[Reposted here with permission from Janie Franz and skopemag.com]

 When I got a copy of Minneapolis’ rocker Peter Lochner’s first original album, Shame on Me, I was glad to give it a spin. I’ve known Pete for a few years when he was playing with Stook! and The Jukes. He was one of three guitarists, joining Blair Krivanek and Stook! himself, in that grungy pop mix that often wandered into electronica and turntable bliss.

But when I put this little marvel into my CD player, I was floored! Peter Lochner has produced an incredibly sophisticated but roots-raw blues album that is sure to become a top favorite on your playlist. Every single song is fresh and offers a richness that you’ll want to savor time and again. This is possibly one of my favorite blues albums of all time—and that’s a tough call when you look at who else I’m covering this month. But Shame on Me is flat-out good.

Each cut evokes feelings and reminds me of different performers, though Pete is not deliberately trying to emulate anyone. Let me take you through the tracks. Starting off this gem is “Testify,” a gospel-rich tune that’s about relationships, that has vocals reminiscent of Chris O’Brien’s work with Enchanted Ape, especially his “Pine Tar Jack.”

Organist Toby Lee Marshal and singer Erin Heitkamp lend some tasty background vocals.

photo by Kent Anderson

Pete turns up pure blues in “A Cheatin’ Song” that has echoes of JJ Grey of MOFRO. Again Marshal and Heitkamp produce tender vocal support. Here Pete pays tribute to the Minneapolis icon Prince with the line about Purple Rain that just tugs the heart. But it is Marshall’s church organ that adds the spice to this little gumbo.

Next up is “Aint No Love” that cooks with Molly Maher’s soulful vocals that complement Pete’s swamp blues. Here Marshal adds not only organ but a delta piano. Maher is a bright talent who has the chops of Bonnie Raitt. Very, very nice.

“Crazy” is a soul number that Pete delivers like a pro with a little of early Springsteen tossed in on those rare occasions when the Boss decided to slow it down. The addition of trumpet by Zack Lozier and saxophone by Gus Sandberg emphasizes that New Jersey sound. Like Springsteen, some of Pete’s lyrics become anthems that you’ll find yourself singing along with. Marshall’s Fender Rhodes adds depth as well as Heitkamp’s backing vocals.

Then there is “Don’t Know Much,” a heartfelt tune about a lost friendship. It is simply supported by Blair Krivanek’s crying electric lead guitar, Marshal’s clean piano, Caleb Garn’s bass, Jordan Carlson’s percussion, and Pete’s own acoustic guitar.

Once more Chris O’Brien’s vocal style is echoed in Pete’s cut “No More,” another organ-laced tune that has Tracy Cook’s distorted guitar inserted in the middle

I was intrigued by “Save Me,” a tune that reminded me of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” but given up to a honkytonk piano and a gospel chorus composed of Marshall, Mick Sterling, Cate Fierro, and Shalo Lee. Sweet!

“A Beautiful Mess” is a raw, rootsy tune composed of only Pete’s vocals and his electric guitar that often sounds like a resonator model. It’s a moving tune because of its lack of production. It was the perfect production for this song. The line “If I’m a sinner and darlin’ you’re the sin” is destined to be a classic and so much more so than if it had been countrified.

On “Tell Me Please,” Zack Lozier’s trumpet and Gus Sandberg’s saxophone return to add the fullness this upbeat tune requires. The tasty electric guitar lead in the middle of this cut is done exquisitely by Mike Medicine Horse. Once more Marshall and Heitkamp contribute great backing vocals.

And the last track, “Lullabye,” is a tender cut, bringing the core group of players back into a nice ensemble piece.

All of these songs are supported by Stook! bandmates:  Jordan Carlson (guitar), Toby Lee Marsahll (Hammond Organ, piano, Rhodes), and Caleb Garn (bass). Stook! guitarist Blair Krivanek appears on “A Cheatin’ Song,” “Don’t Know Much,” and “Save Me.” Even Stook! lays his lead guitar chops on “Testify.”

The talents of other musical friends are laced throughout the album. Nick Salisbury plays electric bass on “Crazy” and upright bass and Jerry Jones 6 bass on “Save Me.”

Pete’s lyrics are intelligent and emotional, but it is the wholly produced song that is the selling point here. Pete’s vocal delivery is spot on and aurally interesting, offering the listener a range of styles. That’s always a treat because it keeps the album from slipping into boredom. This is an exceptional debut solo album—very professional but keeping the rawness of the blues in which Pete has immersed himself. Go get it!!!

www.myspace.com/peterlochnermusic

About a year ago, I ran into this great service organization called Friends Across the Line. Working out of SOCAL, they build friendships and understanding by reaching hands across the line. That line can be any barrier or wall that keeps people apart because of prejudice, bigotry, and racism. Their main focus is fostering clubs and events for pre-teens, teens, and adults regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political affiliation, size, or anything else that society perceives as a barrier.

