A very good year
The best of Worcester music 2000
by Brian Goslow
How does one encapsulate the year 2000 on the Worcester music
scene? Do we celebrate all the great CDs that have been released? Doc
Siddal's bringing of local rock to prime time commercial radio with
Worcester Rocks on WORC? Mass Concerts establishing the
Palladium as a major stop for national touring acts? Or should we fret
that good turnouts for indie rock at the Palladium
did not translate into similar results for local acts, some of which are
arguably as good, if not better, than many of the acts in the larger hall?
Through the wonders of e-mail,
we held a round-table discussion with a cross-section of Worcester County
musicians -- Brendan Cheever of Controlled Aggression, Sean
Fullerton, acoustic guitarist for the Baysics, singer/songwriter
Debby Rao, Steve Blake of Snakes and Ladders, Matt Erhartic of
Carry the Zero, John Donavan of the Deal, Evel Markie of pop
parodists Evel Karaoke, Jerry Sabatini of the Sonic Explorers,
rapper (and on occasion, Tavaras drummer) Mingo, and Mike Duffy,
host of Gilrein's Tuesday Night Folkin' A open mic -- to look back and forward
at the year in local music.
BEST LOCAL HAPPENING
Duffy tips his hat to `the continuing efforts of the folks at the Palladium,
the Lucky Dog and Paul Walker at the Above Club "to bring
`name bands' to town and also offer local rock bands a quality place to
play."
"It was great to see Worcester still has some great acoustic venues," says Rao.
"I thought acoustic music was big this year. Every song starts out with just a
guitar and lyrics. The Java Hut, G. Willickers, and the
Booklovers' Gourmet are very important to the scene."
Cheever celebrates, "Gangsta Bitch Barbie getting signed. They're good
friends of ours and I think it's great for them as well as the whole scene."
Look for GBB's Grand Royal debut in March. Fullerton was glad to discover South
Worcester County metalers Dogleg, while Donavan heralds "The return of
Ralph's as a viable venue" and recalls former "On the Rocks" columnist John
O'Neill's bachelor party and musical sendoff. "It was a great evening of
Worcester's finest music."
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Duffy says, " I wish more people would support live shows, especially local
artists. There are venues around here that are inexpensive to get in to -- some
are free --Java Hut, Rotman's Cafe Fantastique -- and attendance is low.
Local radio/TV are real good but it doesn't get any better than `live.'"
As a jazz musician and teacher, Sabatini's challenge is even greater. "There
are really a lot of great musicians in the Worcester area, but there are just
too few places to play, especially for those who view music as a creative and
expressive art form, and not just a commodity to be bought and sold. As a
result, I see a large number of musicians trying to `shape' their own musical
personalities in order to fit a prescribed `standard' for what these few
opportunities view as `acceptable' for their purposes, typically defined by
non-artistic/business needs. So if you fit this paradigm and you are fulfilled
by it, then all is beautiful. You can even make a few bucks as these
`standards' will pay. However if you have a different view and way of
expressing your own music, then you have extremely limited choices as to where
you can present your work with absolute freedom."
BEST LOCAL
RELEASE
Donavan boldly declares the Deal's (thus his own) Upcoming CD as his
favorite local occurrence, adding, "After ours, they were Huck's
Nothing To Hold On To..., and Thinner's The Roger Project.
They're great songs, and that's what it's all about." Erhartic's top local
release was The Curtain Society's Volume, Tone, Tempo, adding,
"Thinner's was cool too." Blake votes for Zolli's Follies: Santa's
Bootleg, "Because I engineered half of that damned CD." Markie mentions the
"debut EP by our pals, Space'n -- now we can work up a parody of them,"
and Mingo's favorite local release was Billy Pain's Scorpion
Summer. "KAZ and Billy Pain put together a masterpiece."
BEST
NON-LOCAL RELEASE
Fullerton loves the Beatles' 1 and Paul Simon's You're
the One, while Blake says Stone Temple Pilots' STP 4 was his
fave. Erhartic can't get enough of the Dandy Warhols' 13 Tales or
At The Drive In's At The Drive In. Sabatini's enjoyed, "Many
things from New York City -- the Knitting Factory and Tonic scene mainly -- and
from Holland, but Tim Berne's Bloodcount Unwound keeps rising to
the top." Markie dug Nashville Pussy's High as Hell, while Rao's
enthralled with Dokken's Live from the Sun. Donavan raves about
the Pills' Wide Awake With The Pills, while Cheever can't take
off Slipknot's self-titled debut. "When I first threw it in. I thought,
no way, this band is too much. Too fast, too loud, what a mess. But I kept
coming back to listen. The music turned me very angry and I stabbed my laundry
after playing it." Duffy was probably a little more subtle listening to
Chuck Brodsky's Last of the Old Time.
