Mixed Nuts Night || December 2, 2011 || Caravan Series

The name says it all. It was definitely a bag of mixed nuts last night at The Caravan. Then again this is the reason that we love this bar so much. And every once and a while those nuts taste so damn good...almost as good as the the vices that we were also there for.  It started out with a small chat and hello to bouncer Phil.  He is the one who inspired the headline.  "Hey, Phil!  How's it going?  Who is playing tonight?"  He appropriately replied, "Well it is kind of a mixed bag tonight."  He was sure right about that.

We paid our admission of one flash of the i.d. for a stamp and atmittence into the bar.  They had a decent early crowd with just a few regulars.  The first band was already playing.  My guess was that it was a newly formed band called  Bottle Kids.  They were competent enough.  The guitar player had a good tone and as many agree, not enough female singers out there in the scene, so it is always nice to see a women chiming through with her natural pipes, which sounded good.  Too many covers though.  They probably just need to spend more time writing and recording.  A good opening to the evening though.

Next up to the plate were the old time punks, Five Fingers of Death.  Now I don't know how long that these guys have been doing this, but it sounded like they had been at it quite a while from all the quirps and rips about being old and rumors of breakups and what not.  Let alone, their sound placed me smack dab right back in the 1985 punk scene.  They were tight, with the exception of the drummer, John Surrey.  I don't think that was his real name but it was last night.  The bass player was full of stage banter and classic punk ribbing that had me in tears I was laughing so hard.  A couple of the better rants were, "Hey we have a celebrity in the audience tonight.  Ladies and gentlemen may I introduce you to Roberta Gonzales of the Channel 5 News Team.  She is hiding right behind Rob Zombie."  It wasn't them, but damn near close. 
 
The two veterans up front really let the drummer have it.  He took the brunt of the humor, but they were damn right about the goofy look on his face as he played in time to the punk beat.  All three looked like they were having fun and they sure were entertaining.  Plus who cannot love such hits as "Lick my Balls", "Fat Bitch" and "The Drunk Side of the Moon".  I concur that I had not seen Five Fingers of Death before.  I would've remembered the schtick.  I will see them again.

Last, but not least, were the newcomers to the scene, Loose Cuts.  Don't have a clue what the name means....sometimes its better that way.  Shit, these kids came out blazing.  First off, I dig the young, hipster humor.  The drummer in cutoff red pants, headband and a Bob Marley shirt with a portrait of Hendrix on it.  Though they may be young they steal all of their swagger in the likes of Mick and the boys circa '64.  They are basically a tight blues band with a rippin' guitar sound.  The guitarist has some licks and it is easy to do when he had a great rhythm section backing him up.  The vocalist sounded very similar to Jeremy Powers of Red Planet and once he gets the confidence behind him and starts strutting like Howlin' Pelle Almqvist these guys will really become contenders.  Like I mentioned, they came out blazing however the set got a little weak toward the end.  Typical of a young band.  My only other constructive criticism would be for the guitarist to keep the Fender Blues Jr. in the bedroom and get a higher wattage amp for clubs.  The tone was fine, it just wasn't in balance with the rest of the band.  I will be on the lookout for these guys in the future.

Mixin' up the genre's.  All and all another great night of good bands all for the cost of some liquor at the Caravan.  If I am able to find any pictures from the show I will post too.

Them Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches || Drinkin' Music || Hidden Rock'n'Roll p.4

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Who would of ever thought that Them Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches original nucleus was formed out of a short-lived band project called Fart-Pod Five?  Imagine that?  When prompted where the original band name came from the only answer I received was, "just put it this way, you wouldn't of wanted to be in the practice studio with us."  I think I got the message.

The formation of this icon of the San Jose drinking scene started between Jeff Okubo (formerly of Platinum Head, Two Headed Turtle & Denial) and Steve "aka Stevil, aka Pickle, aka Sweet Pickle" Laflen (The X-Old Ladies, The Booty Chesterfield Trio & Tropical Leather).  These two men met through a mutual friend who was a friend of both these lads ex-girlfriend (yes, they dated the same woman, allegedly at different times).  They were not sure of what the exact vein of music they wanted to tap into, but their roots kept pulling toward a country sound.  See, Jeff's father grew up on a farm in the southbay area and the family car was always dialed into KEEN, the southbay's country station.  Through transfusion of trips to the corner market, 70s country was infused into the young mans psyche.  Now, Sweet Pickle is from Tuscon, Arizona.  The state where guns laws are loose and outlaws are still hiding.  Country was the way he came out of the womb.


