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The band life
by Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio
November 19, 2004

Martin Devaney. The 24-year-old St. Paul singer songwriter is releasing his third full length CD entitled, "La Mancha." (MPR photo/Chris Roberts)

Indie rock clubs in the Twin Cities are often populated with 20-something men and women who are musicians in bands. It's a lifestyle that revolves around the bar scene. St. Paul singer songwriter Martin Devaney is currently living "the band life," and the bar is the setting for many of the songs on his new CD, "La Mancha."

St. Paul, Minn. — One spin of Martin Devaney's new CD and your clothes may end up smelling like cigarettes and beer. Even the song titles frame the pub-like nature of the surroundings. One is called "Theme for an Anonymous Waitress." There's also "Friends don't let Friends Drink and Dial." On another, Devaney's sings 'Well, I assume that's your perfume, playing ring around the room' to some siren who's officially made an entrance at the bar.

	The dining room office

Somewhere between the exuberant awkwardness of youth and the burdens of being an adult are the 20-something years, and Martin Devaney is living them to the hilt. As the songs on "La Mancha" indicate, they're not always the most comfortable age.

"A lot of people I know are in this boat of not really knowing where they're going or what they're doing," he says, "And walking that fine line between adulthood and responsibility, and youth and mischievious activity, and it's kind of walking that line."

Few straddle the line between adolescence and adulthood with more reckless abandon than rock musicians. It's partly because if you're trying to make records and get gigs, the bar becomes the center of your life.

On this night, Devaney's hanging out with friends at one of his favorite haunts, The Turf Club in St. Paul. The conversation darts around from the importance of Joe Strummer of the Clash and First Avenue's re-opening, to Turf Club tacos and Devaney's thickening beard. The subject then turns to Devaney's upcoming CD release party at the Turf.

	Dylan lookalike?

"The show Saturday should be fun. I think it's going to be good. I hope people come....."

Noel sits across from Devaney. His band Ela will play before Devaney's at the CD release show. A little later Abbe shows up. She's Devaney's roomate's girlfriend. He'll also be performing Saturday night. In the rock world, your good friends are likely to be in the bands sharing the bill with you.

La Mancha is straight ahead American rock and roll. No frills, no electronic experimentation, no meandering lyrics. Devaney says his music was starting to be branded a certain way, and he didn't want to be pigeon-holed.

"We'd gotten to a point where a lot of people had pegged what I'm doing as kind of an acoustic folk thing," he says. "And occasionally that's the case, but a lot of times, with having to go out and play in clubs, you have to play livelier music that's going to grab people. And we had been doing that, but it hadn't been so well represented on record."

	Eclectone poster

Aging baby boomers might say Devaney's songs bear the unmistakable imprint of Bob Dylan. Devaney might agree and then disagree. He used to idolize Dylan, but now he thinks the clever wordplay in his lyrics owes as much if not more to Elvis Costello, Paul Westerberg or even Evan Dando.

"The whole Bob Dylan thing is also convenient because of how I look or sound sometimes, but it's less essential to what I do than I think a lot of people think," he says. "In a way he's just a guy, in another way he's Mount Rushmore, you know, he's one of the big ones who's always going to inform people as they go by, you know?"

In the last year or two, Devaney started Eclectone Records. There are seven bands or artists on Eclectone's roster, including local roots rocker Dan Israel and the brooding folk singer Ben Weaver. There's a lot of grunt work involved, including stuffing envelopes, placing ads, booking shows, and putting up posters. Devaney, who has an English degree from the University of Minnesota, also works at a St. Paul bookstore. He's quite busy, and he feels like he's building momentum as an artist. But he also feels unsettled.

	Devaney's band

"I'm technically and legally and supposedly an adult, but I don't always feel like one or want to act like one or have the responsibilities of that," he says. "And when you're a musician and you're trying to make your living being a creative person, it's a struggle to validate that a lot of times when you have friends that are going to law school or getting high paying jobs. I think it's that struggle of deciding whether you're going to be in this for the long run and make a go of it, or if it's just a hobby."

When asked whether he's decided, Devaney laughs and says "No."

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