The good folks at Friends Across the Line established F.O.C.U.S. Kids to cultivate every child’s innate ability to foster peace through cross-cultural experiences and hands-on arts, service, and environmental projects. Friends across the Line also provides personal counseling, cultural education, anger management, and gang intervention.

Find out more at http://www.friendsacrosstheline.org.

“We must become the change we seek.” Gandhi

Coming together for this fundraiser were Kleztafarians, Mutatu, and Have You Read the Manual. Here’s a brief intro to these great local SOCAL bands.

Kleztafarians, from Riverside CA, is a three-piece group that does Yiddish and reggae flavored jazz. The amped acoustic guitar, bass, and drums creates a lively sound. They have a fourth person who plays trombone and bass and in that configuration play a lot of Klezmer for events and synagogues. They are Evan Heimlich (vocals, guitar), Jory Yarmoff (bass, guitar, keyboard), Eric Sbar (bass, trombone, euphonium), and Adam Perlstein (drums).

Formed in 2009 as Good Job Sammy, a reggae band that also played “Hava Nagila” at the Bar Mitzvah reception of Sam Leapman, at the Barn at UCR. It reformed in 2010, with a different lineup and was called Sammy and the Run-ons, then the Kleztafarians when they collected their current band personnel and branched out to a wider audience.

Matatu is another three-piece that offers African-laced originals.

Fronted by Jesse Guberman who also writes all the songs, the band has a sort of reggae/Afro pop sound Guberman is backed by an incredibly skilled lead guitar player and a hot woman djembe player. (See Matatu CD review.)

Have You Read the Manual from Anaheim is a tight four-piece rock-influenced jazz ensemble.

DC is on Drums and is the band leader. Jeff W. is on Bass/EWI, Ari on  Keyboards, and Jay on Guitar.  The keyboards, bass, lead guitar, and drums filled out their set of instrumental music. The keys took the melody, but the drums and bass drove their train. They did a killer rock/jazz jam on “Hybrid Mammoth.”

Jeff used an electric wind instrument (EWI) that had a rain forest sound.

This band of veterans and a young protégé, offered intense jazz excursions into different time signatures and soundscapes. They are currently working on a CD.

The fundraiser garnered money for more youth events in the area.

We at Refrain Magazine want to thank our readers for their patience over the past  year while the magazine has done an overhall and a major move.  The editorial offices have moved permanently to Moriarty, New Mexico. Refrain Magazine will continue to cover acts that tour through the Northern Plains, but will include the Southwest and other musicians, writers, and entertainers from all over North America.

Refrain pledges to offer more to its readers. Look for more downloads, more in-depth interviews, more concert reviews, and more CD, DVD, and book reviews. Though our corporate offices have changed, the magazine will continue to offer you the finest entertainment writing available.

One major change will occur, however. Our calendar will no longer post individual band dates for any one region. It will, however, post major jam/blues/acoustic music festivals in both date format and annotated format as it always has.  The calendar will include festivals from all over the country, not just in the northern tier of the US.  So start looking for that next month.

We also will be starting a brand new monthly series, focusing on womyn’s musicians. Yes, I know I’ve been promising this for some time, but it will occur starting in February, the month of love. And we want to show these sisters some deep Refrain love.

Our first interview is with Canadian multi-instrumentalist Lyndell Montgomery.  Other musicians will include MJ Kroll, Tret Fury, and more. If you have a favorite musician in the womyn’s community, please contact the editor, and we’ll try to secure an interview for the magazine.

Refrain will also provide music links to hear samples of the music featured here. We tried to get a music player set up to offer streaming music and live interviews, but that proved problematic.  In the coming months, though, look for tracks from new music.

So, if you haven’t read us in awhile, come on back. If you’re new to Refrain, welcome. If you’ve been a loyal reader, we love you and look forward to your continued support.

If you have a story or a band you think our readers would like to hear about, shoot the editor an email and we’ll get on it.

Southern California hip-hop artist Deploi has been on the road in the Midwest, giving audiences a tast of his new album, Pushin’ 4 Change. Touring with old band friends Down Lo from Minneapolis, Deploi will be offering his signature rhymes that speak of hope and change instead of drive-bys and misogyny.

