Whiskey Music, part two: Ok… Here’s The Plan

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

Last time ‘round these parts, we were talkin’ ‘bout whiskey-breathin’, folk-blended music happening here in the South Bay, CA. We talked ‘bout the numerous outfits dabbling in Americana, Country, and Bluegrass roots, while weighing in their own variants on the general sound. A whole new bag called Whiskey Honk, perhaps. Bullys & Matadors were the featured band, and Ok… Here’s The Plan were previewed, with both containing a former member of the currently dormant Metal/Hard Rock group Gabriels Fallen. As promised, although a week early, here’s the second shot of Whiskey Music for your music drinking delight.

So, what’s the plan?

Ok… Here’s The Plan

We’re going to need 3 RUHS grads, spanning the classes of 1999-2000, and 1 dude from Incline Village (Nevada side of Lake Tahoe)… 1 on resonator, slide, and harmonica, 1 strumming acoustic guitar, 1 picking mandolin, 1 slapping upright bass… Mix in some Punk roots, testosterone, and booze, and then we’ll have what the band calls “Folked Up Whiskey Music.”

They are Andrew Pringle (resonator guitar and slide, harmonica, vocals), Andrew Oliver (mandolin, vocals), Kyle Bahneman (acoustic guitar, vocals), and Chris Saunders (upright bass).

“We are a Bluegrass Folk outfit with a hint of Punk, that has its west coast background stamped into the sound,” says Pringle. “We’re easy to dance to, easy to drink to, and easy to get you pumped to play music!”

Pumped is right… To be sure, the band does take stage with the air of a folk outfit – with the chatter between numbers, accompanied by a boozy grin and smile… that high-lonesome vocal pitch at the opening of songs, just before the bass explodes in jovial fury… But it’s like it’s all been laced with a hit of cocaine.

Saunders says, “I would call our genre a mix of Newgrass/Bluegrass Folk. (Personally, as a bass player, I am influenced by Lee Rocker.)”

Rocker being Rockabilly, and Ok… Here’s The Plan being very bass-driven, it would explain part of their high-energy appeal.

The whole plan developed from Pringle’s solo project, deriving its name from a desire to do something different from his former band called The Rescue Plan.

He says, “As the right friends and musicians fell into place it became a full band, instead of a solo project, with everyone’s input forming the sound. Drew [Oliver], Chris [Saunders], and I have been playing music, together and in separate bands, throughout the South Bay for nearly 15 years before the formation of this project.”

Saunders reflects that prior to the whole plan coming to fruition, he was the guitarist for Gabriels Fallen, while Oliver drummed in the Punk band Allover, and Pringle was in the Metalcore outfit Rescue Plan.

He says, “I got hit up to play the upright a few months back with some friends for a one-off show, around the same time the Andrews [Pringle and Oliver] and Kyle had started up Ok… Here’s the Plan… thanks to me making a pic from that one-off as my profile pic on Facebook, they saw that I played the upright and asked if I wanted to jam… see if I liked how things went. At the end of the day, they just assumed I joined the band. A few days later I realized, damn, I think I did.”

Ok… Here’s The Plan are currently playing a set or three worth of their original “Folked Up Whiskey Tunes,” mixed with a light sprinkle of covers like “Hey Good Lookin’” from Hank Williams, and “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show/Bob Dylan.

Saunders suggests they’re like an upbeat version of The Devil Makes Three, Mumford & Sons, or Old Man Markley.

Pringle says, “Musically, we are somewhere between The Devil Makes Three, Old Man Markley, and Bright Eyes.”

The band is focused on playing and getting their sound out, with plans to record a healthy full-length as soon as can be.

“We’re planning on recording in the near future,” says Saunders. “Most likely a 16 track LP.”

“We plan on spreading our sound as far as possible, to as many people as possible who want to have a great time and listen to some classic American music with our own generation’s twist on it,” Pringle says.

Unfortunately, the boys are first recording a 5 song EP at XYZ Studios (who recorded Blink 182) in an effort to generate proceeds benefiting Pringle’s brother Jacob Steeple, who has cancer. They’re also set to record a song with Sarah Blackwood (of The Creepshow, and Walk Off the Earth), who appears in the Youtube video featuring the 5 members of Walk Off the Earth all playing the same guitar together to create their cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know;” which has accrued a mere over 49 million views.

Ok… Here’s The Plan are performing at Mahe Grill in Dana Point on Feb. 10 for a cancer benefit show, at Suzy’s Bar & Grill in Hermosa Beach on Feb. 17 (and Mar. 3), the my beating heART SHOW at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach on Feb. 23, and at Ocean Bar in Hermosa Beach on Feb. 25 for the Becker Surfboards Grand Reopening afterparty. For more information on the band, visit their facebook page at facebook.com/Okherestheplan.

