The Tadcasters

In honor of this month’s Single and Successful issue, we sat down with Bill Littleford, of The Tadcasters – who have a new single (get it?) debuting on February 29th.

CP: Tell us a little about the Tadcasters. Who is in the band? How did you start?

The Tadcasters have been around in different forms since 2006. We started out playing more traditional bluegrass and then we started branching out into different styles and combining different styles to get a more unique sound. I’ve played a lot of blues, jazz and folk rock and I felt there was no reason to ignore those influences. The other members are from the same mindset as well. Our current lineup is me, Bill Littleford, on guitar and vocals, Nick LaBoffe on mandolin and vocals, Josh Moore on upright bass, and Chris Novy on what we like to call Sputnik (it’s a metal barrel with a drum head on top) and banjo.

CP: How would you describe your sound? Who are your influences?

I’d describe our sound as a big organic stew of funky bluegrass with jazz and folk and foot stompin’ and rhythm and rock. It’s taken on its own identity. I guess we could be called a jam ban, but that’s just too vague. We’re influenced by so much music. All music can somehow make its way into our songs.

CP: You’re the band in residency this month at Stanley’s Pub. Tell me about the experience

We just started it tonight (February 2nd) and it was great! Hickory Robot came out and jammed with us and seems people are digging our latest direction. On different nights we’ll have Greg Mahan, Dave Mackey, Eric Evans, and Shawna James come out and play some of their music as well. Basically, we play our set and then a guest gets up and plays a set and then hopefully we’ll play some songs together. Each Wednesday night in February should have something different to offer. It’s a long night though – we play from 9:30 to 1:30.

CP: And you’ve got a new single you’re releasing? What’s it called? Why release a single?

Well, our “single” is two songs, because the old 45’s had an A-side and a B-side. So we’re releasing a song called “Nick’s New Frontier” and a song called “Chaingang” on February 29th. It will be available as a digital download. You should be able to get it on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, etc. We decided to release a single because our old CD doesn’t reflect who is in the band now, and doesn’t have the same sound. So we wanted to update everyone on our progress.

CP: Any other new music on the horizon you’re releasing?

It will probably take a few more months of recording, but hopefully sometime this summer will have a new disc done and ready to go.

CP: Any upcoming shows that you want to mention besides Stanley’s Pub?

We’ll be playing Arnold’s on March 9th. We’re starting to book more gigs again, you can always find our schedule on our website www.thetadcasters.com.

CP: I understand you’re in another band outside of the Tadcasters. What’s it called? Sound? What prompted you to do two different bands?

Yes, I do a jazz trio called The Bill Littleford Trio. It’s named after me, so I can’t be fired. It’s more of a funky, groove, jazz sound. We compose a lot of our own tunes and it’s another creative outlet. You don’t plan to be in more than one band; it just sort of happens.

CP: Any interesting stories from the stage? Amazing show of a lifetime? Show that went to hell in a hatbox?

Oh, there’s plenty of good and bad shows. I’ve learned to just roll with it. One thing I know is nothing usually goes as planned and that can be good and bad.

CP: Since this is the “Single in Cincinnati” issue…I’ll throw this question out there. Any of your band members single?

No. Everyone is either married or in a long term relationship.
- Cincinnati Profiles

Music Tonight: If you like your American Roots music with a modern, progressive edge, type "Stanley's Pub" into your GPS system and follow it to the Columbia-Tusculum-area club where local Bluegrass/Folk/Roots/Jazz/Blues/Etc. fusionaires The Tadcasters begin their "Artist of the Month" residency tonight. The band plays a free show at the club every Wednesday this month (getting a bonus gig thanks to it being a leap year) with a rotating cast of cool special guests. Tonight, The Tadcasters are joined by like-minded local crew Hickory Robot, which similarly looks for new ways to put together the raw elements of classic, traditional Americana to create its own musical persona. Click here for more on the ’Casters, and here for Hickory Robot's site. Below, get in the mood for tonight's show with a live clip of Hickory Robot (currently at work on a second album) performing "Wicked Town" last year at Riverbend. - City Beat

Hometown: Cincinnati
Latest project: Last year’s self-titled EP, which can be streamed on their website, www.thetadcasters.com
Sounds like: progressive bluegrass

Bill Littleford and Nick LeBoffe make up the core of The Tadcasters, a band that started out with a regular jam night at local bar. But they quickly went from covering bluegrass standards to writing their own music and developing their own style of jazz-grass.

We spoke to guitarist Littleford about the genre and the challenges that come with creating new instrumentations and incorporating new musicians.

What exactly is a “Tadcaster”?
We sort of took our name from the beer company Samuel Smith, which is from Tadcaster, England. So we decided to call ourselves The Tadcasters, because it’s an old, traditional brewery, so it has all the same connotations as, you know, something traditional, but kind of new at the same time. Like the band’s style of music, it’s a new take on a traditional form of music: bluegrass.

For someone who isn’t well versed in the genre, what’s a staple that everyone should know?
Well, you should buy a Bill Monroe album, first off, just to hear the traditional sound. That’s where it all started. From there, there are all kinds of great albums from people like Tony Rice, and newer stuff from like Alison Krauss and bands like that. Bluegrass is so big now.

Where would you place yourself in the bluegrass spectrum and in terms of other genres?
We’re in sort of the newer grass style, sort of like progressive. We have a lot of jazz elements—I’d say we’re a sort jazz-grass-type band. Jazz-grass, progressive grass.

