New York punk rock band to unplug on Main

When Rachel Ray returns to Park City this week, she’ll be bringing some extra luggage namely the members of the New York City-based punk garage band The Cringe, which features lead vocalist and songwriter John Cusimano, who is also, incidentally, her better half.

Both husband and wife are familiar with the town before they were married in 2005. Ray came to film an episode of her then cuisine-on-a-budget show "$40 a Day" in 2004, stopping to sample The Morning Ray’s eggs for breakfast, then took a trolley to Butchers Chop House for macaroni and cheese for lunch; Cusimano came for the Sundance Film Festival as an independent film distributor for Arrow Films.

According to Cusimano, it’s rare that the busy career-driven couple’s vocations intersect. The Cringe performed on Ray’s talk show and occasionally, while Ray was on tour to promote her book, the band’s gigs were scheduled in the same city as her speaking engagements, but Cusimano says usually it has to do with luck rather than forward planning.

During their stay in Park City, the two will shoot a segment for "Rachel’s Vacation," which is a new iteration of "Rachel’s Tasty Travels," a show that followed "$40 a Day."

"We’ll be shooting during the day and then at night, I’ll be playing a show with The Cringe," he explains. "The idea is that Rachel’s traveling to Park City and John and her are falling down on snowboards during the day, riding snowmobiles and then at night, Rachel will be hootin’ and hollerin’ up in the audience."

Cusimano says Ray often gets so wrapped up in his shows that he gets blamed by television producers when Ray loses her voice the next morning. "She likes to yell and cheer when we play," he says.

Thursday night, when The Cringe plays The Spur Bar and Grill, will likely be no different. The band — featuring bassist Matt Powers and longtime Saturday Night Live Band drummer Shwan Pelton — is planning to play with mostly acoustical instruments, with the exception of one electric guitar by lead guitarist James "Roto" Rotondi, who has, perhaps, the most unusual background of the group, having played with Santana, Tower of Power and the French electro-pop band Air. "Unplugged" performances tend to be on the mellow side, but Cusimano confesses that even when it’s supposed to be quiet, the music and the crowd can inspire him to display a few rock star antics.

"We did a half-acoustic set in Boston a few months back and Rachel was there on book tour. It was a little bit more intimate of a place. I was doing an acoustic thing and my other guitar player was playing electric, but I just got so carried away, I jumped out into the crowd and then jumped on this long skinny table," he remembers. "And the second I jumped up, I realized this table was designed to hold martini glasses, not people. Behind me the manager of the club and my sound guy immediately grabbed the table. Luckily jumped off But then, at the end of the set, I dove into the drum kit anyway, because, I don’t know, I just felt like it."

Cusimano says he takes his cue from bands like The Who whom he describes as having "an interesting combination of great, well-crafted pop and epic rock show, but with this cool, punk-rough edge to them." He says The Cringe is a big-sounding band, but with a similar "punk, unhinged edge." On albums, the band iterates the raw classic-rock quality by recording with vintage instruments with mid-1970s technology. "We’re melodic, but we’re definitely rockin’," he says.

The band has toured only in the United States, but because of social network sites like Myspace.com, developed a following that stretches to Wales, Germany and Norway. "And Then I’m Gone," a song form The Cringe’s sophomore album, "Tipping Point," has made it to No. 36 on the Radio & Records’ Indicator Chart, an unlikely slot for an indie band.

"Tipping Point" is full of songs with a somber tone one that Cusimano likens to the dark undertones in the grunge-era band Pearl Jam and one he says emerges from his reaction to government policy and foreign relations.

"Half of ‘Tipping Point’ is really politically-driven. It’s a lot of frustration with what’s been going on in the world, the Middle East," he explains. "It’s definitely a frustrated album, but I think a lot of people have a lot of frustration about where this planet’s going."

The band is in the process of recording new cuts for a third album, which Cusimano says will be a little bit more collaborative than the two-year-old band’s other albums. Thursday night, Cusimano anticipates The Cringe will play a mix of new and old original songs, including one he wrote about Ray titled "Burn."

"It’s not about Rachel’s cooking ability," he swears. "It’s about this burning desire you have for someone and if you’re with them, you’re really burning, and when you’re not, you’re burning to see them. It’s about that intense connection It’s on the first album and people really seem to like it."

The Cringe will perform Thursday Night at The Spur Bar and Grill beginning at 9:30 p.m. The Spur is located at 350 Main St. For more information, visit 350main.com/thespur.