The New Old-Fashioned

The New Old-Fashioned is a 4 piece rock band from New Carlisle, OH and is the brainchild of songwriter David Payne. This is their debut, and it is damn impressive (thanks in part to Dayton ex-pat Patrick Himes at Reel Love Studios in Nashville). Despite being yet another roots rock band that writes about life in small town America, The New Old-Fashioned have forged something special. The difference that makes the difference is the songwriting. Mr. Payne has crafted some wonderfully catchy tunes with some memorable lines. (The excellent control over dynamics, killer production, and big league background vocals don’t hurt, either.) In fact, I’ve often found myself humming these tunes at work and counting down the hours until I get home and can spin this record.

“Don’t Let It Die” is the perfect choice for the first track – it sets the tone for the rest of the album but doesn’t overshadow the rest of the songs. It’s a straight-forward rock song with a catchy hook and soaring chorus.

The next highlight comes in at track 3 with “Queen of the Midwest.” After the previous two tracks, this one is a change of pace. It opens with a soft acoustic guitar and is a breezy 3 chord ballad until the rest of the band comes in around the second verse. As soon as the electric guitar comes in, it becomes this band’s would-be first single. Remember earlier when I mentioned that these songs get stuck in my head? This is the number one offender.

Side two opens with “Empty Store Fronts,” and is most certainly THE centerpiece of the album. It’s the heaviest song here and is one of the best, which is quite a big feat for a band that’s proven itself quite adept at writing ballads and heartland rock. What’s even more amazing is that this song doesn’t sound out of place at all. The New Old-Fashioned still sounds like The New Old-Fashioned except with a bit more muscle. It’s a direction I’d love to see them explore in the future.

I had planned on only writing about 3 songs, but I would be doing a disservice to this record and this band if I didn’t at least mention “Always.” The lyrics are fraught with complicated emotions, and it comes off without sounding maudlin or cheesy. It’s about as close as anyone in the 937 area code has gotten to perfection. Like “Queen of the Midwest,” it begins with a delicate acoustic guitar and once the full band comes in, it transforms from a caterpillar of a beautiful lullaby to a majestic butterfly of love song.

Like every debut album, this one has its share of flaws. At times, TNOF lets its guard down and falls back onto some trite country rock tricks, but these moments are few and far between and don’t detract from the experience. Besides, I can’t fault these guys for such a minor misstep; that is more of a big-picture issue anyway, and I’m confident they’ll rectify this on future releases.

Getting to experience such a young band put out such a good record yet still show so much promise is exhilarating. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment is that this record is that even after it’s over, it begs another listen – then another, and another, and another. Keep an eye on these guys; they have the potential to do some great things. Oh, and go buy this record. - Dayton Rock and Roll

