Tuesday, April 22 at Casa Cantina in Athens

as many of you know:

Jack Rose of Pelt

Jack Rose has pursued his own path in the solo acoustic guitar genre as invented by John Fahey.
Like Fahey, Rose draws his inspiration from early rural American musicians like Charley Patton, Skip James and Blind Blake. In addition to those influences he gleans inspiration from Robbie Basho, Ry Cooder, Zia M. Dagar, La Monte Young, Terry Riley. Jack incorporates all of these elements into his own idiosyncratic style and it is his sound and his alone. Since 2002 he has released 3 critically acclaimed LPs for the Eclipse label and 2 CDs for VHF.

D. Charles Speer & The Helix
members of sunburned hand of the man and the no-neck blues band

Speer and his Helix offer up the kind of psychedelic Bakersfield stew you always hope you�ll be lucky enough to procure from one of our nation�s truck stops. The Helix, for their part, is a backing band worthy of envy, their dustbowl gallop is the perfect accompaniment to Speer�s surrealist trucker boogie. The band is consistently tasteful, even with lap steel, piano, and organ all vying for attention in the mix. They never do too much or too little, but color each song with a superb stoniness. Constant local gigging in New York City has rendered the band tighter than a bull�s ass during fly season. Still, Speers is clearly the star here. In his strong but easy voice, he sounds like a young Jerry Jeff Walker, singing about heads decaying in deer bellies and feasts of puna butter (whatever the hell that is).

and, if you care:
Sunburned Hand of the Man:
Sunburned Hand of the Man is a band in the loose sense of the word; it's better described as a banner under which a collective of musical freaks have gathered. Based in Boston, Sunburned Hand of the Man grew out of trio which called itself Shit Spangled Banner and featured John Molony and Rob Thomas who would later become anchors of the Sunburned coterie. According to Molony, Shit Spangled Banner was conceived as "a cross between the Melvins and Sonic Youth," but the group was fast picking up a host of like-minded dropouts and musical wanderers who would show up at their loft, and their sound soon began to incorporate everything from early American folk music to drone, free jazz, space rock, and funk. After one release, 1996's No Dolby No DBX (released as part of Ecstatic Yod's Ass Run series), the group changed it name to Sunburned Hand of the Man. A string of self-released CD-Rs followed, including Mind of a Brother (1997) and Piff's Clicks (1998). With 2001's Jaybird, Sunburned reached a new pinnacle, forging their disparate elements into a distinct (if not complete) sounding collection. By this time like-minded groups such as Jackie-O Motherfucker, Tower Recordings, and the No-Neck Blues Band (who are somewhat of a sister group to Sunburned) were also coming into their own and gaining critical applause. The term "free folk" started popping up in an attempt to describe these bands and Sunburned were seen as leaders (or at least co-leaders) in a musical movement of sorts, a movement which had its antecedents in Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music as much as in avant-jazz and noise groups. Sunburned Hand of the Man continued to refine and expand their sound on CD-R and vinyl-only releases such as 2001's Wild Animal, 2002's Headdress, and 2003's Trickle Down Theory of Lord Knows What. Each release was a rough but often brilliant indicator of where the band was headed, rather than finished statements of where they had been. In August of 2003 the profile of the band raised considerably when they were featured on the cover of the respected British music magazine Wire, appearing above the headline "New Weird America."

No-Neck Blues Band:
One of the most enigmatic, mysterious, and defiantly anti-commercial groups to emerge from the New York loft scene during the '90s, the No-Neck Blues Band formed in 1992 around a core of multi-instrumentalists who have stubbornly and admirably insisted on individual anonymity. The membership of NNCK (as the group is often abbreviated) solidified at eight in 1994, and remained that way until the year 2000 when one member left to form Excepter. Since that time, the band's roster has remained at seven. Incorporating elements of folk, drone, psychedelia, free jazz, noise, and just about everything else, NNCK have nevertheless carved out a distinctive sound from complementary and disparate component elements.

The collective has also made a name for itself through its live performances. They generally avoid playing in nightclubs and bars (though they toured nationally for the release of Qvaris in 2005), opting instead to perform for free on wharves, in public parks, and on rooftops. They also host shows at their performance space in Harlem. As might be expected, these shows have been shut down frequently by police, but many have been recorded and released on the group's own label, Sound @ One, including 1996's Letters from the Earth, 1997's follow-up Letters from the Serth, and 2001's Birth of Both Worlds.

In early 1999, NNCK toured with guitar legend John Fahey, who dubbed them his favorite new band and signed them to his Revenant label. The resulting album, Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But Names Will Never Hurt Me, was released in the fall of 2001. Elaborately and lovingly packaged in a wood and Plexiglass case, and recorded by Jerry Yester, the album raised the band's profile (and mystique) considerably. Released in 2003, Intonomancy lived up to its predecessor's reputation, providing another set of outstanding -- and optimistic -- musicianship. It was followed by the two-disc live set Parallel Easters in 2004 and the full-length Qvaris in 2005.

Pelt:
Pelt is a trio formed in Richmond, VA, whose drones are influenced by psychedelia, modern composition, and, on albums such as 2001's Ayahuasca, Appalachian folk music and Indian raga. Its core members include Jack Rose, Mike Gangloff, and Patrick Best, but the band often collaborates with other artists and groups. After a few early singles, Pelt solidified its lineup and released its first album, Brown Cyclopaedia, on its own Radioactive Rat label in 1995; it was later reissued by VHF. Pelt's second album, Burning/Filament/Rockets, was also issued in 1995. The group released two albums in 1997, Snake to Snake and Max Meadows. The latter featured electric guitar-based drones that were dense and cathartic just as often as they were subdued and meditative. On Técheöd, released in 1998, the group branched out a bit, mixing instruments such as tabla, flute, and lap steel into a sound increasingly influenced by folk and ethnic music. The band followed Técheöd with Empty Bell Ringing in the Sky, which contained both home and live recordings, and Rob's Choice, a limited-edition live CD featuring Tom Carter of Charalambides on saxophone. 2001 saw the release of Ayahuasca as well as United Supreme Council Oastem Vibe Orchestra, a limited-edition live collaboration with Rake that was recorded in Richmond, VA, in 1997, and a collaboration with Keenan Lawler and Eric Clark entitled Keyhole.