Refrain Magazine - Northern Plains Music » July 2009

10KLF Bands By Groove

Janie Franz — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:24:09 +0000

Every year for 10KLF, I offer my readers a guide to the bands of the fest. Though you can get a great little booklet on site, it offers bios coming from publicists and sometimes they just don’t tell you what you need to know.

If you want to start your festival planning early, go to www.10klf.com and find the set schedules for each day. Print those out and then print out this guide. You can start highlighting the bands you will kick yourself if you don’t see.

I have interviewed many of these bands, so if you are looking for more information, I can point you to articles I’ve written for other publications. The High Plains Reader has a good Cover Issue this week on 10KLF. (I coordinated that coverage, too.) You can go to www.hpr1.com to see those articles or pick up a copy in Fargo ND.

Junior Brown

Acoustic guitar-driven

Junior Brown (TX–The guit-steel wizard! Don’t think he only does country. His rock rocks!)

Tim Sparks (MN–Fingerstyle acoustic guitarist, a 10KLF staple)

Acoustic Rock

Gypsy Lumberjacks (Mpls—Instrumental roots rock with world overtones, very tasty Spanish guitar, but with occasional vocals—but when they are present, they are outstanding)

Boombox

Ambient rock/techno

Big Gigantic (NY–Ambient techno duo that combines sax and keys with drums)

Pretty Lights (CO–One man techno wizard)

BoomBox (Muscle Shoals, AL—Russ Randolph (DJ) and Zion Rock Godchaux (guitar, vocals), the son of Donna Jean Godchaux, one of jam’s legends)

My Dear Disco (MI—Richly mixing techno, pop, and rock with a sweet female lead singer and backups)

Todd Shaeffer and part of RRE, 2006 10KLF

Bluegrass (all forms)

Railroad Earth (NJ–It’s RRE’s third appearance at 10KLF. We can’t get enough of these guys! Great songs and incredible acoustic chops!)

Trampled By Turtles (Duluth–Speed bluegrass taking the nation by storm)

Pert Near Sandstone (Mpls–Bluegrass with a clogger)

Mountain Standard Time (CO–Newly revamped alt-bluegrass band)

Sharon Jones

Jazz Vocals

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings (NY–Great soulful singer with a top notch band)

Paper Bird (CO–Vocal jazz like Squirrel Nut Zippers with banjo and a New Orleans horn section)

Funk/R&B/Gospel

Steve Kimock Crazy Engine (US–Guitar legend Kimock joins forces with funk organist Melvin Seals from the Jerry Garcia Band. With great gospel backup singers, what’s not to like!)

Hip-Hop

Atmosphere (Mpls—Popular, white hip-hop duo)

Macpodz

Jam/Jazz

Umphrey’s McGee (Always exploring new musical avenues, combing genres—you never know what to expect from these guys)

The Macpodz (MI—No guitar, but lots of horns, keys, bass, percussion, and voice, slipping into Miles Davis, funk and Latin realms)

North Indiana All Stars (Trumpeter Willie Waldman and some of Umphrey’s crew launching into outer space)

Chris Obrien from Enchanted Ape

Jam/Rock

Kinetix (Denver–Always in the jam pocket)

Enchanted Ape (Mpls–One of the most talented, up-and-coming bands in the country; very song-driven) [VIP tickeholders, also see Enchanted Ape in the Chill Tent playing before lunch on Thursday at 11:34 AM]

Elf Lettuce (Finally, an old-style jam group that reminds me of the Dead with very sweet harmonies—Cosmic Funkabilly Blues Rock with some out-there guitar effects )

Steez (Madison—Just plain fun 5-piece with keys/synths, guitar, drums, bass, and Andrzej Benkowski who plays sax, oboe, and violin)

Widespread Panic (2 nights) (GA—Always bringing that southern rock party)

Mixed Genres

Akron/Family (NYC—Mixing acoustic, rock, emo, punk, jazz, techno, New Age, solid vocals, and world touches—as varied as a NY city street)

Gomez--photo by Marty Butler

Pop/rock

Dave Matthews Band (Need I say more?)

