The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank was founded in 1980. In the 43 years since its inception, over a thousand partnerships have been built with Pittsburgh-based organizations to ensure over 42 million meals can be served throughout the community each year.
Pittsburgh-based rock band The Clarks started in 1986, so they can't quite say they've been around as long as the food bank, but they can count themselves among those aforementioned thousand-plus partners who help to make sure many Pittsburghers do not go hungry during the holiday months. The band holds two annual concerts at Jergel's in Warrendale on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, where all kinds of canned goods and household items are accepted, and from which a portion of ticket sales go to the food bank.
Lead singer Scott Blasey joined All Things Considered host Jeremy Scott to tell us more about this weekend's shows.
Jeremy Scott: All right, Scott, so, first off, how exactly did The Clarks and the food bank get joined up? Who reached out to whom? When did it all go down? All that stuff.
Scott Blasey: Jeremy, that's a good question that I don't have an exact answer to. I'm sure they reached out to our management, Rishon Blumberg at Brick Wall Management in New York City and inquired as to whether or not we would be willing to help. And of course, we said yes right away. Being long time residents of the Pittsburgh region, we see firsthand the amazing work that they do. And we were happy to jump on board. And I know we've been helping them for many, many years, particularly with these shows that you talked about, at Jergel's, where we do them around the holidays.
Scott: And as it stands now, it's a two-day residency, for lack of a better term, you guys do at Jergel's. Was it always two days, even going back to the Nick's Fat City days?
Blasey: No, it wasn't. Generally, it was one night. But in the past couple years, you know, the demand has been great enough that we've been able to do two shows at Jergel's. And it's really moved around. The dates have moved a little. They used to be between Christmas and New Year's, but we've really found a nice time frame to do them. The weekend after Thanksgiving, we found that to be just sort of perfect for people that are coming back into western Pennsylvania to visit family and friends.
Scott: Now, I did mention the Nick's Fat City days, and I got that from [Clarks road manager] John Williams, or J.W., as he's known around these parts. He posted that video on The Clarks' Facebook page. He mentioned the holiday shows that used to take place at Nick's Fat City. Are those the shows that took place between Christmas and New Year's that you're referencing?
Blasey: Yes, there were many New Year's Eve shows, as a matter of fact, at Nick's Fat City. So, yes, the holidays were always a time where we would find the venue that we played most often. And certainly in the '90s, early 2000s, that venue was Nick's Fat City. We would always do at least one and, generally, several holiday shows there.
Scott: For those who just aren’t able to attend, but still would like to donate, they may do so online. The opener for this year's Friday show are The Jaded Lips. I know that they're a band out of Altoona. Other than that, what can you tell us about them?
Blasey: Well, to be honest with you, I can't tell you any more than that. I think we've done one or two shows with them previously. I've heard really good things. But I don't know a lot about them just by virtue of the fact we haven't played with them a lot. They're not really from Pittsburgh, so I haven't had an opportunity to see them live or to hang out with them in other music situations.
Scott: Saturday's opening act is Paul Luc. That's a name people around here might be a little more familiar with. Tell us about Paul Luc.
Blasey: Paul is an amazing singer, songwriter, musician and writes these really fantastic songs and we're all big fans of Paul. We've known Paul for a long time now and have done shows with him in the past, and he brings a really terrific band along with him. He'll play solo shows, but I know this show, he's playing with the band and he's just fantastic. I can't say enough good things about him. Super nice guy, too. And so that's one of the perks of of having these kind of openers, the fact that you get to hang out with your friends.
Scott: Now, how does that work, Scott? Is that a venue thing when it comes to these shows; in particular, these Thanksgiving shows? Is this a venue thing where they book the openers or do you guys have that full autonomy?
Blasey: That's our choice. These bands that we pick nine times out of 10 are bands we want to have on the bill. There are occasionally situations where the venue suggests somebody or is trying to help somebody out and we'll go along. But most of the time it's us allowing maybe up-and-coming bands to get a little more exposure or, if it's a bigger show, maybe adding somebody on who has a bit of a draw as well that will help sell tickets. But it's mostly us picking who we have opening for us.
Scott: And as far as you guys, The Clarks go, you tend to use these Thanksgiving shows to bust out some material you don't always play. And Friday's setlist is never the same as Saturday's. So what kinds of long lost chestnuts will you and the boys be dusting off this weekend, Scott?