*Originally written for print in Easy Reader newspaper by Jeff Vincent.

 

 

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Rum Runners, Wharf Rats, and Roses

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

Pumping with the lifeblood of humanity, the International Boardwalk in Redondo Beach, CA acts as a main artery connecting the pier to the harbor. A stroll along this eclectic oceanfront strip can be both dazzling and challenging with myriad sights, sounds, and smells bombarding the senses. Do I ride the Tilt-A-Whirl at the Fun Factory today? Or dig on that Asian jazz-trio over at the Russian bar Gambrinus? Snap into some fresh crab and shrimp tacos? Or just submit to getting lost in the sea of Naja’s overwhelming beer selection? If music’s the stint to guard your experience from suffering cardiac arrest, there’s a hidden gem called Kegs.

Kegs is a relatively newer bar down by the wharf, offering a mellow vibe assisted by cocktails, a healthy range of beers on draught, and free live music. Their humble, low-rising stage provides a platform for local bands to share their sound, develop their craft, and build their name. Impressive South Bay acts like Barley Legal and The Midnight Screening have found gracious (if not unofficial) residencies at Kegs. And there’s also The Rum Runners.

The Rum Runners are one of the few Jam bands anchored here in the South Bay; in fact, I cannot think of any other local Jam bands – other than the Grateful Dead Tribute band Cubensis, but they’re not exactly local.

A side note for readers unfamiliar with Jam bands: A wide array of groups are classified and known as Jam bands. The music is generally characterized by extensive, improvisational jams, solos, explorations, and inter-instrumental play, that’s typically based in Rock and Roll and Blues, but influenced by Jazz. Jam bands stand out for high-energy, powerful live performances, attracting throngs of diehard followers who base their travel around the bands’ touring schedule. Some of the more famous of these bands include the Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers Band.

The Rum Runners (who in fact take their name from a Robert Hunter album – Hunter being the famed lyricist and poet for both the Dead and Garcia) have one foot steeped in classic genres like Rock and Roll, Blues, Funk, R&B, and Soul, and five hearts enamoured with Jerry Garcia. They’re 5 talented musicians, all with backgrounds playing in Grateful Dead-inspired bands, who have come together to jam a blend of their favorite timeless tunes with their favorite picks from the vast catalogue of both Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. It’s essentially an improvisational live rock band who play a bit of everything, laced in the essence of the Jerry Garcia Band.

They are: Ed Lyon (keys, vocals), Jim Shank (guitar, vocals), Jim Beaudet (bass), Brad Rhodus (drums), and Lisa Blue (vocals).

“We started out doing pretty much stuff from the Jerry Garcia Band, or Jerry Garcia solo catalogue, you might say…” says Lyon. “Right now, we’re doing other songs we like, but in that style… We play a good mix of familiar covers, but done in a unique way… Motown, early R&B, Funk, early Rock and Roll, Soul, Blues… we have enough familiar covers from those genres to where the average person is hooked whether they’re even familiar with the Jerry Garcia or Grateful Dead aspect of it.”

Rather than applying the run of the mill radio quality treatment to timeless hits, The Rum Runners absorb familiar covers into the boundless Jam band framework – much in the same way that Jerry Garcia approached his own favorite covers. But it is somewhat contained.

Lyon says, “It’s very improvisational, but not quite as crazy out there like the Dead, not as endless. We’re a Jam band, and we jam very out there, but it’s a little more mainstream appealing… a lot more song-oriented than a lot of Grateful Dead cover bands.”

A considerable distinction about their approach and sound is that The Rum Runners lean toward the Jerry Garcia Band side of the tracks: jamming, and getting way deep into certain pockets of the music, but veering away from the acid-laced doodling, and endlessly wandering trip out sessions for which the Grateful Dead were known and adored. They keep it approachable. Music that’s familiar enough to enjoy over a frosty beer without melting your mind, but sizzling enough for your mind to be blown. Lyon and Shank commented on how many listeners –Dead-heads and innocent bystanders alike– have hailed them with praises over how “insane” they are.

“We all kind of came from bands who had followings in the past…” says Lyon. “…and this little outfit is just smokin’! We have an amazing lineup of musicians, the band is just on fire!”

With the band’s age range spreading from mid-30s to 40s, the individual members have covered some tracks.

“A lot of us go way back,” says Lyon. “Jim Shank and I went to Junior High together… we’re both South Bay locals… we were playing together all the way back in the 80s, in garage bands, at parties during High School… Even Lisa and I go back… She’d come and sit in with Cubensis, back in the mid 90s. It’s a really neat thing, we all go way back together.”

