The Blake Durwood Project
From The Secret History of the Cedar Valley
The Blake Durwood Project (The BDP) is a now defunct band from Cedar Falls, Iowa. The band was formed by David McNertney and Kyle Anthony via Facebook in September of 2005 and a few days later added Dustin Collins, and finally added singer Keenan Crow in winter of 2006. The band was unique in that the members rarely agreed on listening tastes, but all came together to form their own style of original music.
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Origins
After the first practice in late September between Kyle and David, guitarist Dustin Collins was added the next weekend to round out the lineup. The three had limited knowledge of writing songs, but worked together to form a unique and progressive sound. Their current song "Swing Song" was one of the band's first songs, but has undergone several changes and rewrites to evolve into the song it is today. The band practiced through the 2005-2006 school year exclusively at 2516 College Street where they also played one large house show and several impromptu shows.
The band's first show was in the basement of 2516 College Street where they headlined a 4 band house show with over 250 people and 5 kegs of beer. The band decided to wear suits from Goodwill to commemorate the event. Each member selected one cover which they also sang (David: "Rock and Roll Lifestyle" by Cake; Dustin: "Last Dance with Mary Jane" by Tom Petty; Kyle: "Seventy Times 7" by Brand New) and there were also 3 original songs: Funk Song, Swing Song, and Pop Punk Song. This was the only show that the band played this year, aside from weekend parties at the house where the band would play for smaller groups of close friends.
The BDP nearly faced demise before summer break of 2006 due to inner friction amongst the members, but the three eventually decided to reunite in fall of 2006. The band also decided to scrap the old material (except most of "Swing Song" and "Song One") and make more progressive music. The band also added frontman Keenan Crow in the fall of 2006.
The BDP also moved out of the house show scene and landed 3 shows at The Reverb, as well as a benefit show for Relay for Life which was also at the Reverb. The BDP was privileged to share the stage with other locals 3 Lbs of Love and Ephraim Zenh, among others. The band recorded a DIY 4 song EP in the basement of Dustin and Kyle's house and it became labeled as "The Brown Note EP" by Mark Kucik, and the name eventually stuck. The band also had t-shirts made to sell with the EP. There was some disagreement with the design of the shirt, designed and screen printed by Jessica Schulte, which featured a cartoon pile of feces with flies and notes coming from it and "the blake durwood project" on the lower back side. The shirts were printed on hip colors such as brown on pink and baby blue, and green on natural. The band's opinion on the shirt was divided; some felt this shirt was immature and may lead people to think the music itself was crap, while others felt it was simply a way to get their name and sound out to people with a simple design that would stick in people's minds and in turn, generate some revenue. The band eventually ended up selling enough $5 shirt and CD packages at their shows, mostly to friends, to break even. They kept the money in a "band fund" that was later spent on a keg of beer.
Television Appearances
The Blake Durwood Project was featured as a musical guest on an episode of Edward Flemming's "Please Enjoy" Segment on the UNI Local Access Channel in Spring of 2007, although the whereabouts of the episode are still in question and it is believed to still be in production. To this day, the release date and whereabouts of the episode are unknown.
Final Show
The band played their final show in the same way that they came into the Cedar Falls music scene: a house show. The show was held on May 4th, 2007 at 203 W 21st Street and was far smaller and more intimate than the house show on College Street. The band played a 3 part set with lots of extended jams and solos. Every song the band had ever written was played, including rehashed old material that was scrapped from the year before, much to the surprise and delight of the fans. Their rendition of Swing Song at this show is regarded as the best the song has ever been played. The show took place in the basement among 20 or so close friends and a keg of Budweiser, the band's beer of choice.
Band Members
- Kyle Anthony - Bass
- David McNertney - Drums
- Dustin Collins - Guitar
- Keenan Crow - Vocals
Songs
The songs from the Blake Durwood Project were never named anything other than a vague description of what the song entailed. The only song that was ever officially named was Swing Song, which was eventually named "Sparks" during the last few months. The band still referred to the song as Swing song.
List of Songs:
The Brown Note EP (2007)
Swing Song (Sparks)
David's Song
Epic Song
Song One
Unrecorded Songs:
Funk Song
Pop Punk Song
Ska Song
Kyle's Song
Dark Fake Jazz
Gay Anal Breakdown
Country Punk Song
David's Song 2*
Dustin's Song*
- = Never officially finished
Current Projects
• David McNertney currently plays drums with Cedar Falls post-rock band "Stubborn Tiny Lights Vs. Clustering Darkness Forever OK?". They recently recorded their full length sophomore release "The Infinite Regress", released on Futurerecordings Label out of San Diego, CA.
• Kyle Anthony currently lives in Kansas City and plays bass for indie alt rock band "Mother Culture".
• Keenan Crow currently lives in Sioux City, IA and writes and performs material for his solo project "Mephistopheles".
