All The Young Punks

(Photo of No Brass guitarist courtesy of Joshua/MySpace)

Rollie Ligart runs 151 Productions, an independent booking/promotions company that has presented local shows by Avail, Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Slackers, The Pietasters and, my personal favorite of the bunch, Lucero.

"151 Productions ... was created by default in Fall of 2001 in Blacksburg , VA," Ligart explains on his company's MySpace page. "In the summer of 2003 we relocated back to our roots in the Newport News area of southeast VA. The goal of 151 Productions is to put together shows featuring bands/performing artists that might fall outside of the latest musical trends and fads within the current music scene. We stress quality over quantity."

I admire what Ligart's doing locally, so I asked him the following questions. Ligart is 28, grew up in Poquoson, and currently lives in Newport News.

Q: What was your first show as a promoter?
A: The first show I ever booked was 33 West (defunct ska/power pop band from DC) and Running With Scissors(Blacksburg based college rock band whow I "managed" at the time) at the Bus Stop in Radford, VA.

Q: Are you a musician?
A: I myself am not a musician but my father is one of the original members of the Rhondels (trumpet) and gave me a great deal of insight on dealing with booking agents and working with touring musicians.

Q: What have you learned over the last five years about the local market for original music?
A: The market around here for live music is solid and very much alive but often very much overlooked by our area's residents. I started going to punk rock shows at a very young age at small venues like the King's Head Inn in Norfolk, the Nsect Club in Hampton and Twisters in Richmond. Over the years as those small venues closed their doors we lost a lot of shows to Richmond and DC. I realized that their were a lot of people in Hampton Roads eager to see newer up and coming touring bands that were too small to play larger venues like The Norva.

Q: What's your favorite local band?
A: As far as favorite local its hard to say we have a ton of talented bands around here. I'd have to say at the moment I'm really into Va Beach based punk rockers No Brass.They play a gritty mix of melodic punk rock in the vein of the mid 90's Fat Wreck Chords bands that I grew up on.

151 Productions presents The Loved Ones, The Gaslight Anthem, No Brass and other bands Feb. 8 at Peppermint Beach Club in Virginia Beach.

Nothing's shocking

At the risk of sounding like an advertising arm of The Taphouse, I'd like to talk about yet another CD release party planned for the grand old Norfolk Tavern. On Friday, the Rev. D-Ray and The Shockers will celebrate the release of a new disc that I believe will be called "The Legend of Rockalla" at The Taphouse. I gather that the band specializes in weirdly humorous rockabilly, making them something like a cross between the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz and Southern Culture on the Skids. It's probably not coincidence that D-Ray and Company recently played Elvisfest down in Chapel Hill, N.C. Of the songs posted on the band's MySpace page, my favorite is "Loserville," which actually mentions, you guessed it, The Taphouse. (I'll be stopping by to pick up my envelope soon.)

A look ahead

(Great White Jenkins photo courtesy of MySpace)


Here are a few shows that are worth noting in the next few weeks. I hope to see you out at one or more of these:

-- The Great White Jenkins, Saturday, at The Boot (indie-rock/freak-folk). This is a CD release party for "Muscle Souls"
-- Rylo, Tuesday at Gordon Biersch Fat Tuesday party (rockabilly/blues), Virginia Beach. Goodbeer+rootsmusic+mardigras=calling in sick the next day.
-- The Pawn Shop Lifters, Feb. 9, The Taphouse, Norfolk. (high-decibel alt-country). Release party for "Whiskey Lane" EP
-- Johnny Utah, Feb. 16, The Taphouse, Norfolk. (Straight-ahead rock) I'm finally going to get to see this band, which includes at least one former member of 65 Filmshow.

V8 Update

A band like V8 Love Affair is a rare and wonderful thing. Tough and hard-hitting, the group had both brains and balls, making them Hampton Roads' answer to Soundgarden (although they might rather be compared to Swervedriver). They've been inactive for quite some time now, but I caught up with guitarist Kenny Woodson recently via e-mail. He's still pursuing a music career, but in Los Angeles instead of Virginia.

