It was one of those nights, the kind every band dreads.
Previous gigs at The Depot had gone well. The historic Tiffin, Ohio, depot was built in 1862 to serve the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad line and has been lovingly restored to host banquets and events. It had always been a good place to play. So good, in fact, that Tinfoil set up recording equipment to preserve the show. And what a night it ended up being. There were some Tinfoil fans there, but there was a big faction that didn't want to listen to original music. They wanted covers and they wanted the covers to be blues. There were hecklers, a drunken harmonica player who wanted the band to stop everything and jam; there were even people throwing food (which is the only time that's ever happened to this band!). A nightmare.
Original music is what Tinfoil is all about. What began as a local Tiffin band whose first recording appeared in 1993, is now made up of members from both Tiffin and Toledo; members are Dave Harms, Rossford, lead guitar and vocals, Krystal Harms, Toledo, bass guitar, Cher Bibler, Tiffin, rhythm guitar and vocals, and Bill Nicolls, drums. Over the years they have written and recorded countless songs and released more albums than members can count. They have a string of near misses on the road to fame, like the time Jack White came to check them out in a Detroit bar and their then bass player suddenly errupted and dived off the stage to attack someone. No one remembers who or why. They didn't get signed. Or the time a Detroit promoter put together a showcase for record company people to come listen to two local bands (Tinfoil was considered a Detroit band, back then) and the band's van broke down in a snowstorm on the highway between Toledo and Detroit. The other band got signed. Tinfoil had the bittersweet solace of hearing their songs on the radio all the time. (The other band's name was Sponge.)
Tinfoil kept plugging away, writing and recording and performing.
A good amount of time passed before anyone bothered to listen to the ill fated Depot recordings. It wasn't a night they wanted to remember. But to Tinfoil's surprise, when they finally got around to checking out the recordings (whilst looking for something else), what was there was surprisingly good. Amazingly good.
The Covid-19 stay at home order provided the opportunity to clean up the tracks, get rid of the hecklers, and master the recordings, and the result is an awesome album by an (originally) Tiffin band, recorded live at a Tiffin venue, lots of songs that are fans' old favorites. Songs are a little fast, a natural reaction to a hostile crowd, but the performance is tip top and you'll find yourself wishing you'd been there.
Maybe you were!
The official release party for the album is scheduled for July 31 at Frankie's Inner-City, 308 Main St, Toledo, when they will perform (10pm) with guests Reject the Silence (9pm) and Molly's Chamber (8pm) – doors open at 7, masks and social distancing required. But Tiffinites will get an acoustic sneak preview when Tinfoil (¾ of Tinfoil) performs July 24 from 9 to 10:30 at the Tiffin Brewery during the Christmas in July Artists Market.
LIVE AT THE DEPOT is available to stream or buy on Amazon Music, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Pandora, Spotify, Tidal, You Tube and more!