Veterans of the Chicago scene, the Poets have performed at many local Chicago venues including Double Door, the Abbey Pub, the Hideout, the Elbo Room, and Subterranean and numerous others. On tour, the Poets have played in over 15 states and over 30 venues including Atlanta, GA (Lenny’s) & Augusta, GA (Still Water), Indianapolis, IN (Birdy’s), St. Louis, MO (Frederick’s), Detroit, MI (New Dodge), Minneapolis, MN (Fine Line Music Café), Charlotte, NC (UNC), Louisville, KY (Hard Rock), Madison, WI (High Noon), Harrisbug, PA (Marysville Tavern), Gainesville, FL (Purple Porpoise), Des Moines, IA (Keysters) & Iowa City, IA (Yacht Club) and many others.

The Poets have also been featured performers at music festivals around the country including the 2005 Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA, the 2005 Motor City Music Conference in Detroit, MI, the 2005 Six Flags Music Festival & Conference in Louisville, KY., the 2005 Music Law Conference in Gainesville, FL., the 2004 MECA Conference in Chicago, and the 2004 Rock ‘n’ Ride Festival in Louisville, KY.

The band has released 2 full length independent albums, “Virginia City Lounge” (2004), and “Afternoon in Aberdeen” (2000), and have been featured on two Shut-Eye Records compilation discs, “This Is Alt-Country Vol. 1” (2003) and “A Low-Watt Document” (2001).

Their music is played nationally on XM Satellite Radio’s Unsigned Channel and on over 15 radio stations in 10 different states across the country including, 93.1 WXRT’s “Local Anesthetic” (Chicago), 88.7 WLUW (Chicago), 98.1 WKZE (Sharon, CT) & 107.7 WFCS “Dark Side of the Highway” (New Britain, CT), 970AM WHA (Madison, WI), 90.9 KRCL (Salt Lake City, UT), 90.1 KZSU (Stanford, CA), 100.3 WEBG (Orlando, FL), 90.3 KBUT (Crested Butte, CO), 97.9 WNCI (Columbus, OH). Their music is also streamed over various internet radio sources including Roots Rock Radio (rrradio.com), Radio Crystal Blue (radiocrystalblue.com), Northern Illinois University Radio (nsradio.com), Spider Bite Radio (spiderbiteradio.com), Purevolume, and MySpace. The Poets’ music has even reached the European airwaves in Belgium, Germany on the Roots Revival Radio Show, Radio Alt. Bree.

Their TV & film credits include PBS’ Road Trip Nation, & Columbia College Television (Chicago). Their song “Last Night in Georgia” appeared in the independent movie “Desert Cemetery” by Flashdog Productions.

The Poets have received rave reviews from critics across the country including Richard Milne (WXRT 93.1 – Chicago, IL) Paul Zimmerman (First Coast News – Jacksonville, FL), Barry Fox (The Patriot News, Harrisburg, PA), Tom Lounges (Midwest Beat Magazine), Dean Ramos (Illinois Entertainer), Shut-Eye Records, & Andrea Rizzo (Digital City Chicago).

Looking to the future, the band hopes to continue touring the country promoting their second independent release “Virginia City Lounge” (2004) and recording their third album sometime within the next year.

More information can be found on the web at www.secondhandpoets.com.

Second Hand Poets Interview

How long have the Second Hand Poets been on the scene?
Second Hand Poets have been on the scene since 1996. The four original members were Dave Thomas, Dan Thomas, Robb Pomis, and Dave May. In 2001, both Robb and Dave left the band and drummer Jesse Nolan and bassist Mike Niebauer replaced them.

Were any members part of any other bands prior to SHP?
Both Dave and Dan had been members of the Chicago cover band The Petty Torments.

How did you all come together?
After Dave May and Robb Pomis left the band in 2001, the search began for new members. Jesse answered a drummer wanted ad and the Poets resumed as a 3 piece for a year. The band then decided to record their new CD “Virginia City Lounge” at which point the search for a bassist to complete our lineup commenced. Jesse found Mike through a classified ad on the internet and the lineup was complete.