TOP MOMENT AS A
FAN
Duffy enjoyed "hearing, meeting and getting to know local songwriters, poets,
story tellers, musicians, writers from Wormtown. There are so many creative
people here. It's great!" Erhartic's top show was Superdrag at the Lucky
Dog. "I was disappointed that no one was there, but it was great to see one of
my favorite bands at the same place that I play at. That and the fact that I
got absolutely shit-faced with them after the show." Fullerton's favorite
concert was Men at Work at the Paradise in Boston, while Cheever's was
Slipknot at the WAAF show at Suffolk Downs. "I was amazed at how they worked
the crowd and had the fans whipped into a frenzy." Jazz performer and
instructor Sabatini got to meet one of his musical mentors, Dave
Douglas.
Proud to show her rock and roll roots, Rao states, "All the reunion shows this
year as the Tweeter Center, and the `80's tour of Poison, Dokken,
Cinderella, and Slaughter at the Tweeter. It was great to see the
bands still playing great music and the crowds lovin' every minute of it."
Speaking of survivors, Blake's top moment as a fan was seeing Stone Temple
Pilots live, and "confirming that Scott [Weiland] has finally gotten it out
of his arm." Markie enjoyed Robyn Hitchcock with Grant Lee
Phillips at the Middle East, and proving old legends never die, Donavan
loved the Who tour. "The old geezers actually pulled it off -- with
style!"
TOP MOMENT AS A MUSICIAN
Carry the Zero have already made inroads towards getting out of town. But don't
look for them to add Boston to their mailing address yet. "This was our first
year playing out, and it has just been absolutely incredible," says Erhartic.
"Say what you want about the Worcester scene, but you can't get the same
support and nurturing from other bands and club owners anywhere else. It's
uncanny. There is a real sense of `we're all in this together.'"
Cheever's favorite performance was at an outdoor show during the Boston
Marathon. "It was great playing in front of a big crowd of kids and the
runners. People from all over the world trying to catch a glimpse as they
passed by." For Fullerton, it was contributing to the Worcester-based Christmas
CD called Jubilee: Bill McCarthy's Local Artists Christmas Sampler 2000.
Donavan's top moments were "Releasing our first CD, and playing with the
Forty-Fives and Huck at Dinny's." For Duffy, the year's big event
was "Having my son Eric (13) play bass guitar with Kenny Dennis,
Walter Crockett and me on main stage at the Sober in the Sun
festival; he nailed it." Sabatini's favorite moment could very well end up one
of yours for 2001: "Recording the premiere CD with Trio Kakalla.
Voice of Blood is due in February." Markie, whose group released
Stuff THIS!!! , a four-song promo sampler of holiday song parodies, says
his top moment was "Performing at WAAF's `Looneypalooza' at the Lucky
Dog, opening for a hero -- Red Peters!"
WHAT'S UP FOR 2001?
Blake promises, "One (or maybe two) new records from Snakes and Ladders, more
gigs (at Lucky Dog, Above Club and hopefully a few more in Boston and
Providence,) a new record from Aslan (Peter Zolli's mob), a Snakes and
Ladders appearance on the Devo tribute album Spudsuckers (with
special guest star Peter Zolli on guitar,) and the release of Blind
Pineapple Phillips's Bee Spit Architecture. Fullerton looks forward
to "the return of acoustic power pop/rock and the release of the Baysics'
all-original self-titled CD," while Controlled Aggression's Cheever guarantees,
"New songs, more shows, and our new demo, After the Fall, in your
hands." Carry the Zero's Erhartic says, "Our new disc Rev Em' Up is due
out in January, Roger [Lavallee] is hard at work completing the mix armed with
a handgun and a bottle of cognac." Rao plans on expanding her musical
boundaries. "I would like to do some traveling to the music venues in New York
and California, I have been writing a lot of new tunes, maybe start working
with a band."
The omnipresent Sabatini says, "The Sonic Explorers have slightly reconfigured
into a four horn, bass and drums `chordless' sextet with new original
compositions written specifically for this instrumentation. Look for a new CD
in the summer." Markie promises "no mercy, no quarter, no decorum, and no
respect for the top 40, past or present -- and at least one full-length
release, available through www.evelkaraoke.com!"
Mingo gives us the heads up on some new projects from 3rd Degree Records. "Look
for us to deliver some hot music. A blast from the past, some present day funk
and a taste of the future is coming your way."
We'll let Donavan have the final words.
"More music, more music, more music..."
Which is what you'll be getting in the pages of the Worcester Phoenix in
2001.
Brian Goslow can be reached at bgoslow[a]phx.com.