MMJ, The Long Ryders and Louisville Rock Pantheon

[thebigbang]

Here is a question for all the Louisville folks on this board, and anyone else who might have some knowledge of our music history.

About a month ago I saw Sid Griffin perform at the Rudyard Kipling (where MMJ once put on tremendous short set about 1:00 in the morning after David Amram went long prior to their show- http://www.fmp.com/amram/).

Anyway, I think Sid was the greatest Louisville contribution to the world of Rock and Roll music in the past 20 years, until MMJ came along, even though Sid had to leave town before he hit his stride.  Since his 1980's band The Long Ryders broke up, he performs in a bluegrass band and solo shows. (His show was brilliant, by the way, even though there were only 19 paid attendees when Sid stopped to count them mid-show).

Because it is fun to do these kinds of things, would you all share your speculations as to who the greatest Louisville connected rock n roll artists were (since 1980, when recordings started becoming more easily made and distributed and beause most of the board wasn't even alive much before that time). I'll start with my list and am eager to see who you think I missed:

1) My Morning Jacket (you know why!)

2) Sid Griffin-Long Ryders (If you like MMJ, you'll like these guys)

3) Squirrel Bait (punk music pantheon: Ramones, Pistols, Clash, Undertones and Squirrel Bait, but the punk sound and attitude is a bit confining as the Clash figured out famously)

4)The Holidays (mid-80s Americana band in Lousivlle, who were up against the same musical tides that kept the Long Ryders from gaining multi-platinum success.

5)Terry Adams-NRBQ (though I never felt they ever put it all together on any one album or show that I heard)

6)Dead Serious (my favorite Louisville "new wave" band, fronted by the soon to be wife of the Holidays singer, and the band on this list least likely to be known by anyone on the MMJ board. They opened for the Pretenders before half of that band overdosed)

I'll stop at six because those are the six that impressed me significantly beyond all the others I've heard.

Notes: I own two Slint albums, but they never moved me or entertained me the way the above bands do.  And I've seen hundreds of Louisville bands live since I've spent years going out 3 or 4 nights a week to hear live music.  But I never got to see the legendary late 90s band, Month of Sundays.

Anyone sufficiently impressed with Tantric or Days of the New to put them on their list? King Kong, Pennies, Bodeco or Flaw?

[DD]

days and tantric kinda suck ass.  and really werent "local" bands.  they were from southern indiana even though they claimed louisville citizenship.  (um and no im not a louisville snob, im a southern indianaer)


the pennies were really good.  but some of them had some pretty snotty attitudes.  dont get me wrong, they were one of my fav bands of all time from this town.  i couldnt get enough of gary claude playing the drums.  that dude was amazing.  however, i was more impressed with jeremy's classical pieces than his pop songs.  that guy can write some fucking amazing shit!

erchint was great.  really hard rock n roll, not really hardcore, but they were lumped in with the hardcore scene.  some screamo vocals but backed by zepplin/black sabbath inspired rock.

endpoint.  without these guys the current hardcore scene both locally and internationally wouldnt be what it is.  these guys have just about as much influence on that scene as ANY of the major pioneers of hardcore music. you can see rob penningtons band black cross currently playing local shows.

front porch campaign is still alive and kicking and have been in one form or another since back in 93.  these guys are just pure kick ass rock n roll.  very poppy angles to their songs, realy great shit.

second story man is about my favorite band right now locally.  their album pins and needles has been in heavy rotation since i got it.  totally amazing pop vocal male/female harmonies.  awesome song stylings, and just really fucking good all around.  their live shows are ususally a bit more rockin than the albums and i like both.

vhs or beta.  they are the best when it comes to their style locally.  but i listen to a lot of "dance" and electronic music and am kinda let down by some of their stuff.  there seem to be a lot of influences out there that they miss out on.  BUT, i havent really digested any of their albums so i might just be completely full of shit.  ive seen their live shows and they are high energy and almost EVERYONE is out shaking their booties.  definetly a worthwhile experience.

there are other bands too that i cant really drop big paragraphs about because they would be positively or negatively biased because of my closeness to their members or my affiliations current or former with those bands they are as listed here:
your black star (albums available at ear x tacy)

jkessinger and the verlaines (their album featurning me and
johnny quaid is available at ear x tacy)

blue goat war (their albums, one featuring me, are available at ear x tacy)

rednails (my current project playing oct 31 @ keswick democratic center with Black Cross, Christiansen, Redhanded, etc)  hopefully an album will happen by mid next year (the songs are done it just takes $$ to record and press)

um and i guess thats about it.  but ireally cant say enough about how much days SUCKS ASS.  the band tantric itself is pretty good.  those dudes are decent musicians but they HAD to go and get some crappy lane staley, eddie vedder wannabe sounding singer.  that sound is SOOOOOOOO 1993.  i REALLY wish musicians could move past that and just sing like themselves.  jebus f'n christ.

