Cigarette Girl: Rock ‘N Roll With the Occasional Cough
On first listen, you would never believe that local band Cigarette Girl is anything other than wholly original. Their chosen material may be covers, but that doesn’t stop them from making each track their own and filling every inch of the stage with unparalleled energy and musicianship.
It should come as no surprise that the band is home to a stellar cast of players: Grammy nominated and nationally touring drummer Sean O’Rourke; multifaceted guitarist, recording engineer, and educator Julian Chalon; bass player and professor at CSU Matthew McCabe; and frontman Max Fineout.
“The cover band is fun,” says Chalon. “We definitely aren’t completely faithful to all the songs, and we get to do it the way we want. Most of the cover songs are way easier than what I like to personally write, so the Cigarette Girl stuff is kind of a hang, even for the shows. We’re all pretty involved in some part of the music industry, whether it be teaching or playing, and the industry is rough right now. I’m very fortunate to be able to earn a living like I do.”
Chalon and McCabe started their musical relationship at Columbus State University, where McCabe is a professor and Chalon was a student employee in the recording studio. “Julian is a classically trained guitar player,” says Fineout. “Matt is a cellist, but in Cigarette Girl he plays guitar and bass and a weird Irish banjo. Sean’s our guy who just shows up and is totally fine – he’s been on national tours and we don’t have to worry about him. He can follow cues and just have fun with it.”
The music community in Columbus is tight-knit, as can be seen in the close working relationships between the members of Cigarette Girl. “Julian is the main sound guy at The Loft Fridays and Saturdays,” says Fineout. “We all have a pretty long history there. Matt was in charge of putting together a board of people to help care for the studio – work on maintenance and other stuff. We all meet once a month and go over how we can care for the space.The Loft recording studio is what really brought us together.”
“I’ve known Max and Julian for several years,” says McCabe, “and I used to go hear Max play solo acoustic at Billiards and other places downtown. After Sean came to town about a year and a half ago and I had the chance to put a band together, I immediately thought of these guys.”
“We started out doing ‘90’s and early ‘00’s covers,” says Fineout. “Two weeks later Matt had booked us a gig…and we started” he chuckles. “We like ‘grungy dirty rock,’” he explains, perhaps an indicator as to why multiple band members claim “Killing In The Name” by Rage Against the Machine as their favorite song to play live. “We sell candy cigarettes at the shows and try not to take ourselves too seriously. We have alter egos for when we’re onstage – it’s ridiculous.”
These personas include Chalon as Damien “Dog Whistle” Huxley Jr. III and O’Rourke as Slappy Joe McPherson because “we picked him up in Albany playing some buckets off of Slappy Boulevard” laughs Fineout. McCabe is the Reverend Doctor Chuck Valentine. “Actual Doctor, Fake Reverend. He keeps us soulful,” Fineout explains. “I’m Conrad Whitlock, but most people call me the Elevator. Most people think of elevators and think they take you up, but elevators can also take you down.”
Fineout says music is a huge outlet for everyone in the band. “Before we started, I hadn’t done music in a while and I was feeling super stagnant. All of us feel like it’s kinda therapeutic – it keeps our feet on the ground.”
As far as the future of Cigarette Girl, Fineout says, “I think eventually we will start to write some songs. We’re not in a big rush – when they happen they happen.” Chalon and McCabe echo this sentiment. “We might do some originals at some point, but for now it’s just rockin’ out and having a good time.”
Their aspirations for the Columbus music scene include seeing more support for the wide variety of local groups and venues. “Columbus is very underappreciated musically,” laments McCabe. “We have a very strong musical community here, from the people who play in the rock and punk bands, to great blues musicians, and of course the students at the Schwob School.”
Fineout says he is excited to see Columbus continue to grow, “Especially this uptown area, this addition of life, it has such a fun vibe. There’s a guy shredding across the street, and he’s there every day. He’s got a super smooth tone and he just goes over there and jams. There’s always someone busking out here.”
The dedication our local musicians have to supporting one another and our city is what makes them and their creative environment so powerfully unique. Not only are they contributing to the live music being played in our performance venues, they are actively working to scaffold and build upon the infrastructure that allows music to thrive in our community.
If you’d like to see Cigarette Girl live, the next gig we know of will be at Chattahoochee Brewing on Friday, May 26th. To learn more about them and their upcoming shows, you can head over to Facebook and follow their band page.
By Sarah Algoe