Here are large chunks from his note sent last week:

"The singer/songwriter John [Taggart], and myself are no longer in Virginia. John has a family and joined the Coast Guard, who stationed him in Mantiwoc, Wisconsin. I came to Los Angeles a couple of years ago to further pursue music. Dan [Choi] and Luke [Ponessa] are still in Virginia Beach. Dan is a graphic designer with a family, and Luke has a wife and is the general manager of Guitar Center Virginia Beach.

We do indeed stay in touch fairly regularly. We've all known each other since the four of us attended Kempsville High School, so there's quite a bit of history there. Truth be told, I was actually a fan of the band before I was ever a member. If you recall, the V8LA was a three piece at the Strawberry Banks show. And I was one of the two dudes jumping around down in front! But I was in the same circle of friends, I was actually dating John's sister at the time of that show. Years later, John asked me to join on 2nd guitar to which I enthusiastically agreed.

The reunion gig has been talked about a lot and came very close to happening in early 2007. John was scheduled to be in town for some Coast Guard training in Yorktown, and I agreed to fly back so we could catch up and play a one-off show. It ended up not working out because of transportation issues, however we've kept the idea warm for the future."

We've all been playing those songs for so many years that they're pretty hard to forget, and the chemistry when we're playing in a room together is pretty undeniable. We had what was almost a year hiatus in '03-'04 because Luke had been transferred to another Guitar Center in Memphis, TN. Luke is a monster of a bass player and a pretty integral part of the band, so he wasn't easy to replace. We ended up settling on our friend Ian Sabo for a brief time before Luke came back to Virginia. But before we played with Ian, three of us got together to practice for the first time in almost a year, and it was as if not a day had passed -- we ran through our set like we'd never skipped a beat.

The EP was released in the fall of 2004. It was recorded in Hampton, VA with our friend Vince Burke from Beaten Back To Pure. It was our only official release. All other recorded material was demo stuff that we distributed & sold at shows. There were about two or three demo sessions if I recall correctly.

Luke is currently playing in the Norfolk band 1888, and also Virginia Beach's Fluorescent. Dan was playing in Fluorescent as well, but I'm not sure if that's still happening. John has been writing his own songs in his free time ...

I've been trying to get something started here L.A. but it's not easy! I had a band going in late '06 that was pretty awesome. Kinda mathy & angular, it sounded like The Jesus Lizard meets Chavez. Great, weird shit, but it imploded when our drummer left. We hadn't recorded anything just yet and when he left we kinda forgot how to play the songs!"

Snatches of glory

(Photo by Brett Cross)
I caught up with The Candy Snatchers last night at The Taphouse in Norfolk. It was, atypically, a sobering experience. It's probably been five years since seen the boys, and Saturday night's show suggests that the band isn't exactly in top form.
Let me just say that the chaotic maelstrom that's usually cooked up by these guys is one of my favorite sounds in live rock 'n' roll. A show I saw with them opening for The Humpers at King's Head Inn around 1994 re-ignited my love of pure, intoxicating punk rock.
Saturday's show was something less exciting, however. I'm hoping the boys got warmed up later in the set, because the first 40 minutes I saw represented a sadly de-fanged version of the band I love.
At one point, singer Larry May said that a friend had compared The Candy Snatchers to The Grateful Dead, because "We both like cocaine and we play without a setlist." Based on what I saw last night, I'd add that they're also alike because both bands continued past their prime.
On the bright side, Steve Athey at Skinnie's Records tells me there is a new Candy Snatchers disc in progress. Maybe they can better recapture the manic magic in the studio than on stage.
A pair of YouTube videos shows The Candy Snatchers sounding considerably sharper. One recent clip shows the band performing "911" and an older one shows the band playing Lexington (Kentucky?) in 1996. Larry still manages to rock with his leg in a cast.

Truckin' My Blues Away

Toggle Switch is always excited to discover a new folk-blues artist from Virginia. This week, the fine folks at the Music Maker Relief Foundation in North Carolina brought James Arthur "Boo" Hanks to my attention. Hanks lives in Virgilina (midway between South Hill and Danville and he plays lovely Piedmont-style acoustic blues. His soft, sweet vocal tone reminds me of none other than Mose Allison (and it's people like Boo who Mose was probably trying to imitate.) I apologize for the short notice, but Hanks is set to play 1:30 p.m. today at the North Carolina Museum of History's African American Cultural Celebration in Raleigh, N.C. The Music Maker Web site has a short bio on Hanks. At the end of the bio, you can listen to three of his tunes: "Pickin' Cotton Blues," "Step It Up and Go" and "Truckin' My Blues Away." And if this sort of thing turns you on, the Music Maker site has a huge collection of MP3s of Southern folk artists to enjoy.

