Last Updated 30 July 2014 at 13:43 CDT by Charlie Petitt.
This page is hosted on The Oo Kingdom but is not part of the regular site. It will be updated whenever new information becomes available, so it is effectively a work in progress. ~ Upcoming shows are included under Shows / Appearances, available on the navigation menu and on this page (far below).
Let me introduce to you a new band in town: Pancake Riot. Be careful not to confuse them with the Waffle Uprising, the Muffin Rebellion, the Bagel Revolt, or the French Toast Revolution. This shouldn’t be a problem, since I just made all of those up! Or how about the Granola Insurgence? (thanks to Ken Wagman for that one)
Pancake Riot is an indie acoustic folk-rock band from Janesville, Wisconsin. What makes them interesting is that each member of the band writes their own songs. The band plays nearly all original music, but occasionally they will do a cover song. So far they have played at several area coffee and donut shops, and their outreach is growing. They released their first album, entitled “Yours, Mine, & Ours,” on Bandcamp on 11 April 2014. Physical CDs arrived on 15 April and were made available at The Exclusive Company in Janesville, WI, on 19 April.
The band has gone through numerous changes in recent months; see this Facebook post from 30 June 2014. Currently in a “quiet” period, the band will eventually play again with three or four members (see detail below).
In addition to the instruments and vocals listed below, often a shaker and/or tambourine is played as well. Candace also plays the ukulele, but so far not with the band.
Dan has stepped down from the band, unable to continue the frequent shows and traveling; he may still play at local shows in the future. ~ Though the band’s official website declares that Dan has left Pancake Riot, he appears in their Facebook cover photo (along with Kat, Candace, and Robbie), posted on 6 July 2014.
Formerly in the band, and part of its beginning:
Isaac gradually phased out of the band between April and June (he did not play any of the June shows); the frequent shows and traveling proved too demanding for him.
Jeff changed jobs and began working nights beginning 31 March, and moved to another city in June, so he has left the band (officially), though he may still record some percussion or background vocals for the band. He aims to pursue his own music as well, playing guitar, ukulele, and mandolin, as well as doing some recording.
This photo is taken from Mackenzie’s Bandcamp page; it was the cover photo for “Somewhat Intriguing.”
This photo, taken by Wendi Petitt on 7 September 2007, was used on the cover of Charlie’s self-titled album, which was a remake of Umm…
The band sprang up out of the Open Mic Nights held twice monthly at Mocha Moment, a coffee shop in Janesville, Wisconsin (1121 Center Ave.). The open mic is held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Ken Wagman hosts the event and does a tremendous job. As the event grew more and more popular, several of the regular performers began meeting on the “off” Wednesday evenings; Danial Monson-Bergum organized the group. The first meeting, set for 27 March 2013, was canceled because no one could make it; the first actual meeting was in April. Meetings were held at members’ homes, often in Dan’s basement.
The group held an evening “Jam Sesh” on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at another coffee shop called The Little Bean (at its original location, 2624 E. Milwaukee St.; they have since relocated to 101 E. Milwaukee St. downtown). The session began at 6 p.m. and continued after the shop closed. I was there myself until 8 p.m. but left. The others wrote a new song after that; they played it at the Open Mic at Mocha Moment the following evening during the 8:15 slot, inviting me to join them onstage. I didn’t know the song, but it was easy to learn. It became an instant hit; the song would become known as “Coffee Shop.”
On Tuesday, 12 November 2013, there was a recording session at Danial Monson-Bergum’s house; he wanted to get a “big choir” sound on the final chorus of his song, “The City Tonight.” Having never recorded a group before, it took him a while to get the sound he was after. We sang it twice: once in harmony, then once in unison. We also discussed the future of the group and decided that we are now a band; we would pursue some gigs in the area and eventually more recording.
