Martyr & Pistol

w/ Beat the Devil

Wednesday, March 21 @ Flicker Theatre & Bar

originally published March 21, 2007

Martyr & Pistol

In the early part of this decade, Athens band Martyr & Pistol was making some serious headway via frequent live gigs. The band's moody, often understated beauty was nearly always a surprising listen for new audience members - surprising because the band, as often as not, shared the stage with bands which, while leaning to the artistic side, were more in the business of volume-peddling. Even so, Martyr & Pistol was completely capable of turning up its own volume and flexing the music into a fully dynamic strong-arm. Comprised of Brent Van Daley (guitar, vocals), Kera Schaley (cello, guitar, vocals) and Mitchell King (drums), the band released an album called Reconstructive Surgery in 2002.

Then Martyr & Pistol went through what troubles many groups: a member moved away. When King packed up and headed to New York, the band wasn’t interested in having him replaced, but the transition from a flurry of activity to relative sedateness wasn't easy one. “The wind was kind of taken out of our sails,” says Van Daley. “We had one lineup change and that was sort of a failed experiment.”

Since then, King has returned to Athens intermittently to record and play live with Martyr & Pistol, although Van Daley and Schaley have played a handful of shows on their own as a duo. Van Daley has been busy building a home studio for the band, which should help streamline the recording process, the newest evidence of which is the album The Misanthrope . The self-released album is currently being finished and should be available at the show. This is a rare opportunity to see Martyr & Pistol with its full lineup, and Flicker is probably the best room in town to catch this band. Show starts at 8:30 p.m., with Beat the Devil [see p. 30] opening.

Gordon Lamb

Will Kimbrough

w/ The Avett Brothers

Friday, March 23 @ Georgia Theatre

originally published March 21, 2007

Will Kimbrough

Will Kimbrough is frank about his inspiration to rock. “I got a guitar and a $4.50 ticket to see Bruce Springsteen at a 1000-seat theater in my hometown of Mobile, AL. I started a band the next day," he says. "Six months later, we were playing at Skateworld in Mobile. We also played Skate Haven, which was an older, more lowdown roller rink. We played Kiss, Allmans, Eagles, Aerosmith, The Who and later Muddy Waters and Hank Williams. Then I went punk for a while before discovering early blues, country and jazz, African music and Jamaican dub, as well. Not that I sound like that. I just like it.”

Currently, Kimbrough lives in Nashville, where he covers the music business from all angles: writing, playing and producing. He produced the “last two Todd Snider albums and played on almost all his other records," he says. "I play with Rodney Crowell, who has been on a real creative roll for the past six years. I've been writing and recording with Jimmy Buffett in the last few years.”

He's looking forward to this solo appearance in town opening for the Avett Brothers. “I love Athens," says Kimbrough, whose February show at the Melting Point was his first here on his own, "and I don't know why I hadn't played there myself since I played there with Todd back in the 20th century. I grew up on Pylon, B-52's, R.E.M. and that band that did that song 'Na Nanana.' Boy, I love that song and can't remember the band's name. And, of course, I've been crossing paths with Widespread Panic out there on the road forever.”

Currently Kimbrough is touring in support of his strong new album Americanitis , a disc he says was “written in my post-9/11 stupor. Musically, it's a mishmash of my big influences: old American rock-n-roll, country, blues and jazz and British Invasion music.”(By the way, Will, that band? It was The Squalls.)

Deirdre Sayre

Jorma Kaukonen & Barry Mitterhoff

Saturday, March 24 @ Melting Point

originally published March 21, 2007

Jay Blakesberg

Barry Mitterhoff and Jorma Kaukonen

World-famous fingerstyle git-tar picker and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Jorma Kaukonen is embarking on a trek from his picturesque Fur Peace farm in Ohio to support his new album Stars In My Crown , the latest in his deep catalog of roots-music explorations. Whether it’s the blues, Americana or psychedelic rock, the legendary musician has been there, done that and moved on, barely looking back at the mountain of material left in his wake.

As a founding member of two of rock and roots’best-loved bands - Jefferson Airplane in the '60s and Hot Tuna in ‘70s - the restless musician has always shuffled styles, beginning with his earliest forays into Buddy Holly-influenced rock, as well as the folk, blues and bluegrass that were bubbling under in scenes he visited around his Washington, DC, home. After a series of relocations, he ended up in San Francisco, quickly becoming active in the burgeoning ’60s psychedelic world of folk-rock. And yes, he suggested the name Jefferson Airplane, while serving that band well as guitarist. Hot Tuna, his ’70s side project with fellow Airplane alum Jack Cassady, is still active, often with buddy Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin.

Conveniently, talented, progressive-bluegrass cat Mitterhoff is also along for the ride on the current tour, allowing Kaukonen room to branch out with selections from the new album and also to look back to his more than 20 releases of Tuna tunes. Stars In My Crown includes a number of originals, as well as a few choice covers, including fresh takes on Johnny Cash’s chilling “The Man Comes Around” and the country-tinged gospel of the rousing track “Will There Be Any Stars In My Crown.”

Lee Valentine Smith