Rare Blend - Cleveland, OH
By Patrick Ferris

HotBands - Hi Vic. I always think it's best to start at the beginning, so tell us a little bit about your band.

Rare Blend - Rare Blend was formed Bobbi Holt (keyboards) and myself (guitar) back in 1994. We started out as a duo writing and performing original material that actually was inspired by not only our influences but by working in video production. In fact one reviewer nailed it by saying "Rare Blend knows how to paint pictures with sound".

HotBands - When did your band finally come together in the format it is now, and I was wondering if you were professional musicians, or are you pursuing the band/recording as a side project?

Rare Blend - The current line up came together in 1998. Three of the four of us have day gigs, but the drummer is a full time musician. We're all professionals in business as well as music who would love to pursue in a full time music capacity down the road.

HotBands - You've released three albums to date, correct?

Rare Blend - Yes, with a fourth hopefully to be released in 2005 - that's the plan anyway.

HotBands - How would you define your music?

Rare Blend - Our tag line and motto is "Where rock, jazz, fusion, and world music collide". We like to explore and compose in so many genres you can't pigeonhole what we do into a particular genre.

HotBands - How do you compose your music? I notice a lot of your music is in odd time signatures or with that feel.

Rare Blend - Many times our compositions spring from simply jamming at rehearsals. It is imperative to record these sessions, as you never know what gems may evolve. Other times, a member will come in with a complete song or the main gist of an idea and we'll work it to get the arrangement we want.

HotBands - Tell me a little about yourself and the band members.

Rare Blend - My roots in music go way back, man. I started playing guitar when I was 13 and my influences range from Santana, to Jeff Beck to Pink Floyd, there are so many that have inspired me. This would be an interview unto itself. I did study with a local guy for a number of years but basically worked on my own, honing my chops like everyone else did in cover-bands back in the day.

Bobbi Holt has been playing keyboards and singing for over 15 years and grew up listening to big band music. Bobbi and I took the plunge 5 years ago. We had worked together for so long, we finally just said "what the hell".

Bassist Jeff Scott has been playing for over 30 years, digs early progressive rock and jazz in all forms. He has an insatiable appetite for strange riffs that actually keeps the rest of us on our toes.

The only full time musician is Paul Stranahan, who has a BA in music, teaches in the Cleveland area and is also leads his trio jazz group.

HotBands - How has the response been for your releases thus far and what has been your main avenue for exposure?

Rare Blend - The response to our music has been very positive. The Internet has been our main exposure route. In some ways we are more popular through the Web than in our local area. Go figure.

HotBands - Do all of you share in the songwriting?

Rare Blend - As I stated before, songs can come to the table in variety of ways. We're an instrumental band, but an additional vocal track was added on our last release just for kicks. We may be exploring that option more on our next CD.

HotBands - I can understand why it would be more popular through the Internet than locally; fusion and progressive rock has a very targeted and large world-wide audience but it isn't something that you find in most clubs because it isn't 'danceable', while bands like Joe Satriani, RUSH, YES, etc.all have a large audience world-wide. Since radio airplay is owned by the majors (major labels), unless you're on their ticket, the only other avenue is college stations and Internet

Rare Blend - Yes, well put. The big names out there obviously have the mechanisms in place to go beyond the Internet, so college radio and the Internet is where you will here independent music.

HotBands - I know you're involved in the first upcoming progressive rock event in Cleveland next month. If it's marketed properly, I'm assuming you'll get a pretty decent crowd. Are there a lot of fans of progressive rock and fusion in your area?

Rare Blend - Yes most definitely! We're doing the first progressive rock event (that I'm aware of) on September 18th 2004 @ 7:00 PM ~ The Winchester Tavern & Music Hall in Lakewood Ohio.

HotBands - Where have you had the most airplay?

