Band's Encore CD Feels Your "Blue Collar Breakdown"

The FlipSide’s second CD, “Blue Collar Breakdown,” comes out this month.  Pictured L-R: Bob "Gib" Gibbons, Mark Ronan, Beth "Flip" Hyland, B. Ryan B., and Jack Mizenko.  Photo: Alyssa Clow.  Design: Gary Necci.

"Another rough season" in Lakewood can mean sports, jobs, or winter. Local folk rock band The FlipSide captures those sentiments in their second CD, "Blue Collar Breakdown," an anthem for the never-say-die Cleveland everyman.

Five local singer-songwriters, each already well-known on the Midwest folk scene, formed the band in 2004: leading lady Beth “Flip” Hyland, rhythm guitarist Mark Ronan, lead guitarist Bob “Gib” Gibbons, bassist "B. Ryan B.," and multi-instrumentalist Jack Mizenko. They liked each other's songs, developed tight vocal harmonies, and realized they really had something. Since then, they've played venues from Erie to Chicago.

“Sure, it’s something musical. It’s also something personal,” said B. Ryan B., who originally met Jack and Mark playing at Lakewood's Root Cafe. “We all have deep mutual respect for each other, as musicians and as human beings. That makes it easy to harmonize vocally with each other’s writing, to write for the group’s harmonies, and have fun at it all.”

The FlipSide acknowledges that today's listeners enjoy a variety of genres. One local radio station's slogan, "We play anything," could apply to this CD, where the band enshrines their best music across genres of blues rock ("Blue Collar Breakdown"), Irish ("Song for Michael Brennan"), political folk ("Help is on the Way"), and ballads ("Wonderful Days").

"Blue Collar Breakdown" is an upscale follow-up to the band's folkier debut CD, "Listen to the Heartbeat."

The band will host a release party concert at The Winchester Music Hall in Lakewood April 5th at 8:30 p.m. The cover charge is $5.

Brian Baddour

IT Project Manager for a national medical software company by day, musician and music scene analyst by night.

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Volume 10, Issue 7, Posted 3:06 PM, 04.01.2014