A Battlefield on Fire

(MySpace photo)
Last night's Will Kimbrough solo show in Smithfield was every bit as good as I had hoped. The Alabama boy sang beautifully, showed off solid songs and played the guitar just like ringing a bell. Highlights included the tender "Hill Country Girl," the rollicking, defiant "Horseshoe Lake," (both from his latest "EP"), the yearning "Another Train" and the contemplative "Philadelphia, Mississippi." He even touched on local history with "Cape Henry," a tune written with Todd Snider about a long-ago naval battle off the coast of Virginia and got the crowd singing along to the silly-but-fun "Yo Yo Ma."
Introducing "Piece of Work," he explained how he wrote the lyrics in a hospital bathroom as he waited for his new-born daughter to be turned over to her parents. The tune was later recorded by Jimmy Buffett on his album "License to Chill." "Now my daughter can have braces," Kimbrough quipped. His easy-going on-stage charm and absolutely crystal-clear sound only added to a show that was one of the finest solo performances I've seen. I'm baffled at why Will isn't a bigger name. I plan on investing in some W.K. recordings very soon. Thanks to the folks at Smithfield Arts for bringing this talented dude to Hampton Roads.

Open up the Golden Gates

This morning's Weekend Edition on National Public Radio took listeners to church with a piece about a new collection of classic gospel recordings from the Smithsonian Folkways label. While Virginia's gospel traditions didn't get covered specifically, folklorist Kip Lornell (who I believe worked in Newport News in the 1970s) talked about the importance of the Golden Gate Quartet, a group from right here in Norfolk. Kip, who teaches at George Washington University, agreed that the pumping bass and rhythmic feel of tunes by the a cappella Golden Gates paved a way for doo-wop music and Motown. "There's an undeniable continuum among all of those" he said.
The collection, titled "Classic African American Gospel" will be released Jan. 29. The NPR Web site allows you to listen to four of the album's 24 tracks. Strangely, though, it does not include a track by the Golden Gate Quartet.

Waiting for the Kiss

Richmond's Prabir and the Substitutes ride a Sixties-style wave of melody and harmony -- without sounding like they're surfing through the past. That's quite a trick -- a balancing act that scores of band can't pull off. I first heard the band opening for Dr. Dog in Williamsburg and was knocked out from the start. They've got great 5-part vocal harmonies, catchy songs and a sense of adventure. When I caught them at PFAC a couple of months ago, Prabir even worked a few Frank Sinatra favorites into the set -- which frankly didn't work that well, but you've got to respect the attempt.
Earlier this month, the Washington, D.C., entertainment Web site Brightest Young Things, published a cool feature about Prabir which included the band's main man talking about the inspiration behind some of the band's tracks including "The Kiss" and "Five Little Pieces." You can listen to the tracks, too.

Burning down the Taphouse

(Photo by Lonnie Sumner)
Save those ZZTop jokes. I'm looking forward to hearing Pawn Shop Lifters play a CD release party at The Taphouse in Norfolk Feb. 9. We'll get to hear Wendell Johnson's band romp and stomp through the tunes on the EP "Whiskey Lane." From the streaming tracks I've heard, "Drive On" "THBM" and the title track, this is good, loud, raucous, twangy stuff.
Wendell reports that cover will be $5 and you'll get a copy of the EP for free. That's a deal, my friend.
And here's a reason to show up early. The night's opening act will be guitar player and singer Gina Dalmas, veteran of several notable local combos. "It'll be just me on acoustic, and Gene Bowers will graciously be joining me for some (hopefully all!) of the tunes," she writes. "I'll be doing some of Robbie [Fulks] tunes. I've completely changed directions: my last band was Action Habit, indie rock. but i grew up with country and it has been beckoning."
Gene Bowers is a sharp guitar picker from Hampton who some of you may know from his days playing with Marty Jones and the Ten Top Boys.
Hot diggity dog!

