Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile, I am your host, Jason Peverett, star of the new movie Peverett Unchained. How are you? So, John Boehner was re-elected speaker of the house, which is pretty amazing... a Republican winning anything these days. Chris Christie also lashed out at Congress for doing nothing for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. But in their defense Congress says, "Hey, we don't do anything for anybody." President Obama signed the new fiscal cliff tax increase into law while vacationing in Hawaii. He used an autopen, an electronic way of signing your name when you're not even there. Politicians can now raise your taxes while they're on vacation in Hawaii. This is a Democrat's dream come true. The National Journal, whatever that is, says that Joe Biden may be the most influential vice president in history. Joe Biden got this exciting news while he was walking President Obama's dog, Bo. Has anyone seen Al Gore's Current TV? I don't mean by mistake. I mean, who's actually watched it? Well, Al-Jazeera has purchased Al Gore's old TV network, Current TV. So it's now owned by Al-Jazeera. And listen to this: $500 million. This is a little something Al Gore has come up with called "global fleecing." Al Gore, Al-Jazeera; Al-Jazeera, Al Gore. Al-Jazeera has some fabulous programming lined up. They've got a new show called "Storage Jihad." They have "Project Burka." And a show called "Real Virgins of Fallujah." I mentioned Congress already, I'll mention them again. Members of the 113th Congress were sworn in at the Capitol. After which, they were like, “Well, that's enough work for the year.” The Senate swore in a record 20 female senators. Yep, the women said they’re very excited, and look forward to proving they can accomplish just as little as male senators. Anybody excited for the Oscars? Older members of the Academy are having trouble submitting their Oscar votes this year because for the first time, they are voting online. The good news is that Les Miz has gotten a lot of votes for Best Picture; the bad news is, most of them were typed into a microwave. A 114-year-old South Carolina woman who was the oldest living US citizen has died. Her name was Rearden, and she busted her ass. There's a new movie coming out called Zero Dark Thirty that chronicle's the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks. It's a happy family movie. Anyway, I have an exclusive screen shot that might seem surprising.
Told you. So, it's 2013 and in two years it's 2015, and there's an anticipation of some sort for that year. There's even an inspiration poster about it.
It's been so chilly and rainy the last few days here in Florida. A Phile reader sent me this picture to show me how they are staying warm.
So, hockey fans, the NHL season might start after all... and they were just about to release this inspirational poster...
Alright, so, a few weeks ago I showed you a photo of a photo that was banned by Facebook, do you remember that? Here is the photo if you don't...
Facebook deleted a photo of a digitally sliced woman showing her breasts and butt. In October 2012, Australian men's magazine Zoo Weekly posted a photo of a bikini-clad woman, cut in half at the torso, as part of its "Left or right?" game, in which the publication asks readers to choose which side they like better. The "boobs or butt" photo, which has since been removed, asked men which half they preferred and why. Comments from Zoo Weekly fans on the disembodied woman were overtly sexist. Well, this whole thing got me thinking, there's tons of photos that Facebook won't show, but here on the Phile I'm not scared to show. So, I put together a new pheature simply called...
Facebook has something against elbows... at least, elbows that somewhat resemble bare breasts. That was the conclusion of a recent Facebook experiment perpetrated by the operators of the Theories of the Deep Understanding of Things (TOTDUOT) Tumblr, which set out to show the error of the social media giant's censor-happy ways. In order to prove their point, the people behind the Tumblr posted a photo that showed a woman in a bathtub with her elbows propped up on the sudsy sides. However, at first glance one of the elbows could be confused for the "giant left breast on a one-armed woman," as the Daily Dot writes. Facebook only gave it the one glance. Within 24 hours of its posting, the photo was removed and an email was sent to TOTDUOT, notifying the group that their picture had violated the site's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. After noticing its mistake, Facebook sent a statement to the site apologizing for the error. That is a Facebook photo I'm not afraid to show. What a stupid pheature.
Okay, you know Jann Wenner has his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right? Well, there's not a whole lot of rock or roll in that Hall of Fame. That's why, with the help of the group unHOF I started here on the Phile The Peverett Phile Rock and Roll Hall of Phame. So far we had inducted Savoy Brown, The J. Geils Band, Status Quo, Sparks, Mick Ronson and ELO. Today we are gonna induct one of my favorite bands ever. So, please welcome back to the Phile, from unHOF, raconteur, entreprenour, Jah Paul Jo in a past life and co-owner of Berdan Records... Joseph J. Ramsey.