With the addition of Eric "Magnum" Burchfield on bass the 3 played out and about as a trio for sometime.  They still felt that something was missing.  They auditioned banjo players, harmonica players, female vocalists, you name it....but it wasn't until the seasoned pedal steel player, Mr. John Vaughan (former guitarist for The Mind Garage who was famously known as the band who put on the First Christian Rock Service on March 10, 1968 and infamously declined to play Woodstock the following year), came into the mix that the SJSOBs became a complete unit.

From there they just about became the house band at the Caravan Lounge in 2009 and '10.  They played there just about every other week.  Rachel, the main bartender booking bands, took a liking to their raw, upbeat country sound.  With all that playing underneath their belts a pretty tight little quartet formed and started getting local gigs elsewhere and up in the city.  When and nice array of original songs, they went into the studio in 2009 and recorded their debut album "Whiskey and Waffles", which became a local favorite.  When I asked a local fan what draws them toward them SJSOBs he replied, "it is just good toe-tapping music."

This band is definitely a sum of the parts.  There is no doubt that Stevil takes the leads on the musical attributes as well as the amazingly precise and rocking guitar picking.  Still, with out Jeff's steady beat and backing vocals (as well as in-between songs antics), the songs would not be the same.  Then you have Magnum keeping the low end, steady and minimalistic.  I'll never forget the bass-player of Huntinanny saying, "God, I love the way you play.  How do you avoid so many notes?  I feel like I noodle way too much when I see you play."  And last, but not least is the pedal playing on John.  He does a wonderful job of throwing in a layer of tone into the songs that makes them really have a life. 

They are a fun band to go and see on a weekend at your local watering hole.  My advice go grab a cold beer, maybe a shot of whiskey and check them out at a dive by near you.

Here are some videos to further let you know what Them Slack Jawed Sons of Bitches is all about:

Classic Caravan footage:

This is from the now defunct Checkered Flag:

Here they are opening up for Wayne "The Train" Hancock at The Blank Club:

Meat Hammer || Who the Fuck are These Guys? || Hidden Rock'nRoll pt.2

One Friday night back in the fall of 2007 Jeff and I decided to task the risk and just head down to The Caravan to see who was playing.  Our reservoir of live music needed to be filled.  To our luck this group Meat Hammer was about to go on.  Simply put, we were stoked before one amp was turned on due to the psychotic look they had on their faces.  It had nothing to do with the fact that they were all wearing butcher outfits and were cover in fake blood.  Then they plugged in.  Fucking classic speed metal.  It was awesome.  The crowd was loving it.  I was loving it along with them.  They were in total character the whole time even when were packing up their things and heading for the door.

Not much is online with these guys.  They have a myspace page but haven't checked it in 6 months.  I haven't heard about them playing.  Several years ago I thought that I had heard that they had broken up.  I hope it is not true.  The only other tidbit of info I have on them is a dude who was working for Century Stereo told me (I think...memory is sometimes foggy and I like to take the liberty that a free writer gets to take) that he used to work with one of them at Best Buy.  Either way, check 'em out if you can.  They are a great show.

Here is the best of what I could find online.  Enjoy!







This is a happy crowd. 
























I couldn't find any videos of them.  If anybody has some, please let me know. I would love to post them.

oh yes, One final thing.....Jeff loved these dudes performance so much he dressed up for work as one of them that year for Halloween!

The Gillbillies || San Jose's best kept Secret || Hidden Rock'n'Roll

Who knows what a Gillbillie is?  It is a fish from the back country that likes surf music.  And that sentence alone describes this band from the 408.  How did I first come about hearing The Gillbillies?  Rachel (booker/bartender) at The Caravan put in a call saying that we should come on down and check out this band that was playing at her bar that night.  It was a typical Caravan scene, but I had the feeling Steve, Jeff & myself weren't the only ones who got the call.  We walked in grabbed a beverage than posted up close to the well lit stage (x-mas lights on the drumset with lit cow skull if my memory serves me correctly).  Then in classic Stevil fashion he lets out, "God, I hope we see some good music tonight".  You see, the beauty of the Caravan is that it is a mixed bag of nuts.  You never really know what you are going to get.  And we had been on a "miss streak" lately seeing some really weak shows, but this all changed that night.  The Gillbillies blew the doors off the Caravan.  A wonderful tone of hard edged surf, punk country music played through Gibson guitars.  See the typical surf music is played through single coil pick ups (usually Fenders of Mosrites) over saturated with reverb dripping out of the speakers.  They played a fatter, harsher sound humbucking through classic 6L6 tube tone.

