July 20, 2001 • J n t M t 4
M U S IC
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Jonesing for Johnson
thing special. We also committed to it as a
business venture and started a band fund
immediately.
synonymous with “not very good band” and
that in the year 2001 women still have to
climb up that hill.
Laurie: Swamp Mama Johnson has gone a
long way toward proving that chicks can play
their instruments, run their own label and
write their own songs. We’ve shown lots and
lots of young girls that it can be done, and lots
of adult women that it still can be done...and
they can be the ones to do it.
Continued from Page 1
n order to capture the complex spirit of the
band, let’s look at the women who drive this
wonderful beast. Lisa Mills is the lead vocal
ist; everyone else contributes to the harmony:
saxophonist Tracy Ferrara, guitarist Laurie
Miller, drummer Kim Carson and Leah Hinch-
cliff (who replaced Patty Mey three years ago)
on harmonica and bass.
Hinchcliff lives in Portland, and the rest are
based in Washington. Through the years the
band played an average of two to three times a
month in the Portland area and Eugene.
It would be easy for such an ensemble to fall
into a pit of generic musical hell— I think its
actually the sixth level of purgatory. However,
the original arrangements and energy that
these musicians bring to each tune is spellbind
ing. (Pink’s version of “Lady Marmalade” has
nothing on SMJ’s killer take.)
I
Tracy: We started out by mostly covering
other people’s music, playing our own organic
version of the blues.
Lisa: We chose rather obscure songs to
cover, eschewing “Mustang Sally” et al. for
material that every other band in Pioneer
Square might not be playing.
Tracy: Since then, we’ve all learned how to
write, arrange and perform songs in a style that
has become our band’s signature sound—that
funky, bluesy, groove thang.
Kim: It took about a year to settle into
what we were doing musically and business-
wise. I started playing drums about six months
after Swamp Mama first formed. I didn’t even
own my own drum set at that point. I think we
realized at the beginning that we had some
M r . M an ' s C leaning
lthough they had great success in Seat
tle, where they were playing all the hot
spots for blues, it was in Bellingham,
Wash., where their popularity skyrocketed
and the financial feasibility of the band
became evident.
A
Lisa
Leah
Tracy
Laurie
Kim
“Swamp Mama Johnson has gone a long way toward
proving that chicks can play their instruments, run
their own label and write their own songs.n
—Laurie Miller
SMJ’s following grew, and they were able to
start laying down some tracks. Riverhips was
recorded and mixed in 17 hours, an amazingly
short amount of time for an
11-song album.
The sales from that cas
sette completely paid for the
second venture. No loans
were needed for Wetlands,
an unthinkable feat at that
time in independent music.
From there, SMJ began and
continued a breakneck tour
ing schedule of 50 weeks a
year. Along the way, they
recorded Peachfish Stew in
’97 and Fresh, Raw and Uve
in ’99.
Kim: We became an
event. There was this dive
of a bar we played at for
years. We would have 200
people at every show. Bikers, farmers, hippies,
rednecks, lesbians. A strange collection of peo
ple that would usually never be together. But
for three hours it was OK— it created an
entirely new community.
Leah: Every time we play, we are smashing
stereotypes that women can’t play, that we have
to be sexy and skinny to
be popular and that we
aren’t competent to be
successful. In every way
this band has been on the
front lines proving that we
not only do it, we do it
better.
Kim : People d o n ’t
expect women to play
aggressively. I still get
com m ents from guys
from th at perspective.
Just last weekend I had
one say to me: “You’re
really good! I thought
you were a guy up there!”
I guess it was a compli
ment and took it that
way. {Grins]
Tracy: If SMJ has
shown the world any
thing, it’s that truly good
music is genderless. Peo
ple come to our shows because the music is
appealing and well performed.
* hey even learned to play pretty good for a
so-called “girl band.” How hard is it to
overcome negative images of female musi
cians, and doesn’t that get old after 10 years?
ll power to the sisterhood (raise your fist
here) aside, the inevitable question arises:
W hat’s it really like being in an all-female
band for 10 years?
Lisa: Over the years I think people stopped
seeing us as a “girl band” and started seeing us
as a band. It is unfortunate that “girl band” is
Leah: Playing in an all-woman band defi
nitely has its ups and downs. PMS— need I say
more, to the power of five?
Raized Printing
A
Lisa: It’s nice knowing someone always has
a spare tampon.
Leah: O n stage I trust these women more
than any other group I’ve ever played with.
Being part of this has given me more confi
dence than 1 have ever felt before. Like togeth
er we create a formidable presence and power.
I’ve never connected to a mixed-gender band
like that before.
Tracy: There is a lot of inner strength that
can be tapped into by playing in an all-women
band. Playing with these four other women
over the years— personal and menstrual ten
sion aside— has shown me that women can do
anything, even punch a big successful hole in
the genre/profession that is more about the sex
ploitation of women than its artistic apprecia
tion of them.
wamp Mama Johnson remains one of the
most popular bands in the Pacific N orth
west. It’s hard to understand why a group
still making incredible music would be retiring.
S
Laurie: As a business we were successful
and achieved in a large measure what we set up
to do. As a musical entity, we touched people.
They play our songs at
their weddings, use our
songs as personal
anthems. I love that. The
secret of a long life is
knowing when it’s time to
go-
Lisa: All things come
to an end; it’s only a mat
ter of when and how. We
have decided to choose
the manner in which SMJ
closes its chapter. Let us
leave the arena with
cheers ringing in our ears
rather than apologetic
silence. It is time once
again for the members of
Swamp Mama Johnson to
evolve.
Don’t miss your final
opportunities to see this
amazing band perform.
There is no group doing what they do. Their
music and magic will be greatly missed. JH
S wamp M ama J ohnson will perform 6:30 p.m.
July 31 at Mount Tabor Park and 2 p.m.
Sept. 16 at the Eugene Celebration.
Its schedule and CDs are available online at
www. swampmama. com.
ALICIA H ealey is a sound engineer, producer and
musician in Seattle.
Sun g *
A
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