Edited by Mark Jordan
A capacity crowd turned out at the New Daisy last
Friday night to cheer on the five bands competing in the local, preliminary
stage of the second annual Grammy Showcase. All the bands participating
rose to the challenge. Little Rock's Ashtray Babyhead turned in an energetic
set of pop-punk. With their quirky-but-irresistible songwriting and solid
musicianship, Mash-O-Matic (featuring drummer Jay Sheffield playing with
his back to the audience) won over the many who had heard of but
never actually heard them. The DDT Big Band, playing without keyboardist
Chris Parker and saxophonist Jim Spake, nevertheless played some inspired,
blues-drenched alternative music, including a beautiful, funky version of
"Amazing Grace." And Straight Up Buzz, who closed the show, earned
the night's only call for an encore as they wrapped up their 25-minute,
two-song slot.
But in the end, the judges could only choose one band to advance to the
regional competition, and that band was Saliva. The rap-metal outfit, which
has been together only about six months, wowed just about everyone in attendance
with their hard-rocking, alternative sound; the most impressive light show
of the evening; and a charismatic performance by lead singer Jose Sappington.
On February 7th, Saliva will head to Austin, Texas, for the regional competition,
which will pit them against three other local showcase winners: Madfly from
Atlanta; Joe, Marc's Brother from Nashville; and Austin's own Breedlove.
The winner of the regional showcase will then advance to the national, three-band
competition in New York on February 22nd. The winner of the national showcase
gets a showering of prizes that includes tickets to this year's Grammy Awards
and free recording time (not to mention plenty of exposure).
Obviously, Breedlove has the home-field advantage in the upcoming regional
showcase. So, if you're thinking about taking a road trip next weekend,
might we suggest Austin? The weather is agreeable, the city culturally rich,
and the people nice. And if you do go, let us know. We'll even split the
gas with you. --- Mark Jordan
For most Memphians having been weaned on a steady
diet of blues, rock, and country the haunting Celtic music of Alicia Merritt
may be a quaint anomaly. But for the city's small community of Irish and
Scottish immigrants, Merritt's haunting renditions of traditional Celtic
songs are a welcome evocation of a much-missed homeland.
"When I hear her play, it's just like being back home in a pub, throwing
back a few pints with my mates, and in general having a good time,"
says one Irish expatriate, who has caught some of Merritt's myriad shows
at Kudzu's, the Memphis-locked Hibernian's home away from home.
Though not Irish herself, Merritt enjoys the conviviality
the natives bring to the music she has adopted as her own.
"It gets a little bit bawdy when we play at Kudzu's because the Irishmen
come up and want to sing some of the more questionable Irish pub songs,"
Merritt says. "But that just makes it more fun. Anything goes at Kudzu's."
Merritt has carved herself a niche in the local music scene as perhaps its
foremost performer of Celtic music. This weekend she will mark the release
of her debut, self-titled CD with a trio of area performances: Friday at
Kudzu's from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday at Fitzgeralds casino from 4:30
to 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at the High Point Pinch from 7 to 11 p.m.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Pennsylvania, Merritt grew up in a musical
family that favored the sounds of country roots music. After moving to Memphis,
she took a job teaching English in Italy and took advantage of her free
time to travel throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom and Ireland.
It was there that she was first seduced by the sound of Celtic music.
Merritt returned home, bringing her new musical passion with her. Since
then she has become a mainstay on the national Celtic festival scene, as
well as a frequent performer at clubs here and in Nashville. Her band is
also regularly featured at Fitzgeralds Casino in Tunica, a gig that may
lead to steady work at the gaming operator's Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada,
locations.
But for now, Merritt is focused on promoting her first CD, released on her
own label through Rockingchair Records. A collection of three originals
and seven traditional songs, the disc was co-produced by Merritt and Rockingchair
Studios' Mark Yoshida and features fine traditional Celtic performances
by the Jackson-based band Legacy.
No sooner will she have this disc out, however, than Merritt will begin
work on her next. She and Yoshida are planning on going into the studio
this month to record her follow-up CD with her road band, which includes
accordionist Buddy Connolly; pipes, whistle, and flute player Hunter Lee;
and guitarist and boudhran (traditional Irish frame drum) player Jimmy Kelly.
--- M.J.
Although none of us really thought it seemly that
the old Svengali who guided Elvis' career not always to his benefit should
have outlived his charge by a full score of years, we were nonetheless saddened
at the announcement of "Colonel" Tom Parker's death last week,
from a stroke and its complications.
Actually, stick the quotes around the rest of that name, too. This was no
Tom and no Parker. Indeed, the hinterland-sounding name he toted around
for most of his 87 years was just the first con worked on the public by
the carny who was born in the Netherlands as Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk.
Having sneaked into the United States illegally, van Kuijk/Parker was determined
never to leave, and that resolve undoubtedly cost Elvis his chance for lucrative
foreign tours.
