Podcast: Saint Bernadette and the Bridgeport scene

Saint Bernadette is an independent rock band, in the sense that it's not signed to a major-label contract, but don't mistake these musicians for indie-rockers, singer Meredith DiMenna says.

“We’ll never be an indie-rock band, in the sense that I grew up listening to musical theater and Keith [Saunders, the guitarist] grew up listening to Zeppelin and Deep Purple,” DiMenna says. “The stuff we look up to is generally catchy, melodic, commercial — in the good sense.”

Fair enough. Either way, the band made its full-length debut last October with the mesmerizing lounge-noir collection “In the Ballroom,” recorded over three days in the abandoned Bijou theater in downtown Bridgeport, shortly before a developer converted the 1910 movie house into a mixed-use retail site.

DiMenna and Saunders were kind enough to invite me to their Bridgeport studio to talk about recording in the Bijou, their new EP "I Wanna Tell You Something" (due March 4 on their own Exotic Recordings) and why the Bridgeport scene bears watching.

Saint Bernadette plays a CD release show March 6 at Two Boots, 277 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport, and a showcase March 12 at South by Southwest in Austin.

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Podcast — Saint Bernadette
Love is a Stranger mp3
I Wanna Tell You Something mp3