The First Annual Vertical Slumbecue

Saturday, July 31st at Little Brothers in Columbus, Ohio

Featuring:
(New moniker for Jason Molina of Songs: Ohia)






and

This is the first in what we hope will become a noteworthy annual event. The affair will begin in the mid-to-late afternoon and run to close. There will be BBQ on the cheap, local art and a raffle and/or silent auction to benefit Vote Explosion! Also, a side acoustic stage will be strumming away on set changeovers.

Tickets will run $10 advance and $12 day of show. Approx. performance times to be determined.

Get excited -- this is gonna be a real fun time!! Bring extra napkins.

yeah, i think this show is definitely declared "the shit."

Slumbecue Spotlight:
The first in a series highlighting this year's Slumbecue performing artists.



Wussy
(Cincinnati, OH)
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In a nutshell... Primitive indie twang. Garage-ish throb. Loose harmonies. Maudlin lyrics. Plenty of room for improvement.

Wussy began in 2001 as an impromptu acoustic duo, when Chuck Cleaver (Ass Ponys) and Lisa Miller performed sans rehearsal at a Cincinnati Entertainment Awards preview show. The two kept writing and performing together, and over the next year added multi-instrumentalist Mark Messerly and drummer Dawn Burman.

At recent performances, the band has been compared to everything from Patsy Cline and Velvet Underground to Jesus and Mary Chain and Sonic Youth. Don't know if any of that's accurate, but we could do worse.
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tell it, bob!

Slumbecue Spotlight:
Please meet...



The Dreadful Yawns

(Cleveland, OH)
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Bio:

The Dreadful Yawns are a band from Cleveland, OH. Lead by Singer/Songwriter Ben Gmetro and backed by multi-instrumentalists Mike Allen, Charlie Druesedow, and Dave Molnar, the group has learned to combine their own eclectic musical tastes and create a style that is wholly their own.

During the Winter/Spring of 2002, the Dreadful Yawns recorded their first album, Early. From these recording sessions, an EP, Pretend, was created and self released in January of 2003. This first album for the Dreadful Yawns is a miniature ode to transformation and triumph. Its slumbersome-psychedelia sounds are lightened by vibrant touches of folk-rock and classic pop.

Even though the Dreadful Yawns have only just released their first album on Undertow, they have already been paying their dues. The band has taken their multi-layered album sound and turned to the stage opening for bands such as: Joan of Arc, Elf Power, The Lilys, Mary Timony, Rock Four, and other indie faves.
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Music:

to listen to songs from their latest release on Undertow Records, Early, as well as, some sounds from previous efforts.
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Links:

Slumbecue Spotlight:
Please meet...



The Volebeats

(Detroit, MI)
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Bio:

Detroit's Volebeats have been acclaimed and influential practitioners of what Gram Parsons called "Cosmic American Music" for over a decade. Ryan Adams has called them "the best American band", and has joined them onstage from time to time. Country singer Laura Cantrell covered one of their tunes on her debut LP.

VOLEBEATS COUNTRY FAVORITES is a brand new collection of recent studio recordings, cover tunes, and some hard-to-find rarities. Abba, Funkadelic, the 13th Floor Elevators, Slayer, and Serge Gainsbourg all get the Volebeat treatment here, as the voles display their unrelenting penchant for playing good songs whenever they feel like it, regardless of any genre restrictions. Also included is the Volebeats country favorite "Hamtramck Mama", an ode to prostitution in their hometown, originally recorded in the 1940's by the York Brothers. Volebeat originals like "One I Love", "Hold On", and "Standin' Next to You" are top notch productions, with twanging guitars and superb harmonies evoking reverb-drenched psychedelic desert skies filled with longing and heartbreak and unfolding in front of your eyes in Panavision like a sequel to Easy Rider projected at drive-in movies inside your brain. This is where the Volebeats would like to take you with their music.

Led by singer Jeff Oakes and guitarist/singer Matthew Smith, the Volebeats feature members of Outrageous Cherry, Electric Six, and other Detroit contemporaries.

They are currently putting the finishing touches on their next full-length LP, to be released sometime next year. If you haven't heard the Volebeats yet, VOLEBEATS COUNTRY FAVORITES is a great place to start. It's a solid representation of the enigmatic band that some say "crosses Hank Williams with the Beach Boys".

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Music:

The Volebeats -- Country Favorites
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Links:

Slumbecue Spotlight:
Please meet...