Deploi launched his tour in Mankako MN during Easter week and will continue tonight at Ribco in Rock Island, Illinois. He and Down Lo will work swing through Michigan, Chicago, Wisconsin, Minneapolis, and finally ending up in Fargo and Grand Forks ND.

Look for a review of Pushin’ 4 Change here soon.

And look for Deploi, featured in a new book called Sugar Magnolia from Muse It Up Publishing’s Hot division.

Below is a list of dates and locations for the full tour. Come on out and give Deploi some love.

Deploi’s Pushin’ 4 Change Tour

4/20 Mankato, MN-
Red Sky Lounge
520 South Front Street, Mankato, MN 56001

4/21 Rock Island, IL-
RIBCO
1815 2nd Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201

4/22 S. Haven, MI-
Cabin Pheeva Fest-
Private Estate- South Haven, MI

4/23 Chicago, IL-
Ace Bar
1505 West Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60614-2022

4/27 Eau Claire, WI-
Mousetrap
311 South Barstow St, Eau Claire, WI 54701-3604

4/28 Minneapolis, MN-
Bunker’s
761 Washington Avenue N, Minneapolis, MN 55401

4/29 Fargo, ND-
The Nestor
1001 NP Ave N, Fargo, ND 58102-4624

4/30 Grand Forks, ND-
Crosstown Lounge
308 Demers Avenue, Grand Forks, ND 58201-4797

Come on down to the Crosstown Lounge tonight in Grand Forks and celebrate the holiday season with two great bands from Minneapolis. Crowd favorites, both bands are offering up their talents to produce one kick-butt show. The show starts early at 9 pm, not the usual 10 or so, because both bands want to be able to play as much as they can for their Grand Forks friends.

Jon Wayne and the Pain will take the stage later in the evening and bring its reggae rock sound. They always get a crowd up dancing!

But before them Down Lo will open the evening with their urban sound. It’s taken several years for frontman Mark Grundhoefer to explore a variety of musical sounds, including funk, bluegrass, jazz, and rock and roll, before dipping a lyrical tongue into the waters of rap and hip hop. As lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter, Grundhoefer began collaborating with an Diego rapper Deploi, first as a guest at some of their shows and later as a shaper of the band’s new urban sound. This new path for Down Lo allowed the band to offer up something uniquely theirs but definitely Midwest grown. It is hip hop with the friendliness of Minnesota and details of the people of the region.

Though Deploi is spending his holidays back home in sunny Cali after coming off a huge East Coast and Midwest solo tour that sometimes intersected with Down Lo, the band is strongly entrenched in hip-hop in its own way.

The journey to this new sound was not forced. “It’s been a kind of a natural progression,” said Grundhoefer when he first collaborated with Deploi. But it clearly was his connections with the hip hop music realm that brought rappers to the Down Lo stage. “There’s a DJ that I’m good friends with, DJ Innovation, here in St. Paul,” said Grundhoefer. “I met him right after he moved back here from San Diego. He had lived there for a few years and that was where he met Deploi. So, DJ Innovation and I started doing some work together and promoting some shows in St. Paul. Eventually, it was kind of a no-brainer when he said, ‘I know a great MC from San Diego. Let’s bring him out.’ So, we flew Deploi out for a show and that’s when we first met.”

As Grundhoefer began to bring him out more frequently, Grundhoefer said. “It’s a creative brainstorming between all of us. We’re inspired by each other.”

That inspiration led to some serious collaboration between Grundhoefer and Deploi. A passion for music and a love of the region began to invade their writing. Both Deploi and Grundhoefer wrote about the snowy streets of St. Paul and the warmth of the people there, not about crime or drivebys. “It’s about good music, and it’s about breaking those boundaries. It’s about making something new without being restricted by the rules,” said Grundhoefer. “Hip hop doesn’t mean that you have to talk about guns and violence….The more we recorded, the more we wrote, the more shows we played, it became evident that we were making a pretty unique connection from the Midwest all the way to LA. It was almost two different worlds that we were mashing together…. Just because you’re from the Midwest, it doesn’t mean that you can’t play hip hop.”

As Down Lo ventured further from the Midwest, they found fans everywhere. “People are very excited about the new sound, even bands that are very far off from what we do, bluegrass and country bands,” said Grundhoefer. The White Iron Band even collaborated with Deploi.

Tonight catch both Down Lo and Jon Wayne and the Pain at the Crosstown Lounge in Grand Forks ND. The fun starts at 9 pm. $5 and a free beer.

