Baltimore’s Andy Bopp is one of the city’s true treasures; a pop-song magician on par with Matthew Sweet and Jon Brion, the artistic progeny of Alex Chilton and Paul Westerburg , a high priest of Ray Davies and Paul McCartney. He’s perhaps best known as the one man band Myracle Brah, a project that has so far generated 7 exquisite albums between 1998 and 2007.

Andy’s first band, the energetic Love Nut, caught the ear of Interscope records and released Bastards of Melody, which, along with the likes of Sloan and Fountains of Wayne, made post-punk power pop the next big thing (or so we hoped). The majors thought otherwise, no doubt, and Love Nut’s second album, Baltimucho! was almost lost in some basement in Santa Monica until it was finally released by the much smaller Big Deal Records in 1999.

More recently, in 2011, Andy and his new-yet-now-also-defunct band Alto Verde released Paper Clips, or what Weezer would sound like if Rivers Cuomo was obsessed with Alex Chilton instead of Brian Wilson. It’s a shame Alto Verde will not be releasing any new songs in the near future. The same can be said for Myracle Brah. What are Andy Bopp’s fans supposed to do?

Thankfully, a new project has emerged, taking Andy Bopp’s writing chops in heretofore unforeseen directions. On the surface, the country-rock of the Bleaker Street Cowboys does not much resemble Andy’s familiar modern power pop.  The songs are full of bare bleach- boned vintage guitars, snappy drums, and harmonies rich with machismo and twang. The album rides the range from the barn-stompin’ “Bumpy Ridin” to the smooth rockabilly sounds of “On My Way” (hints of Orbison, or perhaps Chris Isaak, with guitars swelling in reverb around a soulful croon), taking the listener across a fruited plains worth of Americana along the way.

Andy has seemingly switched influences from the Beatles’ progeny to the Beatles’ progenitors. Why? “’Cause I’m 51,” says Andy, “and I wanted to go with something that I felt was timeless where when I’m 75 I can still be playing country.” The eponymous album is subtitled New Songs for the Old Country Soul, but it isn’t a mellow album. The sound is electric, and though those sounds may be of an old style, that style was famously created and made popular by hillbilly teenagers. “I always loved rockabilly guitar,” says Andy. “In the 80’s, when I was in a cover band, and we would be playing, like, Stray Cats and stuff, I was totally into that.” Since those early cover band days, Andy’s had a number of country and rockabilly experiences with other projects, and decided he could do better. With his talented friends Chad Hopkins (vox, guitar), Joey Salvia (bass, frontman for the Montgomery Clifts from Dallas –“it’s commercially better to say we’re from Dallas”), and Nick Bertling (drums), he set out to make an album that was “pure energentic authenticity…Like jumping into a sonic time machine, when the likes of Sun Records ruled the airwaves.” In my opinion, he succeeded (you can decide for yourself; the album is currently available online).

So, are we saying goodbye to Andy Bopp’s blissful power pop? Well, Andy is working on another new project, The Modern Ruins, in which he plays a baritone Telecaster, and the drummer plays a cocktail kit. “We have an EP coming out,” explains Andy. “It’s in-between the Bleaker Street Cowboys and Myracle Brah and Alto Verde. So it’s heavy, and there’s one song that’s country and there’s other songs that are almost like Creedence. So I kinda bridged all three with that.” I can’t wait.

Baltimore’s Andy Bopp is one of the city’s true treasures; a pop-song magician on par with Matthew Sweet and Jon Brion, the artistic progeny of Alex Chilton and Paul Westerburg , a high priest of Ray Davies and Paul McCartney . He’s perhaps best known as the one man band Myracle Brah, a project that has so far generated 7 exquisite albums between 1998 and 2007.

Andy’s first band, the energetic Love Nut, caught the ear of Interscope records and released Bastards of Melody, which, along with the likes of Sloan and Fountains of Wayne, made post-punk power pop the next big thing (or so we hoped). The majors thought otherwise, no doubt, and Love Nut’s second album, Baltimucho! was almost lost in some basement in Santa Monica until it was finally released by the much smaller Big Deal Records in 1999.

More recently, in 2011, Andy and his new-yet-now-also-defunct band Alto Verde released Paper Clips, or what Weezer would sound like if Rivers Cuomo was obsessed with Alex Chilton instead of Brian Wilson. It’s a shame Alto Verde will not be releasing any new songs in the near future. The same can be said for Myracle Brah. What are Andy Bopp’s fans supposed to do?

Thankfully, a new project has emerged, taking Andy Bopp’s writing chops in heretofore unforeseen directions. On the surface, the country-rock of the Bleaker Street Cowboys does not much resemble Andy’s familiar modern power pop.  The songs are full of bare bleach- boned vintage guitars, snappy drums, and harmonies rich with machismo and twang. The album rides the range from the barn-stompin’ “Bumpy Ridin” to the smooth rockabilly sounds of “On My Way” (hints of Orbison, or perhaps Chris Isaak, with guitars swelling in reverb around a soulful croon), taking the listener across a fruited plains worth of Americana along the way.

