Thursday, March 9, 2006

Trio may have musical moxie for an outside break

POLLY HIGGINS

Tucson Citizen

Many months ago, a friend mentioned that if any band could break outside of Tucson, it would be The Beta Sweat. (Actually, he said "The Sweat Band," but the trio changed its name last month due to a proliferation of Sweat Bands.)

That's super high praise, of course, but it might not be that far off.

The concrete reasons are many (hard work, drive, talent, local support). Less tangible but just as important is the chemistry the three - Jake Bergeron and sisters Marina Cornelius and Leann Cornelius - have garnered over the two years they've been working Sweat.

"It was probably the first band I was in where we didn't say, 'Let's go after this sound,' " says Jake, sitting next to his bandmates in the Fourth Avenue-area warehouse where they rehearse. "Knowing each other so well, it's easy. . . . We all have equal say. There's no one person calling the shots."

Maybe three is a magic number as there's no real room for dead weight. All contribute equally, they note, in terms of splitting duties of booking shows, maintaining the Web site (betasweat.com) and creating band artwork.

Despite the strain of practicing up to 12 hours weekly in addition to full-time jobs, the three have been lucky enough to avoid creative dry spells. "We're not really up and down. We're really steady. That's probably why we're still together," Marina says. "And we like playing."

If there's one thing the self-taught musicians need at this point, it's a CD. So far, The Beta Sweat has only a limited-run vinyl 7-inch available, though a couple of weeks ago they recorded four songs with Nathan Sabatino of Loveland Studios that may end up on a full-length.

"They're definitely probably one of the quickest bands to do stuff with," says Sabatino, who's helmed both recordings. The recent analog recording took maybe five hours, he says.

"They have a good idea of what they want to do. They pretty much did it live," Sabatino says. "They're well rehearsed."

Thanks to the band's fairly active performance schedule, downtown-club-minded Tucsonans already know that The Beta Sweat's uncluttered blues rock, fronted by petite Marina's often huge voice, is passionate and solid. Last summer, they took the TAMMIES Critics' Choice Award for best new band. More enviously, perhaps, is the string of sweet opening spots the Sweat has earned, warming the stage last year for The Sights and Detroit Cobras, and, March 23 at Plush, for The Dirtbombs and The Black Lips.

Love of Sweat has expanded beyond the Old Pueblo, as the group plays South by Southwest in Austin March 18. The trio will also be part of the local West by Southwest festival, with an 11:30 p.m. Tuesday slot at Club Congress

Despite the odds of being accepted into SXSW, Marina says, "We just decided to try." Nearly 8,000 bands applied to play the music festival this year and about 1,400 were accepted, meaning that less than 18 percent were found worthy.

Bassist Leann, drummer Jake and guitarist Marina will sweat more when they return. They have three shows within seven days - in addition to The Dirtbombs gig, look for them March 25 at Vaudeville Cabaret and March 30 as part of the Queen tribute at Plush where, yes, they'll tackle "Fat Bottomed Girls."