Music News & Gossip
Jul 16, 2003
Threats & Promises
Alright guys, I don't care what Papa O'Hara told Katie Scarlett about land. Water is the only thing keeping me alive this week. This heat has got me sluggin' back gallons of the finest North Athens aqua available, and with God as my witness, I'll never be thirsty again. For fun recipes, see below...
From Campus, Facing North, Turn Right: the Athens upstarts and apparent bar-room rising stars in Blue Hiram have been up to some stuff lately. Most recently the band played the second round of the "Battle Of The Bands" over at Last Call and busted a move upstairs at Tasty World. For a young band it's got a pretty active website complete with a message board, lyrics and MP3s. (Although the MP3s wound up crashing my browser - but try your luck!). It also has a free CD-R of its show from the 40 Watt back in May available on the website. In keeping with the idea of staying close with the fans, the band even has its own thread on the message board in which the members request that listeners give them advice on "how not to suck." While I certainly have no advice for them on that point, I'm sure some of you guys out there will have plenty. Kick your mouse over to www.bluehiram.com for lyrics, info, etc.
Local Band Loses its Cherry: Wordless wonders Maserati will experience a seismic shift come this fall when founding member and guitarist Matt Cherry will leave the band to attend graduate school at The University Of Michigan. While the band supports his decision, the other members have also decided to keep rocking onward. Guitarist Tristan Wraight of the Urbana, IL, group Absinthe Blind will take Cherry's place on upcoming tours of the U.S. and Japan, but after that the guys are gonna settle down and find a permanent replacement. Maserati's final shows with Cherry take place Friday, August 22, in Atlanta and Saturday, August 23, at the fab-u-lous 40 Watt here at home. Now y'all go send the boy off in fine fashion, wouldja?
Look! Now He's Over There: Former Flagpole music editor and Athens rock veteran Ballard Lesemann (Roosevelt, Rock*A*Teens, Hayride) is once again putting the fire in the pen and speaking truth to Raw Power. He's joined up with the good guys over at Athensmusic.net as a contributing writer and will help them shore up some things like their music calendar, history section, etc. While a fine writer, the man also has a working knowledge of the history of Athens music that's on par with the national archives, so you can be sure he knows that of which he speaks. Look for his stuff to appear shortly.
Auld Lange Sine, Indeed: Every now and again you'll find major newspapers publishing whimsical stories about different artists, etc. You know the drill: how the band formed, what their favorite things are about their early days and so on. Such is the case with the recent Washington Post story which follows Cindy Wilson and Keith Strickland, both founding members of the mighty B-52's, around Athens as they tell their story of how the band was formed - an art-school-dropout voodoo ritual and getting high on Flaming Volcanoes over at the Hunan Chinese Restaurant on Baxter St. in early 1978 play a part. Folks, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the first few B-52's albums and think they're among the best thing to ever occur in this scene, but this whole thing seems a little bit too much like The Big Chill for me. Get drunk on nostalgia at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41372-2003Jun27.html.
Local Lyric For This Week: Hmm. I dunno. I'm not feeling too inspired by a whole lot this week. And since I don't wanna toss off a bunch of hooey, I'm gonna suggest that all of you look this week to either the first two Love Tractor albums, anything by Japancakes and anything by Maserati. Sometimes you can say so much by not saying much at all. Gotcha.
Go, Bean, Go!: Local ramshackle band Green Bean Go, which is the only band on earth that has ever made Beat Happening look like Aerosmith, shook its way through that timeless threshold crossed by many bands: its very first club gig. The thing went down at the Caledonia Lounge to an enthusiastic crowd who had previously been bored to tears by New York openers The Syndicate. While this may shock some of you who have read about Green Bean Go numerous times in these hallowed pages, the band has always only played house shows and parties (up 'til now). While it's doubtful that the band will be sharing the stage anytime soon with soundman Kevin Sweeney's band Hayride, here's to hoping the club has them back.
That Boy Sure Could Play Guitar: Todd Wilson has dropped Flagpole a line to let the whole town know he's opened up a new music shop down there at 1005-C Baxter St. Yes, the blue building across from the high school's football stadium and right next to Lucky Wings has a new tenant. Wilson will sell guitars, amps and other equipment, but that's not all - he'll also teach guitar lessons and repair your axes. "Because the summer months can get a little slow," he says, Wilson also runs a small pawn business out of the same shop, so if you need to get a loan you can drop off your equipment. [Chris Hassiotis]
And that's it for this week guys. As always, float your news to me as soon as you know what you're up to. Remember to reference Threats & Promises in your email subject line and remember to brush your teeth.