The Bygones
(Columbus, OH)
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Bio:

The Bygones are a band of truebloods who play with an unwavering conviction to the loose ties that bind Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and the Velvet Underground. Their appropriately-titled LP circumferences such influences, sounding vaguely familiar, but only in the way that a handful of well-placed chords often do. (Steven Slaybaugh, The Big Takeover #50)

Even when hearing them for the first time, you want to shout the choruses to songs like The Book, Under That Spell and Burgundy Eyes along with vocalist Bill Wagner. It's not that the songs are tired; rather, they're well-worn, like a favorite pair of boots or a perfectly broken-in pair of jeans just starting to fray at the knees. (J. Caleb Mozzocco, Columbus Alive April 2002)

When Wagner sings, he sings with conviction. He writes with conviction. The subject-matter is so personal I can only imagine how gut-wrenching it is to actually have to sing about it. If anyone asks you where Zimmerman's soul has gone, tell 'em it's lept into Bill Wagner's head. (Rob Heater, Sponic Zine #10)

Throw Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, a handful of old-time country artists, and a little Doug Martsch into a blender and what do you get? A big mess of angry old guys? A swaggering Masked Marauders for the new millennium? Not exactly. Instead, the delightful outcome is the Bygones' first full-length, Circles, chock-full of the Ohio outfit's truly fresh take on an old style. Throughout the album, but most clearly on footstomping, slide-driven opening track "The Book," Bill Wagner's endearingly off-kilter Dylanesque sing-speak drives the music forward like the pulse of a percussive instrument, rather than merely floating above the band. In addition to the firey opening track, album highlights include the snakey guitar and vocal interplay of "Under That Spell," the soft acoustic interlude of "Singin' To Myself (and It's the Middle of the Night)," and "Burgundy Eyes," with its easy, down-home feel and chorus so natural and beautiful that you'll want to sing along by the second verse. Not to mention sentimental "Old West End" and, aw hell, suffice it to say there's not a bad song in the bunch. Finally capturing the energy of the Bygones' live shows, Circles is one of those records that you can toss in the stereo at a party and nine out of ten people won't know if it's a new band or a mouth-watering slab of vintage wax, and that sense of timelessness is really quite a charming attribute. Happily, this record includes versions of "Burgundy Eyes" and "Circles" far superior to the lackluster ones on the Burgundy Eyes EP. Unlike the EP, with Circles Wagner finally seems comfortable with his voice, and the vocals are up front where they should be, making for a truly gorgeous round of back-porch heartache. (Karen E. Graves, AMG)

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Music:

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Links:

Slumbecue Spotlight:
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Chris McCoy
(Columbus, OH)
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Bio:

Columbus' Chris McCoy has brought together a group of old friends to help flesh out his songs and tour with him as much as they can. Although his songs could strongly stand alone in an acoustic fashion, his band allows piano and accordion (Jess Faller – The Last Hotel), bass (Matt Wagner – Earwig/The Bygones) & drums (Matt Carter) to add harmony, depth and breadth to his songs about love, loss and understanding in a world that doesn’t add up sometimes.

This veteran musician has played with Richard Buckner, Paul Burch, Barn Burning, Two Dollar Pistols, Damien Jurado, The Derailers, Nil Lara & Howlin’ Maggie. He’s currently recording his first full-length LP with his band and is soon planning to send that out to some labels that have shown interest. They’ve just had a track added to the Columbus Alive’s annual local compilation CD. Tour plans include playing every living room to stadium from NYC to Sydney if asked. Chris McCoy and his band want to see the world through the windshield of a tour van. They want to see hazy sunsets pulling into dusty towns, playing to anyone willing to listen with open ears & willing hearts; where they can be considered neither alt-country, nor indie-rock but just classic Americana goodness.

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Music:

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Links:

Slumbecue Spotlight:
Please meet...



Jerry DeCicca
(Columbus, OH)
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Bio:

As frontman for Columbus' dark-folk dreamers, The Black Swans, DeCicca's voice sits and weaves around beats. More than songs, these are dialogues spoken when the clock has stopped ticking.

The Black Swans move on a sonic plane similar to Daniel Lanois, Pearls Before Swine and Clarence Ashley. Their debut record, Who Will Walk in the Darkness With You?, peeks into the pocket of the human ear where emotions and conversations go muted and unheard. It was recorded at Workbook Studios and mastered by the renowned Steve Hoffman. The record will be released in September by Delmore Recording Society.

