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Zilla - Zilla

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Zilla is the brainchild of four of the most talented musicians on the improvisational scene. On their latest live release, they continue to explore their rhythmic mountain climbing. Instead of slowly building to a peak and then traversing the terrain back down the earth, Zilla hits each ledge as another opportunity to spring forward to another gamble, another opportunity to explore the lanky, dense pulse of their exhilarating compositions.

Moonshine Still - (R)evolution

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(R)evolution is the second studio album from Macon, GA’s Moonshine Still, an affable rock sextet with a serious penchant for percussive, free-flowing jams. The band’s name might be a little confusing for some, as it oozes a country/acoustic feel. However this new album proves that Moonshine Still is not limited to any specific genre, as the band presents Scott Baston’s indescribable vocals among a cavalcade of changing musical moods.

The Duhks - The Duhks

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The Duhks’ journey south of the Canadian border began in the nurturing womb of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, where banjoist Leonard Podolak’s first spread his wings, and it traverses an entire continent before landing stateside with a warm and energetic album that touches the true heart of folk music. The quintet’s debut CD mixes traditional songs from two continents with the rhythms and textures of two more to create a true music of the people.

The Motet - Music For Life

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Sound of cool melting glass…echoes of radiating light…plush corridors of elastically protean Jazz-Funk Afro-Beat mutations…Sketches of Colorado by The Motet…

The Breakfast - Real Radio

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One of the least favorable comments about the improvisational scene is that most bands smoke live and suck on an album. This not entirely untrue claim certainly crashed down upon Psychedelic Breakfast. I didn’t agree; but I’d always be outvoted by friends who said: “Forgettaboutit. The Who never captured their live sound in the studio until Who’s Next.” Whatever. In the interval between the 2001 studio release, Deuce, the live hodgepodge 2003 test tube of Bona Fide, and Real Radio, came a name change and a reassessment of band goals—management, record company, song craft.
With two guitars, piano, bass, vocal harmonies, and an army of percussion that includes drumset, Tabla, congas, and more, New Monsoon have conquered stages across the country with their freewheeling improvisations. Now listeners will experience the focused power of the band’s imagination.

By Randy Ray


HGMN: How does it feel to be nominated for Jammys New Groove of the Year?
Miller: The Grammys are a high honor, but The Jammys are the focal point for people in our scene. We want our fans to vote for us. We'd love to win.

HGMN: How was the Langerado Festival in Florida last weekend?
Miller: Before our afternoon gig (New Monsoon played from 1:15-2:15 on Saturday, March 12), I was looking out at how many people I could recognize and I saw smiling, happy faces. It was a warm atmosphere and vibe; some people who might not have seen us before were excited about the promise of what was to come.

HGMN: How was the late night gig?
Miller: Great. We went from the festival to the show and played for an hour and a half before Particle came on. We tried to bring a little daytime into the night and ended on a strong note. But it was pretty intense. Crazy flying out at 8am on Friday morning and traveling all day. After the late night gig on Saturday, we had to catch a plane at 8am Sunday morning--6,000 miles in two days!

HGMN: We talked for a while about your feelings about festivals when New Monsoon came into Phoenix last month. Let's talk further about that. How are they different from a normal gig?
Miller: Some festivals can be logistically tricky for us. When we fly-in for a festival, we don't have a lot of our own gear. Band equipment and sound check at a club allows for anywhere from an hour to three hours to setup. At a festival, we get a half hour, if even that. We had fifteen minutes to setup at Austin City Limits; but we did it. Friends in the audience told us we were dialed in from the first notes.

HGMN: What about festival distractions?
Miller: I'm usually focused on the show. Quite frankly, if I've got a good amp and a guitar stand, I'm happy (laughs). I do have to say this--although we have a very short amount of time to setup, all the guys involved with setting up the equipment make it a good experience. Every time. The thread between all of these festivals from Langerado to Bonnaroo to High Sierra is how well the [organizers and staff] treat the bands. We feel like we're being treated as human beings in a positive and non-threatening environment. I mean...just to get a bottle of water when it's really hot out is a big deal. We get treated very well. Festivals mean different things to different people. They are really vital to the people that go. People are taking ownership of their own musical lives. [The music in our scene] isn't promoted on MTV or radio. It's underground music.

