Alt Country-Indie Band....Your take

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 7 Jan 2004 12:43 am

Sneaky Pete Kleinow used to play with straight country bands, but in 1964 he switched to a beat/garage punk inspired outfit that was made up almost entirely of country pickers, although guitarist Johnny Meeks had been with Gene Vincent and the Champs, Al Harris on piano had done some Ricky Nelson sessions and the drummer Mel Taylor was also in the Ventures, despite his previous gig as the drummer for the Gene Davis band at the Palomino Club.

The band had a mild hit with their new drummer in 1965, a young fella named Dewey Martin. Still, it was a largely unsuccessful gig, they were bust and got stranded in the Northwest.
Despite this, Pete later joined a couple of stoners in a strange country-rock type band in 1968, you know.. the Flying Burrito Brothers.
A gamble, but for a while it actually worked.

Hey Bob Hoffnar played in one of the best Alt-Counry bands I've ever heard, you watch out for that guy, he knows who to play with.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 7 Jan 2004 5:00 am

... and Dewey Martin became the drummer for Buffalo Springfield...

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 7 Jan 2004 5:23 am

More proof that if the standards are low enough, anybody can be a sucess in Country Music.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 7 Jan 2004 10:04 am

In alt-country, success is defined as being able to play what you want to play. You can make more money doing covers in a wedding band. Speaking of which, my alt-country band just got booked to play a wedding. Go figure. I wouldn't have wanted anybody like us playing at my wedding. At my wedding I had the organist play "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral," which is the real wedding march from Wagner's Lohengrin, and a more grandiose, bombastic piece you'll never hear- sounded fantastic on a big pipe organ. The wedding march everyone uses is actually the entrance into the bedroom in Lohengrin. It's really a scene heavily laden with sexual suggestion and anticipation. I had a Dixieland band (The Galvanized Jazz Band) to play the reception, which was considered pretty wild in New Haven/Guilford, Connecticut, my Bride's hometown. I wonder if that's why the marriage didn't last...??[This message was edited by David Doggett on 07 January 2004 at 10:05 AM.]

Nicholas Dedring · Post by **Nicholas Dedring** » 7 Jan 2004 10:57 am

Hey Rick,

I was saying that, because I couldn't figure out why this was being discussed... not sure what kind of feedback was desired, but <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>But hey! they need a steel player.

Maybe I'm being too harsh? Anyone think these folks are worth even a passing glance?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Made me think that maybe this was a question of whether Steve should take up with these folks... which, given the other issues at hand, seemed like a bad idea to me.

Plus, while we all carry our faith (or lack thereof, of whatever kind) with us inside, I've known people who were constantly in the process of trying to make me see their light... which I resent, personally. That question gave me pause, because Steve also implied that this was a way to actively spread the message, and witness, as he put it above...

I believe that playing popular secular music in public while visibly displaying Christian values is simply another way of witnessing.

That, to me, is an additional ingredient in the recipe for disaster.

If I've misunderstood badly what was up here, in that maybe Steve had no desire to play with these cats, or maybe steve didn't see this as a way to spread the word, then my apologies. This is just what led me to that conclusion.

Rick McDuffie · Post by **Rick McDuffie** » 7 Jan 2004 2:39 pm

Hmmm... maybe Steve's question was just rhetorical... Steve??

Steve Stallings · Post by **Steve Stallings** » 7 Jan 2004 6:15 pm

yup...rhetorical

... yes, the witnessing I am referring to is simply living visibly as a Christian. You'd be surprised what a simple "God Bless You" can do.

------------------
God Bless,
Steve Stallings

www.pedalsteeler.com