Over the last few years, they have played shows with The Schramms, The Willard Grant Conspiracy, Jeb Loy Nichols, Richard Buckner, legendary folkie Michael Hurley, Mark Eitzel (of American Music Club), Crooked Fingers, Adrian Crowley, Jack Rose, and many other good people.

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Music:

The Black Swans -- Who Will Walk in the Darkness With You?




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Links:

26 days and counting...

Slumbecue Spotlight:
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Moviola

(Columbus, OH)
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Bio:

Columbus, Ohio’s Moviola have been together for ten years, on and off, living, working, and rarely straying from their homes in the Midwest flatlands. They’ve made six records and countless singles by themselves in coal storage rooms, converted cement factories and elsewhere, which music-heads from Amarillo to Amsterdam—folks who can simultaneously dig Kristofferson, the Louvin Brothers, and, say, Spacemen 3—hold close like a secret. Live appearances, few and far between. Eleven kids between them. Split singles with everyone from The Handsome Family to Cobra Verde. And vive la difference: in this band everyone writes, everyone takes a turn singing lead. It’s a five-headed beast, the result of which is a well-deep collective of dusty country-through-a-space-echo, folk-soul, and adult lullabies.

Ten years down the line, they’ve progressed from a ragged lo-fi pop quartet to the hi-fi quintet of East of Eager, a document of one of the finest bands you’re likely to hear but, most likely, have never heard. This is their first recording as five-piece, and there’s no room for filler here: Jake Housh (keyboards, guitar), Ted Hattemer (bass), Scotty Tabachnick (keyboards, guitar), Jerry Dannemiller (guitar), and Greg Bonnell (drums) all contribute at least one song, and may only the strongest survive to make the final sequence.

While staying true to the old school, Moviola has gotten ambitious in the studio, and the results color in the nuances left sketchy before. The record was recorded and mixed by the band themselves in a two-story barn next to the local plasma donation center, with various friends and Ohio State University School of Music students recruited for the odd violin, pedal steel or full horn section.

Woven through East of Eager, we hear moments of the Band, Kinks, Phases and Stages and Sebadoh III. But like the man says in the quote, they forge their own route. It’s classic sounds: soul, pop, country, bluegrass—woven through five singers and songwriters into an understated diamond in the rough. And after much frenzied five-way schedule-juggling, the band will be undertaking a few rare forays west, east and points between this spring, summer and fall. It’ll be worth doing some schedule-shifting of your own to come say hi.

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Music:

Moviola -- East of Eager


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Links:




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Slumbecue 2004 Sponsors:

15 days and counting...

Slumbecue Spotlight:
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The Court & Spark

(San Francisco, CA)
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Bio:

In assembling his seminal 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, Harry Smith, the unkempt shaman of the '60s folk revival, was fascinated by the strange specificity of distinctly American places outside the postwar hegemony of suburban houses and cars, dollars and cents: the spiritual harmonies of the Carter Family's Appalachia, for instance, or the genial warmth of Mississippi John Hurt's native hill country. Writer Greil Marcus grouped these places under the banner of "Smithville" - "a mystical body of the republic," he called it.

That brand of earthy mysticism, by turns naïve and very wise, captivated the members of The Court and Spark as they wrote their third album, Witch Season, and the accompanying Dead Diamond River EP (both on Absolutely Kosher Records), listening from across the better part of a century to the sound of people in awe of life- awe that reappears in the 60's-era Nonesuch Explorer records, Joe Boyd's exotic British folk productions, and John Fahey's eclectic guitar meditations. But what does it mean to make music in awe of life if you're a group of California boys nearing the end of your third decade, as indoctrinated as anyone into the 21st century landscape of cultural cross-pollination, slick marketing and high-speed communication? If you're The Court and Spark, it means stepping back from the world's mad rush and finding out what it really is to be a citizen of the city of San Francisco in the year 2004. And if the Bay Area has a cultural geography all its own - it's no coincidence that Smith began seriously collecting 78s for his Anthology after moving to Berkeley in the '40s - then The C&S are cartographers of a sort, charting the zany energy of the region's crooked streets, the feel of milky afternoon sunlight as it seeps over the crown of Twin Peaks, the vertiginous beauty of Highway 1 as it twists along the Pacific Ocean towards Mendocino County.

