The Lost Fest was an event that was held at the Mouth of the Mattole river on BLM land. The promoters did not obtain a permit for the festival and a half hour after the first band started playing, the rangers shut it down. All amplified electric instruments were banned and the rangers said that they would confiscate the equipment if the performers played... As luck would have it, the Slewfoot string Band uses acoustic instruments which are permitted in BLM Campgrounds. They set up next to their van and performed their entire set. They were the only band to play... 200 people in the audience had fun instead of being bummed out. Then the party moved to the beach for a GIANT bonfire... BIG FUN!
Questions for the band:
Q:All original music? or "covers" of traditional tunes?
A: All original "Slewgrass"... our own music... This allows us to play songs that fall outside of the strict formal rules if bluegrass. Improvisation is encouraged...
Q: Drums? Isn't that breaking the rules of bluegrass?
A: That's what makes us unique! And he plays the SOUP Kettle TOO! The porchboard is an electric instrument that simulated a bass drum. It allows quiet bass drum sound so that it does not overpower the rest of the band. Nathan uses brushes on his snare...
Q: Do you tour?
A: We have traveled as far as Louisiana and Texas. We tried to play on the streets of Las Vegas but the fires in Los Angeles put so much smoke in the air that we couldn't breathe... Nobody was outside to be the audience because it was so miserable... Q: Hobby or Pro?
A: We all have jobs or go to school or both. We do get paid for performing and sell CD's... The bass player is moving to Olympia, Washington to work at a shipyard there.
Q: Where can I buy a record?
A: On-line at www.slewfootstringband.com or at our April 16th show at the Alibi in Arcata
Q: How did you learn to play music?
A: We are all self taught, it's taking us awhile but we're playing so much these days it coming along much faster. Q: Why bluegrass instead of punk, rap or opera?
A: I don't exactly know, however, acoustics as proven at the lost fest, are convenient and playable in most environments.
Q: Do you play weddings?
A: We have played a wedding in the past so I don't see why not.
Q: Are these questions really annoying and lame?
A: Annoying and lame would be answering questions about day jobs! Music is my passion.
Q: Where did you meet and what is the history of the band?
A: I have known Jake-o and Nathan for at least 10 years from the Valley. I met Chris at a bluegrass jam in old town Six Rivers 3 years ago. We met Arek at the same Jam 2 years later. That bluegrass jam no longer exists, too bad, every now and then I think it would be fun to meet a good fiddle player.
Q: Who are your Idols?
A: My Idols include: Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Garcia, and Earl Scruggs.
Q: Ever visit Virginia or Tennessee?
A: Not yet. Q: Any tales of the Road?
A: Ask Jake-0 for the lyrics to West Texas Breakdown, 90 percent of it's true. Almost every show on the road has had a significant story. I wouldn't mind telling in person as typing for me is somewhat difficult.
My recollections... by gregvan
Behind the Music with the Slewfoot String Band.
Our anthropology class visits the band in their garage for a practice and then again at a performance at the AA Bar and Grill.
What started out to be homework turned out to be a lot of fun! These guys are great...
We went on a Thursday night to Manila to their practice room that was equipped with a recording studio, comfy couch, refrigerator and all their instruments. There were five people in the band and four students. The goal of the practice was to rehearse for shows that weekend and discuss band business. I was impressed with the quality of the recording equipment. They put their music directly onto a compact disk. Jay handled all the mixing and recording tasks. They used some rather expensive looking microphones and the bass player had a pickup attached to his standup bass. All the instruments were acoustic except for the drummer's bass drum. This is a unique board that he steps on to make a drum sound thru an electronic amplifier. He says that the volume is better controlled on this device called a porchboard so that he can play it without overwhelming the rest of the band. The style of music is generally classified as bluegrass but they sing all original music. One song caught my fancy because of its rhythm. The song 429 my 69 is a classic automobile song that perks along in the style of Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody until it gets to the chorus. Then it has this beat that goes one, two, three, pause one, TWO, three... I don't know the official time signature of this beat but it GETS YOUR ATTENTION. A lot of bluegrass bands try to recreate the classic sound of famous bands. Jake says that the rigid structure of having rules inhibits him and so they don't go in that direction. This frees up the performers to improvise and blaze their own trails. The result is called "Slewgrass" and it is all their own. It is rare for a bluegrass band to have a drummer at all but Nate is an interesting addition. He uses brushes on a snare drum and an overturned soup kettle. Since we were able to see these fellows really close, the motion of the brushes was visible. In some songs he moves the brush in a circle around the head of the snare drum to create a swooshing sound.
Chris plays the dobro which is a guitar that is laid on his lap horizontally and played with a slide. That allows him to create all possible pitches... The standared notes we are familiar with plus all the ones in between. Later in the evening, Jay played the dobro and it became apparent that selecting the exact pitch that is in tune with the rest of the players is tricky. The strings are about 3/8 of an inch above the fretboard. It uses a special type of capo that holds the strings at that precise height. Jay and Jake do most of the singing and guitar playing. Jay also played the banjo.
Between songs the band discussed the question about what to do about the bass player that was moving to Olympia to work in the shipyards. Chris was of the opinion that they should actively recruit another player but Jay felt that they should wait until the right player appeared without forceful searching by the band. He felt that a zen approach would yield a better result. While they were waiting for a bass player to appear they should continue performing and split the money four ways instead of five. As long as the people in the audience has fun, he felt that a bass player was not crucial. They all agreed that no matter what happened, they would continue to play gigs...
The tale of the Helper Monkeys. A band that they knew had all their equipment stolen from the room that they used for practice. It appeared to be an inside job because there was no sign of forced entry. Someone had a key... This band had been practicing in the same room for decades and hundreds of people have visited... There was no way to figure out which of the visitors were the bad guys... It appeared to be disaster for the band because they would have to play benefit concerts to buy equipment but they couldn't play concerts because they had no equipment... Catch 22... A couple of days later, we found out that the members of the band called every pawn shop and music store in the area and asked the employees to be on the lookout for someone trying to sell the stolen gear. An alert employee got a phone call asking about the possibility of selling used gear and they said: Sure, come on down! The thieves loaded all the equipment into the store to sell it and the employee gave them a choice, We know that all this is owned by the Helper Monkeys... we can call the police or you can just leave now. The bad guys left and the band got everything back! Proof that we live in a great town...
The show at the AA bar and grill... I'll leave that blank for now... Maybe someone else can write it up...
Manila is on the Coast of Northern California near Eureka and Arcata. There is a long peninsula that forms the Eureka Bay and that's where they live... At the end of the road is the North Jetty shown above. Sometimes the waves are so big that they are dangerous and the Coast Guard comes out to make sure that no one goes out on the jetty. Surfing is popular there... It's cold and foggy most of the time but a wetsuit will overcome all that...
Homework Can be Fun... If you do a Behind the Music Photo Essay...