Gomez (UK/US—Widely popular)

The Honeydogs (Mpls–Though these guys think they are Americana, their songs are so intellectual they’re not typical Americana)

Reggae

Public Property (Mpls–The best reggae/rock band around; always a party with great backup singers)

Carney

Rock

Wilco (Chicago– Classics and new material from this popular band)

Parlor Mob (NC–The lead singer is a vocal ringer for Robert Plant; great chops on this band)

Carney (CA–The lead singer could be kin to the singer for Parlor Mob; again great chops and echos of Zeppelin)

Backyard Tire Fire (IL, much more polished than their debut at 10KLF in 2006, more country rock than pop rock)

The Hue (Chicago—Progressive metal band returning to 10KLF; a surprising inclusion in a jam fest)

Pete Francis (of Dispatch) featuring Barefoot Truth (NY–Solo artist Francis teaming with a killer band)

Tea Leaf Green (2 nights) (San Francisco—This band has moved from pop rock to rock with Americana overtones )

Evan Watson

Singer/songwriter

Kathleen Edwards (Toronto—A woman singer/songwriter with a lot to say!)

Evan Watson (NYC via IN–Richly-voiced—yes, you expect a much older, grisly entertainer, say even Joe Cocker or an echo of Eddie Vedder–with not-soon-forgotten hooks and choruses for some of the best, blusey love songs out there. He can hold his own with just a guitar, but has a wonderful backup band)

Rock Plaza Central (Toronto–A novelist/songwriter who’s revisioning Faulker)

Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons (WI—Has a Springsteenesque delivery; good back up band)

William Elliott Whitmore (Iowa–Exceptionally talented singer/songwriter with a powerful voice, writing songs both interior and political)

Mason Jennings (Mpls—Local boy made good; pop folk sound)

Todd Snider

Todd Snider (TN–An up-and-coming songwriter who writes songs of substance; You can’t miss this one!)

Joe Pug (Chicago—A voice you’d expect from a singer/songwriter—and one a lot older and roadweary—blissfully refreshing, with great songs)

Honeyhoney (CA—Alt-pop duo with very tasty vocals)

Nathan Miller Band (Mpls—Contemporary ideas on a roots slide guitar. Miller is making his mark)

Zach Deputy (SC—One man musical experience with a road-weary voice, some roots beatboxing, and solid songs)

Cloud Cult

The Unusual

Everyone Orchestra (All over the country–Matt Butler’s great musical experiment; no one knows what will happen until it does)

WookieFoot (Mpls–Bringing rock/reggae and peace to every performance)

Cloud Cult (MN–Combining art and music, this band has two painters on stage with a full band; lyrics are both personal and globally inspiring)

Ozomatli on their recent Asian tour

World

Ozomatli (Los Angeles–Afro-Latin band with great drum/percussion section, killer horns, and other world touches)

Mifune (OH–Named for a Japanese movie legend, but producing Afro-Latin-electronic-jazz with a social-consciousness bent, tasty jazz vocals that sometime bleed into dancehall)

Harper

Harper (Australia/MI–Bridging blues with aboriginal music)

Ragbirds

The Ragbirds (MI—Song-driven and vocal-driven band mixing Celtic, Latin, Middle Eastern, and Gypsy influences into a contemporary sound for this century.)

Big Wu Reunion Reunites Jason Fladager with Band

Janie Franz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:27:35 +0000

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.

Phish Reunion Show June 19, 2009

admin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:10:47 +0000

[Jonathan Holth caught one of the rare Phish reunion shows last month in Indiana. Here are his reactions of that event.]

by Jonathan Holth

It took all of one minute to begin their lyrical dialogue once again. Phish took the stage on an overcast Friday night in June to the standard nervous, excited, and anticipatory roar of the 25,000 fans. As they began to play their opening number, “Backwards Down the Number Line,” the crowd began to smile and sway, just as I remembered they did at other Phish shows. Then, as the lyric, “Do you know what happened then? Do you know why we’re still friends?” came blaring through the air, I found myself holding up my end of the dialogue. I answered to myself, “Sort of, and yes.”