Rare Blend - Response and sales come from everywhere...it varies as we have promoted our music all over the globe. For a time it seemed that the South American countries were picking up on Rare Blend music. Lately we've spiked a bit in the eastern European countries. It's kind of weird but cool

HotBands - At the end of the day, it's always content that is king. You need to have good music to get picked up and have your fan base grow. Getting someone to look/listen is a one-time shot, but if you have good product they'll be back for more. You might have money for the best musicians or a great looking website, but a bag of broken glass with ribbons is still a bag of broken glass. In other words, hype only goes so far...you need to have cool songs to get an ever-growing fan base.

Rare Blend - Good product is your foundation, absolutely! Always try to write the best you can. If it's not ready to walk, keep it in the crib.

HotBands - How have you done your promotion?

Rare Blend - E-mail, linking, web rings, many promos, etc. Marketing is a job unto itself.

HotBands - As your fan base has grown, have you tried to tailor your music to suit their interest?

Rare Blend - That's an interesting question. We have been fortunate in receiving positive feedback from what we do; however we are acutely aware that audience appeal is also critical. We try to find the balance.

HotBands - Since our direction is Internet based, I always like to ask how the Internet has affected your band. You started in 1994, before the web was even a factor. How have you changed as the Internet has grown, and what are your feelings about file trading, RIAA lawsuits, etc.?

Rare Blend - Another interesting question. File trading in a sense is six in one hand, a half dozen in the other. You gain exposure but forfeit that revenue. We (the whole Internet music community), are still in the beginning stages and the bugs definitely have not all been worked out. Hopefully down the road some sort of standards that everyone can live with and profit by will be universal.

HotBands - I was talking today with someone about how we became an "iPod Nation" and why the record companies are dying in CD sales. If you read through some of my features over the last 5 years, you'll see that I've been predicting the extinction of the compact disc. Portable music devices and compressed files are what is driving the music industry...not CD sales. Why would anybody want to have a compact disc player when you can have a hand-held device that holds 43,000 songs, is totally digital and will NEVER skip?

Rare Blend - That's technology for you.

HotBands - Artists just getting started are typically more excited about people listening to their music and sharing it with others than they are about the $.001 cent they lost.

Rare Blend - That's a true statement

HotBands - Evolution Theory is your latest CD?

Rare Blend - Yes Evolution Theory is our latest CD, which was released in 2002. It's time for a new release

HotBands - If there were anything you could do to help the music industry either as a whole or for your genre, locally or worldwide, what would it be and how would you like to see the music world change?

Rare Blend - there is so much great music in the world that gets looked over in lieu of the "mainstream" mindset but more and more people are getting sick and tired of this. Again, the Internet has brought independent music to the fore and it's becoming a force to be reckoned with. I mean that in a positive way. Change always takes time but the music industry on the corporate level is starting to feel the pressure. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If the artistic and business side of the industry could truly merge, wow,
That would be something.

HotBands - What direction do you want to take your band from here?

Rare Blend - We will continue to write and perform till we can't breath anymore. That's a pretty long-range goal so to speak. Seriously though we are pursuing licensing options for our music in film and TV, etc. Also, Bobbi and myself are pursuing solo projects. We've talked about them for years and are finally starting to work in that direction.

HotBands - Is there anything you want to share with the readers about yourself, your world-views, your musical goals, inspirations, thanks, advice, etc?

Rare Blend - First of all, thank you for taking the time to interview me. You run a very nice website and glad to be a part of it. I'll take a quote from a personal favorite Albert Einstein who said, "Imagination is more important that knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world". It is our intention to follow that rule of thumb with our music. It's been a lot of fun so far and looking forward to what's around the corner.

I'd also like to have folks check out www.cprff.com for more info on the first ever Progressive Rock Fusion Festival ever held in Cleveland Ohio. 5 unique bands will be converging in September for a most memorable time.

HotBands - Thank YOU Vic! It's been a fun interview!

For more information on Rare Blend, CLICK HERE

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