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The Roadie @ The Pocono Record

It would have been hard to knock John Phillips off...
It would have been hard to knock John Phillips off his high on Labor Day weekend.

He had just pulled off what was thought to be impossible, producing and promoting an original music festival in Scranton that drew almost 2,000 people to three different downtown bars and featured almost 20 bands (including a Poconos favorite, Tom Graham).

Then, some rapscallion managed to do it.

After his band — OurAfter, which will be performing at the Sherman Theater on Sept. 21 — finished playing at Tink’s in the shadow of the city’s famous La Festa Italiana, he got hit with some bad news.

Some really, really bad news. Two of his guitars were stolen.

“The one was a cheapy acoustic thing, so it didn’t bother me much,” he said. “But the other one was a Fendercaster I had for a long time. That one hurt. Not even the money, but the sentimental value.”

Well, you live, you learn. And even though it took him off his high, it doesn’t mean he’s staying down.

No, there’s too much on the horizon for OurAfter to be down. In addition to the show at the Sherman — where they’ll be playing with CherryFix and Cloverleaf — the band is opening for national acts Yellowcard (Sunday at Croc Rock in Allentown) and Flyleaf (Sept. 18 at Tinks).

That makes for one busy week.

“We’re going to take this as far as it goes,” Phillips, the lead singer and guitarist of the Scranton-based, alt-rocking band said. “We’ve only been on the scene for about a year, and to get to open for those bands in just a year, I think we’re a little ahead of the game.”

Still, selling original music on the local scene is darn near impossible. Phillips learned that playing for regional favorites UUU, one of the biggest party bands of the 90s in northeast Pennsylvania -- and former regulars at The Hoop.

The cover band was either loved or hated for their disco remakes, but Phillips said one thing that came out of it was gaining the contacts he has now that helps him promote his own band.

“(OurAfter) gets to play places most original bands don’t seem to get to because I have those contacts,” Phillips said. “So it wasn't a horrible thing, playing in UUU.”

It also doesn’t hurt that Phillips and the other band member are willing to put themselves into the public to get the word out about their band (Phillips contacted the Pocono Record in hopes of some publicity).

“It’s something you have to do,” he said. “This is a business. You can have great marketing, you can have great music, you can have great advertising, but nothing beats some old-fashioned word of mouth.”

They’ll try to generate some in the Poconos on Sept. 21. For more info on the band, check out its MySpace page.

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