Real Lulu At The Big Beef Corrall

Kattie Dougherty - Guitar & Vocals
Sharon Gavlick - Bass & Vocals
Mark McFarlan - Drums

Real Lulu's "Let Me" taken from their CD release "We Love Nick" has been featured in the Jennifer Lopez film "Angel Eyes"! Hear other great songs from this album at the Big Beef Listening Lounge

Real Lulu is "a two-woman, one-dude high-octane revival... (they) chart a whole new river with their nimble invasion of catchy hooks and ardent lyrics." So proclaims MOO MAGAZINE, whose positive and enthusiastic appraisal of Real Lulu is shared by a large and growing contingent of music-loving fans. "Just the right balance of growl and glimmer", states the SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN, reiterating the band's appeal nationally.

Formed in 1993, Real Lulu went on to develop into one of the midwest's strongest modern rock acts. Fronted by guitarist Kattie Dougherty and bassist Sharon Gavlick, and powered by the world-class drumming of Jim Macpherson (THE BREEDERS & GUIDED BY VOICES), the band has been impressing audiences since earning top honors from a field of 48 bands in the 1994 Dayton Band Playoffs.

The band's loyal fan base has grown consistently since the release of their much-acclaimed 14-song CD "We Love Nick" on Dayton-based Big Beef Records. The CD was the long-awaited follow-up to their 1995 debut single "Hell" on Simple Solution Records (GUIDED BY VOICES; BRAINIAC; CAGE), which was produced by fellow-Daytonian Kim Deal (PIXIES/BREEDERS). That track was included amongst a collection of many other long-time fan favorites, which were performed by a whole host of talented drummers who helped out in the recording of the record. This was the result of the completion of "We Love Nick" taking place during a transition period in the band's career after their long-time original drummer, the multi-talented Gregg Spence had to depart due to other increasingly demanding musical involvements. Spence, a musical veteran of the Dayton scene, was known not only for his singing/songwriting abilities as displayed during his solo performances (including his perfomances in support of such acts as Brenda Kahn and Jonathan Richman), but for his strong band work with Dayton-favorites CAGE and the ever-popular, non-traditional landlocked surfrockers THE MULCHMEN (whose recorded works are also on Big Beef Records).

Spence's departure didn't stop Real Lulu, however, from continuing to play out on a regular basis, appearing with such acts as MIKE WATT, HOWLIN' MAGGIE, GUIDED BY VOICES, THE KELLEY DEAL 6000, IODINE> and THE NEW DUNCAN IMPERIALS. Dougherty and Gavlick were assisted by a collection of Dayton's best rock talent, who volunteered to fill-in on both the stage and in the studio. This list includes Steve Johnson of THE PURE PLASTIC TREE, Matt Espy of CAGE and MINK, the late Ben Schelker of THE OXYMORONS, BRAINIAC frontman Tim Taylor, and Jim Macpherson, formerly of the aforementioned BREEDERS, who eventually joined Real Lulu on a regular basis by the end of 1996 (and who is now also drumming with another great Dayton rock outfit, GUIDED BY VOICES).

Since then, Real Lulu have been featured on the SimonSeng Record's Best of Ohio music CD collection "I Am Thunderbird", and on WOXY's "97-Xposure" Top 20 bands compilation CD, after finishing as one of the top 3 finalists (out of 128 bands!) in 1997's competion, held annually by 97X FM since 1985. Real Lulu's Jim Macpherson also performs on numerous solo recordings by GUIDED BY VOICES leader Bob Pollard, as well as the GBV's latest Ric Ocasek-produced release "Do The Collapse". He and Kattie Dougherty also make appearances on Pollard's Matador Records release"Waved Out". The band's recording of the GBV favorite "Postal Blowfish" is also included on the GBV tribute compilation record "Blatant Doom Trip" (see Real Lulu's Available Recordings page for more information).

The band has continued on, intermittently performing shows while spending time in the studio with ongoing efforts to complete a series of new songs they have been performing over the years, including the crowd-favorite "Chief", a song whose accompanying video was completed under the direction of acclaimed filmmaker Steven Bognar, a long-time friend and fan of the band's).

New CD Now Available

These aforementioned production efforts have at long last culminated in the release of these never heard before recordings, finally making their way into the eagerly-awaiting hands of fans with their release in May of 2003. Entitled "After You", the new self-produced CD project has been made available in conjunction with the band's official retiring from active performing after a very successful and rather special run of it. This was done with a celebrated Farewell Show at Dayton's venerable Canal Street Tavern, the band's musical home location of their winning the celebrated Dayton Band Playoffs in 1994. (see photos from this courtesy of Andy Welter's Real Lulu photo page)

Big Beef Records is pleased and proud to be able to make the record available for sale via the official Real Lulu website (seven years to the day after the release of their original Big Beef-produced and highly acclaimed debut full-length "We Love Nick"). This serves as an extremely postive culmination to a long and rewarding ten year relationship with this very special band and their very special and truly loyal and loving fans.