Alanna acting Civilized for third album

Jewish Telegraph, September 2013

INTRIGUINGLY-named alternative rock band Jews and Catholics have acquired a new member and released their third album.
Alanna Meltzer-Holderfield and Eddie Garcia have been joined in the band by drummer Tyler Reeder for new album Civilized.
The group was originally known as Jew(s) and Catholic(s) — but the brackets played havoc with internet search engines.
They released their debut album, God’s Trash, in 2007 and followed it up with the four-track EP Inside.
Three years ago, they released Who Are? We Think We Are!, which was dedicated to Alanna’s father Frank, who died in 2001.
Alanna, 30, was born in a small town in Idaho — one of just a handful of Jews in the area.
“It made me a stronger person,” she said. “My parents were from very Jewish backgrounds.
“I had a few problems growing up. Some people, when they found out that I was Jewish, wouldn’t let their kids be friendly with me. It’s very sad that that happens in this day and age.”
Alanna, who plays the upright bass, discovered a couple of years ago that her father had tried to play the same instrument when he was young, but his school put a stop to it because they felt jazz was evil.
“My mother, Janice, loves our music,” Alanna told the Jewish Telegraph three years ago. “She comes to a lot of our concerts and is my biggest fan.
“My dad came to all my performances when I was growing up and I know he would be proud of what I do in Jews and Catholics now.”
Alanna visited Israel for the first time in 2009 with Birthright.
“I had my 26th birthday in Tel Aviv,” she said. “It was incredible. It was my first time out of the country, so that made it even more amazing.”
The nine-track new album was recorded on analog tape in their home town of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“Civilized marks a bit of a departure from some of our earlier work,” Eddie said. “The inclusion of live drums has brought out our more primal and instinctual elements, resulting in a record that’s much more intense and full on rock ’n’ roll than our previous releases.
“The vinyl format is perfect for this kind of immediate sounding record.
“We took great care in the design of the vinyl too, from the artist selection (Andrew Fansler), typography, hypno-circle lyric sheet, and translucent coke bottle green vinyl with bone, swamp green, and oxblood splatter.”