By Director, Founding Partner and CEO: Chris Mullican   Thu, Dec 08, 2011

Everyone seems to have their own demons to face and inner struggles with which to contend.  This is all part of existence and being human.  If you believe that the universe or “God” gives you hints or signs to help you along your way, then it is our job to recognize these signs and act upon them for better or for worse.  If this is indeed the case then the universe or “God” is screaming at Joe Threat and sometimes punching him in the face!

I hear it in his music which is mostly a reflection of his inner battles of an artist torn between the righteousness of man and the demons that try and lure him into the realms of self-destruction.  He chooses the stage name Threat which could mean many things; however, it seems to me that if anything, he is a Threat to himself.

His verses are passageways to enlightenment and darkness and he’s constantly battling which direction to go.  Here is an artist who drops everything and spends a year wandering about emotionally trying to process the recent death of his father, locked up lyrically.  Spiritually, run down and burnt out.  Relying on drugs and alcohol to cope, and depressed.  Then he gets a call from a friend with an opportunity to open for Kool Keith at Toad’s Place with only one week’s notice!  He accepts the gig and kills it on stage giving him another opportunity to open up for Mos Def two weeks later.  Again, he accepts and delivers a stellar performance gaining honorable feedback from the fans, the club owner and even Mos Def himself.  The spark was back and Threat started to emerge from the dark corner he spent the last year and a half in. Ignited and inspired, Threat teams up with producer Josh Scolaro again and spends the winter recording his debut record Torch Lit Passages.  This explains why this record is so powerful lyrically and emotionally and in my opinion could easily be in the top 50 greatest Hip-Hop records of all time!

So, it looks like Threat has finally conquered his inner demons, made peace with the loss of his father and himself,  is back on track with his music and ready to launch his career with a groundbreaking debut record, so what next?  Build a website?  Book some shows?  Promote the new album?  These would be the next logical steps to help further anyone’s career, but for Threat, none of this was a possible scenario.  Again, he retreats back into himself and his spends the next year on yet another personal walk-about! Now from an industry standard, this is just insane!  From a fan’s perspective, a move like this is disappointing, but through the mind’s eye of Joe Threat, it was inevitable and necessary. You see, one has no idea nor should we ever judge the decisions made from others, especially an artist on the verge of total mental and emotional breakdown.

To give those who are interested in what is going on inside this tormented artist’s head, well … just listen to his music.  As Threat tells me in his interview, “I can’t really explain to people the way I think or feel through a normal conversation.  I am my own mystery and am trying to figure it all out the only way I know how, my music.”

Check out the upcoming “Part Three: The Promise”, the Threat interview.  To sum it up, Joe Threat has two sides.  On the surface is an outgoing, optimistic, positive attitude.  He is intelligent and very aware of not only everyday common social and political issues; but also the spiritual realm of existence in which he has waged a war on himself, hence the name of his label, Sin Righteous.  The symbols are all around him, and whether consciously or subconsciously, Threat embraces the battle head on.  His life is like a well thought-out, scripted movie with twists and turns, yet it's just his reality.  Everyone has their demons, their own challenges, inner turmoils, but not everyone expresses them poetically and skillfully and uses a microphone and beats as weapons.  It is deep to say the least.  And in Threat’s case, it makes him this brilliant unknown artist that is walking on the edge of the crossroads at which he now faces.  There is no wanna-be, pretend I'm this or that here ... Joe Threat is the real deal and has the skills to back up any claim.  His life has not been a glamorized spoon-fed fairy tale nor was he born in the ghetto.  There is a universal balance there and that is what has probably kept him alive to this point.  The last decade for JT has been a topographical map of ups and downs, high and lows, drugs, depression, jail, success, triumph and tribulation and he's just getting started!  He has upcoming plans for the release of his debut record Torch Lit Passages, recorded in 2009, followed shortly thereafter with a new mix tape dubbed The Promise of Threat.  I asked him what the promise was.  You will find his response  in the upcoming Part Three, along with the full interview and the fascinating timeline of the last decade that has led up to who Joe Threat is today.  In the meantime, visit the world of Threat at JoeThreat.com.

As we pulled back up to his house, he pointed out to me the two street names that intersect right where he lives. Battlefield/Harmony …

Torch Lit Passages is now available at CDBaby, click here to get yours!

By Director, Founding Partner and CEO: Chris Mullican   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

Part One: The Research

It is amazing what you come across on an average Friday night of kitchen conversation and cold beer, while researching local artists to feature in Magazine33. Hell, it's my favorite part of the job and I always go into this having no expectations of what I am going to hear, only hopes.  In this business you hear the good, the bad, the ugly and every now and then the great.  That's when you come across an artist that just blows you away and you say to yourself, “DAMN!  We have got to cover this artist!”  It is so exciting for me - researching local artists - because the local phase of artist development is usually the phase in which an artist is giving their all.  They are struggling, learning, and working hard to perfect their craft, find their sound, discover their voice.  It is raw, uncensored and not tampered with by the industry.  There is just something pure and passionate - energy that money and success cannot buy.  On the other end of this excitement is the realization that some of the music I come across is, to put it nicely, underdeveloped.  Not ready yet for coverage or even the public ear.  That's okay though, every artist goes through their creative journey at their own pace, so no judgment here and Magazine33 was created to help support and promote that journey.  That being said, I have my own methods when researching artists that are deciding factors on whether or not I am interested in writing or assigning an article.  Magazine33 is an all-genre accepting music magazine, and we try to make sure we keep it genre-balanced.  I personally enjoy most genres of music; however, when researching to find to find an aspiring artist, I choose a specific genre for that research session.  

So my first criteria when I come across an artist is the music.  I want to hear how the music sounds from an emotional perspective:  “How does it make me feel?”;  “Can I relate to it?”;  “Does it move me?”  And point blank: “Do I like it?”  I usually do pay attention to the production side, as this is just second nature for me, but it is never a deciding factor, as I have heard some bootleg basement production backed by some of the most intense raw music and loved it.  It boils down to energy for me and what I feel from the artist.  The other criteria, but not necessarily a deal breaker either, is the artist’s work ethics: “Are they making records?”; “Are they playing shows?”; “How hard are they trying to spread their music?”

It is important for Magazine33 to put it’s time and energy towards artists that are trying to be heard and working to take their music to that next level.  I am not really interested in covering a garage band that has been together for three months and sounds like it.  Work hard, pay some dues and we'll support you. Now I do realize that being a local musician is hard work and I may come across an artist with a few demos, but they don't have the means to make a website or the time to book some shows.  I get it.  This does not mean I will not consider the option for coverage.  Again, it is the energy I feel that guides me toward my decision of whether or not to cover a particular artist. That being said, let's get back to my Friday night research session.

On this particular Friday night, I had chosen hip-hop artists for my research.  Hip-hop is one of my favorite genres.  Keep in mind, The Rhyme Book (a specialized section of Magazine33) had already been started over a year ago at that point; and even though we had already covered some great local artists throughout our regions of coverage, I was on the hunt in Richmond and looking for that next hidden gem.  Hell, I was looking for a whole new movement and sound!  Hip-hop is one of the most intense grassroots musical movements since the blues and I have always felt it's passion, it's honesty, and it's strength.  I grew up on hip-hop and witnessed the emergence of the pioneers, and with that, the birth of my own passion for the movement.  My first rap record was Eric B and Rakim's Paid in Full.  I couldn’t get enough of the brand new sounds of L.L. Cool J's now classic Radio, Run DMC's Raising Hell and EPMD'S Strictly Business.  Of course, I had Kurtis Blow, Sugar Hill Gang, Whodini, Beastie Boy's Licensed to Ill and more ... I was hooked.  I had all of the classic records and it really was not until NWA and Public Enemy shook up the industry, bringing the struggles of inner city urban life into the homes of millions of middle class American teenagers, that hip-hop finally was considered as truly mainstream.  Of course, as a result, there was political backlash, which in turn just fueled more imitation artists to try to emerge, and at the same time raised the eyebrows of the corporate record labels as they started to see the potential market in hip-hop.  So they put their commercial twist on it and next thing you know we get MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice.  Don't get me wrong, there were still some really great hip-hop artists surfacing; however, they were being overshadowed by the mainstream drib.  Fortunately, that shadowy period only lasted a few years - and then the early ‘90s saw a rebirth of hip-hop and spawned a decade of some of the greatest hip-hop music ever!  Dr. Dre released The Chronic in ’92, introducing a fresh new West Coast style of hip-hop called G-Funk and a new young MC named Snoop Dog.  Snoop would drop his debut record Doggystyle the following year and forever change the game.  Around the same time, but all the way across the map in New York, another producer and visionary by the name of RZA introduced Wu Tang Clan and their debut record 36 Chambers.  The sound was a mix of martial-art-themed unique beats and eccentric lyrics; it launched solo careers for Method Man, GZA (my favorite MC of all time), Ghostface Killa, and Inspecta Deck, to name a few.  New York had been producing respected artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, De LA Soul and the Beastie Boys.  But a new breed of hip-hop artist was emerging, and soon after Wu Tang made their mark, a brilliant young MC named Nas released Illmatic, a ground breaking masterpiece that offered a lyrical style of it’s very own.  Released in 1994, Illmatic introduced the spiritual and self-empowerment message of inner struggle and growth through the eyes of a very young but wise lyricist who came from one of the toughest housing projects in New York - Queens Bridge.  His delivery and style was different than anything else that was out there, and the content of the lyrics was brilliant and enlightening.  This was a true masterpiece record.  To this day, Illmatic is one of the most influential hip-hop records ever, and it paved the way for groups like Mobb Deep, Helta Skelta and Dead Prez.  The list goes on and on for the ‘90s hip-hop boom.  OutKast put the south (ATL) on the map with their unique style and Queen Latifah led the way for female artists.  From Tupac, Notorious BIG, Eminem, DMX, Cypress Hill, The Pharcyde and KRS-One to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Mos Def and Missy Elliot, the ‘90s was a monumental time in hip-hop.  One thing is for sure - we have not seen an explosion like that in the last decade, and it is overdue.   Although there have been a few artists who I do give credit to in the last ten years, it has been nothing like the ‘90s movement.  So yes, gotta give a shout out, The Blueprint and The Black Album are both epic!  Thanks Jay-Z!  For all of the other artists who have not been mentioned in this article and who have left their footprint on the hip-hop boardwalk, you know who you are and we thank you!

