About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 31, 2000)
IH8 F-KOLE5 John Dosten—mandolin, guitar, vocal* Ryan Kelly—mandolin, harmonica, vocals Jake Mower—banjo, guitar, dobro, vocals Jill Waskowsky—upright bass Possibly America's one true musical innova tion, bluegrass has experienced a resurgence of popularity in the past few years, thanks to the popularity of groups like leftover Salmon, the banjo dabblings of the late Jerry Garcia and the revolutionary New Grass Revival. Like a lot of these "newgrass" outfits, Athens's f-holes take the hoary old traditions of bluegrass and put a music of Sam Bush, plus the double-mandolin picking a la acoustic Allman Brothers, the band has been gathering a solid head of steam and hopes to soon expand its touring range. A live recording is planned for this summer. Kelly speaks: How do you account for the recent surge in the popularity of bluegrass? "In my opinion, I believe Jerry Garcia was really influenced by Monroe and Scruggs, and the Grateful Dead were structured by bluegrass. A lot of the jam bands are influenced by blue grass with the jams giving everyone a chance to show off, and bluegrass itself combines jazz, blues and folk music. It's music in its purest state; what you see is what you get." Is if difficult writing songs within the bluegrass context? "It goes in cycles, but it is tough sometimes. We have three different songwriters, and I think that's the beauty of it. It comes when it comes, but we have three different styles and three different ways of looking at things." modem spin on tilings, However, unlike Salmon or the String Cheese Incident, the f-holes stick more to the traditional trappings of bluegrass and, like NGR and more recently Split lip Rayfield, eschew percussion and amplification. Formed last June, the f-holes began gigging out last fall, building up a strong following among bluegrass aficionados through their energetic live shows and unique take on btue- grass. Equally inspired by the traditional sounds of Bill Monroe and the revolutionary Is it tough ploying bluegrass in a town that's so into the whole indie pop-rock thing? "Athens is ready for the taking right now. The kids are probably the most open-minded they've ever been'and I credit that to Widespread Panic. Anyone who has their stuff together will find an audience who'll appreciate it here." The f-holes play with Mu Voodoo on Thursday, June I at the 40 Watt Club. THE COMMERCIAL Spencer Rich—vocals, guitar Chris Olmste ad—drums Chuck Bradburn—bass Originally conceived as a studio-only project, The Commercial was a way for Greensboro, NC, native Spencer Rich to indulge in his love for the off-kilter sounds of the Velvet Underground and eeriy punk rock. His four-track dabbling eventu ally accumulated into 1998’s Songs Of The Apocalypse recorded at Elixir Studios. Natural selection took over eventually, and Rich's one-time studio project morphed into a full out band with the addition of drummer Chris Otautead and basritt Chuck Brad bum. Gimriead’r punk-influenced (humming and Bradbum’s jam band past, along with Rich's trebly guitar lean ings and interest irr jarz, have turned The Commercial into what Rich calls a "anti-alterna tive" pop band, with strong sonic ties to the Violent Femme* and early Cult. Rich speaks: Sum it up; wfml fr Tfue Commercial aft about? 1 w<xAd uy we're an anti-alternative band. We're an attempt to make music right again. I think die whole idea of alternative music is sort of silly, and indie-rock has its own stigma as well. I like to think were doing something more along the lines of the underground bands of the '60s and the '80s without being retro." Why the stigma with pap music? "When you say the word 'pop,' at least in this town, people either think of the Elephant 6 stuff, which has its own sound and is good, or they think of MTV crap like Third Eye Blind. A few years ago, being a pop band wasn't such a bad thing, but now. Eve told people we're pop and I wish I hadn't [laughs]." Dtscribe your live show. "We like to improvise a lot. I’m really into jazz, and I'd like to be able to do group improvisation where it's not always obvious, who's in the foreground and who is not. I'm into the trebly guitars and Chuck is a busy bass player but always doing something tasteful. Chris is a really hard-hitting drummer." U it difficult writing dark songs in a pop format? "Hah, I wouldn't say it is, but I guess it's tougher now in some ways, I got a burp? backlog, though, and we come up with stuff as a group all the time. We have a lot to learn collectively because we’re so new, but were getting there. I like how it's going." 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