Oso Bear

“Is it Americana, rock or folk? Doesn't matter - we know it's awesome. Oso Bear is a free-wheeling good time capped with loud, fast, whiskey-soaked experimental musicianship. Don't let these guys fool you; their rise in the local scene is no accident. Fans and fellow musicians love what they do, and this train is not likely to be stopped anytime soon.” - FAR I ROME PRODUCTIONS

If you want to twist on the dance floor while holding your whiskey sour in the air, check out Oso Bear. This devilish quartet from Covington brings a punch of Southern rock n’ roll complete with the back porch grit found in moonshine country with songs such as “50 Dollar Whiskey” and “Aw Hell”- but with enough experimental wit to give southern rock a little bit of swag. The band self-proclaims themselves as “four dudes with some whiskey, cigs and rock” so they’re sure to help the crowd loosen up for the rest of the festivities. Be sure to holler out “Whoopy-Dang!” – the band’s nearly patented chant. - altohio.com (Sidney Cherie Hilley)

Members: Chris Bowling, guitar/vox; Ben Cochran, guitar; Matt Kaliin, bass; George Marshall Jenkins IV, drums
Hometown: Covington
Latest project: six-song EP unofficially titled “Whoopy-Dang!”
Sound like: rock ‘n’ roll with a Southern bent

Oso Bear is a collection of Kentucky natives who like to rock hard and party hard and who have become well-known locally for the energy and vigor of their live shows. When the band first started playing about two years ago, they were actually kicked out of a couple of venues for being too loud. But these days, the band draws a loyal crowd who shares its enthusiasm for loud rock ‘n’ roll. We spoke to drummer George Marshall Jenkins IV about the band’s new EP, the party-lifestyle in Covington and, of course, about bears.

So what’s the story behind your name? It’s essentially Spanish Bear English Bear. Do you guys just like bears a lot?

Jenkins: [laughs] Ohhh. Spanish Bear, English Bear. Yeah. It’s one of those things. … I guess in our minds it just sounded cool. Band names, nowadays, seem like the least important things, you know. So there’s no real story behind it, except that it just sounded cool, just one of those drunken things.

Can you tell me about your new release?

Jenkins: Yeah, we put out a six-song EP back in October. We call it — I guess the unofficial name of it is “Whoopy-Dang!” which is something that people have started to say at our shows. It’s kind of like, instead of yelling out “Yeah!” or “Whoo!” people yell out “Whoopy-Dang!” We actually recorded nine songs with this guy, this other guy named Ben Cochran, who is no relation to our Ben Cochran. We started out recording nine songs with him, scrapped three of them and just put out six. Oh, and he’s got a studio called Soap Floats. He’s done stuff with The Harlequins and Duppy A’ Jamba.

I have to ask, how did your fans start saying “Whoopy-Dang!”?

Jenkins: [laughs] We all live together in Covington and it all kind of started like … we were actually going to copyright the name to make T-shirts and have clothing lines that said “Whoopy-Dang!” across them, because it’s something that you yell when you’re highly intoxicated or having a good time. So that was pretty much how that got started. Ben, our bass player, actually started saying it, and then it just caught on.

So you all live together in Covington? What’s that like?

Jenkins: Yeah, we all have a house together in MainStrasse [Village]. We live right behind the Strasse Haus. [laughs] Our house is permanently trashed [laughs again]. We become the afterparty on the weekends after the bars let out. It’s alright, the rent’s cheap, but you do have to hear a lot of crappy cover bands from the Strasse Haus.

Now you have to share an anecdote about this place!

Jenkins: Well, this past Wednesday, we played at the Down Under and then we had a Madonna dance party … and a little bit of Hall & Oates. We’ve had, I don’t know, there are always people over here on the weekends, but we’ve had a couple of really big things that have gotten — you have a hundred people in your house and you only know 30 of them!

Do you have any new projects you’re working on since putting out your EP?

Jenkins: We’ve got four new songs that we’re putting in our set. But right now we’re really just trying to sell the CD. We’ve gotten rid of nearly 300 of a 500 pressing. We probably play out about three times a month locally. So we’re just using the money that we make from playing shows and selling merchandise to buy a van, so hopefully we’ll get on —we’ve just submitted to South by Southwest, so hopefully, we’ll get on that.

Final question. What would you do if you met a bear in the wild?

Jenkins: [Laughs] I think the appropriate thing to do would be to play dead, but I think we would probably feed it. … (Long pause after some pondering) I would like to change the answer to the last question. If we saw a bear in the woods, we would get it drunk. - Metromix Cincinnati (by Allison Cayse)

Covington-based rockers Oso Bear celebrate the release of their debut, a self-titled, six-song EP, this Saturday at The Mad Hatter. Opening the show are Mad Anthony, Swear Jar, The Zach Burns Band and The JC Four.
At varying times, Oso Bear’s sound resembles early Indie Rock, pre-trendy Grunge, Classic Rock, Southern Rock, Punk and Garage Rock, but, in the end, it’s only Rock & Roll … and I like it. The band has the swagger and spirit of the Stones, The Replacements and New York Dolls, but its more modern influences creep into the songwriting and keep things from getting too retro or one-dimensional. There’s some great guitar interplay between Chris Bowling and Ben Cochran, who each have distinct styles that they manage to make sound perfectly in-sync when combined. And Bowling has a great Rock & Roll voice — it’s not a precise instrument, but it has a dirty soulfulness that fits the group’s dynamics well.

While there’s often a loose, reckless vibe to Oso Bear’s approach, it belies a persistent creativity in the rhythms, riffs and song structures. “Cocaine Smile” begins with a peppy, chiming intro before falling into a rollicking strut, with Keith Richards-like riffage and a great, yearning chorus, while “Darling Girl” mixes Hard Rock breakdowns with a breakneck, Punk-meets-Roots Rock whirl.

Overall, Oso Bear introduces the foursome as a powerful Rock & Roll force in the local music scene and instantly conjures images of an amazing, sweaty, energized live show. Like a pre-superstar King of Leon transported to the mid-’80s Minneapolis Indie scene, Oso Bear tempers Rock & Roll abandon with well-crafted songs and melodies, ending up with a sound that is both charismatically fun and creatively satisfying. (www.myspace.com/osobearmusic)- Mike Breen - City Beat

"Playing a mangy, boisterous brand of Rock & Roll that falls somewhere at the crossroads of Hard Rock, Punk and contemporary Southern/Roots Rock, this Northern Ky. foursome has been building a rep locally since forming just a year ago thanks to its tornadic live show. The group’s relentless pace and unkempt swagger makes them the dictionary definition of a dive-bar house band circa 2010, but don’t let the sonic steamroll lead you to believe it’s all just brute-force Knucklehead Rock — the slashing, infectious melodies and imaginative songwriting and guitar interplay reveal Oso Bear to be a talented band with the potential to go far. The band’s first EP release is due this fall. Dig It: Pre-Arena Rock Kings of Leon, a Southern-born-and-bred Replacements. (MB)"
- City Beat.

"Covington's Oso Bear are seriously like one of the coolest, newest, and bestest catchy indie-rock monsters around today." - Southgate House