Down on Cherry Avenue

Doing Toggle Switch has given me the excuse to re-establish contact with a number of talented music makers and music lovers in Hampton Roads. Bill Gaunce, a Norfolk-based songwriter, is at the top of that list. I just listened to a pair of his tracks, which are among the best I've heard from local tunesmiths. "You Don't Look Good in Blue" and "Cherry Avenue" are conventional, straight-ahead rock tunes (think Tom Petty or recent Graham Parker) but they're crafted with such smarts and strong melodies that I'm surprised that Bill isn't already working in Nashville or NYC. Then again, if you can produce lovely tracks like this in Norfolk, why pay Manhattan rent?
I was introduced to Bill's music through his work with the Stationary Poets, a band (or recording project) that released a self-titled CD back in 2001. These days, he's recording under his own name. His collection "Sex, Junkfood & Low Fidelity" is available through CDBaby.

Back Porch Music

(MySpace photo)
In the category of Bands I Rarely Get to Hear Even Though They Reside In My Neighborhood is Norfolk's wonderful 3 Legged BackPorch Collective. Rock 'n' rollers who have caught the old-time music bug, the band plays acoustic music with an unpredictable twist. Members include Greg Wikle on mandolin, Shea Roebuck on guitar, Keith Collison on upright bass and my neighbor Cret Wilson on banjo and vocals. By stopping by the band's MySpace page you can hear a bit of what they're about -- string-band fun, a little Klezmer-like bounce, some tight harmonies and fleet-fingered picking. Very nice, boys. Now when are you going to play another gig?

Surfing on Distortion

(Jason Smith photo)

Johnny Utah, a Virginia Beach hard rock band, is preparing to release a new EP. The group, which includes at least one former member of 65Filmshow as well as my friend Jeff Smith on guitar, makes loud melodic guitar rock which reminds me of Everclear. Of the songs posted on the band's MySpace page, my favorite is "No Hallmark Stores ..." which sounds like the lament of a soldier serving in Afghanistan or Iraq. The band is supposedly set to play a show at The Taphouse in Norfolk, but the show isn't listed yet.

Mussel Men

The Great White Jenkins -- a band I've been fond of since hearing them for the first time at an art festival on Granby Street a few years ago -- held a release party last night in Richmond. The quartet celebrated the EP "Mussel Souls." And they'll return to The Boot Feb. 2 to do just a little more celebrating.
Recently, the band recorded some tunes with Karl Blau, who records and tours with Laura Veirs. The band's MySpace page includes one tune, the horn-powered "Look Out World." Stop by and listen to the gospel-folk-soul-indie-rock goodness.

"We got incinerated"

Turns out that the wonderful Doug Cheatwood and The Bastards of Fate are trying to get back on their collective feet after a fire that destroyed most or all of their equipment.

If I would have read a little more deeply on the band's MySpace page last night I would have found the following post:

"Thursday night around 6pm there was a two alarm fire at the warehouse where we practice. It took 45 firefighters and rescue people plus a giant crane shooting water to put it out, but nobody was hurt. Most of our equipment and The Situationist's equipment was destroyed. A lot of other people's things were destroyed or damaged as well, including the Magic Twig Community, who practiced next to us. We are still waiting for more details, but the building may be permanently condemned."

From what I can tell, the Roanoke-Blacksburg music community is pulling together to help the bands hurt by the fire. At least one benefit's already happened and more are being planned, including one on Friday.

"Tremendous thanks to everyone who has offered support in any way," Cheatwood wrote."We'll keep you updated as we know more. Thank you!"

Business Casual

(Photo by Dan McCormack)



Toggle Switch's Roanoke, Va., correspondent Jimmy Thomas gets a big thank you for hipping me to Doug Cheatwood and The Bastards of Fate, a band so weird and and unpredictable, I'm considering driving to the Star City just to see a show by them (and hang out with the supremely cool Mr. Thomas). The songs posted on Cheatwood's MySpace page include the shambling country-funk tune "Digging Up the Dinosaurs," the distortion-drenched freakout "We Can Rock You Know We Can," and the twisted technopop of "Business Casual."

