From sunrise to sunset on Parade Day in Hoboken this year, Blaire Reinhard was hard at work. But she wasn’t one of the many hospitality industry and public safety workers that logged long hours that day. No, in the midst of all the festivities, she and her band were shooting a music video for their new song entitled, appropriately enough, “Saint Patrick’s Day.”

The Blaire Reinhard Band, aka “The BRB”, performs in all the local music venues (Maxwell's, Texas Arizona,Whiskey Bar, McCarthy's, etc.) and they all live here in town. Although they enjoy playing at bars, they’re not your typical Hoboken bar band – during the week, they write and record music for TV and film. Their credits include the theme song to ABC-Family's Lincoln Heights, a song featured on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance, as well as an on-screen appearance with Alicia Keys and Nick Lachey on MTV.

Besides being a band of neighbors, they’re also mostly family. Lead singer Blaire performs with her husband, bassist Wade Perrin, and brother, keyboardist/guitarist, Gray Reinhard. They’re joined by good friends guitarist/mandolin player Phil Ward and drummer Keith Woodward.
As for their style, says Gray, “It’s contemporary rock that draws heavily from roots genres like blues, folk, and gospel.”

When it came to the video shoot, though, Gray notes, “We were definitely nervous about trying to pull off a shoot on Parade Day, but as difficult as we anticipated it being logistically, it was exactly the scene we wanted to get.” Adds Blaire, “It was an incredibly smooth shoot because we had a very clear idea of what we were looking for because the song was written about a day very much like [that] Saturday.”

In March 2007 – after a 3,000 mile drive from LA – the band arrived in Morristown, NJ just as that city’s parade was winding down. Green-garbed and inebriated people were everywhere just as the band drove in, tired and sober. For the brother and sister who grew up in nearby Morris Plains, though, there were familiar faces from the past all around, and the entire celebration didn’t seem that unfamiliar, but for Blaire’s husband and band guitarist Wade Perrin, an LA-native, it was bit of a shock.

The song itself came together pretty effortlessly. Last spring, Gray was playing his guitar, and the sounds were so evocative that Blaire just started singing along. She notes, “It really matched the feeling of that day. It’s very nostalgic and has a very East Coast feel to me.”

The video for “St. Patrick’s Day” was directed by Davin Michaels, who they met through a friend on a project for MTV and had only contacted the week before the shoot. Adds Blaire, “It’s kind of amazing that he was free and willing to do it on such short notice!”

Especially given the credentials of Michaels and crew members Christopher Saunders, Ian Sotzing, and Seth Hauer. Michaels, Sotzing, and Hauer all worked on the crew of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and Michaels has worked on films including The Bourne Ultimatum and I am Legend.

Of course, intoxicated parade-goers did create some obstacles during the shoot. “If you have a camera on a tripod,” says Blaire, “everybody wants to get in on it.” But, focused and determined, she handled it all with aplomb. And though the crew initially found it an adjustment to allow people to interrupt and get into the shot, they, too, came to realize that this was part of the story of the video.

Performers in the video include Blaire Reinhard, Gray Reinhard, Wade Perrin, and Phil Ward. Keith Woodward was unavailable to do the shoot that day but is their usual drummer and performed on the recording of the song.

Gray’s girlfriend Yi-Mei Truxes also plays cello on the recording as well as in the video, but her portion of the video, they explain, was recorded from the safety of indoors! Gray points out that her instrument is just too beautiful to be taken out into the midst of what was happening on the streets. But they note with a laugh that they did pull her away from her own party that day to shoot her quick cameo.

The video is due out just in time for the actual Saint Patrick’s Day, which is also coincidentally Blaire’s birthday! Check it out at youtube.com/blairereinhardband.

Members of the band perform regularly at Texas Arizona every Thursday, and on Thursday, April 7, the full band will be participating in a fund-raiser for a Relay for Life team to benefit the American Cancer Society. For more information on The BRB, their albums Steps on the Ceiling and Concert for Lauren, and the latest on upcoming shows and releases, go to www.blaireband.com.