Type in www.paypal.com then you will be prompted to put in the email account - msswartz@chartermi.net.Tickets are $5.50 each. Be sure to type in a contact name as we will check the list @ the door on July 16th. Hope to see you @ White's!
Deconstructing Rothbury
Only in its second year, the Rothbury Festival is gaining a reputation as one of THE major summer music events in Michigan. It’s no wonder with heavy hitters like Bob Dylan, The Dead and Willie Nelson headlining the event with over 60 other acts, many of whom are stars in their own right. This year’s attendance was estimated to be about 36,000 with a paid attendance of 33,700. There’s gold in them hills, brother.
After following MapQuest directions to a “T”, my son Ryan and I were hopelessly lost for what seemed to be an eternity until a kindly native pointed the way. I followed a burgeoning traffic jam into an empty non-descript field not sure I had reached my destination - there were no signs , banners or billboards that proclaimed this modest field to be the mighty Rothbury. But it was indeed the entrance to the soon-to-be legendary site. I was pumped and primed and ready to go. But much to my dismay I soon discovered that my campsite was not in a campground but in a muddy field and we were shoe-horned into a small area, within feet of at least 12 other small tents and sleeping bags. It housed 14, 000 automobiles and 500 RVs - very intimate - the kind of squeezed intimacy you reserve for laboratory rats - gimme some cheese ‘cos I don’t care. I’m here for the music and I’ll commune with my brothers and sisters in the spirit of peace and love. I’m letting my freak flag fly - ‘cept… I’m the fly in the freak sherbert. I stood out like Mommar Khadafi kneeling at the synagogue. Freaks would walk by and NOT offer me any acid or dope. That’s how straight I am. I’m just too transparent - every ounce of my being looked and smelled and walked straight. Don’t they know that 35 years ago I was cool and got stoned and turned on?
Hmm…so after I arrived and unpacked I called Bob Martin from Review Magazine. I knew he was at Rothbury on a Press Pass. I dialed and it went into voice mail…
“Hey Bob…this is Bo. Just got in. I’m in the back over by this huge Grateful Dead banner…only one on the grounds. Give me a ring and we’ll hook up. Oh…by the way, don’t do the brown acid. Peace…Bo”
He never called back.
No matter. I was busy planning a busy itinerary, at least four bands each day – Jackie Greene, Son Volt, the Black Crowes and the Dead on Saturday; Toots & the Maytals, Willie Nelson, Ani Difranco and Bob Dylan on Sunday.
In the meantime I was diggin’ the Peace & Love vibe. Flags and banners proclaiming peace on earth, tie-dye and body painting, nudity and altered states of consciousness …right next door to an ATM. The jewelry dealer plays loud funky jams and Ahli Babas has all the latest in Grateful Dead raiments. Wormtown, Pure Funk and Family Silver take credit cards and various food vendors gladly sell you a $4 cup of coffee but don’t pinch you for cream and sugar.
That’s just the licensed vendors.
In thge midst of the muddy campground free-form capitalism prevails, everything is for sale and the prices are better. Coffee, beer, tacos, omelets – no problem. Hash, coke, columbian, mollies, rolls, headies - anything goes. Buy some jewelry and get a free beer or a lighter. Rothbury and Grateful Dead T’s were only $10, half the price of the licensed vendors. A caste system seemed to evolve almost immediately– the wealthy and entitled had huge campers and RV’s. Some had back stage passes; the middle class sites were neat and clean with expensive tents and rigging for showers. The ghetto was sleeping bag-on-the-ground dirty. The inhabitants did not bathe and were drinking PBR doing speed and smoking cheap dope. They would stay up all night, never sleeping, greeting the morning red-eyed and incoherent, screaming obscenities and selling anything that was not nailed down. They never seemed to budge from their perch or attend the shows.
Guess Peace and Love has a down side.
Somehow I landed feet first amongst all the mirth, mire and mayhem.
Couldn’t miss it; Couldn’t ignore it.
I had to walk through it every time I wanted to see a show or use a shower or a portable toilet. It took 30 minutes just to reach the gates to the festival, another 20 minutes to find the stage. It was a good workout and proved to be physically exhausting especially in the relentless summer heat that kindled and sparked throughout Rothbury on July 4th. Shade was at premium and it could only be found in its cooling glory at Sherwood Forest, a section of tall pines filled with hammocks, soft music, eco-friendly sculptures and otherworldly lighting. It was HEAVEN. We would use it as a respite, a temporary reprieve from the uncompromising sunshine and heated-up air.
July 4th was a glorious day for music. Jackie Greene opened my day with an energized set. I first get to know Greene through Sal Valentino, the legendary singer of the Beau Brummels. They did a Dylan tribute CD a few years and that’s when I discovered the absolute truth of ISIS, the goddess/harlot we all desire but never possess. Greene opened the show with Don’t Let the Devil Take your Mind, a throbbing insistent rocker with big hooks and great vocals. Greene’s got it all – a fantastic singer with good pitch and tone and a fine guitar slinger. This is one of the best jaw-dropping super-sonic openers since I saw the Guess Who open with Bus Rider in 1972. From the soulful “Farewell, So Long Hello” to a funked up version of the Beatles “Taxman” and the blues rockin’ closer “Like a Ball & Chain”, Jackie Greene displayed a superstar talent. He stole the show! I haven’t been this fired up about a band since 1971 when the Eagles played Pine Knob and I sat behind Glen Frey’s father. It was an absolute hoot and the Eagles were still young and full of piss & vinegar, rocking their asses off - not like the lame show they did at Tiger Stadium 20 years later, going through the motions and selling cars and joining Bob Seger in a musical purgatory so deeply self-indulgent that it reaches down to the first five circles of hell. The Heat is On is every bit as good as Shakedown.
And I mean it.
Son Volt was also one of the musical heroes of the event. The leader Jay Farrar helped ignite the alt-country movement with his band Uncle Tuepelo. His show was a countrified tour-de-force with a big full rockin’ sound provided by the prominent use of pedal steel and lap steel, fiddles and organ. The aural landscape is breathtaking and Farrar’s vocals are strong and central to the mix. I didn’t know his music prior to watching his performance but one of the highlights for me was Cocaine and Ashes, Farrar’s tribute to Keith Richards. It seems that when he heard that Keith cut some cocaine with his father’s ashes and then snorted them, Farrar was inspired to write a song about it - a son’s oddly compelling gesture of love for his father.
The eagerly anticipated Black Crowes performance drew a big crowd and the opening was electric with a percussive groove like Santana doin’ Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock. Good vibe. The Robinson Brothers are a compelling presence. Chris is a fine soulful singer with good range and brother Rich is an exceptional guitarist (influenced by both Nick Drake and Duane Allman – whew). The band is expert at creating tension in the interplay between instruments – guitar, drum and organ and building excitement through soft or quiet musical interludes followed by a thunderous roar of guitars. There is a harder edge to their sound and more improvisation. They won the crowd over with familiar songs such as Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution and Jealous Again but my favorite was a new song, the rocking I Ain’t Hiding. Still…it seemed that I couldn’t quite connect to the Crowes. Maybe it was their soulless formulaic proficiency and the lack of spontaneity that got to me. Like a metronome, no one missed a beat. Ultimately, the Black Crowes undoing was having nothing new to say.
The Dead ended the night and what a night. The Odeum was packed with barely an empty yard of grass visible underneath the sea of people standing throughout the performance. It was spectacular though it started slowly with a pointless meandering jam that segued into Sugar Magnolia. The myth may be greater than the band but the performance was electrifying. Especially for those who altered their consciousness. It is what you believe it to be. So what’s the buzz about? It’s about the buzz, stupid. As is typical for the Dead, the singing is often off key. And when they harmonize, different voices go sharp and flat at the same time. Cool effect. And I loved it. Warren Hayes proved to be the linchpin of the Dead. He can do it all. He is a fantastic guitarist and a strong singer who does not drift off key, a splendid replacement for the much loved and missed Jerry Garcia. Other notable songs include the wondrous crowd pleaser Friend of the Devil, I Know You Rider, Loose Lucy (with a great Haynes vocal) and Morning Dew. It was a good show despite the mythology. I hope we hear more from the Dead.
Sunday July 5th. Get up at 6am. I’m cold from the overnight chill. Coffee. I need coffee. I’m still dressed shoes and all. I get up and walk toward the sun. As my eyes regain their focus and as I look around I gradually realize that I’m not alone. There must be hundreds of people milling about…maybe a thousand or more – they are roaming the site, most are intoxicated or wired on something. Several young men are dirty and disheveled, some are shirtless. A few young men and women who are holding fresh cans of PBR stop to vomit and continue their aimless driven journey. Several women are squatting out in the open to relieve themselves, portable toilets just a few yards away. Some are talking to themselves; some are singing. Some approach me and begin talking an incomprehensible language. They have been up all night without sleep. There is a group of all night ravers and coma-brain road cannibals pounding congas and loudly chanting, a young woman is straddling a giant inflatable phallus with the inscription “Ice Cold Herpes”. She is dancing somewhat rhythmically, curiously lacking the intended erotic tension. I just look at them and turn away… and pick up my pace. I’m a bit frightened by these sights and sounds. I see these young men and women, not much more than children amble away in red-eyed pursuit of an American illusion- this communal spirit of peace and goodwill.
I believe it still exists. But you have to look hard for it… real hard.
Toots & the Maytals opened up the day @ 1:45pm. Toots is the cat that coined the term reggae. Toots is a consummate showman who uses every trick in he book – drops names, makes dedications, uses call and response, sing-a-longs, shameless self-promotion, and sincere insincerity directed to the audience e.g., “you are so beautiful you look so marvelous…you make me want to SING”. But he’s the real deal. He has the crowd eating out of his hand with “Reggae Got Soul”, Funky Reggae, and a funked-up reggae-fied version of John Denver’s Country Roads. The crowd is dancing and throwing Frisbees, digging the mellow rasta vibe. He sings, “You know who I am; I wanna know who you are”. He is a master of improvising much like British blues rocker Eric Burden. Toots dedicates “Peace in Jamaica” to Willie Nelson and at the end of the song he proclaims “You all are my friends.”