Kick the can via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post to P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb
From Campus, Facing North, Turn Right: the Athens upstarts and apparent bar-room rising stars in Blue Hiram have been up to some stuff lately. Most recently the band played the second round of the "Battle Of The Bands" over at Last Call and busted a move upstairs at Tasty World. For a young band it's got a pretty active website complete with a message board, lyrics and MP3s. (Although the MP3s wound up crashing my browser - but try your luck!). It also has a free CD-R of its show from the 40 Watt back in May available on the website. In keeping with the idea of staying close with the fans, the band even has its own thread on the message board in which the members request that listeners give them advice on "how not to suck." While I certainly have no advice for them on that point, I'm sure some of you guys out there will have plenty. Kick your mouse over to www.bluehiram.com for lyrics, info, etc.
| |
Local Band Loses its Cherry: Wordless wonders Maserati will experience a seismic shift come this fall when founding member and guitarist Matt Cherry will leave the band to attend graduate school at The University Of Michigan. While the band supports his decision, the other members have also decided to keep rocking onward. Guitarist Tristan Wraight of the Urbana, IL, group Absinthe Blind will take Cherry's place on upcoming tours of the U.S. and Japan, but after that the guys are gonna settle down and find a permanent replacement. Maserati's final shows with Cherry take place Friday, August 22, in Atlanta and Saturday, August 23, at the fab-u-lous 40 Watt here at home. Now y'all go send the boy off in fine fashion, wouldja?
Look! Now He's Over There: Former Flagpole music editor and Athens rock veteran Ballard Lesemann (Roosevelt, Rock*A*Teens, Hayride) is once again putting the fire in the pen and speaking truth to Raw Power. He's joined up with the good guys over at Athensmusic.net as a contributing writer and will help them shore up some things like their music calendar, history section, etc. While a fine writer, the man also has a working knowledge of the history of Athens music that's on par with the national archives, so you can be sure he knows that of which he speaks. Look for his stuff to appear shortly.
| |
Auld Lange Sine, Indeed: Every now and again you'll find major newspapers publishing whimsical stories about different artists, etc. You know the drill: how the band formed, what their favorite things are about their early days and so on. Such is the case with the recent Washington Post story which follows Cindy Wilson and Keith Strickland, both founding members of the mighty B-52's, around Athens as they tell their story of how the band was formed - an art-school-dropout voodoo ritual and getting high on Flaming Volcanoes over at the Hunan Chinese Restaurant on Baxter St. in early 1978 play a part. Folks, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the first few B-52's albums and think they're among the best thing to ever occur in this scene, but this whole thing seems a little bit too much like The Big Chill for me. Get drunk on nostalgia at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41372-2003Jun27.html.
Local Lyric For This Week: Hmm. I dunno. I'm not feeling too inspired by a whole lot this week. And since I don't wanna toss off a bunch of hooey, I'm gonna suggest that all of you look this week to either the first two Love Tractor albums, anything by Japancakes and anything by Maserati. Sometimes you can say so much by not saying much at all. Gotcha.
Go, Bean, Go!: Local ramshackle band Green Bean Go, which is the only band on earth that has ever made Beat Happening look like Aerosmith, shook its way through that timeless threshold crossed by many bands: its very first club gig. The thing went down at the Caledonia Lounge to an enthusiastic crowd who had previously been bored to tears by New York openers The Syndicate. While this may shock some of you who have read about Green Bean Go numerous times in these hallowed pages, the band has always only played house shows and parties (up 'til now). While it's doubtful that the band will be sharing the stage anytime soon with soundman Kevin Sweeney's band Hayride, here's to hoping the club has them back.
That Boy Sure Could Play Guitar: Todd Wilson has dropped Flagpole a line to let the whole town know he's opened up a new music shop down there at 1005-C Baxter St. Yes, the blue building across from the high school's football stadium and right next to Lucky Wings has a new tenant. Wilson will sell guitars, amps and other equipment, but that's not all - he'll also teach guitar lessons and repair your axes. "Because the summer months can get a little slow," he says, Wilson also runs a small pawn business out of the same shop, so if you need to get a loan you can drop off your equipment. [Chris Hassiotis]
And that's it for this week guys. As always, float your news to me as soon as you know what you're up to. Remember to reference Threats & Promises in your email subject line and remember to brush your teeth.
Kick the can via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-2360; via fax at 548-8981; or by post to P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb
Threats & Promises RSS Feed
Share This Page 
View the Paper in PDF
Past Issues
