Front Porch Campaign: Difference between revisions

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 A Brief History of Some of Louisville’s Most Musically-Erudite Rockers
 By Hank Baker
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 The group’s energetic songs took a  new take on the post-Yardbirds sound that’s inspired generations of bands, done with enough respect for innovation to mindfully sidestep all the cliches of lame-assed Stones ripoff bands that sound as tired as Jagger’s looked for the past decade.  Spurred on by Kaelin’s sometimes-melodic, sometime-tortured vocals, Bacon and Colvin’s well-honed rhythm machine, and smeared over with a shimmering wall of amplified guitar noise, the quartet’s live shows immediately garnered interest.  Often the group would close the show with “Bleed Baby Bleed,�? a four-chord blaster Ray Davies wished he could’ve written, and guest cornet player Tony Wollard of the [[Belgian Waffles]] would add to the frenzy by bleated away over the ending.  Reviews (http://www.tbw.nu/raves/fpc.shtml ) invoked Nuggets, the classic 1968 compilation of the best of the thousands of post-British invasion bands stateside, and not without good reason: the FPC included in their repertoire a version of the Spiders’ 1966 classic “Don’t Blow Your Mind.�? (For the uninformed, the Spiders were an Tucson, Arizona garage band fronted by one Vince Furnier.  The band and later the man would later morph into ghoul rockers Alice Cooper.)
-By spring 1997, the quartet had recorded material with [[Paul Oldham]] (who would go on to become the live and studio engineer of choice for Royal Trux as well for his enigmatic brother Will) and was planning on releasing a split LP with local pals, the Beefheart-Fripp-inspired power trio [[the Calf-fiends]].  However, the demise of [[the Calf-fiends]] made the self-financed project look less realistic, and internal pressure split the band sometime in mid-1997.
+By spring 1997, the quartet had recorded material with [[Paul Oldham]] (who would go on to become the live and studio engineer of choice for Royal Trux as well for his enigmatic brother Will) and was planning on releasing a split LP with local pals, the Beefheart-Fripp-inspired power trio the [[Calf-fiends]].  However, the demise of the [[Calf-fiends]] made the self-financed project look less realistic, and internal pressure split the band sometime in mid-1997.
-Louisville being a small town, and all parties involved being more-or-less dedicated to the pursuit of music, some shuffling was inevitable: Ludwig got behind the kit and got together with Bacon and [[the Calf-fiends]] frontman J. D. “Jack�? Daniels to form [[Das Kapitan]], while Colvin took over the drum throne for [[James Barber]]’s ‘77-style [[Nothing]].  Eventually Kaelin was recruited for [[Das Kapitan]], and the band of four songwriters underwent a virtual creative orgy in summer 1998, recording again with [[Paul Oldham]] at his newly refurbished Shelbyville studio before dissolving in the fall when Ludwig abruptly his return to the Keys.
+Louisville being a small town, and all parties involved being more-or-less dedicated to the pursuit of music, some shuffling was inevitable: Ludwig got behind the kit and got together with Bacon and the [[Calf-fiends]] frontman J. D. “Jack�? Daniels to form [[Das Kapitan]], while Colvin took over the drum throne for [[James Barber]]’s ‘77-style [[Nothing]].  Eventually Kaelin was recruited for [[Das Kapitan]], and the band of four songwriters underwent a virtual creative orgy in summer 1998, recording again with [[Paul Oldham]] at his newly refurbished Shelbyville studio before dissolving in the fall when Ludwig abruptly his return to the Keys.
 Co-existing alongside [[Das Kapitan]] was [[Dome Deevz]], which was started by guitarist [[Joe Hennessey]] after his departure from Louisville’s criminally underrated Swans-Joy Division-inspired [[Wino]].  The band began as a home-recording project with Kaelin, but eventually came to include Bacon and Colvin as well, who had played with Hennessey a few years prior in the short-lived noise rock group [[Droon]].  With all members rotating instruments and vocal duties, and adopting a more collective songwriting philosophy, the band explored territory beyond the more traditional singer-songwriter ethos of the members’ preceding groups.  With the demise of [[Das Kapitan]], [[Dome Deevz]] solidified into more of a live band and began playing out more consistently throughout 1998 and 1999, doing local shows and a one-off at Baltimore hipster dive the Ottobar.
-In summer of 1999, bad luck hit the band again when Hennessey sustained a severely broken arm in an automobile accident, leaving him unable to play for an undetermined amount of time.  The band decided to continue as a trio, reinstated the original [[Locust Grove]]-style lineup, took the [[Front Porch Campaign]] name back, and began playing out more aggressively.  While recovering, Hennessey continued to work with the band, producing some remarkably hi-fi live recordings of the band and booking them with the occasional out-of-town act.  (Hennessey currently plays in [[the DEFILERS]] with Bacon.)  By the fall, the band recorded another demo on eight tracks with local engineer (and frontman for [[the Electrolytes]]) [[Jesse Simpson]].  The band, playing more consistently at this point for the first time since its inception, began to garner a small local following, appearing with CHARM CITY SUICIDES, the ORANGES, WHITE STRIPES, and at local scenester [[Chad Castetter]]’s now-infamous DIRTY THIRTY, a gala-style thirtieth birthday party.  April 2000 saw the group embark on an ambitious digital recording project with [[Craig McClerkan]] of [[Without Further Ado]].  Due to technical complications, the sessions were never finished, although one track, “Lasso,�? made an appearance on the [[Better Days Records]] compilation [[Cheap Thrills 2]] late in 2001.
+In summer of 1999, bad luck hit the band again when Hennessey sustained a severely broken arm in an automobile accident, leaving him unable to play for an undetermined amount of time.  The band decided to continue as a trio, reinstated the original [[Locust Grove]]-style lineup, took the [[Front Porch Campaign]] name back, and began playing out more aggressively.  While recovering, Hennessey continued to work with the band, producing some remarkably hi-fi live recordings of the band and booking them with the occasional out-of-town act.  (Hennessey currently plays in [[the Defilers]] with Bacon.)  By the fall, the band recorded another demo on eight tracks with local engineer (and frontman for [[the Electrolytes]]) [[Jesse Simpson]].  The band, playing more consistently at this point for the first time since its inception, began to garner a small local following, appearing with CHARM CITY SUICIDES, the ORANGES, WHITE STRIPES, and at local scenester [[Chad Castetter]]’s now-infamous DIRTY THIRTY, a gala-style thirtieth birthday party.  April 2000 saw the group embark on an ambitious digital recording project with [[Craig McClerkan]] of [[Without Further Ado]].  Due to technical complications, the sessions were never finished, although one track, “Lasso,�? made an appearance on the [[Better Days Records]] compilation [[Cheap Thrills 2]] late in 2001.
 In spring 2001, feeling a need to write material requiring a second guitarist, the band recruited veteran drummer [[Brett Holsclaw]], who had played with acts as varied as [[the Glasspack]], [[Zig Zag Way]], and [[Evil Twin Theory]], and Bacon moved to guitar.  Holsclaw lasted until the fall, but eventually was wooed back by [[the Glasspack]].  Longtime co-conspirator and friend of the band [[Richard Vier]], also formerly of [[WINO]], briefly played with the group, performing on as well as engineering several eight-track sessions in the fall of 2001. The band self-released the Vier-recorded sessions as their first full-length in November and Vier departed shortly thereafter.  Currently, the group has been able to re-recruit Holsclaw, and plans to play out in promotion of the release.

Revision as of 13:57, 15 January 2006