And I believe it, all of it.
Willie Nelson is like your favorite old chair. It’s broken-in and comfortable, looks a little ragged but that’s OK. And if you kicked it to the curb, you’d sure miss it. Willie may be past his prime but he’s still a skillful acoustic guitarist and his sister is one of the best pianists in country music. He pleased the crowd with all those great hits - On the Road Again, Whiskey River, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain, Mama Don’t Let your Sons Grow Up to be Cowboys, Always on My Mind and so on. Willie is definitely comfortable in his own skin. He can do country swing, blues and jazz…anything. He just can’t sing like he used to. Listening to Willie is like having a good conversation with an old friend.
Let me tell you about Ani Difranco. She is GREAT and wonderful and has energy and spunk and is willing to speak her mind. She also writes fantastic songs based in the new realness with a type of clever lyricism that finds multiple truths through paradox and metaphor. She is a fountain of dialectics that can tease you toward accepted wisdom only to debunk it in her very next breath. She is a new age folky who can talk about politics, power and injustice without flinching. She can be wistful, even melancholy then smash your preconceptions with a wicked sense of humor. She is an expert at kidding in the square – using humor to reveal a deeper truth. She pokes fun at those who find themselves hungry while they’re eating their words. Difranco is a known artist yet still somewhat obscure. She introduced her song “November 8th, 2008” with the rap,
“I love Barack Obama. How the fuck does someone become Barack Obama? He inspired us to become citizens once again and taught us that a world gone mad can grow sane. You’ve risen like the phoenix.”
Truth and political commentary in the same breath…so refreshing, like spiritual altoids.
Difranco could just be the new Dylan.
Speaking of Dylan…this rock god deserves his name. He is a pioneer bold and gutsy. So what if he went back to his roots - 12 bar blues, jazz and grizzled folk. His set could not possibly have meant much to the thousands of teens and young adults in the crowd. They did not seem to know Dylan nor did they seem care to know him. They wandered up and down the hilly amphitheater talking throughout the show and passing around the hash pipe (generously), grinning knowingly and almost ignoring the music.
One day - I can hear it now - they will say to their grandchildren, “Yeah, I saw Dylan…he blew me away.”
But my experience of Dylan is different. I knew his work from 1964 onward but never quite understood him. Yet as the years past I started to appreciate his intelligent convoluted lyricism and primitive approach to rock n’ roll. I began to listen and hear at least part of his message. Tonight I listened to an entirely different musical landscape. Dylan’s new songs spoke clearly and plainly about our unspoken primal fears of aging and death and even worse, when age mutilates what we have been. And in his next breathless growl Dylan smashes those wordless spiritual longings to bits. He is not going to limp through life. He is going to dance! Like gazing at a mirrored reflection, I can somehow see myself through Dylan’s hoarse half-spoken truths. Much of his set consisted of recent material from Modern Times, songs like Rollin’ and Tumblin’ Spirit on the Water, and Nettie Moore. And I loved his re-worked version of Tangled Up in Blue. I did not know what to expect of Dylan …is he another past-his-prime pioneer like Willie or a grouchy old dog on his last bark and snarl? Both and neither. As a rock icon on par with the Beatles and the Stones, Dylan is supposed to deliver something wonderful…meaningful.
And he did.
So here’s to Rothbury, a festival that didn’t quite live up to its hype yet provided us with a glorious dusty dharma. I can’t say I enjoyed the experience but I am sure glad I went.
Peace
Bo White
The Whitey Morgan Interview
Once Your Down in Texas Waylon is still the King
Whitey Morgan is one of them true believers. He’s a country rocker in the tradition of Waylon, Hank and Willie. You know the type, a purist with a vision, a shoulder walking straight talking dude who sure as hell wouldn’t want to be called a dude. He’s more comfortable onstage than when he is alone, especially when his guitar needs to be re-stringed and his muse dried out for the night. 150-200 gigs a year. Whitey would never admit it but sometimes he gets tired - too tired…but too wired to sleep, mind’s full of thoughts, lyrics, chords and longing. There is a price to being Whitey Morgan …
As a child growing up in Flint, you were certainly influenced by its post industrial sprawl in terms of what is right and good; what is of value and what could be discarded; violence and racial attitudes; trust and respect for government. Can you speak to how Flint helped to scaffold your musical vision and talent?
I could talk about what it was like growing up in flint and talk about what I think about Flint and its roots and demise for hours. If you meet me, just get me started on it and I will bore you all night. But I can’t really claim that it is ever directly related to anything I have written. I’m sure that others would disagree about what affect it has on my writing. As far as vision and talent, it was traveling to other states and seeing where this music can take me and the respect I have received from people that I look up to that pushes me to be better every day. Which in return gets me outta Flint most of the year. Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of where I come from. Like I said just ask me on any night in a bar. I will tell you how great Flint once was and how there are still things that I love about it. Mainly Halo burger and Big Johns come to mind right now, although it is lunch time.
I heard that your grandfather was a good country guitarist. Did he teach you how to play? How did he influence you?
He is and will always be my biggest influence. He taught me my first G chord around the age of eight. G is still my favorite key to sing and write songs in. He also had a great singing voice. I still try to sound just like him.
How long have you been playing professionally? Where did you get your lucky break?
I don’t really know what playing professionally is. If it means that you don’t have to worry about bills anymore, than I'm not quite there. But close. I don’t think I've had a lucky break yet. I do have a lot of people that work hard and still put up with the bullshit that comes with being in a hard working band. I guess I’m lucky that they stick around.
In one of your early shows at the Machine Shop, you opened for country rebel David Alan Coe. Can you tell me about that gig?
The crowd was great that first time we opened for him. I still have people tell me that was the first time they seen us. As for Coe, I never got to meet him. We are going on our 7th time opening for him in Pontiac this October. I did talk to his guitarist Jon that first night and we still talk quite often when we are both out on the road
How did you come up with the moniker of Whitey?
I would say the first time I got called Whitey was at Cody Elementary in about the 3rd grade. It was a mostly black school at the time and I played basketball every recess. I would always hear “we'll take whitey on our team” or “white boy”. It continued throughout the years. When it was time to pick a name for this country thing, it just worked.
How do you come up with ideas about songs? Sometimes it sounds like you write as if you are standing outside of yourself and observing your life, and commenting about what its like to be Whitey Morgan, almost as if Whitey is an alter ego.
That’s pretty accurate actually. Before I ever write a word, I always come up with the idea of what the song is about and who is singing and from what point of view. Without that, I would just start writing words that have no direction and I end up throwing the song out. I took throwing out a lot of songs before I figured that part out. But it’s different for everyone I guess. I guess it is an alter ego, its fun to be Whitey sometimes.
I can hear the “Waylon” influence in your singing style and your songs. When did you first get hooked on Waylon Jennings? How did he inspire you?
Actually, Waylon kinda came to me later I guess. I was so obsessed with Merle Haggard, Hank Williams and Jimmy Martin in my early country days. When I tried to write like them it just seemed so forced for me. But when I started diggin into Waylon’s 70s stuff, it just clicked to me. He had such a stripped down approach to arranging and chord structure that I just grabbed onto it right away. It came natural to me, and he was just so damn cool.
You played with the Waylors a few years back in Nashville in a Spirit of the Outlaws show. What was that like for you?
It was unreal !!!! It was at a time when all I listened to was Waylon’s live double disc that had just been released. I was so into all the players on this recording. I got to meet my hero, Richie Albright. Waylon’s right hand man and long time drummer. To me it was as good as meeting Waylon himself. He and Waylon were the ones that created that outlaw sound, that by the 80s everyone had copied. I had so many questions for Richie, but the answer I got most of the time was “Hell, I don’t remember most of that stuff Whitey”. But sometimes he would give you a story so detailed it was like it had just happened the day before. It was truly unreal.
You have some great players in the 78’s – Leroy is a fluid guitarist that matches speed and dexterity with tonal brilliance. Jeremy is a rock solid bassist that lays down that serious bottom that holds it all together. Can you comment on your band?
Well, the sound we have now, did not come easy. A lot of hard work and around 150 shows a year developed that sound. I’m damn lucky to have all of the 78s behind me, on and off stage.
I heard that you are a fantastic drummer. True? Where did you learn the drums…who inspired you as a drummer. Do you look for a drummer that has your sense of time and dynamics?
I would say I was a solid drummer. I don’t play anymore, but I do miss it sometimes. It was just something that I picked up somewhere when I was in my teens. I look for a drummer that is solid and understands that drum rolls are not my favorite thing to hear. Keep it simple and in time please. haha
I notice that you have an almost brutal tour schedule for this summer. In fact, on the day of your gig @ White’s Bar you are also performing at the Ann Arbor Arts Festival. How is it that you can summon up the physical stamina and energy and emotional balance for such a demanding schedule?
It’s easy to play, its harder to not play. I wouldn’t have it any other way.I can’t wait to play 200 shows next year.
How did you hook up with the Deadstring Brothers?
We have had a lot of mutual friends for quite a while, telling us how great the other one is . We finally met up about a year ago and it’s been great. We both have a love for great music and being on stage as much as possible.
