Carl Palmer
Event on 2014-11-06 20:00:00
Carl Palmer is a drummers drummer. A consummate professional, a brilliant technician and a dynamic showman, he has thrilled listeners and audiences alike for nearly four decades with some of musics most memorable bands including Atomic Rooster, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Asia and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Along the way his dazzling speed and mastery of the drums, combined with his infectious stage personality, have secured for him a respected place in history as one of Rock and Rolls greatest drummers.Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer was born in Birmingham, England, on March 20th, 1950. From the beginning it was clear that music was in the stars for the young Carl Palmer. His grandfather played the drums, his grandmother was a symphony violinist, his mother played an assortment of instruments, and his father sang, danced and played the guitar and drums as a semi-professional entertainer. In a musical family where even his brothers picked up the guitar and drums, Carls fascination with music began early and classical violin studies followed.As he grew older, his tastes began to broaden and on ABCs In Concert Palmer recalled how he was influenced by a film he saw during these formative years. The 1959 film Drum Crazy (aka The Gene Krupa Story), starring American film icon Sal Mineo (Rebel Without A Cause, Exodus), captured Carls imagination and set him on his way he was hooked. His biggest influences from that point forward were Krupa and drum legend Buddy Rich who would later become a close personal friend of Carls. For his eleventh birthday he received a new drum set and immediately began to study the instrument. Over the next three years he studied with local instructor Tommy Cunliffe, played in a radio orchestra (the Midland Light Orchestra) and performed with his fathers dance band.At age 14 Carl Palmer joined his first professional band, a six-month stint with The Mecca Dance Band, for which he was paid a whopping 23 pounds a week. At 15, Palmer enlisted in the Motown influenced King Bees along with Richard King on guitar, Len Cox on bass and Geoff Brown on lead vocals. The band would later be known as The Craig.Already a respected working drummer by 16, Palmer moved on to join Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds which also featured guitar great Albert Lee (later with Eric Clapton, Albert Lee & Hogan's Heroes, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Bill Wyman & the Rhythm Kings) and keyboardist Dave Greenslade (later in Colosseum). Pete Solley would eventually replace Greenslade in the band. Recalls Palmer, yeah that was a blues band, a soul band with saxophones and everything. At the time, we were produced by none other than Mick Jagger. It was Jagger who had originally discovered Farlowe. With Palmer in the band the Thunderbirds enjoyed moderate success with the single "My Way of Giving but it was the Rolling Stones cover Out Of Time which propelled Farlowe to the top of the UK charts.At the age of 18, replacing drummer Drachen Theaker, Carl Palmer joined up with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown at the absolute peak of their success following the smash single Fire (I am the God of Hellfire). Top 10 around the world and feeling the weight of success, cracks had begun to form in the band, there were personnel changes and Palmer arrived at a time when the band were touring with some of the biggest names in music. After brief rehearsals the lineup set out on an arduous U.S. tour alongside the cream of the rock world including the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Premier Cast of Hair, Iron Butterfly and others.The concerts were bombastic, pyrotechnic spectacles bordering on insanity, including the eccentric Brown setting himself on fire in asbestos suit, and the tour was a blur for the band. Speaking to Janis Schacht of Circus Magazine Palmer recalled, I don't know how the audiences were. I couldn't see them with Arthur Brown. I was wearing too many masks, there were too many strobe lights, it was very hard to tell. The audiences were nothing like what we have today and with Arthur being so visual you never got a chance in the band. He added, The audience anticipation was all Arthur's. So, musically, I was left behind. They would clap when he lit his fire helmet up. If I did something good, they wouldn't clap. Mind you, it might not have been good. I have no impressions from the last time.Continuing pressures, management problems, health issues and personality conflicts eventually took their toll. The disillusioned Brown became increasingly difficult and the band splintered. Speaking about Brown, Palmer recalled, It was no use talking to him so I just left him in the middle of the night. Carl, along with ailing keyboardist Vincent Crane, returned to the UK to form Atomic Rooster.It was with Atomic Rooster that Carl Palmer enjoyed his first real success as a founding member of a band. Media and fans alike immediately embraced Crane, Palmer and bassist/vocalist Nick Graham as the late 60s progressive rock scene was thriving. Their debut album, Atomic Rooster, hit number 49 in the U.K. All the while, fueled by his brilliant drum solos, Palmers reputation grew as a drummer with phenomenal skill and dizzying speed.In the spring of 1970, Carl Palmer received a phone call that changed his life forever. Keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson, himself enjoying Top 10 