Ephraim Lowell, the Rhode Island drummer who is usually associated with the international blues band Roomful Of Blues, has been moonlighting the last two years with a group named Fried Miracle.
Lowell formed Fried Miracle to have a vehicle for countless numbers of original songs he and Fried Miracle singer Aaron Lehtonen have been writing together since their early teens. Lowell and Lehtonen have been in many bands together over the years. Even when they were busy with separate projects, they stayed in touch on line, exchanging song parts to each other.
“There’s a long history of stuff and I wanted to start playing it out,” Lowell said. “I’d love to see this band make it huge. I’d like to see this band take the next step to being a full time recording-touring act.”
The Fried Miracle songs on their CD Crispy Mischief can fit into the category of classic rock, but the influences are much more diverse than that label conveys.
“That’s the cool thing about this band that I really like,” Lowell said. “Aaron and I, our tastes in music is so diverse. We like a little bit of everything, really. I wanted a band that didn’t really fall into a category per se.”
Fried Miracle offers a little taste of what they do on their website. But if you see them live, you’re likely to get a smattering of country rock, some straight up hillbilly stuff, some reggae tunes, some really heavy tunes, some not so heavy tunes, and some British invasion style pop music.
“That makes it fun on stage and to record,” Lowell said. “It also makes it fun for the audience that they’re not just hearing one style. A lot of rock bands today, original rock bands that are out there, a lot of their stuff just sounds the same, to me.”
Aside from Lowell and Lehtonen, who wrote the bulk of the material, everyone in the band is a songwriter, though their debut CD Crispy Mischief focuses mainly on the two songwriters.
Lowell has to think strategically to find time for Fried Miracle because he is in that other band that happens to keep him very busy. “Obviously, I can’t book too far in advance with this band because of the fact that Roomful could come up with something, and that’s my priority. It would literally take someone offering Fried Miracle a substantial gig and or contract of some sort to leave Roomful. I definitely wouldn’t leave them hanging even if that did happen.”
Fried Miracle has played out all over New England. Their stops have included Antrim and Peterborough, New Hampshire, southern Massachusetts, Boston, and Providence. Last week, Friend Miracle played The Met in Pawtucket. Lowell is currently looking into finding even more rooms for Fried Miracle. “I definitely have those guys helping me out,” he said. “We plan on playing a lot more shows this year, and I’m going to be busier with Roomful in the summer time, so it’s going to be a little harder. Our plan as of now is to book and play as much as we can.”
Friend Miracle is a five piece that features a drummer, a bass player, and three guitarists. The other players are named Mike Gravel, Ron Poisson, and new member, Jason Roze, is the third guitarist and Roze also plays keyboards.
“They’re a great bunch of guys,” Lowell said. “I couldn’t ask for better people to work with. And Aaron is one of my best friends, I’ve know him forever. He’s one of my best friends in the whole entire world, a great songwriter, great singer, funny guy.”
As for guitarist Ron Poisson, Lowell was equally proud. “Ron, he’s a family man. Him and his wife live over in Bristol. He’s just been playing guitar ever since he could hold one. He’s absolutely incredible. I met him at an open mike jam a couple of years ago that I was hosting with Matt Martin. He just came in, and it was at that point that I decided I wanted to put a band together because if, well, this guy can sing and play guitar, great. Put him and Aaron doing harmonies and the two guitars, I was like ‘I can fill this out.’ So I started looking for other guys and putting up ads on Craig’s List for keyboard players and bass players.”
“Our bass player, Mike Gravel, is actually a guitar player-singer, and he used to work at a place called Fatty Mcgee’s which is right around the corner from Lupo’s here in Providence. We went in there a few times with our old line up—our old bass player and keyboard player—and he loved the band. He’s young. He was like 22 when we met him. Our bass player left, and I was just talking to him one night and he said ‘I can play bass for you guys.’ So he pretty much came over one night and without ever hearing any of our original material other than that one time, he was right on it. He picked up really quick and sounded great with the band, so he was immediately hired.”
Lowell said Fried Miracle recently hired keyboardist Jason Roze after many keyboard players couldn’t even make it past the rehearsal stage. Roze showed up at a Fried Miracle-hosted jam at The Apartment in Providence, and asked if he could sit in. “He got up and did some standard covers, and he just sounded great.” Lowell said.
Lowell sings back up in the three, four, five-part harmony lines. “I don’t sing any lead stuff,” he said. “Everybody else in the band is a lead singer, though. Everybody else has their spotlight and takes a lead for at least a couple of songs,” the drummer said.
Lowell has played in many different kinds of bands over the years. He did one show with Flesh And Blood, a Poison tribute band “It was actually a double gig,” the drummer said. “I played with Roomful at the high school in Windham and that night I packed up and flew down Salisbury beach to play with Flesh And Blood.
Getting back to his head-banging days, Lowell is also involved with the Iron Maiden tribute band Run To The Hills. As for Fried Miracle, he said, “It’s a fun band, fun to watch, fun to interact with. Everybody is very friendly. If you ever see us out, come on up and talk to us.”
& for anyone that cares or likes trivia it was Eph who gave me the naickname of “the Angry Garden Gnome”. So next time you play trivial pursuit there ya go!
Rock on Eph!
p.s. & Shuffle on too…….