Bihlman Brothers Flex their Rock Muscles with New CD

March 26, 2003

For brothers Jeff and Scott Bihlman the journey down the rock and roll highway has been a cross between the Autobahn and rush hour traffic in LA. The brothers appeared to be in the fast lane of music stardom when they burst on the stage in 1997, but despite paying all the appropriate tolls they have found themselves among the immensely talented musicians detoured down the music industry route that‘s constantly under construction.
It might be better said the Bihlman Brothers just pulled off to make a pit stop. They have refueled, traded in their metaphorical Blues Buick for a Hummer and are back on the highway with a brand new CD “American Son,” which will be released March 29 at the Leelanau Sands Showroom.
The CD is a departure from the group‘s first two that focused more on the blues side of the brothers. “American Son” takes names and kicks you-know-what with a harder rock sound that is more reflective of their live shows.
“People kept telling us they loved our recordings but that they were not anything like our live shows, and they kept asking us to record a live CD,” said Jeff Bihlman, known as Jabo. “So we decided to give them something that did reflect more of our live sound, more of a raucous, hard rock sound that has a blues feel, but rocks out more.”
One change the brothers made was to produce the album themselves versus having legendary producer and multi-Grammy winner Jim Gaines (Santana) on board. Gaines produced the Bihlman’s first two works, but the guys were looking for a different sound.
“Don’t get us wrong, we were grateful for what Jim did for us and we learned a lot from him. With Jim Gaines you get a very slick, smooth and well produced album,” said Jabo. “This CD we wanted a different sound and we felt that in order to have something that sounds as close to our live shows as possible we needed to self-produce.”

STILL GOT THE BLUES
Bihlman fans won’t be disappointed with “American Son,” while it rocks out more, the CD is loaded with overtones of the blues.
“It is our hope that with this CD we will expand our base of fans,” said Scot “Little” Bihlman. “We looked deep in our soul and that is really where this music came from. I am confident that those who have supported us in the past will connect with our new stuff.”
Both brothers are grateful for the support they have received from Northern Michigan:
“The people up here have taken us in like family,” said Jabo, who resides in Interlochen. “We grew up in Indiana but summered in Frankfort so we were full time Fudgies. The support from fans and WKLT has been phenomenal and when the frustration of this business sets in it has been those people that have helped to keep us going.”
Scot, who lives full-time in Chicago agrees with his older brother about the support and the frustrations the group has faced to get attention of those that run the industry.
“We are fortunate to have Terri Ray at WKLT in our corner and she has helped to get us radio airplay that has led to airplay elsewhere. This can literally cost a band thousands of dollars because of the formatted nature of American radio,” said Scot. “Independents like us just are not in the position to pay the money that is often needed to attract attention to our music.”
The Bihlman Brothers are a classic example of what is wrong with the music industry today. The two brothers package together all the components necessary to be household names, good looks, talented musicians and excellent songwriters. Yet the major labels have overlooked the band. The question is why?
“We hear this all the time from labels and promoters, you guys are great musicians, talented, good songs, but we don’t know how to market you,” said Jabo. “We are not interested in being the flavor of the week, our goal remains consistent and that is to make the best music we possibly can.”
Hard to believe an industry that has been able to market so many people without talent (no need to name names you already know them) and yet when a exceptional guitar player like Jeff Bihlman comes along with his equally talented songwriting sbrother on drums, both with great voices and terrific lyrical talents there seems to be no room at the musical dinner table.

30,000 CDS
Success in the music industry is measured in many ways and even without a major label deal (The Brothers release their music on their own label Steelhead Records out of Chicago) The Bihlman’s have enjoyed a lot of success. In addition to receiving pockets of airplay the band has sold close to 30,000 CDs, an impressive number for an independent band.
The Brothers have also played in front of thousands and at major venues like the House of Blues, Buddy Guy’s and Van Andel Arena. The Bihlman’s have opened for several legendary artists including Ray Charles, Jeff Healey, ZZ Top and recently for Ted Nugent in Grand Rapids. They also did two European tours with the legendary Son Seals, not only as the opening act but as Son’s backup band.
“If we were to pick one show that really stood out for us it was opening for BB King at the State Theater in Kalamazoo,” said Jabo. “After BB King finished playing he said to the audience ‘hey lets hear it for the Bihlman Brothers, those guys are good,’ and I said to myself wow, he remembered our name, he is actually saying to the crowd he thought we were good.”
Opening for legendary artists are great opportunities for bands but they don’t pay the bills. Promoters hold up-incoming artist hostage by offering few dollars but the glory of saying you opened for so and so. For the Bihlmans the time has come for them to take their music to the next level and with “American Son” they hope to do that.
“For the last five years we have done the opening act thing inconjunction with some headlining, and we certainly don’t want to rule out opening up for a band under the right circumstances but our focus is different now,” said Scot. “We have paid our dues, done all those low paying opening gigs. I don’t want it to sound like it is about the money, because God knows we are about the music but that alone doesn’t pay the mortgage. We are professional musicians and are committed to playing music fulltime and we need to make a living to support our families. We have been fortunate that as an independent we have sold all those CD and get a lot of gigs.”

SMALL BUSINESS
The Bihlman’s are part of a growing facet of the industry, “musical entrepreneurs” who are essentially musicians that run small businesses. The two brothers are responsible for every aspect of their business from the creative to commercial from the marketing to the booking and everything else in-between.
“It can be a little overwhelming at times but we trust each other and in this business if you can find one other person that you can trust you are lucky,” said Jabo. “We both have a tendency to be control freaks so our self-management style has worked for us and at the end of the day we both know where the money is at.”
So where do the Bihlman Brothers go from here?
“People ask us from time to time if we are splitting up, because we haven’t recorded in awhile and I did a solo CD. We both have different musical interests, but we are brothers who care for each other and love to make music together. We both get offers to join up with other bands and that might happen if the right offer comes along,” said Scot. “But there will still be a Bihlman Brothers and we both believe in the band and our music. So we plan to tour a lot this year in support of American Son and take it from there.”
Jabo Bihlman sees a new tour and marketing direction for the Bihlman Brothers:
“We have toured a lot in the Midwest and at some pretty awesome venues but our focus now is going to be on Michigan. We want to be known as the best damn band in Michigan, so we plan to play every town possible regardless of its population, ” said Jabo. “The Internet is happening and we have had a website from day one but now we plan to capitalize on the e-commerce side of things, so look for major changes to our site in the coming months.”

The Bihlman Brothers CD release party for “American Son,” will be March 29 at the Leelanau Sands Showroom. Bass virtuoso Jason Kott, who joined the brothers to record the CD, will take the stage as the group’s bass player. Regional favorites Dose will open the show that begins 8 p.m. For ticket information call the Sands box office (877) 271-7980 or just show up that night. Additional information on the band is available at www.bihlmanbros.com .

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