It had been nearly five years since my last Phish concert in Coventry, Vermont. That concert was billed as their farewell show, and at the time, although we all held out hope that it wouldn’t be, that’s how we treated it. It was a different mood, a different feeling than previous concerts. The final set that night was sad, somber, and at times, tearful. You could hear a collective sigh as each song was finished, with everyone in attendance knowing that the inevitable was soon to come. It did.

So here we are, almost five years later. The site is the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, IN, just outside of Indianapolis. To this point, this Phish experience was different from any other in the sense that I had flown into Indianapolis, rented a car, and was staying in a hotel. Quite the contrary to the usual drive halfway across the country coupled with sleeping in a tent a few hundred feet from the venue.

Some things, though, were the same. The night before the show, we guessed what we’d get to hear the following night, and I got that same, twisted stomach feeling that one might have if they were waiting to meet a blind date, a really fun blind date, for the first time–nervousness, excitement, anticipation, and utter joy all mingling together.

We pulled into the parking lot of the venue, and the scene was just as I remembered: People smiling, listening to music, and selling goods ranging from t-shirts to artwork to burritos. I had heard that rain was inevitably on its way, but to this point, nothing yet, so I held out hope that my dry Phish concert streak would remain intact. After making our way into the venue and claiming our seats on the lawn, we waited rather impatiently for the four gentlemen to take the stage, a stage that, just looking at it from a distance, brought so many fond memories of concerts past rushing in.

What seemed like an eternity was in actuality just a few minutes, and before we knew it, “our boys” were back. They were playing, and the metaphors would begin to immediately fill the air. That lyrical dialogue, along with 25,000 sets of hips, would be in full swing before we knew it. The first set was almost a warm up set for both them and for the crowd, mixing new toe-tapping songs with Phish standards. The lyrics began to speak to the crowd almost immediately, most notably with “AC/DC Bag”’s “let’s get this show on the road.” It wouldn’t take long to figure out that Phish had heard the weather report also. Both through the song titles and lyrics, it would be a water-themed evening. The first set included the song “Water In The Sky,” along with “The Wedge,” which includes the lyric, “That it’s the ocean flowing in our veins, that it’s the salt that’s in our tears.” The first set also included such favorites as “The Moma Dance,” “Split Open and Melt,” and the rare yet smile-inducing “Fluffhead,” with brilliant strokes of lightning serving as the backdrop to close the set.

After intermission, we all took our seats, began to chat about the first set, and then, it happened. An announcement was made that the severe weather was fast approaching, and that all phans on the lawn must return to their cars immediately. So much for keeping that dry concert streak intact. They announced that the show would resume at 11:00, and they weren’t kidding.

Trey Anastasio

After a rain delay, we were allowed back into the venue. As most people were still rushing to their seats, Phish continued the water theme, opening the second set with “A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing,” and tying that directly into “Drowned.” It was then this sequence twisted and turned and found its way to fan favorite “Twist,” that we knew we were in for a second set treat. The energy was overpowering the weather, and the sounds coupled with perfectly timed, amazingly colorful lights seemed to not only stimulate the senses, but also ignite the soul. It was an energy that I didn’t remember feeling at concerts in 2004 or any previous year for that matter.

As they slowed down and began to play “Let Me Lie,” dialogue came back to the forefront. As the lyric, “Gonna take my bike out, take my bike, gonna ride it slowly, gonna ride just how I like” came softly through the speakers, I couldn’t help but think that what we were doing, what we were feeling, was just like riding a bike. It felt as if the five-year gap was five days. It felt as if the training wheels were not only unnecessary, they had simultaneously broken off the bikes of the 25,000 people in attendance, in addition to the four members of the band. As the band began to play “Tweezer,” I saw the band bounce around the stage smiling and laughing like I’d never seen before. They ended the set with the crowd participation, arm raising, scream-creating songs “2001,” “Suzy Greenberg,” and “Possum.” Needless to say, there wasn’t a single face in the crowd sans smile.