Representing the South Bay roots core of the band, Lisa Blue is from Palos Verdes, while Lyon and Shank actually attended Calle Mayor Middle School together, as well as South Torrance High School. Lyon has camped out in several local bands, including Cubensis from about 1988-2000, Mr. Ectomy, and from about 1988-92 he was in the prominent act Electric Blue – who’s actually reformed for a few shows, including a recent performance at Saint Rocke. Bass player Jim Beaudet also currently plays in the local band The Zone, and Lisa did some time in an Orange County Jam band called Grandpa’s Grass. Shank founded The Rum Runners back in 1996, a different lineup then, who split in about 1998. Eventually, Shank, Lyon, and Beaudet found themselves playing together in a group called Tiger Rose (yet another reference to a Robert Hunter album). 12 years on…

Shank says, “Ed [Lyon], myself, and Jim Beaudet on bass were in Tiger Rose… When our other guitarist left, we really couldn’t continue that band without finding another… and we kind of revived Rum Runners.”

Lyon continues, “When Tiger Rose broke up, The Rum Runners basically came out of that. When our [other] guitar player left, we just kind of fell into The Rum Runners, it just kind of happened.”

So, Shank started The Rum Runners, who after 2 years took a 12-year hiatus, to be reborn from the ashes of Shank, Lyon, and Beaudet’s Tiger Rose outfit with a new drummer and a kick ass female lead singer.

“Lisa has an unreal, natural sort of Blues, Soul, R&B kind of voice,” says Lyon. “She’s a perfect fit.”

After all these years, The Rum Runners are a band of friends and collaborators who are focused on nothing more than jamming and having a great time doing what they love. It sounds like pure joy, and the band would suggest that’s reflected in their music.

“We do this because we love to do it,” says Lyon. “We’re all kind of old-timer musicians, it’s a seasoned group. Everyone knows what they’re doing, and it shows… What we pride ourselves on is really great treatment of really great cover tunes… What we bring to the table for the locals is really great live music, real jamming. That’s what we’re all about… It’s a kind of Jam band paradise.”

Back to the boardwalk… The Rum Runners have established a presence at Kegs, who’re providing several chances to catch an afternoon of Jam band paradise, set in Southern Californian paradise.

“We’re kind of camping out at Kegs for the next 2 months or so…” says Lyon. “…about ever other Saturday, ’til about May. Kegs is really a fun place; a very casual, mellow place…”

Shank adds, “We also like playing there because it sounds good… There’s a lot of places that are challenging to get a good sound, or you’re unhappy the whole show, but Kegs is one of those places that seems to sound good just on its own.”

The Rum Runners are jamming this Saturday, Feb. 4 from 2-6 P.M. at Kegs on the International Boardwalk in Redondo Beach. The show is free, and the band will be performing there pretty much every other Saturday for at least the next 2 months. Kegs can be reached at 310-798-5347.

*Originally written for print in the Easy Reader newspaper by Jeff Vincent.

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In Remembrance of Derek Philbert

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

Derek Philbert (August 8, 1987 - February 6, 2012)

It won’t be on the cover of Rolling Stone, it won’t make major headlines, and it won’t effect an FM radio tributary. But he is on our cover, he is our major headline, and we are paying him tribute!

Derek Philbert passed away yesterday morning at the age of 24. He was found dead as the result of a tragic accident, leaving family and friends devastated. We share in the shock, anger, and despair that his grieving people are suffering. While both the brothers Philbert, Derek and Luke, are proudly featured on DHR as respectively talented poet-musicians, they’re also family.

I have known Derek and Luke Philbert since the days when Paperboy was the newest game out on NES. We were kids; innocent, imaginative, and free. Growing up, we quickly became separated by different Californian latitudes, and it wasn’t until in our twenties that I got to experience the impressive man Derek had come to be. This was during a trip through Ecuador, where I was exposed to the innumerable qualities and traits of a true Renaissance man.

Luke, Derek, Jeff at Mitad del Mundo

Artist, poet, musician, magician, craftsman, comic, intellectual, photographer, adventurer, lover… Derek blossomed a multicolored spectrum of flowers in his all too short time. He was incredibly sharp, truly intelligent. Both book smart, much by way of passionate self-education, as well as street smart. He concerned himself with matters of interest and intellect well beyond the range of not only his age, but all ages. That is to say, he cared about things most people don’t and won’t ever care about. He was also crafty. As in, he could build stuff. Not the type to have things done for him if he could do them with his own hands… If his chickens needed a coop, it would have Derek’s name branded into it. Like all stellar beings with shining souls, Derek was also hilarious. His was a quirky humor, often augmented or exacerbated by brother Luke – creating an enigmatically, esoterically infectious game that you tingled to be a part of. While most will preserve memories of laughter and remember the man closely for his jests, many will never forget his music.