U.K. success with The Nice, was forming a new band with King Crimson founder Greg Lake who had also just experienced real success with his bands legendary In The Court Of The Crimson King. After trying out several drummers, including Mitch Mitchell, the two wanted Palmer to audition for a spot in the new trio but Palmer was uncertain if he wanted to leave the growing success of Atomic Rooster behind. Reluctantly, he agreed to meet and rehearse with the band and thank God he did.The trio's first rehearsal mostly featured Nice and King Crimson standards, including "Rondo" and "21st Century Schizoid Man, and all three musicians describe it as a magical feeling when they first played together. The session blew everyone away and Palmer was offered the job right there on the spot. Still not convinced however, he told Emerson and Lake that he would need to think it over. Returning the next day to another brilliant rehearsal, Carl Palmer accepted the invitation and joined the band.Immediately dubbed a supergroup by the media, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) entered the musical arena with great expectations.In August of 1970, while they were still working on the tracks that would eventually form their first album, ELP played its first show at Plymouth, and moved on immediately to the legendary Isle of Wight Festival. Following their set, which included an explosive version of Pictures At An Exhibition (complete with cannons), the fallout was massive. Said Palmer of the festival, I dont recall how well we played. All I know is that we went down incredibly well. Even that may have been an understatement. Perhaps signaling the path of the band itself, critical acclaim was monumental and overnight the band was thrust down the path to superstardom.The following month the group finished its self-titled debut album, which was released in November. Instantly successful, it climbed to the Top 5 in England and the Top 20 in America. The classic single "Lucky Man" became a hit, and their stage show quickly became the stuff of legend.The 1971 follow-up album, Tarkus, propelled the ELPs sound in new directions and was the first real test for the bands cohesiveness. Emerson, wanting to further experiment with the range of the Moog synthesizer, had composed a musically unorthodox, extended piece and Palmer had come up with an unusual drum pattern he wanted to incorporate. Arguments ensued and when Greg Lake, who was producing the album said he wouldnt be involved it looked like that might be it for ELP. In the end there was agreement (or agreement to disagree) and the album, which for many came to define ELPs sound, was released.On the heels of Tarkus rise to #1 on the UK charts and Top 10 in the America, ELP arrived at Newcastle City Hall on March 21, 1971, to perform and record live their signature adaptation of Modest Mussorgskys Pictures At An Exhibition. When released, that album too became a great success.Following a blistering schedule which saw the band touring furiously, the world over, ELP returned to the studio and released another impressive effort in Trilogy which saw the bands partnership fully back in balance.1973 saw ELP returning to touring and Carl traveling to the Guildhall School of Music in London where he studied classical timpani. That year also saw ELP return to the studio to record the album Brain Salad Surgery, perhaps the bands definitive work. Bearing such memorable work as Karn Evil 9, Still You Turn Me On and Jerusalem, the album is highlighted by Toccata, a reworking of Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera's Piano Concerto No. 1, and some of Carl Palmers most amazing drumming and synthesized percussion work, including the world's first electric drum solo. So incredible and original was the performance in fact that Ginastera himself endorsed the recording. "Everyone thought it was Emerson on a keyboard but it was infact, my custom made electric drums, which were built in London," says Palmer.An insane touring schedule followed and the legendary scale and musicianship of ELPs live show continued to grow as evidenced by the release of the epic triple live album Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends, released in August 1974. Tired from a grueling four year run which had seen the release of 5 albums as well as untold hundreds of tour dates, the band decided to take a hiatus to explore other projects and to recharge their creative juices.In reality, much of the material created during this period later went on the form the ELP albums Works, Volume I and Works, Volume II and when the band reunited for the former, a double album, it was decided that each would have a solo side followed by a forth side featuring the band as a unit. For his part, Carl Palmers contribution featured big band recordings recorded with 60s and 70s pianist & big band leader Harry South, as well as some individual tracks, including "LA '74" with guitarist Joe Walsh of the Eagles. The real gem from this period however was Palmers own epic Concerto for Percussion which, sadly, would wait nearly twenty years before finally being released.Following the Works albums and a grandiose, bank breaking orchestral tour the band returned to the studio one last time for the album Love Beach. In Concert, a testament, to the Works orchestral tour followed and in 1979 ELP quietly disbanded and exited the musical arena.Looking for new horizons beyond ELP Carl Palmer formed his own band, PM, for which he recruited vocalist Todd Cochran from the band Automatic Man