LOCAL ROCK BAND PACKS THE CATERIE
By: Lauren Walck
Published: 9/24/07
"Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk? I didn't mean to call you that," sang Lee McCurley, front man for the local band One Wants.
The band members were all born and raised in the Baton Rouge area, and they have been playing crowd-pleasing covers at The Caterie every Wednesday night for the past four years.
McCurley's energetic facial expressions can be best compared to John Mayer on speed as he belts out the lyrics to Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy." His clean-cut good looks attract the female crowd, but he does not gender discriminate when handing out complimentary Jager bombs between songs and letting people sing into the mic.
McCurley described his show as "interactively intoxicating."
The rest of the band matches his intensity but with individual flair. The guitarist to his right, Cory Landry, occasionally peers out at the audience through a dark, angled haircut; bassist Stephen Black sports a hip-hop style backwards cap and gauged ears; and Kenny Guzzardo was a blur of energetic movement behind the drum set.
"We play college rock," McCurley said. Their set list includes songs by Buckcherry, Matchbox 20, Mazzy Star and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Die-hard fan and longtime friend of the band Jonathan Munn said One Wants is the capital city's best cover band.
Munn said the consistency of the Wednesday night shows helped him through some troubled times in his life. Every time the band plays "Kody" by Matchbox 20, the members dedicate the song to Munn and his twin brother.
"We're your 'forget about work' band," Landry said.
Mass communication freshman Sara Hanson and Baton Rouge Community College student Jordan Schott have been coming to see One Wants religiously since school started this year.
"It's the best thing to do on hump day," Hanson said.
Both agree the interactive nature of the shows and McCurley's facial expressions keep them coming back each week.
"They include the audience and give out free shots," Schott said. "What else could you ask for?"
Schott said the band doesn't mess up the lyrics of the songs it covers like other bands.
That task is sometimes harder than it seems, however, because the band is true to their Baton Rouge roots in that liquor is a close friend and enemy.
"After two, it's straight to hell in the express lane," McCurley said.
He said the group has calmed down somewhat since the band's inception, but that is not saying much.
During its first year or so, the musicians toured along the Gulf Coast playing in bars from Florida to Houston.
Just six months after the band got together, One Wants won Disney World's Battle of the Bands in 2004.
But their destructive touring nature - also known as alcohol - has caused many club owners to ask them not to come back.
McCurley recalled being banned from The Swamp, a bar in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
"There was an incident with a watermelon," he said.
The band essentially trashed the sleeping quarters, leaving broken ceiling fans, raw eggs and a broken watermelon in their wake.
The band claims to have somewhat grown out of its wild phase. "We're all kind of settled down," McCurley said.
Despite their rock star reputation, McCurley is a mortgage broker, Guzzardo is a realtor, Landry is a stay-at-home dad and Black is a University graduate with an advertising degree.
Needless to say, McCurley and Guzzardo do not schedule early morning meetings on Thursdays.
All the members plan to stay in the Red Stick.
"The ultimate goal is to play as long as we can," McCurley said.
One Wants, in addition to its weekly gig, will play a fashion show at the Varsity Theatre on Oct. 11 along with two shows at Park Place on Nov. 9 and Dec. 10. They will also play at Serranos for the Louisiana Tech game Nov. 10 and are available for private parties.
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Contact Lauren Walck at lwalck@lsureveille.com
© Copyright 2007 Daily Reveille
ONE WANTS AT THE CATERIE
By RACHEL SHEPARD
Special to 2theadvocate.com
Published: Apr 29, 2008
Sometimes one song can take you back and remind you of the good old days. That’s just what you can experience every Wednesday night at the Caterie with One Wants.
Band members Lee McCurley (vocals), Cory Landry (guitar), Stephen Black (bass), Kenny Guzzardo (drums), and Jacob Cardona (sound engineer) play covers of the music they love every single week.
“We play covers of bands we grew up with that we really liked. We mix it based on our personal preferences and my vocal style,” McCurley said. “I can’t sing Tool nor do I want to sing Tool, but stuff like Matchbox 20 and Lifehouse is [different]. We like to cover songs that other people aren’t covering too. We try to play those songs that people can say, ‘I remember that song,’ and all of the sudden it’s familiar again.”
One Wants doesn’t just stand on stage and play, they like to put on a show. McCurley explains that the Caterie’s personal atmosphere has created a venue perfect for the band to work with its audience.
“I like to interact with the crowd a lot more on a personal level. Every time we’re at the Caterie I keep every body involved, cut up a little bit, and just make it more of a show than just a couple of guys playing songs in jukebox mode.”
In December of 2004, the band started out playing Wednesday nights with their original songs, but soon moved to covers and have become an important part of the Caterie’s weekly line up.
“We started out writing originals and just acquired that Wednesday night spot,” McCurley explained. “The first night we played to a crowd of about 20 people on a PA system that cost less than a baseball card. It eventually evolved and grew into a consistent group of people coming in. The word spread and we became a staple there and we’ve had it ever since. It’s kind of what we’re known for in Baton Rouge now.”
Since the band plays often, they are constantly working on producing a better show for the regulars and the new people who come in every week.
“When we first started about 25 percent of the crowd were regulars and we would see them every single week,” McCurley said. “It gets monotonous and challenging because we think we have to change every week so people will have something to come back for. We recently revamped our set list and we just have to keep entertaining and raising the bar.”
One Wants believes that watching how other bands have been successful and playing frequently will help them improve.
“There’s a club in Los Angeles that has an 80s hair band called Metal Skool. They play every Monday and it’s basically two and a half hours of a circus,” McCurley said. “They have celebrity guests come do karaoke and people come just to see the spectacle. We’re trying to incorporate a lot more interaction like that so people can do more than come and just watch a band play. We try to get the crowd involved quickly and I think it’s more their show than it is ours. We just have fun. It’s not such a rigid show with guys on stage playing their instruments.”
One Wants’ fun attitude comes from their individual personalities. The started out trying to fit the rocker mold, but as McCurley explained, soon found they were much more comfortable just being themselves.
“We jumped in and all followed the trend of how you’re supposed to dress and how you’re supposed to act. Looking back it was stupid. Later we all fell into our own and stopped trying to be these type-cast band members. Once we just started acting like ourselves and just entertained, everything fit into place.”
The years of playing Wednesday nights at the Caterie has also allowed One Wants to grow as a band.
“That bar has made us what we are. We’ve all got a great relationship with the owner and we have so much freedom to do what we want with the gig,” McCurley said. “The Caterie is fun because it’s a lot more intimate and personal. You get to talk to everybody there and they get to know who you are.”
To get to know One Wants a little better, you can check out there myspace page at www.myspace.com/onewants.
