Meet the Katie Pearlman Band
Long Island Herald
November 22, 2008
Local group hopes to revive the Jam sound
by Dana Williams

At the Malverne Merchant's Fair and Classic Car Show on Sept. 23, you could find people shopping at vendor stands, eating cotton candy and posing for pictures next to classic vehicles such as a 1958 Chevrolet Impala. While enjoying the annual event, attendees also crowded together to listen to the acoustic music performances by the Katie Pearlman Band.

Named after its lead singer West Hempstead resident Katie Pearlman, the Katie Pearlman Band features the music talents of Jeff Pearlman, Tom Bowler and Ken Teich. Since officially forming in November 2006, the band has been working overtime to get its eclectic sound heard by music fans all over the country. You could find the band performing not only at fairs, but also at coffee-houses, clubs, radio stations and concerts in the tri-state area.

The Herald recently chatted with the lead singer Katie Pearlman in a phone interview to learn more about the Katie Pearlman Band and its future projects and here's what she said:

Q: How did the band get started?
A: We're all basically friends and we've been playing music for a long time now. I started writing the music about a year and a half ago, and this whole project started out as an experiment really. We wanted to see if I could play the drums and sing lead on all the songs, and to see what Ken could do with the songs.

Q: So you just grew from there?
A: Yeah, and we started to do acoustic shows and we started to get a really good response from our friends and people at the shows. It just continued from there.

Q: Describe the band's sound?
A: Our genre is basically Rock music but our sound is also Folk. When we get together as a full four-piece band, we're more of like a Rock and Jam Band.

Q: What do you do during a Jam Band performance?
A: All it means is that when we play with a full band, we will have lengthy and improvisationsal sections. That's what a Jam Band is.

Q: How does the band break down, like who does what?
A: I'm the lead singer and I play the drums and acoustic guitar. Jeff does the background vocals and he plays the keys. Tom plays the bass and Ken is our lead guitarist.

Q: We heard people at the fair in Malverne saying this is great Long Island talent, besides you, who else is from Long Island?
A: Jeff is originally from Lynbrook, but he lives in West Hempstead, Ken is from Island Park, and Tom is originally from Hicksville.

Q: Does the band do a lot of acoustic shows?
A: Lately, we have been doing a lot of acoustic shows and a lot of two-piece acoustic shows with Jeff and I. We're doing a lot of other shows too like live performances in NYC, Philadelphia and New Jersey. Our goal is to be touring nationally.

Q: What are your songs about?
A: Our music is about different things like not letting go of your dreams and some songs are about love. We try to keep a variety going. Music is all about expression and being able to express concepts and thoughts. We're all about that.

Q: Your songs are for music fans of all ages?
A: Yeah, our demographic is really people of all ages. Some of our songs are more 'Folky' and that appeals to an older crowd, and some songs are all Rock and the young people like that. We definitely try to mix it up.

Q: Do you have an album coming out?
A: Yes, it's an independent album and it's going to be coming out really soon. It's going to be our first release as a band. We're writing and recording a lot of music. We're working hard to make this album a success. We have a lot of songs, but we still have to pick a title.

Q: What has the response been at your shows?
A: The shows are getting us a lot of exposure. We have had a lot of positive responses from people of all ages and that's really our goal. We want our music to speak to people in a positive way.

Q: Do you have any shows coming up?
A: Yes, we have a show coming up at the Bitter End in New York City on Nov. 24 at 10pm, and that's going to be a big show for us.

Q: Where can our readers learn about the Katie Pearlman Band?
A: They can visit our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/katiepearlmanmusic.