We've pretty much gone through the early seventies... done the hard rock, the boogie... even the blues. Rock was about to shift in an amazingly different way... into the future with a wink to the past. It was as exciting time for me, musically, as it was discovering The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, et al in the first place. I wanted to induct the perfect band or musician that would bridge the two worlds... there were a few possibilities, but I settled on Dave Edmunds. Thinking more... how could I choose Edmunds, but not his loose-aggregate of Nick Lowe, Terry Williams and Billy Bremner? Well, I couldn't, so...
Today's Induction: Rockpile
What a band! Edmunds with his illustrious past of Love Sculpture, the solo hit of the bluesy "I Hear You Knocking" and his dabbling in all things fifties. One of the main reasons for the seventies rockabilly revival, Edmunds discovered and produced the first Stray Cats sides. Later with Nick Lowe, came on like some kind of ersatz Everly Brothers... instrumental in the early career of Elvis Costello (first albums produced by Lowe) and, really, punk rock in general. Nick Lowe had quite a pedigree, as well. Longtime bassist and songwriter for early seventies band (also referred to as 'pub rock') Brinsley Schwarz and, later, producer emeritus for many things punk, including what is regarded as the very FIRST UK Punk Rock album, "Damned Damned Damned" by The Damned and Stiff Records. In the early days, of UK Punk, there wasn't really a division of genres like it's thought of now. Bands with very diverse inspirations, Elvis Costello, The Jam (mod), The Stranglers (arguably, The Doors), were all considered Punk Rock and many were either produced or inspired by Nick Lowe and/or Dave Edmunds. Rockpile, even though they only made ONE record bearing that name, were massively important, either as side players on other projects or the backup band on each others' solo albums. Named after an Edmunds 1970 solo album (which included Terry Williams on drums), I think of Rockpile less as punk but, like Brinsley Schwarz before them, 'Pub Rock,' which was the new dawn (re-birth?) of the idea of doing your own thing and playing the real music that you loved. Less pretentiousness and more of a sense of humor... all with some damn fine playing. The old rockers knew it and wanted in... hence, Robert Plant singing Elvis' "Little Sister" with Rockpile at The Concert For Kampuchea. Dave Edmunds solo was even signed by Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records! Rock music, and the way it was presented was changing... and the smart (and possibly more talented) guys changed with it. So for my first induction of the Year Of Our Lord, 2013, I give you Terry Williams (drums), Billy Bremner (vocals, guitar), Nick Lowe (vocals, bass guitar) and Dave Edmunds (vocals, guitar)... ROCKPILE.
Good job, Joseph. Well, you all know by now I am love Kelly Clarkson, who I have a hall pass waiting for. This year one of my goals is to try and get her on the Phile, so I started a campaign. I'm probably wasting my time, but we'll see. Anyway, here goes...
If you want to make a campaign poster to try and get Kelly on the Phile, email it to me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com and I will post it right here on the Phile.
Alright, today's pheatured guest is the lead singer and founder of the band Nine Times Blue whose new CD "Falling Slowly" is available on iTunes right now. They'll be next appearing at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, Georgia on February 22nd. Please welcome to the Phile... Kirk Waldrop.
Me: Hello, Kirk, welcome to the Phile. How are you?
Kirk: Thanks, Jason! Doing well.
Me: Okay, I have to admit, when I first heard of the band name Nine Times Blue, I thought of three things. The first is, what kinda deep math is that? The second was why the number 9, maybe there's 9 guys in the band and the third was this must be a blues band. I was wrong on all accounts, wasn't I?
Kirk: Yep... you were way off. We’ve had folks think were a blues band because of the name, but they were quite surprised when they showed up and saw us live. No math involved in the name at all, either.
Me: So, where did the name come from, Kirk?
Kirk: The name was actually taken from a Mike Nesmith penned track that was initially intended for the Monkees’ 1969 "Instant Replay" album and finally released the following year by Nesmith and the First National Band on their "Magnetic South" album. I’m a HUGE Monkees fan and an even bigger Nesmith fan, so hopefully they don’t mind me using the name.
Me: And how many people in the band? Wanna mention them?
Kirk: There’s 4 people in the band. I play guitar and handle most of the lead vocals. Greg King handles the lead guitar duties and sings harmonies. Jeff Nelson is our bass player and also helps out with harmonies. Jason Brewer is the man behind the drums.
Me: You're the singer of the band, Kirk, are you the founder?
Kirk: Yes, I am the founding member of the band.
