By Sarah Knott
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For Cincinnati.Com

Long Lane's second release, the 16-song "Long Lane."

L I S T E N  U P

Long Lane doesn't have any MP3s, but they are in the works. The Over-the-Rhine popera ("Blues Alley Cat") that Joe Gorman is writing and producing is scheduled to be on stage by June 2002.

Talking to roots band Long Lane is a lesson in Cincinnati, in the city's original music scene, neighborhoods, local lore.

Each man in the quartet is 40-something and has lived around Cincinnati most of their lives. They all spout names like Ted and Dixie Karas, Big Joe Duskin, Mudbone Cooper, Katie Lauer and The Bears (with Adrian Belew), describe their voices, their influence. Long Lane knows about the cool, hip records stores as well as the old standbys.

Like men with banjos at an old flea market, they seem in tune with the ways of individuals and their stories, taking what they see, mixing it with their own experiences and cooking it into music about people for regular people.

All four have played in bands since their junior high school days in North College Hill, contributing to dance, rock and country collaborations and then joining up when they ran into each other at a friend's party.

They admit they don't play much in bars or pubs anymore and that Long Lane isn't part of a publicity machine. Long Lane seemed surprised, in fact, that their 2000 16-song second release (the self-titled "Long Lane") even became a reality.

"You know how they use the term 'garage band?'" quips singer Bob Sutton. "Well, we're an 'under the garage band.'"

They are aware that people like Britney Spears and 'NSync are what sells these days, but the four won't sell out. Sutton said music has kept him sane. Lead guitarist Eric Tarpoff says he has always thought in notes. Writer/singer/instrumentalist Joe Gorman says there was never any other choice but to become a lifelong musician. They stick to what's worked: the creative, the revised, the old.

"A lot of the songs on our CD were written a long time ago," says Sutton, citing "Faith," a song that guitarist Dave Wilburn started writing about his son in 1981. "Some of it is much better, like a revision. In fact, a whole other name for the CD was "Revisions."

But Joe Gorman isn't letting an age-like-fine-wine philosophy slow the group down. He's been writing and producing a "popera" about Over-the-Rhine, featuring photos, voices, music and people from the storied downtown neighborhood. The popera, titled "Blues Alley Cat" follows a character of the same name, a muse who makes a living on the street but knows more than he shows. Four songs on "Long Lane" were written for the production, which will hopefully be complete by June 2002.

"I've lived in Over-the-Rhine for a long time, and the neighborhood has lots of experiences for music," says Gorman. He describes a song in the popera about a guy who washes cars and cleans windows. Another is about migration and how the neighborhood has changed over hundreds of years. Another is about gardens and how people use them there as safety and solace.

"It's an enduring neighborhood," he says. "It's not about a black/white issue. It's about a humanitarian issue."

The project's theme seems like an appropriate symbol for Long Lane--a tribute to environment and how it molds careers in factory work, in trade, in art and how it shapes views and personality.

"Hey," says Sutton. "We don't forget where we come from."