Derek was a naturally inclined musician and singer. His voice and music go together like sunlight and chlorophyll – the product is miraculous and life-giving. When Derek laid his gem “Get Well Soon” on me, I was blown away. When he played and sung it to me in person, while sitting face to face amid a dank hostel bedroom in Ecuador, I was blown off the mountain. His vocals were as clean and emotive as the recording. I immediately understood it was one of the best songs ever written (something shared by a few of his brother Luke’s own originals). I truly mean it. Like a scuba diver in a sea of song, as someone who’s been a submerged music junkie longer than lobsters can hold their breath, I earnestly uphold that “Get Well Soon” is one of the best songs ever written. In support of my stance, once upon a time, were several moved listeners who’d phoned in demanding to know who I’d just played over the airwaves of KXLU 88.9 FM Los Angeles. There’s something very, very special about song. A playwright can move its audience to the marrow in 3 hours… A filmmaker in 1 and a half… It takes a novelist at least 100 pages… A songwriter… 2 minutes. Derek’s hauntingly premonitory Swan song cuts to the core of human fabric.

Now Derek is free again, and in harmony, able to play as much Paperboy and wear as many sandals as he wishes. His massive character, joyous humor, and piercing music will always be cherished. And while those things somehow allow us to feel slightly better and closer to him, they will also make us miss him evermore, rightfully so. The world lost a good being, to be true; and the world of music lost a talent that hadn’t even begun to begin to change the world. We hope the song “Get Well Soon” transcends his death to alter lives well after his own has become extinguished.

Free as a Bird

In remembrance, tribute, love and respect of Derek Philbert, we will be exclusively playing his music on this day after his untimely death, all day long on DHR. Get well soon brother, we’re sorry you had to leave. We’ll miss you until we join you. Peace.

-Jeff Vincent, DHR

Listen to Derek Philbert now or Download his music

Derek

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KXLU Playlist 2/2/12

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

It was great to sit in on Levitation Radio again at KXLU 88.9 FM Los Angeles. The program’s DJ graciously offers up part of her own airtime as a platform for DHR to present and share some the music we feature here on the net. It provides an additional channel to help expand our reach through the broadcast medium, and we always get bitchin’ feedback from the station’s listeners.

This time, we were particularly focused on spinning some of the newest music featured on DHR. Time… it’s always been our ultimate nemesis. As usual, we weren’t able to play everything we’d hoped to. But here’s what we did get out:






DHR Set 1:

Sleepy Sun – golden artifact
Fiore – backyard snake
Mirror Mirror – the story
VUM – echo mountain
Manhattan Murder Mystery – arlington cemetery

DHR Set 2:

Temporal Love – sad song
5-Track & Glass Goblins – 3 til dawn
The Blank Tapes – i’ve been had
Natural Child – antichrist
Buffalo Electric – feel the waves

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Ima Robot vs Edward Sharpe, reflections of the Edfactor.

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Ed Factor
cover of "ima robot"

Cover of Ima Robot

Before Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros catapulted this whole pseudo-hippy, rag-tag crew of musicians into every “so-called” independent network outlet across the land.. In the earlier part of the millennium, the lead singer Alex (who has lately fallen into the whole indie-rock guru role with this caravan) once fronted the kick ass LA-based band Ima Robot.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with the whole Edward Sharpe thing… And I am not going to lie, when that song “Home” was on every hipster girl’s playlist whatever years ago, I’d play it on the jukebox… when the whole college scene picked up on it around here, on 2nd St. in Long Beach, of course I’d “Super Search” it. It’s tolerable, but I guess I am just partial… In my top ten favorite albums of all time (which, come to think of it, I really haven’t exactly picked), Ima Robot’s self-titled Ima Robot, released by Virgin Records in 2003, is up there with Neil Young’s Trans.



During the time of its release, music (in my opinion) was in a bit of a rut. I was just a year or two out of High School, so my musical taste was very much best described as naive; yet, at the same time I still currently don’t feel like an authority or “go-to music guy.” To get back on topic: The years prior to Ima Robot, I was under the assumption that pretty much all contemporary music sucked. I’d get lost in Jim, or Eric (not Clapton). Chuck, Janis, Buddy, Iggy, David, Neil, Van, or whatever… In High School, I remember walking past the football gym locker and hearing Pennywise albums being “jocked-in,” or a pre-vampire/Hot Topic Davy Havok squealing AFI’s “Very Proud of Ya” as a way for the team to get pumped up. (Yes, by a 90-pound vegan who wears more makeup than their freshman girlfriends.) KROQ was still mixed up with the whole rap-rock conglomerate, maybe throwing in something lighter like Dave Mathews Band (which I felt was better suited for a Gap commercial)… Then, there was that whole Nofx/Blink 182 scene… I felt like that shit was a bit whiny and humorous at the same time; men in their mid-twenties sounding like 15-year-olds…

I was introduced to Ima Robot by a High School chick who the lead singer of Tall Cans and Teenage Sex was dating. She happened to see the Ima Robot music video “Dynomite” on MTV 2. The good word was spread to my whole group of friends at the perfect time… Musically, I did not know where to go. I’d been dabbling in the whole Rockabilly scene, on account of driving a 1959 Ford Galaxie everyday and attending car shows which attracted that crowd. My musical taste buds were a little bit dull, especially after my friends and I had just attended a KLOS music festival with headliners Cheaptrick and Midnight Oil. (Before that concert, we got rolled by the fuzz and were forced to pour out 42 beers onto asphalt. My friend got a pot ticket and never smoked again.)



