Big Wu

by Janie Franz

At the tenth annual Big Wu Family Reunion (July 10-12) expect one heck of a reunion. It won’t be just a lot of the Wu fans in the region getting together to celebrate their favorite band. It will be a reunion for Jason Fladager, former guitarist with the Wu and current frontman for his own band God Johnson, who will be rejoining the band for the duration of the festival.

The event will be held among the oaks at Harmony Park in Geneva, MN, the original home of the Big Wu Family Reunion in the late 90s. Festival organizers are going all out to bring some top notch bands to the festival stage. Some of the artists celebrating this historic reunion will be God Johnson, Pert’ Near Sandstone, Fat Maw Rooney, Roster McCabe, Mark Joseph Project, Hyentyte, The Feelin’, The Histronic, Sovereign Sect, Cheetah Nunchuck, Absolute Gruv, WBPN, Steez, Hyentyte, Elf Lettuce, High Strung String Band, Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins, Medulla Oblongata, Dead Man Winter featuring Dave Simonett, Useful Jenkins, Sol Sponge, Gypsy Lumberjacks, Soap, Favorite Station, Uncomfortable Uncle, Colfax, Antioquia, Nate Stevens, and special guests Willie Waldman and Dean McGraw. Headlining with Wu will be the Great American Taxi featuring Vince Herman. This band hasn’t been in the region since its appearance at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in 2006.

There will also be performance artists and painters and a parade of art vendors and exotic foods. In addition, the Big Wu Family Reunion has partnered with Vega Productions to make some Minnesota school children very happy. Jason Fladager sits on the Board of Directors for Vega Productions. “What we do is create events in order to rebuild Minnesota elementary music and arts education programs,” Fladager said in a recent interview. “Vega is actually going to co-produce the Big Wu Family Reunion X this July. Our goal is to raise $15,000 for a southern Minnesota school in need. Vega is a big part of my life and a real labor of love. Last New Year’s Eve, our Vega instrument drive brought in a multitude of brass/woodwinds/drums/horns for Susan B. Anthony Middle School in South Minneapolis. Partnering with Schmitt Music, we were able to refurbish these instruments and present them to the kids. I was at the auditorium for the official presentation, and it was a real ‘make-a-difference’ moment. I enjoy throwing music concerts where people can party and have fun, but it’s great when we also can do some good at the same time.”

Jason Fladager

It is clear that Fladager is in a very different place than he was in during his Wu days. He has turned his life around and looks farther into the future, especially now that he’s going to be a new father. “The only thing I’m addicted to these days is my cardo machine at Lifetime,” he admitted. “I like having a lot of energy and that seems to be the only way to get it for me these days.”

Since his break with Wu in 2002, Fladager has been working on his life, writing some songs, and stretching his musical legs with God Johnson. He has toured around the region and made several appearances at the 10,000 Lakes Festival, even throwing in a few Wu tunes in those shows. Still, God Johnson has tried to expand its chops wherever and whatever it has played. “We have done a couple of ‘entire album’ shows,” Fladger explained. “Back in October, we covered the entire Led Zeppelin 4 album, and on Valentine’s Day we covered Guns N Roses’ Appetite for Destruction.” Begin able to play the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ guitar solo was another high school rock-n-roll fantasy achieved. (You can check it out here: http://www.archive.org/details/GJ2008-10-25.TrocaderosMplsMN)

Currently, God Johnson is slowing down a bit, allowing Fladager to consider taking up a place with Wu again. But this time things will be different. “When I played with The Big Wu, I felt like my role in the band was largely to support Chris Castino and his guitar playing. But after being the only guitar player in God Johnson for the last 5-6 years, I really had to learn how to hold my own. I think in Big Wu you can expect to hear me blow solos a little more on the guitar. Chris and I have really different styles, but I think it works. I still struggle with singing. I just don’t think of myself as a really great singer, but I can squawk out a few harmonies to round out the sound. I’ve always kinds felt like I sit in the center of the music and try to pay attention to all the instruments going around and fill in the spaces. It’s all about fillin’ holes.”

Yet, Fladager is excited about returning to The Big Wu. “It feels great be back and as far as ‘limited liability corporation bylaws’ go, I guess I never really left,” he said. “But yes, I’m very happy to back and playing music with the fellas. The Big Wu played a couple shows on Thanksgiving and a really fun New Year’s Eve event in Minneapolis.” But Fladager also senses a difference in the band and in their musical relationship with him. “Maybe we’ve just really grown up a little,” He mused. “But the band sounds rejuvenated, fresh, and really alive. I think we’re remembering what great music we all can make together.”

Fladager has already done a few Big Wu Family Reunion pre-party shows with the band in the past couple of months. So, all of the band members have had a chance to find their niches and places where they can shine. “I’ll definitely be bringing a few God Johnson tunes over to Wu-land and see what we can do with em’,” Fladager said. “Chris [Castino] and Terry [VanDeWalker, drums] also have some new songs that we’ll be rehearsing. We’ll have quite a bit of new material, some old favorites, and some great covers. All we’ve ever done is try and have fun and make sure the audience has a great time as well.”

But that’s not all, Fladager is hopeful about a new album. “We have some tracks that were partially recorded from the Spring Reverb (2002) album at Pachyderm studios. We’re looking at heading back to the studio and really seeing if we can put something together.” Wu has produced seven albums since 1997, including a 3-disc live album recorded at the Cedar Cultural Center. “I’m excited for what’s to come in 2009. Stay tuned.”

And all of us wait to see what happens in Wu-land. You can get total immersion in Wu at the Big Wu Family Reunion this month. See complete details on our festival calendar.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Issues, July 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.