Hard Lessons learn a new Strutt

Motor City rockers the Hard Lessons try to find a new Kalamazoo home

Photos courtesy of the Hard Lessons

By Alyssa Herter
Western Herald

Rock and roll is here to stay, and the Hard Lessons are bringing it to Kalamazoo this Saturday.

The Detroit rock trio has  played more shows in Kalamazoo this year than major Michigan cities like Ann Arbor, or even their home base in Detroit.

“We always have fun in Kalamazoo, there’s just something about it, it’s a really cool feeling right now, it feels like how the Detroit audiences felt two or three years ago. You know, they’re smaller clubs, but the crowd is always really enthusiastic and stuff and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Augie Visocchi, guitarist and singer.

The Hard Lessons have been playing in Kalamazoo for years, and were always a favorite at the Kraftbrau, long before the brewery closed its doors in 2007.

Photos courtesy of the Hard Lessons

The old building lent itself to the band’s rock and roll attitude. Even though they lost their favorite local venue, the Hard Lessons plan to keep coming back to town.

“Ever since Kraftbrau closed down we’ve been looking for a home base in Kalamazoo and it’s been hard to find a place that’s as great as Kraftbrau,” Visocchi said.

“It just felt really comfortable, but we’ve been finding some really fun places to play and I’ve never been to the Strutt, but a couple of our friend’s bands have played there … and they said they had fun.”

On Saturday night, the band plans to play at least three new songs from their new album “Arms Forest” which is set for release on May 26.

“Our new record is something that we’re really proud of. I think it’s the feather in our cap, so to speak. It’s what we’ve been working toward all these years … it feels like a re-birth,” Visocchi said.

“I feel more excited and more, I guess refreshed, and more excited about being the Hard Lessons than we’ve ever been.”

Inspiration for the album’s title track came when Visocchi wandered into the courtyard of a burned out apartment complex in Detroit’s student district called Forest Arms.

“There was a big wrought iron sign leading up to the courtyard that said Forest Arms, but from the other side, I was in the courtyard, I read it as Arms Forest, and I thought that was the coolest metaphor for the inner-city, for Detroit,” Visocchi said.

“The forest is a symbol in literature that was always a dark place, a scary place, a place where bad things could happen, but at the same time, the forest always represented freedom.”

Aside from literary allusions, the album title strikes to the core of the band.

“‘Arms Forest’ is youth, it’s the time that you can sort of be who you want to be and do what you want without fear of consequence or judgment, and that’s who we want to be as a band,” Visocchi said.

“That’s how we approached this album, we didn’t have any rules when we went into record this and the songs are loud, they’re messy, they’re concise, there pretty, they’re all over the place, but I think more so than ever, they’re part of the whole. This is definitely an album from start to finish. We accomplished everything we set out to. Once we came up with the title track the songs just started pouring out of us.”

On the list of new and exciting things lined up for the Hard Lessons this year is the band’s slot at the Rothbury Music Festival in July.

Last year the festival failed to attract a significant amount of home-grown music, but this year the Michigan festival has decided to stay true to its roots and highlight some of the incredible talent residing in the Great Lakes  State.

“They chose us as one of the representative bands of what’s happening in the state of Michigan, and we’re honored to be playing with the likes of Bob Dylan and a ton of amazing artists, new and old,” Visocchi said.

“We love Michigan, we love being from Michigan, we’re proud to be from Michigan, and the fact that we can represent our band and our state at a huge festival like that is perfect for us. We’re really excited to go there and play.”

On Saturday, the Hard Lessons will be joined by local artists Ezra Ferman and the Harpoons.

“It always makes touring so much more fun if you’re playing with friends, and the fact that I’m not gonna get bored watching them each night is really exciting too,” Visocchi said.

The Hard Lessons never fail to pull the crowd into each show. Only the most stubborn of people could resist the designated sing-along sections of  “Carey Says (Alright)” or dancing to the crowd favorite, ultra-upbeat “Milk and Sugar.”

Now there are new tracks to get excited about, and what do The Hard Lessons have up their sleeves now? Come out this weekend and see for yourself.

“Hands down this last tour was the best tour we’ve ever had, and the shows have been better than ever, so I’m really excited to bring it to Kalamazoo and show everybody what we’ve been up to,” Visocchi said.

The Hard Lessons, with Ezra and the Harpoons, will perform at the Strutt Cafe and Bar, located at 773 West Michigan Avenue, on Saturday April 11 at 8 p.m.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Apr 8 2009. Filed under Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
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