They’re a band that will throw out a few cover song curve balls. Sure, John Cross and the New Relics will load up their setlists and pack a dance floor with songs that have become staples of classic rock radio, but tossing out some originals and unheard B-sides from those familiar rock ’n’ roll names is more their style.
Formerly, John Cross led Vinyl Lust, a Front Range-based band that from time to time would roll through town. Upon moving to Durango, he found guitar player Monte Albee, bass player Andy Snow and drummer Jason Coward to form this new band, a group ripe and ready to play out.
The next show for John Cross and the New Relics is Friday at El Rancho Tavern.
If you go
WHAT: John Cross and the New Relics play rock ’n’ roll.
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. Friday.
WHERE: El Ranch Tavern, 975 Main Ave.
TICKETS: No cover.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.elranchotavern.com.
Things kicked off when Cross and Albee met via Craigslist.
“We got together and just kind of had a kindred spirit in terms of approach. We thought yeah, let’s just go have some fun, play some classic rock. But then over time, I think you just go back to who you always are,” Albee said. “I don’t know. I think there’s some other more interesting stuff we could be offering. Because I love to go see live acts. There’s so many great bands. And I love it when I see something, and I find something interesting. And so my philosophy is I just want to hopefully bring something interesting. So when people go out, they go, yeah, that was interesting. I like that.”
“Yeah, songs that are a little off the beaten path,” Cross said. “We do songs that people know, but it’s not ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ and you know, the usual classic rock stuff.”
Knowing what it takes to be a contributing factor in a successful music scene, they’ve jumped right into the lot of Durango bands.
“There’s a lot of great local bands, you know, and so I thought I might get lucky and find someone like Monty, you know, like Jason, like Andy” said Cross. “We want to do more writing too. I've got a ton of songs, you know, from back decades ago to maybe three years ago. And Monte has ideas, too. We’re going to start recording new stuff and we’re really excited about that.”
While the songs they’ll write themselves will end up on a forthcoming album, they also keep an ear to the ground for those familiar tunes that could end up in a setlist – the pursuit lies in finding that balance.
“Playing classic rock in bars and spending so much time trying to figure out what’s going to be a good bar song, that can get taxing,” Albee said. “We hit a point where we said ‘you know what? We’re at a point in our career where we’re going to write music, and the music we’re going to cover is going to be music that we grew up on.’”
That music they grew up on is a deep list; conversation with Cross and Albee dropped a mouthful of musicians: Tom Petty and Jim Croce, Todd Rundgren, Aerosmith, Carly Simon, Elton John, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello and The Clash.
Ultimately, it’s been about Cross finding the right dudes to play with. After years in the bar-band biz he found it’s not always about having the most talented band mates, but the ones he gets along with.
“They’d be technically great players, but we’re not jiving here, you know?” he said.
That “jive” comes with the good, bad and the ugly of any relationship. And being in a band is just that, an exercise in relationships. And perhaps when those relationships present imperfection and perfection, that’s when the best of the art comes out.
“Warts and all,” Cross said. “That’s ’rock n’ roll.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at liggett_b@fortlewis.edu.