We were literally blown away by their sound, look and performance.  It was the best band that I had seen at the Caravan in a very long time.  And we only caught one of their two sets that evening.  All three of us walked away from that show saying the same thing, "Did we just see that?"

So who are The Gillbillies? First there is the axe-wielding Jimbo.  This dude knows his way around the guitar.  His array of Gibsons all include a bigsby vibrato for that much needed twang.  He has several Les Pauls, a few Flying Vs, and I have seen pics of him playing a LP Special too.  My favorites are easily the Flying Vs.  I mean who doesn't want to see surf songs coming out of a Flying V with a Bigsby on it.  He inspired me to live out my own dreams and pick up an '84 Designer Series V on Craigslist.  Thanks Jimbo!  He is a really precise guitar player that has a gentle touch on the whammy giving the tone that subtle dark mood.  Perfect for a packed house at The Caravan!

Next is Bass Player, Nick.  The man has a dead stare and a badass beard.  But besides that his minimalist playing (the hardest type of playing to do!) sets a perfect stage for Jimbo's reverb soaked guitar tone.  The first time I saw The Gillbillies, Nick was playing the heavy-weight classic tone of his '76 Ampeg SVT through an 8x10 Cabinet.  Oh the glory of that in your face at the Caravan.  It is a heavy, heavy rig, so Nick doesn't play it all the time.  If you see him encourage him to play it and offer him a hand on loading it in.  Also, I hear the rumors that Nick is the main man for working on all the Amps and Guitars.  Steve from SJSOBs said he has used him several times for amps and guitars and stated,  "the guy knows what he is doing."  From the sound of The Gillbillies live, that is easily the case.

Rounding up the Power Trio is Brad on Drums.  While the man doesn't sport the long beard like the others he definitely is an integral part to The Gillbillies sound.  Him and Nick work perfectly together to hold down a steady rhythm that allows Jimbo to freely go where he wants to on the neck of the Guitar.  Other than that I don't know too much about Brad, he seems like he is the quieter one in the group however all members are very modest for their abilities as well as very approachable.


In regards to history of the Band, not too much is known.  Their banner states that they have been rocking it since 2004,  however it has just been in the last several years that these boys have been playing heavily through out the South Bay Area.  There was a rumor floating around that Jimbo & Nick toured with the Reggae legends, The Itals for years.  I don't know if there is any validity to it but it does add to their mystique.  Either way, the three of them now make up The Gillbillies.  They play around San Jose quite a bit lately and I would give a strong recommendation for their live performance.  Go out and see live music today!


Here are a couple of videos to give you a taste of what the Gillbillies are all about.  (Disclaimer: However good you think these videos are, it doesn't does do their live shows justice!)

Bye For Now!!

UPDATED: August 22, 2011
Here is some more live footage from these dudes that I took last weekend.  The crowd was loving them.  They played with this band called Mons Pubis, that I need to go check out.  We walked down to catch a little Beerjuana at the Blank and only made it back for half of their last song.

Here is The Gillbillies taken care of business...


This is when things took off, Gillbillies doing some Sabbath...

They Always Say When You Write Make it Something You Know and Love

For me that is easy; I love music and I love San Jose.  I also live in San Jose and play music.  Hence, the love.  A while back, just like thousands of young music fans in the Silicon Valley, I would complain about a "lack of scene" in San Jose.  Years later I find that statement is absolute bullshit.  And I want to set the record straight.  See, there is lack of a big "well known" scene here.  By the time it takes for something like that to incubate it has already become passe.  Why? It has gone from a trend to a fad.

The process is always the funnest part anyways.  San Jose has seen its share of good bands.  And that count continues to grow.  Are kids caring more?  Or are they just getting better.  Partly both.  I used to think that in the future there would always be an epic music & arts scene here due to that amount of collective intelligence that makes this community.  I was dead wrong.  Through very little research there is/was and has always been a ton of artistic endeavors in this valley.  One does not have to look far (check out the San Jose Museum of Art and the exhibits they get rolling through that joint for starters).  Music too, however not nearly as much as other forms of art.

The objective of this blog is to highlight some shows that have occurred in the last 15 years or so (if anyone wants to tackle any other era drop me a line) that I attended in Silicon Valley and that have made enough of an impact on me that I willed myself to write about them.  So here goes nothing...