Give me more of this stuff, please.

Return of the Absentee

(MySpace photo)

Christopher Schiel -- who as a Newport News resident recorded some mind-bending experimental sounds under the name Absentee -- is returning to the area Sunday night to play at The NorVa. Schiel, who now records as Christopher Francis, currently lives in Washington state. This is from his e-mail from last week:

"I'll be playing bass with Two Ton Boa opening for Dresden Dolls at the Norva on January 13. Two Ton Boa, of Olympia,
Washington, has released a full-length, an EP, and a 7" on the legendary Kill Rock Stars label (Elliott Smith, The Decemberists,
Sleater Kinney, Bikini Kill). The band, the corrupted brain child of Miss Sherry Fraser, is the dark and heavy romp of two bass guitars and a junkyard infused drum-kit backing Fraser's powerhouse voice, which is often likened to Siouxsie Sioux and PJ Harvey ... Oh, and just a second ago I saw that David Byrne himself playlisted my track from "Worried Noodles" on his web radio station!!

Go Man Go

(MySpace photo)

Sue VanHecke -- writer, rockabilly scholar and Norfolk resident -- told me a about a cool music history project that's under way. The following comes from an e-mail straight from Sue:

"The Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College is assembling a traveling museum exhibit devoted to Virginia rockabilly music and musicians. Of course, Hampton Roads' own Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps will be included. The exhibit's curators -- including our old pal [and former Daily Press contributor] Don Harrison -- are seeking Vincent and Blue Caps memorabilia and artifacts to display: autographed records, posters, tour books, clothing and other personal effects, rare photos, etc. Also, the Institute is looking for posters, photos, artifacts or rare/unissued recordings relating to any other rockabilly acts from Virginia. Items will be well-taken care of, and returned after the exhibit's year-long tour of the state, currently scheduled for 2009. Anyone with items they might kindly loan can contact me at susan@susanvanhecke.com."

So, rockabilly lovers, that's something else to look forward to.
For those who don't pay attention to such things, Sue is the author of a "Race With the Devil: Gene Vincent's Life in the Fast Lane" which was published in 2000.

People in My Neighborhood

Forgive me from stating the obvious, but MySpace is a strange and wonderful thing. By bouncing around from page to page, friend list to friend list tonight, I learned that crazy punk rock shows are happening at a place called Tanner's Creek on Colley Avenue -- which happens to be very, very close to where I live. If it weren't for MySpace, there's no telling how long I would have gone without stumbling onto it. Maybe never. I guess this means I need to stop by Skinnies a little more often.
Oh, and judging by the sound of a song or two on their MySpace page, Norfolk punks The Trauma Dolls are a band I'd like to get to know.

Mitch's Video Playhouse

Mitch, the proprietor of the shop Fantasy over in Newport News, has amassed an impressive archive of live video -- much of it shot in Hampton Roads -- and it's all waiting for you on YouTube. This is all hand-held camera stuff and the sound is up and down, but it's amazing to look back at some of the musical moments he's captured. Mitch is big Dr. Dog fan, so several of that band's local performances are available. But possibly my favorite clip is this performance by Crooked Fingers, an in-store that took place right in Fantasy, upstairs in a tiny closet-like room. You get to hear a couple of prime Eric Bachmann originals as well as his version of the Springsteen gem "The River."

Sounds Like Smithfield

Happy 2008, y'all. For me, the most exciting news of the new year so far is that guitarist Will Kimbrough is going to play a solo concert in Smithfield on Jan. 22. Kimbrough is an ax man with one bootheel in country (the guy lives in Nashville) and the other in rock 'n' roll (his MySpace Page lists Alex Chilton and Giant Sand as influences.) As a solo act, Kimbrough's maintains a pretty low profile, but he's produced records for Todd Snider and his songs have been recorded by big acts including Jimmy Buffett (but if you feel queasy about Buffett, don't hold that against him.)
I've never seen Kimbrough live and his gig in Smithfield should be a cool introduction. I wish he was coming with a band -- he'd get to show off his electric guitar chops more. But I'm sure this is going to be a good one.
By the way, Kimbrough's latest disc is called "Americanitis" and it includes some sharp political commentary.