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Song bred new project for musician Kelley Deal
By John Benson
When Kelley Deal was asked to contribute a track to the Guided By Voices (GBV) tribute album, “Sing For Your Meat,” The Breeders guitarist never dreamed the experience would lead to a side project.
However, that’s exactly what transpired when the Ohio native cut the GBV track “Scalding Creek” with southern Ohio act Buffalo Killers.
“We got together to practice at a place called Candyland in Cincinnati,” said Deal, calling from her Dayton-area home. “It turned out to be the studio of Mike Montgomery from the band Ampline. We talked before about wanting to do something. We ended up sending stuff back and forth. He sent me a song, and I thought this would be really fun. That’s how we started doing a duo thing, just guitars and voices to see what we could come up with.”
That first pairing came two years ago when the musicians formally created the band R. Ring. Since then, the twosome has played out sparingly, including dates in the Midwest and East Coast, as well as at festivals. As far as the material is concerned, it’s decidedly indie and slightly experimental featuring vocals, guitars, keys and atmosphere. The latter bounces between sparse moments to abrasive chaos.
Up next for the act is a 7-inch release due out in October with A-side song “Fall Out and Fire” and B-side track “See.” In fact, one thing you shouldn’t expect from R. Ring is a proper full-length effort. Instead, Deal said they’re perfectly comfortable with releasing a song here and a 7-inch there without any label or monetary pressures.
“It’s fun because music is free,” said Deal, who also has side project The Kelley Deal 6000. “As soon as we release anything, it’s going to be on the Internet, so why would I spend a lot of money to do a proper album? Let’s just have fun with it.”
That fun comes to Northeast Ohio when R. Ring plays tonight at Cedars. Regarding the set list, Deal said the audience can expect R. Ring tunes, Ampline material, Kelley Deal 6000 tracks and even a Shellac cover.
As for Deal’s other band, The Breeders, which includes Deal’s twin sister, Kim (Pixies), fans shouldn’t be concerned R. Ring is detracting from that group’s future. Still, what’s up with the “Cannonball” band?
“The Breeders are always going to be a band,” Deal said. “I don’t know what we’re doing. The Breeders don’t have anything next month, so I’m doing this instead. I don’t know — I just like to play music.”