Rockin’ With The Deadstring Brothers
A Little More Ronnie and a touch of Keef
What can I say? The Deadstring Brothers are like a musical Nirvana. Often compared to the Exile on Main Street Rolling Stones and the latter day Faces, the Brothers stir up a wondrous elixir of 70’s British Rock and hybrid Country Outlaw music. I just can’t get enough or ‘em; They evoke a feeling in me that I haven’t had since 1971 when I put together enough scratch to comp me and my buddies tickets to see the Faces. But then, at the last minute , I caught a serious case of mono and lost 20lbs in the span of a week. I went anyway. And when I returned home, high from the intoxicating fever-pitch energy of true rock ‘n’ roll, you know what I told my folks…them cats can ROCK! Well, brothers and sisters, I’m preachin’ the gospel truth the Brothers rock like Sasha Grey insisting on another take till she gets it right. Just take a listen…
How can you get that lucky break when you make music with integrity, sonic masterpieces such as Sacred Heart or Tennessee Sure Enough yet the market covets music that is so immediately nameless and disposable?
I don’t believe in luck or lucky breaks, just hard work and playing music every night! I do appreciate your compliments though.
Is Masha, still with the band? I love her voice and her nuanced delivery. She has a soulful Bonnie Bramlett vibe.
Masha has left the band but still sings on the recordings and does the occasional gig with us as well. Bonnie Bramlett is one of the best singers ever and we all love her.
Kurt, your vocal style is influenced by Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and Nick Cave…not too shabby. Do you agree?
I don’t really think I sound a bit like any of those guys, though I am a big fan of them all.
Your music is a sonic wonder. How did you craft such a dynamic sound?
We have our own studio which allows us to work on music the way we want to, without anyone givin us any shit about it. It’s mostly all vintage gear from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s hence the tone that is that whole vintage rock thing.
A previous interviewer stated that your sound is full and rich and sounds great blasting out of your car window. I agree. Who produces you and how did you get such rich tonal perfection?
I produced everything up to the new record, which I co produced with my studio partner Dan Currie. He’s pretty must a vintage gear man as well and we just dig the tones from the 60’s and 70’s.
Detroit always has such great bands and you certainly rank up there with the best. Do you compare yourself to or are you inspired by other local/regional actssuch as the Forbes Brothers,The Muggs, Larry McCray, Whitey Morgan, Howard Glazer, Doug Deming, or Kim Wilson?
I’m a real big fan of Whitey Morgan & the 78s. They are some of my best friends as well. We all share a lot of the same influences.
How did you hook up with Whitey Morgan?
We just started going to each others gigs and from there hanging out and from there doing gigs together. They are my favorite live band out there these days and probably always will be. Ain’t no one even coming close to that true out law sound and they have three of the best guitars players around. Honestly they just put all the so called country bands to shame
Two of Detroit’s best bands - The Deadstring Brothers and Whitey Morgan & the 78’s are performing @ White’s Bar on July 16th. Advanced tickets are for sale on their websites. Tickets are also available at White’s Bar on the day of the show.
Peace
Bo White
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Blues From The Black Country
At 23 years of age Joanne Shaw Taylor is an uncommon blues purist. She’s an incredible guitar-slinger with a sultry voice who writes her own songs. Most musicians her age are rapping to syncopated beats and sampled music. Taylor has gotten rave reviews on her debut album White Sugar and has been gigging almost non-stop in Europe since she was a wee lass of 17 years. But age can be deceiving. Taylor plays like a seasoned pro and has already earned some pretty impressive credentials.
Henry Yates of the UK’s fastest growing music magazines Classic Rock marveled about White Sugar, “It is inconceivable that a young girl from the Midlands should be able to sing with Taylor’s sultry fire and smoke, throttle a guitar with the fleet fingered, hip-bucking soul displayed on the title track of this album, or write original material like Bones and Kiss The Ground Goodbye that takes up residence in your memory banks.
The BluesBlogger wrote, “White Sugar is tastefully done and is extremely catchy with plenty of blues, rock and soul…all ten of the album’s songs were written by Shaw-Taylor and they flow really well. She weaves her raspy vocal prowess with sweltering guitar licks beautifully and sounds natural doing it. It’s an impressive debut record and one I would strongly encourage my readers to fully explore. She is definitely a star on the rise”.
Dave Kingsbury reviewed her performance at a showcase event - The RUF Blues Caravan -featuring the RUF label’s female artists, “Joanne Shaw Taylor was the highlight of the night. Her Hendrix/Mayfield speedy rhythm patterns are exciting and accomplished and the phrasing of her guitar runs is quite breathtaking.”
Guitarist Magazine raved, “She plays with more attitude and flare than most. Massive potential here. Inspiring.”
The following interview with Ms. Taylor Shaw was conducted via the magic of cyberspace…
When did you first pick up the guitar?
I began taking classical lessons at my school when I was about 8 years old. My father and brother both played so there were always guitars around the house to strum. I was probably about 4 when I first picked one up but it wasn't till a little later that I really started to play. I started playing electric when I was 13 after getting in to the Blues via Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins.
Do you feel that growing up in The Midlands – the industrial blight of the Black Country – with its racial and ethnic conflict - provide the necessary conditions for creativity in music and the arts?
To be honest, I don't think I was ever really that aware of it growing up. I think Birmingham and the Black Country’s rich musical history had more of an Influence on me than anything, Bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, ELO and Slade. I like to think of it as the Rock City of England.
Are you familiar with another Midlands cat - Roy Wood and the Move? Did Wood leave a powerful legacy from his rocker days?
I wouldn't say he influenced me directly. The Move obviously had most of there hits before I was born. That said his presence is still felt on the Local music scene. He and Noddy Holder (Slade) actually co-own the best club in the Midlands that I play frequently, The Robin 2.
Your home town seems to have a similar spirit as Detroit, Chicago and Memphis where blacks and whites joined together to create incendiary forms of music. Do you share a sense of that experience?
Yes I think so. This will be my first visit to Detroit needless to say it's somewhere I've been eager to visit for sometime. There's certainly a similar spirit to the cities you've mentioned. The music scene here is less routed in the Blues obviously than Chicago or Memphis.
How was it that you were “discovered” at the tender age of 16 by rock icon Dave Stewart (Eurythmics)? What was it like for you to pass the audition, so to speak?
I did a charity show in aid of Breast cancer awareness in Birmingham organized by the band UB40. One of Dave's close friends was there and he passed along a demo to Dave who phoned me the next day and invited me to London. I remember sitting in Dave's Kitchen and playing him a slow blues song while he filmed it because he wanted to show it to Quincy Jones. Luckily being only 16 at the time I don't think I realized the gravity of the situation and was just glad to be out of school.
The quote from Stewart … “Last year I heard something I thought I would never hear…a British White Girl playing blues guitar so deep and passionately it made the hairs on the back of my head stand on end”…is that hard to live up to?
(Laughing) I never thought of it like that until you mentioned it! I don't think that comment was ever a "burden" obviously it's been quoted heavily in any press I've had but I always just took it as a wonderful compliment. Obviously I was very young when Dave made that comment (16) so I knew I had a lot of growing still to do as a guitarist and musician in general but was just pleased that I had such a talented and established musician offering me encouragement.
It must have been a daunting task to perform with seasoned pros like Mud Bone, Stewart, Candy Dulpher (Prince) and Jimmy Cliff in D.U.P. How long were you with them?
I toured with D.U.P on and off for about a year. That was an incredible experience to have at any stage of your career but to be 17 and touring Europe with that many diverse and talented artists was a huge blessing. I learned so much and they were a great bunch of personalities to work with. I think the main thing at that period in time was that I was being encouraged and receiving advice from as you say seasoned pros. Working with Dave, the thing he installed in me the most was the importance of working on becoming a songwriter and singer as well as a guitar player - that those two crafts were equally important in Blues as the big guitar solo.
What was it like to record your CD White Sugar with Jim Gaines, a legendary producer who had worked with one of your idols Stevie Ray Vaughn?
That was fantastic. He's someone I've wanted to work with for years, as you mentioned he produced some of the first Blues artists I heard, Albert Collins, SRV and Luther Allison and was always my first choice of producer to work with. I think we worked together really well. He had some great ideas regarding some of the song arrangements and about different guitar tones. He was really helpful with the guitar tones. Obviously over the years he's worked with some of the genre's best players and he's picked up quite a few tricks. I spent quite a lot of time in the studio harassing him to tell me stories about Albert Collins Amps setup etc.
I’ve listened to several of your songs and I was struck by the stunning sound of Going Home – that big full bodied sound you create with your Telecaster. Your melodic and powerful notation is reminiscent of late sixties Peter Green. Going Home could have fit nicely on Then Play On as a companion to his masterpiece Oh Well. Do you hear the connection?
I can't say as I ever heard the connection to be honest so I can't say it was a conscious one. I am a big Peter Green fan. I love his version of Freddie King's "Same old Blues". "Oh Well" is one of my favourite Blues/Rock tracks I'd probably record it if Kenny Wayne Shepherd hadn't already beaten me to it.
I love your sensual smoky singing. Were you inspired by any singer in particular?
Well firstly… thank you very much. Early on I was a huge Janis Joplin fan, then Dusty Springfield, Etta James. I would love to be able to sound like Mavis Staples but most of my singing practice is just trial by error. 10 years of singing in smokey Blues clubs has given me a little bit of rasp.
This is a tough market to crack especially for blues artists (typically our blues cats do better overseas than in the United States). Do you have a strategy to awaken this sleepy giant from its musical torpor?
I've heard the states is a tough scene to break into. Obviously given its history with the Blues it's a big desire of mine to be able to tour here consistently. No strategy as such, Right now I'm just focusing on putting on a good show that said I would love to break into the festival scene over here. You've got some of the best Blues Festivals in the world.
Any last comments?
Just to thank people for their continued support and I hope you like the album, Keep supporting the BLUES!
White Sugar was just released in the United States on May 12th and Ms. Taylor Shaw is preparing a brief American tour that includes a show at White’s Bar in Saginaw, Michigan. The gig is scheduled for on Wednesday June 10th at 8pm with the legendary Blues Creators opening. Don’t miss a chance to see the emergence of one of the bright lights on our musical horizon.
