Jentri Colello morphs into Flatbear at Local Band Wednesdays

When it comes to singer-songwriter acts, it's always a touchy issue to give the other players in the mix too little or too much credit. The liner notes to Jentri Colello's debut EP, Bird Of Prey, awkwardly stated that "Jentri Colello is..." then proceeded to list the members of Colello's band. The music was definitely more well-rounded than it usually is on records that bear just one person's name. Live, Colello's passionate yet almost aloof, so the gentle volume-knob warbles of Josh Harty's guitar help to coax people in a bit more, as do Tony Messinger's carefully built-up keyboards and Phil Feutz's restrained drums. So it wasn't entirely surprising when Colello announced that tonight's Local Band Wednesdays show at the Terrace would be the group's first under a new name, Flatbear. That's also the name that'll be on the group's first full-length, which they'll release with an August 1 show at The Frequency. Tonight, Harty opens with a set of his own tunes, so we'll get to hear his guitar chops in two different settings.

When we asked Colello if we could stream one of her—er, Flatbear's—tracks, she sent us this unmixed song she wrote and recorded with Blueheels' Robby Schiller at this past weekend's Steel Bride SongFest in Sturgeon Bay. It's a slightly different vibe from the band stuff, but it gives you a good idea of the role her voice plays.

"Dig Me Out" by Jentri Colello and Robby Schiller