Live Music Alert: Willie Waldman Project with bassist Rob Wasserman, drummer Vinnie Amico from .moe, and guitarist Mark Grunhoeffer from Down Lo, The Nestor, Fargo ND, 10 pm.

Jazz trumpeter Willie Waldman is bringing an ensemble to Fargo that music lovers will die to see live. Waldman has been coming back to the region since he appeared at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in 2006.  He’s known for bringing a mix of talent, tapping the region as well as bringing in bigger names. Tonight, Waldman is joined by jazz standup bassist Rob Wasserman, drummer Vinnie Amico from .moe, and guitarist Mark Grunhoeffer from Down Lo!!

Waldman himself has been a studio musician for years and has appeared on many Banyan, Rob Wasserman, Perry Farrell and the late Tupac Shakur. He grew up in California, went to Memphis and infused the blues and jazz sound. But in 1987, he turned toward rock and toured with Freeworld, a band that was often paired with huge name acts like Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Robert Cray Band, Albert King, and Joe Cocker. Then in the 1990s, he edged into hip-hop and recorded with Tupac Shakur, The Dogg Pound, Dazz & Kurupt, K Ci & Jo Jo, Exhibit, and Nate Dogg.

Waldman’s first album, The Willie Waldman Project, was recorded largely in the summer of 2000. Produced and engineered by Dave Aaron, the album showcased the musicianship of: Daniel Shulman (Garbage), John Molo (Mickey Hart/Phil Lesh), Tony Franklin (The Firm/Jimmy Page), Greg Kurstin (Sheryl Crow/Red Hot Chili Peppers), and the dynamic drummer Stephen Perkins (Janes Addiction/Banyan/Methods of Mayhem).

Carrying on that theme of collaboration, Waldman has toured the country in small cities like Fargo, showcasing local and regional talent, allowing them to step up with the best in the business. In Fargo, he has shown off guitarist Pat Linertz (The Legionnaires, The Quarterly, and Heavy Iz the Head) and trombone player Steve Valevan.

I caught up with Willie Waldman a couple of years ago and here’s what he had to say about himself and the business.

Interview Aug 11, 2007

Willie Waldman: I grew up in Westerville, IN, in a small town, sixty miles from Chicago, on a farm there. I started trumpet at 7 and then did marching band and went to Memphis State University on a music scholarship. I’ve been here in Hollywood for 15 years.  I’ve been playing a long time.

I got lucky. My best friend from college, Dave Aaron, was Snoop Dog’s engineer and still is, interned at Sun Records down there in Memphis. When he came out here, it was a good move. He got a good job right away.  Of course, a lot of those guys didn’t want to mess with Snoop Dog. This guy Casey Cohen who was doing Madonna and Prince at the time didn’t want to mess with Snoop Dog in 1994. So, my friend did, and the next year, he calls me up. I jumped on a bus from Chicago and actually rode through Omaha and all those places out to LA and walked right in doing the Dogfather record, Vapors, and stuff, right into it. He became the house engineer at DeathRow Records and walked right into it. At the same time, they’re holding your money and you’re waiting for months to get paid. It’s still a struggle.  The bigger the record the longer the wait to get paid.

I’m an independent contractor…. You go to Disney or Universal. They kind of got us guys at a disadvantage because we’re a vendor. That’s a 90-day wait just to start out.  It drags on from there. Eventually, you get paid, but it’s kind of tough. It made me go back and forth between Indiana and here for awhile.

That was why when we started doing Banyan and all the little gigs, it kind of balanced those things out to have a little cash gig.  We can go to Fargo and make some money. We get that money this weekend. That’s how we started really getting into the Banyan thing. We’re always waiting on the mailman.

I’ve been on a number one record and starving! I have. That is where this whole Banyan thing started. It started with Stephen Perkins. It really is his band. I kind of joined the year after it got going. When I jumped in, I automatically said, “Oh, this is good one.” We can have a little jazz avant garde project. We don’t have to deal with any singers or managers. We can go out and make some cash here and there.  We can go out kind of white, meaning we don’t need trucks and mangers and tons of layers of expenses. We can show up with your instrument and go. The funny thing, it’s been working out.  We’ve been out to Minnesota, Omaha. We do good in Montana, Salt Lake City. It’s interesting. It’s been going well in the boonies.

I love playing the honkytonk. It’s a lot more fun than playing the big stage. I’m telling you it is. I’m telling you I got a kick out of the bingo hall the first time we came to the Nestor. I was cracking up. Me and the painter came walking into the Nestor the first time we were in Fargo and there were the bingo people, and they were serious, too. We couldn’t make any noise.  I got a kick out of that. They all left, and after a while all the kids came.  I thought that was funny.

