Salvo (band)

Salvo (formerly Pain) is a 14-member band from the southeastern United States. Originally formed by Alabama high school friends, Pain played punk rock, toured worldwide, and released four albums. Though the group was effectively in stasis after the bandleader left, they reformed in 2019 as Salvo and released a new album called Off the Charts.

Salvo
Also known asPain
OriginAlabama, US
Genres
Years active
  • 1994–2000
  • 2019–present
Labels
  • Vegas
  • Earth Libraries
Members
  • Tommy Bowen
  • Niamh Tuohy Fields
  • Adam Guthrie
  • Will Hudson
  • Christopher Johnson
  • George Kennedy
  • Dan Lord
  • Stuart McNair
  • Jason Reid
  • Rachael Roberts
  • Melanie Rodgers
  • Kim Scott
  • Demondrae Thurman
  • Rachael Wilson
Past members
  • Liz Milewicz
  • Mark "Pose" Milewicz

History

McGill–Toolen Catholic High School[1] friends Dan Lord (born in 1970 or 1971),[2] Mark "Pose" Milewicz,[3] and Adam Guthrie formed Pain in 1994. Guthrie was a guitarist-songwriter,[1] Milewicz played bass guitar,[4] and Lord became the band's songwriter and lead singer.[2]

Pain logo from the 1990s

In 1998, Ted Turner contacted Pain's publicist and contracted with the band to produce some original music for Jabberjaw.[4] The "pop-punk four-piece rock band with a three-piece horn section and keyboards",[1] over its six years, performed on MTV2, shared a ticket with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones,[4] received airtime on the radio, worked with The WB, sold CDs worldwide, and was even shut down mid-song by another band—Train—for drawing away their fans at a 1999 concert.[2]

In 2000,[1] while the band was talking with interested record labels, Lord shut down Pain to pursue his religious calling.[2] Lord received his Master of Theology from University of Dallas,[5] married, became an author, and as of January 2013, lived in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and taught at Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in nearby Charleston.[2] In 2019, Lord's abrupt dissolution of Pain and the subsequent effects on band members' lives, were still a touchy subject with those involved.[1]

In the years leading up to 2019, Lord continued writing music and found that most of his new material was best-suited as Pain songs. Reconnecting with Guthrie, the two agreed that these new tracks should be recorded and released. When Milewicz declined to return, Lord and Guthrie felt it was inappropriate to call the group Pain without one of its co-founders, and so they called the new lineup Salvo.[3] After what their new record label (Earth Libraries) called "a gigantic break",[6] Salvo was scheduled to release the first album under the new name (Off the Charts) in Mobile, Alabama on September 13, 2019.[7]

Membership

Lord, Guthrie, and Milewicz formed Pain in 1994, George Kennedy joined on drums in 1998,[1] and Milewicz' wife Liz played keyboard.[4] In Guthrie's 2019 interview with BroadwayWorld, he recalled that there was a "feeling of 'us against them'" between the founding band members and those who joined after the fact, almost a hierarchy where older members outranked the newer ones.[8]

Salvo's lineup problematically hails from across the southeastern United States: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama (Birmingham, Spanish Fort, Mobile), and New Orleans. Lord, Guthrie, and Kennedy returned as lead vocalist, guitarist, and drummer respectively. Other Pain alumni that returned were Stuart McNair on horns and accordion;[1] Niamh Tuohy Fields on violin; George Kennedy on drums; Jason Reid; Christopher Johnson; and Demondrae Thurman.[3] New members of the ensemble include Will Hudson, Rachael Wilson, Melanie Rodgers, Kim Scott, Rachael Roberts, and Tommy Bowen.[7]

