This week's guest is Davey von Bohlen, who you might know from influential Midwest emo acts like The Promise Ring and Cap'n Jazz or from his work in Maritime. Long before he was helping to usher in a genre's second wave and putting Milwaukee music back on the map with some timeless records, von Bohlen was learning how to play guitar and emptying basement shows out as a member of Ten Boy Summer.
Recently, the legendary frontman spoke to My First Band host Tyler Maas about his early musical attempts, what he's up to now and pretty much everything that happened in between. Over the course of the TWO-HOUR conversation, Davey opened up about joining Cap'n Jazz, reluctantly coming on as The Promise Ring's singer, that band's unexpected popularity, the path to starting Maritime (and where he feels the band is at this point in time), and jamming in a project called Vermont. Along the way, von Bohlen talked about his basketball coaching aspirations, performing on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, earning a Platinum record for singing on a Jimmy Eat World album and all the ups and downs from his 30-plus years on stage.
My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering, Lakefront Brewery and Music Go Round Greenfield. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and Maritime ("Roaming Empire").
