28
Nov
2007
In every concert performed by Rockapella, the a cappella quintet that first garnered fame with its appearances (and title-song crooning) on PBS's long-running children's game show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, a segment is devoted to a solo by the group's vocal percussionist, Jeff Thacher.
When
you look at publicity photos of the band on its Web site and
elsewhere, stereotypes about hippies come to mind. There are rural
settings, and some long hair, and some naughty bits - yes, a pair
of breasts, pubic hair, and even a penis or two.
Describing the music that he's spent more than half of his 38 years learning to master, blues guitarist Nick Moss states, "There's a lot of nuance that people don't realize," and underscores his point with an unusual - but apt - analogy.
Listening
to Will Destroy You,
Driver of the Year's release from earlier this year, the first
thing that popped into my head was Flight of the Conchords, the
comedy folk duo from New Zealand that scored an HBO series on which
the band's fan base never grew much larger than one.
To understand the Degree of Difficulty inherent in the Nova Singers' season-opening concert, first imagine singing a particular vocal line - be it soprano, alto, tenor, or bass - against the three other vocal lines, and doing it a cappella, to boot.
For
a band that's had its current lineup for five years, the
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Pike is maddeningly difficult to get a handle
on.
On
"Puttin' People on the Moon," the Driver-By Truckers'
Patterson Hood sings a litany of tragedies personal and regional:
"Mary Alice got cancer just like everybody here / Seems everyone I
know is gettin' cancer every year / And we can't afford no
insurance, I been 10 years unemployed / So she didn't get no chemo
so our lives was destroyed / And nothin' ever changes, the cemetery
gets more full / And now over there in Huntsville, even NASA's shut
down too."
Sean Kelly is the founder, lead singer, and guitarist for the Samples, the Colorado-based bluegrass- and reggae-inspired rockers who make their Rock Island Brewing Company debut on October 13. And if you visit Kelly's MySpace page, you'll find a link labeled "My Musical Family Tree," which includes a list of the musicians who've been members of the band in the years since its inception.
In
November, bluesman Michael "Hawkeye" Herman will spend a week at
a festival. At night, he'll perform in concert halls and clubs.
During the day, he'll play in schools, jails, halfway houses, and
other social-service institutions.
