What’s going on here? You might think a band with a new album and a recent appearance on the Free Beer and Hot Wings Show can be found playing the local circuit. Well…here’s the thing. Allow me to explain.
Shiny Parts has been a project in the works for roughly 18 months. Before we played our final show in October (Muncie, IN!) we were fooling around with ditties and tracking various songs we thought would be fun to record. Our full focus last summer was playing live. We rolled full steam ahead through the summer months and into the fall without putting much thought into making another serious album. As you may know we rather abruptly called it quits thus Church moved to KY, Oscar to CA, and as of two weeks ago, I to TX.
After our heartfelt final show in Indiana, myself, Chris, and John resumed working on tracks in our spare time. We slowly churned out takes in different studios around Grand Rapids and in our garage on Spring Avenue. The long winter set in and we began to see an end product come into focus.
Shiny Parts is drastically different from our three previous albums in that only 2 of the 7 songs on the album have ever been performed live. The album was put together with care and detail. Unlike previous efforts, we had no real time constraints. To put it into a likely unnecessary perspective, the saxophone on “Sigh” was recorded in April 2010, the drums on “Shiny Parts” recorded in December 2010, while the vocals on “Only to Survive” were recorded in March 2011.
This could be the final album from Poor Boys Relief. If so, I am proud of the content, the work put in, and hopefully the PBR faithful can turn up their speakers once more. Nothing can beat slinging albums from a beer covered fold out table but as we continue to move about the country it’s nice to know we can still reach out to our fans with new material.
So here she blows! From the Clark EP in 2007, to Shiny parts in 2011. Oh the things we’ve seen, people we’ve met, road kill we’ve accidentally stepped on because we ran out of gas on a dark highway in the middle of nowhere, hotel beds we’ve shared, and things we’ve seen. Thanks again to everybody for the support! I’ve learned you can never say never in this biz. I’ve been working a couple new songs…

 We are playing our final forseeable show on October 9th. If you look at the show calender you will see this means we have 5 more shows. Seek us out, track us down, and bring your outdside voice because would enjoy nothing more than seeing you!

On behalf of the band, thank you for the last three years. We are lucky to have had such a great group of people support our art and push us to better our sound. Thank you to all those who have played in and given their time and energy to the band. Thanks to the people who helped with promotion and spreading the word. And thanks a shit ton to all the other hard working musicians out there who we have befriended along the way. More often than not, the biggest fan of a local band is simply another local band.

Heres a quick guide to seeing Poor Boys Relief at least once more:

1. Go Here
2. Find show nearest to you or best suited to your traveling situation.
3. Go to the show.

Love,
Poor Boys Relief

How about them last six weeks? Not bad for a bunch of guys (and Lauren), a mini-van, a Kia, and a stone raccoon. What began July 1st at Muskegon Summer Celebration was an extended month of hitting the road every weekend. We played some of our trusty favorites like Mac’s in Lansing and Billy’s in Grand Rapids, but also explored new ground in Holland at New Holland Brewery and logged our first gig as a Wedding Band in Saugatuck. We survived another stint at Goose Island Brewery in Chicago thanks in part to some selfless friends with just enough floor space for a sausage party in July.
The details can be a little hazy at times but here are some trinkets from my memory.

July 1st Summer Celebration (Muskegon)- Playing on a pier on Lake Michigan in early July under clear skies is pretty nice. Papa Roach headlined on the main stage but we had the tiki tent stage to ourselves all night. Almost lost Church in the madness at the end of the night as Damo refused to go back to prison.

July 10th Manchester County Fair Battle of the Bands- After every BOTB I tell myself I’m never doing another BOTB again. We never did get to pet the pygmy goats.

July 16th Common Ground Music Festival- In the heart of downtown Lansing we were once again placed as close to the serving of alcohol as possible. After finishing our set with a crowd pleasing Freebird we were invited backstage. The catering was top notch and watching Oscar devour an entire crab leg without making an effort to remove the exoskeleton made the night complete. Ouch.

July 17th Macs Bar (Lansing)- We played with good friends Life Size Ghost. Next time you’re in Macs be sure to say hi to the best bar tender in Lansing, Craig. The Bommarito residence provided comfortable sleeping arrangements for most of us. Church decided to sleep face down on the floor in a small room just two feet from an open bed. Blueberry pancakes.

July 22nd Founders Brewing Co. (Grand Rapids)- Great turnout. Thanks to everybody who made the commute for this show. I’ve never been more covered in sweat/moisture after a set. Natives of the New Dawn put on a fantastic go round into the wee morning hours.

July 23rd Goose Island Brewing (Chicago)- Round two with the Goose seemed to be a success. The Moms showed up with their outdoor voices!

July 30 New Holland Brewery (Holland)- Our server, Ruth, really made us feel at home. Doc Rock was our helpful sound engineer for the evening. Hey look, we sold 8 CDs!

