solo percussion/electronics tour, October 2003

Monday, October 20,  Nightlight, Chapel Hill, NC
Nighlight was directly across the street from a record/video store that was having a moving sale, and I picked up a copy of the Spike Lee documentary Four Little Girls.  Nightlight itself doubled as a used book/record store, and I found a copy of The New Rolling Stone Record Guide .  Dave Marsh, one of my favorite music writers, was the co-editor and wrote the majority of the reviews.  I always get uncomfortable when people try to pin others down on their tastes; so-and-so likes "normal" music, doesn't like "weird" music, (or likes "normal" music becausethey don't like "weird" music) or vice-versa, etc. etc.  Dave Marsh loves Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty, hates Devo, hates Pere Ubu...and Public Image Ltd's Metal Box is one of his favorite albums.  He also loves Sun Ra and the MC5.  So, nothing's that simple, and I can't imagine why anyone would want it to be.  Anyway, I drove around a bit trying to find other record stores, but came up empty-handed (disclaimer: this is not an invitation to any Chapel Hill record store owners to take me to task for not finding their stores.  I take full blame for not finding your fabulous shops that were no doubt overflowing with Who bootlegs and rare not-overpriced "free jazz" vinyl).  So I spent most of the evening getting reaquainted with the Record Guide and watching the Trivia Night extravaganza that preceeded my set at Nightlight.  The host obviously did a tremendous amont of research, as most of the audience were flummoxed.  I only got two correct answers: the Boston Red Sox, and Scovilles.  I can't remember what the Red Sox question was, but Scovilles are the unit of measurement used to determine the hotness of hot sauces.  There was also a "name that tune" segment which I cruised through.  Sadly, by the time my set rolled around, there were only a handful of audience members left.  Which is why my next tour will incorporate a trivia game to be played with the audience.

Wednesday, October 22,  Natasha's Cafe, Lexington, KY
This year's Natasha's show was as great as last year's.  Opening for me was a quartet consisting of: Mark Savage - trumpet, random junk; Teresa (aka TT Barnum) Tomb - cello, random junk; Dave Farris - percussion, random junk; Ross Compton - bass clarinet, random junk.  I really enjoyed their set, and in spots they totally reminded me of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, but non-idiomatically.  Which is a good thing.

For more on the Lexington experience, let me turn it over to a piece of fan mail I received recently from someone whom I assume is either the mayor or founder of Lexington, KY:

Instead of stating on your tour diary that Lexington, Ky has no book or record stores perhaps you should have been more fair in stating that you didn't know where any of them were.  In fairness, you stated there weren't stores, at least if you don't know where the university is.  But even that statement is incorrect since the book stores and record stores don't really have anything to do with the physical location of the university, which, if you were downtown, you were about a ten minute walk from, there were probably signs, and any schmoe on the street would have pointed you in the right direction.  If you were at Natasha's then you were about a fifteen minute walk or five minute drive right up the road on Main St. from "Pops" which holds one of the largest collections of vinyl for sale in the region (literally over 100,000 records with newly purchased stock out weekly).  It has impressed visitors to Lexington I've hosted from Minnesota to NY to London.  Even with stiff competition from other local collectors, I've managed to find some rare and valuable records, all resonably priced.  And guess what, immediately next door is a fine used book store with eclectic stock.  Or, you could have asked around and walked ten minutes in the opposite direction and come across Unique Books which is yet another top shelf used book store which houses a selection of vintage paperbacks and a cross-section of both underground and mainstream used books of all sorts.  Cheap prices, I might add.  And, hey, the slightly fancier Black Swan books which deals in used and rare first editions is right across the street from Unique Books.  If you had made the trek to campus, you could have easily found CD Central which carries a vast and electic mix of CDs, and a not too shabby vinyl section (oh, hey, and guess what, there's another used book store in the bldg. next door).  And, what's funny, I almost forgot that almost directly across the street and up a little on Main St. is the library that houses a used book store in its basement.  It's just great to see a town that actually does have a decent group of record and book stores within walking distance of downtown get slammed for having "nothing" by someone out of ignorance.  Maybe if ever make it back, you can go check out some of these things.  I know I won't be there to see you.  Got better things to spend my money on, like the plethora of cheap books and records easily available to me.  I want to write here, "So in closing, fuck you."  But that seems a little strong.  What do you think?  Heh.