After a brief pause, the band took the stage for the encore, and were obviously having fun with not only the crowd, but with each other as they sang “Sleeping Monkey” and then played the heavy “Tweezer” Reprise just as the rain began to come down again. As 25,000 phans walked back to their cars and their campsites, that same buzz throughout the crowd was back–people discussing the contents of another show that we had missed doing for the past five years, but we all knew how to do so well, like riding a bike. As we returned to our car, and began to discuss the show in a dry setting, the dialogue was back. “Do you know what happened then?” Doesn’t matter. “Do you know why we’re still friends?” Absolutely.

Set I:

Backwards Down The Number Line,  AC/DC Bag,  Limb By Limb,  The Moma Dance,  Water In The Sky, Split Open and Melt,  LawnBoy,  The Wedge,  Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan,  The Connection*,  Ocelot,  Fluffhead

—Storm Delay—

Set II:

A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing -> Drowned -> Twist,  Let Me Lie,  Tweezer -> 2001 -> Suzy Greenburg -> Possum

Encore:

Sleeping Monkey -> Tweezer Reprise

Rock the Garden Rocked

admin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:02:06 +0000

By Brian Baier

Who says not to trust anyone over 30? I thought it would be a good idea to attend a concert featuring Solid Gold, Yeasayer, Calexico, and The Decemberists, right in the relative back yard of Minneapolis. If the response I got from my friends under 30 via facebook regarding Rock the Garden 2009 is any indication, I may still be trusted for good musical taste. I refuse to concede, as was so indefensibly put to me, only “kids are supposed to have all the fun and go to all the rad shows.”

Who gave these kids permission to use the word “rad,” anyway?

Hosted by the Walker Art Center and Minnesota Public Radio’s 89.3 The Current, the 9-year-old event has become a highly anticipated day in the city. The organizers executed Rock the Garden 2009 with the apparent ease of an open invitation party where only the cool folks show up. I have few qualms about basking in the perfect June sun on a wonderful grassy amphitheater behind the museum. I would only fear that danger that sometimes befalls events that are overcome by their own popularity, attracting undesirable guests seeking an excuse to drink and be merrily destructive. Rock the Garden will unlikely go down that road.

The Walker boasts an ideal space for ample crowds to converge fluidly. While thousands attended, I never felt pressed in from any corner. The audience itself deserves credit for maintaining an atmosphere both relaxed and enthusiastic.

Chris Keating

Hosts and attendees succeeding on their ends, let’s not neglect part three of this summer gathering equation: The musicians. While not inclined to join the chaos inherent in some festival crowds, Yeasayer’s Chris Keating confessed this particular event’s more casual vibe felt less claustrophobic, more welcoming. “Sometimes festivals can feel a little more hostile,” he said, citing the position of playing three bands before Radiohead at Lollapalooza, facing twenty rows of people waiting for the big name to take the stage. “Or maybe that’s not fair,” Keating ceded, comparing when “it feels like no one knows your music” to the benefit of “playing to new people as opposed to doing shows where you’re probably playing to people who have your record.”

Yeasayer

It is every music reviewer’s conceit to cobble together a concise description defining an artist’s sound and style, almost competitively assembling that magic sequence of words. I submit for you, my summation of Yeasayer: Soulful, electronic, indie anthems. They gave an emotional performance with grace and ease. Performing already more than half a dozen times in the Twin Cities, hopefully they feel less and less like the odd band out when visiting.

Zach Coulter

Steadily finding themselves as a local favorite is the band Solid Gold. Recalling the funk and synth of 80s new wave bands, they also are a clear product of the evolving indie rock scene. Songs like “Bible Thumper” offer a danceable beat while charting a mellow course to head-bobbing approval. The band has found a nurturing, if temporary, home in the Twin Cities. Outgrowing their origins in Madison, Wisconsin, the band currently resides in Minneapolis, hometown of front man Zach Coulter.

