Band Yearns to Perform Iter Gmelch, A&:Q Eugene-Eugene Looks Ington State Unms ) May 10

The Battalion iday • April 19, "gin iUPSii FRIDAY GGIE lidate April 19, 1996 Rage 3 the Departmei ofessor and assoas ^ebraska-Lincok? Vlay 10. Conolejlij t program for lit. York and at decs Georgia, Band yearns to perform Iter Gmelch, a&:Q Eugene-Eugene looks ington State Unms ) May 10. ashington Statel'i is also worked at and the Univeni to increase following were chosen fei By James Francis Wonder, with the band Chicago as an alter Armstrong, a The Battalion nate favorite. % head of the bit “I like Stevie Wonder because of the mes nent, said all I ome say music is an sages he has,” Smith said. that they can As for Chicago, he said he sees it as “one rship and visio of the top brass bands,” and he enjoys the acquired taste. It feeling he receives from them. has administratis Another feeling Smith takes pleasure in ed scholar in ftufij comes in a variety of is the audience participation at the group’s arch, is effectivei: many performances. is) committed tok Sforms, and the people who fol“I look for people who take the time to listen to the music, people who like to move a search commit low the tunes are no different. when we are playing and give us a response sssor of health anil to know whether we did a good job or not,” as need to believe Eugene-Eugene will perform at the he said. “We try to project a very clean im vice, instead of te Brazos Brewing Company Saturday at age of Christian people who love to play fic area, 10 p.m. music and live life to the fullest.” ook at research.) The band, diverse in its performances, ares about teach "I see the band growing, pushing plays a grand amount of Earth, Wind and m rould be prettyb Fire from the 1970s and 1980s. ach, when you'if towards a bigger audience ... " At locations ranging from the Hilton to churches and dances to the Walden Retire — EUGENE SMITH JR. ognition thee® ment Community, the group performs up keyboardist, Eugene-Eugene is another import: beat, hip-hop music and gospel songs to classics such as “Moon River.” ge, you have Brothers James and Ernest Gibbs play Although Eugene-Eugene has been a eone whose resend guitar and drums, respectively; Ralph Mon- group for almost 10 years now, improve nition,” Ashley a civias is the band’s saxophonist, and Shawn ment is always an option. ication programs Lei Druery is an occasional female vocalist join “I see the band growing, pushing to Cowboy Mouth ion, but I don’t tki ing the band at different sets. wards a bigger audience — more from state The Gibbs brothers hail from a musical to a national level,” Smith said. background in their family, but there is one Smith said he sees himself as more By Libe Goad band signed with RCA and spent the and LeBlanc’s passion for the Beatles, other individual who, although the only of a producer and songwriter as the fu The Bati alion next few months creating R U With Me. the Sex Pistols and the Clash met irst tirnt member of his lineage to partake in music, ture approaches. The new album should sound much somewhere in the middle to form Cow shares the band’s experiences. As the head of Master Dreamer Pro owboy Mouth is escaping like the band’s three previous albums, boy Mouth. o Glenn Mil The man responsible for the band’s dou ductions, he also publishes a maga from the kettle of music in LeBlanc said. But the July release will And unlike many bands, the mem d,” and theSloa ble name is Eugene Smith Jr., the group’s zine, Back to Basics, which is filled New Orleans and serving its have the force behind a major label to bers searched out a name that would ears into a jitterk keyboardist who said the group is “a mix of with art, poems and short stories for Chome-grown sound to the resthelp of them along. sketch out the band’s personality, ing howls and he1 rhythm and blues and jazz with contempo the African-American community. the nation. “We’ve learned a lot of things,” he LeBlanc said. ay of the estimatii rary gospel.” “It’s all about going back to doing things The band is playing at the Dixie The said, “and we took much more time on The name comes from Sam Shepard, idents, alumni a:l He said his major influence is Stevie the way they used to be,” Smith said. atre Saturday night. this one.” the brooding western playwrite, in a ; gathered to waii After playing together for four years, Though Cowboy Mouth has moved play where two people look to one an ; dubbed “A Mira the band recently signed on with MCA up a notch in record labels, they stick to other for advice. reet.” Records and toured last fall with old- their original style — anything goes. LeBlanc says one character tries to Jasmine Blue strives to time friends, Hootie and the Blowfish. Of course, the band comes from a convince the other to become a per Fred LeBlanc, Cowboy Mouth drum heart of diversity in New Orleans. former. He tries to make a friend think mer and lead vocalist, said he and gui There, the Neville Brothers and he can use his talents to become a musi [ON mature after first album tarist Paul Sanchez, bassist Rob Savoy Marsalis family dug their roots. cal savior. and guitarist John Thomas Griffith The Crescent City also birthed the “He tells him to be a rock ’n’ roll Je have played with Hootie and the Blow- beginning of rhythm and blues, Ca sus with a cowboy mouth,” he said. deadline fish for six years. jun and zydeco. “Cowboy Mouth was the only name The two bands would exchange Mixed in with the music of Better that we could all agree on.” )0 p.m, dates, playing together and always than Ezra and Dead Eye Dick, the band Another thing the band agrees with ■ tn-: looking for a good time. is a clear reflection of its roots. is getting back on stage. “We’d watch them get out and get On the band’s last album, It Means LeBlanc said the long months of T*V drunk,” LeBlanc said. Escape, the members’ different influ recording has made him lustful for per - »-• *t I i* * i Their camaraderie paid off. After ences showed through. forming live. Iff Hootie and the Blowfish hit it big, The album presents a mixture of “Our shows are based around the I fut i iftj they invited Cowboy Mouth on a pop, noisy guitar songs and a song best idea of old Gospel shows,” he said. “We fivj tour of the nation. sung by a cowboy on the range. want to cleanse and purge the crowd of The bands played together like old “When Paul and I formed the band,” bad spirits.” times, but with much larger audiences. LeBlanc said, “we wanted the musical It’s the good spirit that keeps LeBlanc said Cowboy Mouth found dexterity of the Neville Brothers and the band rolling. LeBlanc said hav many new listeners along the way. the intensity of the Sex Pistols.” ing fun inspires him to keep his “The best part was playing with old And so Cowboy Mouth began. creativity churning. friends for three weeks,” he said. The band members each came from “The main thing we want to get In Los Angeles, the corporate rock a musical background and each brought across is a sense of passion and ning daily ears were ready to listen. in a different musical taste. Sanchez’ happiness. LeBlanc said that after the show in acoustic guitar preference, Griffith’s “I do what I do,” he said, “because I r24,000, L.A., record offers fell into their lap. The country guitar, Savoy’s Cajun rhythms think we are f—king great.” By Amy Protas said. “I used to be in the studio all day for i! The Battalion class. It was great to go into the studio purely for creation purposes. It’s a tight Plebeian Monarchs finds meaning ith the exception of one, all the band getting recorded by a good produc members of Jasmine Blue are er, and it really shows up.” By Amy Protas used to turn on the radio station and beat on pots and childhood friends. When they Before recording the album, the band The Battalion pans along with the music.” Wwere in middle school, the members mainlywere played acoustic sets. Eventually the band obtained Chris Godbey, a bass player. all in bands. At the time, they did not re “The only gigs we’ve done have been in hat started out as a band Vanderpool said the band’s name has significance alize that one day, they would come to town as acoustic acts,” Love said. behind it. gether and record an album. “Recording the album was exciting be “Originally, we were just the plebeians,” Vanderpool Jasmine Blue came about when Karl cause we didn’t know what the music was for a high school talent said. “Eventually, we added Monarchs. Plebeians are Kunz, the band’s rhythm guitarist, re going to sound like by adding bass and common people, and of course, monarchs are kings. This turned to Bryan from Waco. drums. We liked it, but we also still like name is not about us as individuals, more about the con Marshall Love, vocalist and percus the songs in the acoustic format.” show has evolved into the cept.

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