Certainly you’ve had an impressive career so far, to what do you attribute that to? Management? Or are you self managed?
We like to say that there are 4 managers in this band, and their names are Dan, Dave, Jesse, and Mike, and they all happen to be members of the band as well. The Poets are completely self managed, which can be very trying and disasterous at times, but it always seems to work out somehow. We attribute the success we have had to one common thread: that everyone in the band is completely insane and will do whatever it takes for the good of the band, which sometimes means making extremely long drives in the middle of the night. Jesse lives and goes to school in Indiana, so he drives to Chicago almost every weekend to make our shows. So far, there has been no show to far or too remote to turn down. We’ll drive almost anywhere if there are people that want to hear our music.
How does the Chicago scene compare with other states?
Very, very different. It seems as though we have more success outside of Chicago, probably because there is a lot less to do outside of Chicago. Many of the other cities we’ve been to seem to have fewer outlets for music, so people will actually show up to see a band they have never heard of before. We also seem to sell more cds in other cities because fans are unsure as to when they will see us play again.

Over the years, what would you say has been the best promoting tool for the band?
Playing live shows! There is no greater tool than playing your music. We play as many shows a year as we can. We also use the obvious routes of promoting ourselves, such as press releases, the internet, our website at www.secondhandpoets.com, and a wonderful website known as Myspace.com.

Tell us about yourselves individually…
Dave Thomas (Rhythm Guitar & Vocals) & Dan Thomas (Lead Guitar): Dave and Dan are brothers (if you couldn’t tell…they share the same last name). Dave is the main songwriter and frontman for the band while Dan is Dave’s main source for aggravation. In actuality, they work quite well together and have been partners in many bands for over 10 years.
Mike Niebauer (Bass): Mike grew up in central Pennsylvania, or "Pennsyltucky." He joined the band after a few years of playing jazz. He currently runs music for a church in Evanston. It often causes people to invent names for him, such as "The Minister of Honkey Tonk.”
Jesse Nolan (Drums): Jesse grew up in both New Jersey and Chicago. He’s been a lifelong drummer (since he was 2) and jazz musician. He is currently receiving his Masters Degree in Jazz at Indiana University and continues to maintain his busy jazz career alongside the Second Hand Poets.

How long have each of you been playing (individually) and has anyone had any lessons?
Dan got his first guitar in 1989 when he was a junior in high school, so he’s been playing for 16 years. Dave started to pick up the guitar at the same time, so he’s been playing for 11 years. Dave also went to college and received his Associate’s Degree in music. Jesse has been playing for 22 years, and started playing the drums when he was 2 years old (yes he actually had a real, full-sized drumkit). He has had formal lessons his whole life, and graduated from Indiana University in 2000 with his Bachelors in Music Ed and is now receiving his Masters in Jazz Drumset Performance. Mike has been playing both acoustic (upright) bass and electric bass for 10 years. He’s studied jazz bass formally for 5 years.

With a four year gap between albums, speaking objectively, how would you describe the difference in the albums?
The first record, Afternoon In Aberdeen, was recorded during a period where the future of the band was very uncertain. Dave May and Robb Pomis had already left the band, and Dave and Dan decided they wanted to record to get some of the tunes down on wax for posterity, if for nothing else. This led to a very acoustic, folky, singer-songwriter feel, since all of the tunes were stripped down to just two acoustic guitars and voice. During the recording of Aberdeen, Dave May and Robb Pomis decided to return and add their drumming and bass playing, respectively, to a few of the tunes. This led to Dave May rejoining the band for a short period of time. After Dave May left in 2002, Jesse joined the band and the process of writing new tunes began. After 2 years of searching and writing, we finally had enough material and a bassist and were ready to make the album the band has always wanted to make: a country-tinged, rockabilly infused alt. rock record. Virginia City Lounge came out in November of 2004 after months of post-production. So, the main difference between the two is that Afternoon in Aberdeen is mainly a duo playing acoustic guitars, which leads to a folkier feel and Virginia City Lounge is an Alt.-Country record with the full band.
How did you get involved with PBS?
We submitted to their series “Roadtrip Nation” through a great promotional site called Sonicbids that we are members of. Check it out at www.sonicbids.com.

Tell us about the “Desert Cemetery” movie, how did that come about?
Basically, the filmmaker came to us after somehow stumbling upon our music. He told us he thought one of the tunes would work great in his movie and we agreed to let him use it. Funny thing though, we still haven’t received our copy of the movie!

Collectively, what is your favorite part of the music career? Touring? Recording?
How about making no money, is that an option. On a more serious note, our favorite part is touring around and playing our music for people. It’s a great feeling onstage when your playing music you created from your heart with your family (cause that is really what a band is) for people who are digging it.

What does the future hold for Second Hand Poets?
I wish you could tell us, cause we would love to know. The plan right now is to just keep plugging away and doing what we are doing. It’s been our experience not to try and predict things or have expectations. Usually things work out better that way.

Thank you very much for your time today and all the best in your career!