Marah stays optimistic despite wavering career

The band was near having 'next big thing' status not long ago.
NEW YORK (AP) -- On a soft summer night last year, Dave and Serge Bielanko stood with Bruce Springsteen before 55,000 raucous fans at Giants Stadium. The beaming brothers, guests of the Boss, backed him on a cover of "Raise Your Hand."
A few weeks later, the pair sat alone on a stoop outside Dave's Brooklyn apartment, facing the possible demise of their criminally unappreciated band, Marah. They were broke, and nearly broken down.
"We've been so low I could never tell you, and I would never talk about it," Dave Bielanko reflected recently over a cold beer. "We've been low, man. And we've been low in more ways than just no success."
Prior status
The band's bad times were bookended by better days. It was just four years ago that Marah was on the cusp of "next big thing" status, hailed by Springsteen and signed by singer-songwriter Steve Earle to his record label.
And it was just last month that the brothers Bielanko released their latest album, "20,000 Streets Under The Sky," where Marah again interprets classic rock through iconoclastic ears.
But during the years in between, the band's future sometimes seemed shakier than a railbird's tip on an 80-1 longshot.
There were savage reviews and angry fans after the band opted for a slicker, new sound on its third album. Bandmates came and went. Last summer, the tapes of "20,000 Streets" were nearly stolen, and Dave broke his hand in a bar fight.
"We were bottoming out," Serge Bielanko explained by phone from Marah's home base of Philadelphia.
And then they were bouncing back. The new Marah album received kudos from fans, critics, and the band itself. The Bielankos signed with indie label Yep Roc, while launching their own PHIdelity Records.
"My brother and I have a boxer's spirit, an underdog mentality," Serge continued. "The more you punch us in the face, the more you knock us down, the more we want to get up and go another round."
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