Local bands Fred Love and the Bakersfield Brawl and Strong Like Bear will unite to showcase their latest album releases at 8 p.m. Friday at the Maintenance Shop.
Although Fred Love typically performs as a solo artist from Ames, Iowa, he joined drummer Cal Rebhuhn and bassist Pat Blair to form Fred Love and the Bakersfield Brawl.
Love brings original songs that he writes on acoustic guitar to his bandmates and said that the songs “don’t come to life” until he hears them with the full band. He described the musical transformation as “getting louder and more powerful” and even sometimes leading him in new directions that he was not expecting.
Fred Love & the Bakersfield Brawl will be dropping their latest EP, titled “…And Out Come the Cows,” a collection of four songs that reinvigorate the cowpunk genre. It follows the release of a demo cassette last year that showcased the band’s cowpunk sound.
Although Love continues to emulate Americana and country music through his songwriting, Love described the new EP as the “heaviest release” he has ever done, featuring more electric guitar, punk-rock aggression, energy and volume than anything else he and his bandmates have created. The band hopes their new musical direction and intense sound will become infectious to their audience.
Strong Like Bear and its members Bryon Dudley, Rachel Dudley and Greg Bruna will be unveiling their album “In the Sticky Goo,” which features nine tracks of “stoner rock” vibes complemented by “lush vocal harmonies” that intend to “make you question reality.” This album compliments the band’s previous release of stoner rock through their album “In the Future, Only the Rich Will Live Forever” back in 2021.
Both bands strive to create music that is all about ditching the mainstream and embracing the glorious mess of the 1980s and 1990s independent music scene.
Both bands also want to show how, even though they are all busy people with conflicting schedules, they continue to make time to rehearse and play shows because they love creating and sharing rock and roll music.
“You don’t have to be a rockstar to get on stage and share your original ideas with an audience,” Love said. “You can be a regular person with kids and a mortgage and still be creative.”
The band recorded their EP at the Spacement, a local recording studio in Ames, which is run by Bryon Dudley.
Since the Maintenance Shop is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, both bands aim to “recapture some of that magic” in honor of previous indie rock bands that have played the venue. They not only plan to feature live performances of each band’s new songs but also include the chance for fans who arrive first to win a special limited-edition zine, as well as limited-edition physical copies of both releases.
Tickets are available for purchase here. For any updates, follow both bands and the Maintenance Shop on social media or visit Love’s website.