To call Parker a con man is merely to give him his due; one of his famous
early tricks was to sell people tickets to see chickens "dance"
atop a sawdust-covered hot plate. That he was to have the opportunity of
hustling some genuine talent (besides Elvis, there were the likes of Eddie
Arnold and Hank Snow) was something of a celestial practical joke. Stress,
though, on the word "practical." As those famous lines from Jesus
Christ Superstar remind us, "Israel in 4 B.C. had no mass communication."
But what if it had? And what if Parker could have time-traveled back and
helped to guide the religious revolution that was then beginning? We can
only wonder.
But we saw what he did with Elvis, managing him into a fame consistent with
his monumental talent and doing so faster, probably, than anyone else could
have. That in the process he demeaned, constricted, and as a Shelby County
court would decide cheated his prodigy was also true.
But if Sam Phillips saw in the young Presley a pop/gospel/blues singer of
genius, it was Parker who recreated him as the bringer of an age. As the
history of American presidents also shows, corruption and large vision often
go hand in hand. To be totally fair to Tom Parker, he had more of the latter
than the former. And, though he is unlikely to be admired, he will surely
be remembered. Even missed. --- Jackson Baker
By all accounts, the road show Metallica will
bring into The Pyramid Saturday will be one of the most spectacular ever
seen in these parts. The set piece for the production is a silver, multi-tiered,
basketball-court-sized, figure-eight-shaped stage that allows an unobstructed
view of the band from all angles. During the show the band members swarm
all around the stage, stopping whenever necessary at any one of the 16 microphones
scattered around to sing a lyric. At a few points along the stage's perimeter,
the musicians actually come face to face with audience, a fact they've been
known to acknowledge with high fives. Add to all this the usual heavy-metal
pyrotechnics, including a truly "explosive" finale, and it becomes
clear that Metallica doesn't shirk from the "show" in "show
business."
"Even if you don't like heavy music, you've got to come and check this show out," says Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. "I would give anything to be two people for one night just so I could jam and then go have a couple of beers, go wandering around during the show, and be a Metallica fan."
But Metallica's flashy stage show is perhaps most notable for being in direct contrast to the un-flashy guys at the center of it. Despite being one of the biggest musical acts in the world right now, Metallica remains a band that seems more more comfortable in jeans and T-shirts than stage costumes. And in contrast to most bands' creative urges, Metallica's music seems to get rawer and less adorned with each record. Touring in support of Load, its first record of new material in five years, Metallica has come out fresh and reinvigorated, rocking harder than ever after more than 15 years.
Guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich formed Metallica in Los Angeles in 1981. From the beginning, the group embraced the principles of simple, honest, head-banging heavy metal as prophesied by bands like Motšrhead. In 1983, original member Dave Mustaine (who would later go on to form Megadeth) was booted from the group due to drug problems and replaced by guitarist Kirk Hammett. Around the same time, Cliff Burton replaced original bassist Ron McGovney. Then in 1986, on the heels of their biggest album to date, Master of Puppets, Burton was killed in a tour-bus accident. He was replaced by former Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Newsted.
Through all the personnel changes in the '80s, a time dominated by far prettier, better-dressed "glam-metal" bands, Metallica slowly built a loyal core audience made up mostly of disaffected, suburban teenage boys.
In 1988, the band had its first commercial hit with And Justice For All and its suicidally dark single "One." Three years lapsed before the band's next record, but when Metallica (also known as The Black Album, for its simple, noir cover) was released in 1991, it debuted at the top of the Billboard charts and went on to spawn the Top 40 hits "Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven," and "Nothing Else Matters." Metallica had become not just the biggest heavy-metal band around but one of the biggest bands, period.
Following the tremendous success of the Metallica album and the nearly two-year-long tour that ensued, the band took a hiatus. During this time, Newsted teamed up with some friends for a home studio project. A tape of the garage sessions somehow got out and started popping up on radio stations. At first, Hetfield and Ulrich were upset and warned Newsted about unapproved outside projects.
Up until this time, Hetfield and Ulrich had dominated the band artistically to the extent that, contrary to the way most bands work in the studio, the guitar and drums were always the first thing put down on tape. It was a situation that the musically precocious Newsted found stifling. "James and Lars have always held a pretty tight guard around their music, and Kirk and I would just try to get our two cents' worth in wherever possible," he says.
But in the "heart-to-heart" that followed Newsted's garage sessions leaking out, Hetfield and Ulrich realized that there was an entire other half of the band that needed to express itself.
"It was the best conversation we've ever had in the 10 years I've been in the band," says Newsted. "It was at that moment that [James and Lars] realized [Kirk and I] had more to offer."
That realization led the group to change their recording method for their sixth studio album. The band began jamming and writing together more. By the time they were ready to record, Metallica had 25 new songs prepared. Fourteen of those ended up on Load, which is easily the band's most organic-sounding release to date. For the first time the band laid down the rhythm tracks first. The result is a record that actually sounds like a band a hard-rocking band playing together.
Metallica plans to record the other 11 songs for
an album to be released around Christmas. But with a tour that should keep
them on the road for most of the year, it's anybody's guess when they'll
find time to get in the studio. Maybe they should cut the album live. That
way they could extend the audience for their already massive stage show
by a couple of million homes.