and blues guitarist John Nitzinger, along with Erik Scott and Barry Finnerty. The band, an attempt at Top 40-style rock, released one album, entitled 1:PM, which was released in 1980 in Europe only. Success eluded the album and the band, which broke up shortly thereafter.Opportunity knocked again for Carl Palmer when manager Brian Lane approached him in 1981. Lane was trying to put together a supergroup concept for Geffen records and, reportedly, one of his first attempts brought together Palmer along with bassist/vocalist John Wetton (U.K., King Crimson), Rick Wakeman (Yes) and guitar ace Trevor Rabin (Rabbit, Manfred Mann and later Yes). A deal with Geffen is said to have fallen through when Wakeman bailed. Still intent on his idea of a supergroup, Lane introduced John Wetton to Yes axeman Steve Howe. When that musical fit seemed right Lane brought in Palmer and keyboardist Geoff Downes (The Buggles, Yes) filled out the lineup. The group Asia was born.Recording with Asia, and the concept of performing as a band rather than a fusing of solo artists, was something of a new experience for Carl Palmer who said, We have tried to create a sound collectively rather than a project as individuals. The bands self-titled debut album Asia was released in 1982 and a small tour began. Palmer and Wetton have said that they had a feeling in the studio they were doing something special but no one could have been prepared for what happened next. Asia exploded on the charts, right to number one, and over 7 million copies of the album were sold worldwide. Along the way singles such as Heat Of The Moment, Only Time Will Tell, Wildest Dreams and Sole Survivor dominated the charts for months. Asia was a perfect fit for the musical climate of the time.We were unique, said Palmer. Asia was English rock with a technical side. It's sophisticated rock mixed in with melodies and singles. It was taboo in those days. And you very rarely hear that today, either.After an exhausting 18-month tour, Asia followed up with their second album, Alpha, which spawned two charting hits, Don't Cry and The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. With the inevitable pressures that accompany such phenomenal success came signs that Asia was beginning to come apart.Pressures from management and personality clashes in the band finally came to head with the sudden departure of John Wetton late in 1983. Committed to a live MTV broadcast, Asia in Asia, Asia brought in Palmers old ELP mate Greg Lake to fill Wettons shoes. Shortly thereafter Lake went his own way, the band brought Wetton back in and Steve Howe departed the band for good. Astra, the bands third album, followed in 1985 with Mandy Meyer taking Steve Howes spot but the album failed to match the success of the earlier albums. A planned tour was abandoned and Asia went their separate ways.In 1988 the chance came for Carl Palmer to team up once again with Keith Emerson in a new group with California-based singer/bassist Robert Berry. 3, as they were called, released their only album, To The Power Of Three, on Geffen records. Though the group received respectable FM airplay and followed with a successful club tour, their release generated little interest and they disbanded early in 1989.Later in 1989 the Asia banner was raised once again when an invitation play a series of stadium dates with the Beach Boys brought Carl Palmer and John Wetton back into the Asia fold along with hired guns John Young and Alan Darby. Encouraged by the reception they received, Asia arranged another tour for the fall and convinced Geoff Downes to return.Hoping to generate interest in another Asia album the group set out on a feverish touring schedule accompanied by guitarist Pat Thrall. For the well traveled Carl Palmer it meant a return to the road and successful tours ensued in Germany, the U.K., Japan, Brazil and Russian. The Russian shows in particular represented another high in the Asia saga and were captured for posterity in the CD and video releases of Asia Live in Moscow. As Asia prepared to write a new album in 1991 John Wetton decided to leave and Carl Palmer jumped at the chance to reunite with his old mates Keith Emerson and Greg Lake in ELP.Originally the band had only intended on writing and recording music for a planned film score but the chemistry was clearly still there and eventually it was decided that they should record an album. Signed to the newly founded Victory Records, ELP returned in 1992 with Black Moon, a strong effort produced by Mark Mancina. A video was released and an ambitious tour followed. To the surprise of many the tour was quite successful and saw ELP circle the globe on a tour that lasted from the summer of 1992 well into 1993. Recalled Palmer, I knew wed be OK but I never dreamed it would be to this magnitude.ELP headed back into the studio but problems with Keith Emersons right arm and production that didnt really gel with the sound of ELP plagued the effort. In The Hot Seat was released in 1994 but failed to attract any real attention. ELP headed their own ways to concentrate on medical and personal issues but returned to touring in 1996 and over the next three years they were accompanied on the road by such notable acts as Deep Purple, Dream Theatre, Kansas and Jethro Tull. In the winter of 1998, and in the midst of great anticipation about a much hyped, forthcoming concept album Greg Lake left ELP which left Carl open to another reunion that was in the works.The wheels had begun to turn again and excitement grew for another