HGMN: What's that festival where--I can't pronounce it--
Miller: Wakarusa. I really love the name. Don't you? I just heard about it this year. I keep asking: "When are we playing Wakarusa?" [NM plays the Wakarusa Music Festival on Saturday, June 18th in Lawrence, Kansas--the home of famous beat writer, the late William Burroughs.]

HGMN: I'm going to try to catch you guys in Snowmass Village in Colorado [June 17--Chili Pepper Music Festival] and at High Sierra--that's right in your backyard, right?
Miller: High Sierra is like your favorite camping picnic--where you'd want to go. Lots of class and heart. [High Sierra Festival: Thursday, June 30-Sunday, July 3 in Quincy, California.]

HGMN: Wasn't Phil's [Ferlino, keyboardist] first show at High Sierra in 2001?
Miller: Yeah. It was our first festival experience. We call that the PG&E show [Northern California utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric]. We kept blowing the breakers! Phil had just moved here after having a rough time driving cross-country. [Various vehicle malfunctions are recounted that would have taxed even Neal Cassady]. I had known him for quite a while but this was his first gig with us. He and I drove up to High Sierra together and that was it after that.

HGMN: I received New Monsoon's Live at Telluride Bluegrass Festival last week.
Miller: Do you like it?

HGMN: I can't believe how good it is; you guys are really tight.
Miller: Can we talk about Telluride?

HGMN: Sure. I'd love to--what was it like to play at the festival last year?
Miller: Gift from the heavens. Elements that needed to happen happened. We weren't going into the show thinking we were going to record it for release. We listen to our shows sometimes, but we've usually played six shows since that show so...Telluride captured daytime mountain energy--nature and environmental things that the whole band is into: beautiful festival, location, great acoustics--at one moment, I envisioned my guitar sound coming out over the crest of the mountain (laughs). Places like Telluride allow you to take the audience into spaces that are more cerebral.

HGMN: New Monsoon played at Berkeley, California's radio station KPFA on March 2. How did that go? [KPFA is the Bay Area radio station where host, writer and musician David Gans airs his Dead to the World program each week. The station is also the home to folk, bluegrass, jazz, progressive, world and improvisational music among many other wonderfully diverse offerings.]
Miller: KPFA helped our development in the Bay Area and the people at the station are very supportive. They've been playing us for a while. I'll have people come up and say, "Hey, I heard you guys on KPFA the other night." It's a little tricky when we do radio gigs--we're a big animal (laughs). We push the limits of the equipment when we show up. Nathan Omernick, our soundman, always does an amazing job getting us to sound right. Nathan's the 8th member of the band.

HGMN: You've also played at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore. That must have been amazing. Every time I've gone to the Fillmore it is as if I've left the decade behind and I'm transported to some otherworldly place. I saw Johnny Cash and June Carter in 1996 before his disease kicked in and, man, that show was fantastic. What was it like for you to play there?
Miller: Everything you'd imagine it to be. Physical elements of the venue play into the music quite a bit. I got there at 4 o'clock on the day of our gig and checked the room out. Walked on stage and stood there, had a moment to myself, absorbed the souls that had been in that room. Bill Graham's there every night (laughs). Got his soul in it! Playing at the Fillmore is like we made it to the Taj Mahal.

HGMN: You played a sold-out show at The Independent in San Francisco recently. [Adam Haft, one of the two members of the NM Artist Management team, e-mailed me a few days after the sellout to let me know how excited he was about the weekend homecoming gig, March 5.]
Miller: There were moments in the show where we grew an inch. In the middle of the show, we played a short acoustic set with Ben [Bernstein] on a standup bass and then we finished with John Barleycorn Must Die by Traffic. Allan Scott, the Independent promoter, has really supported us. He's been great to us. Can't say enough about him. Check out The Independent show. I think the show has been posted. [It is--archives.org and I have downloaded the sweet beast after this interview. The tapes bear out Haft's and Miller's enthusiasm--a gig that places New Monsoon on quite a lofty plateau going into the summer: languid majestic notes leap from my headphones and sink into my bloodstream like nitroglycerin daggers--timeless, powerful and solid--love this 3/5/05 blend. Check it out, indeed.]

