This Sioux City folk band revels to a darker tune. In time for Halloween, the bunch made it to The Journal to record two songs live and chat about their music for a podcast with multimedia producer Sam Burrish.

Songwriter Mike Langley submitted the following as a “bare bones” description of the band. Have fun reading…

“The wandering minstrel is called Medieval Mikey, the Minstrel Mage. Not unlike T. H. White’s Merlyn in The Once And Future King, the Minstrel Mage travels backwards (or is it sideways?) through time, unearthing long-buried musical spells from the space age to the stone age, and ages in-between. Mikey’s band, The Groovediggers, fellow caretakers of the Vault of Ages, join him in a rocking catacomb of undead song. Don’t be afraid of a cobweb or two — come for a stroll through the Grooveyard with The Groovediggers!”

Below is a live performance at The Journal of “Graveyard Wreck.” Check back Thursday afternoon for a video of “Lover’s Lane.”

Podcast interview (play below)

 

 The Groovediggers podcast [20:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Download (MP3) Graveyard Wreck | Lover’s Lane

Live releases preview new EP (Journal exclusive)

MP3: The Wheelers | War Chest | Snuff Film Credits

HQ Video: The Wheelers | Snuff Film Credits

Podcast interview with Billy Yost

 

 Heard Mentality podcast with Sam Burrish [25:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By Sam Burrish
Journal multimedia producer

The sirens of big-city fame have seduced many a small-town band.

For indie rock group The Kickback, it was Chicago. The former Vermillion, S.D., four-piece made the leap this summer.

In short time, they’ve had to navigate the unfamiliar currents of a big local scene. But the move so far is all good.

“Everyone was thinking basically the same thing. ‘We want to keep doing this, but we’ve got to find a way to bump it up to the next level,’” frontman Billy Yost said in a recent interview for The Journal’s Heard Mentality online music podcast.

The band’s “underdog” mentality surely didn’t hurt entering the scene, he said.

For several years, playing new venues meant hours on the road, and on a good night, recouping gas money. Now a host of Chicago venues within a few minutes’ drive welcome the band.

The steady schedule of gigs is spring-boarding The Kickback’s profile, in addition to recording sessions, mentions in city publications and a growing fan base — local and online.

Affirmation?

That came straight from the top. Rock ‘n’ Roll bible Rolling Stone also published extolling words for the band.

The magazine said: The Kickback writes “lean, nervy songs that snarl and snap. Guitarist Billy Yost has a marvelously agonized voice and he wrenches notes from his larynx, hurling himself against the songs’ propulsive rhythms.”

The review was published Sept. 17 on Rolling Stone’s Hype Monitor blog, a place up-and-coming bands are spotlighted.

The accolade was a surprise, 22-year-old Yost said.

“My first reaction was that somebody had taken our (band) name,” Yost said after he saw “Kickback” in the headline.

Then came his name. Every letter was there.

“I started freaking out. I think I danced around the apartment sort of yelling,” Yost said. He then left brother and bandmate Danny Yost a voicemail. “You couldn’t really make out anything I was saying. It was just sort of high-pitched squeal sounds.

It was definitely one of the cooler moments of my life.”

Also good? The timing.

The band is recording for its second EP, “The Great Self-Love,” which Yost expects to release later this year.

“The EP is a celebration of the only thing my generation has learned how to do: pat itself on the back and rest assured that no one is as unique and special and perfect as us,” said Yost, who also works as a substitute English teacher.

“The Great Self-Love” release was delayed because of scrapped recording sessions in Sioux Falls, S.D., the Chicago move, and switching guitarist Cody Raterman with Chicago-native Tyler Zee.

Danny Yost and bassist Zach Verdoorn have returned from a touring stint with indie rockers Oh My God, also of Chicago.

The Kickback is now studio recording “The Great Self-Love” using money donated online by fans.

But if they can’t do it killer live, it doesn’t matter what the studio work sounds like, Yost told The Journal this past summer before the move.