reunion of the Asia originals. Negotiations continued and the band began to rehearse together in February 1999, joined by guitarist Dave Kilminster. The feeling among the principals was that the magic was still there and a world tour was announced, set to begin in June. Following a world tour, Asia had hoped to record a new album and Geoff Downes and John Wetton had already begun writing songs again. Said Carl Palmer at the time: There's some new material that is being rehearsed and recorded which will be played on the upcoming tour. I would say that there would be a new Asia album in the works for the year 2000. That's where we are at the moment.Unfortunately that is as far as it went. Almost as quickly as the whole project had begun it came crashing down with the announcement by Geoff Downes that he was abandoning the reunion. The event, which so many had hoped for, would have to wait. It did lead however to the brief reunion of Wetton and Palmer, along with guitarist Dave Kilminster and keyboardist John Young in the band Qango. Sporting a set list consisting of classic ELP, Asia, and King Crimson material, along with some new songs, Qango played a well-received series of dates. It was a wonderful feeling to be back on stage playing this material with our new band, said Palmer. The shows went down very well and have made us excited about continuing with more tours and the recording of new material. One memorable night even saw the band joined onstage by none other than Keith Emerson. Once again though, hope was short-lived and John Wetton departed the project leaving Palmer to ponder his next move.Not one to sit around, Palmer set out on a schedule that included instructing drum clinics & master classes and once again set out to create his own new band and along with bassist SIMON FITZPATRICK and guitarist extraordinare PAUL BIELATOWICZ he formed the progressive trio Palmer. The thought of Carl Palmer assembling a progressive trio might seem like he was relying on formula, especially since the bands material consisted mainly of ELP classics, but this was indeed a new direction. Purely guitar driven, this band put a new face on such tracks as Toccata, Hoedown and Fanfare For The Common Man and performed them with dizzying complexity and an energy perhaps not heard since the earliest days of ELP.Fans fortunate enough to see the group live immediately embraced their raw power and virtuosity and critics were quick to agree. Malcolm Dome of Classic Rock Magazine wrote, The venerable Palmer, who is still great Drummer, leads his current line up though impressive reworkings of ELP music and added, There's an energy and edge here that belongs to (today) 2003. The music might go way back, but the musicianship is most certainly from here and now. Tim Jones of Record Collector magazine observed, If you like instrumental virtuosity this should sit well with you. Palmer, the band, began touring at will.In 1991, Carl Palmer released his much-anticipated two-disk anthology Do Ya Wanna Play, Carl. The collection showcased Palmers greatest recordings with ELP, Asia, Atomic Rooster plus and several rare and never-before-released tracks from every professional group had ever been in. Highlights included cuts from sessions with British rock artist Mike Oldfield, and a live track featuring Carl with his childhood idol, drum jazz icon Buddy Rich and his Orchestra. Perhaps the biggest gem for fans was the inclusion of the piece fans had been asking for since the seventies. Concerto for Percussion made its debut fifteen years after it had been recorded. In a 1991 interview he said, The album has been in the works since 1976, when ELP took its hiatus to do solo projects. What came of it was the WORKS double LP, with one band side and three solo sides. It was then that I did the Percussion Concerto. It didnt make it to Works, Vol. 1 or Works Vol. 2. I have always wanted to release it and now it has finally come out.The Carl Palmer Band lineup did a highly successful US tour in 2006 and continues to tour throughout the world. Featuring Paul Bielatowicz on guitars; Simon Fitzpatrick on bass and Palmer on drums, the band will also embark on a 29 date tour of Canada, The US, and South America. The band has released a concert DVD and three acclaimed live CDs, Working Live Vol 1. Vol 2, and Vol. 3.In 2006, Carl also regrouped for the long awaited reunion of the original ASIA, with Steve Howe, Geoff Downes and John Wetton. The band has done five world tours and recorded two new studio albums PHOENIX, released on Frontiers and EMI Records in 2008, and Omega, released in the Spring of 2010.In July 2010, Palmer also participated in a one-time reunion of ELP, staged before 30,000 at the High Voltage Festival in London.Says Palmer: "I have the best of both worlds now. I have an active schedule with The Carl Palmer Band, and I continue to tour and record the original line up of ASIA. It is very satisfying and gratifying to know the fans are still out there and willing to support and enjoy the music I create. I hope to keep doing this for many more years to come."
at Cats Cradle
300 East Main Street
Carrboro, United States
Livewire AC/DC
Event on 2014-11-07 19:00:00
Get ready for a seismic event. The unique six man tribute to rock's greatest band AC/DC, complete with trademark cannons, a wall of Marshalls and two hours of High Voltage Rock and Roll.
And in AC/DC's fortieth year, the band cover both eras with both Bon Scott and Brian Johnson present to take you on the Rock and Roll train for a night to remember.