So, as I am researching the local scene, I’m hoping to find an artist who is ready to break through and bring a new sound, a new style.  It all starts on a local level somewhere, and Richmond holds a good underground hip-hop scene.  Now, I am using Myspace and the friends we have, so I know that I am not getting the opportunity to listen to every artist in Richmond and most of the hip-hop artists I am finding are from Virginia Beach or elsewhere.  We cover the Seven Cities too, and other regions, but I am hunting in Richmond on this night.  So far, most of the music I have heard has not really reached out and grabbed me and a lot of it is the same heavy keyboards, repetitive hooks, and hollas.  Not that this is a “bad” sound and I am not trying to insult anyone's style, it has just been done over and over and over ... the pages I am finding are mostly covered with flash, big cars, big rims, half-naked women and guys holding handfuls of money.  Again, no disrespect intended, as it is not my place to judge anyone's marketing techniques.  However, it just starts to overshadow the music and the art after such heavy doses in my opinion.  Even though I am not getting knocked off my barstool yet, I am hearing some good stuff.  Some bad stuff too, but enough good to keep me going.  Keep inmind, this is only my opinion as an author, not necessarily the opinion of Magazine33 as an entity.  It is very important to distinguish the two here.

And then out of nowhere, I come across an artist named Threat.  Ironically, his page was as dull as it gets and the only photo was of him sitting down with a hat covering half of his face.  I have to admit, I was a little intrigued by the subtleness and his page brought an element of mystery to it, so I grabbed a cold one and played the first track called “Threaticus”.  The song starts off with a gentle keyboard and once the beat kicks in along with the lyrics, the whole thing comes together tight with a razor sharp delivery and solid hooks.  It was not one of those tracks that made me want to call up the press and say, “Hey, you gotta check this guy out!”; however, it did grab my attention and leave me wanting to hear more, so I clicked on the next track called “Breadcrumbs” -  and now I was feeling it in my stomach.  The track is brilliantly put together by using famous band names and song titles that flow on top of one another, making sense as they almost tell a story.  Although a storyline was not put in place here, the lyrics are driven by this mesmerizing music and the hook keeps your head bouncing over and over.  At this point, I call my wife in to listen, and I move onto a track called “Hip-Hop This Way”, a more direct approach lyrically but once again, it's raw, it's original, and it's saying something meaningful.  Lyrics of production!  A fresh concept; and one that historically has been a successful formula for some of the greatest hip-hop artists.  Threat had seemed to hone in on this and it was perfected!  My wife wanted to hear another one so I play a track called “Peace of Mind”, which mixes personal, social, political and spiritual concepts together harmoniously.  This was indeed a brilliant form of poetic verses combined with an intelligent outlook on everyday issues going on in today's world.  The production is equally as brilliant with a smashing down rhythm, light piano and intense chorus.  The whole song is a contradiction musically and yet it works beautifully!  At this point I am convinced this guy has a solid new sound and I want to do a piece featuring this no-longer hidden gem.  My wife agrees and asks to hear more, so I fire up the music and the next three tracks I play are each as original and good as the rest.  The only thing left to do now is to contact Threat and set up an interview and coverage of a live show.  Easy enough.  I start looking through his Myspace page and do not see any upcoming shows or external website links.  As a matter of fact, I do not see any indication at all of external social sites.  No Facebook, No Twitter, nothing!  Then I notice that he has not even logged on his Myspace page for a few months.  What the hell is wrong with this guy?  It was obvious that he had put a lot into his music, so why was he not marketing himself?  Frustrated, I head for the Internet, as I am confident that I can find some type of contact information for him through a Google search.  NOPE! NADA! NOTHING!  A few Youtube videos pop up that show him opening for Mos Def at Toad’s Place a few years back and besides those and a couple of homemade videos, not much else can be found.  Most of you are probably thinking, “Forget about it and go on to the next artist,” but I couldn't.  I just had that gut feeling that this guy had something special or was hiding something and I was going to find out what it was no matter what it took.  I resorted to the only option, and that was to send him a message through his Myspace page and patiently wait for response.  Finally, about three months later, I get a response from Threat, who was very gracious about my interest in doing a featured article.  He explained that he had been in a terrible car accident and had spent the last six months healing up.  He was almost there and would be in touch soon to schedule a sit-down to discuss possibilities.  A few more months go by, and he contacts me again.  He is all healed up and walking again, so we agree to meet at a local coffee shop.  I am excited to meet this mysterious MC who seems to already have an interesting story as to why he has been away from the scene for the last couple of years.  Little did I know that I was about to enter into a complex world of ups, downs, and everything in between with an artist on the brink of both success and self-destruction.  The world of THREAT...

To be continued...
...in the meantime check out JoeThreat.com.

By Correspondent: Ryan Mason   Mon, Jan 09, 2012

It was a lukewarm night at the Taphouse in Ghent.  A half full bar alluded to an even more mediocre evening, so what could Hampton Road’s residents rely on to push the night into something good?  That’s where the Famous Clever comes in.  Bringing a free form improvisation style meant to keep you on your toes, as well as them perhaps, you never know what you are going to get except that it is going to be a good time filled with unique sounds. 

Despite having absolutely no support upon introducing themselves, they have no qualms with going right into a groovy introduction, kept in focus by Russell Scarborough’s unique rhythmic over and under handed drumming style.  Heavy bass shakes the building, thanks to Lex Park’s calloused finger and Tim Fox’s flange sprinkled chords provide a calming effect to keep it laid back.  Russell gets a lot of sound out of a very simple drum kit, which is just another testament to his time honed skill.  They break down into an interlude as smoke surrounds the stage, and Tim follows suit with a mixture of flange and delay to layer over the intense rhythm provided by Lex and Russell, who looks like he’s having the time of his life while he bangs on his skins and bronze. The entire jam builds up to an incredible climax, with Russell’s progressively faster drums matching Tim’s increasingly higher notes.  Lex follows it with a simple riff to give it the proper buildup, and then they break it all down with a flurry of popped bass notes, various guitar chords mixed properly together, and a toned down but still energetic drum section.  The precision displayed between them is razor sharp, switching off seemingly on a telepathic whim.  Tim and Lex occasionally share backing vocals, but the main focus is definitely on the music. 

The second song starts a bit calmer than the last, with genre influences flying all over the place into a silky smooth mixture.  Tim’s guitar in particular in the beginning is excellent, keeping up the pace while managing to remain fresh and exciting, showing that he doesn’t need to rely on effects to make great sounding music.  Russell keeps it a bit calmer than the last tune, but only a tad, still displaying high energy that explodes on short notice.  Lex keeps his bass structured for the covers, “Wolfman’s Brother” of Phish fame, benefit as he belts out a few lyrics, surely intending to let himself go after it was done.  He doesn’t disappoint, still throwing in various edits between lines and even during, including a plethora of funky slaps on his thick four string bass.  Letting the last line before a big improv fade with held notes and quiet drums, they burst into another one of their trademark jam improvisation sessions.  A lot of wah-wah is included, as well as funky slides on the bass with a more relaxed and open rhythm on the drums that gives everyone space to breathe and go with the flow.  At one point Russell get’s quiet, using mostly his cymbals to keep rhythm, but also throwing in a loud slam on his skins to play off the quieter tone and make you notice it more, which leads into them going back into the main riff again.

The third song has a distinctly different tone than the last two, starting with an almost rockabilly riff from Tim’s fast flying fingers, and a simple two point riff that goes into a few other notes at the end to keep the riff going.  Russell responds in kind; keeping the drums fast paced but light, focusing on the cymbals to keep a high paced beat.  Never one to hold one pace too long, the drums use more of the skins to give an edge to the beat, with Tim moving from increasingly faster riffs to atmospheric setting chords that ring out a bit. Even the vocals are setting a different mood, definitely keeping an old country vibe.  It was impressive to have a band known for improv and having a lot of different styles completely surprise me.  Everyone seems to be having fun with it, and the song ends abruptly, keeping in tune with the different tone compared to the last ones.

The fourth song starts with a thick bass, with the drums slower than the last but still ready to bust into an impressive drum roll on a dime.  There’s a lot more pauses at the end of riffs in this song for emphasis, actually giving them greater effect than if they played more at those points, proving once again that you don’t have to stuff twenty notes into a bar to make it sound great.  Somewhere during the middle Lex puts some unknown effect on his bass to give it a different sound, keeping the bass heaviness present but also giving it a weird higher sound that sounds almost a bit like an effect a DJ would use.  The jamming goes on for awhile, each of them playing off each other like it was hot potato with music, before getting back into the beginning part to end the song, still ripe with those slight pauses that make it all the more inspiring. 