I wanted to get the drums out of the van. No. I thought those old ladies were going to slice me in half! I’m not getting into World World III with some old lady….It was funny though.

I had one gig in Alabama where the black guy couldn’t play. My black sax player could not play, and they were throwing stuff in a cage. I’m not kidding. That was a long time ago in Alabama…..

But Fargo is kind of fun. We like Fargo. There some good musicians up there. There’s not a lot of competition like say down here on any given night when there’s fifty places with music.  Shoot one day, we played the Jonny Epson Ford Theatre. It’s a really nice outdoor theater. We played with Umphrey’s McGee. But just around the corner was Roger Waters and Pink Floyd. That’s competition there. We still had a half full place. But around the corner was Pink Floyd.

Banyan…I joined up with it.  The drummer is sort of our Blakey. We let him be the music director.  No one is really letting the drummer be the music director these days like Gene Cruppa or Buddy Rich. Basically, he’s our Buddy Rich.  It’s kind of fun. We make up all this music and follow the drummer around.  They grab different bass players and off to the races.  I’m going to try to grab Steve Valevan from Fargo to play some trombone because I like him. He’s really good.  Some of the other guys from his band are good, but I’ll probably just let the horn player sit in.  Then, I got the Big Wu bassist, Andy Miller. He’s a local guy. He’s really nice, too, from Minnesota.  It kind of helps because it gets really expensive to get around these days on airlines.

It’s a jazz thing.  John Coltrane and Miles Davis played with different guys every week.  A lot of jazz guys when they’d come to town would grab a couple of local guys.  That’s really traditional. You’re Art Blakey and you come to Chicago, you bring a guy or two with you from New York, but you grab the two good guys in Chicago. That’s how I feel about Andy Miller and [Steve] Valevan. They’re the Fargo All Stars. Recently, I played recently up there and I pulled a couple of guys. I just came with painter. Actually, the guys were great.  Chris Larson pulled some guys from Bismarck, ND, a couple of guys from Fargo, Valevan. I had a great band. It was good for me because you’re only getting so many dollars and you don’t have a million plane tickets.  Again, it was a lot of fun. With jazz, you don’t need to know everybody. It’s kind of fun to have different people from different worlds playing together.  We get all kinds of different bass players that we know. It’s just me and him mixing with different people. We got a jazz thing. We got the drummer and the horn player mixing different bass players and guitar players.

It’s sports. It’s like bringing in a European ball player. He’s going to bring different things, but if can work as a team, he can vary the angle. It can make things very fresh. It’s actually good to have people form different styles and worlds, and as long as you listen and come together. If you’re stubborn and want to be set in your ways, then it might not be the best thing. If you fold a little bit and come into the fold, then you start fusing original kind of things. You’re mixing country with jazz or heavy metal Perkins hard rock with this or punk with this jazz. If it works together, it’s good. You start to have problems with guys who just want to play their tunes or sound one way….In fact, you’re not even sure what it’s going to sound like. The bottom line is don’t worry about it. Just let it happen if it’s going to happen.  You’re not going to have much control over what’s going to happen. Don’t worry about. If you worry about it, you might as well get sheet music and write it out and go that direction.

It’s funny. We’re just trying to take it to more to punk and country now. Basically, that’s what’s going on. It’s not really jazz. It’s just a concept of improvising, now coming into the rock world and the street level. In the modern world, that’s where it’s at.  Jazz in the old sense is dead. In this sense, it’s still alive because that what it really is, just mixing all kinds of different people on  the street level together. If we say jazz, everybody thinks 1950s or Miles Davis. It’s not really that. It’s combining.

There’s a great little folk/country scene up in that part of the world. It’s got its own little sound. There’s another one I see up in the Minnesota area. There’s a bluegrass thing that I see that’s totally different than what they’re doing in Memphis…..The Trampled By Turtles is still different but it’s still bluegrass. I like the Minnesota twist on things, kind of like Dylan.  There’s a really cool Yankeebilly vibe. White Iron Band, do you like them? But it’s not southern rock. See it’s that Yankeebilly vibe that’s better than the hills of Tennessee, but it’s in the hills of Minesota. I love those guys. I’ve played with them a couple of times. I think they’re one of the most original things out there.

The trouble with southern bands is that they too much sound like Lynard Skynard. The White Iron Band has its own sound, I think. Trampled By Turtles, too……

I’ve got to admit. I’ve seen it over the last couple of years. It’s kind of interesting. It’s what we want to call Yankeebilly music from the north. Then again, they have a long tradition of Dylan from Minnesota. He’s the king of that stuff.

