'Back in Style' CD release party at Topper's

GREENCASTLE -- Local listeners will get their first chance to hear Tad Robinson's new material Friday at Old Topper Steakhouse.

Not only will Robinson and his band be mixing the new stuff with old material, but the new record "Back in Style" will be available -- 11 days before it hits retail stores, iTunes and amazon.com.

"We had an opening a couple of weeks ago at the Jazz Kitchen with a record release party. We'll be doing the Greencastle version," Robinson said. "We're excited about playing the new tunes and people have been real enthusiastic. So far, so good."

The CD release party will be from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Friday at Topper's, 727 Main St.

"I'm real lucky to have the band we'll be playing with at Toppers," Robinson said. "The guys I work with at the local level are incredible musicians."

Besides Robinson's vocals and harmonica, the night will feature Kevin Anker on keyboard, Paul Holdman on guitar and vocals, Jeff Chapin on drums and Dave Murray on bass.

Robinson is effusive in his praise of all of his bandmates.

"Kevin Anker is on my last two discs. He had a hand in writing some of the music as well. He's kind of like my music director," Robinson said.

"Paul Holdman has done a lot of work with the rock musician Jennie DeVoe, who a lot of people know from the Indianapolis rock scene," he continued. "Paul co-writes a lot of Jennie's material and is her guitar player on a lot of her albums, but he's also my guitar player on the local scene and also does some singing in the band."

The rhythm section also features a couple of in-demand players.

"The rhythm section is David Murray on bass, a veteran of the Indianapolis jazz and R&B scene, and then Jeff Chapin on drums. He is a top-call guy on the local scene. You can see Jeff playing about seven different nights a week with different bands -- with my band, with the Gordon Bonham Blues Band and on and on and on," Robinson said.

"It's a real eclectic band. They're capable of doing a lot of different flavors of music," he concluded. "They've been real good at working with me"