King Kong

King Kong

Record Labels:	N/A
Years Active:	1989 - Present
Started By:	Ethan Buckler
Based In:	Louisville
Largest show:	1000+ People
First show:	June 2 1989 at Cafe Dog with Crain and Slint
Last show:	N/A
Reunion show:	N/A

Dancy funky band, started in late 80's, and still around but usually only plays 21+ shows.

History

Ethan Buckler would start a new band in King Kong circa 1989, with their earliest known show would be at Cafe Dog in Louisville on 2 June 1989 with Crain and Slint.[4] In the summer of 1989 King Kong would record their first EP at Steve Albini's house while he was away on vacation.[5] Along with Buckler would be his Slint bandmates in Brian McMahan, David Pajo and Britt Walford. King Kong's original lineup was identical to Slint's; its sound and mindframe were completely different. Although few contemporaneous listeners considered "Movie Star" a blues record, today it is clear that King Kong succeeded in reconstructing The Blues for the new youth of today (today being the early 90s).

Movie Star would be self-released in 1989, later reissued by Drag City and would notably appear in the credits for Breadcrumb Trail.[6] A follow-up EP in Bring It On would come the next year, with Rich Schuler and Darren Rappa as the rhythm section.[7] Finally, after signing with Homestead Records, King Kong would release their debut album Old Man on The Bridge in 1991, with the same lineup as "Bring It On". Along with featuring a cover of "I'm Free" by The Rolling Stones, Pajo would contribute artwork and congas to the recordings.[8] On 8 March 2021, Jimmy Fallon included Old Man On The Bridge in his "Do Not Play" segment on The Tonight Show.[9]

King Kong would begin touring North America on a yearly basis around this time. King Kong would go on to feature an ever-changing lineup of performers including John McEntire, David Grubbs, and Peter Townsend.[10] Signing to Drag City Records and featuring a collective of Louisville musicians and produced by Buckler and Britt Walford, Funny Farm would see release on 18 August 1993 to generally positive reception at the time.[11] A 7" single in Hot Dog Days (Which featured the live staple "Red Hot Lovin'") would see release on 22 August 1994, featuring Buckler, Pajo, Schuler and new members Todd Hildreth and Amy Greenwood.

By this point, King Kong's sound would solidify with a B-52s inspired party rock sound with hints of blues, psychedelic, lo-fi, funk and garage rock. The band would also recruit bassist Willie MacLean in 1994, who along with Amy Ritchie (Then Amy Greenwood) and Todd Hildreth have remained core members of the band ever since. The band's lyrics and themes would tend to be conceptual with offbeat, abstract themes.

Recording at Easley McCain Recording and the last Kong release to feature David Pajo (Who performed session drums), Me Hungry saw release on 10 October 1995 and is a concept album about a man who falls in love with a yak.[12][13] Me Hungry has been retroactively praised as one of their finest works[14] and was performed in it's entirety at Headliner's Music Hall on 27 March 2014.[15]

Ray Rizzo would soon join on drums, with the band releasing a follow-up album in Kingdom of Kong circa 14 October 1997.[16] Following the band's only tour of Europe and a string of shows in 1998, King Kong would go on hiatus. A collection of demos entitled Breeding Ground would see release via Sea Note Records on 5 November 2001.[17]

King Kong would regroup in 2001 and release two albums: The space rock concept album The Big Bang on 22 April 2002 and Buncha Beans on 20 March 2007, the latter featuring drummer Peter Townsend (Superwolf, Havanarama, Speed to Roam) along with horn players Dan Willems and Heather Floyd (Sick City Four, The Belgian Waffles!, Black Kaspar).[18] King Kong would tour North America surrounding both albums and make a single European appearance in 2005 for All Tomorrow's Parties in England, which was curated by Slint that year.[19]

Following a string of tours in 2009 and appearing at the inaugural Cropped Out in 2010, King Kong would largely perform live in their native Louisville, with yearly performances themed around Fat Tuesday, Thunder Over Louisville and Halloween. Buckler has also been active as a radio DJ with WXOX (ARTxFM Louisville). From 2018 - 2019, King Kong would produce three non-album music videos: "60s Apartment Building Balcony", "Pawnshopolis" and "Pigeon Man", all of which featuring friends in the Louisville music scene as contributors.

Members

Current Lineup

• Ethan Buckler - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals (1989 - Present)
• Willie Maclean - Bass (1994 - Present)
• Todd Hildreth - Keyboards, Keytar (1994 - Present)
• Amy Ritchie aka Amy Greenwood - Vocals (1994 - Present)
• Eric Baldwin - Drums (2013 - Present)

Past Members and Contributors

• David Pajo - Drums, Guitar ("Movie Star" to "Me Hungry")
• Britt Walford - Drums ("Movie Star"); Keyboards ("Funny Farm")
• Brian McMahan - Guitar, Vocals ("Movie Star")
• Todd Brashear - Engineer ("Old Man on The Bridge")
• Brett Holsclaw - Bass for two shows prior to the release of "Funny Farm"
• David Grubbs - Guitar ("Funny Farm")
• Brad Wood - Keyboards ("Funny Farm")
• Suki Anderson - Vocals (Unknown Time Period)
• Richard Schuler - Drums on "Funny Farm", "Old Man on the Bridge", "Bring It On"
• Darren Rappa - Bass on "Old Man on the Bridge", "Bring It On"
• Ray Rizzo - Drums, Percussion
• Dan Willems - Saxophone ("Buncha Beans")
• Heather Floyd - Trumpet ("Buncha Beans")

Discography

Studio Albums

• Old Man on The Bridge (1991, Homestead)
• Funny Farm (1993, Drag City)
• Me Hungry (1995, Drag City)
• Kingdom of Kong (1997, Drag City)
• The Big Bang (2002, Drag City)
• Buncha Beans (2007, Drag City)

Other Releases

• Movie Star (EP) (1989, Self-Released)
• Bring It On (Single) (1990, Trash Flow)
• Hot Dog Days (Single) (1994, Drag City)
• Breeding Ground (Compilation) (2001, Sea Note)
• 60s Aparment Building Balcony (2018, Self-Released)
• Pawnshopolis (2018, Self-Released)
• Pigeon Man (2019, Self-Released)

Selected Compilations

• "Funky Future Train" on "Hey Drag City" (1994, Drag City)
• "I'm Bored" on Louisville Sluggers III (1993, Self Destruct
• "Foggy Night Blues" on Sourmash: A Louisville Compilation (1996, Boss Snake Music)

Extended Links

• Discogs
• Bandcamp
• Riffipedia
• YouTube
• Setlist.fm