Every note of Ima Robot’s Ima Robot is amazing. The song that captured our imaginations (although my choice of favorite song would change with an evolving maturity) was “Dirty Life,” track number 6. In our 20 year old minds – adding “fashion,” instead of “Rock ‘n Roll” after the ”Sex” and “Drug,” one-word breaks to introduce other lyrical themes was out of control (especially with Alex singing in a very Bowie-esqe tone). One of my friends, the late Ryan “Raw-Dawg” Thomas (the cat who inspired me to write), played the song “Dirty Life” for an entire day, all day, in college up in Humboldt while preparing for a killer party to be held at his residency with two of my other buddies. Someone fell asleep in the jacuzzi that night…



Again, I am not an authority on music, as I feel it’s best for the audience to listen to the album and form their own opinions… and I believe to break down and deconstruct every song is just a very boring idea… that, or I am just too lazy. But anyway, there is a hidden song at the end of track 10, “Here comes the bombs,” that could have been Ima Robot’s career-launching single; yet, for some reason it’s not even listed on the cover sleeve. “Black Jettas,” quirky enough to jeopardize the group into one-hit-wonder status, is tastefully barred, but still a great song with clever, early-2000s cultural observation of “Ex-girlfriends in… Black Jettas.”



The first time my friends and I heard of an Ima Robot show happened to be a free concert at UCLA… I ended up not going. I think I had to do something with my then-lady’s family that weekend, but my friend Ryan went in a full on OP short-shorts to cut-sleeve ensemble, accessorized with checkered slip-ons, aviators, and one of the cut-off sleeves for a head-band (again, this was 2003 when most cats dressed up gang related for a drive-by). He, as reported by my other buddies at the event, had the best time ever… dancing, going nuts, making out with chicks, and just totally living out the characteristics that made him – “The Raw-Dawg,” a legend. This would be his last concert.

Throughout the early millennium, I would go on seeing them play at Safari Sam’s, the Whiskey, House of Blues, and a few other places. Although, I really wouldn’t count the Whiskey, as I met an ex-girlfriend prior to the show and rekindled our romance from months before and decided to pre-game in her “black jetta” in a parking structure down the road. When we finally got to the show, I could hear “Alive” (track 3), but I was busy rushing her to the el baño. I started to worry, as she stayed in there during the entire songs ”A is for Action” (track 5) and “Philosophee” (track 8). Show was over for me. When she finally stumbled through the bathroom door, it was time to take you-know-who to bed and put her to sleep. My friend Morgan was at the show… He came to the conclusion that Alex dances and speaks between songs like a robot because he is the robot. The band ended the night with the encore of Eddie Murphy’s “Party all the time.”

The last Robot show I went to was at the House of Blues in Anaheim. My lawyer Denuedho attended with a girl rocking a very shitty, self-cut hairstyle that looked like the outcome of a pixie screwing an elf. I also brought my little brother and my then-girlfriend’s brother, who played in a few local punk bands. This was sometime in 2006 or ’07, right after the Monument to the Masses album, which would release “Creeps me out” and “Lovers in Captivity” as singles, with heavy play on the now defunct Indie 103.1. I was never a huge fan of this sophomore expression, as the name of the record… with a softer, slower, and more minimalist sound – devoid of the rougher, faster, bass-driven rhythms of the first album. A more user-friendly record. The EP Search and Destroy is more true to the first record’s sound.



The show would go on to play all of Ima Robot’s standards, with a bit more of a younger fan base in attendance. Or perhaps, was I just getting older? I would go on to have my shirt ripped by prepubescent, slightly chubby Mexican girls from Fontana. Alex would at times forget lyrics during the set and look blankly into space. At this point, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros was just a presence on Myspace, starting out strictly as a very minimalist step band eventually to transcend… My little brother is a huge follower and has been to more shows than I have with Robot.

XOXOXOX Edfactor 2012

 

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DHR guest DJs on KXLU 2/2/12

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

Dirty Hippie Radio is guest DJ-ing tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 2 from noon-3 on KXLU’s Levitation Radio.

