Category: Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog

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Meet Me Where The Crow Don’t Fly, Water Tower

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The last time I wrote about Water Tower Bucket Boys was in September. Since that time they have changed their name to just Water Tower and become a trio. They’ve also put out a new record, called Meet Me Where the Crow Don’t Fly, and if, like me, you are into high-quality punk-infused bluegrass, you will want to get ahold of those tunes right away.

Meanwhile, after listening to (and LOVING) their earlier record, Sole Kitchen, I had some questions. Below, Kenny Feinstein (guitar, mandolin, harmonica and vocals) has some answers.

Is it difficult, being a (mostly) bluegrass band, and hailing from an area of the country (i.e. the Pacific NW in general) that’s best known as the epicenter of grunge?

It is not difficult really. We are just as connected to grunge as we are to country music generally speaking. In fact, our most intense/hardcore fans seem to come from Seattle.

I understand Gil Landry of Old Crow Medicine Show has given you a copy of a very special map. It sounds like the Marauder’s Map, but for buskers. I bet he doesn’t give that out to everyone. What are some of the stories of the map? And also what states does it go through? (Are you allowed to give excerpts? Like if you find yourself in Nebraska and have to sing for your supper, where should you go?)

The map started in Asheville, North Carolina for us because that is where we met Gil. The trail winds down through New Orleans, through a few hot spots in Texas (had to miss these), a few spots in New Mexico and Arizona, and plenty in California. Because of our schedule, we had to drive from Baton Rouge, Lousiana to Madrid, New Mexico pretty much non-stop.

We started out at around 3 pm or so and drove late into the night. Somewhere outside of Dallas at 2 am we ran into an insane lightning storm. The rain was so bad we had to stop on the side of the road and wait. After 20 something hours of driving we finally made it to New Mexico and took a little nap in middle of the desert.

A very valuable piece of the map is in Madrid, New Mexico. This is a one-street town/artist colony with a pub called the Mine Shaft Tavern at the end of the block. The houses that line the street all seem to be inhabited by different types of artists. Behind the stage in the tavern is an entrance to a now defunct mine.

Basically Gil said “you need to get to this town.” Even though the place is so small, tourists come from miles around to see what wonders lie there. Gil said you can busk across the street from the bed and breakfast any day and make good money, so we did. He also mentioned that the people at the tavern would ask us onstage, which they did. We had a great adventure in that town, and a great couple of shows.

Why did you name the band Water Tower?

We live close to a water tower where we used to spend a lot of time hanging out and playing music.

Normally I ask what was the rock and roll lightning strike song. This time I’m going to ask: what was the country lightening strike? (Though you can tell me the rock and roll lightening strike song, too.)

Bill Monroe- Shady Grove. Rock song: The Offspring- Bad Habit

What was your first show (that you went to, not that you played)?

Red Hot Chili Peppers in Mexico City.

What was the first record/tape/cd/etc you acquired? What was the last one?

I found a Paula Abdul tape in my brother’s trash can. I cherished it until it was gone. Latest record I got was Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV.
 
 
And now, as further enticement, I present some recent videos for new songs:
 
Meet Me Where the Crown Don’t Fly, the title track on the new record:

Meet Me Where The Crow Don't Fly (Official)

 
Easy Way Out, recorded at the 2011 Pickathon:


 

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Band I Really Love: Pop Will Eat Itself

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This is Eich Bein Ein Auslander from Dos Dedos Mis Amigos, first released in 1994, and the first PWEI song I ever heard.

It was in a club – I think it was the Electric Ballroom in London sometime in 1998, but I could be wrong – and what I remember is watching the people on the dance floor swaying and stomping to the thudding beat, all gracefully synchronized within their personal space bubbles and not smushed into each other, as I had experienced elsewhere.

It was mesmerizing, and I immediately wanted to join them.
 

Pop Will Eat Itself - Ich Bin Ein Auslander

 
Also very popular in clubs at the time was Def Con I, from This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!, originally released in 1988.
 

Pop Will Eat Itself | Def Con One

 
Because this was the Dark Ages Before mp3s, I then spent some time digging through used CD racks and bins on both sides of the Atlantic in search of their records.

Dos Dedos Mis Amigos was easily acquired, but all I could find from their earlier work was a kind of greatest hits compilation: the 1997 live album The Radio 1 Sessions 1986-87. YouTube is sadly deficient in my favorite tracks from that record (Demolition Girl and Illusion of Love) but here are some other ones that I like a whole lot:

First up is Evelyn, originally released on their first record “proper album” (cf. Axel, see comments for details) Box Frenzy in 1987. You will notice it is totally unlike both Eich Bein Ein Auslander and Def Con I in every way possible. I nonetheless love it very much:
 
http://youtu.be/kMlZMZKp_yw
 
This one is called Back Country Chainstore Massacre (not Chainsaw, as the video is labeled), from the Now for a Feast! compilation record in 1988:

http://youtu.be/PNc-DeKtW0I
 
Oh Grebo I Think I Love You is another one of my favorites:

PWEI Oh Grebo I Think I Love You

 

Finally, one that I haven’t listened to as much but still love: Not Now James, We’re Busy, from from This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!. Be sure to turn it up so you can feel the bass rattle your bones.
 
http://youtu.be/GHsBSVgPSJQ

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Video: Valentine’s Day Grab Bag

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Because we’ve all got that one, you know the one I mean: it never works but you always want to think it will. And they always know exactly when to call.

