The Empty Pockets are not your average band. Everything from their origin story, their careers and their sound are unique and unexpected. They describe themselves as folksy midwest roots Americana, with a mission of sincerity, pathos and powerhouse vocals.
The band formed in their hometown of Chicago, IL and were originally a Buddy Holly tribute band who went by Josh & The Empty Pockets. At that time, the members were childhood friends Josh Solomon, Nate Bellon and Danny Rosenthal. A year later, Erika Brett was featured on two of their songs before joining the band permanently. That’s interesting enough on its own, but wait until you hear about how the boys met her.
Shortly after forming the band, Solomon was cast as Buddy Holly, and Bellon and Rosenthal were cast as The Crickets in the 2006-2007 production of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at Chicago’s Mercury Theatre. It was there that they met Brett, who was a singer and dancer in the show. Now that their four piece puzzle was complete, they changed their name and got to work.
Since coming together, the band has continued to evolve their genre bending sound (think folk meets rock ‘n roll meets soul) as they’ve gone on this wild ride together. Their lineup changed one more time, with Adam Balasco replacing Danny Rosenthal on drums three years ago. Some of the most interesting things they’ve accomplished together in addition to recording and releasing their lengthy discography are: toured on a Mexican cruise ship, opened for comedians like George Lopez, been featured on three Nickelodeon shows, headlined a Vegas casino, and were followed by President Barack Obama on Twitter.
These days, The Empty Pockets are busy hosting free weekly concerts online, creating merch to benefit the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and raising money to improve their at home Covid-compliant studio.
Scenes was delighted to have The Empty Pockets perform a Scenes Live Session last year, and we can’t wait to see what wild things they get into next!