The program spins a seamless blend of new and old garage, psych, rock, and whatever penchants the DJ happens to be entertaining from week to week. Could be a bit of funk, a lot of soul, a dash of Latin garage, or a kiss of French psych. Always, the selection keeps listeners in tune with today’s beat, while reminding and unearthing what led up to it.

We’ll be representing some of DHR’s newest music and bands, and might even throw in an educational number or two from yester-yonder (maybe some Os Brazoes, Q-65, Fever Tree…). We’ll definitely be pulling from newer material from the likes of VUM, Blue Jungle, Natural Child, Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Blank Tapes, Seasons, Collin Ludlow-Mattson and The Folks, Matthew O’Neill, Brook and River, Elison Jackson, The Damselles & The TC4, So Wrong, 5-Track & Glass Goblins, Mirror Mirror… Too much to choose from.

If you’re stuck at the office, out of range, or just have a shitty car antenna, you can tune in online by clicking here for the live internet feed (don’t forget to press play).

Someone the squre community doesn't give a shit about... but KXLU will take us.

 

 

 

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Johnny Mc Glinn single “Fall” just added!

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

We just added a new single from our friend Johnny Mc Glinn over in Dublin, Ireland. “Fall” is a wistful piece delivered in the sentimental indie-pop form, providing a teaser from Johnny’s forthcoming solo album. The song borders on being popular film soundtrack worthy, and we run the risk of getting punched in the face by suggesting there’s an air of Oasis in its sound.

Listen to Johnny Mc Glinn now!

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Jambalaya Brass Band LP “It’s A Jungle Out There” just added!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

From The Big Easy to The Big Apple… It’s “New York City’s ultimate New Orleans party band.” Jambalaya Brass Band is:

Ric Frank (tenor sax, percussion, vocals), Walt Szymanski (trumpet, percussion, vocals), Curtis Fowlkes (trombone, percussion, vocals), Ron Caswell (tuba, general craziness), Chauncey Yearwood (bass drum, cymbal), Washington Duke (snare drum).

There’s just something about that sound… That southern swamp, voodoo-alligator sound… That Night Tripper with satchel of Gris-Gris sound… That funky marching band sound, soulful enough to get zombies dancin’…

We’re fortunate enough on DHR to add a splash of that New Orleans colour and flavour to our mix with ensembles like Jambalaya Brass Band, Kirk Joseph’s Backyard Groove, and Dumpstaphunk. God bless ‘em, and please keep ‘em goin’ and comin’!

Listen to Jambalaya Brass Band now!


 

 

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Salsa Chips, Tomorrow’s Tulips, The Cosmonauts, and The Tyde @ Alex’s Bar for Burger Records Night

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Ed Factor

The Show

Thursday, January 6th, Long Beach, CA, Alex’s Bar: A popular venue amongst the hip cats and, I believe, also a set used for some certain Vampire show/movie (I’m not really into that shit). Darren, mastermind and lead singer behind The Tyde, informed me a few days prior, via social networking, the happening.  After the go-ahead from Mr. Hippie Jeff (of DHR), the green light was given to me to jump back into journalistic duty.

So, I did the most responsible thing in preparation for my first music write-up since a piece I did for the Easy Reader a year or so ago (about Tall Cans and Teenage Sex, a Torrance-based band in exile up in Cen-Cal)… I phoned a friend and invited her to make a day of Long Beach with a few cocktails thrown in the mix. She brought her roommate for safe measure, as we hit Los Angeles County’s best and most efficient public transportation -  the PassPort.

It was a pretty bizarre day… filled with backroom ballrooms, decrypt cryptic closed-up social lounges, and getting lost in the Queen Mary among the sheltered souls perpetually roaming the corridors, stuck in the grains of time… A daytime Long Beach bar-hop at it’s finest.

The rounds were made, but The Pike, on Fourth Street and Hermosa Avenue, was too tempting.  I just could not resist.

A Reverie

In my year as a South Bay transplant to Long Beach, carousing LA County’s second biggest city, every experience at The Pike has been memorable. A burlesque show, an early-Beatles cover band, and a Johnny Cash cover duo whom relied on antique sound equipment to give the music a forceful “lo-fi” eerie airiness, are just some of the “tops” I can recall at the drinking grounds owned by the drummer of Social D.

Number one though for sure, was accidentally running into a performance of one of my favorite modern-day surf bands, The Dynotones. I just happened to be roaming the streets with my roommate, his lady, a few cats from work and the chicks they scored from Fullerton (who were expecting a posh, yupster club – closely related to some of those uninspiring places where uninspiring people hang out on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach). With re-verb filling the smokey air, as we waited to be carded outside the front door, I knew something was a-brewing… and then… yeah.