Me: How long has Nine Times Blue been together?
Kirk: There have actually been a couple of iterations of Nine Times Blue. Actually, prior to Nine Times Blue, I fronted an Athens, Georgia based band called The Features. We released a couple of singles through Democrat Records (later Demagogue Productions) and then disbanded in 1997. While living in the Washington, DC area, I formed Nine Times Blue in 1999 with my friends Walt Lohmann and Mark Grummer. We played a handful of shows between then and 2004 when I needed to put music on hold to concentrate on grad school, work and family. When I moved back to Atlanta in 2007, I started playing with original Features bassist Eric Leland continuing with the Nine Times Blue name. Over the next several years, we added members and lost members, releasing a 4 song EP called “New Beginnings” in 2008. For the current incarnation of the band (and what I hope to be the final), Jeff and Jason joined in Summer 2011 and Greg joined in Spring 2012. So… probably a much longer answer than you wanted.
Me: No, that's a good answer. Kirk, where are you from?
Kirk: I’m from all over. Born in Michigan, some time in New Jersey, some time in DC, but most of my life has been in the Atlanta, GA area, so I consider this to be home.
Me: Have you heard of musician Kevin Rowe? He's also based in Atlanta.
Kirk: I actually have heard of him, but haven’t made it out to see him. He’s a very talented singer/songwriter.
Me: I played your new CD "Falling Slowly" a number of times and really like it. Is this your first album?
Kirk: It is our first full length album. As I mentioned before, this is the second release from Nine Times Blue, following the 2008 release of a self-released EP called "New Beginnings", which is now out of print. I also released a couple of singles back in 1995 with my band The Features.
Me: Who does all the songwriting in the band, Kirk?
Kirk: I currently do all the songwriting in the band. Six of the ten songs on the album were written years ago with former Features member Adam Leland. We just never got around to recording them, but they still get a great reception, so I decided it was time to official commit them to CD. The newer songs on the album “Falling Slowly”, “Crazy To Think” and “Fun and Games” are all written by me, but I’ve been collaborating with some friends for what will likely be the next album, of which I’ve got about 75% of it written.
Me: One of the members of the band The Producers produced it, right?
Kirk: That’s right! Bryan Holmes, drummer for the legendary power pop band The Producers, produced two songs on the album ... “Crazy To Think” and “So Much Time.” I’ve always been a huge fan of the Producers and approached Bryan about producing a couple of songs. He heard a rough mix of the in-progress album and jumped on board. He’s a great producer and he even lent his vocal and percussion talents to both songs.
Me: As I said, I was expecting a blues sound, but it sounds more like The Smithereens, and The Gin Blossoms, two great bands. Who are your influences?
Kirk: Well…you’ve listed two of them, but I was also heavily influenced by Squeeze, Marshall Crenshaw, Elvis Costello, The Beatles, Crowded House (and Split Enz), The Posies, Jellyfish, XTC, REM, The Connells, The Replacements, Matthew Sweet, Nick Lowe, The Producers, and the list goes on and on.
Me: You're influenced by iPod it sounds. LOL. I looked at your Facebook page and saw you were a fan of Kevin Hearn and Josh Wesley Harding... two past Phile Alumni, Kirk. You also are a fan of Squeeze as well, right? John Bentley from Squeeze was on the Phile a number of times, you're in good company. Anybody else you are a fan of that I don't know?
Kirk: I’m of course a fan of the bands and artists you mentioned, and of the bands I listed above. I’m also a huge fan of Semisonic, Snow Patrol, Chris Isaak, Hall & Oates, Talking Heads, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Men At Work and Colin Hay, The Shins, Drivin’ ‘n’ Cryin’, World Party, David Myhr, Blur, Oasis, They Might Be Giants, Sloan, Robyn Hitchcock, The Georgia Satellites, Jason & the Scorchers, Band of Horses, and the list goes on. Just too many to name. I actually got to work with many of the bands that I’m a fan of about 10 years ago when I produced a pair of Paul McCartney tribute albums ("Listen To What the Man Said" and "Coming Up"). They’re both really fun albums and if you’re a McCartney fan, or a fan of any of the above bands, I highly recommend checking them out.
Me: I'm a huge McCartney fan, so I will check them out. What about Foghat?
