The Blackberry Belles‘ Album Release Show will be this Friday, July 29th, at the Black Cat Mainstage with Ugly and Spoonboy and The Papas. The event is also doubling as a benefit for Girls Rock! DC. TVD has a pair of tickets to give away, but first, the Belles’ Tony Ferrari muses about a couple of the first albums he loved, before he had his own.
The Blackberry Belles have just released our self-titled debut album. It was recorded at Inner Ear with TJ Lipple, and it’s a dream come true.
Much of my youth was spent listening to music, lost in the images on the covers of records, CDs, and cassette tapes. I vividly remember sitting in a bamboo birdcage chair in my parents living room, wearing what must have looked like giant novelty headphones on my 12-year old self, listening to Appetite for Destruction on vinyl.
The Blackberry Belles | Listen Baby
How I got from Axl Rose to MC Lyte is an entirely different story, but somewhere in my 13th year I became a rapper. I met up a guy with some turntables, and before I knew it, all of my paper route money was spent on 12″ maxi singles.
One day while hunting down records at a flea market in Wilmington, Ohio, I stumbled across a copy of Prince’s Sign ‘o’ the Times. It’s still my favorite record to this date. No matter what musical sub-genre I was consuming in my youth, be it hip-hop, death metal, grunge, or bebop, Prince was front and center. And don’t get me started about the companion concert film.
The Blackberry Belles | Cry Cry Cry
Somewhere along the line, I lost track of many busted record players, and my vinyl collection remained in stasis at a friend’s house, lying in wait until my fiance bought me a record player a few years ago. What have I been spending all of my money on all of these years? Suddenly I was back digging in the crates.
My favorite spot in town is Crooked Beat. I have unearthed a number of great finds there. I actually got to the point of having to police myself. One trip a month. It was harder to quit smoking than it was to curb my vinyl habit.
The Blackberry Belles | Don’t Believe
To win tickets to the Belles’ Album Release Show and Girls Rock! DC Benefit, tell us in the comments below, a song about a hard habit to break. I [Olivia] am going to go retro with Otis Reddings’ “Cigarettes and Coffee.” The winner will be chosen on Thursday (7/28) at noon.