The rhythm section keep it all meticulously together giving Ashgus the freedom to mesmerise the audience with his sublime playing and infinite energy. Those who have seen the show on the 'For Those About To Rock' and 'Ready to Bite' tours are already witness to the talent and dedication Ash gives on stage with his portrayal of the livewire Angus Young delivering a truly amazing two hours of duck-walking, bedevilled Rock and Roll.
The band aim to put you slap bang in the middle of the show with hit after hit, and for the aficionados there's always something special as well. Back in Black, Rosie, Highway to hell, the songs goes on and on until the cannons fire ceremoniously to bring the evening to a superb crescendo.
If by this time you are still standing….we salute you !!
at The Grand
18 York Street
Clitheroe, United Kingdom
The Smalls w/ guests
Event on 2014-11-16 00:00:00
This event is 18 and over
The Smalls
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Links
Getting your band back together again is as bittersweet as having an affair with your ex. After all, you'll probably just have to break up all over again.
"But the sex is really fun in the meantime," points out Corby Lund, who will be back playing bass for the smalls small "s" on "the smalls" for what they can't call the Goodbye Forever Tour because they already did that in 2001.
One of the top indie rock bands Edmonton has ever spawned will perform for the first time in 13 years at X-Fest in Calgary on Saturday, Aug. 30, and at Edmonton's Sonic Boom festival on Sunday, Aug. 31. They're calling it "the smalls (Slight Return)".
After this, who knows? It's complicated, like any broken marriage. The band Lund, singer Mike Caldwell, guitarist Dug Bevans, and drummer Terry Johnson went their separate ways when they split up in 2001. Since then, they've been busy.
Lund found success in the field of alt-country music with Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans. They won a Juno award in 2006. The Mayor of Edmonton declared it "Corb Lund Day" when the band played the Interstellar Rodeo in July.
Bevans now lives in Vancouver, B.C. with his two-year-old daughter, runs a school tour company, and works in experimental electronic music and visual art. He was awarded a three month composer's residency at the Banff Centre in 2011, and built a five-story Trojan horse that was burned at Burning Man a few years back.
Caldwell, the wailing lead singer with the brooding demeanour, is definitely the most enigmatic member of the band. He had a daughter, too, and played in a cover bands with friends for eight years before stopping music professionally, living between Victoria, Lethbridge, and Taber, Alberta.
Johnson has been in Edmonton the whole time, working for the City of Edmonton, and playing and writing with an original hardcore metal band, Secret Rivals.
***
The exact details of the smalls' break-up are known only to a few. A married couple are the only ones who understand exactly what goes on inside the relationship; everyone else can only speculate. A few facts about the smalls' tumultuous courtship are already out there: The band was dealt a ,000 kick in the balls when its label, Cargo Records, went under and took the band's master tapes with it. The smalls persevered and made another record on their own, 1999's My Dear Little Angle, and even contemplated moving the band to Austin, Texas, or a similar, more happening market, but when push came to shove, not everyone was on board. Meanwhile, Lund's country career was starting to take off and he was touring more than ever.
The decision to break up was unfortunate, but unanimous. To be the smalls, it had to be everyone or no one.
"In the smalls we always worked on everything and hashed it out together," Caldwell says. "It was a drawn out process, but that's the way we did it. We each had specific talents, and I think it helped all of us to put each other's ideas into the music. After the smalls broke up, I wasn't able to dedicate myself to write many full songs after that."
"I think we were pretty good at what we did, and it wasn't just based on songwriting," Bevans says. "It was based on us all coming together collectively and just playing together and feeding off of each other. We felt that this strength of ours would not be present if one of us wasn't there."
***
From their sound a ferocious, inventive fusion of heavy metal, punk, jazz, and country music that caused riotous excitement at gigs, and in one case an actual riot to the way they ran their career, the smalls never compromised. They made deliberate efforts to not to burn out any markets, and tried their best to make every gig seem special.
They also refused to edit out the word "bitch" in the video for their song "Pity the Man with the Fast Right Hand" ("She burned him alive with his own .45. She's a bad little bitch with a bad burning itch") and lost out on valuable MuchMusic airplay as a result. (This, of course, was back when the network was still playing music videos.) Shortly before Nickelback became a household name, Chad Kroeger took an interest in the band and did a remix of My Dear Little Angle's title track but the smalls rejected it.
"I hated it," Bevans recalls.
"None of us liked it," Caldwell says.
"Our music was important to us," Bevans explains. "We spent a lot of time making and playing it and writing it. It took us forever to write an album."
***
They were an unlikely group of musicians with one thing in common: All four were rural Alberta boys who fell in love with Edmonton, aka "the Big City." Johnson hails from the farming hamlet of La Glace near Grande Prairie; Lund and Caldwell were raised among ranchers and rodeos in Taber; and Bevans grew up in a small town just outside of Edmonton, which somehow made it worse.
