The Louisville Crashers: Music Spotlight

By JccKeith

I’m very excited to get to do a music spotlight on The Louisville Crashers. They’re such a great band and put on a great show every time. Over the last few years they’ve played all over the Louisville area and nationwide even performing at the NBC pre-game show for Super Bowl XLVI. How awesome is that!

For those who want to learn a little bit more about the band, who they are, how they got their start, what’s coming up next and more importantly where and when you can get your hands on their music – here’s your chance:

1. How did the band originate?

We all worked (at one time or another) at Mom’s Music. Whenever the store would have a special occasion, like a charitable event or a Christmas party, we would throw together an “all-star band” of players that worked in the store to play a few songs. After a while (and after lots and lots of pestering from Howard), we decided to make an actual band. The plan was to learn a ton of really great cover songs and play for weddings, corporate events, local festivals, etc., but before long the project took on a life of it’s own. We worked hard at our craft and were very fortunate. Soon we had to start turning down gigs because the venues weren’t big enough to hold all of the people who came out to see us. Life was great, but after 4 ½ years we realized that it was time for a challenge, and since we’ve had so many people ask us about when/where they could buy a CD, we decided that the challenge would be for us to write and record an album of original material. So here we are!

2. How did you get your name?

The name stems from our origins as a band that played weddings and private parties. We were originally called “The Crashers” (The wedding crashers, the party crashers). We realized shortly after picking the name that there were about 8-10 other bands across the country that were already named The Crashers, so we just added Louisville and became “The Louisville Crashers”. Trademark infringement averted.

3. Who are the band members?

Mark Maxwell – lead vocals

Shane ‘Powers’ Isenberg – guitar, ukulele, backing vocals

Howard ‘Gusto’ Gittli – guitar, trumpet, mandolin, keyboards, backing vocals

Geoffrey ‘Maestro’ Gittli – keyboards, saxophone, flute, percussion, backing vocals

Max Maxwell – drums, backing vocals

Jesse Vest – bass

4. What is your favorite song and why?

Informer, by Snow. The song really captures what it’s like to be an over-compensating white boy with a Jamaican accent who grew up in the hood. Pretty much the story of our lives.

5. What’s going on for the band right now? –

Our debut album will be released on July 2^nd!! We are so stoked! The album will be available at both Mom’s Music locations, and on iTunes. The album is not quite rock, and it’s not quite pop, it’s somewhere in the middle. We think we’ve done a pretty good job of capturing the elements that people love about our live performances. It’s good-time, summer-feeling music that (we hope!) will have people singing along.

The CD will also be available for purchase at our performance at the New Albany Riverfront Amphitheater on July 3^rd. The show is FREE and ALL AGES, so bring the whole family out. We take the stage at 8:30 P.M.