Thursday, October 23, Indiana University Memorial Gallery, Bloomington, IN
This afternoon I finally had a chance to check my e-mail, which is when I found out that Elliott Smith had died.  I'm not much for solo-acoustic-singer-songwriters, so my two favorite albums of his (XO and Figure 8) are primarily full-band affairs.  But he was one of the few songwriters who probably identified himself as such and yet never sounded like he approached his work as a "songwriter."  The hooks in his songs never beat you over the head with studied cleverness, a lesson lost on his many imitators.  And his drumming was so tasteful, and his sense of orchestration on the drum kit so effective, that I still don't know which songs on Figure 8 feature him as the drummer and which feature Pete Thomas.  And Pete Thomas is one of my favorites, so that's saying something.

The Memorial Gallery looked like the wrong place for the show: lots of students...um...studying, and no clear indication as to where a band might set up.  But I dragged my gear in anyway and started setting up and it turned out, yep, I was in the right place.  The show began with Benjaminjaminman, a trio consisting of Ben Jacobs and J. Mark Inman on violins and Chris Rall on tenor saxophone.  Rall reminded me of Evan Parker, but he sounded like someone who hadn't heard Evan Parker (and in fact he hadn't) and had developed his approach wholly independent of Parker's influence.  So it was like hearing Evan Parker again for the first time (and, I should note, Rall has a fuller sound than Parker -- I love Parker's records, but two of the times I saw him play tenor in concert, his sound barely made it past the stage).  Ben and Mark entered from the wings, screaming away.  There was something fresh about the trio's approach; technically speaking, they were engaging in free improvisation, but it didn't sound like they were playing "Free Improvisation."

After Benjaminjaminman was Dizi with DJ Sony Playstation.  Playstation opened for me the year before, and they were just as engaging this year, with the added bonus of puppets acting out the music.  My set was one of the best I've played.  I don't know why, but the two times I've played in Bloomington have resulted in solid sets.  Part of it has to do with the rooms I've played in.  The Gallery had stone floors and walls, but wasn't a room that could be easily overplayed.  This set will probably see release in some form or another within the next year or so.
 

SOLO TOUR 2003

Sunday, 10/19  2:00pm  $10
Public Health Auditorium, 5th Ave. & DeSoto St., University of Pittsburgh
with the Glenn Wilson Quintet

Monday, 10/20  11:00pm  $4
Nightlight, 405 1/2 W. Rosemary St. , Chapel Hill, NC

Wednesday, 10/22  8:00pm
Natasha's Cafe, 112 Esplanade St., Lexington, KY

Thursday, 10/23  8:00pm
Indiana Memorial Union Gallery (IMUG)
Room 173A Indiana Memorial Union (IMU)
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
 
 

For this date I mysteriously landed a spot opening for lengendary Japanese hardcore-psych band Melt-Banana.  I'd never actually heard them, but I'm familiar with some of their contemporaries.  They were all really nice and didn't mind at all that I set up my kit on the floor in front of the stage.  My set went well, and it was one of the larger crowds I've played to.  There was one slight problem: one of my pedals picked that moment to die.  When I stepped on it, crytpic characters appeared on its tiny screen.  I think it was trying to tell me something.  It was trying to tell me, "I refuse to work properly as of right now."

Melt-Banana were amazing and were so loud that my pancreas was vibrating.  And for an encore they played "My Generation."  I swear, I had nothing to do with their choice of cover material.  But they turned me into a fan.  After the show I was introduced to the Pittsburgh restaurantorial institution known as "Eat-N-Park."  It's kind of like Denny's or Friendly's...but it's so much more.  It's like the Husker Du of all-night chain diners: it's punk but everyone's afraid to admit it.

Monday, October 7, Little Brother's, Columbus, OH
This show was set up by guitarist Larry Marotta, who seems to be single-handedly taking on the chores of setting up new music shows in Columbus.  This was the first time such a show was presented at this club, which is normally used for the whiny, high-pitched, barely-audible indie rock the kids like today.  So technically I was the guinea pig in this situation, but I didn't mind, because the first thing I saw as I pulled up to the club was my name on the marquee!  That's the first time that's happened, and I immediately bought a disposable camera to get a picture of it.

The music started with a trio comprised of Larry, Mike Shiflet on laptop, and Dave Reed on electronics.  Larry used a slide in a way I'd never seen/heard before, Mike's textures were perfect, and Dave's use of delay was spooky.  Next was composer Rocco DiPietro, whose piece "Lost" was a series of solos based on the names of missing children.  I wish I could remember the bassist's name, because he was amazing [I have recently learned his name is Steve Perakis.  So if you're in Columbus, go hear him].  This was followed by Cleveland guitarist Brian Straw playing in a duo with Mike Shiflet (this time on guitar).  Totally reminded me of Sonic Youth's SYR records.