(Growing up around the modern take on car culture from the 50s and 60s, I always looked forward to seeing the group play at the Paso Robles West Coast Kustom Car Show, Mooneyes events, Ventura Primer Nationals and what-not. The chaotic and energetic, yet structured sound of the the surf beat was a great break between the Rock-a-billy howl of pompadours, Psycho-billy kookiness, and Johnny Cash riff-raff wanna-bes.)

At The Pike, The Dynotones played the normal surf fare, but then threw in a few covers of the Dead Kennedy’s (minus a Jello-rant, of course), which was something I’d never seen at any of the car shows. Of course, I went ape-shit dancing the “surfer stomp” with every beat and almost fell into the band. A long story short, I wasn’t going to leave until the last note. The Fullerton chicks and the work cats split. My roommate, his lady, and I would end the night at the Reno Room getting poured into a few Phil Jackson’s.

Back to the Show

So the trio of us pit-stopped at The Pike. Although it was a casual Thursday evening, I still had to rock the jukebox (it’s pretty amazing, with a very far-out eclectic mix from the Adolescents to Neil Young). After a few rum cannonballs I was off to the show, splitting the cab with two ladies from Glendora – one transplanted from Texas, the other from Gonzales, CA. I was one hell of a tour guide that afternoon. They dropped me off in front of Alex’s and said, “Sayonara Edfactor.”

The Salsa Chips

I strolled into Alex’s a bit early and was greeted by Darren (The Tyde), who was sporting a new look – slicked back hair into a sweet ponytail. Last time I saw them perform was at the Long Beach Art Museum… I’d tried to recruit a few straggler artsy hipster chicks in the alcoholic concession stand to no avail, and retreated into the specialty drink of the night: the Mai-Tyde, a blueish drink based on a Mai-Tai… Let’s just do the math on how that ended up. I was definitely not in that state yet, but tiptoeing on the realm.

So I sat at the bar, said a few hellos here and there, and was greeted by this older cat. Turns out the dude is Steve Cleveland of Surf Craft Media Productions, famous for surf flicks like “Another State of Mind,” and “Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables.” We shot the shit and threw around names of South Bay surfers, as Cleveland’s from Redondo Beach. He grew up with some of my favorites like Bobby Warchola and Mike Purpus. Two tequila shots and a couple of beers later, the band Salsa Chips jumped on stage.

My first reaction to Salsa Chips… “Who let these little girls into the bar?” With two beautiful, yet prepubescent-looking lead singers sweetly tuning in unison, my mind was screaming with “Lolita!” Their enchanted voices sang with a playful, jumping-the-rope pop sound. With a lighthearted, youthful naiveness, the music mimicked the uncertainty of first love.

Tomorrow's Tulips

Second band of the night: Tomorrow’s Tulips, Alex Knost’s newest musical endeavor. A departure from the Japanese Motors (Knost’s first band), Tulip’s are a stripped-down, low-fi experiment capturing Knost’s maturing taste in playing music. With the Motor’s, Knost’s vocals could be best described as a mixture of a Lou Reed and Iggy Pop with Lux Interior howls, and a generous helping of surf jargon. With the simplistic, yet meaningful beats, provided by his lady, the dude croons in a more straightforward voice that purposefully gets muffled in an orgasm of distortion.

The Cosmonauts

The Cosmonauts, being the most uptempo, blurred the lines between 60s garage, some surf, lo-fi, or whatever. By this time, I was pretty faded. The music basically was so loud, it just sounded like sizzling noise burning my ears, reminding me of when peroxide is dripped in to ease an infection. (By the way, I don’t mean this as a bad thing.) My perception was off and my senses were being dulled by every next drink. I looked them up. They are actually pretty sick, but with the connotations around the band of “psych,” ”stoner rock,” or “trance,” maybe I was on the wrong drug?

The Tyde

The Tyde, with brothers Darren and Brent Rademaker, veterans of the LA indie Music scene for the last ten years, showcased the tightness of the band with a melodic blend of mellowness and smoothness that was a nice way to end a pleasant evening. I, on the other hand, was pure shit show and in full heckle mode. My favorite thing to do is spew in these moments, “Play some Pennywise!” This is not the first time I’ve done this to the Tyde. I think the bassist actually went into the bass riff from “Bro-Hym,” to heckle me back. See, in these types of scenes, Pennywise is the binary to which music theme is being expressed. It just seems to me that for some reason the South Bay is back-asswards on watered down music that had it’s day back in 1995. The current inclinations of the same, repetitive music aesthetic is being reflected as “pop-punk,” or ”white-boy reggae.”

By the end of the night, I was bent on “playing the music faster,” as the California gold cool wasn’t tranquilizing this cat. I kept mouthing off between songs. All of the sudden Darren looked around to his band and started laying into “Brock Landers,” the group’s most well-known hit, leaving the audience with carpet burns.