I’ll let pictures speak for August 7: Hughstock and Felt Mansion Wedding:

Hello internet people. Thanks for stopping by our website and checking up on what’s going on with Poor Boys Relief.

So what is going on with Poor Boys Relief? New material, blah, shows, blah, living like porn stars, blah blah blah. But really, we have LOTS of great shows coming up for the month of July including a return to Goose Island in Chicago and a debut performance at Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids.

We’re happy to share with you our new video for “Dog and Cat”. The story of Dog and Cat is both playful and somber. Written when I was merely an awkward fifteen year old pup, I am exceptionally pleased to see Dog and Cat materialize into a song and video format. Enough credit cannot be given to our webmaster and friend Lauren Sarkady for reaching into the depths of her creative capacity and bringing the video to life.

If you enjoyed Dog and Cat you can download it for free right HERE

You normally have to subscribe to the Pioneer to read this article, so we've taken the liberty of making it available to you here (shhhhh):

HED: PBR coming back home
sub-HED: Poor Boys Relief to play last scheduled show of summer in Big Rapids
By Brad Klosner
Pioneer Staff Writer
BIG RAPIDS — Watching a band come to fruition from playing in a dirty apartment living room to headlining Madison Square Garden is like watching a seed sprout and blossom into a rose.
Poor Boys Relief has not quite made it to rose status yet, but it is a local Big Rapids band that is beginning to gain exposure on the west-Michigan circuit.
“We’ve evolved and, I think, improved,” said bassist John Bommarito. “I think everyone who plays in a band would love to (make it big). That would be a dream come true.”
Poor Boys Relief will be back in Big Rapids this weekend for its last scheduled show in the city for the summer. PBR will be playing at 9 p.m. on Saturday at the Gate with special guest Spencer Mulder from Grand Rapids.
“Big Rapids is still home base at this point,” said guitarist Matt Church. “This is where we started. This is where the craziest ... most enthusiastic crowds are.”
The five-piece band is made up of lead man Brooks Robinson on guitar and vocals, followed by Church on guitar, Bommarito on bass, Chris Bemben on keyboard and vocals and Oscar Azevedo on drums. With a hearty blues sound coupled with bluegrass, classic rock and jam band influences, the music of PBR is a quilt-work of original, progressive elements building off classic stylings.
“(Our sound is) kind of a musical crossword puzzle,” Robinson said. “We like to keep the enthusiasm high.”
The group plays a combination of original songs and covers. With a demo and two self-recorded full length albums, the band is working hard. The focus of each show PBR plays is to keep the crowd in high spirits and, mainly, to get people dancing.
“It’s always a fun, rocking show,” Bommarito said. “That’s the goal — to get people to dance. We get people moving even if it’s just a knee moving under a table.”
PBR started off its humble career as most bands do — unknown.
“We didn’t take it too seriously,” Church said. “We were there to have fun and see what kind of reaction we could get.”
In the fall of 2007, Bommarito, Church and Robinson were living near each other in Big Rapids and, as students of the Music Industry Management program at Ferris State University, knew one another through school. The three-piece began playing together, mostly just for fun, messing around with guitars, drums and lyrics in a “dilapidated living room” on Woodward Avenue.
After playing a few house parties, the three-piece band decided to take its act up to the next level and began to play open mic night at the Sawmill Saloon.
“(Playing at the Sawmill) was the real kicker,” Robinson said. “It was incredibly raw.”
Along with a few friends, they had a few jam sessions at the “Mill” with no intentions of ever taking it any further. However, the crowds that began to show up at the Sawmill to watch the PBR show saw something in the band that would encourage it to move forward. The band began to expand in Big Rapids after that, playing all the local clubs and bars, such as the Odyssey and the Gate, as well as continuing playing house parties.
“We have to thank a lot of those parties we played (for) our exposure in Big Rapids,” Bommarito said. “That’s how we gained a lot of fans.”
In the winter of 2008, the band began to get more serious by branching out and playing other towns. Bemben was added in 2008 while Church took up on a second guitar and the band brought on drummer Scott Hicks, who would leave the band after a year because of time commitments as coach for the Big Rapids High School hockey team. PBR recently added Azevedo on drums, who other band members describe as “talented and versatile.”
The band played its first out-of-state show in April at the Goose Island Brew Pub in Wrigleyville, Chicago. Robinson said the band was slightly nervous because of the reputation of Chicago musicianship but PBR held there own and was met with a positive reaction from the crowd.
“It was encouraging,” Robinson said. “It was an honor to play there and drink their beer straight out of the tap.”
The band has a while to go before reaching Madison Square Garden but it is always excited and delighted to come back to a welcoming, home-town crowd. Afterall, it is the fans who carry the band.
“Big Rapids is always great,” Bommarito said. “We always feel at home. Everyone is awesome to us (and) it makes the show fun for us when people are having a good time.”
For a schedule and more information visit, www.poorboysrelief.com or www.myspace.com/poorboysrelief.