Throughout the night Russell kept a cheesy grin on his face, obviously enjoying the music no matter how many times it’s played.  Lex seemed focused on listening most of the night, but you could still tell when he was really getting into it, as he instinctively moved more to the music, while Tim kept his eyes closed most of the time and remained completely engrossed in the music, occasionally moving around to switch the lights and smoke on.  It’s hard to find varied enough words to explain the various sounds that hit you, or the juxtaposition of a simple drum beat suddenly going into a fast flying drum roll, or the honeysweet layering of sporadic guitar over freaky bass played with loud, fuzzy tones. They even threw in a smile inducing version of the classic Mario tune that we all (hopefully) know and love.  I’m sure the red plumber himself would have approved.  Needless to say, The Famous Clever is a band that has to be seen to fully comprehend, and even then they may leave you feeling a little confused at the end – but a good confusion that you can roll over your head.  If you in any way like jazz or bluesy improv, but played a little harder and a lot faster like you would expect from a rock group, check them out.  They are the ultimate hybrids, and you don’t even have to pay for gas.

33: What made you decide to start playing?
Lex Park: We’ll start with the youngest, so go ahead Rus.
Russell Scarborough: I’ve been listening to music since 1963, and in 1964 the Beatles came out.  It got me interested in music, and the next thing you know I’m a drummer…this was X number of years ago.

33: I hope you didn’t take after Ringo, he gets a bad rep!
RS: No, he was not my hero.  I like him more now than I did then.
Tim Fox: I don’t remember the beginning, we’ve always had instruments in my house.  Vaughn always had a big Epiphone, and it was always accessable so.  Big acoustic guitar that was larger than I was…and I had an acoustic as long as I can remember.  I always had an instrument, we always had a piano in the house so that was just one of those things.  Playing an electric guitar was just the natural evolution of being a teenager, I had a good buddy of mine who got one and was learning also.  I remember going to his house and saying “Hey man, let’s get together and play.”  We started our first band and coincidentally we rented that shop right there to play in about ’93, that used to be our rehearsal space. [There is a gift shop right behind the Taphouse]
Lex Park: I was more drawn to the vocal aspect of music when I was growing up, I didn’t play any instruments until about ’94, ’95.  A friend of mine had bought a bass, and he was going to learn how to play it.  He brought it to my house because he wanted to show it to everybody and everything, he left it there and was like “I’ll come get it some other time,” so I just kind of picked it up and messed with it, I’d put on a Nirvana CD or something and try to figure out how it went, that kind of stuff.  I started to like it, and then he wanted to get it back, so I said “Alright, well, I’m starting to like it, are you sure you don’t want to sell it?” He said he didn’t want to sell it, he was going to learn how to play.  So I said if you ever decide you don’t want to play it, let me know, because I like this bass, I’ll buy it from you, I think I like it that much.  Sure enough about two weeks later I found out he took it to a pawn shop, and that just inspired me to scrounge up all the money I had to not buy that bass, but buy my first rig.  Before that it was just listening and singing and chorus at school.  You’d never be able to tell now because my voice is shot, I am not a singer though I do sing, but that’s kind of where it all started with me.
TF: Lex used to walk around school with a tuxedo and a bow tie singing.  I saw him in between classes with the Christmas crew.

33: What are some good and/or bad memories you have from playing shows?
TF: I have a ton of good ones but one bad memory that jumps out to mind is we were playing Lewis’ back in…probably around the time we were playing in that shop, and we were loading in, and uh…someone stole all of our guitars while we were in the middle of loading in, which really sucks because it was one guitar I really liked, a marketed SG.  That was kind of a depressing moment, but we went on, played, and had fun.  Burned down our storage shed one time and lost everything we had.  That was another adventure in music.  We were going to open up at the Boathouse one time, I was probably 18 or 19 and got a call saying they need an opening band.  The drummer came and picked me up, we got into the car and about two blocks away from my house we got into an accident.  Next thing I know I was in the emergency room after being wrapped around a tree.  Good moments?  We’ve got a ton of those.  I’ll let you tell the good times, I’m the naysayer.
LP: A bad situation turned good – I thought I was some hot shit and booked us a gig in Valdosta, Georgia.  We were doing our southern tour, you know?  This was back in ’99 and we had the big south tour, going down to Florida and everything.  I kept hearing about this place in Valdosta, Georgia and said let me give them a call…booked a gig and everything was good.  We get there the day of the show and they didn’t know the first thing about anything having to do with us, as a matter of fact they had a graduation party going on at the venue that night.  So, we went back out to the parking lot, kicked some rocks, and came up with a plan.  They had a main room that had a big stage, and that’s where the graduation party was, they had a DJ and stuff.  They had this other side room that had seating in it and a kind of small shoebox stage, and as we were scoping the place out we go “Well can we just play on this? We’ll play in between.” They said yeah, that’ll work out great and we ended up having a fantastic show that night.  It was just the will to play.
TF: We played for 7 people but still, it was awesome.  Is that the same night the guy told us afterwards “Hey, you guys don’t suck!”
LP: Yeah, that’s when we knew we were on to something, hahaha.  Plenty of good moments, gosh.  I could go on and on. Russ, you got any high flying moments or low of lows?
RS: None are really springing to mind right now, no.
TF: You’re supposed to say the moment you hooked up with the Famous Clever, Russ.  That was your in.
RS: Oh yeah, after playing for 48 years, when I joined the Famous Clever, THAT was the highlight. [Everyone starts laughing]

33: How do you guys practice and prepare for something when you know you are going to be doing a lot of improv?
RS: The chaos is organized, Tim and Lex’s compositions are quite arranged and composed.  They are designed to encompass the improvisation but they are songs, per se, along the lines of Frank Zappa for instance.  It’s not written out but it’s all laid out.
LP: The main thing is just listening.  Tim and I have been playing together for a long time, since ’96.  I learned by ear so it was very intuitive for me when I first started getting up with Tim, which was really the first guitar player I started getting up with at the time, it was just intuitive to come up with something that went with whatever he was playing.  Right from the get go it was listening exercises, before we were even coming up with parts of songs we were just listening to each other and responding.  We’d play for hours and bug the neighbors and just listen to each other without really talking about it or anything.  When we formed the band it was just something that we continued to do.  We both listen to a lot of music that had improvisation in it, we listened to some of those bands to a point where we’d be breaking down...okay, how did they pull that off right there because this isn’t written, and you just learn that it’s all kind of a conversation.  It’s not so much preparation as just letting yourself go with the flow, literally. It’s letting whoever brings themselves into the conversation have their say, and everybody try to stay on topics.
TF: One thing I’ll add is I think the one preparation we do make is developing a trust.  When you play in a group doing a lot of improv there has to be a certain level of trust where you can go out on a limb and they’re going to be there to support you and when everyone has the chance to have their piece of the conversation trusting that everyone is going to listen in, offer some support, and having faith in the group.  That’s an important element for me.  Having had the experience that Lex and I have built together, and Russ being such a seasoned musician with a lot of jazz and improv background…and jam from the…when did you guys start jamming, the 1920’s?
RS: Yes. Drums were new! [laughter] They had just been imported from Africa.
LP: That Buddy Rich shit!
TF: We all have that kind of experience though.  In the practice room I really don’t do a whole lot of preparing, rather just going and not drawing the box.
LP: It’s funny, we spend a lot of time trying to get the songs together, and then we don’t really practice jamming.  You can’t really do that, it’s better to just leave it up to the wind, however it’s gonna go it’s gonna go, but as long as we get the beginning, the middle, and the end tight…everything else we try to make it happen as it happens.

33: What are some bands and musicians that inspire you guys personally?
TF: Who’s that guy we like Russ, that you keep quoting from that new stuff?
LP: Yeah … Hanrahan … Kip Hanrahan, and we’ll spell that for you.
TF: [chuckles] That’s the guy we like…mercy.
RS: The rock groups that inspired me are King Crimson, Soft Machine, the ones with lots of improvisation.  Before I became a jazz guy I didn’t know I liked them so much, since it was so jazzy I just thought they were better than the other groups.  I’m an improviser at heart so a lot of the rock groups I like had a lot of jazz and improvisational stuff going on, though I didn’t know it, to me it was just more interesting rock than the plain old rock.
TF: The obvious, we listen to Phish.  That’s a given.  They’ve actually been pretty instrumental…it’s kind of been our 111 and 121 course an d probably our biggest inspiration for an example of listening to the conversation.  Lex and I have been on the road to see those guys for the last 14 years or so.  We’ve really analyzed what they do and have been a big inspiration of course.  A lot of the other bands from the jam circuit too, but personally I’m a big Hendrix fan, love a lot of different styles of music and pull from a lot of different styles.  When someone asks me “What kind of music do you listen to?” “Well, you know I listen to traditional Turkish music.”
LP: Music from Japan.
TF: Exactly, I try to pull from those to have sounds of the world as much as possible.
LP: When I was young I listened to a lot of R&B and a lot of the Motown stuff that my mom liked, along with country music and a lot of hip-hop.  That, I think, I was drawn mostly to because of the rhythm, because of the bass and the drums, and I would really key in on the bass even though I’d never even paid attention to a bass player back then.  It was the sounds that I liked, and in R&B you’d find a lot of really interesting bass work happening.  The songs all about a melody, but there’s some really interesting bass work and I think that’s been really influential on the kind of stuff I’m trying to do, finding a pocket, just to have layers go on top of.  Phish has been very very inspirational just because of the way they do their thing, especially early on when they would do all that turn on a dime stuff.  One could only hope to really improv like that, no script at all, just staying tight by listening and responding so that’s been a big influence.
RS: I never think of Lex’s R&B influence but that’s part of why our groove is unique, because we got the Hendrix guitar, we got this funky white boy playing bass, and the jazz influence drums.  It gives it a flavor that no other group in town has, they just don’t have that chemistry.
TF: Because of Lex’s milk chocolate that’s why we play Erykah Badu’s “Tyrone” so fucking sweet.
LP: [Joking voice] Ya better call Tyrone!  We’re surprised she hasn’t called us to hook her up, actually.  We can’t understand that.
TF: Oh, it’s such a hit, it’s nasty.