California has always had a place in The Court and Spark's music, which is as "western" in flavor as it is "country." But after the 2001 release of their acclaimed sophomore album Bless You, which saw them collaborate with legendary ex-Byrd and Burrito Brother Gene Parsons, the band members consciously sought to improve their musicianship and expand their sonic palette, and in the process found themselves creating even more nuanced snapshots of their San Francisco lives. Dead Diamond River offers a peek into the band's Mission District abode - warm, shimmering, homespun tunes played around the kitchen table, garnished with field recordings from Marin, famous folkie Linda Thompson's wistful harmonies, and a dash of recreational substances.

Witch Season is something vaster, painted in broad strokes over a span of nearly two years. Bay Area producer Scott Solter, renowned for his work with John Vanderslice and Spoon as well as all previous C&S efforts, was crucial in balancing the finished album's blend of compositional sophistication and casual atmospherics. While Witch Season's arrangements are undeniably ambitious and as ethereal as fog off the bay, the focus never wanders far from its infectious hooks and intimate melodies. Plaintive and searching, M.C. Taylor's vocals are as brown as the Muir Woods topsoil, perfect for his impressionistic portraits of a rustic, dreamy California. Scott Hirsch's tremoloed guitar billows and snaps like sails in the wind, and Tom Heyman's whistling pedal steel traces the arc of the sky overhead. James Kim and Dan Carr's spacious drum and bass patterns provide the frame on which the whole canvas is hung. Numerous area musicians lent support too, including longtime collaborator Wendy Allen, whose harmonies are a cool counterpoint to Taylor's grainy warmth, and SF Symphony organist Charles Rus on the one-of-a-kind pipe organ housed in the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist.

"Years roll by…the world slows down," Taylor murmurs on the gentle lullaby "Swimming Endlessly" near the album's close. It gets at the root of what The Court and Spark is about, and what they've done better here than ever before: looking beyond time's relentless march to create a portrait of place as something personal - and something immeasurably precious.

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Music:

The Court & Spark -- Bless You



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Links:




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Slumbecue 2004 Sponsors:

any word on performance times yet? I hate being negative but 9 bands in 8 hours (according to info on little bros. site) sounds like this will be yet another show with too many bands playing really short sets. I'm kind of hoping there will be 2 stages or something like that. Or maybe start earlier than the 6PM listed at little bros.

No, I understand your concern -- I don't take it as negativity. Truth is, we wanted to start earlier in the day, but we weren't allowed to, so sets will be short for the earlier part of the night (it's the nature of the beast -- you'll certainly be getting a lot of variety and bang for your buck). All the national acts will play longer. There will also be an acoustic side stage for changeovers. I'll be posting set times over the next few days.

Also, tickets are available currently through or at Little Brothers for only $10 in advance. We're also doing a free night before pre-party show at Used Kids with Grafton & Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea where you can get $10 tix. They'll be $12 at the door day of the show.

11 days to go...

Slumbecue Spotlight:
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Swearing At Motorists

(Dayton, OH)
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Bio:

In the beginning there was a four track and two enthusiastic Daytonians - Dave Doughman and Don Thrasher. The time was 1995 and the duo convened wherever they could find borrowed gear and a power source. Within months the pair had racked up a serious bar tab, killed a brain cell or two and still managed to amass a healthy back log of songs, many of which still remain in the vaults.

By late summer '95, the duo was still working without a name but that was about to change. Doughman compiled an LPs worth of material, borrowed a name from a fake band flyer he had made and began pumping out DIY cassette copies of the 12-song debut by Swearing at Motorists. The tape caught the ears of Matt and Jon Fisher, who were starting an indie label in the Staten Island home of their parents they would call Spare Me Records. The brothers selected two S@M songs, "King of Baltimore" and "Sympathy for Thinkers," for their flagship release, As Seen On TV. The CD compilation also featured the Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Jason Morphew, Azalia Snail, the Caroline Know and more. Before the compilation was even out, Spare Me was making plans for its second release, Tuesday's Pretzel Night, a 10-song 7" EP from Swearing at Motorists. This release followed the same framework as the self-titled debut: magical pop songs, wreathed in melancholy and captured in miniature.