Andy has seemingly switched influences from the Beatles’ progeny to the Beatles’ progenitors. Why? “’Cause I’m 51,” says Andy, “and I wanted to go with something that I felt was timeless where when I’m 75 I can still be playing country.” The eponymous album is subtitled New Songs for the Old Country Soul, but it isn’t a mellow album. The sound is electric, and though those sounds may be of an old style, that style was famously created and made popular by hillbilly teenagers. “I always loved rockabilly guitar,” says Andy. “In the 80’s, when I was in a cover band, and we would be playing, like, Stray Cats and stuff, I was totally into that.” Since those early cover band days, Andy’s had a number of country and rockabilly experiences with other projects, and decided he could do better. With his talented friends Chad Hopkins (vox, guitar), Joey Salvia (bass, frontman for the Montgomery Clifts from Dallas –“it’s commercially better to say we’re from Dallas”), and Nick Bertling (drums), he set out to make an album that was “pure energentic authenticity…Like jumping into a sonic time machine, when the likes of Sun Records ruled the airwaves.” In my opinion, he succeeded (you can decide for yourself; the album is currently available online).

So, are we saying goodbye to Andy Bopp’s blissful power pop? Well, Andy is working on another new project, The Modern Ruins, in which he plays a baritone Telecaster, and the drummer plays a cocktail kit. “We have an EP coming out,” explains Andy. “It’s in-between the Bleaker Street Cowboys and Myracle Brah and Alto Verde. So it’s heavy, and there’s one song that’s country and there’s other songs that are almost like Creedence. So I kinda bridged all three with that.” I can’t wait.

Terence Nicholson (vocals/guitar): Thaylobleu started when I was performing with my hip hop band (Opus Akoben) and gigging with saxophonist Steve Coleman and Jazz pianist, Omar Sosa. I was writing songs for Opus, but I had a lot of other ideas that I knew did not fit into the Opus Akoben thing. After about ten years of touring and recording with Opus, we disbanded and I felt like it was time to put the Thaylo thing on the front burner.

What's the story behind the band name?

The name of the band stems from my art school days. I went to the Corcoran School of Art in DC. I was a very tumultuous time for me and art and music were my refuge. Thaylobleu is my nickname for a paint color called Phthalocyanine Blue. I mention this because I am quite sensitive to colors. Anyway, at  the time, a lot of my classmates were painting with this color. When I would walk into the studio with all that noise in my head, that color would calm me down. So for me, the meaning of the name of the band is … A voice of clarity in a world of chaos.

What are your biggest musical influences?

I will do my best to give the short list. Jimi, Janis, The Ohio Players, Bootsy, Ezra Greer, Kiss, Elvis Costello, Bad Brains, Miles Davis, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Coldplay, David Byrne , KRS-One, and Eric Alexander (my next door neighbor  who when I was 11 years old used to let me carry equipment for his Jimi Hendrix cover band, Electric Lady Experience). I will stop there. 

What artists (local, national and/or international) are you currently listening to?

I am listening to speeches of Gore Vidal, The Dirtbombs, Spacek, Vivaldi, Bach, Manu Chao,Pete Rock and a lot of Thaylobleu rehearsal tapes.

What's the first concert that you ever attended and first album that you ever bought?

My first concert was Public Enemy. The first record I ever got was Kiss: Destroyer.

What do you love about DC's music scene?

I have lived in DC all my life so I am a little sad about DC’s music scene at the moment. However, there are some old punks around that are managing a few DC clubs. I love doing gigs and a guy or girl from the 80’s scene comes up and says that they dig what we a laying down right now. That is huge for me.

What would you like to see change in the local music scene?

I hope that the setup for live music becomes a little more supportive. I am hopeful. I mean, we know that the bars have to make money. It would be nice if there were more spots like Velvet Lounge (spots with good sound engineers that care) . Axum Lounge has been good to us too. Especially since we don’t bring a lot of drinkers.LOL. In other words, it would be great if the town as a whole loosened up a little.

What are your plans for the upcoming year?

Thaylobleu will continue recording and releasing singles. Hopefully we can secure a decent deal and get on the road with a bigger act. The music is the most important thing. We want to really get into the nuances of what we are doing these days. 

What was your most memorable live show?

RAS HALL OCTOBER 8TH 2011 DC. The last show we did at Axum in DC this past December was good. But the RAS Hall gig was special because although the tunes were not all that fleshed out, the energy was full tilt. The crowd felt it. That’s my measuring stick these days. 

Is there someone who has helped your band grow through support?

Would say hands down that that person would be my big brother, bassist Ezra Greer. I have learned more from him over the last 18 years from gigging and making music with him. He has turned  my head in different directions musically. He exposed me to artists and has always been straight up with me. Aside from that, it is Joe, DP, Ayce and Bill; the guys from the band. They are soldiers.

Is there a piece of equipment you couldn't live without and why?

At this point, I think that I really need a monitor. Everything just feels and sounds better when I can hear how I am singing. When you aren’t a songbird, you really need to know what the hell you’re sounding like LOL!