33: What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
RS: Play every chance you get.  Never turn down a gig.
TF: Play with people.  I teach guitar to some young kids and I remember what it’s like sitting in your room playing by yourself, but I didn’t do that a whole lot, I had a good friend who I, as a young guitarist, we’d get together every day after school.  What’d you learn?  Let’s learn this R.E.M. song, let’s learn this, let’s learn this Zeppelin song, and we just pushed each other, similar to when Lex and I hooked up, it was the same thing.  We sat on the couch together and just go and go and go, constantly push each other to learn more.  Getting with other people I think you’ll progress more quickly and also at the same time be learning to listen instead of being so self focused on playing, learning to listen to what someone else is doing.  Chapter 6 in the human communication book at college was about listening, so that’s key.
RS: Playing with people is what it’s about, and in jazz they tell you your biggest instrument is your ears.
LP: If I had any advice it would be to listen, and don’t be afraid to not play.  I’m a firm believer in the value of space in music.
TF: I haven’t learned that. Yet.
LP: Which is why I’m saying this right now, haha.  I think it’s vital to a groove and just to let it breathe and when you play just listen.  Don’t play through the whole thing because you’re gonna miss where the space could be, you throw a little bit of space in there it makes all kind of things happen.

33: What are you guys planning to do in the future?  Anything big coming up?
TF: My mortgage is due in a couple of days, so…yeah, that’s about what I got on tap.
LP: I’ve got to go to work on Monday.  After Thanksgiving break.  Nah, honestly we’re not out here trying to take over the world or anything.  We’re not trying to go on tour, we’re not trying to make a bunch of T-shirts and shit, this is our creative outlet.  Russell plays in a lot of stuff and I’m sure he gets to be very creative, but in this is wide the fuck open.  Right now there is kind of an element of surprise going into tonight, we don’t know what’s going to happen, we have a set list that’s roughly mapped out but other than that anything can happen.  As far as our big plans, we’re playing Hell’s Kitchen next Friday night. We’ll play anywhere that’ll have us, we’re doing our thing.  We don’t really like to conform, we save that to the people making the big bucks and cover bands.  We just like to be able to have the room and the space and the time to just get creative, you know?
TF: With what we do I don’t think we’re afforded the luxury of having big plans for the future, we’re lucky if they ask us back.  The thing that Lex has been the most convincing in this is that we go in and we do what we want to do without limits, without conformity, without worry.  If they ask us back that is our ticket to do whatever we want to do again.
RS: And what we don’t do.  For years when I played rock it was “Sweet Home Alabama”, “Taking Care of Business”, but when people hear the Famous Clever they know they’re not going to get that.  So what we don’t do sort of is what we do.
TF: Without a doubt.  There is no Mustang Sally here.
LP: If we do…we’re going to freak it the fuck out.
TF: Helter Skelter, I remember one old head came up to me a couples back and said “Oh man, I love that Helter Skelter!”  It was probably 28 minutes long and sounded nothing like the song except for the end caps, we started out and ended it like the song, but this 23 minute thing in the middle.  That’s always fun, especially finding all the older heads who get off on that jam scene but don’t see it as much anymore because everything in the bar is just so …
LP: These are some of the folks who came up listening to the radio when there was some really rich music on the radio that was kind of doing that kind of stuff.  No big plans other than to be awesome.
TF: I know there was a time, Russ I imagine you probably had a few phases when you were trying to go for the moon, I know there was a phase when we probably would’ve really liked to get there and thought maybe we were working on something, but after awhile, I guess after having a family, like I said the mortgage is coming up soon, but this has really become our playground.  We won’t get rich playing 30 minute songs, but we’re having fun.  This is a way to get out.

33: Therapy from the real world.
LP: That’s what it is.  As we’ve gone on just as people as individuals you seem to conform more and more, and this is our way of breaking out of that for just a few hours and say we’re just going to play the way music was intended to play.  You can picture us around a camp fire, you can picture us in somebody’s garage, you can picture us in a room, you can picture us at the NorVa, but it’s all the same thing to us.  We’re quite surprised sometimes that places ask us back.  Not that we don’t sound good, it’s just that we’re that unconventional as far as a bar band.  We might as well as be playing the Hampton Coliseum in my mind, this is a concert, this is a concert, this isn’t a bar gig.  It’s just having that kind of fun with it, that’s the thing, a lot of people get really serious about it and say it’s got to be successful, well; success is how much fun you get out of it at the end of the day.
TF: I have to go back 12 questions ago and talk to the high point because by far, I think the high point in music, barring the moments we have in jam…sometimes we come across a thing that’s just wow, I wasn’t even trying to play it tonight and it was just happening.  Those are really the high moments, but those are kind of private bedroom high moments.  The public high moment is when we played at the NorVa this year we walked out on stage opening for Robin Trower.  It was my first time playing the NorVa, these two old pros have been there, but there was a lot of anxiety walking onto the stage.  Robin Trower’s group…they’re watching guitar players.  I’m not that good of a guitar player, especially opening for Robin Trower, so I know everyone in the crowd is looking at what I’m doing, so I was worked up about it a little bit.  We get up and start doing our thing and they’re just staring at us.  Unlike at a bar you can kind of tell if people are digging it or not, everybody is just staring at us.
RS: 1300 people.
TF: Exactly.  I wasn’t sure how it was going from Robin Trower’s crowd until we stopped, and the second we stopped the place erupted.  It was just like [relieved sigh] Okay, we made it out of Compton!  We’re okay!  And from there on everyone just dialed into fun, it was a blast. 

33: Where’d the name come from?
LP: Back when we formed it was 2001.  We were about to play a party, and this was with our original drummer, Patrick O’hare. We were going to play a party at his neighbor’s house, and we had kind of just been shedding, Tim met him and convinced me to come over and we started piecing some stuff together.  We needed to call ourselves something, so we just went around the room and the three of us each said a word, and then we put it together into a name.  That was the only thought that went into it.  It was like “Okay! That’s enough of that, let’s practice.”  There was no thought into it.  A lot of people that I’ve come across have gone “That’s a real head scratcher of a name,” and I tell them “Don’t over think it because we didn’t.”  It’s just three random words that seem to look good together, we definitely don’t personify any of it…except for maybe the word the.  We’re not famous, and we’re marginally clever at times.
RS: Yeah, ask our wives, we’re not clever. [laughter]

33: Do you have any last words for your fans?
TF: Well my wife will be here in a few minutes, so I’ll just tell her when she gets here.
LP: I would say get the fuck out and see some shows, I don’t even care whose show it is, I would prefer it be our shows but it’s weird there was a really good scene around ’98 and there seemed to be more people that embraced this kind of approach of a live show in a bar.  I think they’re still around, we get bits and pieces of it, we see it, we go to the NorVa and are like “Where are all these people when we’re playing at the Taphouse?”  I would just say come on out and see us and have a good time, don’t be afraid to get out of your seat.  A lot of times we’ll get into stuff where I want to dance, I don’t even dance a lot but I just want to stop playing and start dancing to it.  It certainly fuels us as musicians to see people really digging it, and you can’t do that when there are 7 people in the crowd.  Just support those folks because not everybody is playing the indie stuff, the one man DJ thing, not everybody is doing the singer-songwriter thing.  If you want to see some art, some creative live instant art we’d be glad to oblige. 
RS: Guitar, bass and drums is elemental.  I mean whether it’s Jimi Hendrix, or Cream, or Wes Montgomery, guitar bass and drums is the American live music format.  Come and get it.
TF: Most importantly thanks to the couple of folks who are dedicated and make a good showing when we play around town at these occasional outings, it’s really nice to see the folks who do take the initiative to get out of their chair and come out.
LP: Yeah, I didn’t want to discount those people who do come out and encourage us to keep going, keep going, you’re almost in space!
TF: Russell is the muscle.
LP: Russell is the muscle, and we’re very glad.  It’s funny, we had a drummer that was playing with us semi-regularly and wanted to take on another group more full time and it kind of put us in a bind.  I think Russell caught wind of a it from a mutual friend and student of his, and he was adhering to his play as often as you can mantra, he said “Hey, I’ll play with them, tell them to give me a call.”  We couldn’t of been happier, we kind of hit the ground running.  We didn’t even rehearse the first show.  We showed up and played all night and had a great time, then we actually started practicing.  It’s been a real treat to play with, for all intents and purposes, a local legend.  It was like who am I to be playing with Russell Scarboroug h, and I know that makes him feel terrible [laughter] but it was just so neat to play with him, we’ve never really  had a drummer like him.  It’s helped to constantly learn to, he keeps it fresh, he keeps us on our toes sometimes and it’s just been a real joy.
TF: So what do you think guys, want to open with Mustang Sally tonight?

myspace.com/thefamousclever
facebook.com

If you’d like to meet the local legend himself, check out Russell’s own music shop, located at 504 Washington Park in Norfolk.
RussellsMusicWorld.com

By Photojournalist: Kerri Killion   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

Hampton Roads - The music scene was taken by surprise when Korn first graced us with their noise driven musical riffs.  A true breath of fresh air, they had a unique sound that took the charts and radio by storm.  Brian Head Welch was the driving riff force behind their haunting guitar as early as Korn’s self-titled album in 1994.  After living the life of a rock star for twelve years, Head found it all taking a toll on him.  He decided to get clean, get serious, and start over.  Many would have thought leaving such a major influential band in the metal scene would be crazy - as so many out there are looking to live the dream and life style of a rocker.  Welch had found that there were more important things in life such as his a daughter, his music, and his soul. 

A true honor to meet with Brian as Head came to the Norva on the 24^th of October with fellow Christian metal rockers Red.  I was eager to sit down and listen in as he unraveled his new lease on life and future plans in the musical industry. 