"I hated it," Bevans says when asked about living in Leduc. "Edmonton was the place we'd escape to."
In an ironic twist, one of Lund's country songs, "The Roughest Neck Around," was the official launch song for Leduc's first FM radio station, The One.
The smalls all rebelled in typical teenage fashion: By getting into bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Slayer. All four were intrigued by Edmonton's burgeoning music scene, which is where they all saw live punk rock for the first time.
Bevans, Lund, and Caldwell still remember the night they saw SNFU for the first time.
"It was like seeing someone being shot out of a cannon," Bevans recalls. "It was my transition from metal to punk rock. They were such charismatic band members. I've never been a huge fan of the music of SNFU, but in my mind, there's never been a frontman who has the charisma or integrity, really of Chi Pig. He oozes art and fuck-you-ness."
Is "fuck-you-ness" even a word? It should be. The smalls had a little of that, too.
They were misfits from the start. They didn't fit into Edmonton's music scene: They didn't fit in with the punks or the roots guys, and they certainly didn't fit in at Grant MacEwan College, where they met as music students in 1989.
They never did get their diplomas.
It wasn't long before the band became more important than their studies.
The smalls released their self-titled, self-produced debut album a cassette in 1990, which was re-mastered for CD release in 1993.
But people didn't really know what to think of the smalls. They were weird and exciting, unlike any other band on the scene.
"We were coming from somewhere else, and people could see that," says Johnson. "We didn't fit in with everybody in the scene because we didn't grow up with it. We just walked into it as a band and started doing our thing."
The guys from SNFU invited the smalls to open their "Last of the Big Time Suspenders" reunion tour through Alberta and B.C. in 1991.
"It really kicked off our career," Lund says.
Then the recording-touring cycle began. Releasing To Each a Zone in 1992, and Waste and Tragedy three years later, the smalls quickly became one of the most popular alternative rock bands in Western Canada.
Listening to them now, you might say they sounded like Queens of the Stone Age before art-metal took off.
After the Cargo Records debacle, the smalls focused their eclectic fusion of styles on My Dear Little Angle, which contains an unusual version of "Natural Woman" (the Carole King song that Aretha Franklin made famous).
Bevans didn't change the pronouns.
Meanwhile, Lund's nascent country chops came through in the mournful ode, "My Saddlehorse Has Died." A stripped-down version of the song was later featured on his 2007 solo debut, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!
The smalls' buzz soon became a roar. Gigs started getting somewhat dangerous. Riot police were called to a show in Kamloops mostly because the promoter overcrowded the venue but, as Bevans points out, "There was always the potential for that stuff to go down at our shows."
"With aggressive music and drinking, there's an energy to it, there's a tension that exists," he says.
The smalls played to rabid fans across North America, and in 1999 they were the first Western band to play the Balkans after the Bosnian war.
"We weren't playing for the troops. We played for regular folks trying to return to normalcy," Bevans notes. "It was really good. It was one of the best tours I can recall. People were desperate for it."
***
Lund began rallying his troops for a smalls reunion in 2013. For him, the timing was perfect, since he and the Hurtin' Albertans were between albums and tours. Meanwhile, Johnson had given the smalls an online presence that they never had before, and he knew fans would be excited for reunion news.
"I started the Facebook page out of boredom a while back, and I was surprised how many fans we got," he says. "For an unsigned band it was pretty good. We were most popular in Western Canada, but we toured everywhere. There are fans on that Facebook page from everywhere."
"As soon as I put it up, people were talking: Reunion, reunion, reunion!" he says. "I'm not really surprised by the reaction, but it still feels great."
Another smalls album is unlikely, considering their busy schedules and the amount of time it takes to write, record, and a produce a record. Just getting the old material ready for the upcoming live shows was a huge undertaking.
"It scared the shit out of me, actually," Bevans admits. "Knowing there are that many people who are into it, and are excited to a quality show."
Even Lund, who's been playing music full time for the last 13 years, felt the pressure.
"This is pretty complex, intense music," he says. "I forgot how hard it was to remember all the parts. And not only that you have to build up your stamina, too."
Adopting a "never say never" attitude, the band isn't opposed to the idea of doing more shows if the opportunity presents itself.
A lot of marriages end in divorce, but some divorces end in remarriage.
[This last graf will have to be altered after Sept. 1; change 'after Labour Day' to 'after November']
And a lot of their old baggage isn't such a big deal anymore.
"It's funny when you're in a rock band when you're young, everything is so dramatic, every little thing is so important," Lund explains. "You're interdependent four ways and what one guy does affects everybody else, but it's your future and it's your big dream."