Okay, first let me establish:
1. Ice cubes are the worlds best dog treat
2. Squirrels are extremely dangerous and could kill a man in less than two minutes

The last month has been one of travel and trickery for Poor Boys Relief. We've been busy traveling to Traverse City, Holland, Big Rapids and Chicago visiting with friendly faces and tightening up our live show. The tour bus (Ford Windstar) has been packed to the brim by the Packmaster; John Bommarito, and Church always makes sure to pack a tasty lunch for those extra long road trips. I would like to dearly thank all 4 friends who came out to see us play at the Park Theater in Holland. The venue was awesome and we're glad to have shared the experience with you. On April 9 we played at the Rock For Autism in Big Rapids. The second annual fundraiser was once again successfully put on by Kyle Keel, Paul Castelli, Kurt Everette, as well the fine people of Ferris State’s own Music Industry Management Association. During the set I was mistaken for Kung Foo Panda:

Although I actually looked like:

I was trying to emulate Pedo-Bear:

Last weekend we played our first show outside of the Motherland at Goose Island Brewery in Chicago. I would like to establish that we are very comfortable playing at Breweries/Brewpubs/Microbreweries and would like to do more of this (if only there was a world class brewery in our home base of Grand Rapids). Being Churches first time outside of a city larger than 1,500 people he made sure to absorb the culture and bought himself a tasty Chicago Dog. “MMmm, I love me some Chicago Dog”. After the set, Oscar and I were helplessly ushered by a close friend to a nearby bar “Bobby Loves”. We wanted karaoke, we got karaoke. Oscar had every man begging for more after his stellar performance of “Forgot About Dre”. Now we look forward to two weeks in Big Rapids and sure hope to see everyone out at the Gate on May 1st for a special study session with Spencer Mulder:


Tis the season for Gin and Tonics. The warm weather is creeping into the Mitten which means windows down and bottoms up!

  

Good ideas are hard to come by. Good Port Wine is almost impossible to come by. Good drummers who drink good port wine are nearly unheard of. Oscar Azevedo is now fully activated and contributing percussion to Poor Boys Relief. The Electric Seal survived another short stint on drums and has relocated to guitar. We are again a five piece primed outfit.

For the last 14 months we have driven the state playing shows as a five-piece. Unfortunately, we must temporarily signal an end to the five-piece due to the parting of our friend and ally Scotty Hicks. Scotts contribution to Poor Boys Relief extended far beyond his positive demeanor, knowledge of any piece of sound related gear known to man, fondness for a good plate of biscuits and gravy, and proficiency behind his drum kit. We are extremely thankful to Scott for the time and energy he gave Poor Boys Relief. As for now, we are beginning the difficult process of finding a new drummer so that we can put the Electric Seal back into his sexy pants at the front of the stage. Shows will be light over the next couple months as we work on new material and bring a new drummer up to speed.

We were delighted to play at the Small Planet with our friends Mercury and the Madmen on Friday 11/27 for their CD release show. To view video of the show please visit: www.www.lifeinlansing.com/index.php/music/live-loud-a-local

Stop on out to COOCHEEZ in Newaygo this Saturday Dec 5th to see us with THE MEATT.

Two years later, and still chugging along. To put that in perspective we are 14 in dog years. Several testosterone fueled house parties, smoke filled bars, and thousands of miles later we continue to be enthusiastic about what we’re doing. We’ve picked up two members along way and rearranged accordingly. We are actually in the process of trying to acquire a sixth member; believe it or not. But until John feels comfortable letting the real estate above his upper lip become a lush pigment explosion, I’m afraid we will remain a five-piece.
I would like to give credit to those who came out to support us during our infancy. Those early days on Woodward Avenue gave us the legs we needed. It took a few months but eventually we stumbled our way out of Big Rapids and into the real world. We continue to carry that energy with us to each and every show. Now, we come wielding into venues like clowns on steroids ready to take on whatever challenge we may face. Whether that challenge be a crotchety sound-guy, an empty bar, or a poor excuse for a band bar tab, we strum, beat, pluck, and attempt to harmonize our way through each and every set.
Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Brandon Damon for assisting with the creation of our new video for Mexico. We weren’t too sure where to start, or really what the hell we were doing at all. A video? For Mexico? Umm. So I took $40 to the party store and got piñatas, streamers, balloons, etc. From there we dressed up our dirty little garage and followed Brandon’s commands.
Now saddle up for another winter and take care of yourselves because we need you to come out to shows and buy T-shirts. And yes, we stuffed 110 $1 bills inside the freakin toucan.

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