33: What inspired the changes you made in your life?
Brian Welch: It did not satisfy me.  The entire money and fame thing and constant touring wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.  It was fun in the beginning, but seeing every band member get divorced and have a broken home and turn into raging alcoholic drug addicts while we were successful wasn’t good. 

33: How do you feel the changes have influenced you musically?
BW: I was tapped out musically from all the partying and I didn’t have any more drive.  I didn’t like being in the band but when I dumped it all down and quit, I was able to start over I got the spark back.  Now it is a big flame and I am loving it. 

33: How has it been bringing your thirteen year old daughter on the road with you and being a dad?
BW: [screams] Ahhhhhh!  It is hard!  It is peaceful at the same time because I know she is with me and I can see her but at the same time it is like “Dad!  Dad! Can I do this?”

33: How does she feel about the experience?
BW: She is having fun but getting a little bored now that it is the end of the tour.  So maybe she might not want to be a musician now.  If she does it is cool but it is a crazy life.

33: Being in a Christian metal band who would you say are bigger critics: the Christian groups that are not into the heavy metal or the heavy metal fans not into the Christian music?
BW: I would say the metal people.  I get it more reading comments and stuff from the metal people saying the song is cool but the Jesus stuff is gay. 

33: If that’s the worst you got it isn’t so bad.
BW: When I first turned my life over to God I went online and this kid said I wish you would have died on drugs instead of becoming a stupid Christian.  I was like thanks bro. 

33: Wow, people can be very judgmental.  To me it isn’t like you are out there smacking people around telling them what to do you are just offering a chance to listen to something different.  Here is a funny example of how you reach a wider audience now.  My boyfriend’s mother knew who you were when I mentioned the interview from watching you on the 700 Club.
BW: No way, I cross over to all these people?    It is weird when grandmas and moms know who you are.  It helps them to see that these people that listen to metal are not the devil and we need God too.  We can be touched and saved and it shows that there is hope for the people that might be considered too far gone to be saved.
33: They used to be able to just label by putting a blanket out there on judgment but now they actually have to listen and look.  I think it helps get the parents interactive and involved in the music. 

33: How much outside influence is coming into your new music?
BW: We are just thinking about quality sounds but I would say Deftones and obviously Korn because I came from that band. 

33: But that’s you and you can’t change you.
BW:  Exactly!   I also like bands like Coldplay and stuff, the melodies, so sometimes that creeps in.  The producers are trying to get me back to killer riffs and good songs so that’s what we are focusing on. 

33: Do you believe your prominent career with Korn has helped you or hindered you as you decided to branch out and as you said start over?
BW: I think it has helped because there are so many bands out there.  I am glad it is like that but at the same time sometimes it hurts because there is this guy that is trying to be solo and he might not get as a successful as Korn was.  I have already been to the top and it wasn’t all that it is cracked up to be.  It was cool to do it.  I already rode that wave so I am not focused on that.

33: The wave of the original process of the end game was fame and fortune; what would you consider the end game to be now?
BW: Touch lives, that’s the main thing because I am seeing all of these people changed from my story saying you got out of it and I think I can do it.  They are like looking to me as some kind of hero and stuff not in a weird way like “Ohh I am a hero”, but like I am doing something pretty cool in the world right now.  That’s better than any paycheck I ever got.  I am not just whining that I was never happy because it was cool to ride that wave before. 

33: What advice would you give to people that have faced similar struggles with darkness, drugs and roller coaster of life?
BW: Turn to God because we live and move and have our being in him.  We wouldn’t even be breathing right now if it wasn’t for him.  I believe all of that stuff so first go to the Creator he will help you out.  Second I would say you have to forgive your enemies and forgive yourself.  Stop treating yourself like that because it is disguised as a good time but when it starts to rip apart your life it is obvious you don’t like yourself and you are trying to hide something.  Forgiveness is a good thing.

Brian Welch helped changed the course of music with his influence on Korn.  He now has a new lease on life and is continuing to make a difference.   His new single “Paralyzed”, released on October 4, 2011, is definitely a musical offering all his own but still has the raw guitar riffs that were infamous in Korn.   Putting together a new album planned for release in 2012, I would keep my eye on Head Christian heads or metal heads alike.

BrianHeadWelch

By Editor (Managing) and Correspondent: Robin Marschak   Wed, Feb 08, 2012

Before anything I must apologize. This article has taken much too long in the writing. Who wants to hear about holiday parties in mid-February? But in this case I think the party is worth mentioning no matter how far into the year it is now. That's because the Holiday Hoedown that took place at the Canal Club this past December was much more than just a bunch of great local country bands getting together to celebrate the holidays. It was the kickoff of the River City Barn Dance, which will hopefully become a longstanding Richmond tradition.

The Barn Dance is the brainchild of Andy Vaughan, known locally for his stint in Hamburger James as well as his current band Andy Vaughan & the Driveline. The idea is to hold monthly or bimonthly country shows at various venues around Richmond. With the recent or impending close of many of the venues that currently showcase Richmond's local country bands, Andy was concerned that there would be a lack of avenues for those bands to play their music for the fans that are most definitely still here. What was needed, he saw, was a regular gathering of Richmond's country community, both fans and musicians. While the name Barn Dance may not be entirely accurate in the details it does convey the spirit of the endeavor.

The first of these events took place quite appropriately in the upstairs of the Canal Club. It's a rather large space with structural pillars studded throughout the dance floor and exposed beams in the ceiling. All in all a decent inner-city approximation of a barn. Unfortunately the evening of the show turned out to be one of those miserably wet and cold days that this area is so fond of throwing at its inhabitants in the early winter, but despite the weather I bundled up and trudged the 1.5 miles down to Shockoe Bottom. Fortunately I found that most of the other folks who had planned on attending where even less phased by the weather in their automobiles than I had been on foot. And while the crowd appeared a bit thin when I first arrived, it had really blossomed by the end of the night.

The bands that night were some of the best this city has to offer in the country vein. Loversville kicked the evening off to a bit of a slow start, but that's classic country for you: slow and mournful, and they did it perfectly. Up second was Lee Harris & Country Sunshine. I had not seen these guys before though I had heard of them and heard them play live on the radio. Lee Harris also hosts one of my favorite radio shows called merely The Lee Show which airs from 9-11 PM on Tuesdays on WRIR. But enough about the band, what about their music? It's a high energy affair. Still keeping with the country notes that Loversville brought in slow, Country Sunshine ramped up the tempo and reached for the other end of the country spectrum.

After this the Slack Family took the stage and went with a different approach entirely. Following electrified and loud country, they walked on stage all acoustic with a typical bluegrass lineup of guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass. And that is exactly what they played. The Slack Family are one of the best bluegrass bands in Richmond, effortlessly meshing their instrumentation into a rich harmony that can't help but make you feel good no matter how shitty the weather may be. The final band of the show was Andy Vaughan & the Driveline. With Jerry Renshaw wailing away at the Telecaster, they are about as high energy as a country band can get, and it was exactly what the Hoedown needed at that point in the evening. They finished up their set with a double encore and the first ever River City Barn Dance was over. I can only hope there will be plenty more in the future.

Loversville.net
myspace.com/LeeHarrisandCountrySunshine
SlackFamily.com
AndyVaughanMusic.com

By Correspondent: Sarah Freiseis   Sat, Jan 07, 2012

Big ups to our local musicians putting this fine city on the music map.  Richmonders are shouting out and showing up when it comes to live and local.  Supporting local acts is easy when you genuinely enjoy what you are hearing, seeing, and above all, experiencing. 

The Blues in the Bottom event at Canal Club was a fundraiser to help two acts - the Bush League (Richmond) and Rooster Foot (Virginia Beach) - get to the 2012 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.  The competition is in its twenty-eighth year and will be held January 31 - February 4 in the Beale Street entertainment district.  The Bush League will participate in the group category and Rooster Foot will perform as a duo in the upcoming IBC.  The groups were eligible to move on because of a win in a regional competition; both, in this instance, from the one hosted by the Natchel Blues Network, which has been promoting the blues as a 501c3 non-profit organization since 1984 in the Hampton Roads area.

Beyond the IBC bound, the lineup for Blues in the Bottom also featured the Mike Lucci Band and Pigfoot Riot who got the night started off right, each bringing a unique energy to the stage through vivacious female vocalists.  The Richmond-based Mike Lucci Band is a self-proclaimed Chicago style variety of the genre with added emphasis on rockin' rhythm and blues (and even known to throw in some rumba) that features Mike Lucci on the bass.  Pigfoot Riot is comprised of members of the River City Blues Society, a six-person ensemble with a raw edge that gets the audience movin' off the bat.

Next came Rooster Foot, aka the Stainback duo.  Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Seth was joined by his father Keith to complete the sound.  "I grew up around music.  I've been playing since I was a kid," said Seth.  "I moved out to Norfolk about three years ago - I'm a welder, I moved out there to work - and my dad moved out like two years after me because he just liked it there, and I started playing music again.  Someone said, 'Hey, you need to enter this competition, it will help you out,' so I did, and I got my dad to come with me 'cause he plays percussion.  I was filling out the form, and we needed a band name, so I put down Rooster Foot."  He said there isn't a particular process for him in writing and creating music.  "Words hit me, or a melody will hit me, sometimes I'll write a song in ten minutes, and sometimes pieces of it will lay around for months.  It's always different, but all my life anything that has to do with music has never been something contrived.  It's always just been in me, it definitely comes from my heart, I can say that, it comes from my heart and soul."  He went on to say he is currently working on an album due out in or around February.  "Recording over at Soul Haven Studios in Virginia Beach, so we're about three quarters of the way done, so hopefully it'll be out soon."