"Now, just hanging out with these guys again, it's not weird at all," he says. "So far, all the good parts are still there, and all the tensions that seemed to there in the past are gone. Now it just seems like a fun thing to do."
at The Starlite Room
10030 102 Street
Support This Blog By Visiting Sponsor AD related to Nrgbinary -
Nrgbinary
Edmonton, Canada
The Smalls w/ guests
Event on 2014-11-14 00:00:00
This event is 18 and over
The Smalls
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Links
Getting your band back together again is as bittersweet as having an affair with your ex. After all, you'll probably just have to break up all over again.
"But the sex is really fun in the meantime," points out Corby Lund, who will be back playing bass for the smalls small "s" on "the smalls" for what they can't call the Goodbye Forever Tour because they already did that in 2001.
One of the top indie rock bands Edmonton has ever spawned will perform for the first time in 13 years at X-Fest in Calgary on Saturday, Aug. 30, and at Edmonton's Sonic Boom festival on Sunday, Aug. 31. They're calling it "the smalls (Slight Return)".
After this, who knows? It's complicated, like any broken marriage. The band Lund, singer Mike Caldwell, guitarist Dug Bevans, and drummer Terry Johnson went their separate ways when they split up in 2001. Since then, they've been busy.
Lund found success in the field of alt-country music with Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans. They won a Juno award in 2006. The Mayor of Edmonton declared it "Corb Lund Day" when the band played the Interstellar Rodeo in July.
Bevans now lives in Vancouver, B.C. with his two-year-old daughter, runs a school tour company, and works in experimental electronic music and visual art. He was awarded a three month composer's residency at the Banff Centre in 2011, and built a five-story Trojan horse that was burned at Burning Man a few years back.
Caldwell, the wailing lead singer with the brooding demeanour, is definitely the most enigmatic member of the band. He had a daughter, too, and played in a cover bands with friends for eight years before stopping music professionally, living between Victoria, Lethbridge, and Taber, Alberta.
Johnson has been in Edmonton the whole time, working for the City of Edmonton, and playing and writing with an original hardcore metal band, Secret Rivals.
***
The exact details of the smalls' break-up are known only to a few. A married couple are the only ones who understand exactly what goes on inside the relationship; everyone else can only speculate. A few facts about the smalls' tumultuous courtship are already out there: The band was dealt a ,000 kick in the balls when its label, Cargo Records, went under and took the band's master tapes with it. The smalls persevered and made another record on their own, 1999's My Dear Little Angle, and even contemplated moving the band to Austin, Texas, or a similar, more happening market, but when push came to shove, not everyone was on board. Meanwhile, Lund's country career was starting to take off and he was touring more than ever.
The decision to break up was unfortunate, but unanimous. To be the smalls, it had to be everyone or no one.
"In the smalls we always worked on everything and hashed it out together," Caldwell says. "It was a drawn out process, but that's the way we did it. We each had specific talents, and I think it helped all of us to put each other's ideas into the music. After the smalls broke up, I wasn't able to dedicate myself to write many full songs after that."
"I think we were pretty good at what we did, and it wasn't just based on songwriting," Bevans says. "It was based on us all coming together collectively and just playing together and feeding off of each other. We felt that this strength of ours would not be present if one of us wasn't there."
***
From their sound a ferocious, inventive fusion of heavy metal, punk, jazz, and country music that caused riotous excitement at gigs, and in one case an actual riot to the way they ran their career, the smalls never compromised. They made deliberate efforts to not to burn out any markets, and tried their best to make every gig seem special.
They also refused to edit out the word "bitch" in the video for their song "Pity the Man with the Fast Right Hand" ("She burned him alive with his own .45. She's a bad little bitch with a bad burning itch") and lost out on valuable MuchMusic airplay as a result. (This, of course, was back when the network was still playing music videos.) Shortly before Nickelback became a household name, Chad Kroeger took an interest in the band and did a remix of My Dear Little Angle's title track but the smalls rejected it.
"I hated it," Bevans recalls.
"None of us liked it," Caldwell says.
"Our music was important to us," Bevans explains. "We spent a lot of time making and playing it and writing it. It took us forever to write an album."
***
They were an unlikely group of musicians with one thing in common: All four were rural Alberta boys who fell in love with Edmonton, aka "the Big City." Johnson hails from the farming hamlet of La Glace near Grande Prairie; Lund and Caldwell were raised among ranchers and rodeos in Taber; and Bevans grew up in a small town just outside of Edmonton, which somehow made it worse.
"I hated it," Bevans says when asked about living in Leduc. "Edmonton was the place we'd escape to."
In an ironic twist, one of Lund's country songs, "The Roughest Neck Around," was the official launch song for Leduc's first FM radio station, The One.
