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"I want to do a CD of nothing but Billy Idol covers," says Rhonda Everitt, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist of Pale Beneath the Blue. I think she's only half-joking, but you never know quite what to expect from Everitt.
Pale Beneath the Blue is Everitt's latest band in her interestingly-named oeuvre. Her first band, Rhe (pronounced "ree") released the highly regarded, piano- and guitar-laden Fairytales and Happy Endings CD (on her own Reach For The Sky label) in 2003. Then, sometime last year, Rhe morphed into A Pretty War ("Everyone had trouble pronouncing 'Rhe' correctly and it was hard to search for on the Internet," says Everitt on the name change). Then, because the music she had been writing didn't quite fit the beats of A Pretty War, Everitt formed Pale Beneath the Blue as a solo project. But, with difficulty getting her Pretty War band members to tour, Pale Beneath the Blue became her full-time gig. The band's name comes from Everitt mistakenly hearing the line "There beneath the blue suburban skies" (from The Beatles' song "Penny Lane") as "Pale beneath the blue suburban skies."
A few years ago Everitt was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident that shattered her lower left leg. "I had a blind date with destiny ... and destiny ordered the lobster," jokes Everitt, who recently moved to Mason from Dayton, where she was a staple on the local music scene for years.
She's still recovering but, as her friend Jenny Schmidt (founder of the local Chicks RockFest) puts it, "Rhonda rocks like a chick with two good legs."
The accident taught Everett a few life lessons. "I discovered I didn't have to do everything," she says. Coming to terms with delegating some of the work is part of what shapes PBtB's sound. In fact, she was able to pretty much just take it easy while recording Hologram (released last summer as PBtB's first recorded outing) with Washington, D.C., producer Blake Althen. "If I wanted to take a nap, I could take a nap," says Everitt on the trust she built with Althen. "It was great."
Hologram leans heavily toward singer/songwriter Electronica (with cello provided in live shows by bandmate Patrice Schlick), while still retaining the Rock edge Everitt brought to the table with Rhe and A Pretty War. The disc proves that dance music doesn't have to be dumb. Quite the contrary, in fact. Her smart, confessional lyrics slide over the top of the beats in a very organic way. It's not a cold technician overseeing her latest sound experiment in a clinical way; it's more a kind-hearted inventor that made a robot with human emotions in order to have a friend.
For someone who doesn't get around very well (Everitt recently broke the reconstructive hardware in her leg; "I have no idea how," she says), Hologram is a very danceable album. So much so that the track "In 2 U" was remixed by renowned New York DJ Twisted Dee and is spun nightly in a couple of large New York City dance clubs and in the Apex club in Washington, D.C.
Everitt's goal (apart from maybe recording that Billy Idol covers CD) is to compose music for films or television. That's not too surprising though when you find out she's written an as-yet-unproduced screenplay.
"I scored the scenes in my head as I wrote the script," she says. However, Everitt isn't ready to leave behind live performance just yet. "I really love playing live, but one of my regrets is that I can't haul gear around," she says.
All she has to do is bring the songs and the rest will take care of itself.
PALE BENEATH THE BLUE (
 Dale M. Johnson
Pale Beneath the Blue
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"I want to do a CD of nothing but Billy Idol covers," says Rhonda Everitt, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist of Pale Beneath the Blue. I think she's only half-joking, but you never know quite what to expect from Everitt.
Pale Beneath the Blue is Everitt's latest band in her interestingly-named oeuvre. Her first band, Rhe (pronounced "ree") released the highly regarded, piano- and guitar-laden Fairytales and Happy Endings CD (on her own Reach For The Sky label) in 2003. Then, sometime last year, Rhe morphed into A Pretty War ("Everyone had trouble pronouncing 'Rhe' correctly and it was hard to search for on the Internet," says Everitt on the name change). Then, because the music she had been writing didn't quite fit the beats of A Pretty War, Everitt formed Pale Beneath the Blue as a solo project. But, with difficulty getting her Pretty War band members to tour, Pale Beneath the Blue became her full-time gig. The band's name comes from Everitt mistakenly hearing the line "There beneath the blue suburban skies" (from The Beatles' song "Penny Lane") as "Pale beneath the blue suburban skies."
A few years ago Everitt was involved in a horrific motorcycle accident that shattered her lower left leg. "I had a blind date with destiny ... and destiny ordered the lobster," jokes Everitt, who recently moved to Mason from Dayton, where she was a staple on the local music scene for years.
She's still recovering but, as her friend Jenny Schmidt (founder of the local Chicks RockFest) puts it, "Rhonda rocks like a chick with two good legs."
The accident taught Everett a few life lessons. "I discovered I didn't have to do everything," she says. Coming to terms with delegating some of the work is part of what shapes PBtB's sound. In fact, she was able to pretty much just take it easy while recording Hologram (released last summer as PBtB's first recorded outing) with Washington, D.C., producer Blake Althen. "If I wanted to take a nap, I could take a nap," says Everitt on the trust she built with Althen. "It was great."
Hologram leans heavily toward singer/songwriter Electronica (with cello provided in live shows by bandmate Patrice Schlick), while still retaining the Rock edge Everitt brought to the table with Rhe and A Pretty War. The disc proves that dance music doesn't have to be dumb. Quite the contrary, in fact. Her smart, confessional lyrics slide over the top of the beats in a very organic way. It's not a cold technician overseeing her latest sound experiment in a clinical way; it's more a kind-hearted inventor that made a robot with human emotions in order to have a friend.
For someone who doesn't get around very well (Everitt recently broke the reconstructive hardware in her leg; "I have no idea how," she says), Hologram is a very danceable album. So much so that the track "In 2 U" was remixed by renowned New York DJ Twisted Dee and is spun nightly in a couple of large New York City dance clubs and in the Apex club in Washington, D.C.
Everitt's goal (apart from maybe recording that Billy Idol covers CD) is to compose music for films or television. That's not too surprising though when you find out she's written an as-yet-unproduced screenplay.
"I scored the scenes in my head as I wrote the script," she says. However, Everitt isn't ready to leave behind live performance just yet. "I really love playing live, but one of my regrets is that I can't haul gear around," she says.
All she has to do is bring the songs and the rest will take care of itself.
PALE BENEATH THE BLUE (palebeneaththeblue.com) next perform in the area March 25 at the Southgate House.