Joshua Kadison Jessie LIVE

 

Sometimes it goes so, so well, for a while:

http://youtu.be/0peTfMOdDoo

 

Other times, you end up going all the way down the rabbit hole:

Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

 

When it finally crashes and burns, you have to remember, you are still a rock star, with rock moves:

 

Though not everyone is so into all that DRAMA.

BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL - THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS ( Complete Original Video )

 

Though, okay, maybe a LITTLE bit of drama is fine:

Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade

 

Just enough to get your pulse going:

Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

 

And maybe lead to shenanigans in public:

John Legend - P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)

 

Especially if it ends  happily ever after:

Christina Perri - Arms [Official Music Video]

 

Because against all odds and in defiance of experience and good sense, I do believe in a thing called love:

THE DARKNESS - I Believe In A Thing Called Love [Hammersmith. Nov 2011]

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Video: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Whitney Houston

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Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody

I was 12, in 1987. I was also a dancer. A terrible one, it must be said, but I loved it. And I loved (still love) this song because it put the words to the daydreams I had about being a grown-up. Or even just going to high school.

I’ve been struggling since yesterday to put this into words, but I think what this song did was make being a grown-up and having serious relationships seem like both an attainable goal and something that might be fun.

There are other Whitney Houston songs I’m fond of (So Emotional, How Will I Know) and some that I’m not (Greatest Love Of All) but this one remains my favorite.

Rest in peace, good lady. We shall miss you very much.

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Postcards from the Pit: The Darkness / Foxy Shazam / Crown Jewel Defense, Irving Plaza, 2/4/2012

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This past Saturday night I went to the third show of The Darkness’ current North American tour, which is their first visit to these shores after a six year hiatus. It was an amazing evening; one of the many highlights of my time in the pit was the multiple occasions the dudes around me started air-guitaring along with the band.

The setlist was a mixture of old and new songs, and included the entirety of their first record, Permission to Land. Highlights: One Way Ticket, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us, Get Your Hands off My Woman, Love Is Only A Feeling, Everybody Have a Good Time and, of course, in I Believe In a Thing Called Love. If the new tunes are anything to go by, the record they’re working on right now is going to be a banger. I can’t wait to hear the rest of it.

And now, some pictures, starting with the first opener, Crown Jewel Defense, who have a record out.

IMG_4957Taylor Hood and Steve Ford

 

IMG_4942Nick Clinch

 
Next up was Foxy Shazam, who have become somewhat ubiquitous (omnipresent?) in my concert-going adventures in the last couple of years or so.

The first time I saw them was during their own headlining tour, where the first show I attended concluded with Eric Nally literally half-naked and swinging from the lighting rig on the ceiling.

But more recently I’ve caught them as an opening act for Panic! at the Disco and Courtney Love. In all instances, they have put on a SHOW (all caps totally appropriate) and the audience reacted with either enthusiasm or bafflement (Panic!) or else just plain bafflement (Courtney Love).

This time around, they won over a restive crowd within one song. The dudes around me especially appreciated Eric Nally sticking his head into the drums, and also his mid-song headstand. (I’m fond of that move myself.) I got approximately three decent pictures of them, though at this point I think all y’all know what they look like.

Anyway, here is a Eric Nally singing while bathed in moody green light:
 
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And then it was time for The Darkness. Here was where everyone (including me) really got going and started jumping, singing, and waving their hands in the air. There were one or two crowd-surfers, and at the end, someone on the balcony climbed down onto a riser and jumped into the crowd. It was complete chaos, and it was glorious.
 

IMG_4993Dan and Justin Hawkins

 

IMG_5003Justin Hawkins and Frankie Poullain

 

IMG_5020Dan Hawkins, Ed Graham is behind those drums, and Justin Hawkins

 

IMG_5022Dan and Justin Hawkins jamming out on the drum riser.

 

IMG_5023
Justin Hawkins playing his guitar behind his head.

 

IMG_5039Dan Hawkins, Ed Graham is (still) behind those drums, and Justin Hawkins.

 

IMG_5044Frankie Poullain

 

IMG_5049And then Justin Hawkins took his jacket-shirt thing off.

 

IMG_5051The tattoo on his stomach says “Lowestoft”, which is where they are from. It’s a town on the east coast of England, and Wikipedia tells me it’s also the most easterly point in England.

 

IMG_5056
I just like this one. Isn’t his moustache dashing?

 

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He donned a special fancy hat for Holding My Own.

 

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I think this costume change happened while I was trying to avoid being trodden upon by glamazons.

 

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The new costume again in color, because I like the purple light in this one.

 

Every once in a while I get a shot that I think “now that is a damn beautiful picture of [insert name here]” in an almost abstract way, as if I had just stumbled over it and not, you know, taken it. This is one of those pictures:

 

IMG_5031

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Songs for the Superbowl

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And to conclude this edition of remix week / in honor of the Super Bowl (GO BIG BLUE!), here are some football-related tunes.

