By Nick J. Buckley / For Black Squirrel News
James and Jon Powell’s first recordings required a reel-to-reel machine, long microphone cables and plenty of running up and down the stairs of their parents’ Portage home.
The microphones were set up in the family room. The recorder was in the basement. Somewhere on those old tapes are recordings of the brothers’ late parents singing background vocals on one of their songs.
“If I could just get that back, that’d be really cool,” James said.
Decades later, the brothers are still making music together as The Powell Experience, a three-piece rock band featuring James Powell on guitar, Jon Powell on drums and lead vocals, and bassist Mike Rosenbaum of East Leroy.
While the trio mixes in a handful of cover songs during performances, its focus remains the original music the brothers have spent decades writing together.
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The Powell brothers grew up surrounded by music. Their father sang opera and both parents performed with the Kalamazoo Singers. James and Jon also sang in church choirs, while James started on violin before switching to guitar as a teenager.
Jon’s role as drummer and lead singer began less as a plan than a solution.
“Unreliable singers, man,” Jon said. “I had to fill in eventually all the time.”
Rosenbaum first crossed paths with the brothers while attending Western Michigan University in the late 1980s. He played with them briefly, recorded with them for a studio class and stayed connected through the years before making the current trio in 2021.
“I was at the point in my life where I was an empty nester,” Rosenbaum said. “So now I have no kids in the house, I have actual time to do this stuff.”
The band rehearses weekly, often recording directly from Jon’s living room setup. Members said years of experience help the three-piece sound bigger than its lineup, using samples, vocal effects and technology to fill out live performances without straying too far from what they can reproduce on stage.
Though the band would welcome more chances to perform, its members are realistic about what music means at this stage of life. They are not chasing stardom as much as opportunities to keep playing original songs for new audiences.
“I always find it very encouraging when people come up to me and talk to me,” James said. “They’re taking their time to talk to me. I always appreciate it.”
How to hear them
The Powell Experience will perform in the second semifinal round of Battle Creek Battle of the Bands, 6 p.m. July 9 at Squirrel Hollow Golf Course.
How we reported this
This article is based on an interview with members of The Powell Experience.
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