Take A Ride

Advice On How To Best Enjoy A Centro-matic Show

originally published December 6, 2006

Prior to founding Centro-matic in the profoundly artsy college town of Denton, TX, lead singer Will Johnson played drums in an early ’90s alt-rock group called Funland. That group signed to Arista Records, briefly, before Johnson decided to go his own way. He picked up a guitar, started penning earnest, solemn country-tinged rock songs, and Centro-matic was born.

Ten years later, the band has 12 fine albums to its credit and bragging rights to boot - Centro-matic earned the respect of both critics and fans, plus musicians like fellow alt-country icons Drive-By Truckers (Athens' own Patterson Hood notably penned the press release for Centro-matic's latest album Fort Recovery, saying it’s his favorite album by his favorite band). Fort Recovery was released on Athens-friendly label Misra, which also provides a home for acts like Phosphorescent and Summer Hymns.

Despite the acclaim, three of the four guys in the band work day jobs back home in Texas, an astonishing feat considering how much time they spend on the road (a third of the year, easily). Add recording time, girlfriend time and songwriting/ rehearsing time to that, and you can see these guys keep busy. Centro-matic has paid its damned dues.

And Johnson's no stranger to Athens; the full band has played here in town four or five times over the past two years, and Johnson has popped up solo at the 40 Watt, too, notably as part of the Wendy Musick-benefiting MusickFest, or as part of the Undertow Orchestra conglomeration featuring songwriters Vic Chesnutt, David Bazan and Mark Eitzel.

And hey, kids, Centro-matic is playing a gig at Tasty World this week. Here are some things you need to know before gassing up mom’s station wagon and heading out to the show:

Order Beer. Cheap Beer, Preferably.

Certain adult beverages go along with certain kinds of music. A mint julep for Sunday afternoon jazz in the park. Jägermeister for the Pantera reunion show (RIP, Dimebag Darrell!). Margaritas and daiquiris for the Jimmy Buffett gig. Centro-matic is cheap-beer music. Which is not to say the band is cheap, but there’s something about a bargain-priced tallboy that suits the working-class sound of the live show.

Will Johnson and his mates are about the least pretentious rock musicians around, even though they play some from-the-gut songs that, performed by any other band, might sound overwrought. Hearing Johnson’s confessional lyrics, often accompanied by a single guitar, is the kind of thing that puts a lump in your throat. Hence, the beer. And hence, my next recommendation…

Bring a Hankie

Not many strangers will just tell you, unprovoked, “The more I learn about this world / The less I find that I’m afraid to die.” Johnson will, though, when he sings “I See Through You,” one of the highlights of Fort Recovery. His voice, which God crafted from the same batch of vocal chords used when creating Bruce Springsteen’s croon, is perhaps the most emotive instrument in the four-piece band’s arsenal.

Come Early

“Centro,” as devoted fans say, regularly fills the 100-plus venues the band plays every year. Lest you want to end up in the nosebleed seats (in bar terms, that’s equivalent to staring at the back of some sweaty dude’s zitty head at the spot farthest away from the stage), show up on time. The guys in the band aren’t prima donnas, and they don’t wait until 2 a.m. to start playing just because it’s cool. They’re grownups. They have lives, too.

Leave Hostilities Toward Texas At The Door

I once considered moving to Austin. A friend said that if I did so, he’d never visit. Why? "Because it’s in Texas," he sneered. Texas to him meant George W. Bush. My diehard socialist friend wouldn’t set so much as a toe inside the Lone Star State because of this. Centro-matic is also from Texas, and, while I doubt they’ll do much to change my friend’s mind, the bandmembers do make for pretty good ambassadors. Centro-matic hails from the same town that reared Slobberbone and The Gourds and, like those groups, Centro-matic sounds Southern without making a big deal about it.

Buy An Album

In addition to the dozen Centro-matic albums, Johnson has put out his own solo material. On top of that, there is South San Gabriel, the project Johnson started in order to indulge his tendencies toward what he calls “more subdued music.” South San Gabriel’s last album The Carlton Chronicles: Not Until the Operation's Through featured other Centro-matic members as well as Athens steel player Matt Stoessel, though in concert Johnson frequently plays that material solo with a loop-effects guitar pedal. It’s quiet, simple music. And, like Centro-matic’s albums, its songs live up to a consistent level of quality.

Finally, Don’t Fear The Afro Wig

The first Centro-matic gig I saw was in Orlando. Being familiar with Johnson’s catalog, I was expecting the band to come onstage looking somber, tired, jaded at the world. This was kind of true - Centro-matic doesn't play party jams, for sure - but Johnson and his bandmates aren’t sourpusses, either. As evidence of this, the skinny, bearded frontman pulled out an oversized afro wig near the end of the set and then rocked, hard, with the poofy black headgear intact.

When asked about it, Johnson says, “I keep it in my suitcase. If you can’t enjoy yourself for the hour and a half that you’re playing, when can you?” He declares that the afro is not a crowd-pleasing gimmick. “I’m not using that afro wig to kiss anybody’s ass, let me put it that way.”

Mark Sanders

WHO: Centro-matic, Still, Small Voice & the Joyful Noise
WHERE: Tasty World
WHEN: Wednesday, December 13
HOW MUCH: $6