Bob and Wendy:A marriage of folk and rock

Guadalupe's Royal Theater is ressurected as a recording studio, as Bob and Wendy work with Virgil Cane on a new album

By Patrick S. Pemberton
ppemberton@thetribunenews.com

The 400 seats at the old Royal Theater are empty, the lobby is still and the 32-foot-long screen is blank, the building's tenure as a movie house long since passed.

The historic theater might seem eerily vacant if not for the music playing in the former projection room. There Bob Liepman and his wife Wendy are sitting behind a modern mixing board, listening to a song titled "Resolution."

Bob's hands are folded as he gently rocks in his seat. Wendy is lip synching to her own recorded singing, tapping her thighs to the rhythm. Meanwhile, two members of the local indie rock band Virgil Cane are trying to hear instruments that aren't there.

"This is where I hear strings," says singer Butch Boswell, pointing at the board.

A few seconds later, guitarist David Radmacher adds, "I hear a really cool drum part here."

Normally a duo, Bob and Wendy have hired members of Virgil Cane to add a rock 'n' roll flavor to their sound. The collaboration pairs middle-aged folkies with a group of 30-something rockers who promise to electrify one of the county's most well-known acoustic acts.

"I always kind of thought it'd be cool if they had a backup band," Boswell said.

The two groups have had a mutual admiration for a while.

"Bob and I have known each other for years," Boswell said. "We'll bump into each other at the grocery store, and he'll be like, 'Wow, man -- we've got to play together.' "

While the two have similar musical interests, their bands are clearly different.

Bob and Wendy songs are musically sparse, spotlighting Wendy's bold, unwavering voice and Bob's longing string accompaniment (he plays cello and mandocello). Virgil Cane, on the other hand, plays to the college crowd, belting out plugged-in, drum-backed songs that draw comparisons to Coldplay and Wilco.

Though they had talked of playing together, it was the old theater in downtown Guadalupe that actually brought the two groups together.

When Bob contacted Boswell about borrowing some microphones, Boswell invited him to the Royal, where his microphones were being kept. The theater has been Virgil Cane's rehearsal space since Radmacher and business partner Pieter deGroot opened Gold Coast Sound Studios there in April.

The theater, built in 1939, has been mostly dormant the past two decades -- attempts to operate a successful movie house there have consistently failed. Yet the city recently renovated it, and it comes with an original 1,000-square-foot stage, controlled acoustics and inspiring ambience -- not to mention a working popcorn machine.

The theater's subdued, cozy ambience helps the musicians capture the mood while recording.

When Bob plays cello on the stage, the dim lighting casts a faint shadow on the huge screen directly behind him. From the mixing room high above and far away, one can see him through tiny square windows. Next to the mixing room is a tiny space once called the crying room -- because parents could take their weeping children there and still watch the movie without interrupting other moviegoers. In this room, which offers a Lincoln balcony-style view of the stage, Wendy records her vocals.

"You can pretend it's either a sound check or imagine people out in the chairs," Wendy said, looking down toward the rows of red seats.

That ambience, Radmacher said, provides a psychological mood conducive to recording.

"The more relaxed they feel, the better they're gonna play," he said.

Since Bob and Wendy handed their songs over, Boswell and Radmacher have spent about 50 hours adding their rock sounds to the music, inviting their friends and bandmates to contribute.

"Now, as opposed to acoustic coffee house, it's more folk rock," Radmacher said.

Radmacher and Boswell usually work on the songs at night -- often when Bob and Wendy aren't there to see how their music is being altered.

"It'll be sort of a surprise to us," Wendy said. "But we admire their music so much that we're not too scared."

While Bob and Wendy are well-known locally, Virgil Cane also has its following. In addition to performing regularly (the band was one of the featured acts in this year's Concerts in the Plaza series in San Luis Obispo), Virgil Cane won Best Song at last year's Winery Music Awards.

Although Virgil Cane's influence will be obvious, the new Bob and Wendy album is still going to retain their signature sound.

"I don't want to produce it to sound like Virgil Cane," said Radmacher, the engineer for the project.

Lyrically, the songs deal with phases of adult life, from new love and motherhood to loss and time-tested relationships. Unfinished recordings show that the collaboration has given Bob and Wendy's music an alternative country sound, though everyone stresses that there's much work yet to be done.

Local singer/songwriter Jude Johnstone will be adding backing vocals, and Wendy will re-record her own singing. Meanwhile, more instrumental parts are still being contributed, said Radmacher, who will mix them together so it all blends nicely. If all goes well, the next Bob and Wendy CD will be ready within a month or so.

When the recording project is over, Virgil Cane will record some of its own music. But for now, Boswell is taking the Bob and Wendy collaboration further, playing gigs with the duo.

"We were planning on starting it sometime soon," Boswell said of the next Virgil Cane project. "But, you know, things happen."

If all goes well, the empty Royal Theater seats will once again be bustling with people --when Bob and Wendy play a gig there to debut the new CD. With help from their friends, the place definitely won't be as quiet as it has been.

Reach Patrick S. Pemberton at 781-7903.