Artist description A five piece band from Brooklyn hand-crafting Timeless songs you'll never forget. Their Self-Produced Debut Album - "Keep the Change" was Released in July of 2002, and the Ofays have already begun work on their second full-length release. Catch them live in the New York City Area. See Listings for Details.

Group Members Adam Pettis - Guitar/Vox Arron Redlin - Bass Dorian Foerg - Guitar/Lead Vox Forrest Gray - Drums/Vox Derek Stanton - Lead guitar/Vox

Albums Keep The Change

Press Reviews the VILLAGE VOICE THE OFAYS The name is taken from a mid-20th centuary black slang term for whites. The band is a bushwick based quintet that plays countrified rock tunes, rich with harmonies, layered atop slick, silky, twangy intrumentation that sneaks a little Beatles into Hank Williams and sounds like the early tunes that George Harrison contributed to the band when he aped Buck Ownens, et al. Very enjoyable addition to the growing New York americana music scene. -- Alber ......................................TIME OUT NEW WORK Brooklyn's OFAYS - Keep The Change is a promising counrty-salted rock album thats at its best when teetering on the edge of chaos. -- .....................................SPLENDED ZINE THE OFAYS : KEEP THE CHANGE The key to great country music is The Voice. Think of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, even Bob Dylan's folkier side, and you've nailed it -- that world-weary voice, conveying every conceivable emotion, not to mention the consumption of a whole lot of alcohol. Without it, the music degenerates into nothing more than Adult Contemporary with a twang, as evidenced by the likes of Faith Hill and her evil ilk. It's obviously a powerful tool, and it's one that the Ofays use to good effect. Although, on the basis of their photos, Ofays singers Adam Pettis and Dorian Foerg were probably twinkles in their respective fathers' eyes when Cash, Dylan and Nelson launched their musical careers, both singers sound as if they could be their contemporaries. It's a skill showcased throughout Keep The Change, as Foerg and Pettis explore such time-honored country subject matter as love, loneliness and drinking. Mind you, decent vocals can only take a band so far, especially when they're peddling the same raw, twangy fare offered by every other twenty-something country act. What pushes Keep The Change to another level -- what raises it from an average album to an outstanding album -- is the music. Take "So Formal" for example: though the lyrics are spoken rather than sung, the lilting music behind them gives the words a compellingly mellifluous ring. While you're at it, consider "The Panic", a tune whose moaned vocals remind us that having just the right voice for the music isn't always a blessing. The modest, repetitive guitar line that backs the tune also saves it from being overwhelmed by maudlin moodiness -- it's too damn simple and hummable to be properly sad. Of course, it's far too early to mention the Ofays and Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson in the same sentence, unless it's to talk about the latter's influence on the former. Give them a few years, though -- and perhaps a few run-ins with the law for good measure -- and the Ofays might well find themselves on equal footing with a handful of music legends. -- Matthew Pollesel ...................................INDIEWORKSHOP.COM OFAYS:: KEEP THE CHANGE The Ofays are the kind of band I can imagine going to see at my local dive bar. The twangy, dreary music they make would be perfect for the place. The lyrics evoke just the right mix of alcohol, loneliness and violence that just seems right. The playing is nothing spectacular and the country vocal harmonies seem ready to fall apart at any time, but I think that’s kind of the point. The fragility gives em feeling, like they know their subject matter firsthand. It’s sloppy, but it works. My problem with so many of the bands vying for that alt-country tag - or whatever it’s called, I prefer ,y -alternative- just because it sounds more clever- is that they just don’t sound like they mean it. Not that I think you have to pick cotton in the South to play country, but they sound like they are going through the motions without really feeling the genre. Not so with the Ofays. They wear their world-weariness on their sleeves and it comes out in their songs. Screw that -alt- tag, this band is the real deal. Crack open a beer, go sit on the porch and put on this record. You’ll see what I mean. -- Avi Roig

Location Brooklyn, New York - USA

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