The smalls all rebelled in typical teenage fashion: By getting into bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Slayer. All four were intrigued by Edmonton's burgeoning music scene, which is where they all saw live punk rock for the first time.
Bevans, Lund, and Caldwell still remember the night they saw SNFU for the first time.
"It was like seeing someone being shot out of a cannon," Bevans recalls. "It was my transition from metal to punk rock. They were such charismatic band members. I've never been a huge fan of the music of SNFU, but in my mind, there's never been a frontman who has the charisma or integrity, really of Chi Pig. He oozes art and fuck-you-ness."
Is "fuck-you-ness" even a word? It should be. The smalls had a little of that, too.
They were misfits from the start. They didn't fit into Edmonton's music scene: They didn't fit in with the punks or the roots guys, and they certainly didn't fit in at Grant MacEwan College, where they met as music students in 1989.
They never did get their diplomas.
It wasn't long before the band became more important than their studies.
The smalls released their self-titled, self-produced debut album a cassette in 1990, which was re-mastered for CD release in 1993.
But people didn't really know what to think of the smalls. They were weird and exciting, unlike any other band on the scene.
"We were coming from somewhere else, and people could see that," says Johnson. "We didn't fit in with everybody in the scene because we didn't grow up with it. We just walked into it as a band and started doing our thing."
The guys from SNFU invited the smalls to open their "Last of the Big Time Suspenders" reunion tour through Alberta and B.C. in 1991.
"It really kicked off our career," Lund says.
Then the recording-touring cycle began. Releasing To Each a Zone in 1992, and Waste and Tragedy three years later, the smalls quickly became one of the most popular alternative rock bands in Western Canada.
Listening to them now, you might say they sounded like Queens of the Stone Age before art-metal took off.
After the Cargo Records debacle, the smalls focused their eclectic fusion of styles on My Dear Little Angle, which contains an unusual version of "Natural Woman" (the Carole King song that Aretha Franklin made famous).
Bevans didn't change the pronouns.
Meanwhile, Lund's nascent country chops came through in the mournful ode, "My Saddlehorse Has Died." A stripped-down version of the song was later featured on his 2007 solo debut, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!
The smalls' buzz soon became a roar. Gigs started getting somewhat dangerous. Riot police were called to a show in Kamloops mostly because the promoter overcrowded the venue but, as Bevans points out, "There was always the potential for that stuff to go down at our shows."
"With aggressive music and drinking, there's an energy to it, there's a tension that exists," he says.
The smalls played to rabid fans across North America, and in 1999 they were the first Western band to play the Balkans after the Bosnian war.
"We weren't playing for the troops. We played for regular folks trying to return to normalcy," Bevans notes. "It was really good. It was one of the best tours I can recall. People were desperate for it."
***
Lund began rallying his troops for a smalls reunion in 2013. For him, the timing was perfect, since he and the Hurtin' Albertans were between albums and tours. Meanwhile, Johnson had given the smalls an online presence that they never had before, and he knew fans would be excited for reunion news.
"I started the Facebook page out of boredom a while back, and I was surprised how many fans we got," he says. "For an unsigned band it was pretty good. We were most popular in Western Canada, but we toured everywhere. There are fans on that Facebook page from everywhere."
"As soon as I put it up, people were talking: Reunion, reunion, reunion!" he says. "I'm not really surprised by the reaction, but it still feels great."
Another smalls album is unlikely, considering their busy schedules and the amount of time it takes to write, record, and a produce a record. Just getting the old material ready for the upcoming live shows was a huge undertaking.
"It scared the shit out of me, actually," Bevans admits. "Knowing there are that many people who are into it, and are excited to a quality show."
Even Lund, who's been playing music full time for the last 13 years, felt the pressure.
"This is pretty complex, intense music," he says. "I forgot how hard it was to remember all the parts. And not only that you have to build up your stamina, too."
Adopting a "never say never" attitude, the band isn't opposed to the idea of doing more shows if the opportunity presents itself.
A lot of marriages end in divorce, but some divorces end in remarriage.
[This last graf will have to be altered after Sept. 1; change 'after Labour Day' to 'after November']
And a lot of their old baggage isn't such a big deal anymore.
"It's funny when you're in a rock band when you're young, everything is so dramatic, every little thing is so important," Lund explains. "You're interdependent four ways and what one guy does affects everybody else, but it's your future and it's your big dream."
"Now, just hanging out with these guys again, it's not weird at all," he says. "So far, all the good parts are still there, and all the tensions that seemed to there in the past are gone. Now it just seems like a fun thing to do."
at The Starlite Room
10030 102 Street
Edmonton, Canada