BY VANESSA SALVIA
THE SLOW POISONERS PLAY
SAM BOND’S FRIDAY AND
SAMURAI DUCK ON MONDAY.
ROSELAND • MAR 2
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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