Black Tie Revue

Formed in 2003 by Pittsburgh natives and friends Anthony Badamo and Ian Glinka, Black Tie Revue had a variety of lineup changes (especially in the drumming department, where they saw no less than five different players before they issued their first EP), though the core lineup -- singer/guitarist Badamo, bassist Matthew Hanzes, and guitarist John-Paul McCormick (who originally played keyboards); Glinka left in order to pursue a career with the national Democratic Party -- did manage to remain the same. After the departure of Glinka in 2004, Jesse Ley joined Black Tie Revue on keyboards (prompting McCormick's move) and the band (at this point with drummer Jackie Robin), who, with their mixture of <a href="spotify:artist:1co4F2pPNH8JjTutZkmgSm">Ramonesy</a> chord structure and <a href="spotify:artist:6DCIj8jNaNpBz8e5oKFPtp">Cars</a>- and <a href="spotify:artist:3UvcmAOZt64oKpP95f6MMM">Big Star</a>-inspired melodies, had been creating a buzz for themselves in their native city, decided to self-release their three-song EP Introducing in early 2005. This was enough to get them on the docket for the SXSW Festival in Austin, despite a lack of label backing. Though BTR had plans for a full-length release later that year, more drumming changes, plus a signing to Gearhead, delayed that, and it wasn't until spring of 2007, with Paul Felty on the kit, that their debut album, Code Fun, which contained all the songs from their EP plus seven new ones, came out. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi