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press clipping
Smoky
Mountain News
Hunter Pope
Ah,
�Tis the season for being a shut-in. Winter has the innate ability of
transforming a risk-taking extrovert into a between the blinds peeking
hermit. Skin-flaying wind and a furnace that needs more filling than a
truck stop buffet keeps the �once daring� inside for days at a time.
Clear days are especially cruel, the blue sky a trap for those foolish
enough to believe that a spring climate lies beyond the foyer door.
Outdoor events like skiing can mug a timid wallet, and sledding is only
for the prepared (schleps) individuals who buy all the sleds up months in
advance.
What
to do? Well, there are certain soul-jolting elixirs that can only be found
in (gasp) public places. Of course, one needs a sudden lack of concern for
the body, and a willingness to brave the grouchiness of a really cold
night. But, the rewards are warming and the costs are minimal. Just crank
up your car, horse, or Zamboni and brave the elements for one courageous
night. Once these elixirs are quaffed, friends who thought you�d gone
crazy will remember the fun-loving buffoon of yesteryear. Legs that were
conformed to TV-sitting style will shuck and jive with new fervor.
Where
can one find these magic potables? Don�t fret, here�s a list of
watering holes, along with each elixir and what the side effects do to the
individual psyche:
Who: Yonder Mountain
String Band with Larry Keel (solo acoustic).
Where: The Orange Peel
When: Thursday, February 13 at 9 pm
How Much: $12 in advance, you can order from the Orange Peel�s website
at www.theorangepeel.net or
call 225-5851
Psyche meter: May prompt runaway syndrome. Yonder Mountain has made many a
responsible person sack their jobs in favor of following the band to the
ends of the earth.
I�m still amazed that
these guys don�t have a drummer. Yet, this foursome that houses a banjo,
six-string, mandolin, and a stand-up bass play bluegrass tighter than a
miser�s purse. They�ve wowed the heavies at big festivals like
Telluride, and they�ve only collectively plucked for a little over three
years. The praise for them comes from the throats of the bluegrass regent.
Ambassador Tim O�Brien produced their second studio, �Town by Town�,
and he�ll join them on February 28th for a show at the
Orpheum in Madison, Wisconsin. Pete Wernick, Tim�s old bandmate in Hot
Rize lavished praise on the youngers by stating:
�Yonder
Mountain is what I call a bridge band, they care about and play bluegrass
music, representing it to groups of people who are a lot like them but who
are maybe just getting into it and don�t know the power of acoustic
instruments and what bluegrass sounds like. It�s an entry point. It�s
a place where people can say, �I hear that�s cool and check them out
and say, �Gee, I didn�t realize I like the banjo and mandolin as much
as I do.��
Based in Nederland,
the member�s backgrounds are hardly the stuff of back porch wonderment.
Bassist Ben Kauffman is the son of a big band musician, and his early
stints were subbing on bass for his dad�s band. Dave Johnston (banjo),
Jeff Austin (mandolin and high shenanigans), and Adam Aijila all hail from
the North, a Sahara region for those needing the lush of bluegrass. Jeff
was a theater major who was coaxed by Dave into playing mandolin in his
band, The Bluegrassholes. Jeff had no bluegrass or instrument. Dave
assured Jeff that he would not have to solo-- �Play anything�, Dave
told him, �Just play fast and loud.�
Somehow it worked, and soon
enough these unlikely heroes of the mighty pick met up in Colorado. The
rest is bluegrass tinged with nouveau murder ballads (Check out the tune,
�On the Run� on their first album, �Elevation) and genre mayhem
(don�t be surprised if you hear Ozzy Osbourne�s �Crazy Train� or
the Rolling Stone�s �No Expectations� in a Yonder Set).
Oh yeah, and that devil of a man, Larry Keel, will be splintering frets
solo when he opens for Yonder Mountain that night. Rumors (that I proudly
started) are abound that Keel may even step in with the Yonder Boys.
It�s only appropriate that the name of the tour is �The Cabin Fever
Tour�.
Who: Godspeed You!
Black Emperor
Where: The Orange Peel
When: Friday, March 7th at 10 pm
How Much: $12
Psyche Meter: May confuse and shock, prompting walks into the cold air
outside to ensure that reality is still around.
If anything, curiosity
stemming from the band�s bizarre name should warrant buying a ticket. An
eyewitness told me that they�re an ambience band, creating multiple
moods in an instrumental setting. The press admired the musicianship
although they seemed confused by the member numbers. Some said eight,
others nine; most didn�t even dare to guess. Apparently, the Montreal
based band contains cellists, guitar players of different assortments,
drummers, a projectionist and assorted mishmash.
Music and landscapes ranges
from country twang, slide guitars that smell like Ry Cooder, swirling
strings that echo �The Exorcist� soundtrack, readings from the Book of
Job, and Super 8 films of the Gothic. Their albums---�Lift Your Skinny
Fists Like Antennas to Heaven�, �Yanqui U.X.O.�, �Slow Riot for
New Zero Kanada�, and �F#A#OO��and their live shows have been met
with acclaim and a wave of dedicated fans. Despite their success, the band
shies from most publicity and makes music without the interloping of
success.
In an e-mail interview to NME in 1999, the band used a collective voice
instead of crediting one band member. This is a taste of what to expect on
March 7th:
�And it all ends up like this, the sound of nine people confused and
overwhelmed by the task at hand...
�But there's gotta be happiness in confronting sadness and confusion...
to us, the music we make isn't just about sadness, it's also about hope
and endurance in the face of real economic and emotional adversity... we
don't want to make music for people to wallow in... alls we can do is try
hard to link our own struggle as a band w/the music we play... they're
inseparable, these two things... lately it's all we know...
�We know we're just the tiniest purple feather in a really obscene dogf***
burlesque show- WE KNOW THIS WE KNOW THIS WE KNOW THIS; we just wanna talk
a little bit about architecture while the fat male stripper shoots pepsi
bottles out of his asshole... is that so wrong?�
Who: Project Object: The Music of Frank Zappa.
Featuring three generations of Zappa Alumni: Ike Willis, Napoleon
Murphy Brock, and Don Preston.
When: Wednesday, March 19th at 10 pm
Where: Stella Blue in Asheville
For more info concerning ticket prices and directions, call 828-236-2424
Psyche meter: Zealots of Zappa will be elated, prompting outbursts of
�don�t eat the yellow snow� to unwary passerbys.
My friend saw Project
Object last year in Asheville, and he told me it�s eerie how well they
perform Frank Zappa�s music. And they don�t stay in one genre. Project
Object�s abilities stretch from the Mothers of Invention years (the
60�s) to the album, �The Yellow Shark�, which came out a month
before Zappa�s death in 1993.
At the same show, my buddy remarked that this really obnoxious fellow was
hurling insults at the band. He
kept telling anyone who would listen (in a voice with the same pitch as a
bullhorn) that Project Object had nothing on Zappa. Then, without warning,
the mad insulter stepped up onstage. �Ladies and Gentleman�, one of
the band members yelled, �Ike Willis!�
If anyone can channel Zappa it�s Ike Willis. The singer and guitarist
joined Zappa�s band in 1977 and he performed on 30 of Zappa�s albums,
including the classic, �Joe�s Garage, Acts I, II, (&III). Willis
took it upon himself to continue Zappa�s music after the passing of his
mentor.
�(Frank)
told me to do this,� Willis told Jeffrey Hahne of the News and Record.
"He called me and told me to come to his house before he died. He
told me, '(Keeping the music going) is on you. I want you to do it.'"
Willis played in several Zappa cover band s before discovering Project
Object. Willis had met one of Project Object�s founders, Andre
Cholmondeley (who is also an organic gardener), back when Zappa was still
touring. The two eventually began hanging out and they stayed in touch
from 1988 to 1995.
In the late 80�s, Cholmondeley started holding parties at his house and
playing Zappa music on Zappa�s birthday. The demand grew as the band
went from parties to clubs to theaters.
In 1995, Cholmondeley went to see Banned from Utopia (a Zappa tribute
band) with Willis at the helm.
�I met up with Ike there,� Cholmondeley told Hahne, �And told him I
was in a Zappa tribute band. I sent him a tape of the band, and he loved
it. He said, 'Send me a plane ticket and we'll do some gigs."
Willis continues to play with Project Object because they have the ability
to cull anything from the mammoth Zappa catalog (including doing the whole
�Joe�s Garage� album at the Lion�s Den in Greenwich Village). They
also house what Zappa used to call the �impossible
guitarist��maniacs like Steve Vai or Lowell George who could memorize
Zappa�s complex compositions. Project Object�s madman is Robert Magano,
otherwise known as �Seahag�.
"The only reason I play with them, first of all, is because they can
pull off the material," Willis told Hahne. "Then it comes down
to not only can they play the material, but how well can they play it. You
can fake it. It has to be played correctly.
"People usually think it isn't going to be anything special when they
come to a show, but they leave with tears in their eyes."
The
tear ducts may be in for a moist night at Stella Blue. Zappa alums,
Napoleon
Murphy Brock, and Don Preston, will join Willis and Project Object for a
night of cerebral vulgarity.
website
www.projectobject.com
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