The only two members who are not librarians are Shanahan and Araldi. But Shanahan’s wife is a librarian and he’s Kassab’s brother, so they let him in.
Kassab and Shanahan have been involved in music for as long as they can remember. They grew up surrounded by music and that their mother was a musician. “Music was always a natural thing to us,” Shanahan said. “There were always guitars around the house.”
During family events we would have barbeques and we’d always play music,” Shanahan said.
Araldi met “Lost In The Stacks” through Stickney while playing in another band called “Riff Ratz.”
“Richie fit in well when we met him and we just stuck with him,” Kassab said. “He’s also someone we get along with and that means a lot. He’s a wonderful bandmate and fabulous drummer,” Kassab added.
With its full complement of nine performers, the band is able to combine different genres of music together smoothly and successfully. The music is uplifting and energetic – listen for a few minutes and you’ll find it very hard not to dance. There is alternative rock, folk, jazz, blues, and a touch of country in every song.
“We are all so different so we bring different spirits and personalities to the music,” Kassab said. “Everyone adds their flavors to what we’re doing. We have that ‘Stacks’ sound and it becomes a ‘Stacks’ production.”
The musical librarians (or is it book-loving musicians?) said they are currently working on original pieces for the future, heavily influenced by Brooklyn.
The lyrics of “Coney Island Cold Winter Blues,” written by Kassab, tell of a girl who loses her boyfriend to mermaids (don’t you hate when that happens?). “It just kind of came to me on a roller coaster ride,” Kassab said.
Lyrics generally “just come to me, sometimes when I’m driving,” she said. “I’ll bring a tape recorder along so I don’t forget and I’ll sing, and that’s writing the words and the music at the same time.”
McCleland provides the joyful melody to another Stacks original, “Brooklyn Bounce.”
“Brooklyn is like the new place where art happens, artists move to Brooklyn,” McCleland said. “A lot of jazz musicians come out of Brooklyn. We have a great music scene; there are a lot of opportunities here.”
“It’s very diverse, one guy will have blues playing, another will have jazz, and another will have rock,” Shanahan said.
“The senior citizens in the Midwood Senior Center are real partiers, they have so much energy and are really fun to watch,” Kassab said.
A good crowd always makes a difference, they all agreed.
“Lost In The Stacks” performs on Tuesday, August 4, at 6 p.m. as a part of “National Night Out” at the soccer field behind Keyspan Park.