Kirk: I am a Foghat fan! It’s probably cliché of me to say how much I love “Slow Ride”, but I do. I’m a huge fan of the movie Dazed and Confused and that movie wouldn’t be the same without that song. It’s funny... a good friend of mine accuses me of not liking any music from the 70s, but that’s just not true. That said… I definitely do gravitate more toward the power pop and punk music from the 70s, such as Badfinger, The Raspberries, McCartney and Wings, The Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks, The Jam, The Ramones, Rockpile, Talking Heads, Cheap Trick, and the 70s output from The Who and The Kinks. But… I’m also a HUGE jazz fan (not many folks know that), primarily the hard bop output from the 50s and 60s. John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Bill Evans blow me away every time I listen to any of their stuff.
Me: Okay, let's go back to the album... how did "Falling Slowly" get to be the album title?
Kirk: The original title of the album was actually "Into Another Day", which is a lyric from “Falling Slowly”. Once we decided that “Falling Slowly” would definitely be the first single, and it’s one that I’m really proud of, we unanimously decided that using it as the album title just made sense.
Me: There's 9 songs on the album, Kirk, did you guys have problems trying to figure... that's where the 9 comes in! Did you have problems trying to figure out how many songs to put on the album?
Kirk: Actually… there’s 10 songs, but one is a hidden bonus track that starts 20 seconds after the “So Much Time” ends. It’s not listed anywhere, but is a fun, bouncy little pop number. We actually didn’t have any issues trying to figure out which ones to put on there, but I had 8 done and was planning to stop there. However the current lineup didn’t appear on the album at all. I recorded it with former members of Nine Times Blue (Eric Leland, Eric Jefferson, and sometimes drummer Jerry Mason). I also had a little help from some of my other music friends, including Mike Meadows (former Features drummer), Joe Giddings, John Faye (ex-Caulfields, IKE, John & Brittany), Brett Talley (IKE, Brett Talley Band), David Myhr (ex-Merrymakers), Jonathan Gale, and Dave Anthony. When Greg joined the band in Spring 2012, I decided I needed to get the whole band onto the album, so I wrote “Crazy To Think” and pulled out an old Features song (“So Much Time”) to update. Greg also added redid some guitars for us on a few songs. I’m really glad I added the two songs since I wanted the guys to have a sense of ownership of the album.
Me: So, I have to ask, who is Serena? There's a song called "Serena".
Kirk: Well… sorry to disappoint, but there is no Serena. My friend Adam and I wrote that one just after seeing Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (the Replacements opened the show), so you can blame them for the inspiration.
Me: I saw them on that tour in Orlando. I wanted to see The Replacements more than Petty. I take it you do some covers in your shows, Kirk. What covers do you do?
Kirk: We actually used to do a LOT more covers than we do now. We mainly focus on the originals now, but up until about a year ago, we still played some very covers heavy shows at some of the local bars, but we’ve kept a few in the set. We’ve got a bunch to pick from, though, such as The Monkees’ “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”, The Smithereens’ “Blood and Roses”, Cracker’s “Low”, Nick Lowe’s “Cruel To Be Kind”, and we even do a pretty damn good version of The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy.” I’ve been wanting to do a Nine Times Blue take on the Talking Heads’ “Once In a Lifetime”. That bass line is one of my all-time favorites and I think it would be a crowd pleaser.
Me: Kirk, I love the band, so thanks so much for being here, and please come back again. What's next for you guys?
Kirk: Well, we’re booking shows all around the southeast, including opening for Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers on Feb 22 at Smith’s Olde Bar in the Atlanta. We’re also headed back into the studio to record a couple of new songs, and we’re planning to shoot a video for “Falling Slowly” soon, as well.
Me: By the way, do you guys have t-shirts? I want a Nine Times Blue t-shirt... XXL. LOL. Seriously.
Kirk: We absolutely do have t-shirts and will definitely send you a XXL shirt, J.
Me: You guys are only in Atlanta, so any plans to come down to play in Orlando?
Kirk: We would love to come play in Orlando. Got any clubs to recommend or do you want to book us a show? We’ll take all the help we can get in a new town, J.
Me: Check out the Social club in Orlando, Kirk. Alright, go ahead and plug your website and I wish you lots of luck, and continued success, and please come back.
Kirk: Thanks, Jason. We really appreciate the support for the band and the new album. Here’s our website: 9timesblue.com or you can check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/ninetimesblue.
Me: Thanks again, and come back soon.
There, that about does it for this entry. Thanks to my guests Joseph J. Ramsey and of course Kirk Waldrop. The Phile will be back on Tuesday for the 7th Anniversary of the Phile. Yep, seven years. They'll be a big announcement on that entry as well. So, spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.
No comments:
Post a Comment