September 2010

When a musical act has a rabid fanbase, it becomes tough for said act to keep the inner workings of their organization from the fans. Many times this leads to all kinds of speculation about what goes on “behind the curtain,” especially when something particularly controversial happens without much of an explanation from the band.

For this week’s B List we put together a list of five questions for which we’d love to know the answers. In many cases, the answers may never be known or can only be answered by the people involved – who aren’t talking. Yet, for conversation’s sake we’re going to put these questions out there…

1. What did the fax that the Allman Brothers Band sent to Dickey Betts say?

Back in May 2000, the Allman Brothers Band – supposedly – sent a fax to founding member Dickey Betts informing him that he had been replaced by Jimmy Herring. According to an Entertainment Weekly article, the fax implied he needed help with a substance abuse problem. We’ve always wondered exactly what the fax said. Was there small talk before the deed was done? “Hey Dickey, How’s the weather in Sarasota? Oh, by the way, we went another direction after 30 years, give our best to the fam.”

2. What was in Trey Anastasio’s backpack?

While promoting 2005’s Shine LP, 70 Volt Parade lead singer Trey Anastasio repeatedly referred to a backpack he took with him to visit producer Brendan O’Brien. We’ve always wondered what was in said backpack. A copy of The Phish Companion? Some Clif Bars and some cold green tea? The moments from Page’s day he received in the mail?

READ ON for three more unanswered questions…

Yonder Mountain String Band @ Red Rocks, August 27

What do you do when the time is getting late, the crowd is slowly clearing out and you’re losing energy, but the band won’t stop playing? You stay and enjoy the music. Well, at least that’s my opinion. It’s always a coveted show at Red Rocks: it always seems to be the big stop on every band’s tour, and for the boys of Yonder Mountain it was no different. Bassist Ben Kaufman at one point remarked, “I can’t believe we get to do this,” and later mandolinist Jeff Austin, always excited and always smiling, told us, “This is our favorite part of the year.” And they did their best to prove it to us. On Friday, Yonder Mountain String Band played for well over three hours, starting at 9 and not finishing until after 1 in the morning.

[All Photos by Jason Woodside]

Split Lip Rayfield started the evening at 6PM, and after that set came 90 minutes of Leftover Salmon. By 8:45pm, the sun had gone down, the buzzing of the crowd had settled and the carpets had been laid down on stage to accommodate Yonder Mountain’s modest stage set-up. It wasn’t long after that Austin, Kaufman, Adam Aijala on guitar and Dave Johnston on banjo walked slowly on stage and broke right into Looking Back Over My Shoulder.

Even though it was an exciting moment – the first chords of the main event, a night of Colorado bluegrass – it was hard to get into at first. Because of Yonder’s affinity for the simple acoustic bluegrass, and because they are accustomed to smaller venues, they seemed to have a bit of a hard time filling the space. There is a lot of open air at Red Rocks Amphitheater. But, once my ears got used to it, and the crowd settled a bit more, it was easier to listen to each note.

READ ON for more about Yonder Mountain at Red Rocks…

At the Prague stop on last year’s In Rainbows tour, 50 Radiohead fans shot the concert using flip cameras and the footage was edited together to create the free-to-download DVD

Yesterday we posted the first part of Wade Ellis Wilby’s latest installment of our Storytellers series about the effect Steely Dan’s Aja had on him growing up. Today, we bring you his anecdotes on Side Two of the LP…

Peg

So girls were obviously a huge part of any 17 year old’s life. No scientific breakthrough there. The great groove to this song was really what drove me to it as well as the fantastic harmonies and slick guitar work. But Peg…something was up with this broad. She was the starlet that hung in poster form on some guys wall in the 60’s. She was from a time far away from ’97 but I smelled what they were stepping in. She loved the limelight, and this guy loved seeing her in the limelight. Did she exist without it? Did he think about her when she wasn’t in a movie?

I had all kinds of crazy emotions and feelings about woman at this time. I had a girlfriend of three years at this point whom I loved VERY much and love to this day. This song made me think about why you love someone and if there are any situational ethics involved with love and attraction. I mean, we were meeting TONS of broads out on the road and this song made me realize those girls probably thought we ceased to exist once the lights go out and we pack up the gear. We go from star to student in a matter of hours and what did we matter to these girls whom hours ago wanted to sleep with all of us…even the light guy? Oh well…if Peg had any consolation advice to offer I heard it: “It Will Come Back To You.”

Home At Last

12/29/95. Not the summer or even ’97, but needs to be addressed for this anecdote. I was one of the lucky ones who was there for the life-changing Bathtub>Real Me>Bathtub segue from the Phish NYE run in ’95, hallowed as one of the best segues the band has done to date. However, the counter culture was still being explored by this up and comer and I decided to take more LSD than I was accustomed to at this point in time.

READ ON for more from Wade on the songs of Aja…

I’ll never forget the calls I got about Umphrey’s McGee’s performance at The Tabernacle in Atlanta back on February 6th telling me what a special show had taken place and