Krys Baker & Baker's Boys

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Feature Article! Calvert Recorder

Published on 2/15/2008

By Meagan Boswell

Unique folk tunes bring band, couple together Baker’s Boys perform eclectic sets around Southern Maryland http://www.somdnews.com/stories/081007/reccov163842_32103.shtml Friday, Aug. 10, 2007 By Meagan Boswell Staff Writer When Krys Baker of Dameron set out to create a local band, finding someone to spend the rest of her life with was not her goal. It was at an open mic night at the former Bowen’s Inn in Solomons when she first met the man she now calls her fiance, mandolin player Michael Snider. ‘‘He came up to me and offered to make me a CD and he said I sounded like Ani DiFranco,” Baker said. ‘‘Here a guy wants to make me a CD and I thought he was hitting on me. ... Several months later I actually got to know him.” It was at that time that Baker and former band mate Brian Sullivan of Lusby were searching for musicians to add to their ranks. Snider caught their attention, and for Baker the attraction to the mandolin player eventually became about more than music. Now, Snider and Baker are planning a 2008 wedding, finding that music isn’t the only common interest they share. In between wedding plans and their full time jobs, though, Baker and Snider perform in the six-person band Baker founded — Baker’s Boys — across Calvert and St. Mary’s counties. Baker is the only female in the group. ‘‘She’s Baker and were her boys,” Snider said. Baker’s Boys was formed in September 2006, after Baker decided she wanted to expand the three-person band she was in called Triple Notch. ‘‘A bunch of musicians got together and decided to focus on a new group,” Baker said. Sullivan worked in music with Baker for about two years before Baker’s Boys was formed. ‘‘She wanted a bigger band, so she went to the next step with adding more people that she met at open mic nights,” he said. The band includes Baker, who performs on vocals, piano, guitar, clarinet, saxophone and trumpet; Snider on the mandolin, nose flute and vocals; Sullivan on vocals and guitar; Jim Weller of Lusby on flute, saxophone, harmonica and vocals; Kevin Miller, also of Lusby, on percussion; and Ed Stachyra of Lexington Park as the group’s bass player. Baker, who has been writing music for more than 15 years, writes most of the band’s music, and the band focuses on playing a wide variety of original songs. ‘‘Usually I describe it as folk rock,” Baker said of the type of music the band plays. ‘‘It encompasses a lot of different things. ...We’re not a typical rock band. We have a very unusual assortment of instruments.” The band describes their music as everything from pop music to ballads. Thus far Sullivan said Baker’s Boys has performed at least 20 original songs. ‘‘Nowadays [for most bands] its harder rock and distortion. That’s not really the kind of music that we play all the time,” Sullivan said. ‘‘We try to play an eclectic mix of songs. Some songs featuring wind instruments, trumpet, flute, harmonica. I think that makes us unique to have all those instruments. Hopefully that’s something that makes us more unique than some of the other bands.” ‘‘I don’t know what to call the kind of music we play,” Snider said. ‘‘...We play a lot of different kinds of music — jazz, reggae tunes, country, rock and roll, though it’s always twisted somewhere. It’s a real varied mix and it still all sounds like us.” Baker’s Boys rehearses at least once a week and tries to fit in more practices if they are not performing that week. But, playing in Baker’s Boys is not a full-time job for these musicians. ‘‘Most of the guys I work with all work on base [at Patuxent River Naval Air Station],” Baker said. ‘‘We’re very different [than younger bands]. We have commitments. ... Mostly it’s for recreation. Everyone has families. They can’t pick up and leave on tour tomorrow.” Currently most of Baker’s Boys’ performances are in St. Mary’s County, especially at this time of the year. ‘‘In Calvert County, when the Tiki Bar is open, most of the places [in Calvert] don’t have live music going on,” Baker said. Baker said the band is always looking for new places to perform in both counties, and eventually hopes to start performing outside Southern Maryland as well. ‘‘We’d like to get out and play more around Annapolis and [Washington], D.C.,” Baker said. ‘‘We feel like we have to play the local area and develop more of a fan base before we do that.” Referencing a performance at Boatman’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in Ridge on Aug. 3, Sullivan said he feels the band has hit a turning point. ‘‘I think it was the combination of how well we played and the right equipment and how it was set up in the live venue,” he said. ‘‘It gave us a chance to hear each other. Everything mixed really well, which is what a band is looking for.” Sullivan hopes the band will soon be able to add a soundman to their ranks to help continue the band’s improvement. ‘‘On stage when you’re playing you can’t tell how it sounds out to the audience. You can try, but it’s almost impossible. If you [have] someone that can adjust that [it’s very helpful],” Sullivan said. ‘‘... So any soundmen out there looking for something to do ...” According to Sullivan, performing is what being in a band is all about. ‘‘Our band likes to perform. We like to play out,” Sullivan said. ‘‘Sometimes it means playing for nothing, sometimes it means doing a festival or party or having fun with it. At this stage as musicians we would rather have a crowd of 200 people that are listening than getting paid with nobody there.” ‘‘You hope they remember you,” Snider said. Sullivan said he enjoys being part of Baker’s Boys because he likes to be part of a band. ‘‘Especially playing originals. That’s more exciting because you’re part of the creator of the music. We’re playing something original, something new to listen to, and hey, what if everybody said ‘I just want to copy music?’ You’d hear the same thing all the time,” Sullivan said. ‘‘ ... A lot of times you go to a concert and you want to hear something you’ve heard before, but also, sometimes you come across a band and you go ‘oh they’re really good.’ It’s a different thing to excite somebody who hasn’t heard it all before. It’s pretty neat.” Baker’s Boys is also working on recording a CD to be released at a later date. Until then the band plans to play wherever and whenever they get the chance. ‘‘We think of ourselves as entertainers,” Sullivan said. ‘‘We like to play live. We want to play in front of as many people as we can, and we hope they enjoy it.” E-mail Meagan Boswell at mboswell@somdnews.com.



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By Meagan Boswell Staff Writer Staff Photos By Reid Silverman

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