Headliners the Bush League have often referred to their sound as FuB&RR, standing for Funk, Blues & Rock and Roll.  Guitarist Shane Parch (aka Chicago Slim) said, "I think our sound is different because it's not textbook, it's projecting the feelings inside of you, we are ourselves in the music, and I think that's what we have to bring to the table."  Royce Folks (bass) added, "We play off of each other, it's all organic, and we play off the crowds also.  Even if we played the same setlist, it would be different every time."  The band took a moment before going on stage to talk to Magazine33 about that night's event as well as the upcoming Memphis competition.  Folks explained that the Blues in the Bottom event was the second of its kind, "We're just trying to get more blues acts, and to have more blues related things here in the area.  This time we're using it as a fundraiser to get down to the International Blues Challenge."  Vocalist JohnJason "Sleepy Eyed Jay" Cecil, who also happens to be co-founder of the band (the other being Folks), said they have had the opportunity to attend this esteemed event before.  "There has been some iteration of this band going to the International Blues Challenge for three years in a row.  Shane and myself went first as a solo/duo category winner, and then the band won at the Sedalia Blues Festival, and now we just won again for the Natchel Blues Network, so what it's become now is ... a whole lot of fun."  He said because acts come from all over the globe, it has almost become like a homecoming of sorts, "because we've made friends now, it's like, 'See you in Memphis.'" 

The band has released two self-produced live albums since forming in early 2007.  Parch said, "I think the next move after Memphis is probably going to be towards a full-length studio album."  Gwen "Platinum Plaque" Frederick played drums on their latest album which included songs "Mexico", "Gotta Women", and "Don't Touch My Liquor" they also played at the 2011 International Blues Challenge.  On the night of the Blues in the Bottom event, the guys were joined on stage by double duty drummer Rod Hyner of Pigfoot Riot.  In terms of live music, Parch added, "Simply put, our songs have a framework, and we play with that framework every night, but as long as we get from point A to point B, and we know the general path to get there, we make it, and that's how we do our music.  It works ... and people like it."  When asked about the future of the blues, JohnJason said, "The blues isn't going anywhere.  People have their interpretations or perceptions of what it is, but the fact of the matter is, blues as a genre of music is just as varied as any other sort of music, and since blues is the progenitor of all American music, it just stands to reason it won't going away.  We're not going to let it go anywhere."

It is incredible that in just a matter of weeks these guys will be playing the clubs of Beale Street, an infamous stretch of town where so many music greats have graced.  In addition to evenings filled with playing music, the days will provide seminars and workshops, closing by paying homage to the blues community with the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) awards ceremony.  Rooster Foot and the Bush League will participate in a "Battle of the Bands" style competition for a panel of judges, and not that they need it, but we wish them luck and look forward to hearing more about their incredible adventure.

By Editor (Managing) and Correspondent: Robin Marschak   Sun, Jan 01, 2012

How many bands do you normally expect to see at a house show? Three? Four? Maybe as many as five or six, but rarely more than that. By the time you get past the first couple bands you're pretty much guaranteed to have at least one noise complaint. If the cops haven’t shut you down by the third band, your bands obviously aren’t playing loud enough. Or at least that was my perspective as a pedestrian resident of downtown Richmond. But Richmond is a big town, and you gotta have a car to get to most of it. It turns out that if you live out in Mechanicsville, where Mark and Tara Schneck do, noise complaints are a bit of a moot point. That’s why they are able to put on some truly massive house (or in their case garage) shows a couple times a year.

These shows aren’t exactly your average house show. The Schnecks have transformed their average looking three car garage into one hell of a music venue. On first glance the place looks like any generic small to medium venue. As you enter the garage there’s a decent sized stage platform at the left end of the building and a sound and light board facing it at the other end. There are a couple couches and chairs along the back wall and enough bare concrete in the middle to have a good crowd dancing. What makes this garage stand out is the sound system, which Mark told me he salvaged from the old Flood Zone when it shut down. For those of you unfamiliar with Richmond musical history that’s the big black building in Shockoe Bottom that now has a yellow smiley face on the side. This is a system that could blow your ears off in one of the larger venues in the city, and the Schnecks have it set up in their little three car garage in the middle of nowhere Mechanicsville. Talk about setting your dials to 11…

They have aptly named their little home venue the Garage Mahal and use it to host several shows every year. This past December I managed to hitch a ride with one of our photographers out to Mechanicsville for Winter Thunderland, an evening at the Garage Mahal with a lineup of eleven bands. We showed up sometime in the early afternoon as People’s Blues of Richmond was set to kick the show off around 3 PM. I think that may have been a bit early for the party to start, but people did start trickling in and by the time PBR had finished rocking the faces off those of us who had showed up a decent sized crowd had formed. At least a decent sized crowd for a wintry afternoon. It took a couple more sets and the sun going down for the real party to start, but that doesn’t mean the music wasn’t plenty good.

PBR was followed by Weeping Molly who threw down a nice mix of jazzy original rock songs and classic covers. After that Glambang turned the clock back to the days when feather boas and skin-tight glitter pants were all the rage. They were followed by a hipster/indie four-piece called The Sort. By the time the next band took the stage the place had really started to fill up. The sun had gone down and there was the typical crowd of smokers milling around just outside the door. Some folks had even started a bonfire down a little hill from the house and garage. And by the time I got back inside from the bonfire a stripper pole had appeared in the middle of the dance floor.

Reverend D-Ray and the Shockers were the next band and they really got the party started with their high energy psychobilly stylings. At one point the Reverend even tore off his white suit jacket to reveal a sleeveless black shirt with a red priest collar and proceeded to jump up on the stripper pole and show off his shiny black leather pants. From there things only got better as the Barstool Heroes kept the energy high and the people dancing and pushed on into the night. Unfortunately sharing a ride also means sharing a time schedule and so my story ends here, but the party was far from over. As I was leaving the Ultra Kings were setting up and four more bands (Secret Agent T, The Octaine Saints, Gojira X, and Chrome Daddy Disco) were still slated to play after them. From what I hear the second half of the night was even more of a blast than the first.

I've really got to congratulate the Schnecks on providing a wonderful venue out there in Mechanicsville and also on knowing how to pick excellent bands to play it. Definitely keep an eye out for Schneck-a-Palooza, their summer show, when that time of year comes around. Or if you miss that there's always next year's Winter Thunderland.

By Photojournalist: Chris Pecoraro   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

Hosting this amazing little festival in Nelson County, Virginia are Charlottesville's own Infamous Stringdusters.  Last year's inaugural introduction to The Festy was an impressive first showing in every aspect.  It was organized and executed flawlessly.  There was a great lineup and a surprising turnout.  It seemed as if they had a perfect little formula that could be on its way to becoming one of the best around. 

This year's Festy was the proof in the pudding.  This festival has only gotten bigger and better.  The Festy formula makes for a true festival experience. 

Local sustenance was a major part of the theme throughout the weekend.  All of the food and drink were local.  Vendors such as Devils Backbone Brewery, Starr Hill Beer, Sherri's Crabcakes, Fardowers, The Lunchbox, Southern Way Cafe and plenty of other local eateries served up the yummies all weekend long.  Mmmm … festival food.

The lineup is showing to be consistently strong and even stronger this year.  They've successfully intertwined all of our local favorite musical talents with the bigger, well-known acts that, I for one, know and love.  Adding another day to the schedule this year, The Festy was able to expand the lineup into a three day festival.  Kicking off The Festy weekend on Friday at the Main Stage was Sarah Siskind & Her Infamous Friends, followed by the likes of Larry Keel, Toubab Krewe, and Railroad Earth.  It looks like and hopefully these bands will be, Festy staples.

Starting off the day at The Southern Stage was Tara Mills with Strings Attached. Next was the Morwena Lasko & Jay Punn Quartet.  Morwena and Jay will surely never cease to amaze you with their musical prowess.  Another local favorite, Love Canon, closed up the Southern Stage with their 80's bluegrass covers.  Fun and entertaining, this band is popular for very good reason.

Day Two saw the likes of the Emmit-Nershi Band, Brett Dennen, the Infamous Stringdusters and Rubblebucket.  The Emmit-Nershi Band is never one to miss.  Brett Dennen, named as the "artist to watch" by Rolling Stone magazine, playing his folk-pop music, is very entertaining to watch with his animated and illustrative stage presence.  The eight-piece band, Rubblebucket, one of my Festy favorites, has a special something that I feel will propel them to higher levels.  Their unique, high energy, dance, psychedelic indie rock is a one of a kind, and it is backed up with an amazing physical performance.  I don't know how they keep up with themselves, as they seem to run around the stage for the entire set.  Decked out with neon pink and green cloth, sprawled across the stage, and glow in the dark paint hieroglyph-ing their instruments, Rubblebucket illuminated their presence by black light.  They utilize their time and space with a cool and creative energy that fully connects them with their audience.  Towards the end of their show, the three horns players of the band paraded through the crowd, filling the air with brass, in a way that felt reminiscent of Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras.  The sound of Rubblebucket is captivating, the energy enthralling.

Leading into Day Three of the weekend, included Sarah White, Carl Anderson, and Trees on Fire.  All of whom are very popular in the local C'ville scene.  If you get a chance to see either of these bands, and haven't yet, you most certainly should when you get a chance.  The Infamous Stringdusters played each of the three days.  This is a fun and energetic bluegrass band that truly entertains the crowds.  They always put on an amazing show and it seems as if they will always put on an amazing festival as well.  I'm thankful that they have brought such great music to my residing county of Nelson.

