Mekons

From straightforward rock and loud punk to reggae and alt-country, UK band, The Mekons, have been kicking out the jams almost as long as this phrase has been around. Formed in Leeds by art students in 1977 (and named after a villain in the popular British comic, Dan Dare), they’ve existed as a loosely-knit group of musicians, almost a collective, for over thirty years. These years have included taking time off and reforming whenever the mood called. While they’ve been popular with critics and hipsters forever (including rock uber-critic, Lester Bangs, who wrote that they were “better than The Beatles” on the liner notes of their 1982 album, The Story of The Mekons), their sometimes awkwardly eclectic mix of music has brought them near to commercial success (as well as high profile releases on A&M Records in the 1990’s) but never brought them completely over into the pop world.

Blind Melon

The two associations that Blind Melon will always have are with the girl in the yellow and black bee costume from the video for their 90’s alternative chestnut, “No Rain” (a tune which reached #20 on the Pop Charts and even earned a Weird Al parody), and the drug overdose of their original lead singer, Shannon Hoon, in 1995. Indeed, when I met him as a underager in 1993 after sneaking into Marquette University in Milwaukee to see them, drugs was a subject he mentioned almost immediately. Although an album of outtakes and live performances followed (named Nico after the newborn daughter Hoon left behind) and the band went on a search for a new singer, the public would not accept them and the band broke up before the end of the decade.

Ratdog

Maggot infested skulls on bony blood-dried bodies, skulking graveyards in midnight mists is how people usually picture the rise of the dead. Bushy-beards and wonky wa-wa waves on a six-string, tie-dye twists and baby boomers lighting up, is however, the reality.

Far from the grave, ex-Grateful Dead frontman Bob Weir and his solo project RatDog, have scoured the sphere, playing over seven hundred shows since 2006. Along with a slew of brilliant musicians such as lead guitarist Mark Karan and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, RatDog has dug deep into the core of improvisational riffs and melodies, and is safely the most musically comprehensive jam band formed post-sixties. A chunky brew of blues, jazz fusion, progressive bluegrass, and folk, RatDog delivers with an equally diverse palette as the latter day Grateful Dead. Weir channels Garcia in numbers like “Black Muddy River” and “Scarlet Begonias.” Yet the spectacle lies in the audience. The peace-loving, daisy-smelling youth that once swarmed Dead shows have become the stock-broking, suit wearing, SUV-driving dads, moms, and grandparents who come see Bob Weir to remember the days of freedom and hope, if just for a couple songs. 

Beatallica

an interview with Beatallica singer Jaymz Lennfield as the band headed to Europe for their fifth Euro-tour.

Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn Hitchcock arrives November 3rd, 2007 to Madison’s High Noon Saloon, playing solo but carrying overstuffed bags of interesting history. From his post-punk Soft Boys beginnings to a three decade career mixing solo stretches with bands, films, published poems and painting, Robyn is a post-modern Renaissance Man who’s songs and speech dabble in riddles, scribbles, neurosis and culture. The newly minted five CD set, I WANNA GO BACKWARDS bonuses up three of his older solo albums and includes an incredibly strong double CD of rare works. We emailed Robyn to ask about his past and present state of affairs.

Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks

Dan Hicks has been performing an eclectic mix of staccato, alt-jazz guitar over the brushed swagger of his swing band The Hot Licks for over 30 years. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hicks has just released “Duets,” a download-only album featuring collaborations with Tom Waits, Bette Midler, Willie Nelson, and Rickie Lee Jones. Hicks spoke with Maximum Ink about the new incarnation of The Hot Licks, his first band The Charlatans, and working with filmmaker Ralph Bakshi.