Peace
Bo White
Reed Recording Company
Creating Pictures with Sound
Andy Reed’s a true believer, young enough to appreciate the musical zeitgeist, and old enough bridge his creative impulses with an historical perspective about creating aural landscapes and capturing sound in a certain way. For instance Reed can speak to the benefits of both digital and analog recording. He is able to find that middle path, using both technologies to create a hybrid sound that is classic and warm but can be edited and corrected. His late seventies 8-track recorder, once owned in turn by Mark Farner and Dick Wagner, records bass and drums in analog thus receiving a better low end response by slamming the tape. By getting it really hot, you get tape compression that is transferred into a pro-tool program which is digital but still captures some the analog warmth. Confusing?
Reed explains it further, “It’s like when you take a picture with real film and you get that clarity and bright color. When you scan and print the photo, it looks pretty good and it has much of the original brilliance. But if you take a closer look, the quality of the reproduction is not 100%. You have to give up a little bit for the convenience of digital.” Reed is a student of sound reproduction whose work is inspired the incredible sonic sorcery of George Martin, Geoff Emerick and the Beatles. He’s gone so far as purchasing the deluxe edition of Recording The Beatles (curvebender.com) that describes in incredible detail all the studio equipment as well as their tricks and techniques in forging the revolutionary sounds on each of their albums. From there, Reed purchased a program called Reason that contains the Abbey Road keyboards. It samples all the famous piano sounds in Abbey Road.
Andy also told me about the Virtual Beatles Instrument collection from EastWest. It took EastWest over a year of research and equipment procurement and gathering a team together to put it all together. The team consisted of Beatles engineer Ken Scott as well as Wings stalwarts Laurence Juber, Denny Seiwell and others. Over a million dollars of authentic equipment was purchased – drums, keyboards, guitars and basses along with period amplifiers, microphones, recording consoles, and tape recorders. The result was a reproduction or sample of authentic Beatle sounds e.g., the flute in Strawberry Fields, the harpsichord on Because, or the heavy metal guitar on Ticket to Ride.
Reed, being driven by his impulse for quality and authenticity did not stop there. He found out that EMI contracted out the old mixing consoles at Abbey Road to Chandler Limited in order to recreate them. Reed purchased one complete channel of an Abbey Road Console that gives him the three complete stages of signal flow – microphone pre-amp, EQ, and compression. He even purchased a U47 microphone from RELUSO, a version of the tube microphones used by all the greats including Sinatra and McCartney.
OK. Reed is a - FANATIC…but loveable.
Andy Reed has been in the business long enough and is savvy enough to separate the wheat from the chaff and still keep his head above water. Beginning with incredible power pop wunderkinds The Haskels and even later with the Jedi Mind Trip franchise, Reed steps to the beat of his own drum. In doing Jedi covers, Reed’s alternate rebellion (giving the big FU in way that people don’t know you are giving them the F-bomb – like a woman wearing boxers under a dress – take THAT) is singing obscure songs that he actually likes.
BRAVO!
In his spare time he’s forged an identity as a solo performer with a downright stubborn tenacity to create original music that is both beautiful and though-provoking. He has a message and a mission that sustains his craft. With that in mind, Andy and I conducted the following interview in his home studio near historic Center Avenue in Bay City.
How long have you been in the music business?
Eleven years starting up with the Haskels, of course – with my brother Jason. From the very beginning we were writing songs and recording. My fondest memories are with the Haskels. We were young and hungry and very aware of wanting to be creative. We were gigging a lot for little money and driving all over the place. We even opened for Cheap Trick. I can never go back there, being that naïve. I’ve learned a lot.
You’ve recorded music in both band and solo formats. What are your personal favorites and why?
Now, it’s definitely solo. With the hustle and flow of life it’s harder to put together a band. And as I developed a personal style and perspective it’s harder to fit it into a band format. But I miss bouncing ideas off others…though I do it with Donny (Donny Brown of Verve Pipe fame). I’m really proud of Fast Forward (Andy’s solo CD, released in 2008) – just listening to it…I was proud of it. I’m on Kool Kat Music, a popular Indie Pop Label. They got Fast Forward released around the world. I’ve never had that kind of distribution before. absolutepowerpop.com named Fast Forward the 7th best record of 2008. It even got into Brazil’s Top 100. It’s funny, at the time I thought I liked the songs and performances on Fast Forward but I was wearing so many hats I kind of forgot what the overall sound was like. I felt good about the notoriety – people liked it!
One of my favorite songs of yours is Let Down by the Haskels. I love that monster guitar riff. How did you get that sound?
We recorded that on a digital 16 track we had at the time. I used a telecaster through my VOX AC30 amp (the amplifier preferred by many of the British Invasion acts like the Beatles and Kinks). That’s always been my tonal preference – the classic British sound. It’s a blend of the Telecaster and Rickenbacker guitars that have that tight punchy sound.
How long have you been producing CDs?
With the Haskels I recorded all the demos for Rewind, our first CD. Let Down was the first good thing I recorded on my own – that was about 2002 or 2003. The first artists I recorded outside of the Haskels and my solo stuff was Kenny Stahl and Brett Mitchell (both were wonderful 1st class pop constructions). They were a lot of fun to produce.
How do you define the role of producer?
Generally, a producer has to find the artists’ identity and styles, dive into their world and bring it out of them – to help them find their own unique sound…an artist may have many different perspectives. For instance, Brett Mitchell likes Wilco, The Beatles, Dylan – he’s all over the place so you have to find a happy medium – sound-wise and production-wise. Plus with someone like Brett, it gives the producer more options …a guitar lick in the bridge and a synth part in the verse.
How are you able to get the artist’s best performance…how do you define best? Is it technically perfect? Gritty? Does it convey an emotional integrity…a personal honesty?
It has to have all those things. One of the pros of recording digitally is I’m able to record several takes and choose the best parts.
What do you do if the music is good but the lyrics are hackneyed or trite?
I know my place. Depends on how I know the artist - the relationship I have with them. Sometimes I make a suggestion, especially if they ask. But typically I do not deal with lyrics. If the lyric or spot isn’t working. I might say it’s a Dylan thing. It gives the suggestion some credibility.
What do you do if the overall composition is sound, the lyrics are phenomenal but the band or performers do not have the chops?
Well, with Pro Tools you can edit so easily that you can make anyone sound good. I read a magazine Tape-Op that contains blogs that are really self-confessions of engineers and producers that take barely useable rubbish and Frankenstein the pieces together. If I had a situation somewhat like that I would just tell the band they are not ready to record.
As lead singer I imagine you are sensitive to the needs of the vocalist. How do you get the best performance? How do you coach the singer?
Well, it’s the same thing stylistically, knowing the genre and try to fit the vocal within that mode. You have to concentrate on pitch, emotion, tone and timing. If one of those things is off, I’ll stop the tape and we will start over. Pitch is so important and it’s hard to keep up. Singers will go flat or sharp so I’ll get them to sing the song 5 times – if the emotion is there I’ll take the elements that have the best pitch and vibe.
Same with guitar - you’re an imaginative guitarist. How do you coach and record the guitar-slingers in the studio. How do you help the artists not to over or under-play. To make an authentic statement without being too pretty or too sludgy
I just make a carefully placed suggestion. The really good musicians need the least amount of suggestion. But they are also the most open to suggestion whether its vocals, guitar or overall performance.
Can something be over-produced Like Roy Wood’s Wizard…too many layers?
I think so. If you have a song, chords, melody and lyrics, everything else is supposed to complement the song, not walk all over it. You think of a guy like Brian Wilson, a genius - that puts layers of production on his songs. But it all boils down to the song – if you take a great song like God Only Knows (Andy sings it accapella) – it will sound good whether it is accompanied by a 50 piece orchestra or just a guitar.
Do you like to insert tricks phasing, echo, backward reverb?
Oh yeah – when there is a spot for it. I use Geoff Emerick or George Martin tricks if it’s stylistically appropriate to the song.
As a former failed drum student of Bill Kemp. I truly appreciate the central role of the drummer and I despise drum machines. How much attention do you give to the backbeat? Do you prefer the pop and snap of power drummers like John Bonham of Led Zeppelin or the laid back groove Levon Helm created on Music From Big Pink – sounding more like beating on a cardboard box than a professional kit?
I love to record drums and getting the drum tones to match the music. Sometimes I may choose a “Ringo” groove or a big “Bonham” beat. I like big punchy sound and a nice bright snare riff that pops. I like to get the definition of the drums to cut through the mix. Donny Brown (of Verve Pipe fame) helps out in that department – and in a lot of other departments. I’ve learned more about production from that guy than listening to any record. He’s given me a hands-on approach to everything.
Some audio enthusiasts prefer the sound of vinyl records over that of CD, this despite the apparent technical advantages of the digital format.
Founder and editor Harry Pearson of The Absolute Sound journal says that "LPs are decisively more musical. CDs drain the soul from music. What are your thoughts about this view?
CD’s are too clear. You get a lot of separation…which can be a plus. With vinyl everything is grouped together more. It sounds like a band. In the sixties and seventies that was what the artists were mixing to. That’s what they heard in their head when they were recording. Dark Side of the Moon is a case in point. That’s what Gilmore and Waters heard in the studio.
It seems that there is a mixed views about analog recordings versus digital recording. It is thought that analog recordings have a warm sound lacking in the digital process. Famed record producer Joe Boyd (Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd, Maria Muldar ) discussed his views on making records in his incredible book White Bicycles.
“The five years I spent making records in London there were huge leaps in technology. From the four tracks I began with, we went to eight, the sixteen, , each increase doubling the tape’s width. Just before I left for California came the beginning of the decline; some bright spark figured outto squeeze 24 tracks on to the two-inch tape that previously held sixteen. The reduction in track width significantly degraded the sound quality. The best sound of all, of course, is straight to stereo, no mixing, no overdubbing - and no digits.”