HGMN: Isn't it maddening to have audience access to every show via taping?
Miller: I used to go back-and-forth about this every day. I've given this a lot of thought. I write the set lists and I try to read what I feel is going to be the energy of the show. The audience paid to see the show. It doesn't matter if we're sick or tired. As professionals, we have to take ownership of what we put out. It's an honor to be thought of worthy of recording every show. Think of it like this...it's like we're playing a Serial Show, like a Soap Opera: tune in tomorrow to see what's on--'let's hear last night's show.' Somebody out in Minneapolis can hear us in San Francisco because they couldn't get out here, but next time when we come to Minneapolis he can come see us. I'm 110% in favor of taping. It helps the music scene and creates modes of communication effectively. And the technology is only going to get better.

HGMN: New Monsoon has been working on a new studio album. How's that going?
Miller: It should be out in the late spring or early summer. It's a song-oriented album. We went inside the songs--they're good and self-contained. At live shows we take the audience on a journey--ebb and flow. For example, at Telluride there was a tapestry that rolled through the whole show. The studio is a laboratory. We want each song to be its own color, whether it's saying "this song is going to blue or this one will be brown" while each one stands on its own. We focused a little more on tightening the songs to keep the attention of the listener so, if they want, they can choose Track 5 to listen to, or Track 2. Subject matter and lyrically--there's a thread in the music that captures a time in the band's life. I can't say enough about how excited I am--all the elements are falling into place and you can't think of two better producers [Paul Kimble, the excellent producer and bassist from Grant Lee Buffalo and Michael Shrieve, the original Santana drummer. Remember the Woodstock film? You don't? Stop reading for fifteen minutes and check out the carpet-bombing Santana sequence. Shrieve's that amazing cat that plays a Keith Moon/John Bonham behemoth solo with a Latin funk fury that surpasses pretty much every live percussionist over the last 30-odd years. He's recorded great music with tons of musicians since then, but that Woodstock performance by its youngest performer (19!) is quite a calling card.]

HGMN: How are the new songs going over in your shows?
Miller: We're getting great feedback. Some of the new songs are held off from shows...we started recording last year and we needed new material in our shows but we still wanted to preserve a few for the new studio album. We're really excited about this year and the upcoming tours, festivals and the album that's coming out. I don't have anything bad to say about 2005.

Live at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival is out now. New Monsoon begins their next tour on March 30 in Iowa. Check out NewMonsoon.com for tour dates.  

The Peach Truck Republic - Barnboard Blonde

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Texas has been given a bad rap lately because of its affiliation with our current administration. I’m not going to insult the reader’s intelligence. If you’re looking at this on HGMN and you’re reading an article by this author, we probably share the same political bent. Even it we don’t, we should share the same passion towards the new CD by the outfit from Texas known as The Peach Truck Republic.
The Breakfast begins where other bands try to end up.
By Randy Ray

I'm like any other writer/rock critic/music nut. I have CDs and albums throughout every room of the house. Our van has more CDs and tapes stuffed in cabinets and diaper bags with the wrong CDs in the wrong cases: why is Derek Trucks in my Loveless case? Surrounding me...in one corner of the office/den/pile of crap room, lies a glowing stack next to my Ornette Coleman heap...PB morphed into The Breakfast: downloads rest with official output. I exaggerate their importance? Listen to the 1st Set of 3/30/01: Tribal Funk Affliction>See the Light>Help On The Way>Slipknot!>What the Funk>Frankly Po Zest>Phaddy Boom Baddy.

