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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2004)
BY VANESSA SALVIA THE SLOW POISONERS PLAY SAM BOND’S FRIDAY AND SAMURAI DUCK ON MONDAY. ROSELAND • MAR 2 ON SALE SAT. AT 10AM ALL AGES • TICKETSWEST 503-224-TIXX ROSELAND JAN 25 ALL AGES TICKETSWEST 503-224-TIXX MONQUI.COM THE THRILLS SOUTH PATRICK PARK JANUARY 27 DANTE'S METRIC JANUARY 28 BERBATI'S STARSAILOR GOMEZ LEONA NAESS TIM BURGESS FEBRUARY 5 FRI FEBRUARY 6 BERBATI'S ALADDIN WIN TICKETS @ WWW.MONQUI.COM • TICKETS ARE SUBJECT TO SERVICE CHARGE Glam, Folk and Elvis No mainstream music here. T he Slow Poisoners, an indie-pop band from San Francisco with the self-described sound “a mix of David Bowie, Elvis Costello and Johnny Cash” will be performing at Sam Bond’s Garage in Eugene on Friday, Jan. 9. Appearing along with the band will be Taki Moto, Dan Desmuke, and Eugene’s fa- vorite glitzy girl rockers The Ovulators. The Slow Poisoners are touring in support of their new and second album, Days of the Soft Break, a Heyday Records release. The band’s indie rock a lá Pixies and Olivia Tremor Control is as interesting as some events in their history. For instance, in 1999, lead man Andrew Poisoner testified be- fore the San Francisco Board of Supervisors wearing nothing but band flyers. In 2001, Poisoner and bandmate Rich Trott traveled to Portland to record at Jackpot! Recording Studio. While there, Trott passed a kidney stone and wrote a novel. Poisoner is also au- thor of a comic book called Ogner Stump’s One Thousand Sorrows. (You can find out more about the comic at www.ognerstump.com) The Slow Poisoners have been exciting fans and critics since 1997 with their intelli- gently crafted songs that pull in many differ- ent influences such as glam-y David Bowie, Kinks, a pinch psychedelia and a dab of The Doors. This is stitched together in a grand, majestic way that leads to orchestral move- ments and lonely moments. The Slow Poisoners will also be appear- ing at Eugene’s Samurai Duck on Jan.12 with Dan Jones & The Squids and 2 A.M. Orchestra. Eugene folk fans who aren’t yet familiar with the Raventones will surely know the name TR Kelley. Guitarist, bassist and vocal- ist Kelley is one half of the new duo, along with drummer/percussionist Randy Hamme. Hailing from the small Coast Range town of Swisshome, Kelley has 20 plus years of expe- rience performing and made a name for her- self as a bassist in the popular Eugene group Babes With Axes. Kelley spent many years jamming in bars and roadhouses, which she admits has given her a broad musical knowledge but ultimately led to a lot of dead ends. She “went into musi- cal hiding,” she says, until she had an epiphany in the late ’80s, brought on by motherhood and marriage. Kelly began once again performing in coffeehouses and the like, armed with a 12- string guitar and lots of original songs. New York folkie Tom Intondi “discovered” her and got her a track on a 1993 “Fast Folk” CD sampler. This debut awakened the supportive Eugene community to this great new talent, and Kelley continued to delve into folk music. A facet of Kelly’s “quirky and cre- ative” personality is that she suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism that has made socialization difficult for her. Hamme entered the picture as a Babes With Axes fan. In summer of 2002 he discovered the drums and within weeks was playing with Kelley. The Raventones will be showcasing the new CD Odd Birds, at WOW Hall Saturday, Jan. 10th, along with Walker T. Ryan. The 15th annual event celebrating Elvis Presley’s birthday will take place Saturday at John Henry’s. The Night of the Living Elvis will feature performers in full Elvis re- galia, including Eugene’s Pete Christie, Transelvistite, drag-Elvis Mike Dippery, the Sawyer Family’s Seth Sawyer, Seattle news- man Dennis Fitzgerald, Leisure King record- ing artist Tom Heinl and KWVA DJ BellElvis. The backing band will be The Memphis Mafia featuring Eugene musicians John Barley (The Danged), Dustin Lanker (Visible Men, Daddies), Dan Schmid (ditto) and Dave Fitzgerald (Malchiks). This raucous event began in Eugene 15 years ago and has ex- panded to include stops around the Northwest. On a final note, we lament the closing of Eugene’s Wild Duck. Our town has lost an eclectic musical venue that will be sorely missed. ew JANUARY 8, 2004 27
