LOCAL MUSICIANS BLOSSOM WITH THE SLANT

Three young musicians with Coudersport roots are making a name for themselves with "The Slant," a Pittsburghbased band that comes back to its roots July 19 for an appearance at the Dam Show.

Mark Zedonek, Zach Dow and Brad Austin - together with Andre Costello - have just released a fourth album, "Old North," which has received positive reviews (see sidebar).

Zedonek is featured vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. Dow, the drummer, and Austin, bassist, joined him in their teens and Costello, who performs on harmonica and guitar, came along after the local trio left Coudersport for college. All four musicians collaborate on songwriting.

They're currently living together in Pittsburgh, playing clubs and college campuses while riding the wave as professional musicians as far as it will take them.

At the same time, each member has focused on college commitments: Dow in music education; Austin, geography; Zedonek, writing, and Costello, art.

In an interview with New Sound Magazine, an online publication spotlighting new and upcoming artists, band members acknowledged the long odds of making a living as musicians:

"Doing this forever is our collective ambition and it would be amazing to find the means to keep it going. None of us holds on to his teenage aspirations, but we're probably the closest to our original hopes of moving people, including ourselves, with our music as we ever have been.

"We would really like to see a change in the music world that allows people like us to have a shot at getting noticed. But the likelihood of a big shot CEO from some record label hearing our music and thinking it is perfect for the demographic that keeps MTV alive is slim to none.

"We don't have a trendy look that the kids are going to want to emulate. We don't spend much time worrying about it and if five years go by and we still haven't gotten anywhere, we'll be content with knowing that we loved what we did."

Each member of The Slant appreciates the family support and sacrifices that have allowed the band to endure.