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 The Corn Syrup Conspiracy
by
SeepeopleS
Produced by Will Holland and SeepeopleS
Engineered and Mixed by Will Holland
ChillHouse Studios, Charlestown, MA
return
to www.seepeoples.com
Jambase.com, February 2006
Review: Terrapin Jamfest :: 01.21.06 :: Orange Peel :: Asheville, NC
was recently presented with two options for a great night of music, but
financial factors provided the swing vote for my ultimate location. On
a night that saw Bela Fleck tickets reach as high as forty and fifty
dollars for his super group The Flecktones, a few blocks away provided
an eclectic mix of acts for the low price of ten dollars. That's what I
love about Asheville - there are endless options for live music every
week and at the height of the city's busy season, the infusion of
performances rockets at a staggering pace. On this particular night, I
visited my favorite local venue, The Orange Peel Social Aid and
Pleasure Club. The last time I stepped through their doors, moe.
dropped one of the hottest sets I had seen in town all year, ranking up
there alongside Wilco's Thomas Wolfe show and The Arcade Fire's Orange
Peel visit. Entering its second year in existence, The Terrapin Jamfest
is proudly presented by one of Georgia's finest beers along with
Hittin' the Note magazine. The current tour supplied a healthy lineup
of acts featuring Southeast regional stalwarts Moonshine Still, a
revamped fusion of Snake Oil Medicine Show and Acoustic Syndicate
dubbed CX-1, and the intense presence of fast rising indie rockers
SeepeopleS.
If you have not had a chance to attend a SeepeopleS performance, I
highly suggest keeping your eyes open for their Spring Tour schedule.
They embody a great sense of musicianship, have tremendous chops in the
support section (bass and drums), and bring to the table a diverse
spectrum of material. Their live show is an intense fusion of pop,
rock, dubwise, and electronic music. Their hard rock edge is strikingly
similar to the disbanded European juggernaut The Verve, but with an
electronic infusion resembling the French duo AIR. To round out this
dose of loud groove-rock, they deliver sensible pop tunes a la The
Samples and can push the limits when they load in the patches, crank up
the samplers, and deliver some extremely danceable "rocktronica."
The set times could easily have been inverted as there was equal
respect and anticipation for all the acts on the evening's bill.
SeepeopleS drew the opening slot and set the bar ridiculously high for
the following acts. The band opened with their most schizophrenic and
aggressive song, "Here We Go." This composition is a perfect example of
one extreme within their repertoire. Bass-heavy with booming drums, the
middle section is dusted over with a spacey electronic dub jam which
surges into a frenetic finish. This song featured a brief guest sit-in
by Moonshine Still keyboard player Trippe Wright, who added timely
electronics to cap off the first song of the night. After an intense
opening, "Don't Panic" - a new song penned by Will Bradford for their
next release Apocalypse Cow - emerged from the rubble. Quickly becoming
a favorite within their fan base, the song has an eerie sense of
emergency and is a by-product of Bradford's obsession with the end of
civilization. It is a decent segue tune clocking in at around three
minutes, and it set the table for "Butchers." This tune finds the band
transformed into a politically-conscious, tweaked-out trance act,
combining slick lyrics with a large helping of break-beats and a
prowling bass line. After a brief switch-up of instruments, Bradford
announced that they would debut a new Apocalypse Cow song titled "My
Friends" for the hometown show. While the energy of this new track was
impressive, the transitioning in the beginning has to be cleaned up a
bit in order to make this one a keeper. Reminiscent of early nineties
rock & roll, one fan in attendance said the song made him want
to run home, throw on a flannel shirt, and start bobbing his head to
the beat. Band manager Victoria Karol pegged the song as the "Neil Jam
Special" or "Pearl Young Delight" in reference to Pearl Jam and Neil
Young's collaboration on "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World."
The sounds of pop-rock turned into folk and country as Andy Pond of
CX-1 augmented SeepeopleS, taking over duties on banjo for "Can't Turn
Back the Clock." This song gave the crowd a much-needed breather and
saw Bradford break out his new acoustic/electric guitar. Pond added a
nice solo to this mellow flowing tune and helped display the softer
side of SeepeopleS. A staple of their live shows, "It's Not So Fun"
(otherwise known as "Rocker") saw the band jump back into their
indie-rock boots and deliver a solid rendition of this tightly composed
anthem. The last song on SeepeopleS' first album, "Out Here On Our
Own," closed out the set and featured the most memorable collaboration
of the night. Clocking in at around ten minutes, this song displays the
band's advanced grasp of song structure and knowledge of odd time
signatures. The diverse musicianship of bassist Dan Ingenthron and
drummer Tim Haney help keep this song afloat while it builds and builds
to a fever pitch. About seven minutes into the song, Moonshine Still
guitarist David Shore emerged from the green room to deliver a
blistering solo that reached an astounding stadium rock peak.
Tremendous interplay between Ingenthron and Shore made this song the
top collaboration of the evening.
