Lee Bains III lives in Atlanta now, but he’ll always consider Birmingham home. The native’s band is still based in the Magic City. The band is part of an Alabama scene making national waves. It’s Southern garage and blues rock sound follows in the footsteps of Drive-By Truckers,
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and Alabama Shakes, catching the attention of publications like
Rolling Stone
The band opens for Pujol on Thursday at BottleTree Cafe. Doors open at 9 p.m. and tickets are $10. I spoke to Lee about that scene, his other band, The Dexateens, and his obsession with water, which he can be seen carrying around in a gallon jug before each show.
Lee Bains III lives in Atlanta now, but he’ll always consider Birmingham home. The native’s band is still based in the Magic City. The band is part of an Alabama scene making national waves. It’s Southern garage and blues rock sound follows in the footsteps of Drive-By Truckers,Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and Alabama Shakes, catching the attention of publications like Rolling Stone and earning an opening slot on the latter’s most recent headlining tour.The band opens for Pujol on Thursday at BottleTree Cafe. Doors open at 9 p.m. and tickets are $10. I spoke to Lee about that scene, his other band, The Dexateens, and his obsession with water, which he can be seen carrying around in a gallon jug before each show.
Blake Ells for Birmingham Box Set:
How much water do you drink in a day?
Lee Bains III:
[laughs] At least a gallon. On tour, it’s probably two. I started it with the Dexateens because I’d smoke two packs a day. I’d wake up after a show and could barely speak, let alone sing. So I started doing it all day long so I could keep smoking at night. In the Dexateens, I was sort of in the background, so I could get away with sounding [terrible]. When we first went on the road, we did three shows in a row once, and at the end of the third, I couldn’t talk. I finally quit [smoking], partially because of that.
BE:
How was the tour with the [Alabama] Shakes?
LBIII:
That tour was really good. It was as good of an opening slot as you could ask for. I believe every show we played was sold out, and at almost every one, the entire crowd had arrived before we started. And [the Alabama Shakes] are great people. They were a lot busier than we were, though – they’d have to go do Letterman or get pulled away for a
Rolling Stone
interview.
BE:
What and where was your first gig? What band were you with?
LBIII:
My first real – like, playing a venue and not a talent show – gig was, I think in Anniston. Or maybe it was in Montevallo at a place called Barnstormer’s. Yeah, actually, I think that’s it. This was in high school. We were in a band called the Shut-Ins. They were all guys I had grown up with. They sounded like Hot Water Music or Small Brown Biker, but they got more metal and wanted another guitar, so they called me. It was this Judas Priest meets Thin Lizzy kind of thing. Yeah, it was definitely at Barnstormer’s.
BE:
Are the Dexateens really done?
LBIII:
I guess we’re not “done” done. We still play every once in a while, and that seems like the plan – play a show every three months or so. And we try to stay close, like, Alabama, Mississippi or Georgia, nothing too crazy. But, you know, I’ve been busy with The Glory Fires and [Matt] Patton’s been busy with the Drive-By Truckers. It’s just hard to find the time. We’re actually playing a show in November in Montgomery, and I’m sure we’ll do more here and there.
BE:
Brian [Gosdin, drummer] mentioned there may be some finished material out there. Or the beginnings of it. Will that ever see the light of day?
LBIII:
We have one entire record. It’s very close to a finished album that we probably did two years ago. I think Elliott [McPherson, vocals and guitar] likes the way some of it came out, but he wasn’t happy with others. He’s had time to rewrite and we’ve re-recorded some stuff. And there are new songs, too, that are in various stages of repair. In grand total, there are probably 30 songs that are close to done. But we’re taking our time with all of it. No one feels any sense of urgency. Elliott has ideas he wants to get out. Plus, we’re all so busy and scattered, it’s hard.
BE:
What do you think of the Birmingham scene right now?
LBIII:
Birmingham’s always had a strong community. I haven’t lived there in two years, so for the first time, I’m a little out of it. There’s this generation of bands that came a little behind mine. I don’t know the 24-25-year-olds there anymore. But there are so many folks making great music. Everybody knows each other. There’s an incestuous thing that can be problematic for sure, and that’s what sometimes causes people to leave. You just end up playing with the same bands.
But even though I live in Atlanta, I still consider myself a part of that crowd. The other guys are still there. Having that connection with so many people is good for checking yourself creatively and keeps you grounded. Those relationships where people have seen you develop and can better assess what you can do than anybody.