um other honorable mentions in some of the best in history though:
guilt, aasee lake, enkidel, fallng forward, sunspring, raze, two shotguns, month of sundays, the ghost club, out, without further ado, adaptor, etc etc etc etc

(this almost seems like it should be in off topic ramblings...the last time i mentioned my bands people gave me shit about self promotion...but fuck em.)
 :P my 8

[wordawg]

Never even heard of (most of)these bands coming as I do from the north of England.  However, The Long Ryders were kiss ass.  Excellent band.  Nice to see them mentioned.

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

DD stole all the best ones.  Damn it.

10 Foot Pole, from Lexington, were pretty great in their heyday circa 1992.

MMJ, of course.

VHS or Beta, of course.

Bodeco/King Kong-ahh, the glory days of Tewligan's.  (or Snagilwet's...hee hee)

I might have been too old for Endpoint/Sunspring, and the hardcore "scene" in Louisville started sounding the same after a while.  You can only see so many hardcore bands...just my 2 cents.

John King-hidden treasure of Louisville.  

Really, though-until MMJ came along, I felt that local music wasn't doing it for me anymore.  Now, it's not everyday that the best band I've ever seen come along in your backyard...that's mighty spiffy.

[dtrain]

I can't weigh out the most influencial but I can name my favorites of all times:

MMJ (yep)

Month of Sundays/Two Shotguns (where it all began)

Lather (I'll always like lather more than the pennies or front porch campaign because brian and jeremy sounded so much better together than they do separate)

King Kong (seeing Ethan wave his arms around never gets old)

Intravenus de Milo (I think maybe only 10 people ever saw this band, but it was fronted by a genuine lunatic who sang to his weird props and it scared the shit out of me....I loved it...obviously a good name too)


Slint (IMHO, solely for the drumming of Britt)

[Flo]

I never knew SD was from the lvile???

So cool, loved their song "Looking for Lewis and Clark". I met him a few years back with his BG band when they played Jim Porter's Good Time Emporium, about 20 people showed up for that show as well.

My fave locals:

Paul K and the Prayers - all around killer songwriter - can rock, can go countrified, can basically do anything, is now writing for the LEO these days and if I had a budget, I'd give it to him to get his band back together, they literrally rocked so hard over the past 10 years, and did the promo thing to perfection, that I'm AMAZED the majors never gave him a shot! http://www.paulk.bravepages.com/

The Java Men - cool jazz, accomplished playing and excellent originals. this is prolly THE hardest working band in lville, but not for the band, the playesr all have jammed with and played out with at least 45+ locals bands over the years. http://drs.yahoo.com/S=2766679/K=the+java+men/v=2/SID=e/l=WS1/R=1/H=0/*-http://www.javamen.com/

The Pennies same as above, sorry to see them split after they made such hedgeways. Anyone know what they are doing now that the bands not together? I know a band that needs a killer drummer. http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/3/the_pennies.html

Crainduring the early 90's when punk broke, this was my band! Their live sets were incredible! Had a clashnessness that spoke volumes over the other bands in that scene. I used to videotape band sets for my public access show at the old sandwhich shop off frankfort (now an irish pub/rest), and their show was always something I'd go back to and use if I ever needed some bang at the end!

Cooler rock music the way it should be played with emotional conviction, a sense of humor, and loud! http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/3/cooler.html

[Flo]

This is such a great thread I thought I'd write some more hehe...

OK, I think Days/Tanric did a great job of getting louisville music it's due. Unfortunately, the only other bands which got the chance during that run were from the heavy/nea/metal scene which I'm really not into, Flaw, outspoken. I've heard samples from both and just can't get into that style of music so can't really comment good or bad.

Neither of those 2 bands have gotten much press though, I DID see Outspoked on HDNET which was really cool.

Travis's father Monkey Minks (I kid you not) did have a run at it during the 60s/70s, he's got a John Cougar thing going on, and is as good a songwriter in that style that I've heard.

Bukshot Rap artist I've never heard but a recent story written by our music friend Jeffry P said "He took $700 in seed money raised from selling his comic-book collection and parlayed it into more than $900,000 in gross sales." Hmmm interesting as hell, and obviously a playa in the Indie market:) BTW the Lvile rap scene is pretty intense, I worked with Strongworld and their natoriously big promoter Twelv a few years back, he has an artist namned Dice that is pretty awesome in all ways.