Real Radio will be released on March 15, and is their first CD since 2003's live Bona Fide. First studio release since 2001's Deuce and second since the 1999 debut album. First release under the HMG (Horizon Music Group) label. Tim Palmieri plays lead and acoustic guitars as well as writing and singing most of their songs. He is complimented by bassist Ron Spears, keyboardist Jordan Giangreco, and drummer Adrian Tramontano--a strong unit that has been intact for many years. The band has an explosively distinctive sound, but it is Palmieri who is one of those rare musicians that can play anything that comes to mind. He spoke with me on the day The Breakfast had their first of a series of CD Release Parties. Their band site is TheBreakfast.org.

HGMN: I've heard so many musicians say that their goal is to play every note that they can think of--can you do that yet?

Palmieri: My fingers will play whatever's in my head.

HGMN: And sometimes outside of your head.

Palmieri: Yes, but that depends on where my head is at. (laughs) Sometimes my fingers are not in tune with my head and my head is shouting at my fingers: Play Faster! FASTER!!

HGMN: How are the solo acoustic shows at Richter's going? (Palmieri plays every Wednesday night at the venue in New Haven, Connecticut barring any Breakfast gigs.)

Palmieri: The acoustic work drifts into The Breakfast. People in the crowd are talking to me during the show--no barriers, huge set lists and sandwiches.

HGMN: What's a half yard? (Richter's second featured attraction.)

Palmieri: A half yard of beer. It's a tall plastic glass with a long, skinny neck. Imagine a half yard of Guinness! (The man talks my language musically and chemically...many a Friday night at the Irish Bank pub in San Francisco gulping Guinness with friends during what is known in Phishtory as The Hiatus.)

HGMN: Do you have a favorite place to gig with The Breakfast?

Palmieri: The Funk Box. (The Breakfast had played the previous evening at this hot Baltimore, Maryland spot. They opened up for The Code Talkers featuring the legendary Colonel Bruce Hampton of Aquarium Rescue Unit fame.) The stage is the perfect height. Great sound. A balcony. Great backstage. A fridge stocked with beer.

HGMN: It's been four years since Deuce; two since the live Bona Fide. Why the long delay?

Palmieri: (Long pause) Life. Situations came up. We had an option for one more album with Sonance Records, but it costs a lot of money to record a studio album the right way. We put out Bona Fide, which was basically a live album with work done on it afterwards with some editing. Patience is a virtue.

HGMN: What songs are you proud of on Real Radio?

Palmieri: Grand Scheme of Things--it's Guitar Overdub Happy (he said with glee in his voice. I smiled. Huge fan of the distance equals depth-guitar army equals headphone candy Jimmy Page production method.) Fresh Cut had me laying down the acoustic tracks and then we overdubbed the drums, bass and keyboards. We're debuting that song tonight. Score has the Addison Grove Project horns, and Jen Hartswick and Kris Jenson.

HGMN: How did you get Jen Hartswick? Call up Trey (Anastasio whose band Hartswick occasionally plays with in between stints with her own band) and say "hey, can I use Jen for an afternoon?"

Palmieri: No. (laughs) A mutual relation through our soundman and someone she went to college with; plus, she knew the Addison Groove Project. Fairy has Jeff Pevar on guitar.

HGMN: I read that he once played in the Ray Charles band.

Palmieri: Yeah. He's always off on tour playing with musicians like David Crosby. We met him backstage at Camp Creek [Mariahville, New York] in 2001 and he raved about us! He's been a fan ever since. Gravity was live in the studio with a second solo dubbed into the mix. I'm especially proud of Dimension 5. It's a song written by Ron Spears (bass guitarist) and is sort of punk rock meets softer rock. My solo sounds like Queen every time I listen to it! The Grand Scheme of Things was one of the first songs I wrote in a band before The Breakfast. On Real Radio, it maintains the same integrity, while being short and to the point. We sometimes stretch it to 25 minutes live.

HGMN: That version will be on your Tales From Topographic Oceans album.

Palmieri: Yeah, right. (laughs) What did that have--two songs on it?!" (The 1974 Yes double album had one song per side--each totaling around 18 minutes.)

HGMN: Do you prefer live studio recording or laying down the basic tracks first and then overdubbing the solos?

