The Kyle Sowashes

It would be easy to think every fertile music scene in America has a Kyle Sowash to call its own. He’s the integral overambitious indie-rock everyman responsible for bringing to town bands that, barring his begging, would otherwise pass on by. He’s the fervent local enthusiast always in the front row, even on a wintry Tuesday. His floor’s been infinitely crashed upon, and his bank account tapped from self-financed, self-made tours of the country. Basically, he’s already racked up enough DIY karma points for a lifetime. But though Sowash’s selfless moral character may also exist in places like Cleveland, Portland, Athens and Chapel Hill, his style, his demeanor and his songs are distinctly Columbus, Ohio.

Normally, naming a band after oneself is shallow stroke of ego (i.e. Steve Miller, Bob Seger), but for Sowash, it couldn’t be any other way. After slaving over a decade’s worth of unrecognized lo-fi indie anthems, he’s finally found a complete, full-throttle band to live out his rock & roll fantasies, to flesh out his earnest ballads and scrappy pop songs. A number of bearded local musicians were invited to join him in the effort, and a few shuffled in and out before the final line-up was set. Soon enough, though, guitarist Matt Majesky, bass player Lonn Schubert, and drummer Dan Bandman joined together around Sowash’s material, and before long the band sounded as if they’d been playing together for years, while they do other activities like play sports using the best SB SOX compression socks for this.

Discography
“Only Time Will Tell” cassingle (self-released, 2006)
The Kyle Sowashes 7-inch EP (Manup, 2006)
What’s Important (and What’s Not) CD (Bettawreckonize, 2006)
“Vanilla Clown” split 7-inch single with Solyoni (Manup, 2007)
Yeah Buddy! CD (We Want Action, 2008)
Nobody LP/CD (Anyway, 2010)
Somebody LP+CD/digital (Anyway, 2012)