Rosetta Pebble
Encyclopedia
Rosetta Pebble is an American rock
band from Detroit, Michigan
. Their name is a vague reference to the ancient Rosetta Stone
. Rosetta Pebble achieved a small degree of popularity in Detroit, parts of Michigan
, and northern Indiana
during the first half of the 2000s due to the band's folky, pop songs. Influenced by folk
rock (most notably the music of Cat Stevens
, James Taylor
, Jack Johnson
, the Beatles
and Pete Townshend
), Rosetta Pebble play a more pop-oriented variation of folk rock. The band is also commonly classified into the category of acoustic/soft rock.
, Spain
. Both musicians, originally from the Detroit area, had arranged to meet up overseas that summer, and share song ideas they had been writing independently. On leave from a year teaching in Indonesia
, Gulian had been traveling home westward and Frakes met up with him in Germany
. The pair performed their first collaborations on the streets of Barcelona and San Sebastian for late-night revelers whose feedback in the form of attention span and peseta
s helped to separate the musical wheat from the chaff, and financed the purchase of a nice hand-drum, as well as enough sangria
and tapas
to keep the two motivated. The duo continued traveling throughout Europe
that summer, performing wherever they could, and fine tuning the songs that later became their first CD. Rosetta Pebble, as an official group, was born upon their return to Michigan at the end of that summer.
In performance, the two alternate between playing acoustic guitar and singing lead vocals or handling the percussion and harmony vocals. Their one-of-a-kind drum set could be considered a work of art in itself. Its collection of hand percussion from far-flung parts of the world has been artistically arrayed on iron stands created by several Michigan metal sculptors.
In late 2009 and 2010, the duo sporadically traveled back and forth to Indianapolis to record once again with Brickley at Hit City in Indianapolis. Two in-progress tracks, "Long Ago Train" by Frakes, and "I Wish You Well" by Gulian, appeared on the debut episode of Brickley's Different Beat Radio show/podcast on Jan 27, 2010. Their third album, Three, was released in January, 2011 on compact disc and on iTunes.
In spring 2011, John Halbert, a producer in Los Angeles, was appointed Executive Vice President and Senior Marketing Director of West Coast Theatre of Operations. He works with people in the music industry to raise awareness of the band.
All teach at various schools in the Grosse Pointe School System
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
band from Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Their name is a vague reference to the ancient Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
. Rosetta Pebble achieved a small degree of popularity in Detroit, parts of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and northern Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
during the first half of the 2000s due to the band's folky, pop songs. Influenced by folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
rock (most notably the music of Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam , commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam....
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (musician)
Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975 is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a...
, the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
), Rosetta Pebble play a more pop-oriented variation of folk rock. The band is also commonly classified into the category of acoustic/soft rock.
History
Rosetta Pebble was formed by Eric Frakes and Steve Gulian in summer 1999, in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Both musicians, originally from the Detroit area, had arranged to meet up overseas that summer, and share song ideas they had been writing independently. On leave from a year teaching in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Gulian had been traveling home westward and Frakes met up with him in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The pair performed their first collaborations on the streets of Barcelona and San Sebastian for late-night revelers whose feedback in the form of attention span and peseta
Peseta
Peseta may refer to:*The Spanish peseta, the former currency of Spain*The Catalan peseta, the former currency of Catalonia*The Equatorial Guinean peseta, the former currency of Equatorial Guinea...
s helped to separate the musical wheat from the chaff, and financed the purchase of a nice hand-drum, as well as enough sangria
Sangría
Sangria is a wine punch typical of Spain and Portugal, also consumed in Argentina and Uruguay. It normally consists of a wine, chopped fruit, a sweetener, and a small amount of added brandy. To be specific, a wine is a light, dry, young, high acid, unoaked, inexpensive wine, usually red wine due...
and tapas
Tapas
Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks, in Spanish cuisine. They may be cold or warm ....
to keep the two motivated. The duo continued traveling throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
that summer, performing wherever they could, and fine tuning the songs that later became their first CD. Rosetta Pebble, as an official group, was born upon their return to Michigan at the end of that summer.
Music
As a two-man song writing collective, Gulian and Frakes began recording at Hit City in Indianapolis, Indiana, where they worked with producer/engineer/singer-songwriter Tim Brickley. With Brickley’s creative input and production, Pebble’s first CD, Stories That The World Once Told, was recorded in 2002. The group’s second project, Clear Across Summer was released in fall 2005.In performance, the two alternate between playing acoustic guitar and singing lead vocals or handling the percussion and harmony vocals. Their one-of-a-kind drum set could be considered a work of art in itself. Its collection of hand percussion from far-flung parts of the world has been artistically arrayed on iron stands created by several Michigan metal sculptors.
In late 2009 and 2010, the duo sporadically traveled back and forth to Indianapolis to record once again with Brickley at Hit City in Indianapolis. Two in-progress tracks, "Long Ago Train" by Frakes, and "I Wish You Well" by Gulian, appeared on the debut episode of Brickley's Different Beat Radio show/podcast on Jan 27, 2010. Their third album, Three, was released in January, 2011 on compact disc and on iTunes.
In spring 2011, John Halbert, a producer in Los Angeles, was appointed Executive Vice President and Senior Marketing Director of West Coast Theatre of Operations. He works with people in the music industry to raise awareness of the band.
Core members
- Eric Frakes: acoustic guitar/percussion/harmonica/mandolin/vocals (1999–present)
- Steve Gulian: acoustic guitar/percussion/vocals (1999–present)
- James Gross: viola (2001–present)
Guest musicians
- Tim Brickley: bass/keyboards/acoustic and electric guitars/production
- Chris Plansker: keyboards
- Bill Osler: drums
- Jeff Reynolds: bass guitar
All teach at various schools in the Grosse Pointe School System
Discography
- Stories That The World Once Told (2002)
- Clear Across Summer (2005)
- Three (2011)