Who are
The Flip Side?
The Flip Side is a Falmouth, MA based singer/songwriter duo, featuring Melissa Roberts Weidman on bass and lead vocals, and Chris LoCascio on piano and vocals, performing as a duo or as a band with other musicians, including drums, guitar, harmonica and saxophone. The two Cape Cod-based musical colleagues have been playing together as collaborating singer/ songwriters and performers in various musical projects for over a decade, including Joe Sutton and the Safe Sextet, Is We Ain’t and the George Gritzbach Band. With the latter, they recently opened for B.B. King as well as for Eddie Money. Both have appeared numerous times with the Shirley Lewis Experience, Weidman opened with Lewis for Dr, John and Delbert McClinton, and with Gritzbach for John Hammond at B.B. King's nightclub in Manhattan.
LoCascio and Weidman both bring a shared love of the blues and a lifetime of musical study and experimentation. Together they have created a sound that draws on their many influences, reinterpreted by their distinctly personal flavor, attracting blues, jazz and pop fans alike. LoCascio’s raw, gritty and wildly inventive performance creates a perfect balance with Weidman’s sophisticated, witty and flamboyant style.
Influences include: Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, Thelonious Monk, Booker T. and the MGs, Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Keb' Mo', Janis Joplin, James Jamerson, Victor Wooten, and countless others.
Bios
Melissa Roberts WeidmanMelissa grew up in a musical household in New York City, where she was given many opportunities to follow in the footsteps of her opera-singer mother, including years of classical piano lessons and attendance at the High School of Music and Art as a voice major. She started playing bass as an adult, when she found herself living next door to three bass players. Her youngest toddler daughter was drawn to the funky sounds drifting over from the neighbors’ house, and in the process of chasing her child, Weidman herself was captured by the sound of the bass. Soon she was next door taking lessons. Then came her stunning realization that all the songs she loved from her youth had been played by the same bass player, the late great James Jamerson of the Funk Brothers, the Motown house band.
So began her odyssey deep in to the roots of funk and groove. Now, 25 years later, she is a professional bass player with the great good fortune of coming under the mentorship of a man considered by many to currently be the world's greatest bass player, Victor Wooten of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Multiple winner of both the Grammy award and Bass Player Magazine's Bass Player of the Year, Wooten runs a unique camp for musicians near Nashville, which Weidman has attended four times in the past five years, allowing her a deep personal connection with this extraordinary player.
"Victor's approach has given me a whole new perspective on the instrument’s role in a band and how to think about it" Weidman says. "He's helped me understand how to be myself while being the glue that holds the whole band together."
She savors her position as role model for other female musicians. "It's so important for young girls, or adult women, to see a real woman up there playing a bass guitar because they don't see us often enough to know it’s an option for them. It's a great instrument, because it's the connection between rhythm, harmony and melody."
It's her ongoing work with LoCascio that has most deeply influenced her musical identity. "We are both natural collaborators, and really enjoy the process of bouncing ideas back and forth, seeing how the songs grow and change as we each put our spin on them." Weidman credits LoCascio with helping her to focus on theory and technique, and LoCascio says Weidman has taught him how to be a better singer and performer. "I guess that makes for synergy – the sum is greater than the two parts," says LoCascio.
Weidman is also a writer, currently working as the Director of Communications and Community Outreach for Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod, and lives in East Falmouth. She has written an ongoing series of articles on local musicians and a regular music blog. She is married to a marine geologist and has three grown children, all of whom remember trying to go to sleep while their mom's band jammed in the living room. Her youngest daughter Kaya, the formerly wandering toddler who started it all, now 27 years old, says, "I'm so proud of my mom being a bass player - she's the coolest mom I know!"
Chris LoCascioChris grew up in a musical family as well, with a guitarist father who encouraged him to take piano lessons. He has played in bands all his life, starting with “The Rough Riders” in junior high school in Long Island, going on to perform as a professional musician in rock, folk, jazz and blues bands ever since. At the same time, LoCascio received his degree in social work from the State University of New York in Buffalo. After many years in that field, he now runs a successful home contracting business and teaches piano to both adults and young people. He has performed and recorded with many musical acts, including the Eastwind Blues Band, Dreamwork, Little Omer Jr.and the Cod Squad, Donnie Cross and Denny Williams. He runs his own private recording studio, Brown Bag Studio, out of his home in downtown Falmouth, MA, and scores original sound tracks for independent films and theater productions.
But even this veteran had something to learn when he first decided to set up his home studio and record, produce and engineer Flipside’s first CD, Along for the Ride. “I brought home the equipment and wasn’t very excited about it at first—I felt sort of resigned. But about half way through the process, I started to fall in love with it. It’s wonderful to learn something brand new at age 55 and love it.”
LoCascio quickly mastered the system, which is especially apparent in the duo’s upcoming new CD “That’s What It Takes”. “Everything I did on that first CD is now second nature and the system is far more responsive to my instincts. I’m excited about how this CD really captures the sense of our live performance sound.”
Like many musicians who are passionate about their craft, Weidman and LoCascio balance their love of music with the other important things in their lives like family and earning a living. It’s a challenge faced by most local musicians. LoCascio takes a positive approach. “In a way, it’s good that our incomes don’t rely heavily on the music. That would add pressure and change the creative choices we might make. It could change the way we relate to the music. By having day jobs, we have the luxury of playing exactly what we want. Of course, like all musicians, we’d all probably prefer to just play music all day…”
LoCascio is married to a computer engineer and has two grown sons. He brings to Flipside outstanding and well-disciplined musicianship, a wry sense of humor and compelling insights into improvisation, performance and the School of Hard Knocks!
Drew Buckley
Drummer Drew Buckley grew up in Marstons Mills, where he started playing
drums in the 4th grade. He's been part of The Flip Side since the summer of
2009. He has played with several other bands, including the Dan Byrnes Band.
He's always loved music, with special admiration for Dave Matthews, Carter
Beauford, Steve Jordan and Bernard Purdy.
"Improvisation is the definition of music to me," Buckley says." I love that feeling of letting music take me somewhere I've never been before." Drums are the instrument Buckley chose to express himself, but he wants to be known as a good musician first.
"I realize how powerful music is - it's a healing thing for everybody. I want to help people realize their dreams and go for it." Buckley adds “The reason I love playing with The Flip Side is because I enjoy playing with experienced musicians with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. The music is exciting and the people are amazing.”
Other Musicians
Flipside has a regular core of great musicians available who can round out the band’s ability to play a wide variety of settings. Currently, these include:
- Todd Johnson on harmonica – a local favorite, Todd has an extraordinary blues talent with the little ol’ “Mississippi saxophone”. Weidman says, "When Todd gets blowing that thing, there's no stopping the excitement and energy level in the room."
