Return to roots: Student Loan due back in old stomping grounds

The globe-trotting band The Student Loan is returning to its original stomping grounds for two shows next
week in Bowling Green.
The Student Loan, which plays a blend of bluegrass, folk, rock and jazz dubbed newgrass, will perform
June 23 at 7 p.m. at Grounds for Thought, 174 S, Main St., and June 24 at 10 p.m. at Howard’s Club H,
210 N. Main St.
In the past few years, the band, now based in Portland, Ore., has logged thousands of miles, doing tours
under the auspices of the State Department to Indonesia, the Middle East and South America.
At the Grounds for Thought show the band members will talk about those experiences, said Liz Chibucos,
who plays violin and guitar and sings with the band. "We wanted to come and share our
experiences."
Mark Gerolami, who plays banjo, guitar and vocals, said he’s excited to return to Bowling Green to share
the music with their friends and original fans, the people whose enthusiasm early on gave The Student
Loan "the impetus" to continue as an ensemble.
The more the band tours and collaborates, the more its music grows and develops, Chibucos said.
That’s evident on the band’s third CD which will be released at the Howard’s show. Many of the songs on
the new CD, "No Host Lunch," draw on those experiences.
The title itself is something of an inside joke about life on the road. It means a meal where someone
else is not picking up the tab.
Many of the songs are inspired, Chibucos said, by specific characters and experiences from the band’s
travels.
Gerolami said that touring has "given us a more world perspective and all your songwriting changes
because of that different perspective."
The music benefits from the improved technique that comes from playing as many as three shows a day.
"We’ve all developed as players," she said. "We’ve explored different styles and
different ways of playing our instruments."
The band has been together since 2005 when all the musicians were studying music at Bowling Green State
University’s College of Musical Arts.
"We’re still learning new things about the music," Chibucos said. "One of our goals as a
band is to extend the solos and take the music new places."
The band’s personnel has remained stable with all four founding members – Chibucos, Gerolami, Chad
Kimbler, mandolin and vocals, and Julio Appling, bass and vocal – still involved, though Appling has
missed some of the touring because of work responsibilities. The band also has a regular gig at the
White Eagle Saloon in Portland.
"We can read each other," Gerolami said. He can tell what direction another player is going,
and that’s important, especially in the improvised passages.
The band has tried to capture more of this live vibe on the new CD. All the instrumental tracks were
recorded as an ensemble, later overdubbing the vocals.
"We all just sat in a room and just played," she said. "It’s more organic … We watch
each other. We play off each other. That’s when the good stuff happens."
The band’s first overseas tour was in spring 2009 to Southeast Asia as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s
Rhythm Road series done in conjunction with the State Department. The band has since toured directly
through the State Department. It will go to Venezuela in fall.
The band has found favor not only because of its skillful musicianship, but also its ability to reach out
to audiences, and talk about the music.
"They can always find bands, but they can’t always find bands that can talk about what they do and
teach others to do it," Gerolami said.