Hank & Cupcakes Kicks Off 2017 Tour At JJ's Bohemia

I met the unique couple several years ago through Mike Dougher, former manager of Rhythm & Brews, now talent curator at Songbirds Guitar Museum.  I was home one night sitting at my computer when he called and said i needed to come by and check this band on stage.  I said really Mike, What's the name of the band.. He said, Hank & Cupcakes......... long pause and I said you're kidding me.  He laughed and reply NOoo.

 

I said I would be right down. My friendship  with Mike was growing. Several months prior I stopped in to introduce myself with an interest to access the bands by using photography and videography at RnB.  He said, Really .. I told him it was important to me to put a face on the Chattanooga Live Music scene.  Later, he asked if I could display some event photos in the window box on the wall.  

 

As we walked downstairs from the office, the place was packed.... the energy from these two kids, their music and creative back drop was very interesting. They were passing out 3-D glasses.  I looked at Mike, when the few lines deep took the fold out glasses and put them on.  I pulled out my camera and thanked him for asking me to come down.  I just like them and their style. We both fell in love with them and acquired a greater appreciation of their music and deliverance on stage and their kindness off stage to all they met.

Video from 2015 Chattanooga's Riverfront Nights "Ain't Know Love" .. enjoy!!

Since that first appearance, Hank & Cupcakes returned to play at RnB couple of more times, then on to Riverbend Festival, Riverfront Night, Patten Parkway St Paddy's Party, Honest Pint for NYE, Revelry Room and will appear at the Southern Brewers Festival on Aug. 26 in Chattanooga.  

Here are first couple of chapters of Hank (Ariel Scherbacovsky) & Cupcakes (Sagit Shir)'s story.

We’d just recently returned from a crazy weird adventure in Havana, Cuba, where we’d been intensely studying Cuban Music for six months. It got a bit too crazy so we decided to go back to Tel Aviv, wrap up our lives and relocate to New York. We didn’t know anyone, we had no plan, it was just a hunch. 

We weren’t taking on any new projects during this transition period, so one day I said to Hank, “Let’s just have a rehearsal and see what happens.” We knew there was no point in recruiting more musicians since we were going to leave anyway, so it was just us: Hank on the bass and me, Cupcakes, on the vocals & drums, screwing around.

One rehearsal led to another and another until Hank eventually said about a week later: “Why don’t we just rehearse everyday?” We didn’t plan on becoming a bass & drums duo, we thought that once we’d arrive to NYC we’d meet more musicians and form a ‘proper’ band, but during those few months of intense daily rehearsing, a sound was developing that was different and it became clear that this there was nothing missing.

We arrived in NYC late 2008 and were blown away by this magnificent inspiring city and it’s inhabitants. We had no idea what to do or how to start so the first thing we did was rent a daily slot at a rehearsal studio. The city was like a turbo engine in our creative process and new songs were fast to come. We had no idea who to talk to about booking a show and how the whole ‘business’ worked but after writing email after email, combing the city for venues we finally booked our first show at the end of 2008. There were 13 people there including Hank’s parents who were visiting and a handful of (the only) people we knew and the other band who played with us that night. The excitement of playing in New York City started such a fire in our bones that we didn’t stop and played every single show we were offered, hauling our gear in the subway and through the snow since we didn’t want to spend money on taxis. It came to a point where we were playing 3-4 shows a week in NYC alone. We then decided to spread our wings and started playing out of the city as much as we could. A weekend turned into a week which turned into a month and so on. Since arriving to the U.S, we’ve played hundreds of shows all over the country including some really awesome festivals and clubs. 

Last August we flew to Berlin to record our debut album at the famous Hansa Studios where U2, David Bowie, R.E.M, Iggy Pop and many more legends have recorded legendary music. We made the album with Swedish producer Ludwig Boss and had the most incredible musical experience of our lives. Our new EP, 'Ain't No Love,' featuring the first single "Sweet Potion," was released on October 22, 2012 and our full-length album is due in early 2013.

We’re forever grateful to all the people who believe in us, to all our fans who come to our shows and to New York City for being an endless source of inspiration. See you soon on the road!
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