It’s funny.  Our main bass player is a real fan of some real famous punk guy named Mike Watt.  He’s out with Ziggy Pop and the Stooges right now. He’s the bass player for Ziggy Pop.  I’ve been dying to bring him up there but he’s out with Ziggy Pop in Europe, and that guy is pulling 50,000 people in Europe with Ziggy Pop and the Stooges…

I know that there’s a great punk scene in Fargo and Minneapolis. That’s kind of what we’ve tapped into more than say the country.  We’ve definitely tapped into that punk scene.

They’re cool though. Legionnaires, I like those guys. Actually, the guitar player was in that All Star band that I had a couple of months back. [Pat Linertz]

He’s good. He’s real cool. Our painter has painted with them. They’re nice guys.  I think that’s the way people should be. They shouldn’t be so closed mind to styles and be able to play in a country band one second then have some punk band and then have whatever. It’s more interesting that have four of the same sounding guys. It’s a more interesting mix to me.

There’s a lot of misconceptions out there. Big cities ain’t as cool as everybody thinks. There’s not that good of a music scene in big cities because people are too scared to know everybody.  You get that in a small town. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody calls everybody. In a big city, you’ve got groups of two or three people. You don’t have fifty people knowing each other. When people go to NY, they’re not making a ton of friends with everybody……

The music scene is better in a place like Fargo and Minnesota. We’ll play Chicago. There’ll be a big scene there but there won’t be a lot of people knowing each other….

That’s why bands get a better interaction with people in small towns. I play in Zion National Park in southern Utah. That town’s got maybe 500 people in it, to pull 300 to 400 people at a gig…..But there’s a lot of cool people there…..We have a great club down there and a really cool scene. They’re not saying hi to me in Chicago. Nobody offers to take you swimming in the swimming hole tomorrow…..

We canoed the whole source of the Mississippi River over in Bemidji over the last couple of years. We did the whole fifty miles of it. This year, I did the Boundary Waters. After these little events, I’m doing a week in the Boundary Waters. Last year, I did about sixty miles. How many LA guys offer to take you fishing. This guy a couple of year ago offered to take us canoeing and he showed up and we’re out there fishing. These guys are cool. They bring their boat and sandwiches and some Budweiser and we’re off to the races, man.

Live Music Alert: Dark Star Orchestra, October 21, Varsity Theater, Minneapolis MN, 7:30 pm, $33 ; October 22, The Venue, Fargo ND, 8 pm, $21.50

The phenomenal Dark Star Orchestra is bringing it’s Wings A Mile Long Tour to ND and MN. Starting Tuesday, October 19, 2010 in Grand Rapids, MN, they will kick off a big tour through the Midwest. They will appear at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Oct 21 and at the Venue in Fargo on Oct 22.  On this tour, they will have a brand new guitar player and lead singer. As you may know, the Dark Star Orchestra recreates set lists from the Grateful Dead tours many years ago. The guitar/lead singer role is usually that of the spot that Jerry Garcia filled.  Jeff Mattson is the current “Jerry,” replacing John, the founder of the band, who was asked to join FURTHUR, a band with Phil Lesh and Bob Weir in what is essentially the Grateful Dead.

Refrain Magazine was privileged to be able to visit with Jeff Mattson. (The live interview is up at Janie Franz’s author site at http://janiefranz.fourfour.com/bio)

Refrain: Welcome to Dark Star Orchestra. I was catching a couple of videos that Dave Weisman sent me. I’m really impressed

Jeff Mattson:  Thank you very much.

Refrain: It’s adding an element that I don’t think Dark Star Orchestra had before. Well, you look like Jerry Garcia, by god, for one thing. But the vocal quality and what you can do with your guitar is amazing.

Jeff Mattson: Thank you

Refrain: Where were you when DSO found you? What were you doing?

Jeff Mattson: Well, for about 31 years, I was with a band called the Zen Tricksters.

Refrain: Sure I know them. They play with Donna Jean Gottschalk.

Jeff Mattson: About five years, we put together Donna Jean and the Tricksters. That ended a couple years ago. Then Donna Jean and I formed a band called the Donna Jean Gottschalk band with just us in it—a long wordy title.  The Zen Tricksters are sort of on hiatus right now because I’m doing so many other things. I play with them occasionally. It’s not like the band got broken up.

Refrain: Y’all just got busy.

Jeff Mattson: Right now I’m a member of the Zen Tricksters, the Dark Star Orchestra, the Donna Jean Gottschalk Band.

