Music•Noise•Art

…played two really great gigs last week. The first was Lumper/Splitter, the duo-guitar improvised soundscape project that Joe Rut and I hatched four or five years ago. Lumper/Splitter rarely performs these days, but Joe and I have a great rapport and our set at the Luggage Store Gallery this past Thursday showed that. We performed two very languorous and interesting 20+ minute pieces that were very grounded, very patient. This kind of live composition onstage can be nerve wracking and sometimes you get a ‘damn this is going nowhere’ feeling. In that situation, one remedy is to ‘throw everything’ at the problem, but in actuality, patience is your real friend. Less is more.

The second gig was the debut of The Bodice Rippers, a song oriented, female diva-fronted cabaret, junkyard bluesy band – somewhere betwen Howling Wolf, The Birthday Party and Jaques Brel. The band consists of Megan Fenske on vocals and general theatrics, CD Cummings on guitar and bass, Larry Henderson (Rube Waddell) on drums, Jeremy (the glue) Wong on electric organ and LM on bass and guitar.

First gigs can sometimes be a drag – the sound is different from your practice space, nerves, expectations, the energy of the crowd, etc, etc. This was a private party with four bands and many of our artist and musician peers in attendance, so we wanted to be good. The band was very rehearsed, so we hit that stage with confidence and we nailed it. Of course, there were some hiccups and we bent slightly, but never broke, never panicked. Besides, who would argue with a lead singer brandishing a pith helmet and a hunting rifle?