Asylum Street Spankers~
Wednesday, March 11th I was walking by The Triple Door in Seattle and saw the marquee. Asylum Street Spankers, a so-called neo-traditional folk group (which Rampant Arts calls a “post-modern jug band”) is actually a band that defies classification in my opinion, had two shows. I walked up to the window & bought a ticket right then & there.
I went to the early show, which I don’t normally do. Earlier shows are generally more casual show than a later show. True story, they were very laid back (not that they aren’t always fairly laid back), but with them talking Pig Latin to each other about the next song and giggling onstage, coming & going, it was clear they were having as much fun as we were. It was so relaxed and natural, I truly appreciated them for the “regular guys” that they are. No doubt very musically talented guys, but regular guys nonetheless. Who else can appreciate PBR??!
I did not get a list of the players at the show and since the lineup changes often, I believe they were: Wammo, Nevada Newman, Charlie King, Morgan Patrick Thompson, Mark Henne and Scott Marcus. Famous Jake Breitbach and one other fella whose name I didn’t catch (could it have been the beer?) made an appearance singing a song about getting back into the band…hmmm. Christina Marrs was absent due to maternity leave and Stanley Smith had a death in the family. I apologize if I missed someone or included someone I shouldn’t have…that’s what I get for last minute decisions to attend shows without any time to do research.
I had a great time and The Triple Door is always a great venue - fabulous stage and great sound system for the acoustic players. The energetic and generally smart ass acoustic set of what’s been termed neo-traditional folk which is really comprised of folk, country, blues, jazz, Tin Pan Alley, swing and alt-country, was awesome and fun and made me want to buy one of their many CDs or T-shirt to remember the event. They do cover material but do mostly original compositions about subjects such as drinking, drugs, cars, politics, conspiracy theories, you know, the gamut of all things controversial. They had been on a “regular” label but created their own Spanks-a-Lot Records for creative control and so they could produce more music whenever they wanted to. Good move.
Anytime you have a chance to witness the antics of this band, do it. You will thank yourself later just like I did after many “PBRs” and an aching side from the guy next to me elbowing me at the beginnning of each song. (Yeah. He did that.)
For more info check out their website: http://www.asylumstreetspankers.com/
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