What's being said about us

Worcester’s soul survivors
Worcester Magazine

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

By Jeremy Shulkin

New England is the soul of America. Massachusetts is the soul of New England. Worcester is the soul of Massachusetts, and without any doubt, the Valves are the soul of Worcester.

To be something’s soul is a pretty heavy cross to bear, but with 10 members, many of whom belonged to former local club favorites like Big Dawg, Chimera, and Tornado Alley, The Valves have the numbers, the experience, and the attitude necessary for covering Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Sly Stone, while keeping the passion and emotion as genuine the originals. They are one of those bands where each member should have a nickname like “the Lips” or “the Stove” or “Sweets,” and seeing them for the first time only wants to make you see them again.

“We make each tune our own. We don’t want to sound like the radio,” says saxophonist and spokesman Steve LeClaire. “People who have never seen the band and don’t know what to expect are always totally knocked out and become dedicated followers.”

Remember the house party scene in “Animal House” where the band plays “Shout” and everyone goes nuts? That is, essentially, a Valves show. When Ferris Bueller sings “Twist and Shout” on a parade float rolling through downtown Chicago? Again, the Valves. That is the kind of fire they bring to their music and the kind of reaction they want from their audiences.

“It’s a 10-piece band, so we have plenty of energy to burn,” explains LeClaire, “we want the groove and the energy to be infectious.”

It helps that each band member has the skill and attitude for soul and rhythm and blues music. According to LeClaire, “most of us have been playing for over 30 years. It’s so nice to play with ‘seasoned’ players. We can really attempt almost anything, not only because of the instrumentation, but because of the level of talent in the band. There just aren’t any weak links.”

The Valves also execute a proven soul band formula: Get together tight rhythm and horn sections, and then find the singer to bring it all together. The Famous Flames had James Brown, Booker T. and the M.G.s backed Otis Redding, Sly had the Family Stone, and the Funk Brothers played with anyone in Detroit who could sing. The Valves have Katie McMahon, a Massachusetts-via-Hawaii singer with a deep voice that sounds much older than her 22 years. LeClaire isn’t shy when giving her praise. “Katie [will] belt out Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin and then do tunes by the ‘guy’ singers with just as much spirit and chops. This kid is a natural, a real pro. She’s a good-looking petite package, but man, has she got a set of pipes.”

The band’s Jan. 17 show at PJ’s New England Bar and Grill is a perfect fit for the newly renovated restaurant. “I saw them at Gilreins and I’ve researched them before,” says Anthony Picarello, who along with his wife, Jennifer, bought PJ’s this past summer. After remodeling and improving the house sound system, the Picarellos hope to make PJ’s a place to go for live entertainment as well as food. “We’re looking for bands that are taking it to the next level. We want bands that get into the crowd, [that] the audience can dance to after they eat. That’s the type of band we want to go with,” says Picarello.

Besides the quality musicianship, or the singer whose voice knocks you backwards, the Valves are a soul band simply because they ascribe to the genre’s roots. In the movie The Commitments, an Irish band plays soul music because, as one character notes, “Soul is the music people understand … It’s honest … It sticks its neck out and says it straight from the heart.” This is exactly how, and why, the Valves play. They might not have grown up in the South or sing gospel, but it’s clear from their sets that for three or four minutes at a time, the Valves, not Berry Gordy or Sam Cooke or Mick Jagger, own the rights to these songs.

The Valves featuring the Tornado Alley Horns will perform on Saturday, Jan. 17 at the new PJ’s New England Bar and Grill, located at 185 West Boylston St. in West Boylston. The show starts at 9 p.m. and could last until the midnight hour. o

Worcester Magazine
Week of Nov 22-26, 2004

Bursting with The Valves
The newest R&B horn band on the scene
B y C h a r l e n e A r s e n a u l t

     Sometimes backyard barbecues are too much fun to end. Sometimes they even spawn bands — real big ones, like The Valves,who boast 11 pieces.

     This relatively new local group crept out of a blast of a time at sax player Steve LeClaire’s house last year. Having played in lots of bands, he had a bunch of old bandmates who dropped by to play, and they didn’t want to stop.
     “It was just so much fun to be doing it again after so much time off,” says LeClaire.
“Probably like an addiction you never really kick — a bunch of great players, wonderful people in the right place at the right time. I guess some things are meant to be, but I’m very, very fortunate to have the luxury of this situation.”

     Great music should find its way to the stage, and everyone at that cookout was up for making a go of it, and adding more to the grill. LeClaire asked guitarist Greg Wolodkin and drummer Bart McCracken to play right away. Wolodkin worked with piano player John Duesenberry and baritone saxophonist Allen Kiefer at Mathworks, and brought them into the fold. McCracken added guitarist Mike Ladd and bassist Joe Miglionico, who played in Chimera with Ladd and McCracken. McCracken’s job soon pulled him from The Valves, but they found Rick Murphy to take over, and Hammond player Tom Gajda joined to fatten up the sound. LeClaire felt he needed a “right-hand man” in the “Tornado Alley Horns,” so he got Roger Grover on trumpet. Although Grover was already in a bunch of bands, after that cookout, he realized he missed blasting it out with section-type R&B work. Joe Reidy then filled out the final piece of the Tornado. Singer Reagan Karacius was discovered a bit by accident, but she is surely one of the focal points in the band.With a smoky but cutting voice and stage presence to match, Karacius leads wisely with a command beyond her years. A Berklee student, LeClaire knew Karacius’s dad, but didn’t know she could sing. After hearing a disc of original tunes, he was blown away and wondered if she could sing the style The Valves were into: Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, James Cotton and the like. She could, and does.

     “Our horn section alone is larger than the average band,” says Wolodkin.
“It’s great fun playing with a full horn section. And how many bands do you see lugging around a Hammond organ these days? You can’t simulate the sounds and colors that come out of the Hammond-Leslie combination. Having another guitar player allows me to put down my guitar and play the harmonica once in a while, which is something I really enjoy doing.”
Wolodkin describes his guitar style as straightforward: plug in the amp and play. He listens to stuff by players like Roy Buchanan and Albert Collins, and knows that when acting is the piece of a big puzzle, it’s important to know when not to play, too. Dynamics are important, or it can get muddy — something that The Valves are adept at keeping a close eye on.
“I think we’re lucky in that we’re all relatively like-minded,” says Wolodkin.
“Most of us have played in various bands for years, and our primary mission in this one is to have fun. That takes a lot of the pressure off and makes it easier to get along.”

Charlene Arsenault may be reached at

charlenea@worcestermag.com.