Bald Eagle flies coast-to-coast

Bald Eagle just released its second full-length album.

By Kelsey Whipple

Published Aug. 24, 2007

Local band Bald Eagle is just four guys who live in a college town and like it. They're four guys who have paid their dues in small towns and smaller venues and who, even after two EPs and a debut album, don't hate each other. Most of all, they're four guys who sing about Shark Week and "The Princess Bride," and when they play live, you can bet it smells like teen spirit.

But if Justin Nardy, the band's bassist and vocalist, had liked sports or art, Bald Eagle might never have hatched.

"I always kind of wanted to play guitar," Nardy said. "That was it."

And in 2003, he got his chance when Bald Eagle's final lineup of guitarist Danny Matteson, drummer Justin Mccrady, guitarist and vocalist Mikey Wheeler and Nardy, four Missouri locals who had recently left other bands behind, came together.

Soon, Bald Eagle's blend of thrash rhythms, '70s-style rock and trash-culture-inspired lyrics attracted Emergency Umbrella, a local record label founded by Foundry Field Recordings's Billy Schuh.

"When everything came together, Emergency Umbrella had everything we were looking for," Nardy said. "They know us on a personal level. Nothing is hidden. It seemed like a homegrown thing."

The same can be said of Bald Eagle's members, who have yet to tire of Columbia, though they've seen other local band come and go.

"I don't know if (living here) helps us or hurts us, but we're here to stay," Nardy said. "We're settled in. Other bands have gone to New York or Texas and places like that. I just hope we can do the same thing they're trying to do from here."

Four years later, Bald Eagle is giving it a go with its second full-length album, Hot Shoulders, which was released last week.

The band members acknowledge that the title of their album is a little different.

"That's another weird one," Nardy said. "Me and Mikey always complain about having back pain at work and always refer to it as 'hot shoulders.'"

Wheeler, a professional tattoo artist during the day, is also to blame for most of Bald Eagle's song titles, including "Sharks Are Fucked Up," an example of the band's ability to turn novelty into hilarity.

"Justin and Mikey were watching Shark Week and were just totally freaked out by the sharks," Nardy said. "It's true."

Another song off the new album, "Rodents of Unusual Size" is a tribute to "The Princess Bride."

Hot Shoulders was recorded in true Bald Eagle form. Nardy, Matteson, Mccrady and Wheeler set the recording date even before songs were written, but during a weeklong trip to Wisconsin, things, as they usually do for Bald Eagle, worked themselves out.

"If we tried to record for a year, we'd get sick of it," Nardy said.

On Aug. 31 the band will begin its latest tour, one that, if it's anything like past tours, will be rife with early arrivals, less than exciting gas station food, nights spent at the homes of strangers and, of course, the occasional party.

And so far, that's the way they like it.