Fistful of Ballers promise bangin' night in Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER − People lined up outside − dozens had to be turned away − when Fistful of Ballers made its triumphant, long-awaited return a few weeks ago to a concert stage in New Brighton.

With a setlist once again stuffed with 1990s hip-hop, Fistful of Ballers now will perform May 27 at Kelly's Riverside Saloon in Bridgewater.

The Beaver County band promises a hella good time − totally dope − with audience members getting jiggy to hits by Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Fugees, Alicia Keys, Big Pun, Ja Rule, ODB and others.

"I want to do some Outkast, that's another '90s powerhouse, and maybe some Wu-Tang if we can find the right one," co-vocalist Charlene Thompson-Wamsley said. "I'm not opposed to taking it back to the late-'80s, where everything kind of came up from. And we're doing Lizzo, which is current, so we're spanning a few decades. It's just fun vibes, and taking a piece of this genre and making it our own. Even though these are covers, you can still hear our spin on it."

Helping Wamsley bring that O.G. attitude will be Fistful of Ballers' founder Brad Meredith (bass), along with Jeff Bucci (drums), Ray Ortiz (keys), Fred “G-Ru” Cook Jr. (vocals) and Jay Baab (guitar).

They've dubbed their 8 p.m. Bridgewater show, "Beach Therapy @Kelly's" since the setting is the riverfront saloon's first outdoor show this year at its sand and palm trees area. Too Hearted opens the show. Donations will be taken at the door for Mental Health Association in Beaver County.

With the lightning-quick cadence and banter of a seasoned hip-hop act, Meredith, former bassist for rock bands the Delaneys and Gutterfly, and Wamsley, vocalist for soul and cosmic-rockers Mean Blue Planets, sat down with The Times to hype their show.

Wamsley: Kelly's is a good performance space. Last time I was there, they had a bunch of new rap pumping, like Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert, and I'm totally down with that genre. I like new rap. I like old rap. But I was shocked to hear that coming out of Beaver and the amount of kids that were there was like, whoa!

Meredith: What other band would they have at an Irish-Caribbean pub?

Wamsley:: Right? Isn't that the weirdest mashup you ever thought of, a Caribbean Irish pub?

Meredith: Throw hip-hop in there ...

Wamsley: Yeah, it's just a strange, strange ...

Meredith: ... Smorgasbord.

Wamsley: Yeah, put it all in a blender and let's just get down

The Times: What was your previous show at Wooley Bully's in New Brighton like?

Meredith: Jam-packed.

Wamsley: They turned away about 40 people.

Meredith: I told (owner) Jay Wooley my plan is to have people out the door. We wanted to come back to Beaver County to support a smaller place that might have struggled. It's a smaller place, so it's not that hard to do, but we hadn't even started playing yet...

Wamsley: And were already at capacity.

Meredith: The manager came over and was like, 'We got to stop the doors. If we keep (letting people in) people are going to fall through the floor.' It was a blast.

Wamsley: It was a really good time.

The Times: How did Fistful of Ballers form?

Meredith: Me and Char and Fred formed a band seven years ago. We played at (Bridgewater restaurant) Thursday's on Thanksgiving Eve. It was always on my bucket list to have a '90s hip-hop band. We opened up for Ill Willis.

Wamsley: Ill Willis was hot at the time.

Meredith: And it was jam packed. We had a blast. Like a week later, my wife was pregnant and I got offered a job in Montana, and I was like that was the greatest night of music ever ... see you later. (laughs). But it was always in the back of my head. I kept a song list anytime I was traveling.

Wamsley: Oh, did you?

Meredith: Yes. I felt if I was ever going to come back to Beaver County, that would be the first thing I'd do, get the band back together.

Wamsley: Oh, my goodness, I didn't know that. And he was, of course, kind of teasing it (on Facebook). I think you were living in North Carolina at the time and saying like, 'Hey, I think I might be coming back, trying to get the band back together' like the Blues Brothers. Like we're on a mission from God doing this. I didn't care what band I was in, I knew I wanted to do that one again, because it was so fun. That's my genre and I want to do it again.