Anton mink playing tonight at the Highland brew pub, a classic return to classic sound, reminds me of janis joplin singing for janes addiction/zepplin but with a real cool Indie feel. CU THERE!!!!

[salsa]

you all forgetting some great louisville area bands.
Will Oldam - The palace guy
Evergreen - from back in the day
Freakwater
The Rain Chorus

Louisville has always had incredible bands. Cheap rent, the best park system in the midwest, tons of smoke, beautiful women, tobacco, The Kentucky Derby, plenty of jobs, low inflation, plenty of jazz players (to teach us rockers the basics), and great sunsets! This kind of atmoshpere just bleeds creativity.
Rock on MMJ and all the Louisville area bands that think outside the corporate rock box!!
Salsa

[DD]

last i heard jeremy from the pennies was in chicago composing music.

gary is in san fransisco where his wife goes to school.

i think dave khubander is still here in town.  im not sure what he is doing.

i havent heard anything about other dave.  he is probbably teaching music somewhere.....he might be in chicago too.

BUT, the last i heard is you never know about those dudes.  there is always a chance they could play together again.  im sure they are still shopping demos out.  so dont give up on em!

[Dave K.]

Hey. I don't know if you ever got the chance to see Sancred, but they were a phenomenon. They, as people, were proud to say that they were not going to blow up because they refused to kiss anyone's ass. This was, ironically, exactly why they did blow up. The stuff that they recorded is good, but it sounds even better when you can relate it to live shows that you saw (which is the case with many bands).
also, the Pennies were onto something, but it seemed like they couldn't make up thier minds. Oh, well.

[plank10]

ahh Sancred. I miss when lousiville had so many great bands. Those shows were unreal. Has someone metioned Erchint and Kinghorse? Evergreen?

Oh yeah and Rodan. The Rodan/Endpoint show at tweligans is a great memory.

DD what were your bands?

[Matt Crawford]

Not sure if you can condsider these bands "local" but they sure do have Louisville ties: Metroschifter and June of 44. They both are in my top 5, real good stuff.

[plank10]

Metroschifter is definately local. K Scott even ran for mayor. his radio show was rockin. Its too bad emusic hasn't followed through with the idea of putting the entire slamdeck catalog online.

[wordawg]

Sid Griffin!! Just re-read this.  Has anyone got any current news him?
I remember the Long Ryders with a big smile on my face - they were that type of band.

[kevinjanes]

The Galoots always thrilled my ears. They were THE bluegrass band to see here Louisville until their demise a few years ago. Some of those members (well, all of them sans Shannon Lawson) can still be seen in clubs around town as Hog Operation.

***Warning- indirect self promotion below***

I think my friends Digby are a great live band as well. Don't be fooled by the overproduction on their last record. This band can hold their own among alt-pop's best...

[wordawg]

Just out of interest, anyone know if 'State of our Union' is available on cd?

[Doghouse slim]

How about...

De-funked:
Babylon Dance Band
Crane
King Horse
Cherub Scourge
The Blinders
Rodan

Still-funked:
Freakwater
Satchel's Pawn Shop
Bo Deco
Hell's 1/2 Acre
Shipping News

As far as Tantric, D of N and tha bunch, they really can;'t be considered Louisville music...as commercial stuff like that could come from anywhere. And does. (Although they are great at it.)

Cheers!

[thebigbang]

Just out of interest, anyone know if 'State of our Union' is available on cd?

I've been looking for that Long Ryders cd for years. I saw one on Ebay once that appeared to be a British release.  It sold for a lot of bucks. If I had realized how scarce they must be I might have bid, as I haven't seen another one for sale since. I do have the LP.

Much of their stuff on Ebay is from Europe as they were bigger there than the home country apparently.

If they had an online discography as comprehensive as this one:
http://www.magnix.demon.nl/mmj/disco.htm
we might know if it ever had a cd release in the USA.

[cherokeepark]

louisville goods/greats:

squirrel bait  
dave pajo
kinghorse
slint
gastr del sol
bush league
LG&E
solution unknown
malignant growth/fading out
endpoint
ennui
sunspring
metroschifter
telephone man
falling forward
crain
hedge
erchint
rodan
rachels
king kong
java men
palace/will oldham
month of sundays
out
by the grace of god
guilt
aasee lake
red sun
retsin
city of ghosts
freakwater
shipping news
june of 44
bodyhammer
eleven eleven
wino
elliot
national acrobat
adaptor
fire the saddle
skam impaired (entertainment value)
second story man
the for carnation
ousia
the helgeson story

[wordawg]

That's some list!
Can you tell me more about Elliot? (Its my sons name)

Thanks