Palmieri: Depends on the vibe and structure of the song. Real Radio features all of the musicianship in the band while making a new studio record. The approach was to focus on a layering direction with good tones, sounds, lyrics and harmonies. We've been playing most of the songs live for quite a while. Real Radio is the official stamp of those songs.

HGMN: What studio did you use?

Palmieri: Horizon Studios in West Haven where Deuce was recorded. Vic Steffens produced again. He's been with us since we were 15.

HGMN: I love the CD cover. No one would expect that of The Breakfast.

Palmieri: I do too. Phil Camarota designed it. He's Ron Spears' brother-in-law. He came to us with the concept and colors and suggested that we play as if we were plugged into our own radio station.

(Exactly. I then went into a long diatribe about the issues of modern radio and the amazing virtues of the improvisational scene. In my passion, I told Tim Palmieri that this is The Golden Era of Live Music--Miles Davis and The Dead at the Fillmore in 1970 times ten--and that only the cool and hip seem to be paying attention. Hell, if this were 1978, he'd be on the cover of Creem magazine every three months. Palmieri is a little more level-headed than me: organized chaos to my...uh...chaos.)

HGMN: What has happened to radio?

Palmieri: DJs are not choosing their own bands and songs, but we're allowing you to plug in and play us. That is why Real Radio works on so many levels--it's the real deal.

HGMN: What is your tour schedule like for 2005?

Palmieri: We'll be playing throughout the spring and summer and then doing a national tour in the fall when the colleges have everyone back in town.     

Beanland - Rising From the Riverbed

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Rising from the Riverbed is about the people, the moments and --- the music. Beanland was part blues, part ragtime, and part boogie woogie all coming together to create what Bill McCrory perfectly calls, ‘river music.’ The core of river is the soul, the culture, and the heart that lies in every person who lives their life according to this same groove. JoJo Hermann, original member of Beanland and current member of Widespread Panic, says, “Mississippi has a groove, it has a vibe from Junior Kimbrough [and] RL Burnside. And Beanland is a part of that.”
"Delivering vocals that add shivers to your spine to go along with the groove that's already shakin' your butt, The Recipe is selling out venues throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and expanding across the country.
Interview by Micky Marotta

HGMN: What's the best show you've seen?
Pritchard: That would be Stockholm Syndrome at the All Good Festival last year. They became really cohesive very quickly. I know they are great musicians but it did surprise me. I really enjoyed the show.

HGMN: What's your dream venue?
Pritchard: Suwannee Park in Langerado, FL is absolutely beautiful, with the white sand, 400 year old oak trees, Spanish moss....I love that place. Indoors would have to be the State Theater in Falls Church, WV. The sound is so professional. Their monitors are superb and being able to hear yourself is 80% of the battle in a live performance. I like the 930 Club in Washington, DC for the same reason. Of course, any Walther Productions event has great sound too....it's like coming home to play one of their events... it's very comfortable for us.

HGMN: If you could only have one of the big three utensils (knife, fork, spoon) to use for the rest of your life, which would be?
Pritchard: I've got to have the spoon, or perhaps a ladle. I could get by with a 12-ounce mug too!

HGMN: Do you prefer sitting in with other bands or having someone sit in with you?
Pritchard: This is not something I plan for either way. I think it's fun to sit in with other groups, and sometimes it will help an opening act if someone from our band sits in with them. I've had a lot of fun playing with Leftover Salmon. Vince Herman loves to try and trip me up...at Nelson's Ledges Quarry Park he not only tripped me up but also got himself and three band members into a big train wreck. I think it is hard for someone to sit in with us. I have a very technical method (Beatles roots) and it's not something everyone can do, especially if they are not familiar with the tune. Usually with guests we'll play an old standard that everyone knows.

HGMN: Do you have a favorite guest of the all the musicians that have sat in with the Recipe?
Pritchard: Jason Crosby is wonderful; he's really good at reading other musicians and knowing where they are going to go with something. He went on a few runs with us and we all really enjoyed it. Gordon Stone is great too, when he sits in with us, he doesn't want to leave after a song or too, and we don't want him to either.

