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for books
Everyday.
Always buying all kinds of
books, including texts,
paperbacks, Cliffs Notes,
current magazines...
Smith Family
B o o.k s t o r e"
~(>8 I .1st | Mil • S IS KiSI
1 block from ( anipus
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1998 model GTBicycles
20% off list price
1997 model GT Bicycles 45% off list price
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wz rz kzr* for you (kz
U/\Lv-er$i{y of OrzjoK
Spring break m Maza*tlar>
f bQ']00 per person based on «\uad rate
Council
Includes /Vir/ttotel/transfers
out o£ Portland
Trawl
GEE: Council on International Educational Exchange
University of Oregon
• In the EMU Building
Eugene
877 1/2 East 13th Street
Eugene
(541)344-2263
21.
ODE. CLA6AinE-P6...
Y^UR. CAMPUS MARklLTPUYX_
Courtesy photo
The six-member Christian band the W’s has invented its own style of music, which the members dubbed 'skid-il-ly-doo.’
The W’s ‘skid-il-ly-doo’^with big acts
The Corvallis Christian
pop and swing band has
gotten its big break
Davin Tryon
lor the Emerald
Along with swing, fox trot, cha
cha and the waltz, make room for a
little “skid-il-ly-doo.”
The W’s, a Christian rockabilly
pop and swing band, has broken
through with a style the members
call "skid-il-ly-doo.”
The six members, ranging in age
from 19-25, have gone from play
ing in the Beanery on Second
Street in Corvallis to touring with
D.C. Talk and Jennifer Knapp on
the Supernatural Tour this year.
They have been playing venues
that host more than 15,000 people,
and the group hopes to gain a po
tential 400,000-plus new fans.
New fans are not likely to know
how the W’s exploded onto the
music scene. It was simply a case
of being in the right place at the
right time, said Robin Spitzer, the
group’s publicist.
The W’s opened for Five Iron
Frenzy in San Francisco a year
and a half ago to fill a vacancy. Af
ter the show, they had no idea that
all their unrefined demo tapes
would be in such high demand.
The W’s sold out of tapes and
made such a good impression on
Five Iron Frenzy that the band was
asked to tour with them the fol
lowing year.
This was a big step for a band
that only had experience playing
in coffee shops and J. C. ’s Pizzeria
in Corvallis.
While on tour with Five Iron
Frenzy and Echoing Green, the
W’s played every show they could
as well as in a handful of festivals.
“At the beginning of the festi
vals, we'd be hanging out with
people who had no idea of who
we were,” said James “Yabbo”
Carter, alto saxophonist. “They
were just hanging out with us. I’d
ask them what band they wanted
to see play, and they’d say, ‘I want
to see the W’s.’ I mean, they didn’t
even know I was in the band.”
The group is composed of lead
singer Andrew “Little A.” Schar,
trumpet player Brett “Smiley”
Barker, tenor sax and clarinet
player Val “Valentino” Heilman,
bass player Todd “Rodd W.”
Gruener, drummer Brian “Nigel”
Morris and, of course, Yabbo.
These young men have signed
with 5 Minute Walk Records.
According to Valentino, they
signed with a Christian label sim
ply because in the music industry,
a record contract is hard to get.
The band decided to sign, but did
n’t know what to expect out of the
contract.
5 Minute Walk Records didn’t
know what to expect, either, said
company head Frank Tate in a re
cent press release.
Potential soon turned into sales
exceeding the $100,000 mark.
“Fourth From the Last” charted
at #4 in August 1998 on Bill
board’s Heatseekers album chart,
which lists bestselling titles by
new artists who have not ap
peared in the top 100 of the Bill
board top 200 chart.
This fast success was due to the
W’s offering more than what is
usually associated with a “Christ
ian band,” according to the record
company.
Little A’s lyrics are not just about
how to act in church or in Sunday
school. Aside from songs like “The
Devil is Bad” and “Moses,” the W’s
lyrics could be compared to any
rockabilly or swing band on the
music scene today.
“We don’t try to preach to the
audience," Valentino said.
Other Christian bands “seem to
focus on church people who are
having problems, and that’s
great,” Valentino said. “We want
to reach the kinds who don’t go for
that kind of thing. We want to play
a show and be seen as a good band.
“We're not afraid of being called
Christians or of expressing our be
liefs, but we do it in a different
way than some people like. By
making ourselves accessible to
people after the show, we feel we
can do a better job. ”
The W’s became a
rockabilly/swing band because
Little A. liked bands such as the
Squirrel Nut Zippers, Stray Cats
and Glen Miller, Valentino said.
“Fourth From the Last” is avail
able at Face the Music, House of
Records, CD World and most oth
er music stores in the Eugene area.
So come down and dance your troubles away!
2222 Centenial Blvd. (next to Autzen Stadium) • 343-4735