Service Industry Ranch Is The New French CD

The Service Industy BioThe service industry -- the 'little' people you never notice who do your cooking and cleaning, wait your table, pull your beer, check you out in the grocery and at the bookstore -- have never before had a voice in the entertainment industry. Until now.It's all here, the drudgery, the routine, the hangovers, the cute maids and wait staff.... The people you see every day and don't notice. But they've been watching you. And taking notes. And for the first time, life in the service industry is the concept behind a band and an album, Ranch is the New French. Struggling to make ends meet, to make the car payments, 10 days behind on the rent, falling in love with the new waitress, dealing with no tip creepers, all the angst and heartbreak of a life full of underachievement. Did you know other members of the service industry keep an online "STD" (Shitty Tipper Database)? Yep, follow the links from our website www.theserviceindustry.net and pray your name isn't there. Ranch is the New French was recorded and performed with surprisingly literate musicianship, carefully crafted lyrics, and passionate performances. Dare we call it a timely modern classic?You don't have to know terms like 'section,' 'front of house,' or 'back of house' in wait staff lingo to follow the action. See that cute waitress over there? The really hot young lady who seems to be your special friend every time you come in? She has a boyfriend and just wants a decent tip; she's going to med school, so remember when you make sexist remarks about her she might be seeing you in the ER one day. See that swarthy, scar-faced bar back? He's really an Eastern European refugee who claims to have been a government black ops agent famed for wetwork; when his regime fell, he illegally immigrated to the States and took the only work he could get. He only pretends not to speak English, but he's probably written your name and credit card information down already. And that dude out back, the one you see sitting alone smoking, with 97 tattoos and hair that hasn't been washed since 2005? He's the one who cooked your meal; he was a child prodigy on piano, plays in three bands on indie labels, and sleeps with the hot waitress. The oily assistant manager who rushes around and acts busy, addressing the women as 'babe' and the men as 'guy?' He's really an idiot, and is rapidly proving the Peter Principle, earning his place in the 7th Circle alongside Greg Dulli; oh, and he dates the boss's daughter.Austin, Texas is a guitar town, self-billed as "The Live Music Capitol of the World." Home of Austin City Limits and the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue. If every wait person in Hollywood is an actor, in Austin everyone in the service industry plays in 2-3 bands, plans to finish school and become a doctor or real estate agent, or is just waiting for that big break. The band called Service Industry is the brainchild of a trio of seasoned veterans of the Austin & Kansas music scenes and the service industry: Hunter Darby (Wannabes, Diamond Smugglers), Mike McCoy (Cher U.K.), and Andy Thomas (The Rockland Eagles). Accompanying them are like-minded members of other bands: The Moonlight Towers, The Firemarshals of Bethlehem, The American People, and Attic Ted.Dedicated to those all-time bad tippers, The Bush Twins (Jenna & Barbara, who famously tipped barely $1 each on a $4,000+ BAR tab at the GOP National Convention in NYC, 2004), and to the immortal Tater, whose last words were: "If Mr. Tarantino and his Party would like to order drinks, Mr. Tarantino and his Party should get in line like everybody else."

The Service Industry: James Stevens (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Andy Thomas (vocals, guitar, loops); Julie Lowery (vocals, percussion); Mike McCoy (vocals).