You teach music lessons, in fact your mandolin player Nick was a former student. What is the difference between a mandolin and a guitar, apart from their size?
A guitar, of course, has six strings and a mandolin has eight strings, but they are doubled. A mandolin is actually tuned like a violin, so it’s more in the same register as a violin. It’s sort of a higher sound, while a guitar has a lower register.

Is it a lot different trying to play a mandolin versus a guitar? Does the double set of strings make it more difficult?
They’re equally difficult. I mean, it’s like any instrument, if you’re going to learn it, you have to put the time into it and it’s going to be difficult.

You released an EP last year. What are you guys working on now?
We’re kind of revamping the band right now, because we lost our banjo player, and he sang some songs. So now we’re sort reinventing ourselves once again. That’s why playing at the Southgate House is going to be a lot of fun, because we get to do a lot of new stuff and reinvent ourselves once again. I think it’s going to go in a sort of different direction, but still be a little bit of the same.

How do you go about trying to rethink songs that were written for a certain number of band members, when you actually have fewer?
We actually had three members, so I asked a bass player to join us—we originally had a banjo. So it’s going to be a different instrumentation. That’s something I’m actually used to working with, working with limitations and changing things around. I also like the challenge too.

Will you adapt the banjo part for bass?
No, actually we’ll come up with a different part and change the way we play. At one point, we actually had a bass and a banjo, but then we lost the bass, so that changed the way the banjo played.

In a way you’ll be giving a whole new life to your songs.
Yeah, yeah. It’ll give it a new life, a whole new sound and will even change the way we write.
- Metromix

Indie Bluegrass band The Tadcasters mixes elements of Bluegrass, Acoustic, and Folk into their music that gives the band their special sound. Bill Littleford (Guitar, Vocals) spent some time speaking with our online magazine about the band’s music and what he hopes others will take from their music. Here is what transpired from this online meeting.

Isaac: Let’s get started with this interview. When and how did you first become interested in music? How long have you been playing music?

Bill: I've always been interested in music. My older brother was always playing records and that was always a fun time. I guess I started playing guitar when I was 11 so I've been playing some type of music for 23 years.

Isaac: Who would you say are your biggest musical influences and why?

Bill: There are so many and from a variety of different styles. And it's different for each member of The Tadcasters but I would say Jimi Hendrix is my biggest influence. The excitement and originality of his music still impresses me.

Isaac: What has been the greatest highpoint in your career so far?

Bill: Probably releasing The Tadcasters CD. We'll hopefully put out a lot more but the first one always gets the ball rolling.

Isaac: What has been the greatest disappointment in your career so far? What did you learn from that experience?

Bill: Trying to get a gig or trying to sell your sound to an uninterested audience is always tough. But over the years I've learned patience. If you're doing something good, just keep doing it. The music is what matters most. And if you're making good music with good friends, then you're already in a great place.

Isaac: What draws you to want to play the type of music that you do?

Bill: About 10 years ago, I started playing more acoustic music than electric music and I kinda found my voice. I've always been an 'improvising' musician or a 'jam' type of player. So bluegrass and jazz were just natural styles for me to go after. And I've always been into great songwriters and great songs. So put together good songs with good jams with acoustic instruments and all it seems to work out.

Isaac: What do you feel it takes to play this type of music that you play?

Bill: Experience. Feel. Listening. Practice. Working together with musicians instead of playing all over them.

Isaac: What do you think you will create that will make your performances and who you are stand out in the music industry?

Bill: Being original and not being afraid to do things outside of our 'genre.' Too many people get caught up in sounding 'right' or 'correct' that they forget that you need an open mind to sounds and arrangements.

Isaac: If you had the opportunity to do one cover, what cover would you do and why? How would you put your own spin on this cover?

Bill: It's gotten popular for bluegrass bands to do mainstream covers in a bluegrass style. So maybe we should take a traditional bluegrass song and not play it in a bluegrass style.

Isaac: What does it take to be a good songwriter?

Bill: Hard work. Even if you're the most gifted songwriter of all time, you still need to work at it.

Isaac: How difficult is it to juggle music, family and work obligation, and life in general? Explain.

Bill: That's probably what most artists or musicians struggle with the most. Creativity happens when it happens and it's frustrating when it happens when you have to be at work or some other obligation. Many times you'll work all day, have to rush home and grab your gear and then you're at a gig trying to remember who you are. But after you play it's all good again and you remember why you do what you do. It's never been easy for creative people. Just being able to make music you love is the reward.

Isaac: What is your definition of being an Indie artist/band?

Bill: The advantage to being an indie band is you have most of the artistic control over your music. We're not stuck with the record companies’ game plan. Plus we're not rock stars; we're everyday people like everyone else. We just happen to make and play music.

Isaac: Where can fans access your music online?

Bill: www.thetadcasters.com is good place to start. It has links to MySpace and CDBaby and other places.

Isaac: In five years…….

Bill: We want to have a few more records out and hopefully we'll be touring every summer. Meeting new people and playing for new audiences. - Juniors Cave Online

THE TADCASTERS
No Label, No Number.

The Tadcasters is a trio acoustic group that performs regularly in and around Covington, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio. The group consists of Bill Littleford (guitar, bass guitar, percussion, and vocals), Nick Laboffe (mandolin and vocals), and Matt Wiesenhahn (banjo, harmonica, and vocals). This self-titled disc is their debut and features seven original numbers including “Out Of Frets,” “Baggy Bones,” and “Jesse’s War.” While their style isn’t strictly bluegrass, it does contain bluegrass overtones. This abbreviated (seven tracks) production should be appreciated by those already familiar with the music of the Tadcasters. (Bill Littleford, 3905 Lewis Cir., Erlanger, KY 41018, www.thetadcasters.com.)
- Bluegrass Unlimited