“Traveling is a huge asset to being in a band, a perk that I enjoy,” Coulter said in a phone interview. When I asked where he’d like to end up, he suggested a nicer climate, possibly somewhere in Europe, but ultimately, “There’s a lot of places I haven’t been, so I can’t specifically say.”

That preference for comfortable weather may have little to do with playing music outdoors, however. Solid Gold is an album-oriented band, forced to play along with a series of programmed elements like drum machines and samples on stage. “I thought some of the songs were going to be impossible to perform,” Coulter said of performing from their most recent album, Bodies of Water. “Opera singers, trumpets, and violins, we don’t have them on a day to day basis.”

Calexico

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to speak with anyone from the two later acts. Calexico refurbished the most sober style of southwestern rock, layered with south-of-the-border horns and a cursory wisdom. Each song spoke to a different stretch of road on some lonesome traveler’s soundtrack. The band based in Tuscon, Arizona, seemed almost venerable compared to the relatively dramatic verve of the other artists on the bill.

Decemberists-Shara Worden

Carrying the audience from the last rays of sun through the first hour of darkness were The Decemberists. No simple collection of hits marked their turn on stage. Instead, we were treated to a 17-part fantastical tale, the complete track listing of their newest album, The Hazards of Love [ed note: available on vinyl and CD]. Bittersweet and darkly comical, an enchanting blend of theatrics and musicianship transformed the evening before us.

Decemberists

The Decemberists followed this heavy and invigorating storytelling session with a short selection of their older tunes, even orchestrating some impromptu choir practice, directed by lead writer and singer, Colin Meloy. Then came the rocking finale, a cover of Heart’s “Crazy On You,” a really great way to send everyone off.

Decemberists

[You can watch that performance via youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yrL8PeORjU] Citing time restraints, The Current’s DJ Mark Wheat announced an end to the evening, apologizing for The Decemberists being unable to play longer, as they would have gladly done so.

Local Artist Spotlight: Downtown Horns

Janie Franz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:48:17 +0000

For Dave Christianson, forming the Downtown Horns was pure self-interest. “As a trumpet player, there weren’t too many opportunities to play in Grand Forks,”Christianson said in a recent interview. “I always enjoyed the music of the 70s and 80s, and I just felt we were missing something musically in this area. This seemed to fill the bill.”

A staple with the Dick King Classic Swing Band since 1983, Christianson has always appreciated the opportunity to play professionally and he’s done so since college. “I went through public schools and learned music the traditional way,” he said. “My profession now is a music teacher. I teach at Twinning Middle School on the Air Base. I’m the band director.”

But the Dick King Classic Swing Band made an impact on his playing life. “That was the really big influence for me. It was just a tremendous learning opportunity,” he said. “I owe an awful lot to Dick King and so do a lot of musicians in this area that had playing opportunities.” Christianson marvels at how King was able to keep that band going. Even after King’s death, the band continues as his legacy. “Those of us who are here now, trying to keep it alive are discovering just how much work Dick King put into it to keep the band active and playing, finding musicians and sponsors, and finding jobs.”

So, it wasn’t much of a leap to step away from the Dick King Classic Swing Band periodically and launch a band of his own. Though the Downtown Horns had its beginnings earlier, the current sound gelled two years ago. “We got together because we enjoyed playing this music. It was good to see that there were still people who listen to this stuff, too,” Christianson said of the wide range of music the Downtown Horns plays from the 70s and 80s, including classic rock and some Motown soul.