HGMN: Historically, you've played so many shows in a year - how to you psych up for a show when you are really tired and how do you wind down after a show?
Pritchard: In 9 out of 10 years, we've played 200 plus dates. We are thinking of getting more balanced and keeping it at no more then 150 dates in a year. To get motivated, we look back to our first headlining gig that had maybe 24 people there. We crushed it for 3 hours and no one left until we were done. That example serves as a motivator, if we could play to such a small crowd and give it our all, we can do anything. As far as winding down, it takes me a while. I stay wired for several hours and it can be difficult to fall asleep. If that happens, I usually take a walk.

HGMN: What's the best entertainment on the road?
Pritchard: Vegas - I like to gamble. I also love playing festivals, because there is so much to see and do at them. Playing on the beach is great too.

HGMN: Of the songs you've written, what is your favorite to perform?
Pritchard: Typical Angel, Wrecking Ball and Holy Dice are all right up there. I gave it my all from a songwriter's point of view and I feel it shows. Make Time For Love is another one I am very proud of - it worked from the first time we played it!

HGMN: How do you feel about Clear Channel?
Pritchard: I would hate to start up a band at this point - it is very difficult to get heard, get airplay, or survive in today's market. Sometimes I think they forgot that it is about the music. I wish they were a little more open and honest. I also think organization is not a bad thing and they do have that going for them.

HGMN: How do you feel about Home Grown Music?
Pritchard: I think HGMN is the BEST thing that has happened to independent music in the last 100 years! We were in the first 25 bands to become an HGMN band and that is a bit of history for us, a legacy of sorts. The Night of the Porch People did great because of HGMN. Lee has been in our corner all these years and keeps us in the game. The grass roots efforts of promotion and music sharing has certainly helped us too. It's kind of funny, because we are pretty popular on the jam-band circuit, but we are not about the "space"...we are about the song. We are starting to get even more popular on the slam-grass circuit because of Leftover Salmon being out of the game now. I hate to move up the ranks that way, but we have to play the hand we're dealt.

HGMN: What sticks out as a stellar performance?
Pritchard: The show in Raleigh, NC about a month ago was really great - we did a lot of our new songs and it was very special. Another was the Gathering on the Mountains in the Pocono's Mountains...Magnolia Fest a few years ago also sticks out. I also really enjoyed the acoustic shows Julie and I have been doing...it was a smart thing to do, people realized that The Recipe is still kicking and it kept our music out there. A couple of those shows were really great. It also seems like some promoters were getting to the point they preferred just me, as it cost them less. That was okay while we were working out some changes, but that is not the direction we are taking. The Recipe is still going strong, and we're not done yet!

HGMN: Who are you listening to these days?
Pritchard: Johnny Cash has been getting a lot of play over the past couple of weeks. I am listening for something Julie & I can do a duet to, and there is some material that Johnny and June covered that appeals to me. I also have been listening to another HGMN band, New Monsoon - both my wife and I really enjoy their music. Some musicians write over people's heads and that is not something I want to do, I want the audience to connect and have a good time. We are in the business to make music that makes people feel better - forget about life's worries for a couple of hours and just enjoy our music. We are an ensemble that likes to focus on the basics. We have found that just going from song to song is the most effective for the audience. I think I like to listen to that kind of music too.

HGMN: What is your best road trip story?
Pritchard: A woman came up to me at a festival and did not have any idea who I was, but invited me to hang out with her....I ended up marrying her!

HGMN: What's the worst road trip hazard?
Pritchard: Bad routes are every band's nightmare. Sometimes I think booking agents do not know what an atlas is. Fifteen-hour drives to get to the next gig are very frustrating. Then, there's the dead vehicle, when you are in the desert 150 miles outside of Amarillo, TX and there is no cell phone reception and the trucks flying by look like they are going to hit you as you work on the van.... that's pretty hazardous.

HGMN: What's the ideal fan?
Pritchard: I want our fans to enjoy the music, maybe buy some merchandise, and have a good time. I would prefer if they didn't care about my personal life. I am giving them a large part of me with every song I perform and that should be enough - keep the focus on the music. The band has the obligation to play the best possible show every time we are on stage, and I think we do that. It's all about the music.     

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