Stay on the rails no matter what

Apologies to the constant reader of this blog who silently passes months while waiting for me to get it together to write something (and to everybody else). I could say 'life got hectic' or something similar, but I've just gotten derailed from my regimen. School's back in for my effervescent children, so I will do my utmost to stop being like Tootle and stay on the rails no matter what.

No single yet. Technical difficulties continue to haunt progress. We do have a beautiful video filmed, thanks to the talent and graces of Dan Andrews and Mike Allen. As soon as there is vinyl in hand, we'll release this striking work that will accompany "Don't Mention the War." 

I got to be 'stick singer' for two songs at Be Loud Sophie 2016, the fantastic charity working to support adolescent and young adult cancer patients and their families at UNC Hospitals. Earlier in the afternoon, the Well Respected Men did a short set; I came back 6 hours later, and the party was still going on! Lots of local faves on that set of great tunes: Tim Smith, Mac McCaughan, Greg Humphreys (who smoked everyone with a powerful Hobex set)..."it's just stars after stars after stars"... I sang "A Million Miles Away" by the Plimsouls and "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung (!), and the audience seemed to dig it quite a lot; I never know what to do with my hands when there's not an instrument in them, so I played shaker egg with nervous energy on Wang Chung and gesticulated constantly on the other. 

I have made a conscious decision to get off Facebook. The amount of time and emotion I had tied up in my existence there was absurd. I will miss having contact with my many friends there (although I'm still available on FB Messenger and may have to maintain a 'music page' of some sort), but I'm getting off my ass and doing something instead of drowning. And I don't think I'll miss at all the uncivil and abusive political discourse that's accompanied this year's presidential campaign; my pulse rate has already subsided considerably. 

On a sad note, my sweet friend Monty Lee Wilkes died this past weekend from unconquerable cancer. Monty was The dB's soundman/tour manager for years, part of a fabulously successful career, working with so many different artists for years--everyone got Monty's best at the board, a formidable sound artisan. He had a snide wit, a good/bad attitude and loved his rock music; he made us sound better than anyone else ever did. We roomed together, poring over fashion magazines and microphone test results, using gallons of hairspray and listening to everything from the Shaggs to EZO. It was probably the easiest touring we ever did in that band, thanks to Monty's competence and spirit. The last time I saw him was when Hootie was on a festival lineup with the artist he was mixing, Lisa Marie Presley. Monty got to do it all, and he did it all so well. He will be loved and missed by his friends and family. 

Monty Lee Wilkes 

Photo from Suburbs Archives

Recap, Wrap-up, Catch Up - Well Respected Men, Peter Holsapple with the Forryst Bruthers, Little Diesel, Baron Von Rumblebuss

Little Diesel
Photo by Ed Speas
L to R: PH, Bob Northcott, Will Rigby, Phil Thomas, Tommy Eshelman

Sorry, I got sorta behind here. Gigs, gigs, gigs! Let me start by saying all of the shows over the past couple of weeks have been just wonderful, reaffirming for my return to music. Hell, I nearly feel professional, even!

1. The Well Respected Men - The Garage, Winston-Salem - June 25

The Well Respected Men
Photo by Laura Hart
L-R: PH, Glenn Jones, Jeff Hart, Andrew Snee

The mighty Kinks kover band opened the Near Strangers' album release party at Winston-Salem's Garage, a club that's defied the odds by staying open for years in a town that doesn't make that an easy thing to do, for some reason. The Well Respected Men played Kinks favorites for an hour to an appreciative crowd, including some who decided they'd dance, which is always gratifying. The celebrants' band, fronted by Lee and Susan Terry, sounded excellent, what little I could stay for. They have sweetness and soul in abundance. The new Near Strangers' album, Echo Reverse, is a worthy addition to your already overloaded record collection, so go forth and get it.

2. Peter Holsapple with the Forryst Bruthers - Millennium Center, Winston-Salem - Stand Against HB2 - June 26

My first foray into the fray with the new ensemble. The Forryst Bruthers, a standalone bunch of pros, took time from getting their own act together to serve as my accompanists. James Wallace and Mark Simonsen, both of whom you know from these pages as the producers of my new single, are Bruthers, as are Aaron Oliva and Evans Nicholson, and the four of them have a tight-but-loose sound that seems to complement my tunes nicely. So we practiced a few of 'em and headed down to Winston-Salem for Stand Against HB2. I'm pretty sure the folks in the audience enjoyed the set, which was followed directly by Winston's own Luxuriant Sedans who are what a blues band can sound like with arrangements and rehearsals and no reliance on long jammy jams. 

3. Little Diesel - Millennium Center, Winston-Salem - Stand Against HB2 - June 26

 

Little Diesel
Photo by Florence Dore
L to R: PH, Will Rigby, Phil Thomas,
Bob Northcott, Tommy Eshelman

If anything might have overshadowed my first nervous performance with the Forryst Bruthers earlier in the afternoon, it was likely the first show by Little Diesel, Winston-Salem's first real garage rock band, in over 40 years. Bob Northcott, Will Rigby, Tommy Eshelman, Phil Thomas and I ripped through half a dozen songs from the No Lie album to a wildly enthusiastic crowd, many of whom were around for our first incarnation as R.J. Reynolds High School seniors in the mid-1970s. We even did two originals, our paean to the legendary skin-flick drive-in theater "Flamingo" and our theme song "Kissy Boys." We had so much fun we made plans to do it all again one day soon.