By Sam Burrish
Journal multimedia producer

Today The Journal’s Heard Mentality blog publishes two videos of The Kickback performing live, uncut versions of upcoming studio tracks.

Talks about a final Sioux City media appearance before the move led to a collaboration with the band and The Journal’s multimedia producer.

The idea was simple: An amped-up version of the Heard Mentality blog’s popular performance videos.

The live session highlight burns with “Snuff Film Credits.”

The song presents a vacuous soundscape deep with sonic voices conversing into a growing, undulating cadence that scratches the ceiling.

The song is “not literally about the act. Just a mental reel of things a man is thinking who is completely capable of something that harsh and sadistic,” Yost said. “The charming, terrifying last words he’s thinking he would like to say.

I read that the market for fake snuff films is off the charts in Japan. That was bizarre enough in itself to call for a song.”

The bony keys at first contrast damp, seductive vocals. And bass and kick drum eventually fill in the bottom.

The masterfully-layered song is highlighted by the antagonizing restraint of vocalist, Yost, who, along with old school keys, adds a tense under-wire that arches even the electronic chaos of the song’s robust climaxes and barren lows.

Sad news from down south.

Rosie Ledet, the zydeco singer who performed on the mainstage at Saturday in the Park on July 4, is under investigation for allegedly leaving the body of a near full-term baby in a storage shed while she was in Sioux City.

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports:

“Authorities in Allen Parish are awaiting autopsy results before proceeding with an investigation of Rosie Ledet, a local zydeco musician, who allegedly left the body of a near full-term baby in a storage shed while she toured out of state.

Peggy Kennedy, chief of detectives at the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Department, said Monday that it could take as long as six weeks before the autopsy results are returned.

Ledet gave birth to the child July 1… Afterward, Ledet allegedly wrapped the body in a blanket and left it in a storage shed at a band mate’s home, Kennedy said.”  

That “band mate,” guitar player Andre Nizzari, called the cops and reported the incident when he learned of it July 5.

Word is Ledet was acting a bit off backstage after playing July 2 at the Sioux City Live Music Club, July 3 at the Big Parade and July 4 at SITP.

I interviewed Ledet June 22 and we spent a bit of time talking about family, including how she only has one child and had spent the last few weeks watching her grandchild (the interview can be heard here) . Not once did she mention the pregnancy.Understandably, fans and promoters around these parts are awfully disturbed by the news. I’ll keep following this story and keep you posted.

An item published in the Heard Mentality blog in March contained a theme and content similar to that published in the article “Counting Crows Are Better Than Your Favorite Band” by Dan Solomon on decider.com. Mr. Solomon should have been given credit in the blog post. The Heard Mentality team regrets the error.

A record-breaking “Thriller”?

In spring 2008, more than 120 participants danced “Thriller” in a word record attempt as part of the Dance Marathon charity event at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.

The exclusive Journal archive video recorded by Sam Burrish is below:

We’ve known for a while now Counting Crows will headline the July 4 Saturday in the Park music festival at Grandview Park.

We learned today which bands will play before the “Mr. Jones” group. Here I bust out my crystal ball to predict who is going to play and at which time slot:

Noon: Midwest Dilemma. This group, the brainchild of former Sioux City resident Justin Lamoureux, used its debut record to win the Album of the Year at the Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards, beating out discs from Connor Oberst, Tilly and the Wall and The Faint. Think waltzy orchestral folk rock.

12:45 p.m.: ????. This slot looks to be unbooked at this point. I’d guess a New Orleans-based band will soon fill it. SITP has a solid New Orleans connection and nearly every festival has featured a Big Eazy band. Past musicians fitting this bill include Big Sam’s Funky Nation and ReBirth Brass Band.

2 p.m.: Occidental Brothers Dance Band International. Jazzy dance music from Ghana, of all places. This group plays classic African dance music of the ’60’s, specializing in Congolese rumba and touching on West African Highlife and other gems from the continent. The band is in fact mostly American, comprised of some of Chicago’s staple musicians. The African connection comes from trumpeter Kofi Cromwell.