Refrain:  When did you first pick up guitar and was that your instrument of choice?

Jeff Mattson: It was the first instrument I was serious about. I’d taken a few piano lessons as a kid. I played bass a little bit. But I really found I wanted to play guitar and play lead guitar. I really started taking it seriously when I was about 14, which would have been 1972-3, right around the same time I first saw the Grateful Dead. So the two rapidly converged: playing guitar and also this passion for the Grateful Dead music, among other bands of course. That became my—I don’t know if obsession is the right word for it—but it’s pretty close actually.

Refrain: The Grateful Dead evokes so much. There are some wonderful bands out there making original music and I follow them and respect them. But it always comes back to what makes you feel good and that’s Grateful Dead music. Even when you hear Phil Lesh or Bob Weir do songs. It’s not quite the same but it is that music, those lyrics.

Jeff Mattson: The songs are so strong. They get to you right off the bat.

Refrain: I understand that you’re working with Robert Hunter with DSO.

Jeff Mattson: As of now it’s a one off. We had this little song without any lyrics. Rob Barraco who is the keyboard player in Dark Star, who had previously played with the Dead (post Grateful Dead) and Phil Lesh and Friends, had a relationship with Robert Hunter and Rob Morocco had an album he wrote with Robert Hunter. He took a chance and sent it to Robert Hunter. He heard something right away. So we have this Dark Star/Robert Hunter collaboration.

Refrain: I’ll point it out to our readers that this tradition is alive and well. It may be one song or it may be more, but the fact is it’s something unique to Dark Star, except for Grateful Dead music.

Jeff Mattson: Yeah. We know that people love about Dark Star Orchestra is seeing us play the Grateful Dead. We don’t want people to fear we’re veering away from that. But we have creative urges and creativity and why not express it by writing and recording some stuff. Then if people want to listen to it, they can.  Down the line if we accumulate enough stuff, we could conceivably open for ourselves.

Refrain: [laughter] I think that’s a great idea. What a wonderful, refreshing way to think of it.

Jeff Mattson: Everybody would still get full Grateful Dead show and a little bonus there, too. That’s down the line. But right now, we’re just having fun in addition to doing our shows, we’re experimenting with recording some of our music.

Refrain: I’ve seen Dark Star a couple of times at 10KLF. I’m familiar with a lot of the music but I couldn’t tell you it was from this album or that concert. It all blend into that wonderful Grateful Dead canon. And songs were repeated on a lot of different occasions. So when you do a Grateful Dead show is your set list a mix of your favorite Grateful Dead songs or is it we’re going to do this show.

Jeff Mattson: I would say that three out of four nights, we do actual set lists that the Grateful Dead performed, taken out of the Dead base, the great list of all Grateful Dead set lists. They never played the same show twice so they’re all a little different. The goal is to perform it in the style, meaning like

the arrangements and the instrumentation, as much as we can of the period in which the show was performed in. Like an 1985 show all of the accoutrements of a 1985 performance. We’re not copying the notes they played because it was very improvisational music. It would be completely against the spirit of the music to do anything but improvise. But as far as the arrangements go like what keyboards they were using during that era and what sticks they were using during the drum segment.

Refrain: I know that a lot of your amps are vintage amps that have that warm sound that you can’t get with new ones. Some people wouldn’t even notice. That’s a wonderful addition.  And some younger people wouldn’t even care because they don’t know the difference. You get a nice vintage Fender amp and it’s mellow. I respect you folks for doing that, and it allows you to hear that era that folks who are twenty would not have been able to hear.

Jeff Mattson: Exactly, someone who’s twenty wouldn’t have heard any of it. That’s what we’re giving a little taste of the different eras. Right now, we’re dipping into 1969. We’re going back that far. They used to start at 1973. Now, we’ve gone back to 72, 71, 70, and 69. We’ve added most of those shows. Every fourth night, we do what we is called an elective set make up set list of whatever we want to play so it’s a mixed bag of eras. We get to play some more obscure songs or we pull some Jerry Garcia band songs. That’s a lot of fun, too.

Refrain: I’m going to be promoting two shows in my region. One is in Minneapolis on the 21 and one is Fargo in 22. I live in ND but I’ll be in Minneapolis on the 21 st so I’ll be able to see you folks.

Jeff Mattson: Wonderful

Refrain: I’m taking my daughter who is a big Grateful Dead fan to this show. Do you have any idea whether it will be a set list night or a concert night?