What are your thoughts?
I agree 100% - that it is sound in its purest sense. The wider the tape, the fewer the tracks, the better the quality. Now they are trying to make the digital sound closer to analog. It gets better every year. Now it captures about 85% of the analog sound.
What about the Phil Spector –led “Back to Mono” movement?
I never mixed in Mono but I like the idea of it. It would be a lot harder to separate everything. I have no projects now that are appropriate for Mono.
Who are you currently producing?
I’m working with a country band Mandi Layne & the Lost Highway. I’m doing Brett Mitchell’s next record. We are so on the same page. He’s fun to work with! I’m also producing Dam Melnar, a singer songwriter from Lansing and the mighty Maybe August.
Is there anything you would like to add?
The bottom line is I’m part of making music and music is fun. I always find a way to express myself even if I’m just pushing buttons and placing microphones. Somehow I’ll make it all fun and maybe just maybe …someone is going to like it.
You can contact Andy Reed @ (989) 450-6749 or email him @ reedrecordingcompany@yahoo.com
Peace
Bo White
Spitting Nickels vs. The Muggs
Detroit Garage and Heavy Metal Popsters
...cool enough for Little Steven to lift his big fat marinara drippin’ jowls out of a hot tub of spaghetti
OK, I get the idea. We have some Detroit cats that claim to be the next coming of Lennon & McCartney – or at least Nickelback and Hinder. They rock till they pop on these economical and magnificent 3 minute and 30 second gems that have more hooks than the gong show and glorious monster riff’s lifted straight from Todd Rundgren’s playbook. I’ve listened to their MP3s and they do indeed have more than a little mojo percolating in their collective favor. To me Spitting Nickels have more of a three chord garage rock vibe that is more reminiscent of Roky Erickson’s 13 Floor Elevators than Big Star or Badfinger…except for the big-beat DC5 drum sound and soulful vocals. In the song The Bitch of it All , the Nickels sing about their true motivation…
They are not kidding. Listen to 4 The Hard Way on their MySpace page. It’s an all-out rocker with an “All Right Now” drum riff that gets you to sit up and salute your sergeant. Another tune - You’re the Bomb Soccer Mom - reveals a wicked sense of humor about one of America’s great national pastimes (banging soccer moms) that torture our children about as much as Little League (banging Little League moms).
In 2008 The Nickels released their debut EP The Hard Way to critical acclaim and scored a coveted opening slot on a bill with The Blues Oyster Cult in the “Rockin’ On The Riverfront “series.
John Bissa, bassist for Spitting Nickels, sat down wirh Review Magazine and had this to say about his band:
How did you guys get together?
How would you describe your sound?
You said Eddie was a fixture in the Detroit scene. What bands? How does he contribute to your sound?
Where did your vocalist Stormy Kramer come from? How would you describe his voice or vocal technique?
Whew that’s a cool-ass story…is it true?
Do you have plans to record a follow-up to The Hard Way?
Is there anyone in particular who has influenced your sound?
How did you hook up with the Muggs?
What’s happening now in the Detroit Music scene?
Tom Furtaw, Dennis Miriani and I went to school together in Detroit (De La Salle class of 1982) and we all shared a common passion for music. In the beginning we listened to the standard fare AOR played on radio stations like W4 and WABX. But by the end of high school we had embraced power pop and new wave and were ga-ga about anything coming out of England. The early eighties were wildly transformative for music in Detroit. The strict caste system that drove you to listen to certain music based ethnicity and income was being completely overhauled. You could listen to the radio and hear the Clash back to back with the B-52s and then Prince. Anything seemed possible. Tom said, “if the B-52s can be a band why can’t we?”
Spitting Nickels' sound is mongrel rock and roll with a strong leaning towards 1960s' British blues-rock and 1970s' US pop-rock. When you have five music nerds with a combined 100-year obsession with rock, you're certainly bound to get a wildly-broad pastiche.
Eddie is our drummer...
Eddie Baranek has been playing live for over thirteen years, most prominently as guitarist/frontman with the Sights. (The Sights released three full-length records and toured North America and Europe extensively.) He has also played with such bands as KO and the Knockouts, the Expatriates, Battling Siki, the Drinking Problem, etc but he is synonymous with the Sights.He is a fantastically gifted musician and singer. For our sound, the other bands members bring song ideas to the table and we all contribute to the final product. But there is no question, given his level of musicianship; he is the prime-mover in our sound.
I saw my first Stormy Kromer as a young lad of five when my grandfather, a railroad man, came home from work wearing one. Apparently I laughed at him and said, “Look at Grandpa and his funny hat. “ He looked at me with a wry smile and said, “Funny hat? Why it seems you don’t know the story of the Stormy Kromer.”
He then regaled me with the story of a minor league ball player who, when he was not playing ball, was a railroad engineer and a tough character. Stormy had lost a few too many hats to the icy winds whipping through his locomotive, so one morning he asked his wife to modify one of his baseball hats by sewing ear flaps on the thing. She also put ties on the front so Stormy could tighten the hat to fit his head. It was different from the traditional engineer hats and he took a lot of guff from the other train engineers, but Stormy loved his hat because it stayed on his head, high winds and all.
My grandfather met Stormy one cold winter day at a railroad terminal in Northern Michigan. They hit it off immediately and talked for over an hour. Seeing that my grandfather was freezing, Stormy handed him his hat and said, “Try this on.” My grandfather loved it. Stormy told him to keep it, saying, “Enjoy being warm Charlie, and don’t take any guff from anybody about how it looks. I think it looks good and if you’re warm and you like it, to hell with the rest of them.”
When I laughed at my grandfather in that hat many years later he told me, “Dennis, while it is important to take people’s opinion about you and what you do into account, ultimately you have to be happy and sure of yourself regardless.”
When I joined Spitting Nickels as lead singer I had never performed in front of people before, and I was extremely nervous about it. Around the same time I was in the Alphorn Shop in Gaylord, Michigan, and I saw a Stormy Kromer, just like the one my grandfather wore years before. The salesperson began to tell me story, but I stopped her and said “I already know!’
I then remembered the advice my grandfather had given me all those years ago, so I bought that hat (made in Ironwood, Michigan) and wear it proudly when I sing. I don’t know whatever happened to my grandfather’s original Stormy Kromer, but every time I wear mine I feel a little part of him with me.
No
We plan to be in the studio in August to record a follow-up. We have twelve songs ready to go
How clichéd is it to say "The Beatles?" But, at the end of the day, they gave everyone the vocabulary for modern song-writing. Toss in the Stones, the Who, the Faces, Spencer Davis, a bunch of Motown and you are on the right track.
Various members of the Muggs and the Nickels have been drinking buddies over the years -- hanging around the same watering holes and going to the same shows. We're huge fans of their music and were very eager to play on the same bill with them.
Music in Detroit is thriving. There are usually a dozen great shows every weekend and the music is comes from many different genres. It is easy to see as many as ten bands poised for a breakout year. We love being a part of this scene.
The Muggs are blokes with different strokes or, er…possess a hue and cry reminiscent of Brian Johnson doin’ Bon Scott backed by Leslie West’s Mountain Music. This is heavy metal take-no-prisoners power pop amped up to the max, overtaking Big Star and approaching the upper stratosphere of late period Badfinger. These cats rock hard and get down…way down - like Roy Wood on Turkish Tram Conductor Blues or Black Sabbath humping Nazereth to create a bastard child who surpasses every low expectation of his proud parents. Have Mercy - this is just too good to be true.
In 2005 they released their critically acclaimed debut Ugliest Band in the World (10CC would be proud) and began their ascendance in the Detroit rock scene. In 2007 they beat out 6000 other bands to audition for the Fox reality series The Next Great American Band. In a neon heated competition with sixty other hopefuls in the desert sands of Las Vegas, the Muggs became one of the 12 semi-finalists. They made it to the second round before being voted off after performing an ill-advised rendition of Elton John’s That’s Why They Call it the Blues which leads us back to the often misunderstood and forgotten ancient Zen coan - OM …Never do Elton John without a serious jock strap and a heavy duty cup. In 2008 The Muggs released On With The Show, their righteously anticipated follow-up the Ugliest Band CD. It’s a phenomenal work of a promise revealed - from the rock hard Get it On to the driving relentless psychedelic landscape of On With The Show. The band re-creates Beatlesque backgrounds that sound similar but different. Gonna Need My Help is an absolute brutal metal rocker highlighting Danny Methric massive contributions to the Muggs overall sound. His high scratchy tenor sounds a bit like Dan McCafferty and his guitar wizardry gives a nod and a wink to Tony Iommi combined with the rich tonal elegance of Jim McCarty (but less aloof).
Tony Muggs sat down at his laptop and answered the same old boring questions I always ask
I've heard you are the next big thing to come out of Detroit. What is that like for you to hear such praise?
That's news to us! haha. really, there are so many great bands in Detroit, even to be mentioned as one possible band to break out is quite flattering. i'd say to those reading this, come to Detroit and see the caliber of bands in and around Detroit. They're the best in the world and have been for years. Many times, it's a shame that people wait for the radio to tell them what's cool. They should realize, we've been here all along, we just don't have the opulent tour buses to show for it!
How can you live up to such a standard and still feel balanced?
Simple. Believe in yourself and play from the heart. if yer in it to 'get rich' or 'be a star' you'll be chasing yer tail more often than not. The Muggs started playing blues rock at a time in Detroit when it was most unfashionable and passe. We earned people's respect and now you'd say we're the next 'big thing'. Follow yer vision man!
What's your greatest strength as a band?
No ego. We are all brothers. We get along famously and have a collective goal.
Brothers…collective? – are you commies?
Huh…What the…?