Blasey: Well, that's being discussed right now, Jeremy. [Guitarist] Rob [James] sent around a text the other day saying, 'What are we going to pull out? What are we going to do different?' You know, after all these years together, we have a wealth of material to choose from. And, you know, we have a set amount of songs that we'll do both nights, sort of The Clarks classics, if you will. But then from that point, we really are very fortunate to be able to choose what we want to do.
So I can't tell you exactly what we're going to do because that hasn't been decided yet. But I know there'll be a few surprises. And we've been playing a couple new songs that we released last year, and those will make an appearance, as well. And we're also working on new material for some recording. We're going to do some recording and have some new material out next year. We won't be playing those songs at these shows, but the new stuff keeps the band energized for sure.
Scott: Now, my fan antenna just went up there, Scott. New material is being worked on. I can't let you off the hook. Now, I've got to ask about that. Tell us about this new material. Who presented it to the band? For longtime fans of the band, what would you liken the sound of this new material to?
Blasey: Well, let me answer the other part. Our manager, Rishon, is constantly on us to write and record new material. The industry has changed so much in the last 20 years and the way you need to reach your fans these days is to constantly be putting out new material. And we don't do it nearly often enough for his liking. That said, we're going to record. We just got together the other day and we're hashing out some a couple of new songs. We get together as a group with our producer, Sean McDonald, in his studio, and we sort of go over the ideas and decide, okay, you know, 'What are we going to do here? Is this a chorus or how are we going to approach this vocal melody, etc.'
So then, from there, everybody will go in, they'll record parts, and we'll have have just a handful of songs that will come out next year. It won't be a full album, but we'll release some songs next year. And honestly, the one thing I don't want to do is repeat myself or and I think the guys in the band all share the same view that, you know, we've been doing this a long time. We sort of have a certain sound that we've done over and over. And the last batch of recordings that came out last year I thought was really a unique sound for us. I mean, there were still certainly things that were the, hey, that's The Clarks. But man, it just sort of brought it into a more modern sounding situation. Our guitar player, Noah Minarik, is a young, really talented songwriter and he just has these great ideas, really fresh ideas, very modern sounding. And we're working on this one song, and I likened it to movie soundtrack type music. It was very atmospheric, very different for us, you know? But you're going to have Rob playing guitar. You're going to have my voice on it. So, you know, obviously it'll still be The Clarks, but we're looking to stretch and to do some things that, you know, hopefully will both surprise and delight our fans.
Scott: Do we have working titles yet for these songs?
Blasey: Yeah, the one one is called 'Supernatural' and the other one is called 'Number Nine.'
Scott: 'Supernatural' and 'Number Nine.' And you say there will not be a physical release of this stuff. It'll be kind of like you did with the three songs that you released last year where they're just available for download?
Blasey: That's correct. As far as I know right now. Now, the three we released last year plus these you know, you maybe get to a point, and if you've got a couple of more at that point, you think about, well, 'Maybe we'll maybe we'll put out vinyl or, you know, possibly a CD.' I don't know what kind of market really there is for CDs. I'm sure there's still some people who buy CDs and there are certainly people that buy vinyl. So yeah, that could be a possibility down the road. But it looks like what we'll do for 2024 will be digital only.
Scott: And while I'm in the business of trying to break news and I'm trying to get Scott Blasey to spill beans, might as well ask this question while I'm at it. What's the theme for next summer's Stage AE show going to be?
Blasey: We don't know that yet. That's really looking pretty far into the crystal ball there, Jeremy. I can't tell you. I can tell you, though, that these new songs, this new material will be featured, but I'm sure there'll be some little wrinkle. You know, the last two years, we've sort of recreated albums from our past. So that may be another another option for this year.
Scott: So again, legendary Pittsburgh rock 'n' rollers, The Clarks, will be taking the stage at Jergel's this Friday and Saturday. Proceeds from ticket sales, or at least a part of the proceeds, will benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Both shows start at 8 p.m. again on Friday, you've got The Jaded Lips opening for the Clarks. Then Saturday, the opening act is Paul Luc. Lead singer Scott Blasey. Thank you so much for the time, and thanks for what you guys do for the community. This has to feel great to you to be able to do this.
Blasey: It really does. Jeremy. We are longtime Pittsburghers and fans of this region and it just feels really good to be able to help the community and help people in need.