After an energizing set by SeepeopleS, CX-1 vaulted onto the stage and
hit the ground running. The project is a fusion of two Southeastern
acoustic music mainstays: Snake Oil Medicine Show (SOMS) and Acoustic
Syndicate. With each group having recently disbanded, several of the
remaining members wanted to continue the journey and teamed up to
create their self-proclaimed "modern fusion music." The progressive
roots power quartet features familiar faces such as Andy and George
Pond as well as Billy Seawall from SOMS and the lone Syndicate
survivor, bassist/composer Jay Sanders. The group brings a sound that
is a conglomeration of past projects but has evolved further and
expanded into new musical boundaries. Their material is a mixture of
world beat, reggae, rock, and Americana complemented by a healthy
infusion of SOMS' creative bluegrasstafari. With the new group fully
intact, they have begun exploring acoustic electronica that they say
will "take you on a journey through vast soundscapes and music
adventures." When I spoke with Sanders, he felt the set really started
to take off when they busted out "The Epic of Medium Proportion," a
George Pond original. This high-energy tune with a super tight groove
was immediately met with a positive response from the crowd and became
a stepping stone for a set full of collaborations. First up on the
carousel was Bradford from SeepeopleS lending some of his dub styling
on the Reuben Brooks masterpiece "Lonely Man." "Freedom" gave Sanders
an opportunity to get back to his roots and strap on a guitar. Known
widely throughout the Southeast for his bass duties in Acoustic
Syndicate and his work with the Snake Oil crew, Sanders got a moment to
reflect on the electric guitar for this politically-motivated song.
Emphasizing the dangers of war from a soldier's perspective, the
tribute was written for Jeremy Saunders's (saxophonist - Acoustic
Syndicate) brother, who is stationed with the National Guard in Iraq.
Andy Pond's country rock song "Tell Me So" brought another augmentation
to CX-1 as Harris Gardner (Woodwork Roadshow) and Scott Baston
(Moonshine Still) took over duties on mandolin and guitar,
respectively, for the rest of the set.
For old school Snake Oil fans, "Wax-Covered Fuzz ball" has been
brilliantly reworked into a danceable New Orleans-esque funk number.
Reggae tune "Is It True" stretched to more than ten minutes as the
collaborators began to pour on stage. With Baston and Gardener already
in the fold, both Bradford and Wright came out for overtime on the
keyboards while Bill Jarrett of Moonshine Still made an appearance on
percussion. Their last song of the night saw them up the ante with
"Flash Groove." Stretching longer than fifteen minutes, this song
jumped to creative explorations and added two new guests in Ingenthron
and Shore. After reflecting on the show, Sanders noted that this song
may have been his personal highlight from the Terrapin Jamfest tour.
After two sets of collaborative music, Georgia favorite Moonshine Still
was last to grace the stage. I had only seen them two other times at
smaller venues in Asheville, but the size of the rooms in which they
perform is hardly an indication of their talent. They are a very tight
band with a remarkably deep repertoire, which has been growing for
nearly a decade along with a dedicated regional fan base. MsS also
travels with a tremendous array of light and sound equipment not
normally found accompanying a band on their level. The group has
evolved quickly this past year, leaving a large portion of their older
material on the back burner in order to delve into their newest
compositions. I was impressed by the group's cohesion from past show
experiences, and there was a real positive response as soon as they
came on stage. Early notables included "Gholson's Ghost" and "Mine
Eyes," while "Barely Alive" saw an appearance by Sanders on upright
bass playing a section normally reserved for percussion. The variation
proved a solid venture, and thus continued the theme of constant
collaborations between all the groups on the bill. "Long Walk" was met
with tremendous enthusiasm, and the third "Seeperson" Haney emerged
from backstage to lend some percussion to "Drive Thru Town."
Michael Smalley, lighting director for Moonshine Still, noted of
Haney's playing ability, "Tim is such a tight and precise drummer; he
can really boost the pulse of a show. This song is already a rocker,
and Tim really brought it home. The four-night run was amazing, such a
diverse bill. You really got the best of everything. SeepeopleS is so
innovative and exciting to see in a live setting. We in Moonshine are
really huge fans of their music, and touring with them, we learned how
great they are as people. I think that's why the sit-ins at the Orange
Peel were so important, because it was an exchange of ideas that each
band has and how they explore them differently. CX-1 really turned it
up and went to new places, and I think it was the collaborations that
helped them get there."
The second half of Moonshine's set saw another appearance by Gardner,
who added great energy on mandolin for "Cancer of the Answer" and
"Cajun Draw." Andy Pond provided yet another highlight as he brought
out his banjo one last time and helped take "Pyramid" to uncharted
territory. Overall, it was a special night in Asheville, and I cannot
recall the last time I took in a performance with so many energizing
collaborations.
Looking back on the show, the ticket price could have definitely been
higher for such a great evening of music. Many worthy causes and people
in need of assistance benefit from this tour. It is of major importance
for communities to support musicians who are performing to assist
worthy beneficiaries. I didn't have any expectations going into the
show, but the diversity of the lineup, bevy of collaborations, and
charitable focus of the event made it a more than worthwhile cause to
support.
Christopher Gaspar
JamBase
Go See Live Music!
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