Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 23, 1995                   TAG: 9502240018
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS HENSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

LITTLE BAND CRAFTS ITS SONGS AROUND REAL ISSUES

On their coffee table at their Old Southwest home they have a copy of Rolling Stone, the one with Demi Moore on the cover. This particular issue seems awfully light. It's probably 10 pages thick.

"Check it out," says Jane. "We ripped out all the advertisements, and that's what's left!"

Radar Rose is like that - stripped down, fragrance-free and definitely not commercial. They're one of those bands you can't pigeon-hole. They don't want to be. It's frustrating to try.

They've played with a wide group of big-timers like Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, Leon Russell, New Potato Caboose and Three Dog Night.

If you like the Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge, Janis Joplin, Counting Crows, blues, jazz, r&b; if you've got a retro-hippie style, but you listen to the here-and-now, check out this band.

When they play, the hair is down. Sonny is working on a ZZ Top beard. Jane has plenty of way curly, way red hair to toss around.

Jane sings and whips her acoustic guitar, Sonny thumbs the bass and sings. Anastasia Mooney plays flute and percussion and sings, and Michael Balkom plays drums.

They're a small band with a big, tough, passionate sound. And a cult of groupies called "Rosehips."

Not bad for a band that plays all their own music. "With originals you make a choice," says Sonny, bassist/singer/songwriter. "It's like a pie. You can take a piece or two ..."

"We're going for the whole pie," says Jane.

And when it comes to writing songs, they're serious. "We're hard on ourselves, on our lyrics," says Jane. "I can't stand thin writing - trite rhymes - or cussing in a song just to cuss."

They have produced two albums, "Ground Clutter" and "Dog Years," all by themselves. They're working hard to get a new CD out by this fall.

Their songs are crafted around real issues like relationships (Jane and Sonny were married three years ago), abuse, prejudice and the planet. "You can either write about nothing or about what you know and feel," says Sonny.

"And you've got to back it up," adds Jane. "Put you money where your mouth is and get involved."

Radar Rose works with local charities, plays benefits and donates time to organizations like TRUST and Survivors On The Move, a group that helps head injury patients.

They joined several other bands at a recent benefit at the Coffee Pot to help cover Tabatha Bailey's living expenses. Tabatha is a 5-year-old girl suffering from neuro-blastoma.

At about 9:30 they take the stage - without flutist Anastasia. No one knows where she is. Most bands (and I've seen this happen) would be furious at a member being so late. "I just hope she's OK," says Jane.

Up there, even without an important member of the band, they are kicking. Every other song is an epic - no verse, chorus, verse, chorus here. It's more like: start soft and soulful, turn the knob slowly, and let the music do the talking.

Jane tells you a little about each song before it starts like she's letting you in on a secret. She welcomes you into the room, then dares you to stay in your seat.

She says things like, "This is a song about ruining somebody's day." With a jangle of the guitar she sings: "The only color I can find is blue."

Anastasia arrives a couple of songs into the set. She's fine. In moments she's adding her flute to the mix, counterpointing the passion.

A Rosehip from the audience walks back to the sound man. She looks like Twiggy. Leaning over the mixing board she tells the sound man, "Louder!"

Radar Rose play Friday night at Confeddy's on the Roanoke City Market. Jane and Sonny play Saturday night at the Pine Tavern in Floyd. They are also working on a benefit for TRUST that they hope will happen in spring.

Style Memo:I bought some new Levis this week. And while I didn't go up another belt size, it turns out I've grown by an adjective.

Levis, as you know, have your size in inches printed on a leatherette patch situated squarely over your most obvious dimension. I might as well be wearing "WIDE LOAD Brand Jeans."

For most of my life my pants have been of the "regular" fit kind. Woe was me when, three years ago, my girth inflated to "relaxed" fit. Relaxed may be a style created in response to the painted-on jeans of the '80s. But this doesn't hide the fact that they're wider. Suddenly I was wearing roomier pants, not by choice, but by prescription.

Well, this past week I graduated to "loose" fit. I used to dread gaining two inches around my middle. Now I face descriptive words, straight out of a thesaurus - all synonyms for "put on a few, haven't you?" When is it any of Levi Strauss' business?

The big problem is the pants feel great. I do feel loose, but I can't get relaxed anymore. ...

Maybe "baggy" is next. With husky, stout, portly, rolly-polly and gelatinous bringing up the rear.