But what makes the Downtown Horns so unique isn’t necessarily their choice of material but the fact that this multi-generational band actually enjoys the music. Christianson and some of his bandmates actually grew up listening to this music. Mike Blackmun, a flight instructor at UND who plays bass, is very familiar with this music and so is Lynn Schroeder, publisher of the Cavalier Chronicle who plays trombone. Then there is Jenny Loer, a middle school band teacher in East Grand Forks, who plays sax and sings occasionally, and Dr. Mike Wittgraf (keys), a music composition/theory professor at UND who used to play with the Minneapolis Molines during his college years. These two may have heard the music of this era from their older siblings or had broad tastes in music. But it is the youngsters of this group, Dave Berger (lead vocals) who is the youth co-ordinator at Sharon Lutheran, and Dan Christianson (lead guitar) and Phil Jensen (drums) who both graduated from Red River High School this spring, who are really stretching their musical ears and talents.

Dave Berger

“The older guys all grew up with this music, and the younger kids have really taken to it,” Christianson said. “Some of this you hear once in a while on the radio. But I think playing in this band has really exposed them to a lot more of it.”

Since everyone in the band can read music to some degree, Christianson has tried to provide scores for each player. “We don’t play enough together where we can learn by heart and just play it,” he said.
“When I started the band, it was always my intent that I was going to write out arrangements and parts for everybody. That way if it ever gets to where we need a substitute, it will be easy enough for someone to come in and there’s a part for them. They can just sit down and play it. We have had to have subs on a couple of occasions.”

Christianson actually has had to search for new members, even in a band that isn’t very old. So having scores written out has really helped new members come up to speed quickly. “We’ve been through a few drummers already as a matter of fact,” Christianson admitted. And, in the fall, he will have to find a new guitarist. Dan Christianson, Dave’s son, will be doing to Moorhead State University to begin study on a double major in music education and music industry.

Dan actually began his musical studies with piano as a child and took up trumpet like his dad. His fondness for guitar came when his uncle bought him a guitar. Though Dan had begun listening to bands his peers like such as Green Day, he was soon influenced by his father’s choice in music, especially Chicago’s great horn sounds. The elder Christianson even stepped back on occasion to let Dan set his guitar aside and take lead on trumpet. Dave Christianson has even brought in some of the funky sounds of Tower of Power with their signature horns section. Because Dan is profecient in both instruments, he will also be a trumpet student and a guitar student at MSU. “That’s pretty hard to do and be able to do both well,” Dave Christianson said. “But I think that having that diversity and being able to be in different genres musically will really be a benefit down the road wherever he ends up.”

Luckily, Christianson will not have to replace his drummer this year, too. Phil Jensen will be going to UND this fall and will be available for gigs.

With all of this incredible talent, the Downtown Horns could have been just another instrumental band. But Christianson knew that the music he chose of the 70s and 80s was really vocally driven but that would take a power singer. That came in the talents of Dave Berger, who also serves as frontman for the band, engaging the audience in light banter. Being a church youth coordinator, there’s no danger of Berger saying something that would embarrass the band. His engaging personality really connects with the band’s audiences. “He does have a real ability to communicate with the audience,” Christianson said. “He’s comfortable in that role, and that’s what it really takes, I think, is someone who’s not afraid to do the banter and kind of put himself out there.” Plus, Berger can really sell a tune without his ego getting in the way.

The Downtown Horns has the potential for some day transforming into the legacy that the Dick King Classic Swing Band has become. Only this band is solidly founded in classic rock and soul.

http://www.myspace.com/downtownhorns

CD Review: At the Moment of Our Most Needing – Rock Plaza Central

Janie Franz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:02:06 +0000

Live Music Alert: Rock Plaza Central, 10KLF, Saloon Stage, July 22, 6 pm

At the Moment of Our Most Needing

Rock Plaza Central

Self

Though Rock Plaza Central, a band based in Toronto, has been around since 1996, it has changed personnel so often that it has dwindled and expanded like a concertina. The only consistent member has been founder and principle singer/songwriter Chris Eaton. Over the years, Eaton often grabbed musicians he knew who were playing on the same bill as he was and asked them to sit in.

The current seven-piece production has held its size and musician-makeup since 2003. It came to be during a show where Eaton had already gathered a third of his band members. Another band was playing and he asked some of them if they wanted to come up and join him midway into his set. A few did and became another third of Rock Plaza Central—and never left.