This was the most difficult set I played on the tour; the sound of the room was difficult to negotiate, and I cut myself on one of the rusty auto parts I use in my kit.  Generally speaking, any show that produces blood is, by definition, a success, but I kept getting distracted by the pain in my hand and started having thoughts of an infection causing my hand to fall off before the end of the tour.

My pedal still hadn't returned from the dead.  The characters on its screen were even more cryptic, and I'm pretty sure the pedal and the auto part were conspiring against me.

Tuesday, October 8, Space 101, Bloomington, IN
Bloomington seemed like an OK place.  Lots of decent record and book stores.  In one such store I asked the owner where the music books were.  He pointed them out to me but said, "I make a distinction between music and rock and roll."  Last time I heard that, I fell off my dinosaur!  To add insult to injury, he was listening to the most empty, hackneyed, neo-hard-bop by that utter non-entity of a musician, Wynton Marsalis.  The only problem I have with music elitists like this guy is that they have no idea what the fuck they're talking about.  Other than that, they're OK.

This show was being put on by Eric Weddle, who runs Family Vineyard Records.  He did a great job getting the word out about this show.  I arranged to meet him at the space at 7pm.  So I'm waiting there for about half an hour, there's a dance class going on in the space that doesn't look like it'll wrap up before we have to play, and I'm wondering where Eric is.  Later on, as I'm setting up in the space, I look at my watch and notice it's 9:30.  So I'm thinking, great.  It's supposed to start at 9, and it's 9:30 and no one's here.  Then I looked at the clock.  8:30.  8:30???  Yep, parts of Indiana are in the Eastern time zone, parts are in the Central zone, and parts don't observe Daylight Savings Time.  Stupid farmers.  So I'm not sure which of those categories Bloomington fits into, but it was an hour earlier than I thought it was.

The opening group was a collaboration between DJ Playstation and Foreign Filmstars.  They were some of the more interesting DJ/electronics people I've heard in a long time, and the video projections fit the music perfectly.  My set was the best I played on the tour.  Might've even been the best I've played ever.  The room had a very resonant sound, and I finally fixed my pedal.  Apparently "Cb" means "calibrate," "Pd Up" means "pedal up," and "Pd Dn" means "pedal down."  Took me 3 days to figure that out.  Afterwards I crashed on Eric's couch, but not before being assaulted by his Egyptian Jumping Dog.  It can leap thousands of feet in the air.  It doesn't catch frisbees, it catches airliners.

Wednesday, October 9, Natasha's Cafe, Lexington, KY
There is nothing to do in Lexington.  No book stores, no record stores, no nothing.  At least, not if you don't know where the University is.  I didn't.  So there was nothing to do in Lexington.  Most of the downtown is empty storefronts, and in the middle of it is this semi-shmancy restaurant called Natasha's.  When I first saw it it didn't strike me as a place that would be hospitable to music performances.  But by the time 9:00 rolled around all the local weirdos turned out.  The opening guitar/keyboard duo featured a member of Freedom From recording artists Hair Police.  They played for 15 mintues, and had a better grasp of the "leave them wanting more" concept than any band I've ever seen.

Friday, October 11, The Candlestick Maker, Chicago, IL
So far on this tour every audience knew when a piece was over.  That streak ended in Chicago.  After my first piece I just sat there for a while, took a drink of water, walked around to the front of my drum kit to retrieve an auto part that had launched itself away from me during playing...all of which I assumed were, individually and collectively, indicators that the first piece was over.  Finally I said, "Um...ok, that was the first one."  Later I played with Adam Sonderberg who somehow managed to convert a large inflatable ball into an electronic instrument, and Carol Genetti who managed to turn her voice into a large electronic instrument, but acoustically.
 
 

SOLO TOUR 2002 Sunday, 10/6  8:00pm with MELT-BANANA  Public Health Auditorium, 5th Ave. & DeSoto St., University of Pittsburgh Monday, 10/7  9:00pm  $5 with BRIAN STRAW (folk-noise guitar from Cleveland) and the MAROTTA-REED-SHIFLET TRIO Little Brothers, 1100 N. High St., Columbus, OH Tuesday, 10/8  9:00pm with FOREIGN FILMSTARS Space 101, 101 E. 6th St, corner of Walnut & 6th Streets, above Blimpie, Bloomington, IN Wednesday, 10/9  9:00pm Natasha's Cafe, 112 Esplanade St., Lexington, KY Friday, 10/11 9:00pm with CAROL GENETTI (voice) and ADAM SONDERBERG (electronics) The Candlestick Maker, 4432 N. Kedzie, Chicago, IL