Hometown originals

Published 4:24 pm Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Plan B’s second CD is an original.

Two band members penned all 10 songs.

There will be a CD release party, beginning 8 p.m. Friday at the Austin VFW Club.

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Admission is a free-will donation to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1216’s charities.

The new CD will be on sale for $10 a copy.

The band includes Sena Ehrhardt on vocals; her father, Ed, on lead guitar with Joel Runtsch; Scott Anderson on bass; and Matt Gosha playing drums.

The new CD is titled “Unlisted” and contains five original songs written by Sena Ehrhardt and five more by lead guitarist Ed Ehrhardt.

Songwriting is a family affair this time around for Plan B.

Since joining the band in 2004, Sena has made her presence felt.

Already one of the area’s most popular bands, a female lead vocalist just opens the door to new possibilities.

What is Plan B’s music style? Sena described it as a combination of “blues and rock with a little bit of funk and jazz.” Having a vocalist to front the band only expands the musicians’ horizons.

And, now she’s a songwriter, too.

The band’s first CD, released in 2006, was a collection of cover songs. Now, they are playing their own music.

Sena said she writes music when music comes to her.

“There’s never been a concerned effort to sit down and write music,” she said. “Something will just come to me.”

Unlisted songs such as “No, no, no, no” with a heavy blues influence and “Can’t Go Back” reflect both that spontaneity and originality. The latter is one of the songs written by her father, Ed, about a long-term relationship.

Sena said the other band members all add to the finished effort when the music is played; both in terms of writing the music and how it’s performed.

The new CD has every band member excited, because it also suggests there are new horizons in music to be conquered, according to Sena, and the fusion of styles stays fresh.

After Friday nights’ CD release party at the VFW, the next opportunity to hear Plan B’s music, new and old, will be June 27 and 28 at the 2008 Hambone Blues Festival now moving to Hayward and the Holiday Park golf course and campground.