How would you describe your music? I hear several influences that aren't mentioned in association with your sound such as late-period Roy Wood or Black Sabbath meets Nazareth with a little Leslie West on the side. What do you think? <
Man, all of those bands rule. We relish in the fact that our sound is of that ilk. We write originals so we sound like the Muggs. if you like Led Zepp or Hendrix, chances are we'll sound something like them but nothing at all like them because we are the Muggs. Follow me?
How did you hook up with Spitting Nickels?
Eddie Baranek is an old friend of the Muggs. He was in an amazing band called the Sights and continues to be in amazing projects like the Spitting Nickels. We met in 2001 and have been tight ever since. His projects always have a fresh feel and the spitting nickels have that and more.
How do see the current state of the current Music Scene in Detroit?
Alive and well. Detroit is and has been a hot bed of world class talent for decades.
Peace
Bo White
SPROUT
Performs the Music of the Beatles
WHITE ALBUM TRIBUTE
I attended the Sunday afternoon event. 4pm is a good time for me. My body, mind and spirit are still nourished with the energy of a sleepy day. I’m not hurried or harried and not any more distressed than usual especially when I’m accompanied by my grandson Gabe. He’s 9 years old now and loves music almost as much as skateboarding or running into or jumping off of things. We’re here to see his daddy Tim Avram do an edgy punk version of Helter Skelter, a song Paul McCartney defended by saying he likes noise. But I wasn’t shifting in my seat just to hear Beatle’s songs; I was there to pay tribute to Sprout, one of the best bands to ever come out of the Great Lakes Bay Region. Their CD When the Silence Breaks was one of the brightest and most cohesive collections of music released in 2008. Aaron Johnson is an undiscovered musical genius who writes great songs, plays masterful guitar and possesses an incredible bluesy voice that conveys emotional depth as well as humor and irony. I was braced for a great afternoon of music.
First off, I’ve not been to very many events at Pit & Balcony, a few plays through the years. I always enjoyed Stasi Schaffer’s craft and Mark Beaudin’s earnest over-the-top musings…at least he’s true to himself. Sometimes I get the sense that reading Marc’s Report from the Mountains is about as entertaining as one of my rants. Maybe that’s why I love him.
The songs sequenced to the order in which they appear on the original album so the show opens with Back in the USSR. Right away it’s obvious that the PA is not working properly the prominent guitar line and lead vocals are muffled. The sound is muddy, lacking power and unable to capture the dynamic interplay of the instruments. The monitors do not seem to be operating optimally and it appears that the musicians are not hearing themselves accurately. Still, Johnson is unruffled and is able to pull it off and soldier on despite the failings of the sound equipment. He’s got a great Smile Away smile. 31 songs are performed tonight - too many to review in this article - so here’s a few highlights.
I always thought Glass Onion was a throw-away, a bit lightweight musically .Lennon seems to be teasing those who pick his lyrics apart to find some special meaning or universal truth. In Sprout’s hands the music is fleshed out and has more muscle. Johnson’s voice is able to convey the tease. After a flubbed intro, Ob-la Di; Ob-la-Da but the recovers and it becomes a joyous romp.
Loren Kranz does a neat turn as the Bee in Wild Honey Pie only to return later to sing Honey Pie, McCartney’s vaudeville pastiche which is either cloying or endearing depending on your mood or point of view. To preface his performance, Kranz steps up to the microphone and says Let it Bee – perfect. Bit players in costume roam the aisles and stage throughout the show – a hunter with a rifle during Happiness is a Warm Gun; a pajama clad interloper during I’m So Tired. Matt Nyquist does a great job on Rocky Raccoon. In Lennon’s Julia (the last song recorded for the White album), she is the ocean child. Ocean child is the English translation for …Yoko – Lennon’s tribute to his mother is also a tribute to Yoko and Sprout sings it beautifully.
Ray Torres is one of the best guitarists in mid-Michigan and his take on While My Guitar Gently Weeps is masterful, gentle and searing. He also sings like Harrison. Great performance. Martha My Dear gets an extraordinary treatment with violin and horns and a nice vocal by Aaron Johnson. He finds his voice on this song. Sprout gives Piggies a bigger sound and Justin Weisenbach gives a fantastic performance replicating the harpsichord riff.
Mick Furlo gave THE premier guest performance on Yer Blues. He was simply magnificent. The song is desperate and emotionally devastating. Mick’s performance is powerful. Kudos to one of Saginaw’s greatest musicians!
Aaron Johnson absolutely nailed Revolution – Lennon’s disparaging ode to the new left and those freaks that hung up posters of Chairmen Mao in their dorm rooms and pretended to be hip. It was a song that railed against revolution – his message was ‘count me out’ - and the only destruction Lennon espoused was the destruction of constipated thinking and bourgeois values. Sprout developed a montage of video clips for Revolution #9 – hard to pull off as this is the only song most of us avoided whenever we listened to the White Album in 1968 (and we listened to it almost daily. I must admit that I never picked up the needle and skipped over it; I more or less tolerated it or pretended to appreciate its faux avant garde currency with those in the know. I was hopelessly unhip.
The show concluded with an encore, a brilliant performance of All You Need is Love with the entire ensemble of Sprout and guest performers. This 1967 masterpiece was recorded before an international audience of 400 million as part of a satellite broadcast called Our World, expressing a belief in universal peace and brotherhood.
Peace & Love to SPROUT and your many fans
Bo White
2/14/09 The TossPints
I must admit this was a difficult interview for me having to reign in this incendiary group of misfit intellectuals
and musical radicals.
When did the band first get together?
Zak: Well, Don and I have been brothers for a few years and John is dating mom and so we’ve been together as brothers
and friends for awhile
Can You recite any memorable Celtic limericks?
#####**%$$%#^%^$%1!
Whose your leader and why does he drink so much Guinness?
Don (the Leader): We don’t really have a leader we’re a democracy
Does each member have a particular role - like the quiet Tosspint, the cute Tosspint, the Piss-offed Tosspint?
John: Don’s all three
Are you a drinking band?
Zak: We’re really not a drinking band but we like to have a good time.
(Hmm, it’s 9am - can I have another Guinness…oops – you’re not writing that down, are you)
How did you come up with TossPints – what does it mean?
Don: It was the title of a song by the Pogues. It’s about a guy who is considered
worthless by his village because of his political views and is burned at the stake.
He says goodbye to his wife and children and tells them that what he did was right and moral.
It’s about the last day of his life.
Describe Your music - what’s Celtic punk?
Don: It’s Celtic music but it’s got more attitude that we are just…
Who are your influences?
Don: Shane McGowan of the Pogues. He’s an icon
Do you play any far out instruments like a Bouzouki, concertina, flutes, mandolin, Bodhran and the like?
Zak: Don can play them all. He can pick up any instrument and teach himself to play it in an hour.
He actually plays the Tin whistle and mandolin on some of our songs.
Don: Tough question. I like to have fun but I also like to write songs that have perspective and meaning.
Some of our song selection has a rebellious side.
Why do you think Van Morrison frowns so much…constipation…ancient celtic orneriness?
John: I don’t know the guy but I’d like to drink with him
You’re known to wear kilts onstage - How often do you get a tilt in yer kilt?
In unison: EVERY NIGHT
Do you have any plans to record?
Don: We have a CD in the works – all originals.
The Tosspints are a group determined to hone their craft and break down barriers that pigeonhole music and narrow musical perspectives. They are talented songwriters with a catalog of original world class compositions. Tosspint music is for all seasons not just March, not just for St Patrick’s Day. This is music for the ages – written in a perfect dialectic of irreverence and good times while giving a message that is at once rebellious and life affirming. Listen to Don Zuzula’s Sing To Kill, written while he was stationed in Iraq, a minor chord masterpiece that speaks to the rebel life in a war where power and repression sometimes trump courage and sacrifice. I Wanna Mulligan is John Johnson’s just naughty enough ode to America’s favorite National Pastime -through the lens of a Irishman – Baseball, mom, and apple pie…hell no - drinking, donnybrooks and debauchery is more like it…oh, yeah - and a little golf too. Zak Zuzula’s Soldier’s Song is inspired by the movie Braveheart – I love you, always have – it’s celtic punk with jangling guitars and a too real message of the fear and isolation a soldier experiences as he contemplates an unkind fate.
You can contact the Tosspints @ http://myspace.com//thetosspints
Or call John @(989) 737-0272
Peace
1/31/09 John Vasquez & the Bearinger Boys
This 9 track self-produced disc is a post modern Revolution #9 – a personal statement from the street that exacts a heavy toll on the listener. You need to pay attention to get the message. At first listen you may conclude that Vasquez lays it out in blunt-no-holds-barred lyricism - seems that he’s not one to mince words. Yet the themes hold both sides of his perspective – the lure of the streets, the cruel follies of the power-elite, and the love and redemption of new born baby.
The disc opens with Greed, a folk protest number with hints of Arlo Guthrie. Here Vasquez decries the avarice of the modern day scrooge. The American Dream becomes a nightmare with bailouts of the rich and recession for the rest of us - socializing risk and privatizing profits. It’s an old story with the same old crimes. Nate Kaiser’s searing and straightforward guitar work ignites the passion in the lyrics.
We Both Go Down Together is a one verse tone poem. The song’s lyrical economy is very compelling and speaks volumes in juxtaposition of Vasquez primal and sloppy guitar workout. He sounds like a young Dave Davies carving out his amp to get a distorted sloppy sound. Davies’ called it the “Fart Box” and the incendiary result was largely responsible for the success of You Really Got Me and All Day and All Of the Night. Vasquez may have discovered another way to scaffold his passion.
Talking & Walking is imbued with an electric/acoustic blend that finds Vasquez strumming with fury and speed like Ronnie Wood on Every Picture Tells A Story. He’s not a traditional singer, no – he doesn’t possess pipes like that. Instead he intones like Steve Earle. It’s an intimate yet strong voice that invites you to come in a little bit closer. In this song Vasquez is confessing his passion for existential truth – where’s the soul? What is right and what is wrong? Or are these just convenient terms, shortcuts that obscure what is really going on?