On the following day (13 November), Danial Monson-Bergum, Mackenzie Benish, and Kat Farnsworth appeared at the studio of the new Janesville Community Radio for a live broadcast of “Discover Janesville.” The station was applying for a low-power broadcast license but so far was doing podcasts online. Representing the new band (so far with no name), the trio played two of their original songs and were interviewed by Yuri Rashkin, the show’s host. Later, they ate lunch with Yuri. The subject of Quotes, a local bar, came up: they were relinquishing their liquor license due to a number of violent incidents that occurred there. “What are they going to do,” Yuri remarked, “go down to the Citrus Cafe and start a pancake riot at two in the morning?” Danial noted that this phrase could make a good band name: Pancake Riot.
The group met at Jeff Robichaud’s apartment for a song share at 6:15 that evening. We spent most of the first part deciding upon a band name: we started with ten choices, voted six of them out, then chose names out of a hat twice to narrow it down to two. Finally, Robbie and Jeff played “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to choose between “Emerald City Showdown” and “Members of a Pancake Riot.” Finally the name was chosen. Kat posted on Facebook: “11.13.13 Members of a Pancake Riot were born at 7:50pm during share group. — with Mackenzie Benish and 5 others.” The name was quickly amended to “Members of the Pancake Riot.” Their Facebook page and Twitter account were created on 14 November 2013 (the following day).
Angelea Presti did the first official photo shoot for the band on 19 January 2014, providing cover and profile photos for their Facebook page.
On 23 January 2014, Members of the Pancake Riot became the official house band of Discover Janesville on Janesville Community Radio. The broadcasts have been available as podcasts, but an application for a low-power FM station has been submitted to the FCC. If granted, the air frequency would be 103.5 MHz.
On 8 April 2014, the band’s name was officially shortened to simply, Pancake Riot. Their official website link was changed to point to their Tumblr blog at that time.
Released on Bandcamp
11 April 2014 (lyrics available there).
Physical CDs released 19 April 2014 at The Exclusive Company in Janesville, WI.
Official Website (Tumblr): http://pancakeriot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/memberspancakeriot
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pancake_Riot (Follow @Pancake_Riot)
Bandcamp: NEW page (11 April 2014): http://pancakeriot.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/pancakeriot
Email: thepancakeriot@hotmail.com
Robbie on PureVolume: http://www.purevolume.com/ElmerandtheCeramicTrees
Robbie on ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/elmerandtheceramictrees
Robbie on SoundClick: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=1286791
Jeff on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/jrobichaud88
Charlie’s official music site: http://www.charliepetitt.com/
(These are in addition to early appearances on “Discover Janesville.”)
Pancake Riot Session 1 (revised edition, 1/30/2014)
Includes “In the Morning,” “Slip Away,” and “The City Tonight”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cz-NgWbwiI
“Enjoy the Ride” at Exclusive Co., Janesville, WI (19 April 2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy5dQn_wi5E
“Drive Away” at Mocha Moment, Janesville, WI (16 April 2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=716lmjLIr4I
“Coffee Shop”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf6uGPkUd6k
“Enjoy the Ride”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEdY7mhjV70
“Slip Away”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP30sjfJAEs
“Coffee Shop” (7:09 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52DgN6D0oyg
“Wax and Wane” (7:19 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqRB64TkNFo
“2,100 Miles” (7:33 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQsUTMqkQ0M
“Wisconsin” (7:54 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNUUwBC0IAk
“Enjoy the Ride” (8:37 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYJX3VneR4
“Burn the Candles” (8:42 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoLPSz7WLWA
“Send Me On My Way” (Rusted Root cover, 8:47 p.m.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tslpwuQi3dk
Write-up on Mackenzie’s show at The Little Bean (26 July 2013; includes videos)
http://wisconsinhappyfarm.com/local-indie-singer-songwriter-performs-at-the-little-bean-janesville/
Write-up on Candace’s show at The Little Bean (23 August 2013; includes videos)
http://wisconsinhappyfarm.com/motown-minor-rock-on-janesville-local-artist-candace-griffin-performs-at-the-little-bean/
This page was first published on 24 March 2014.