out.
Thanks to everyone who came out for the PORCH CHOPS whirlwind 20th Anniversary shows in 2008. We hope to have a few dates this year for you but with Brad ensconced in California for most of the year, you'd better get 'em while you can. Keep and eye on the calendar here for more details.
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PORCH CHOPS?
Irreverent simpletons...that be us. The Porch Chops were hatched on a porch in West Chester PA in 1988 and have been a fixture on the DE music scene ever since in spite of the good intentions of all who have crossed their path. For wordy, insanely complete and mercilessly detailed biography check out their website at http://www.porchchops.com
Deathly afraid of setlists and rehearsal the Chops are old enough to know better and dumb enough to no give a damn. You never know what will hit you at a Chops show...you may get acousticky (sic) bluegrassy (sick) country pickin', Sun Ra/Grateful Dead/PFunk noise squaller, Dylan meets Ramones incendiary pissiness or just plain old fun rock n roll. Most often you'll get a cornucopia of great tunes from their 800+ covers and nearly 400 originals (Brad and Butch have been writing like crazy people...or are crazy people who like writing...your call).
If you've got an open mind, like lyrics, stylistic schizophrenia and a room full of like minded goofballs, come on out and see us.
Better yet, book us...we'll do solo, duo, trio, (how high can you count?), even Porchestra sized gigs...at any rate come out and see us and check out our website for way too much extra info...
Porch Chops credo: Make people feel fine and get 'em smilin'...and NEVER play "Margaritaville" or "American Pie"...
You can also catch Brad & Butch around town as the TWO VAGRANTS reprising the acoustic duo they formed at the Crossroads Cafe many moons ago. They perform lots of originals including many new ones and covers of all sorts of odd things...step onto the Porch... watch for Christian with NINE EYES and MENTAL NOTES, Stevie with the SIN CITY BAND and the COLE YOUNGER BAND among many; various Butchie groups (BUTCH ZITO & FRIENDS, STACKABONES, MORNING SKY, BZB, BUTCH & TERI), and Brad sitting in with Mad-Sweet Pangs, Leslie Carey Band and anyone else who will have him (he's a hussy) and catch Brad on the West Coast with the A FULL DECK, PORCH JONES, PORCHANK, & SKELETON KEY
Brad is no longer a part-time member of BEAR VALLEY CRACKERZ and wishes them the best...gonna miss playing with you guys...
Speaking of SKELETON KEY,,,here's a vid of Brad with the boys at The Pub in Big Bear Lake last year...