Ghetto Fabulous is minimalist to the core - a lyric consisting of two words that repeats the title. It starts out slow, with John’s quiet scat vocal embellished by the acoustic - a disembodied voice intones, “Its 2008 baby”. Background noise suggests a gathering of people – a party? Vasquez takes on both acoustic and electric dual leads like a one man Allman Brothers. He’s pickin’ notes @ 150 mph in the absolute rush of being ghetto fabulous. Is it real or a ruse? Who cares…it’s fabulous - with just enough ambivalence in the music to make you wonder.
On Every Note is another musical smorgasbord that mixes honky tonk riffs and rock & roll to great effect. The combination of electric slide over that swamp beat evokes a cacophony that matches the paranoia in the lyric….”Don’t worry about them, they’re up to no good.” Vasquez watches his own back - ”I don’t miss a step ‘cos I’ll go broke. Yet… his paranoia is real, born of experience and the code of the streets and a hard earned truth – “Just do it for yourself.”
The Other Side is a morose tale that carries a heavy load of doubt, guilt and anger but then balances these dark thoughts with sentiments that are life affirming. Ultimately it is a story of faith and resilience. It opens with a galloping guitar riff, the drums join-in and pound out an incessant beat that drives the uptight message. John sings, “My days have been dark and full of shit.” But counters that on the chorus, “But I’ll try real hard.” He vacillates between hope and despair…”I don’t know if I’ll make it out the other side.” Vasquez has a great gift for sounding as pissy as I feel – an unintended affirmation from one curmudgeon to another.
In Auto Pilot, Vasquez creates a perfect lyrical dialectic between hope and despair:
How many Funeral homes can you fit on one street
In the 4th verse he sets up the opposite sentiment:
The synthesis…
The Golden Gun is a folk blues that speaks of street violence and the terrible price we all pay for allowing our government to engineer an all but forgotten underclass of people born into violence, poverty and exclusion. A military shuffle in the middle eight completes the ominous message of the song.
The last song on the CD My Beautiful Boy gives us hope for redemption and renewal. It’s an honest portrayal of what its like to be a new parent - a young father - to experience the birth of a life that you helped create. It is at once a historical event, involving countless and nameless ancestors and a “brand new story”
One could complain about the muted sound quality, the muddy mix and primitive production values on this disc. It ain’t pretty. But that is precisely what makes this disc a near masterpiece with rhythms and dissonant sounds that match the rattle and hum of the streets. It’s raw and it’s honest. The message in the stark musical backdrop is a revelation – blemishes and all. Maybe it’s great because of the blemishes. This is real music not that analog crap that has made our music inhuman and disposable - codified by particular (and familiar) riffs, chord progressions, and hooks that are known to sell to a million to the masses.
John Vasquez has given us something rare, precious and beautiful - a musical chic that is too radically genuine to ignore.
If I had my say Life & Liberations would be the breakout disc of the year.
Peace
1/3/09 The Book of Franklin
Table of Contents
II. Aretha gets snarky
III. Aretha loses her microphone
IV. Aretha does Opera
Near the end of the show Aretha looked a little uncomfortable, as she squirmed and jiggled across the stage, shakin’ her left leg like she’s trying to shake out a swarm of locusts or an errant turd. The microphone picked up a muffled echo of something that sounded like a human voice strangling and desperate…"help me, get me outta here – I can’t breathe".
P.S. The stage hand was eventually peeled from a cavernous fold in Ms. Franklin’s lower stomach. He was delirious and hallucinating from the effects of severe dehydration and was suffering from sweat-induced Rosacea and psychological trauma associated with a terrifying back-to-the-womb experience.
I never did find out why Aretha was so strung out, uptight and in a bag. Maybe we didn’t show her enough love or maybe that “back taxes” thing came back to haunt her. Why work on New Year’s Eve if you don’t have to? Perhaps she needed a lucrative year-end gig to pay her bills and avoid foreclosure. We can all relate to Aretha. To hell with nobleese oblige. Life isn’t easy and it’s almost impossible to be gracious when that damn helium is blowing up in your face.
12/13/08 2008
Back to the American Music Awards - it was a spectacular mess, a wall of sound with big production, costumes, back drops and props. The artists seemed bask in the glow of a strategically marketed sales appeal and, perhaps, even believing in their own wonderfulness. I got this sick feeling that I was witnessing a rabid industry eating its young. In particular I felt bad for Christine Aguilera – a great singer reduced to showing off her underwear at the expense of her golden pipes, her greatest hits becoming a Busby Berkeley bump & grind straight out of the Prince of Pop’s book of hip gyrations and moon walking. STOP IT…YEEECCH.
Then there’s the 2008 release of Crosby Stills, Nash & Young’s Déjà vu Live CD consisting of 16 tracks culled from their 2006 tour. Now. Let me tell you. Those old bastards don’t have the gris gris anymore… but they sure did sing their asses off on this slab of reconstituted plastic. This is a truly historic document that captured Crosby’s accapella What are Their Names to most of Neil Young’s Living With War material as well as such old chestnuts as For What It’s Worth and Find The Cost of Freedom. It was a great listen!
Then I peaked inside the CD cover.
I decided I wouldn’t waste my time or yours by listing all the ripoff, only-in-it-for-the-money, tours and CD releases by young turks and bloated has-beens that love yer money but think of you as dumb stoopids unworthy of their greatness. So I won’t mention the Eagles’ 2-disc 21 song ode to their own self love, AC/DC selling out at Walmart or such a blatant money-making scheme as the Police Reunion tour – only $250 a ticket; got to get with it, brother.
OK, for every ripoff, there is something real and substantive…there’s still plenty of creativity out there.
Can’t help it but I love John Lennon – I believe he will forever be relevant. Even the Vatican media seems to think so. On November 23rd, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the White Album, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano praised the Beatles’ “unique and strange alchemy of sounds and words.” You may recall that in 1966 Lennon made some remarks about the Beatles being “more popular than Jesus now”. The result was a firestorm of protest in America and across the globe that included death threats and burnings of Beatles records. The article’s author says Lennon’s comments sound only like “a boast by a young man facing unexpected success”. I trust Lennon is much relieved.
But enough is enough. I will not stand – nor will I sit - for another descent into the flotsam of Paul McCartney’s musical past (or present) or another posthumous Beatles release - though I actively salivate at the possible release of the 1967 Pepper’s era Carnival of Light. If you really want the Beatles that badly, dig ‘em up and have your way with them. But please, for your own good, never – and I mean never – attend a concert by a Beatles’ tribute band. It will kill your soul and transform you into a flesh-eating zombie that feeds on the rotting carcass of your own false memories. And before you know it, your descent will be complete, and like Sisyphus pushing the boulder you will forever sleep-walk through the ponderous treacle of Oldies Palooza shows and worry about your annuities.
As a people we’ve become as slick and boring as our music whether it’s John Legend tinkling the ivories for Alicia Keys or the latest techno-dance party release by Britney Spears or Beyonce (Sasha Pierce). But then again, each of the aforementioned artists have paid dues and matured. And Spears’ comeback is nothing less than miraculous. So…there’s still hope for us?
Here’s some pretty good advice…
Memphis musician/philosopher Jim Dickinson once said that popular music co-opts, pre-empts and recycles the ideas of the original artists and that the music industry is “founded by the concepts of exploitation and greed.”
Ryan Fitzgerald formerly of Barbarossa joined Frank Bang’s Secret Stash, moved to Chicago and inspired Bang through his dedication to learning and perfecting his craft. Bang credits Fitzgerald for reigniting his passion for music! No small feat, indeed, as Bang has performed with many of the masters during his incubation with mentor Buddy Guy. Rocks elite clamored to get close to Guy - Santana, Clapton and Beck to name a few and Bang had jammed with all of them. And, yet - he gives his most heartfelt praise to Ryan Fitzgerald. Incredible!
Sprout released the magnificent Before the Fall and brought the musical community together in an incredible performance of the Band’s Last Waltz. At the time of its release, in 1978, it was hailed as the greatest rock documentary ever filmed. By and large, it received rave reviews from rock critics as well as film critics. Closer to the truth, it was an indulgence that evoked dissenting points of view. Bill Graham, the show’s host said it was, “the worst goddamn piece of shit I’ve ever seen in my life.” The Band’s Drummer/vocalist Levon Helm panned the event and disagreed with Scorese’s worshipful indulgence of Robbie Robertson (to the exclusion of the other members of the Band). Neil Young gave an inept performance of Helpless with a huge rock of cocaine dangling from his nose – “like a white M&M”. Though Scorsese and Robertson wanted to leave the shot untouched – “it’s rock & roll, it’s the real thing” - it was eventually rotoscoped away at a cost of thousands of dollars…”most expensive cocaine I ever bought”, mused Robertson. Ultimately the Last Waltz transcended the expectations of its own hype and became something of the Holy Grail of rock & roll films. Bless you Sprout.
The emergence of several notable artists on the local scene was no less than a godsend, like a fresh shave after a three day growth, a firm breast in an empty hand, a…well, you get the picture. John Vasquez and the Bearinger Boys brought folk music back to the table with energy, off-beat originality and more than a little nerve. The Tosspints created its own genre – Traditional Irish and Celtic Punk Rock & Roll – and wrote songs with a Celtic feel and a punk beat that sent a message that spoke of freedom and injustice – an incredibly impassioned dialectic that works at several levels…can you dance and protest at the same time?
Then there is a long list of nameless, below the radar bands performing at American Legion Halls, VFW’s and Falcon Clubs – what else can you do at a Fish Fry or on Hamburger night? Listen to bad covers of bad songs and LOVING IT. Drink some more beer and shake shake shake your booty. Go ahead, have a good time, go home and get a little. You all deserve it. The tri-cities have something for everybody don’t settle for anything less.
