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For the first recording with a band she assembled in 2021, Indianapolis-based singer Teresa Reynolds revisited songs from earlier in her career.
Because Reynolds and her supporting cast, known as the Slicktones, bring a new approach to tunes she wrote and recorded in 2010 and 2013 while living in New York City, “The Postal Recording Sessions” resurrects six songs from her solo debut release, “Aflame,” and its follow-up, “State of Mind.”
As the title suggests, the new album was made at Postal Recording, the studio that occupies a former U.S. Post Office not far from the former General Motors Stamping Plant site where construction is underway for a new Elanco Animal Health Inc. headquarters.
The group—Reynolds with bass player Poncho Hedrick, keyboard player Mina Keohane, guitarist Joshua Ginder and drummer Matthew Dupree—tackled the recording process in an old-school way: all members playing and singing at the same time.
“What I really wanted to capture with this album was the energy of what we do,” Reynolds said. “We played the songs live. I didn’t want to labor over it. It was important to capture the spirit of what the Slicktones are and what people experience when they come to see us.”
Reynolds describes the album as encompassing 1990s R&B, pop, soul, disco and jazz influences.
The group will celebrate the release of “The Postal Recording Sessions” Saturday at the Mousetrap Bar & Grill, 5565 N. Keystone Ave.
The show will include a three-member horn section—saxophone player Rob Dixon, trumpet player Theo Garcia and trombone player Charlie Krone—that contributed to the live-in-the-studio album.
Broad Ripple High School and Ball State University alum Reynolds moved to the East Coast after graduating from college. She explored comedy as a member of a sketch troupe and she toured the world as a backing vocalist for “I Will Survive” singer Gloria Gaynor from 2014 until Reynolds moved back to Indianapolis in 2018.
Reynolds said her skills improved through working with Gaynor’s band.
“Her band is top notch and it really helped me work on my professionalism and to make sure I bring my ‘A’ game,” said Reynolds, who recalls singing for an audience of 30,000 in Italy and playing a New Year’s Eve gig in Dubai.
The Indianapolis all-stars of the Slicktones show off their instrumental prowess on “The Postal Recording Sessions,” a release that includes two songs longer than 7 minutes and two others in the neighborhood of 6 minutes each.
“It’s definitely going to be a party,” Reynolds said of Saturday’s show at the Mousetrap.
One song on the album, “Stood Up,” recounts a New York City night in which a negative became a positive. “Silly me, I thought I was going out with a man,” Reynolds sings, “but I got stood up by a boy.”
“I wanted to take this thing that could be kind of heartbreaking and use it to empower myself,” she said. “That’s what I did that night. I was close to just staying home and feeling sorry for myself, but my girlfriend said, ‘Let’s go dancing. Go get dressed.’ We did and we had a blast.”
Teresa Reynolds & the Slicktones
- When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
- Where: Mousetrap Bar & Grill, 5565 N. Keystone Ave.
- Admission: $15 if purchased in advance.
- Info: Visit theteresareynolds.com.
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