I’ll go to a show at BottleTree and find myself talking to someone I was in a band with when I was 16. Not even [kidding]. It’s wild.
BE:
I realize this may be premature because
There is a Bomb in Gilead
is still less than a year old. But when can we expect the next one?
LBIII:
We’re ready. I wish it were tomorrow. We’ve been trying to stay busy touring and working when we’re not touring. So I’d say we’ll try to record in Spring and have it out by Summer.
BE:
Are you playing any of the new tunes live?
LBIII:
Yeah, we’re playing some. But we haven’t had much time to practice them together. I’ll write a tune and I’ll do a demo and when we play a show, I’ll put it on in the van and we’ll kind of work it out while we’re on the road and during soundcheck. It’s fun because a song can change every couple of shows. “Well, that doesn’t work, so we’ll cut that in half and rewrite it.”
BE:
Who are the top five American rock bands of all time?
I’m going to have to come up with a thesis. I’ve got to explain myself. So what’s that [thesis] going to be? I can’t just do my five favorite. That won’t work. And I don’t want to do five influential or something like that.
Hmm. Let’s see here. I’ll rule out singers and singer/songwriters – so that takes care of Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Otis Redding, they definitely don’t qualify.
A couple come to mind – whenever someone asks the great American rock band, you know, like the great American novel – it’s not necessarily my favorite, but this is America in rock form: The Ramones.
That’s distinctively America – a seminal band.
That’s going to be my representative from that era. And I guess I’ll say Skynyrd.
It’s killing me. I keep thinking of all of these bands. I guess I want to say The Replacements. The thing that’s weird to me about the question is that in the 70’s or the mid-70’s, the great bands totally lost all of their artistic validity. After that point, every band I’d mention was pretty much independent.
I keep thinking The Stooges. And I think I’m going to throw this in there just because, to me, they kind of blew the doors off and a lot of other bands. They influenced bands and forced them to rethink the way they thought about themselves: Fugazi.
In its second year, Secret Stages can still be an overwhelming festival. With over 80 bands and comedians performing in Birmingham’s Historic Loft District over two days in May, people sometimes have a difficult time choosing which emerging acts to see.
The easy answer is “all of them,” but it’s not practical. The festival has a lineup with enough diversity to satisfy every taste: rock, country and hip-hop acts from every corner of America invade bars and clubs like Matthew’s Bar & Grill, Pale Eddie’s Pour House, Metro Bar, Das House, Rogue Tavern, Steel Urban Lounge, and the Wine Loft. VIP weekend passes are $60, while a general admission weekend pass is $25. Day passes are $15. All passes allow admittance to all bars that are part of the festival. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.secretstages.net.
I have chosen a few artists from different parts of the musical spectrum to highlight. I’ll not be able to touch all of the terrific music that will soundtrack the Magic City on May 11 – 12, but perhaps these pieces can offer some direction.
Black Twig Pickers come to Secret Stages from Blacksburg, Va. The trio serve traditional Appalachian bluegrass music and have Alabama ties. They will take the Wine Loft stage on Saturday, May 12 at 9:30 p.m. I spoke to both Isak Howell and Mike Gangloff about Howell’s Alabama roots, their ascent from newspaper reporters to pickers and the boundaries of traditional bluegrass music.
Blake Ells for Birmingham Box Set: I don’t talk to two guys at once often, so identify yourselves for me.
Isak Howell: I’m Isak.
Mike Gangloff: I’m Mike.
BE: Oh, wow. Those voices are similar. This is going to be tough.
MG: (laughs) But that’s how you differentiate – one of us has an Alabama accent and one doesn’t!
BE: Isak, you’re from Alabama?
IH: Yeah. I’m from Birmingham, but I’ve been in Virginia or West Virginia since 1998. I lived in New Mexico for a little while, but I’ve been pretty close to Roanoke since 1998.
BE: And Mike?
MG: I’m from Kentucky, but I’ve been in Virginia for the past few decades – just across the West Virginia state line.
BE: How long have you been playing together?
IH: Mike and I met each other as reporters at the Roanoke Times, and we were playing shortly after we met – I think around 1999. That fairly quickly became Black Twig Pickers. We’ve been together 13 years, which seems like a long time.
MG: Sometimes in the middle of a show, it seems like a really long time. (laughs)
BE: What can we expect from the live show?
MG: It’s a mix of traditional banjo music from this part of the world. We play a lot of traditional songs, and we drop in some that we have written.
