The Elms have roots in American heartland

By JOHN BENSON

Vindicator Correspondent

For the last eight years, fate has played hardball with Indiana-based rock act The Elms, which seemingly watched one opportunity after another fizzle into thin air.

“Our history has been fraught with peril,” said singer-guitarist Owen Thomas, calling from Seymour, Ind., which is also the birthplace of one John Mellencamp. “We worked with record companies the whole time, and like clockwork, the record label dissolves or it fires two-thirds of its staff. So we’ve kind of been plagued by that. It’s been very hard for us to entrust that part of our career, getting our music out there to a corporate entity, and not constantly be disappointed.”

Having been burned before, The Elms decided to control their own destiny with the act’s fourth studio effort, “The Great American Midrange,” which was released on its own brand-new TRUST Incorporated label. Woven into the band’s music, which has received comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, is a sense of false hope and constant struggle.

Considering the group’s history, the impetus for such insecurity is obvious; however, Thomas talks about a different type of inspiration that he witnesses on a daily basis around his Hoosier home and in the Midwest. In fact, the troubled economy hurting the working man is a theme throughout “The Great American Midrange.”

“The whole record is just placed against the backdrop of what it’s like to be a working-class American in 2009-2010,” Thomas said. “It’s just rough out there, and people are trying to put one foot in front of the other and just kind of push their way through every day. So whether it’s a love song like ‘The Wildest Heart’ or ‘The Little Waves’ or a song about fortitude or ambition like ‘Thunderhead’ and ‘Strut,’ it all exists against this backdrop of the Midrange. And the Midrange is sort of a metaphor for the great collective American working class.”

He added, “We live in a small town in Indiana, so when I come off the road, I go hang out with my buddies who work excavation or are firefighters or work at manufacturing plants. They’re all experiencing cutbacks and going through some tumultuous times based on the status of the country and trying to find work. I very much feel like all the stories and all the imagery of this record are super- visceral to us. They’re not observational. We lived these stories with our friends and ourselves. And being a working band right now to me, I feel like I have more in common with a carpenter or construction worker than I do with a superstar musician. So I don’t have much in common with Rihanna … but I do love the ‘Umbrella’ song.”

Owen said that it’s The Elms’ working-class vibe that leads him to believe the band will be well received in Northeast Ohio. In fact, the foursome makes its Youngstown debut Thursday at Peaberry’s Caf on the campus of Youngstown State University. There’s a feeling of hope among the band members that “The Great American Midrange” will lead them to new heights.

“I think we’re not going to be hasty about this record,” Thomas said. “We’re going to give it some time to marinate out there. So moving forward for us is to try to make this record visible. We’re all very optimistic about that. But I think all we need is a chance for people to see the band and hear a few songs, and we’ll find a way into their hearts.”