Although technically speaking they didn't play the last set of the weekend, The David Grisman Sextet is again a solid anchor for yet another music festival.  One can never go wrong with this group of musical geniuses.  Generally speaking, bluegrass is what they play.  But David Grisman's self-dubbed "Dawg" music is unlike any other.  His creative intricacies on the mandolin and dabbling in an assortment of musical genres, all in the style of bluegrass is indicative of "Dawg" and is truly what makes his music stand alone.  Throughout the performance each of the members sample their soloing savvy, leaving you delightedly in awe.  The crowd is commanded in attention, with eyes glued to the stage in wonderment.  For me, as one who appreciates a wide variety of music, this is the stuff that makes me appreciate music as a whole.  It's filled with passion and vision, and executed with such tremendous skill.  But in the end there is a mystery that leaves me not exactly sure how to put a finger on what it is that makes this music so masterfully mind-blowing.  It somehow taps in to the soul.  I'm simply satisfied, yet refreshingly surprised every time I listen to the "Dawg".

I can't think of a better way to end the festival season of 2011.  Good food, good vibe, good music … great festival.  The Festy Experience is an amazing new music festival that I am sure will prove year in and year out to be one of the best around.  You might want to get your tickets for next year as soon as possible, because I have a feeling that they will be selling out.  See you there!

For more info on the Festy:

TheFesty.com

By Photojournalist: Kerri Killion   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

Hampton Roads - These guys have been supporting the Hampton Roads metal scene for over thirteen years after coming together while attending Norview High School back in the day.  Jesse Shea, lead front man, has done more for the metal scene than just bring metal to the ears of those who love it and to some who do not.  Shea sets up shows with acts both national and local in our Seven City region.  He has the contacts to keep the metal flowing and plans to continue bringing it for many years to come.

After shooing Allan Slug Shires (interviewed in the Dermabraison article featured in July 2011) from the bench, James sat down next to me with the rest of Construkt and we started to deconstruct the band, the scene, and the things that make you go poo.

33:  You guys have been around the scene as many have come and go how do you keep sticking it out?
Jesse Shea:  Me and James are the only real original members but shortly after the fact Donnie came in.  Our light man Tim has been around us for a long time as well.  Then we got Adam into the band.
Donnie Murphy:  We make it last and work because we are all friends and family actually like each other.  You have to be grownups to be in a band, children never last.  We have to make compromises with our lives but it is all worth it in the end.  We love what we do and make it work.
Tim Hudson:  We are all family and have known each other for years and years and years.  We go to each other’s birthdays and just stick together.  We have seen so many bands come and go, even big name bands.  People that have been around twenty years and break up and we are still going.

33: You guys put together and promote a lot of shows for the scene?
DM: That is Jesse Shea Mr. Promoter man.
JShea: It isn’t even like that I just try to put together shows and make a difference in the scene instead of just ho-ing and hah-ing about things not working.
TH: We are now getting complaints from cities it is fucking awesome.

33:  Complaints from cities?
JShea: The City of Norfolk does not like us too much right now because we do too well.  They named us specifically in a complaint to the city for our shows being too fucking loud.  We just love our scene and what it is.  Regardless of what some holier than thou bands might want to say about it the shows are happening the bands are awesome and if you don’t like it shit or get off the pot.  We are all in it for the same reason and same game you don’t like it eat a dick or whatever.

33:  Who came up with the idea for your infamous glowing black light paint?
James Suit: We stole it from Bile plain and simple.
TH: We stole that shit but they stole it from Kiss who got it from Alice Cooper so what do you want.   It slowly developed over time and we developed it.  It started with a little tiny black light and now is a whole bunch of shit.
JShea: We made it our own and we rock it.  No less love but fuck them we got that shit.
DM: It makes us happy and we make our fans happy that’s who we play our shows for.
Adam Dukhie: Plus we are not getting any younger, so why quit now!

33: I got to hear your newest song addition “Social Network” tonight.  Tell me a little bit as to what that is about?
JShea: It is our ode to Facebook.  It is an ode to all the bullshit haters and people talking shit.  You know what?  Fuck you.  You got your own personal life stop putting it all over the internet.
DM: People talking crap that would never do it to your face is the true inspiration.  They only do it because they have a Facebook to hide behind.  There wouldn’t be so much turmoil if they did not have that to hide behind.
JShea: We actually recorded it for a Virginia Metal compilation that is set to come out later this year.

33: That’s with Casey from the Virginia Metal Alliance?
JShea: Yes that’s my boy.  They are in the final production stages for the cd but definitely are looking for two more bands to go on the cd.

33: What bands do you pull inspiration from?
JSuit: I listen to a wider variety of music than any of these assholes.
AD: Yeah he bitches at me because I have the same cd in my truck rolling it over and over.
JSuit: I am a fan of all kinds of metal every type you can think of.  There are some songs you can hear a riff and you might recognize which band was an influence.  I wrote most of the riffs for Social Network and there are parts of this song you would think Dave Mustaine wrote for Megadeath.  That is my favorite band and where I get most of my inspiration.  Of course if I have a favorite band you can hear their influence of my music because that is what inspired me to play guitar in the first place.

33: Give me one story to share that not everyone would know about Construkt?
JSuit: One time I shit all over a hotel room when we were in North Carolina.  I woke up in the bath room covered in shit and I don’t even remember.  My entire backside and the bathroom was covered in shit and there were piles of shit all over the bedroom.
JShea: It looked like the room had five dogs in there.
JSuit: We were there with Property and those guys mad took care of us putting us in a hotel room.  This mother fucker shit all over the place and we had to pay a $150 cleaning fee.

33: Isn’t that better than cleaning it yourself?
JSuit: That’s just what happens when you drink a case of beer and a liter of liquor.
JShea: We partied with Property the entire time it was just awesome fun.

33: So this a favorite memory for Construkt?
JShea: No I would have to say it was playing with Hate Breed.  That was just awesome to accomplish being able to say hey I played with them.
JSuit: Another was playing at the Norva opening for Type O Negative before Peter Steele died.  We played July 5^th, 2008 last time they played the NORVA.  That was a great time.  We were the only real metal band on that whole show.

33: So where can fans look to see you?
JShea: November 5^th we are opening up for Ekotren at Rogers in Chesapeake and December 10^th we are playing at the Christmas Dimebag Darrell tribute show in Virginia Beach at The Cinema Cafe.

You have not seen the Hampton Roads metal scene until you can say you have been splatted with some day glow paint worn by the band Construkt.  Jesse Shea and the boys are a pillar in the metal community, surviving where many others have failed.  Is it their love for the music, the ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude, or perhaps their love for all things poo?  We might never know the answer to this question, but what we do know is that this band has helped shape the scene as we know it today.  Support and come get your black light paint on!

Construkt on Reverbnation

Contrukt on Facebook

By Correspondent: Sarah Freiseis   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

Richmond - Chris Ryan's debut album Pray For The Rain sheds new light on this singer, song-writer, and guitarist's abilities.  Rainy days are made for moody music... soulful and romantic.  In this instance, the nine track album has the ability to take you there, and back in about forty minutes.  Lyrics lost in thought, dreamy reflection, and contemplating what the future holds.  The words are complimented with layers of sound, soft and easy on the ears and in the heart.  

The opening track, also the album title, opens the door for more of the same.  By that I mean you can allow yourself to get lost in the moment of the music, a cohesive set of sounds, not some mish-mash everything we've got thrown together under one roof.  As listeners, by the second song "Rosy Tonight" we are able to commit to what the sound evokes, and it inspires putting the whole thing on repeat, repeatedly.  The album features local talent Daniel Clarke who Ryan enlisted as co-producer in the making of this album featuring six songs written by Ryan, two with the help of Clarke, and a Neil Young tune arranged by Ryan.  His take on Young's "Harvest Moon" is a less twangy and more modernized version of the original.  Equally sweet, and with the same sentiment, just a little fresher.  The song is perfectly suited for the sound style Ryan has carved out for himself with the release of this album.

Ryan's vocals and guitar are coupled with a bevy of Richmond musicians including acoustic piano and back-up vocals from Clarke, Brian Mahne on organ and electric piano, Derrick Englert on bass, Scott Clark on drums, and back-up vocals by Katrice Johnson at various points throughout the album.  Andrew Rapisarda adds some vocals on track four "Table For Two" with Toby Whitaker on trombone.  The slightly lonely and sort of optimistic song continues the theme with lyrics "...stormy weather, rain keeps falling down / I kept myself together, I hope you make it too / and when we're feeling better, maybe we can set the table for two."  Similarly the following track "When We Didn't Have Much" starts with "you left your raincoat on the hanger," ushering in a refrain drenched in sentiment which not only plays a purpose in that song, but also in the next one, "Hold Out My Hands."

Ryan is joined by Beast Wellington band mates for a couple of tracks.  Ryan plays guitar for the group which has a long-standing weekly gig at Bogart's In the Fan every Wednesday night.  Band leader Mark Ingraham (trumpet) plays on tracks three, four, and six.  Alto sax player Suzi Fischer is credited with two songs including "Before The Flood," a song co-written by Ryan and Clarke.  Although this is a departure from the funkier Beast Wellington vibe, Ryan's solo sound is not altogether off, as the band is also known to include some slower soul-bearing beats in their repertoire.  There are sure to be many cross-over fans... and why not?   Using your position in something familiar and taking it another direction, that's a benefit of branching out and doing your own thing isn't it?  When you can call the shots and work outside of the band dynamic and expose another side of yourself at different levels of creativity and expression, you're sure to turn on some first-timers and devoted followers alike.

Even when recording with other artists, each song distinctly represents Ryan, and his vision for his solo debut, or at least I think so.  The somewhat more upbeat "Walls" integrates some variances in the flow of the song which keeps us hanging on through the moments of "These walls won't let me in / Everything feels so strange tonight."  It just feels right to hear the additional slide/guitar from Rapisarda, who also brings the sound to the last track of the album in which Ryan is accompanied by Marcus Tenney (tenor saxophone, trumpet), trumpeter Ben Heemstra, and Bryan Hooten on trumpet.  "Day By Day," the closing song, is the second tune written by both Ryan and Clarke, this one featuring Clarke on guitar in compliment to Ryan's. 

