The Factory and the Rounders - Central Pennsylvania's Combination Pick-up Band

Enjoying a few brews at Bube's Brewery in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, I also got to enjoy the sounds of two similar, yet unique bands: The Factory and The Rounders. The two bands together consist of Michael Males and Russ Brooks swapping leads on guitar and vocals between the two bands, Jamie Furhman on drums, Joe DeNunzio on bass, Dan the man on sax, and also features Christian who plays the trumpet and keys. The Factory focuses mainly on a Bruce Springsteen influence with rock/blues toned covers. The Rounders were born from The Factory to do different covers such as Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams, Robert Earl Keen and Wilco, but also to incorporate the writing talents of Males.

The Factory opened the set featuring Russ Brooks on lead guitar and vocals. I immediately noticed that each musician had a solo style, yet all connected with each other to keep a steady beat and style. The drummer, Jamie Furhman had a very 'Max Weinberg' aura, and Christian mastered the art of swapping between trumpet and keys throughout the night during The Factory set. The background guitar, name unknown, also added in a classical picking style for a variety to the cover songs that were played.

While Bube's Brewery offers an intimate and interesting setting, it is not the best for sound quality and it left the lead guitar lacking on sound quality, with the drums, keyboard, and sax seeming to overpower everything. While not necessarily a musicianship, but a technical issue, it became hard to hear the lyrics and get the full effect of each band playing as a whole.

In creating one sound for The Factory, the drummer did a great job of reading the other musicians to keep a steady beat for the consistent tempo changes. Harmony between the vocalists worked well and accented the transitions without being overpowering as some harmony can be. The keyboardist adds a quick fleck to the chords and the sax has a great funky sound, but had a bit too much reserve on solo sets. Background guitar provided an agressive secondary guitar solo.

The Factory can handle a cover and concertgoers will still enjoy it without feeling it lacks from the original. Although I love originals, one can never go wrong with a Tom Petty cover song. Overall, the band is able to create a solid, enthusiastic performance as a whole while still allowing for individual grooves, vibrato, and solo creations.

After a small break, The Rounders re-formed from members of the Factory band. Michael Males stepped in on lead acoustic, while Christian on keys stepped out. Definitive transition to a second band while still maintaining a majority of the Factory players. With Males on lead, it started off with a definite country twang, but not in a bad way. The Rounders have a very core rock sound, and by adding in the sax, it also created a very intricate background to their style which works well.

Style seems simple, yet tight with a very smooth old school, dual chord ending on some songs. The Rounders come off more relaxed in comparison to The Factory as a whole, and manage to turn simple styles into their own. The lead can handle classical picking quite well, and also plays a classic rock style with strong chords. The combination is tight and transitions well dependent on their set list.

After meeting with Males after the gig, he described The Rounders as "alternative bluegrass lovesongs". In other words, eclectic to what could be the point of chaos, but is not. Both The Factory and The Rounders are a great listen-running as separate bands it gives concertgoers a smooth combination of favorite covers, and originals, leaving everything a crowd pleaser.

Males also runs http://www.myruralradio.com, an website bringing attention to unsigned artists. On January 15, 2009, MyRuralRadio.com's September Artist of the Month, A.D. Chandler and His Imaginary Band will be playing at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center.