On January 9th, at Molly's Irish Pub in Warrenton VA, a large group of people were celebrating the return of a veteran who was now home from overseas.  Supplying the soundtrack for the evening was Fredericksburg's own Crown Vic; a perfect example of American rock and roll at its finest.  For a homecoming party, Crown Vic is aptly suited as a welcome reminder of what loud, soulful, ruckus American rock has to offer.

The band controlled the small venue with a power and conciseness to their craft that could only be found in musicians who have perfected their instruments.  This group of musicians had all been playing separately for years before they joined together to create Crown Vic, in 2004, and their live show is a testament to their skill set.  Since forming, the band has been touring almost constantly throughout Virginia.  The veteran musicians also play with a degree of enjoyment that is not often found in bands that play so frequently together.  Their own enjoyment in the songs they perform allow the audience to do nothing else but join in on the party.

With influences ranging from both sides of the Atlantic, Crown Vic is a hybrid of rock, country, blues, and punk, drawing on this wide variety of influences for their live show.  It's the freewheeling spirit of Tom Petty, mixed with the soulfulness of some current alt-country acts like Lucero.  In 2008 Crown Vic released their first original recording, the aptly titled, Dreams Get Driven.  For four veteran road tested rockers, the album shows them expanding on their traditional American classic sound, and putting their own personal stamp on the road tested American rock that they so admire.   

With a grueling schedule of shows all over the state, Crown Vic is determined to bring the party to any willing crowd.  The band is comprised of Tim Bray playing lead guitar, Jimmy Griffith on bass, Bo Roberts on drums, and Fritz Beer, who sings and plays rhythm guitar.  Fritz recently sat down with Magazine33 to discuss their new album and the Fredericksburg music scene.

33: How would you describe the Crown Vic sound?

Fritz Beer: Oh boy, I though about that this morning, I had a feeling that might come up.  It's pretty straight up rock.  Not real hard rock.  If I were to compare it to something I would say it's in the vain of Tom Petty or John Mellencamp, a sort of American type of rock.  But I also always like a lot of the British rock groups too.  So I think you can kind of see some of that in it.  It's a little bit of a cross hybrid.

33: Yeah, you can definitely see the influences anywhere from punk to country.

FB: We'll play a punk song one second and a country song the next.

33: Speaking of the mixing of genres like the British rock with the Americana kind of stuff, what do you feel it is about you that allows you to mix genres so freely, and how does the audience react to and reflect that?

 FB: That's an excellent question; First of all we've all been playing for a long time.  When we play stuff we tend to do the stuff that we like.  Because we play bars, so we play a lot of original stuff but we also have to play a lot of covers, and stuff that people know.  It's part of that job.  But we try to pick stuff that we like.  So we end up picking stuff like a George Jones song, and then we pick a Rancid song that we like.  Cover a Prince song and it's all that stuff that we like, and listen to it so much.  And then as a band we sort of play it like we play it, and so it kind of works.  We don't jump heavily into the things that we're doing, like turn real country at some point or turn real punk, but we're sort of true to the songs  and it kinds of comes together in how we do it.  You can't just jump back and forth. 

33: I know that all of you guys have been in numerous bands before you got together.  How is your debut CD, Dreams Get Driven, different from other albums you've been a part of, and how would you say that working with the guys your with now is different that previous ventures?

FB: This is the best band I've ever been with, for one thing.  They all have been around playing in different groups here so they play really well.  One thing that's different is that when we are recording things we haven't played, like new songs and we'll actually work them out in the studio.  Which is one thing about having good players, they can catch on to it quick, learn it fast, and you can actually write in the studio and record.  And it comes out good, and it sounds like something you've been playing for awhile.  I've kind of taken to playing acoustic guitar; I'd been playing electric more in bands, so this album is not as heavy guitar.  Our guitar player is a great player.  There is no reason to step on the stuff he's doing with another electric guitar.  I'm backing off and letting his tone come through.  He really is great and that should be out there and featured.  And it is on this record.  Great stuff.   I write the songs and a basic arrangement, but what he does to it after that is a thing of beauty.

33: How has your career as a veteran road musician influenced your lyrical content here on the record?

FB: There are a lot of things in the songs that point back to that.  I've always been a fan of bands that do that anyway, that write about the trials and tribulations of rock 'n roll.  Joe Strummer is a great example of that.  Ian Hunter is a guy who is always writing about that, like the rock 'n roll life.  In another sense playing a lot of shows teaches you a lot about how to come across live, and it's hard to come across live and have your sound really down, a good tone.  And especially when you're trying to play your original stuff, since it's the first time somebody has heard it right?  So it's pretty hard to convince them live, because on the record you can hear everything, all the notes and the words.  But in my case, I kind of write with the live idea in mind not to stretch the songs out, be like a live jam, but to be concise and intelligible, so people can get it.