4. Baron Von Rumblebuss - Festival For the Eno, Durham - July 4 

Mush pit

My final performance as The Black Hole with Tray and Kathleen Batson's band, Baron Von Rumblebuss, took place on a soggy stage surrounded by mud and a raging Eno river. Despite the meteorological conditions, it was a bright and fun set of the brilliant kids music that Tray has been writing and recording. Mark Simonsen has been my rhythm partner in the band, and I will miss the locking we were able to accomplish together. The new BVR release Summer-Sonic is coming out this summer, appropriately enough, and we played a number of songs from it, as well as hits like "Did You See Where the Cat Threw Up" to a damp but appreciative audience. The band was joined by ace flautist Tim Smith, with whom I'd played in Hobex several years earlier.

L to R: Mark Simonsen, Tim Smith,
PH as The Black Hole

I have had a great time playing with the band, but it's gotten difficult recently to play bass because of damage to my left hand and arm from a fall a couple years ago that has not improved. So I'm moving along, but not without sadness and gratitude to Tray, Kathleen, Mark, Steve Carr and the late Matt Brown for being a part of a grand adventure for seven years.

5. Peter Holsapple with the Forryst Bruthers - Festival For the Eno - July 4

Photo by Kathryn Wall

After a few inspired tunes by the Bruthers, I took center stage for a set of mostly new songs. It felt just fucking fantastic to be doing a show with a band again. We had a couple small misfires, but overall, the tunes were handled with the appropriate care and feeding, and I think that the audience was happy to hear new stuff from me finally. It was a trial by fire in my own mind--"do I still have what it takes?" as my song "Game Day" says. Apparently, I do. We had a ball, and again, I hope to do more shows with Mark, James, Aaron and Evans sooner than later. They're busy lads, so we'll need to carve some space in their collective calendars. It felt right, it felt natural, it was a fine experience and I'm so delighted to have been invited to play at the Festival For the Eno.

"What, me worry?"
Photo by Kathryn Wall
L to R: Aaron Oliva, PH, James Wallace

Hizzoner Saves the Day - Baron Von Rumblebuss, Chatham Community LIbrary, 6/17/16

The Baron and his Barbie fans

Want to hear a good story?

On Friday, I had a gig with Baron Von Rumblebuss at the Chatham Community Library. BVR is a kids rock band (music for kids, not by them) started by Tray Batson some years ago. Tray is a music therapist at Duke hospital, and BVR is a logical extension of his work as well as his love of good power pop music. The Baron writes the tunes and sings lead on most, with capable backing from his cohorts Princess Lulu La Li (Kathleen Batson on vocals, keys and wind instruments), Pofus Fimonfen (Mark Simonsen on drums) and yours truly, The Black Hole (on Fender bass).

Recently, I've been having issues of soreness in my left hand and arm.

Comparative sizes
of P-Bass (L)
and Mustang Bass (R)

Tray, who moonlights as a bassist, offered me the use of his Fender Mustang Bass which is far lighter and shorter than my own Precision Bass. So that was the plan going into the library show.

I drove out to Pittsboro and got to the library around 4:15, forty-five minutes before our show was scheduled to start. Tray and Kathleen were already setting up the PA, and Mark had pulled up to unload his kit. I looked around for the Mustang case. Tray realized he had forgotten to bring it and looked stricken. We were bassless, in a manner of speaking.

We began looking for possible options. I said, "well, I can use your twelve-string and fudge the low stuff on that" which was met with blank stares. That conjured up images of the Cramps, sort of. We also started trying to think of anyone in a nearby radius that might be in possession of a Fender bass. Former BVR lead guitar whiz Peebo Flash (noted high-end amp builder Steve Carr) got a call and a text message, as did Beth Turner who was BVR's original bassist; I even tried Jeff Crawford from Arbor Ridge Studio, about 8 miles back up the road. Nothing.

As we cogitated our next move, a tall bearded man entered the room and walked toward the stage area.

I'm not the kind of guy who does this ordinarily, but I looked up at him and said, "Do you have a bass?"

He paused, looked at me and said, "Well, actually I do have a bass."

"Where is it?"

"At home."

"How far away is home?"

"About five minutes away."

"Let's go."

We began walking toward his car and continued our conversation along the way to his house. 

He was apparently aware of who I was and had seen me play a number of times and guises. I asked him his name and what he did.

"Actually, I do have a bass."

His name was Randolph "Randy" Voller, and his prior occupations were Mayor of Pittsboro NC for four terms, after which he became chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. I was fairly stunned by this, but Randy and I talked easily of many things like different eras of Kinks fans, state politics, and his radio program and house concerts. 

We swung by his lovely home, and he let me borrow his 'house bass.' I met his wife Lesley who rode back with us to the library. Randy and Lesley let me off out front, and I raced in to join the band, about five minutes before the show was scheduled to start.

So it began.

We rocked the kids, the show was saved, but the story is not over.

At the end of the show, Beth Turner came up to me and said, "That's my bass." I said, no, it belonged to the mayor as I'd just gotten it from him. Beth said, "No, it actually belongs to my husband. Randy's brother." I said, "oh," and she continued "And don't call him 'the mayor,'" rolling her eyes. "He's not the mayor anymore."

After all was said and done, Beth very kindly returned the bass, her bass, to her brother-in-law, Hizzoner, the former mayor of Pittsboro and head of the NC Democratic Party. I drove home to Durham, shaking my head at the circumstances and grateful to have made several new friends out of a case of the direst necessity.