The sound of the heartland is strong, powerful and generally a little rebellious. When you boil it down, it’s just passionate rock n’ roll. You might not associate a city like Dayton, Ohio, with this kind of sound, but time and time again this little city keeps on proving it has room for a whole hell of a lot of music. In fact, we have the New Old-Fashioned – a band that blends Tom Petty guitar riffs with Beach Boys vocal harmonies, resulting in a signature sound that evokes the heart of rock with the soul of Americana.
Comprised of lead vocalist/guitarist David Payne, guitarist Kent Montgomery, bassist Tom Blackbern and drummer Matt Oliver, the band is set to release its brand new 7” single on Toxic Beauty Records, and they will celebrate with two release shows – one at Peach’s Grill in Yellow Springs on Saturday, March 1, the other at Oregon Express on Saturday, March 8. It is the group’s first effort following their 2012 self-titled debut, with songs written during those sessions that were held back for later use.
“Our full-length came out over a year ago, and when we were putting it all together these two songs just didn’t fit in as well with the others,” explained Payne, who also acts as principal songwriter for the group. “We wanted to release something while we’re working on our next album, and we still had these two songs we really liked and wanted to put out, so we went back to Nashville with the same producer and finally got the songs recorded.”
The two new songs, “Ladies” and “Indie Movie Scenes,” will be available in both vinyl and digital formats. The vinyl release is being handled by Toxic Beauty Records, with the two songs recorded with the format in mind.
“It can become an entirely different process when you’re making something specifically for vinyl,” said Payne. “Sometimes one doesn’t always translate well to the other, so it was important that everyone knew exactly what we were going for during the process of recording, mixing and mastering it all.”
Josh Castleberry, owner of Toxic Beauty Records, first caught wind of the band from its debut. “They’re regulars at the shop, and I started carrying their self-titled CD when they put it out in 2012,” he said. “They knew with the shop I also had a vinyl-only label, and when they were ready to put something else out they approached us about the possibility of doing something together. Once I listened to the songs I knew I wanted to release them on the label, and they definitely didn’t disappoint.”
Castleberry runs the Toxic Beauty Records store in Yellow Springs, which specializes in rare, collectable vinyl records and concert posters. His love of the format is no secret, and over time Castleberry decided he wanted to help give deserving bands the chance to get pressed to wax.
“I realized there were plenty of good bands out there that needed the outlet,” Castleberry said, “so we started the label as a way to get even more music released on vinyl and out into the world.”
Being fans of the shop, the band was eager to work with the label. With the sole purpose of releasing the 7” on vinyl, it seemed like a perfect partnership for everyone involved. The single will be available at Toxic Beauty Records on the day of the release show at Peach’s, with additional availability online and at all of the band’s shows. They also plan on getting the physical vinyl out to as many other local record shops as possible.
As a complete piece of work, all of the packaging is getting just as much attention as each song did, giving the release a distinct personality. In addition to the record having a free digital download, the album art was done by Adam Eckley, a local Dayton artist who’s done all of the band’s previous artwork. The cover was screen-printed locally by Little Monster Printing, owned and operated by Chris “Poppy” Popadak of the Dayton band The Story Changes, and it also unfolds into a hand-screened mini-poster.
“I’m really excited about the packaging,” Payne said. “I think it’s going to look pretty cool. That was one of the most exciting things about working with Josh and Toxic Beauty. He was excited about putting out a good record, and there was a lot of focus on packaging and other stuff like that. He’s very interested in putting out a quality record – not just putting out great music, but putting out a great record as a complete package, a whole entity where every detail counts. That meant a lot to us.”
The band will celebrate the new release with a set of hometown shows, starting with the official release show at Peach’s on March 1, followed by a show at the Oregon Express on March 8. In between, the band will also stop in Columbus on March 7, and they plan on booking more dates elsewhere after the show at the Oregon Express.

Zach Rogers, Dayton City Paper - Dayton City Paper

In this digital age it’s refreshing to get a new musical artifact as smoking hot as the new vinyl release from local roots rockers The New Old-Fashioned.
David Payne (vocals, guitar), Kent Montgomery (guitar, vocals), Tom Blackbern (bass, vocals) and Matt Oliver (drums, vocals) celebrate the two-song single’s release at Peach’s Grill in Yellow Springs on Saturday.

“We added a new drummer last spring,” Payne said. “It took a little while to work Matt in and we weren’t writing new songs but we wanted to get him on a new recording so people wouldn’t forget about us. We had a couple of songs that didn’t end up fitting in with the picture of the first record. I personally wanted to put something out on vinyl so this seemed like a good opportunity.”

Like the group’s 2012 full-length debut, the new material was recorded at Reel Love Recording Company, former Daytonian Patrick Himes’ Nashville-based recording facility.

“Between the time we did the album and the new 7-inch, Patrick had moved the studio to a new space,” Payne said. “It’s really cool. I think the new stuff sounds even better than the full-length.”

“We had beaten the songs to death getting ready to go in and record so we could make better use of our time,” Montgomery said. “We spent all our time before that arranging the songs at our practice space.”

“That’s Tom’s main role in the band,” Payne said. “He’s a great bass player and singer, but he’s a really good arranger. We’re super happy with how these two songs turned out. We’re really excited for people to hear them.”

The two-song 7-inch single, “Ladies” and “Indie Movie Scene,” is being released on vinyl by Yellow Springs-based Toxic Beauty Records.

“We were going to put it out ourselves but we’re really excited Toxic Beauty is doing it,” Payne said. “I was at (Toxic Beauty) and I got to talking to Josh about it. I knew he had done 7-inches for other bands so I asked him if he’d be interested. He said, ‘Yeah, bring in the tracks.’ It all came together pretty quickly. Josh is really excited about it and so are we.”

Although the new record is just becoming available, The New Old-Fashioned is already working on new material.

“We’re starting to think about the next release,” Montgomery said. “David has a lot of songs written and I have a few. We’re a few songs in so far but we have a lot more to go.”

-Don Thrasher, Dayton Daily News - Dayton Daily News