33: What is the vibe of a typical Crown Vic show?

FB: We try to make the live show fun, that's one thing about it.  Like some of the songs we pick too.  We play Tony Orlando and Dawn "Knock Three Times", so no ones going to take us too seriously, or full of ourselves once we play that.  But there are other songs that we're pretty intense about, so you got to have that.  The feeling is, "hey we're not that cool or anything, we're just here to have a good time," and if we can put ourselves down on that level of just having fun, the crowd will really latch on to that.        

 33: Yeah, I saw at the show at Molly's that you led the crowd in a social drink, like a big toast across the bar.  How important is crowd interaction to the Crown Vic experience?

FB: Any band will tell you that if people are getting into it you're having more fun.  If you're up there playing and everyone is all dead and you're not getting over, it sounds bad. Or if something's going on and no one cares, your night is long and it's a drag.  If people are into it, and you get those first few people dancing, then your like, "alright this is going to be a good show."  It's important.  You got to make the thing happen, you can't totally rely on the crowd.  If they're all a bunch of deadbeats you can't kill yourself over it.  But again it's also the fans job to get things going too.  It's an important thing and once everyone is having fun we have a lot of fun.

33: How do you feel about the live music scene in Fredericksburg right now?   

FB: I'm not really from here.  But my thought is that there're many great players in this town. 

33: Anyone in particular?

FB: Mark Doron is a great drummer.  Jay Starling is an amazing player of all instruments.  The Transmitters, that band is unreal.  It's great man.  And all those guys in that group have all these other things going on too.  The other guitar player Larry Hinkle - he has other little projects coming.  He makes this great sounding stuff, man. I'm really blown away by the quality of some of the players in this town.  Seems like a small town, I lived in Austin for a long time and it seems, still, that this town has a lot of good stuff going on.

33: What about the music scene in terms of how bands communicate with each other, or how venues put on shows? Anything like that you would want to change?

FB: I think overall - and again this is not a very big town - I think if you get a couple of places playing music, you're doing pretty good.  And there are several places you could go in any given night.  The Loft, which is now The Otter House, has reopened and has things going on.  Sammy T's, we played there and you wouldn't think it's a good venue, but it's actually pretty fun.  So I think it's pretty good. The clubs and stuff, too, do a pretty good job of having live music.  As far as bands go, bands don't see bands play live.  Bands rarely support other bands.  I assume its because you play a lot yourself and you got one night and are like, "maybe I want to go back to the bar again, hang out with my girlfriend and go to a movie," or something like that.

33: Yeah I guess you wouldn't want to see a show on your night off.

FB: Yeah, I think that's generally the case.  But it is really cool, though, that we've all seen each other play, and I think that everyone appreciates each other.

33: Why did you decide to name yourselves Crown Vic?

FB: Well, honestly, when I first moved here I worked at Ford.  I had to get a job so I had to sell cars at Ford.  It was my favorite car on the lot.  A cop car.  The cab of choice.  It's a great car.  It sounded kind of cool, and in the end everyone throws out a bunch of names and it's always someone that can't stand one.  Three guys will say they like it and the fourth says, "I'll quit if that's our name."  So it was the one that we could agree on and no one would quit over. 

33: What are your plans as a band in 2010?

FB: We're starting to record again; we'll see how fast that goes.  It might take a chunk of time; everybody's got a lot going on so we don't get together that intensely.  Although, once we get rolling on something we start to gather more.  You forget how much you like the recording process, and once you start hearing the thing, and you're like "wow that sounds good," everybody starts to get back on the wagon again.  That, and we want to play out and around more; we play locally and have a bunch of established gigs, like at Molly's where they book us throughout the year.  But we want to venture out a little bit.  We just played in Alexandria last weekend.  Not this weekend, but the following, we're in Richmond.  We want to do a little bit more of that, get out a little bit more, find more venues, and find some bigger things. 

33: Any last words for the inaugural edition of Magazine33 Fredericksburg?

FB: Good luck, hope it works.  It sounds like you've got your stuff together.  I think it's a good time for it, a lot of good players.  A lot of good stuff is happening here.

www.crownvicrocks.com

www.myspace.com/crownvicrocks

By Author: John Hart

John Hart was born in Arlington, Virginia in 1986.  Since purchasing his first CD at the age of seven (Coolyhighharmony, Boyz II Men), John has had a love affair with all things music.  After two failed attempts at a young age to play the piano, John engulfed himself in listing to, discussing, and enjoying all types of music.  Making the trip across the Potomac was easy, and so from his early teens on, John spent as much time as possible in Washington DC taking in live shows.  He attended the University of Mary Washington where he co-hosted the show "Title Track" for WMWC.  Currently John is working and taking classes in Fredericksburg.