IH: Nathan (Bowles, percussion) is a fine musician. He changed the sound a lot. He plays boards, banjo – he’ll beat sticks on Mike’s fiddle. He’ll play what we call fiddlesticks. It changes up a lot.
BE: But no drums, right? I know that’s a large debate in the bluegrass community.
IH: No drums. It’s our favorite kind of show. All percussion things he plays are quite traditional. I mean, the fiddle isn’t something we made up. It’s not something from rock – it’s very old.
MG: We’re comfortable in tradition. I guess there have been drum kits every now and then, but it’s not what we are.
BE: How far has touring taken you?
IH: We’ve just done England, Scotland, Belgiam – we’ve occasionally been up and down the east coast and the Midwest. We’re hoping to play with our friend Charlie Parr soon – if you guys haven’t had him in Birmingham, you need to get him there soon.
MG: Yeah, he’s an incredible picker, but he’s mostly blues and gospel based. Really great stuff.
BE: Who are the top five American rock bands of all time?
MG: Well, I think Isak will agree we can put Camp Creek Boys in there.
In its second year, Secret Stages can still be an overwhelming festival. With over 80 bands and comedians performing in Birmingham’s Historic Loft District over two days in May, people sometimes have a difficult time choosing which emerging acts to see.
The easy answer is “all of them,” but it’s not practical. The festival has a lineup with enough diversity to satisfy every taste: rock, country and hip-hop acts from every corner of America invade bars and clubs like Matthew’s Bar & Grill, Pale Eddie’s Pour House, Metro Bar, Das House, Rogue Tavern, Steel Urban Lounge, and the Wine Loft. VIP weekend passes are $60, while a general admission weekend pass is $25. Day passes are $15. All passes allow admittance to all bars that are part of the festival. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.secretstages.net.
Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires will perform at the Workplay Theatre on Friday, April 20. The show is set to begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at www.workplay.com or at the door.
It wasn’t until he was 63-years-old that Charles Bradley recorded his first full-length record, 2011’s No Time For Dreaming. Bradley’s story is an epic journey. He was raised in Gainesville, Fla. until the age of eight by his grandmother. Bradley moved to Brooklyn to live with his mother, where his sister took him to see James Brown at the Apollo. The inspiration later led Bradley to a brief career as a James Brown impersonator, performing under the stage name “Black Velvet.”
As a young teen, Bradley ran away from home, spending years in the streets. He enlisted in Job Corps, which led him to a 17 year career as a chef. After moving back to Brooklyn in 1996, he fought for his own life after receiving a penicillin shot (which he was allergic to) and awoke to police outside his mother’s home arriving to his brother’s murder scene.
I had a chance to speak to Bradley for nearly 30 minutes. He often strayed from the starting point, but he always arrived at one point: his own authenticity. When I briefly mentioned his brother, it recalled parts of that story that had never been printed, and it recalled emotions from Bradley that are still difficult to overcome.
I think this photo of me with John Oates earned me more likes than I have ever squeezed out of a Facebook post. I’m kind of mad about the guy from Painted Blind, a local Nashville band who slipped me their cd, photobombing me.
I’ve seen six of the nine Best Picture nominees this year, with one of the three I missed being “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” a film that has no prayer and I can’t fathom why it was nominated. Maybe it’s brilliant, but most brilliant films manage better than 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. So I’ll take their word.
Best Picture – It isn’t with much hesitation that I believe “The Artist” wins here, and I don’t really think it’s close. I know it’s a sexy pick, but so much was happening beyond a silent movie. It was a silent movie about silent filmmaking, and it’s central themes were relevant in 1930 and in 2012. I liked “The Descendants” a lot. And I loved “Moneyball,” but “The Artist” is a perfect representation of the year in film, and the Academy will eat it up. I imagine middle America will be outraged something they saw didn’t win, like “Moneyball,” “The Help,” or “War Horse.” And, granted, I missed “War Horse,” but “Moneyball” isn’t a great achievement in filmmaking, it’s simply a great movie. “The Help” was far too long and it seems to be relying on Oscar-winning cliches. “The Descendants” finishes second here, for me, because while it wasn’t a grand slam, it was a story I felt had not been told before. “The Tree of Life” was artistically gorgeous, but the plot was so abstract I would have a difficult time imagining it as something that can represent the year in film. I loved “Midnight in Paris,” but it’s not Best Picture. It was too short, it didn’t have a powerful message and Owen Wilson was in it. And Owen Wilson doesn’t win Academy Awards.