The Vomiting Skull
and
Illuminated Manuscripts
I was forced to edit out the most salacious, dastardly and profane bits – and that was just my questions.
Yeah, the Tosspints brought out the best in me. This close-knit threesome literally takes the bull by the horns and
runs the game. I could hardly keep up. I was like a post-Exorcist Linda Blair grousin’ about the demon inside her back
when she was doin’ the super-freak with Rick James. At times I felt like a red-faced parent draggin’ the kids to yet
another excruciating soccer game. But I was both the parent and the child and the Tosspints were priests giving me
communion and forgiving me my sins.
Don: As a band we’ve been together four years. We started playing in a different band together - a punk band.
We came up with a name PCOA after playing a game of Balderdash. That acronym was one of the questions;
it stood for Prosecutor Club of America…though we came up with a different meaning. It was great fun.
We wrote songs we could go to jail for.
John: Don was in the military and he heard some bands in San Antonio and told us about this great form of Celtic
music
Don: I was in the military for four years and then served in the reserves so I was out and back to Texas several times
and hung out at this place called Waxy O’ Connors and that’s where I found the inspiration for the Tosspints.
Zak & John: YES SIR
Don: I’m the emotional entity in the band.
John: I’m the salesman. Don does production. Zak does marketing…
Don: and all his business is done on the golf course
John: It’s a rebel song about the plight of the Irish – very sad.
Don: But it’s really about any government that exploits people
Zak: playing our own style
Don: Yes, it really came from the Pogues. It’s Celtic but it’s not traditional and it’s not rock.
John has this phrase it’s not flutes and lutes…
John: Yes…It’s not like Riverdance with flutes and fiddles. Other Celtic bands look at us like we’re the
red-headed step child. We don’t use traditional instruments. When we first started out we played a lot of the Pogues
and traditional tunes. Back then people were saying the Pogues were the new traditional
Zak: He’s huge…I like the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly
John: The Murphys are criticized for taking traditional songs and adding a punk beat.
They deserve credit for keeping it alive.
Don: I also like the Dubliners and the Chieftains. These are the groups you typically hear.
Your music has tremendous energy – it’s seems to have a goodtime feel yet you sing several songs that have
a political current running through them – do you see yourselves as a fun beer swilling band or a fun beer
swilling political band… like the Clash?
John: The rebel songs are all like that– when I learned about the potato famine I was in tears.
It went on for over four years.
Don: Celtic Rebel songs can start fights in bars – songs like Join the British Army or Johnson’s Motor Car.
We do a song that is 100 years old, Fields of Athenry, about the first Irish Revolution
Don: Maybe it’s because the guy has released umpteen albums and had only one hit
John interrupts –“ Here Don, I saved this for you.”
Don unfolds a strip of paper from a fortune cookie and reads, “Our first love and our last love is self love”
Don: I’m a chronic self lover – it’s an obsession
John: It’s one thing to show up for gig in full kilt and a whole nuther deal to set up…
Don: It’s like people shouting, “I can see TP up yer crack”
Zak: I get offers. Once this girl – very attractive girl – says I gotta deal for YOU.
I wanna lay on the back and look up your kilt. She kept it up all night long...it was hard
playing with a girl between my legs.
Don: At gigs people will come up and ask me…”Is it true what they say about a Scotsman’s kilt?”
So … What do "they" say?
Don: It’s a kilt if don’t have underwear on; It’s a skirt if you do. They wanna look and see for themselves.
I get a lot of Guinness that way. It’s perfect for making knuckle children
Do you have any really bad jokes – remember I’ve seen your show!
John: OK – I have a bad joke…but you gotta do it in dialect
Whoaye deed thee ald Irrrrishmaun pat anly 239 bins hin ‘ees soup?
‘Cas ane more whood maak it too farty
John: I love playing our songs – I could play 12 hours straight and never get tired of it.
Don: OK John – we’ll see how you hold up in March. On St Patty’s Day we’re doing a private party
and then a gig– over six straight hours of music.
John: We are tentatively booked for studio time…Don Lajiness from 2nd System (an incredibly talented local metal band- author) might produce it. I was surprised how much he knew about sound.
Don: We wanted someone who could capture our sound…and metal bands LOVE to record. They know what sounds good.
I love the traditional tunes that you recorded as a promotional EP - the Celtic waltz of Black Velvet Band,
the punched-up folk of Johnny Jump Up and Join The British Army – a rebel song with a high speed shuffle
John: Those songs were our favorite songs when we first got started. We liked playing them the most
Don: We also included a cover of Sean McGowan’s Tuesday Morning – one of the new traditional songs.
Zak: We love the traditional songs…our audience requests them, songs like Danny Boy…it’s like wipeout -
the traditionalists want to hear it.
John: But you can’t mess with it
Don: I’d like to try to punk it just to see if I get beat up
Bo White
Life & Liberations
There is hope, afterall.
Amen, brother John.
And how many horrible stories seem to be on replay
Everyone is on autopilot and half asleep
Its this thick hot summer with this thick hot heat
This world will always be a beautiful to contrary belief
But its hard because people die and there’s a lot of need
For people with good hearts, that will give it all
And not worry about the end result
Please show that you care and lend your hands
Because it might be good for the common man
And people in trains and in their cars
Don’t sweat it so much things have to be hard
Bo White
New Years Eve with Aretha
I. Aretha Arrives
Aretha Sings Sly
Aretha sings a ballad
I’m gonna own you
Where’s that helium come from
Aretha sings really slow ballads
Aretha sings Chain of Fools
The stage tech is lost
I gotta go
At this early juncture in the show Aretha’s vibe is more Oscar the Grouch than sweet soul singer.
Next up is “Tap on My Window”, a song Stevie Wonder wrote for her – Aretha says it was a million seller. OK, if you say so. But it’s just boring bubblegum soul without the strong seventies backbeat. Ain’t No Way is a cool 12 bar blues that livens up the show but Aretha is still angry about some invisible effluvia that is blowing up onto the stage, right in her face. Trouble is nobody else can see or feel it. Suddenly she growls, I’ll be back when they stop blowing that…stuff, whatever it is” and stalks offstage. While the Queen is sulking in her dressing room the band begins to improvise – cool jazz, blues, big band and some screamin’ Hammond B3 jams. Good stuff. After about 15 minutes Aretha returns and stomps out to middle stage and asks – more like demands – “Are you having a good time” She did not look happy. And before the show could resume, she continued her complaint of a phantom substance - “helium”, she said – blowing in her face.
I’m not saying she’s a Diva; she’s just a little bit t-o-u-c-h-y
But I couldn’t wonder why or how any longer. It’s past 1am and I’m bone tired
The Year In Music
By Bo White
I got a good look at these superstar CSN&Y hippie-dinosaurs and I thought “hey dudes, you look like hell.” Stills’ mole-like eyes looked like he was pepper sprayed for chrissakes and Young – and I mean this in only the kindest way – looked just like one of them flesh-eating zombies in the original grainy black and white film Night of the Living Dead… spooky, man – and pretty far out at the same time.
REM – bless them – turned up their guitars and packed more wallop than a heavyweight contender on Accelerate, one of the best CDs of 2008.
Snoop Dogg’s superb performance at the Roxbury Festival was an unexpected treasure – he stole the show, surpassing the efforts by such notable stars as Dave Matthews, 311, John Mayer and Widespread Panic.
Thom Yorke is a great singer and songwriter and we are lucky to have Radiohead around to give us some direction. The Decemberists combined art of ancient storytelling with a hybrid of folk-rock to emerge as one of America’s greatest new bands. And Axl Rose has some pretty big cajones to release Chinese Democracy after 15 years of firing everyone in Guns & Roses and caterwauling like a girl and then calling his ex-new band of rotating imposters Guns & Roses.
Ignore the wimp rock of the Plain White T’s and listen to Conor Oberst.
Give me Bran Vander Ark or Give me Death Cab For Cutie!
Both have spectacular new releases that deserve your attention.
Resurrect Patti Smith – we need to hear her passion and truth…let’s stop this corporate musical stasis and breathe some fresh air into today’s music by supporting our local scene.
So what can we do?
Insist on live original music, reject cover bands and karaoke. We are blessed with an abundance of talented singers, songwriters, musicians and poets with incredible vision and no small amount of chutzpah. For example…
Michigan Monsoon stormed upon the seen in the fall of 2008. Led by guitarist extraordinaire Drew Pentkowski and multi-instrumentalist Matt Burgie, the Monsoon boys perform an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, and progressive rock. It is a truly scrumptious sonic feast that deserves a wider audience. Great Band!
Banana Convention ascended to the near top of the heap, releasing a rocking new CD. Singer Shar Molina found her true voice to become one of the premier vocalists in the tri-cities and Ray Torres is a one-of-a-kind fluid, melodic yet monster guitarist.
Matt Besey released his long awaited cd to uniformly rave reviews. Besey is simply the best guitar slinger around and with former Barbarossa keyboardist Loren Kranz on board, Matt and his band may be on the road to wider recognition. They deserve it.
I Became The Sky is in a league all its own. Combining craft with passion, these communal progressive rockers have the ability to score big and leave a lasting mark on the local scene.
Andy Reed continues to astound me with his beautiful noise. His songs are underground poems with elusive meaning yet are completely accessible. Andy is a local genius, a diamond in the rough just looking for the lucky break.
Same could be said for Maybe August – great singers and world class songs. Maybe August should have national prominence. By and far the best band in mid-Michigan and beyond.
Brett Mitchell is making a big splash in a small pond but he’s reaching much farther with profile gigs at the Ark in Ann Arbor and Intersection in Grand Rapids. This cat deserves the big break and just may get it. His manager/agent Jan Hecht is unstoppable.