First, let us examine the ongoing evolution and remixing of Whiz Khalifa‘s Black and Yellow. This is the original, written last year for the Pittsburgh Steelers:

Wiz Khalifa - Black And Yellow [Official Music Video]

 

Then Lil’ Wayne took the beat and adjusted the lyrics to reflect support of the Green Bay Packers, and called the result Green and Yellow:

Green & Yellow (HD Music Video) - Lil Wayne 1920x1080

 

This year, Frank Henny updated it for the Giants. His version is called Blue and Red:

"Blue & Red" - ( Black and Yellow Remix) New York Giants

 

And Lil Ryan (who is not the 7 year old rapper of the same name, as far as I can tell) was one of  the many people who revised it for the New England Patriots. His version is called Red and Blue:

Lil Ryan- Red and Blue (Patriots Anthem)

 

Bonus viewing: The UN-official video, made by a high school improv class in Minnesota, for Super Bowl Hero by RAM, which is Ryan Ross (The Young Veins, Panic! at the Disco), Alex Greenwald (Phantom Planet, JJAMZ, Mark Ronson and the Business INTL) and Michael Runion (JJAMZ, The Chances). The song was written last year for the victorious Green Bay Packers.

http://youtu.be/vpJBrkBCX9g

 

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[Strangers] – Video Grab Bag

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The last time we checked in with the [Strangers] was last spring. Since then they’ve put out three EPs and released a series of amazing remixes and covers which I  present to you now more or less in order of appearance:

Lana Del Rey – Video Games  – I may or may not be starting a collection of covers of this song. This one is actually the first one I heard; I like it because it picks up the pace a little bit while still retaining the dark, dreamy character of the original.

 
http://youtu.be/De8HJUI-dLo
 

 

Tears for Fears – Shout – I had Songs From The Big Chair on tape – still have it, probably, somewhere – but I haven’t listened to it in years. Here, [Strangers] nail the propulsive power of the original while still putting their own spin on it.

 

http://youtu.be/yF-pO3HdC-8

 

Massive Attack – Teardrop – This is dreamy, trance-y ear candy. Be sure to turn it up.

 

http://youtu.be/5yfUmNHUj8c

 

AND NOW, one of their original works: Promises (feat. Lara Smiles), from EP3.

http://youtu.be/poAlMlIDhK4

 

 

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A Sampler: Utah Saints

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For Friday: a couple of tracks from Utah Saints, for no other reasons than 1) sometimes I miss clubbing and 2) their name has popped into my head a few times in the last month or so, and when I went off to find out what they were doing with themselves these days, it turned out the answer was “still rocking dancefloors all over Britain.” And also “putting out a new single at the end of February.”

First up, the new stuff, or at least new versions of the old stuff. What Can You Do For Me was originally released in 1991 and was their first monster hit. Recently they went to archive it and other early tracks and discovered the floppy disk (!) it was on had gotten corrupted and the original was lost.

So they rerecorded it, and then they remixed it, and then other people got into the remixing act too. The lucha libre-style video below is for the version that resulted from a collaboration with Drumsound and Bassline Smith:

 

Utah Saints vs Drumsound & Bassline Smith - 'What Can You Do For Me' (Official Video) (Out Now)

 

Here they are by themselves with a previously unreleased track called Rock:

 

Utah Saints - "Rock"

 

And in conclusion the official video for Something Good ’08, in which a lot of people do the Running Man:

 

http://youtu.be/oMLCrzy9TEs

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Blackwater Jukebox, TAKE THAT!!! [You Mutated Son of a Bitch]

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And for Thursday, banjos, breakbeats and blasts from the past, from Blackwater Jukebox. What was I just saying about old friends in new clothes? Or in some cases old acquaintances; I have to confess I came to appreciate New Wave in general and Depeche Mode in particular only later in life. Beck, on the other hand, I loved at first listen.

Two songs for flavor; get the rest of them here.

Depeche Motherfucker – Blackwater Jukebox by Blackwater Jukebox

Queen of the Nightmare Hippies – Blackwater Jukebox by Blackwater Jukebox

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Eleven Roses, ZZ Ward

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For your Wednesday: ZZ Ward and her mixtape Eleven Roses, which showcases a slightly different approach to the concept of the remix. Rather than shuffling or expanding the beat of the original song, she keeps it (mostly) intact and trades out the vocal track  for one of her own.

This, for example, is Better Off Dead, which features the shimmery, hypnotic beat from Tyler, The Creator’s Yonkers as the backbone of a sexy, sultry blues song:

 

ZZ Ward - Better Off Dead

 

She gives similar treatment to Childish Gambino’s You Know Me, Freddie Gibbs’ Oil Money, and Wiz Khalifa/Curren$y’s Rooftops.

There’s also two originals produced by Blended Babies (Got It Bad and Cinnamon Stix) and two acoustic versions of songs that will be on the full length record she’s releasing later this year (Til the Casket Drops and Last Love Song); I’m especially fond of Til The Casket Drops.