3:30 p.m.: Lenka. This cute lady crooner with an elfish voice has landed tracks on every TV show from “Ugly Betty” to “Grey’s Anatomy” to an Old Navy commercial. Another hit single and she’ll likely move down a time slot or two. The Australian TV star turned pop singer’s first single, the boppy “The Show,” is song you’ll know her by (and get stuck in your head).

5 p.m.: Mike Doughty. Will the man who once fronted the popular 1990’s hipster band Soul Coughing continue the streak of very memorable five o’clock sets? I’d guess yes. In past years bands such as Umphrey’s McGee, JJ Grey & Mofro and Cowboy Mouth have earned new fans with solid 5 p.m. performances. As for Doughty, check out “Circles” and “27 Jennifers” for a taste of his brand of pop rock.

7 p.m.: Shemekia Copeland. Representing the new school of blues, SITPer’s first caught her at the local fest back in 2002. She returns this year, still armed with that impressive soulful voice. It may seem like Johnny Copeland’s daughter has been around forever, but that’s only if you forget she started performing at the age of 19 and just turned 30.

9 p.m.: Counting Crows. Eleven Top 40 hits. “Hanging Around.” “Rain King.” “Long December.” Adam Duritz. His hair. Enough said.

While it’s not nearly as exciting as The Offspring announcement (see below), music fans today also learned a nine-time Grammy-winning Western swing band will perform in Sioux City.

Asleep at the Wheel, a seven-piece group led by Ray Benson, is scheduled to perform May 24 at the Sioux City Convention Center. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Asleep at the Wheel has released dozens of albums over the past 37 years and has charted 20 singles. The group’s biggest single, “The Letter that Johnny Walker Read,” peaked at No. 10 in 1975.

This show is a benefit fundraiser for the Sioux City Sports Authority, a non-profit organization that supports the bidding and execution of non-professional sporting events, including the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Championships and the NAIA Women’s Volleyball Championships.

Does this year’s Saturday in the Park headliner ring a bell? Sure it does. Counting Crows has released five Top 10 Billboard 200 albums. But that doesn’t mean some of the group’s 11 Top 40 hits have slipped your mind. To get ready for July 4 when Counting Crows will perform at Grandview Park for free,  a trip though the pop rock group’s catalogue:

Try first: “Hanging Around,” “Rain King,” “Accidentally in Love,” “Mr. Jones”

Next steps: “Little Yellow Taxi,” “A Long December,” “Round Here,” “Angels of the Silences”

Deep cuts: “Omaha,” “You Can’t Count On Me,” “American Girls,” “Color Blind”

In the mood for some live music this weekend? Here’s my picks on where to go and what to hear:

FRIDAY

If I liked music and I was looking for something to do Friday night, I’d likely be found… Bummer, not really much going on in the live music front Friday. Hmmm. This calls for an evening at Rhonda’s Speakeasy, 212 Cunningham Drive. Sure, Top Down takes the stage at 9 p.m., but I’m more interested in checking out the changes made at the Stockyards-area bar. For starters, they’ve added four new big screen TVs. No cover.

SATURDAY

Damon Dotson does it all, from ripping through a horn-backed set at the 2007 Saturday in the Park to singing commercial jingles for Iowa Great Lakes-area businesses. This Iowa crooner will conjure up thoughts of Dave Matthews Band and O.A.R. when he takes the stage at 9:30 p.m. For a $5 cover charge, a few hours at The Chesterfield, 1225 Fourth St., might be worth it.

___

I’ve yet to catch the country-influenced band Loose Change live, but I constantly hear good things about them. Born at an open mic night, Loose Change is now steadily gigging around Siouxland. This 9 p.m. show is special because of the venue. If you’ve never been to the VFW, 2126 Court St., now is the time to do it. Expect cheap beer, no cover and lots of really drunk people (some of whom insist on dancing).