The FlipSide
Folk revival covers & acoustic originals
Bio
Gib, Flip, B, Mark, & Jack
Harmonizing over 20 years
CDs & Videos
Blue-Collar Breakdown,
Listen to the Heartbeat,
and live clips
Friends
Associated bands, venues, and other organizations
The FlipSide Bio
The FlipSide formed in 2004. Really, they could not have avoided each other, being so active in Cleveland's music community. Three met through JCU, three met through Pennsylvania colleges along I-79, two connected through Folk Alliance and a mutual musician friend, and three others through a welcoming venue. Three happened to get math degrees.
Somehow, that added up to a quintet of songwriters who have been performing around Cleveland and beyond, harmonizing musically as well as personally, for decades. They've generated two full-length CDs, while playing dozens of venues, and also ministering music in their respective churches.
Flip (Beth) is the soulful leading lady, adding blues rock to the mix. Even at age four, singing at her aunt’s wedding, with a full band backing her up, she knew her place is on stage. She learned timing and phrasing from her dad, a drummer and singer, and the family jam sessions. That lifetime musical education continued in school choral groups and theater, then groups including Suitewood, Trillium, and Harmony Girls. She still performs with Chain Gang.
Mark is our most prolific songwriter, tallying ~60 originals from ballads to rock. He too was influenced by his musical father and the Beatles. One of the band's three members hailing from Pennsylvania, he's the only one still wearing Steelers gear. His earlier bands include OCR (Out of Contact with Reality) and Knickers in a Twist.
Gib is the tall one with the multi-FX pedal board. He started strumming in middle school and college. OCR and Suitewood were among his earlier bands too, plus the Nottingham Spirit Revival Band. He co-authored the local history series' book Euclid Creek.
B (B. Ryan B.) is the band's bassist, does image work, and usually runs sound. His viral video, Cleveland is Your Land was conceived during a FlipSide rehearsal. He's played bass on the side for Tom Gorman, Will Cheshier, The Zoomies, Blame Willie, and others, and released two solo albums. (See his web site.)
Jack is a folk historian and musicologist, with shelving units full of albums, and a thick binder of song charts to match. He hosted The Root Cafe's weekly song circle for many years, introducing and developing countless local artists. He's a teaching artist at the vibrant educational institution Roots of American Music (ROAM). He and Mark perform dozens of times a month at healthcare and long-term living facilities.
CDs & Videos
--- Albums available at shows or by request ---"Blue-Collar Breakdown" (2014)
1. Blue-Collar Breakdown
2. Song for Michael Brennan
3. Help is on the Way
4. Keep the Spirit Alive
5. Lemme out of This Car
6. Watch, Wait, and Pray
7. I Can't Wait
8. Mondays at the Phoenix
9. Make Me a World
10. This Sucks
11. Right Train
12. Tightrope
13. House of the Rising Sun / Amazing Grace
14. Wonderful Days
"Listen to the Heartbeat" (2009)
1. Dance With Me Paddy
2. Listen to the Heartbeat
3. Losing My Way
4. Hanging by a Thread
5. Hometown Girl
6. Middle of the Night
7. My Good Friend
8. Long Way From Home
9. See It to the End
10. Stones Song (I Don't Need Your Lovin')
11. Fly, Fly, Fly
12. Travel Lightly
"Music of the Market" (appearing on compilation)
--- Video samples ---
• Blue-Collar Breakdown 2012 live at the Barking Spider
• Mondays at the Phoenix 2010 live at the Winchester Music Hall
• Bells 2014 live at the Barking Spider
• Listen to the Heartbeat 2010 live at the Winchester
• Lemme Out of This Car 2014 live at the Barking Spider
• Peace I Leave With You produced 2021
Friends
The music community is way more than just performers running into each other. The FlipSide deeply appreciates our groupies and those who have poured their lives into music venues, media press, photography, live and recording engineering, and radio broadcasting. Here are just a few of the many, in addition to others named throughout this website:
• Alan Studt, musical and visual artist
• Alyssa Clow, photographer
• Barking Spider Tavern, especially Martin & Jenna
• Bop Stop at the Music Settlement music venue
• Cain Park music venue
• Cleveland Scene Magazine
• Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), our region of Folk Alliance International (FAI) arts organization
• Jay Bentoff of Dark Tree Studio
• Jim Wall of Blue Buddha Studio
• Lakewood Observer news media
• Tom Gorman, musical artist
• "Twistin' Tom" Ball (pictured above) of WAPS-fm
• "Uncle Fred" Dolan of WJCU-fm's "Visiting the Folks"
• The Winchester Music Hall, especially Jim & Rebecca Mileti