A talented interplay of acoustic instrumentalists, band members are able to pull a variety of effects out of their collective suitcases to fit the nature of Eaton’s songs. It also helps to have a slew of different kinds of instruments tucked inside the touring vehicle. For some reason, many of the former band members left their instruments with Eaton, and Rock Plaza Central has been able to pick those up and try their chops on them. For example, though Rob Carson plays guitar, trombone, and banjo, Eaton himself decided one day to pick up the banjo and taught himself to play.

Against Blake Howard’s drums and Scott Maynard’s bass, there are other other tantalizing sounds. Don Murray plays mandolin and trumpet. John Whytock plays trumpet, too, but also accordion, mellophone, and glockenspiel. And, Fiona Stewart adds a versatile violin.

Rock Plaza Central has released seven albums in its entire history. The first, Refers to Cantaloupe (1996), was a limited release cassette. It was followed by Quantum Butterass (1997) and then Stella (1999), another limited release cassette tape that also was recorded to CD. The Things that Bind You followed in 2002, then The World Was Hell to Us (2003) and Are We Not Horses (2006). Refers to Cantaloupe, The Things that Bind You, and Stella are no longer available, and there are very few copies of Quantum Butterass left. All of the available albums can be purchased as CDs or digital downloads.

Rock Plaza Central’s last recording, Are We Not Horses, was released to critical acclaim, marking this band’s continued rise in quality and unique storytelling. But it is the band’s current album that is drawing rave reviews. At the Moment of Our Most Needing is a musical retelling of William Faulkner’s Light in August, a story about a very pregnant, but idealistic, young woman who sets out to find the father of her child. Now, most singer/songwriters might be leery of tackling one of the greatest writers in American literature. But not Chris Eaton. A novelist himself, Eaton has published two books and is working on a new one. The Inactivist was published in 2003 and The Grammer Architect came out in 2005. The latter was a modern rendering of In a Pair of Blue Eyes, an obscure book by Thomas Hardy, written in 1873.

For At the Moment of Our Most Needing, though, Eaton wrote 13 songs. Some have lyrics that further the story; some just have instrumental elements to indicate emotion or movement within the story. Using a mix of genres, Eaton has created a stew of sounds, combining roots banjo and a plaintive vocal delivery against mariachi horns, Eastern European violin, and drum work that drifts from rock beats to Celtic bodhran sounds to jungle drum lines. “The Hot Blind Earth,” the last cut on the album, is a mesh of Primus, South Asian qawaali harmonium, and lavish Big Band or Broadway elements. Though the album is an exquisite work in its entirety, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the haunting “Don’t You Believe the Words of Handsome Men” with its mountain holler quality.

When asked why do a musical novel, Eaton responded quickly saying, “To save the album.” Not his album, but the album as a viable musical entity. Though singles were the mainstay of early recordings on 78s and the small 45s of the 50s and 60s, it was the Beatles and other rock performers who really stressed the album as a whole structure, Eaton says. Today, the concept album has pretty much fallen away as people download single songs for their iPods. So instead of squawking like some “crotchety old people,” according to Eaton, who don’t like to see change, he decided to write an album that had to be listened to from beginning to end. That said, Rock Plaza Central, however, doesn’t play songs from the album in sequential order when they play live. They mix them up with older material and jumble up the sequence from At the Moment of Our Most Needing.

I would highly recommend taking a lazy afternoon and listening to the whole album, maybe a couple of times through, to appreciate the depth and emotion of the lyrics as well as all of the musical treats embedded within each track.

Venue Spotlight: Porpoura

Janie Franz — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:58:42 +0000

Most baristas open their doors because they want to make money or they are enamored by that dark brew with the enticing aroma and captivating flavor or they want to encourage acoustic music and coffeehouses are the usual venues. Though those are all good reasons for starting a business involving coffee, none of those were part of the unique vision of the owners of the Porpoura coffeeshops in Grand Forks. Sarah Kopp Heitkamp and her business partner Richelle Mews had a mission. Coffee was just the vehicle to make it all happen.