Meredith: Being a product of the late '80s and '90s, and from Beaver, we'd party with these country (people), and you know it would be like George Strait and then Snoop Dog and Hank Jr. and Dr. Dre. That whole era crossed. And of course, you had Run-D.M.C., which really started the crossover with rock, and kind of got white folks more into it. For the people of our generation, that was just part of growing up.

Wamsley: It was fresh and everyone was wanting to sneak a little bit of it before it was on the radio or TV or whatever. I'm from Aliquippa, and I feel it crossed genres in Aliquippa very early. We had lots of white kids who were super into early hip-hop while I was in elementary school. Just because we were such a mixed school. Everybody got into it.

The Times: But we don't see a lot of live hip-hop shows in Beaver County, or Pittsburgh even.

Meredith: You don't see it a lot.

Wamsley: No.

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Meredith: I actually tried to do some research on bands that were doing this, and actually I haven't seen this, or actually it's kind of rock bands that are making rap songs into rock songs, which is a popular thing to do.

Wamsley: Or like R&B groups that don't quite get into hip-hop and are still doing like Keith Sweat. Like casino-friendly crowds.

Meredith: We mix it up enough.

Wamsley: We have some of the elements.

Meredith: Yeah, we've got some R&B stuff.

Wamsley: But there's a crossover just among those two genres. WAMO (Radio in Pittsburgh) was hip-hop and R&B, that's how they were billed. You're going to listen to both of that with crossover between the two genres.

The Times: What do Fistful of Ballers look like on stage? Do you have turntables?

Meredith: No turntables. That would be cool though. Actually (turntablist) Ian (Sallese) from Mushcup, I had asked to be in the band and quite honestly it would have been cool.

Wamsley: But where would we have put him? (Laughs).

Meredith: Yeah, we don't know where we'd put him.

Wamsley: Where would he go?

Meredith: And some of the songs we have, it would have to be forced in at times. It was discussed. And then we got keyboards with Ray Ortiz.

The Times: Let's talk about the lineup.

Meredith: I love it that we're multicultural. That was something I always envisioned this band had to be, a mix of different cultures. We're all the same. We look a little different, we have different life experiences, and we joke about it all the time. We talk about race. We joke about it, but we know we're all family here. There's still a small mindset here in this area, and let's be honest around the United States, still with that tension and racial stuff going on. And it's like, maybe just hang with us at our practices for a couple of nights. We're just all the same. You come to our shows, you see all kinds of people and it's all about friendship and having a great time. There's none of that racial tension. Everyone's just hanging out it and having a good time. It's what the world should be, and why I wanted to do this. It's been a (bad) few years in the country and I think this is kind of a way to say, 'Hey, we're all family here.'

Wamsley: Especially because our band is such a party vibe. Like come in and party with us. So many people said that to me, after the Wooley's show: "You guys are such a great party band," and I was like, 'Yes, that's the vibe.'

Meredith: We had a photographer come, and she asked 'What do you want?' and I said I want it to look like we're people you want to come and hang out with and have fun with. We're not trying to portray anything ... We do some (tough-looking) '90s hip-hop poses, but ...

Wamsley: Those look good, though.

Meredith: Yeah, it's more out of fun.

Wamsley: It borders on parody, but it looks good (both laugh).

The Times: How does the band dress on stage, in '90s attire?

Wamsley: There's a certain aesthetic. We don't want to look like we're singing karaoke after business hours.

The Times: And what can you tell us about the charitable aspect of the show?

Meredith: It's for Mental Health Association, Beaver County, which I was actually on their board for awhile. I've been in mental health nursing, 15 out of my 22 years of nursing now, and that holds a special place for me. It's been my passion for many years and any time they ask me to do something, it's an absolute, 'Yes!' We're trying to make mental health something we can talk about openly.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Fistful of Ballers are hyped for '90s hip-hop show in Bridgewater