The Red and Black

Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Variety

Media Credit: COURTESY DAVID JOHNSON The Alternate Routes will play Tasty World tonight. [Click to enlarge]

Hailing from Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Alternate Routes will be bringing its mellow, lyric-driven rock to the Tasty World tonight.

However, the road to Athens from Bridgeport has been a long one - full of exhaustive touring and highlighted by one fateful detour.

After touring with their first EP for about a year, the band had gathered enough songs for a second album. However, they did not have the $1,200 to cover the CD's production.

That's when Lady Luck stepped in.

"I've always been a bit of a card player," said Eric Donnelly, the band's guitarist. "That particular night I just had a good feeling."

The band had just finished a show in Boston that had netted them $200. Ironically, on an alternate route home that morning, the band passed by a casino.

"I made a bet with Tim, our lead singer, that I could turn the $200 into enough money to press the new CD," Donnelly said.
Despite reservations and lack of faith from members of the band, Donnelly convinced them to pull over.

"I just nagged," he said.
Through rounds of blackjack and poker, Donnelly turned the band's $200 payday to $2,000 - scoring enough to make copies of the CD, manage the rent that month and cover breakfast at McDonald's.

For Donnelly, the win was equal parts luck and skill.

"When I'm gambling, I'm very much in the zone," he said. "It's like playing guitar. When you're good at it, you can do it without thinking."

Following a recording deal with Vanguard Records, the band didn't have to resort to rolling the dice for their latest album, "Good and Reckless and True."

The album's sound is laidback and mellow, complemented with heartfelt lyrics.

Continued...

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