Jeff Mattson: No. First of all, I don’t know. And second of all, it’s against the policy. It’s supposed to be a surprise. For the folks out there, like me, with the more arcane knowledge of the Grateful Dead, they get to figure out what show it is. Then it’s announced at the end of the show. Like this set list was originally performed by the Grateful Dead on 10/1/77 at such and such a venue.

Refrain: That’s wonderful. That’s all part of the excitement and the game of it all. There are folks out there who can recite you chapter and verse. I get a lot of stuff from Denis McNally, the official biographer of the Grateful Dead…But I still can’t tell you what concert it was. I just don’t have that capacity.

Jeff Mattson: [laughs]

Refrain: I cover too much.

Jeff Mattson: [laughs] It’s not really necessary. I’m almost embarrassed that I possess that kind of arcane knowledge.

Refrain: Good for you. I think that it’s interesting that there are folks out there that do, who are avid collectors. I think that’s amazing to me. This was a phenomenon amongst avid jazz collectors. Then when the Grateful Dead came along in the 60s, suddenly you had folks really perking their ears up about this music. And you then had folks with great collections on vinyl and CDs and great tape collections that they’ve re-mastered and cataloged.

Jeff Mattson: You make an excellent point. The Grateful Dead is really a jazz band in a rock context. If you take a band like the Eagles—and not to knock the Eagles—who do pretty much the exact show from night to night. What would be the point of collecting a week’s worth of their shows? They would be interchangeable. Even Dark Star Orchestra, we play like five shows without repeating a song. We cover a lot of songs over the course of a tour. Then of course, if you played the same songs, you’d play them differently every night, which is what a jazz band would do. That’s why if you pick up a reissue of some jazz album, they’ll put on three takes to same song because they were all completely different. That’s what everybody’s listening for.

Refrain: That keeps everything completely fresh. I’m concerned sometimes because we have accessibility to carry music anywhere….But I’m wondering if young people now are so used to hearing things the way things are recorded.  I don’t see that among the jam genre at all because they see it as part of the beauty of the creativity among musicians. But I wonder how many of those people go out an buy a record and go to a concert and are very disappointed that what they heard live was not what was on the record.

Jeff Mattson: You know, that’s two sides of a coin there. Some people strongly feel that way. I’m a huge Bob Dylan fan. His take on it was the recorded version is what was recorded that day he just happened recorded it. They are living breathing things that he tweaks the words, the melodies, the chord changes, the rhythms. It’s a constantly evolving thing. But people go see him and they say that doesn’t sound like Bob Dylan.

Refrain: Steve Goodman, a Chicago folk performer, said that years ago. When he wrote “City of New Orleans” and he recorded it and Arlo Guthrie recorded it, he’d go out in concert and audiences would say, “You’re not playing it like the record is.” He’d say,  If I did that, I would die as a musicians because I need to face this song every night on the stage and if I had to sing it note for note, it would kill me.

Jeff Mattson: Exactly.

Refrain: This is the way to keep that creativity alive. You absolutely have to….This has been absolutely wonderful, Jeff. Thank you.

Clayton Hagen’s vocals are right out of the Led Zepelin school of vocal delivery…intense, personal, and evocative.  Backed up by Travis Hetman and Kailyn Spencer, the vocals are a surprise, combining these rock anthems with roots harmonies. Hagen adds acoustic guitar to Hetman’s electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica. Spencer brings color with her bluegrassy violin. And Alex Dalton’s drums are driving but creative, adding unexpected rock emphasis.

Sometimes Hetland’s guitar often rich with a slide comes across as pure roadhouse blues mixed with classic rock. But these guys are equally at home with an Eastern European influenced tune like “The Legend of Kevin Mitch,” with Spencer’s gypsy violin and Hetland’s Azkenazi mandolin. Then they can dip into roots blues with “Terraplane Blues” that sounds as true as a Delta breeze but influenced by Chicago and Brit rock.

A Night in the Box began in 2006 when Dalton, Hagan, and Hetman pooled their talents. They released their debut album The Hustle, The Prayer, The Thief, that same year.  Write a Letter followed with the addition of Kailyn Spencer’s violin.

So drag your dancing butts down to the Nestor in Fargo and rock with A Night in the Box. You’ll be soooo glad you did.

Meg Hutchinson

Refrain Magazine is experimenting with uploading live interviews of musicians. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the widget up yet. So, these two interview are now up on a Music Player at my author website. Here: http://janiefranz.fourfour.com/bio

Meg Hutchinson and John Gorka will be appearing at the Sinclair Lewis Writer’s Conference 20th Anniversary Celebration, along with Ellen Stanley “Mother Banjo,” and Story Hill’s John Hermanson.  [See the article below for details or check the calendar]