The 7" was released in 1996, and to coincide with the event, Dayton's dynamic duo played its first show, a record release party at Walnut Hills. Appropriately enough, it was a Tuesday night. Pretzels were free and Swearing at Motorists introduced the hometown crowd to a fresh brand of Ohio rock. Dig the new breed, indeed!

Live, the fleshed out 4-track recordings became powerful pop anthems stripped of all pretense and delivered with a rough and tumble energy all but forgotten in modern rock. Doughman working the stage like a spastic mix of Prince and Jon Spencer. Now a full-fledged band, the duo began to play out with a vengeance. The flurry of activity sparked a continuous string of songs that the duo were now recording exclusively in Doughman's Main Street home, dubbed the Rock n' Roll Bed & Breakfast. In 1997, Spare Me issued the 12" vinyl EP, The Fear of Low Flying Clouds, a collection of yearning pop songs that forged a common ground between Elvis Costello, the Buffalo Springfield, the Minutemen, Nick Drake and the Cars.

Swearing at Motorists continued to release songs on compilations and increased its exposure by touring with Shove, from Davis, California, in the summer of '97, and Spoon, from Austin, Texas, in the summer of '98. Frustrated with Spare Me's lack of promotion and limited distribution, Doughman and Thrasher began fielding other offers.

In 1999, Swearing at Motorists signed to Bloomington-based indie Secretly Canadian, home to Songs: Ohia, Marmoset, June Panic, Panoply Academy and other fine bands. In the summer of '99, the duo broke tradition and entered an actual studio to record More Songs From the Mellow Struggle, its Secretly Canadian debut. The tracks were recorded by Phil Mahafey at Cyberteknic Studio in Dayton. Mahafey has worked with modern acts such as Kim Deal's Amps, Brainiac, the Mulchmen and Mink as well bluegrass stars Ralph Stanley and Red Allen, country rockers Dixie Peach and new wave songwriter Dale Walton.

Late 2000 Don Thrasher left the band and Joseph Siwinski (of Philadelphia-based The Trouble With Sweeney) promptly took over as drummer. In 2002, the new duo released This Flag Signals Goodbye, an album which reaches higher highs than anything they've ever released, yet maintains all the bare-bones style of storytelling and mini-anthem rock that you'd expect.

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Music:

Swearing At Motorists -- Number Seven Uptown


Swearing At Motorists -- This Flag Signals Goodbye


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Links:




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Slumbecue 2004 Sponsors:

Performance Schedule for :

6:00 - The Dreadful Yawns
6:40 - Chris McCoy
7:20 - Wussy
8:00 - Moviola
8:45 - The Bygones
9:45 - The Court & Spark
10:55 - Swearing at Motorists
12:10 - Magnolia Electric Co.

(Times are approx. but we'll do our darndest to stay on schedule!)

He is, I'm sorry. I didn't list the side acoustic stage performers b/c they will only be playing two or three songs on set changes. But, if you're interested, they are: eric Metronome, Jerry DeCicca, Adam Smith, Brodie Porterfield and Wil Cope. Man, I can't wait... only 10 more days!

1 week and finally...

Slumbecue Spotlight:
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Magnolia Electric Co.

(Chicago, IL)
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Bio:

Magnolia Electric Co. is the new moniker of Songs: Ohia's Jason Molina. Molina was born in Oberlin, Ohio, and grew up in Lorain, Ohio and southern West Virginia. The musical environments of the hard rock midwest and the appalachian musical tradition of West Virginia were deeply felt and absorbed by him. The steel mill and ship building town of Lorain, with its violent weather, poor economy, and railroads across it have all gone right into the music.

Molina spent the mid 1980's-1990 in various musical projects including metal bands which mainly played in Cleveland, Ohio, along side of these projects were the first versions of the material which became Songs: Ohia.

Molina has performed with Arab Strap, Appendix Out, John Fahey, David Grubbs, Jim O'Rourke, Edith Frost, Trans Am, Rex, the Danielson Famile, Hood, Movietone, Modest Mouse, Red Red Meat, Brokeback, Two Dollar Guitar and many others. Songs: Ohia is named after the Hawaiian Ohia tree. Magnolia Electric Co. is named after Magnolia Electric Co.

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Music:

Songs: Ohia -- Magnolia Electric Co.


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Links:

at Secretly Canadian


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Slumbecue 2004 Sponsors:

I can't wait for this show on Saturday...I'm so pumped.

Swearing at Motorists featured in this week's ... today is the day people! -- The Toss in the Sauce!