Music

In February 1997, Lord took to the band's website to categorically deny that Pain was a ska band: "There are a lot of styles we emulate and ain't none of 'em from the island of Jamaica. So please, PLEASE, unless you're just havin' some fun with us, don't call us a ska band."[9] Despite this, Art Howard in Feedback described the band as "pop-ska-punk" in 1999, saying "their songs are actually bouncy, upbeat anthems about 'kooky kids, lovely girls, and people we hate.'"[4] In 2013, The Post and Courier described Pain's music as punk rock, known for its "upbeat lyrics and melodies, including a horn section, and Lord's semi-hyperactive antics."[2] BroadwayWorld made comparisons to Green Day and Fishbone in their 2019 article.[8] Lord himself boiled down Pain's musical style to "happy".[3]

Salvo continues Pain's tradition of "being real heavy on the melodies and horn parts and being upbeat", though Lord noted subtle, indescribable changes due to the band's age that allow the band's product to sound like Pain, evolved.[3] Earth Libraries described Salvo's music as similar to Pain's, but with "a new maturity and mastery".[6] AL.com described Salvo's pop punk offerings as similar to an eclectic Green Day, the horns & guitars evoked The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and the "incisive yet playful intelligence in the lyrics" calls to mind Barenaked Ladies and They Might Be Giants.[1]

Albums

Pain released four albums.[6] Midgets with Guns album was released in Australia in mid-1997, while the single off that record ("Square Pegs") was available for US$6 (equivalent to $9.56 in 2019).[10] Wonderful Beef was released in the United States on November 18, 1997;[11] the album has 13 songs, including "The Song of the Seven Inch Cowboy".[12] Full Speed Ahead was scheduled to be released by Vegas Records on October 19, 1999.[4]

Salvo's 2019 album was a crowdfunding success;[3] Off the Charts was recorded at Ol Elegante in Birmingham, Alabama, and is planned for release on CD, vinyl, and digitally.[6] A release party was scheduled for September 13 & 14, 2019 in Mobile, Alabama.[7]

Reception

According to AL.com, Pain had "big following[s]" in the southeastern and West Coast of the United States.[1] In 2019, filmmaker Rebecca Pugh (fiancée to Adam Guthrie) premiered her documentary film about Pain, Anthem for the Middle Aged Band in Birmingham, Alabama.[8]

At Salvo's first performance in Birmingham, Alabama in May 2019, the venue was sold out. Salvo drummer George Kennedy said, "The coolest thing about that show was, I thought it was going to be a bunch of old geezers like us, […] It was a bunch of people who could not have been more than 2 years old when Pain broke up, singing every lyric to us. The whole experience was euphoric."[1]

References
  1. Specker, Lawrence (September 10, 2019). "Not the same old Pain: '90s Alabama rock band gets second life as Salvo". AL.com. Advance Publications. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  2. Hawes, Jennifer Berry (January 19, 2013). "From rock to religion Punk singer finds joy in becoming devout Catholic educator". The Post and Courier. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  3. Centanni, Stephen (January 30, 2019). "Old Pain, New Salvo". Lagniappe. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019. Former members of Pain, including vocalist Dan Lord, guitarist Adam Guthrie and horn player Stuart McNair, have reunited under the name Salvo to record a new album due out in May.
  4. Howard, Art (October 1999). "The Pleasure of Pain!". Feedback. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019. The pop-ska-punks talk about working with Jabberjaw and their fight with a major Atlanta club.
  5. "Dan Lord". Catholic Answers. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  6. "Salvo". Earth Libraries. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  7. "Salvo Album Release Party Night 1". Visit Mobile. Archived from the original on July 31, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  8. Perry, David Edward (August 30, 2019). "BWW Interview: ANTHEM FOR THE MIDDLE AGED BAND Energetically Brings The Band Back Together at The Sidewalk Film Festival". BroadwayWorld. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  9. Lord, Dan (February 2, 1997). "2 February 1997". Pain. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  10. Milewicz, Mark (July 1997). "July 1997". Pain. Archived from the original on April 19, 2001. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  11. Milewicz, Mark (December 12, 1997). "12 December 1997". Pain. Archived from the original on June 22, 2001. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  12. Milewicz, Mark (September 17, 1997). "17 September 1997". Pain. Archived from the original on June 19, 2001. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
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