After the show, I stumbled out of Alex’s bar. I first saw the Lolita girls smoking cigs. I went up to them trying to bum one. Totally got barred, as the duo looked away blowing smoke into the crisp Long Beach air. Maybe they were actually little Lolitas, and I was viewed as just some drunk old man? I looked for Cleveland, but his van was gone. So what did this Edfactor do? I mean, I was technically about a 45 minute walk through a so-so sketchy neighborhood with about $12 in my left pocket…

Darren and my friend Dave threw me into a cab. I luckily looked up in time to find the Jack-in-the-Box sign on 2nd St. to signal to me, I was just down the street. I got dropped off at the Box and walked in to get a mother-truckin’ cheeseburger. The Box was going off, chaotic, in this college part of town.

Edfactor 2012.

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ZuhG visits second home in South Bay

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Dirty Jeff

ZuhG plays Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, CA tomorrow night, Jan. 25.

It’s a fascinating accomplishment when a band from elsewhere, outside Los Angeles county, is able to secure a following here in the South Bay. I’m not talking about acts like Toots and The Maytals, Dickey Betts, or Tab Benoit, who enjoy throngs of predetermined fans flocking to their tour buses. I’m talking about everyday bands, and underground bands. Bands like Fartbarf and Temporal Love. Emerging bands on the rise, still establishing their names in nether regions, short of being preceded by lavish international press and sales. ZuhG is one of those bands.

Hailing from Sacramento, ZuhG has been paying consistent visits to the South Bay over the past few years, bringing a sliver of their Sac-town popularity with them. But why are they so well-received?

“I think we fit in,” says Bryan Nichols of ZuhG. “We’ve met some good people from the South Bay and they keep helping us spread the ZuhG love. We’ve also had a lot of support from local clothing company Hippy Tree. ZuhG and the South Bay are like peanut butter and jelly.”

Katie Henley, marketing manager and assistant talent buyer at Saint Rocke, attributes their roving popularity to identifying with their fans.

ZuhG Bus

“They play a lot of house parties and colleges in addition to clubs… Bryan [Nichols] always kept the band touring and they connect with their fans by actually hanging out with them,” she says. “Any artist can smile and take a picture or sign an autograph… But when you host a van of hippies and share takeout at 4 a.m., you form a bond – you’ll rock their CD. They genuinely enjoy music, people, and fun. They’re easy to love!”

Hippies? 4 a.m. takeout? Something smells skunky… Yep, that’s right, ZuhG’s sound is set in the reggae vein; but it can’t be categorized so simply. They blend not only Reggae, but Jazz, Funk, and a detectably light dose of Progressive Rock.

“We just make music that comes naturally,” says Nichols. “We don’t try to force out certain types of songs to uphold a genre. Whatever happens happens, you never know what you’re going to get. There’s a good mixture of musical influence in ZuhG.”

Bryan Nichols of ZuhG

With Nichols on vocals, guitar, and bass, the rest of ZuhG’s current lineup is JR Halliday (guitar, bass, vocals), Jesi Naomi (vocals, piano), Bot (saxophone), and Russel Lundgren (drums).

Nichols continues on their eclectic influence and output. “Bot on saxophone loves Jazz… We all like Classic Rock and Jam-Funk bands (like The Doors and Galactic)… We enjoy some Hip Hop, Reggae, Rock n’ Roll… We might break out into a Disco jam… a little bit of everything. ZuhG means to be unlike others, and to do something different… Be ZuhG, live a ZuhG life. We made it up!”

Generally speaking, they’re a band whose range can place them in both reggae and jam band festivals alike, possibly even funk fests. They appeal to the nation’s vast neo-hippie music festival demographic, while easily connecting with the high-energy meets chill-groove vibe lovers of the South Bay as well.

As usual, ZuhG has been touring and recording like crazy. They’ll be stopping here in the South Bay while on a two month tour, after just releasing freshly this year a side project centered around their female vocalist/pianist Jesi Naomi, titled Jesi Naomi & The Trippers, and a (ZuhG) full-length titled “Free Love” last summer. On March 1, they set out on their “For The Love Of Music Tour” for another two months across the country. Buried beneath all their tracks are another 3 albums, dating back to their 2008 DIY record label debut release on Sunflower Records called “To Be Unlike Others.” They even opened their own ZuhG Life music, art, and clothing store back in Sacramento. Along the way, they’ve scooped up loads of press and awards while living the ZuhG life; and lots of friends.




“It’s all about having fun and doing what you love because you love it,” says Nichols. “Not for money… For the love of music.”


ZuhG plays Saint Rocke on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 8 P.M. with Pratley, and Whipoorwhill. Everyone who says they came to see ZuhG at the door gets a free CD. Look for Pratley and Whipoorwhill on DHR in the near future, and be sure to look into their DHR friends Fiore and Brook & River.

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