Little band crafts its songs around real issues

Five years ago Jane Gabrielle and Sonny Campbell started a band. Tired of performing other people's music, they were looking for a way to play their own songs. After lots of musician changes, and with hard work and an unshakable vision, they've become the little band that can, Radar Rose.

On their coffee table at their Old Southwest home they have a copy of Rolling Stone, the one with Demi Moore on the cover. This particular issue seems awfully light. It's probably 10 pages thick.

"Check it out," says Jane. "We ripped out all the advertisements, and that's what's left!"

Radar Rose is like that - stripped down, fragrance-free and definitely not commercial. They're one of those bands you can't pigeon-hole. They don't want to be. It's frustrating to try.

They've played with a wide group of big-timers like Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, Leon Russell, New Potato Caboose and Three Dog Night.

If you like the Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge, Janis Joplin, Counting Crows, blues, jazz, r&b; if you've got a retro-hippie style, but you listen to the here-and-now, check out this band.

When they play, the hair is down. Sonny is working on a ZZ Top beard. Jane has plenty of way curly, way red hair to toss around.

Jane sings and whips her acoustic guitar, Sonny thumbs the bass and sings. Anastasia Mooney plays flute and percussion and sings, and Michael Balkom plays drums.

They're a small band with a big, tough, passionate sound. And a cult of groupies called "Rosehips."

Not bad for a band that plays all their own music. "With originals you make a choice," says Sonny, bassist/singer/songwriter. "It's like a pie. You can take a piece or two ..."

"We're going for the whole pie," says Jane.

And when it comes to writing songs, they're serious. "We're hard on ourselves, on our lyrics," says Jane. "I can't stand thin writing - trite rhymes - or cussing in a song just to cuss."

They have produced two albums, "Ground Clutter" and "Dog Years," all by themselves. They're working hard to get a new CD out by this fall.

Their songs are crafted around real issues like relationships (Jane and Sonny were married three years ago), abuse, prejudice and the planet. "You can either write about nothing or about what you know and feel," says Sonny.

"And you've got to back it up," adds Jane. "Put you money where your mouth is and get involved."

Radar Rose works with local charities, plays benefits and donates time to organizations like TRUST and Survivors On The Move, a group that helps head injury patients.

They joined several other bands at a recent benefit at the Coffee Pot to help cover Tabatha Bailey's living expenses. Tabatha is a 5-year-old girl suffering from neuro-blastoma.

At about 9:30 they take the stage - without flutist Anastasia. No one knows where she is. Most bands (and I've seen this happen) would be furious at a member being so late. "I just hope she's OK," says Jane.

Up there, even without an important member of the band, they are kicking. Every other song is an epic - no verse, chorus, verse, chorus here. It's more like: start soft and soulful, turn the knob slowly, and let the music do the talking.

Jane tells you a little about each song before it starts like she's letting you in on a secret. She welcomes you into the room, then dares you to stay in your seat.

She says things like, "This is a song about ruining somebody's day." With a jangle of the guitar she sings: "The only color I can find is blue."

Anastasia arrives a couple of songs into the set. She's fine. In moments she's adding her flute to the mix, counterpointing the passion.

A Rosehip from the audience walks back to the sound man. She looks like Twiggy. Leaning over the mixing board she tells him, "Louder!"

Radar Rose play Friday night at Confeddy's on the Roanoke City Market. Jane and Sonny play Saturday night at the Pine Tavern in Floyd. They are also working on a benefit for TRUST that they hope will happen in spring.

Style Memo: I bought some new Levis this week. And while I didn't go up another belt size, it turns out I've grown by an adjective.

Levis, as you know, have your size in inches printed on a leatherette patch situated squarely over your most obvious dimension. I might as well be wearing "WIDE LOAD Brand Jeans."

For most of my life my pants have been of the "regular" fit kind. Woe was me when, three years ago, my girth inflated to "relaxed" fit. Relaxed may be a style created in response to the painted-on jeans of the '80s. But this doesn't hide the fact that they're wider. Suddenly I was wearing roomier pants, not by choice, but by prescription.

Well, this past week I graduated to "loose" fit. I used to dread gaining two inches around my middle. Now I face descriptive words, straight out of a thesaurus - all synonyms for "put on a few, haven't you?" When is it any of Levi Strauss' business?

The big problem is the pants feel great. I do feel loose, but I can't get relaxed anymore. ...

Maybe "baggy" is next. With husky, stout, portly, rolly-polly and gelatinous bringing up the rear.