One clue is on their website and in their voice mail message that says, “Serving coffee and our community.” “We didn’t open the business to make money,” Sarah Kopp Heitkamp readily admits. “The mission of Porpoura, besides serving our community, was to fund Filling the Gap, which is a program that helps low income, cancer patients during treatment. Porpoura is Italian for purple, and purple is the color for cancer awareness. Filling the Gap helps with gas money, lodging, and nutrition for patients who can’t afford these things or can’t afford to travel to Grand Forks for treatment. Porpoura is a way we can keep that program going. We donate a percentage of the sales and all of the tips go to that program.”

Sarah Kopp Heitkamp

But why cancer awareness and not some other cause? “Both Richelle and I lost parents last year to cancer. My mom was only 42 when she was diagnosed; she was 52 when she passed away,” Heitkamp says. “We wanted to do something that would make a difference. Porpoura is one way that we’ve been able to do that.”

Opening first in Columbia Mall in 2006, Heitkamp and Mews sought a space downtown. “Our space in the mall is limited,” Heitkamp explains. “We were just looking for a place where there would be more room for people to gather.” They found that at 8 South Third St. and began brewing coffee in this second location in 2007. Both coffeehouses serve only Fair Trade Organic coffee, as well as sandwiches, pastries, and ice cream.

Though neither of the owner’s parents used the services of Filling the Gap, the owners felt that this organization was where the coffeehouse could really help. Heitkamp is intimately familiar with Filling the Gap since it is one of the services she administers at the Altru Health Foundation. Established over 25 years ago, the Foundation has raised over $13 million through individual and corporate gifts as supplemental funds for a variety of projects including the Breast Center, the Cancer Center, Cardiac Care Programs, Hospice, Pastoral Services, Reach Out and Read, and Filling the Gap. “It’s really awesome because every dollar that we raise for the program goes directly to the patient. We don’t take out any administrative fees out. We have raised thousands of dollars for Filling the Gap at Porpoura,” says Heitkamp.

Though Porpoura attempts to raise awareness of breast cancer, the coffeehouse is a place of brightness and hope. Covering one wall is a beautiful mural created by Susan Nord that sets a peaceful, Tuscan tone in keeping with the Italian name of the coffeehouse. There are comfortable sofas to lounge on with an overflowing free, lending library on site and tables and chairs with WIFI access. The walls also often become galleries for local artists, as well as national traveling exhibits. “We have an artist of the month program for local artists,” Heitkamp says. “And, we’ve have the International Lilly Oncology on Canvas exhibit two years in a row now. It’s the only place in North Dakota that’s doing that. This fall, we’ll be having a Parkinson’s inspired art exhibit.”

In addition, like coffeehouses across the country, Porpoura also hosts live music. It is one of the few venues where young performers can play. “There are definitely places to play if you’re 21 and older,” Heitkamp points out. “There is a complete lack of venue space for younger artists.” Porpoura posts signs at both coffeehouses about playing opportunities downtown. Many musicians just belly up to the coffee bar and ask the person on staff. Other musicians call or email the coffeehouse or contact Heitkamp on Facebook. It’s all very casual. People just tell them when they can play, and Heitkamp pencils them in.

“Most weekends, there’s someone playing downtown,” Heitkamp says. “There have been a nice variety of genres and musicians. It’s so fun having them there.”

Some musicians have come all the way from Aberdeen, SD or from Minneapolis. Others are local students who want a chance to perform. Porpoura has also had oriental dancers, voice students from Bel Canto Studio, and professional singer/songwriters.

Before the flood on ’97, The French Connection and the Urban Stampede were venues that had live music every week and catered to musicians of all ages and skill levels. These venues launched a few musicians onto the wider stage. Porpoura is doing its part to fill the gap not only by raising money for cancer patients but also by providing an all-ages venue for musicians and artists.

[Photos courtesy of John Kopp]