Best Director – I’m going to give Best Director to Terrence Malick for “The Tree of Life,” and it’s a race to the finish with “The Artist’s” Michel Hazanavicius for the same reason: both directors got a lot out of their casts and delivered stories with almost no words. I think Malick managed to portray a very different version of Brad Pitt than we have ever seen, a blue-collar, frustrated but loving father of the 1950’s. It wasn’t, to me, that Pitt’s character was abusive, it was that he didn’t do things with modern sensibility. And I think that’s something that may have never quite been portrayed the same. When you juxtapose this Pitt role with what we are accustomed, I feel Malick got a lot out of him. And that’s unfair to Hazanavicius, who was working with a cast of unknowns, but that’s life, and that’s my untrained, non-professional and meaningless opinion.
Best Actor – I’ll take George Clooney. I’m not convinced why I am taking George Clooney, and this will likely go to Gary Oldman or Demian Bichir, just because I haven’t seen those films. But “The Descendants” was spectacular and Clooney is the face of it. I suppose it deserves some recognition. Pitt was nominated, but for the wrong movie. As I said above, his work in “The Tree of Life” was the only thing that made the film watchable to a pedestrian film fan not interested in art. He was just fine in “Moneyball,” but I’m not sure it was the best performance of the year.
Best Actress – Enter the category I know the least about. I wish I had seen Michelle Williams performance, because I feel like, executed well, a great portrayal of Marilyn Monroe is Oscar bait. But then, there’s Meryl Streep, just peeking around the corner. I’m not going to pick Viola Davis simply because she had the only performance I saw. Besides, my instinct tells me it’ll be between the two I previously mentioned.
Best Cinematography – This isn’t particularly a household category, but I’m including it to say “The Tree of Life” will win it. I suppose “The Artist” may, but the former was nothing if not a gorgeous visual display. That and Brad Pitt are its saving grace.
Best Original Screenplay – I’d like to see “Bridesmaids” win, and so will America. But the smart prediction for the Academy is going to be “The Artist” or “Midnight in Paris.” And I’m going to choose the latter, because I really loved the “new fiction (or whatever you want to call it)” style popularized by guys like Gay Talese. And Woody Allen should be the most fun acceptance speech of the night, in a year littered with really high brow stuff. Maybe Clooney.
Best Adapted Screenplay – I didn’t read any of these books, but I’ll take “Moneyball” on a whim. Those that read it and saw the film seem to have been satisfied. And of the group, it was the most popular in book form. I’m surprised “The Help” didn’t make the cut here, but people who have read the book and seen the film seem to agree with me: the film was long. I feel this is the category I’m most likely to miss on, but it’s a “big one,” so I’ll throw a guess in the ring.
Below, is a collection of every film I watched in 2012. I may include a brief review – I may not. Depends on how I feel. I will grade each film on a joey scale. Continue reading →
I thought of a lot of wildly awesome moments from 2011 that I neglected to include amid the epic story of love and theft, career and disaster, trials and travel. I also neglected some records I wish I had included in my list of “Best of.” So this follow up post is 100% awesome, and mostly just photos and lists.
Like the photo above, where Blair sprang 20th row seats to the Braves v. Cubs game in August on me for my birthday. But it wasn’t just any Braves/Cubs game. In this game:
– Dan Uggla broke the Braves hit-streak at 32, by going 3-3 with 2 HR
– Chipper Jones, Jose Constanza and Freddie Freeman all homered
– Bobby Cox had his jersey retired
– Carlos Zambrano was tossed, from the mound, in the 5th for throwing at Chipper
Each year, I move farther from the events that shaped me. And still, I think I’ve made good on the promises made to myself when I left Rogersville after high school and, completely unaware, never looked back.
“You can throw me in the Colbert County jail house. You can throw me off the Wilson Dam. But there ain’t much difference in the man I wanna be and the man that I really am.” – Never Gonna Change, Drive-By Truckers
When juxtaposed with 2009 and 2010, I suppose 2011 is Return of the Jedi to ’09’s A New Hope and ’10’s Empire Strikes Back – complete with Ewoks. The trilogy of my most recent three years has been an epic journey of how to deal with circumstance and rebirth. Then, perhaps 2011 was its own trilogy, with each third of months representing its own stage of an entire life. This year has been a remarkable dichotomy of blessing and curse, and it’s final days have been an epic reflection of how far we’ve come. Continue reading →
Blake Ells 