The soft release of the album was promoted through Facebook where Ryan recognized each of the musicians who contributed and cited them as being "some of the best friends and musicians I know."  Other names worth mentioning include sound engineers Palmer Wilkins and Justin Tanner, and Album Cover artist Brooke Leatherwood Tanner.  The album was mixed by Stuart Myers along with Ryan and Clarke, and mastered by Fred Kevorkian.  Pray For The Rain is available for purchase as a CD as well as online in an mp3 format, and the album has also gotten accepted for play on Pandora.  With the release of this project Ryan is proving he's not afraid to put himself out there ... showing Richmond, and beyond, what he is all about.

Chris Ryan on MySpace

Pray for the Rain iTunes

By Photographer: Travis Ely   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

These days it seems like everyone in Richmond has at least heard about the Folk Festival.  Even if they know nothing about the music or have never been to the event, they know about it because it's big.  Big might be a bit of an understatement.  The National Folk Festival was big the first year it came to Richmond, drawing crowds nearer in size to 100,000 than 50,000.  This year's Richmond Folk Festival had well over twice the attendance of that kickstarter event seven years ago.  According to the festival website there were somewhere around 200,000 people in attendance.  To put that in a differenent light the population of the City of Richmond is approximately 205,000.  No wonder people complain about the traffic downtown that weekend.

The Folk Festival has, in its short lifespan, become a major Richmond tradition.  It seems to draw people from every demographic in the city.  That is the real beauty of this festival.  It would be so easy to just confine the term "folk" to one specific folk tradition, but the Festival refuses to do that.  Among the performers each year there is enough variety to suit any tastes.  Maybe you're just looking for some good old fashioned Chicago blues (this year's blues representative at the festival was Magic Slim & the Teardrops).  Or perhaps you want something a bit more foriegn like the Chinese Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera or the Malian Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba.  Of course there were all sorts of traditional American folk styles as well, from the gospel singing of the S.H. Thompson Memorial Choir to the cajun wailings of Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys.  And for those who, due to contemporary genre labeling, cringe at the very mention of "folk" music, there was always the option of a late night funk extravaganza at the Dominion Dance Pavilion with Original P.

For those who don't particularly like music (though I don't see why you would be reading this if that were the case), there were plenty of other attractions to make the Festival worth going to.  The crafts marketplace is always a cornucopia of traditional folk arts and crafts from all reaches of the world.  And at the Folklife Tent the theme this year was Contest Traditions with contestants showing off their skills in fields ranging from playing various local traditional instruments, to step dancing to oyster shucking.  Even if wandering around among large crowds at an outdoor festival just isn't your thing, the Folk Festival still had something to offer with its documentary film series exploring folk traditions from Virginia and elsewhere in the South.

This Festival is not just big because of the number of people who show up.  It's big because of the scope of what it's trying to do.  It's big because of the amount of affection the folks of Richmond show for it.  And for those of you who have grown cynical (let's face it Richmond is a cynical town) about the Folk Festival because of its size or its major corporate backers or because of any other reason, don't forget that this is still one of the best opportunities, not just in Richmond but in the whole country, of seeing this large and diverse a group of performers in one place.  Where else can you catch a performance by Davell Crawford, the "Piano Prince of New Orleans," and then without even having to get up watch a traditional Tibetan Buddhist debate performed by the monks of the Drepung Loseling Monastery.

For more information visit richmondfolkfestival.org.

By Director, Genre Lead, and Editor: Andrew Wolfe   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

Virginia Beach - It was just another night in the VBC and I was itching to hear some good music.  I checked the web pages of a couple of my favorite venues.  Nothing.  I checked Facebook.  Nothing.  So I turned to my handy Rolodex of awesome local artist and made a few calls.  I talked to the ever resourceful Tom Ass and found out that he had to work and as a result he was going to miss his chance to interview a band that night.  I asked who it was...and was pleasantly surprised to find it was Maryland's own Bumpin' Uglies. 

I had the pleasure of meeting those cats a few months back when my band had played with them at The Boxx.  I had gotten a copy of their EP at the time and the infectious tunes contained within had been on regular rotation in my car ever since.  I actually had the CD stolen by one of my roommates when he moved out because he couldn't get enough of it either.  So off I was to Chicho's 29^th Street in Virginia Beach to see the boys once again and grab a short word (and maybe another copy of that CD) ...

33: Introductions fellas?
Brandon Hardesty:  Brandon.  I play guitar and I sing.
Dave Wolf:  I'm Wolfey.  I play bass in Bumpin' Uglies.
Keenan Leader:  Keenan.  I play drums. 

33: Don't you guys have a brass section as well?
BH: We have a brass section at home that we can't afford to tour with because we're broke.  But we're workin' on it.  We're trying to look for a solid keyboard player right now that could simulate the horn parts.

33:  How many people do you have in your brass section?
BH:  Tenor sax and a trumpet.  We're thinking about doing a trombone, like when we record again.  We met a really solid trombone player in a band we played with recently.  It's definitely a staple in ska.

33:  How long have you guys been around?
BH:  Three years this December.
DW:  I've been playing with them for a little over a year.

33:  There was a bass player before you?
DW:  Yeah yeah.  At one point they were like a six piece band ... they had another guitarist, a sax player ...
KL:  A percussionist.
DW:  Yeah.  So we kind of scaled back a little bit.
BH:  Cut the fat kinda.

33:  Bumpin Uglies, where's the name come from?
KL:  Pretty much just a night of friends and a thirty pack, ya know?  Just trying to think up something that would make people laugh and want to come and see what the hell was going on if they saw it on a marquee.
BH:  Kind of like everything we do is kind of tongue-in-cheek.  Just trying to be funny.  Try not to take ourselves too seriously.  Our album is called Free Candy and we've got “Free Candy” written on a van parked next to a playground.

33:  Who's idea was that?
BH:  It was mine.  We came up with the name of the album we had the idea for the artwork the whole time.  It was funny and it was cheap.  We did the album art for almost nothing.

33:  How long ago did you guys put the album out?
BH:  June 18.

33:  So you're on tour right now?
BH:  Yeah man, we're going down to Florida.  We're going down through the coast but eventually we'll be in Florida and then come back up through Nashville.

33:  Where you guys headed to from here?
KL:  Next stop: Myrtle Beach.  Playing at the Blarney Stone.  With...what's the name of the band Brandon?
BH:  The Basterd Suns.
KL:  The Basterd Suns.
BH:  They're really fucking good.  They play like awesome punk rock/ska.  Dude writes the greatest words.  There's so much cheesy lyrics in this genre and the dude writes like awesome fucking words.

33:  Speaking of cool lyrics I've got to give it up to you guys for writing some really catchy tunes, without a doubt “Addictive Personality”.
BH:  That's just a taste you gotta check out that whole album.

33:  What's the story with “Addictive Personality”?
BH:  I wrote it while I was on vacation.  I gamble a lot.  I had a really bad night in the casino.  I got my ass handed to me in blackjack.  I was so bitter.  You know that expression, my mom always told me that.  She'd say, “You have an addictive personality, you need to watch out what you do.”  I just kept thinking about that.  Needed to do something to get my mind off of it so I wrote the song.  Then I felt good about myself again.

33:  [to Dave Wolf]  You would be the newest member of the band.  What was Bumpin’ Uglies like when you got into it and what has it become once you were in?
DW:  I started to play with them because I saw them at...
KL:  You probably saw our first show.
DW:  Yeah.  I think I probably did.  I used to play in another band in Annapolis, so I saw them kind of in their formative years.  They always had potential.  They were definitely rough but the songwriting was already there.  Brandon does write great songs.  It makes things easy cuz I can just worry about playing bass.  I know that he's got the lyrics coming.  My old band was southern rock so it was like Marshall half-stacks and non-stop solos.  We played a show with Lynard Skynard.  We were that kind of band.  It's nice to have more freedom to actually have people hear what I play.  I definitely have fun playing with this band.

33:  In your perspective because you guys have been through here a few times, what do you think of the local scenes you've run into across the state?  Northern Virginia, Richmond area, Hampton Roads ...
BH:  You guys have a fucking awesome scene here.  Honestly the first time we played here with Union Picnic at The Boxx, I was fucking freaking out.  I thought people were gonna hate it.  But everyone was really cool and really into it.  You can see people respect shit when it's done well.  We've played in Radford as well which was really cool.  It was definitely a different feel.  It was more of a college kind of hippie scene as opposed to punk and ska.

33:  Any final words?
BH:  Check out our album.  We're also going to be doing an acoustic album soon.
KL:  Check us out when we come back through Virginia Beach for sure.  All our shit’s on iTunes, it's gonna be on Pandora soon.

If you want to pick up an album that won't let you down, get ye to iTunes and download Free Candy by Bumpin' Uglies.  And if you see them coming to a venue in your area, don't make the mistake of missing them.  From Brandon's intricate wordplay to Keenan's masterful percussion to Wolfey's bubbling bass lines, check these guys out now before you have to pay $20 a ticket to see them later.  Hell, check 'em out then too.

Like 'em on Facebook!  Facebook.com/BumpinUgliesMusic
Follow 'em on Twitter! @BumpinUglies
Become a fan on ReverbNation!  Reverbnation.com/BumpinUgliesmusic

By Illustrator/Cartoonist: Jason Nocera   Tue, Nov 01, 2011

Cartoon logos, Custom Cartoons, Personal Cartoons, Cartoon Websites - Jason's main site!

Visit the Online Music Store: 
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MySpace.com/BuddyAndHopkins

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BuddyAndHopkins.com