Out of Favor Boys

Band curries "Favor" with local gig
South Bend Tribune - April 24, 2008

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Saxophonist Tony Sproul describes The Out of Favor Boys' sound as "a melting pot," and their CD "Can't Be Good" shows why.

The instrumental "535" has a laid-back soul groove punctuated by a punchy sax solo by Sproul, while Tim Brouhard's slapped funk bass grounds "Here She Comes." Sproul's sax interjections deepen the plaintive, broken-hearted mood of "Sick and Tired," and guitarist Joel Krauss' "Can't Hold On" has the feel of a Tyrone Davis ballad. Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's "Old Maid Boogie" jumps with vitality, particularly in the interplay between sax and guitar, and the original "Come On Home" delivers a John Lee Hooker-style boogie by way of George Thorogood and the Destroyers.

"People need to understand the blues isn't a downtrodden type of music," Sproul says by cell phone while driving through northern Kalamazoo County in Michigan. "There's a lot of fun and danceable stuff that's in the blues scene nowadays. I think when it comes down to it, for us, there's a high emphasis on the dance groove. Without putting much thought into it, we play a lot of music that feels good."

Based in Kalamazoo, the quintet performs Saturday at the Midway Tavern in Mishawaka.

"We all started playing soul and blues because it felt good — that coming from the heart, it's real," Sproul says. "Not to say other forms of music aren't, but for us, it has so much emotion and passion that no matter how many times we've played certain songs, I don't think I've ever thought, ‘I wish we weren't playing this again.' "

The Out of Favor Boys' sound "leans on soul," Sproul says, and that's particularly true with his saxophone playing and should be without keyboardist John Ford, whose organ plays a central role on many of the songs on "Can't Be Good" but who left the group about two years ago.

"I'm essentially a saxophone player who always wanted to play guitar," Sproul says and names Junior Walker and Maceo Parker as important influences on his sax playing. "I've just enjoyed and loved sax for so long -- I never wanted to put it down -- but I've enjoyed listening to good guitar players so much that I've emulated a bit of that. I'm aggressive in building my solos. Not that I don't take a little time to build it, but when it comes to solos, I usually go right for the head."

By ANDREW S. HUGHES
Tribune Staff Writer