PARDON MY FREEDOM !!! (chk chk chk)

by terri sapp

Photographs by Leah Yetter

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

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I can still remember the first time I heard the band called !!! (chk chk chk).  Particularly I remember the song, “Pardon My Freedom” from the album Louden Up Now, which caught my every sense’s attention.  It has been love and admiration from then on.  I always find it fascinating when bands and artists name themselves with symbols, or in this case punctuation.  Immediately it becomes clear to me that these are the shows I will want to experience.  If you are wondering how to pronounce the name of this particular band, I am to understand that you should just make three short staccato sounds of your choice, most commonly (chk chk chk), also acceptable is (pow pow pow), (uh uh uh), or (bam bam bam).  No matter what you call them, or what combination of guys/gals they have collaborating, !!! (chk chk chk) makes up one of my absolute new favorite live shows to see, and one of the most inventive acts around.  Current !!! (chk chk chk) members include Nic Offer (vocals), Paul Quattrone (drums), Shannon Funchess (vocals), Allan Wilson (horns, percussion, keys), Mario Andreoni (guitar), Tyler Pope (bass, electronics), and Dan Gorman (horns, percussion, keys).

First, let me say that I intended to have this awesome coverage to the public WAY before now, but alas, !!! (chk chk chk) was Concert Sutra’s last outing before I was forced to submit to the neurosurgeon’s knife for a major back surgery.  That said…on October 6, 2007 at the 40 Watt in Athens, Georgia, a select group of excitement lovers (including the Concert Sutra girls, and six of our friends) gathered for a rare intimate look into the brilliance that is !!!.  Even though I was in terrible pain, and struggling with ruptured discs and pinched nerves, I was forced by the shear genius on display to stand at the very front of the stage with Leah and her wonderful Canon in order to catch every second of the show that night.  I was terribly sore afterwards, but never regretted one bit of time spent on my feet that night.  The lineup of !!! (chk chk chk) who performed for us at the 40 Watt on that wonderful night in October, 2007 was comprised of Nic Offer (vocals), Jerry Fuchs (Marietta, GA native on the drums…Cobb County in the house!), Shannon Funchess (vocals), Allan Wilson (horns, percussion, keys), Mario Andreoni (guitar), Tyler Pope (guitar, electronics), Justin Van Der Volgen (bass) and Dan Gorman (horns, percussion, keys). Read More »

Concert Sutra Spaces Out With The Subliminator

by terri sapp

Photographs by Leah Yetter

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved 

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Concert Sutra (CS):                First, tell me how long you’ve been on the music scene.

S:         Oh, Jesus!  Off and on for a very long time.  Long enough to know better.

CS:      What originally inspired you to do this musically enhanced, spoken word type of performance that you do?

S.:        I spent years in space rock bands, most notably Spaceseed.  I did vocals.  They always had a resident poet, and that is the role that I filled with Spaceseed.  That is where the twisted vocals came to be.  Back in the day I was actually a classical guitarist, but the hands are to beat up to do that now, at least in public.  So Theremins… an instrument you don’t actually have to touch.  If your hands are achy, it really doesn’t matter.  One thing led to another.  The solo set I put together in ’05. Read More »

Concert Sutra Celebrates Transistor with 311

by terri sapp

Photographs by Leah Yetter

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

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            I can remember the very day, August 7, 1997, when 311 released their most experimental album to date, Transistor.  I rushed to the local music store in Macon, Georgia (I was finishing up in college), bought a couple of copies (one of which is still in the wrapper), and cuddled up with my CD player.  I pulled the lyrics booklet out, and pushed play.  From beginning to end, I read along with the music and was blown away.  Up to this point in their recording career, we only got traces of the side of 311 that would elevate even the most focused Buddhist monk.  Transistor was the first time 311 really stepped out of the comfort of the heavier sound that dominated the first few studio albums.  I believe that the success of the blue self-titled album allowed them the freedom to create something truly original and test the waters, with the heavy grassroots following they had accrued, with styles and flows we were not used to at that point.  Transistor, in my experience, has always been the most controversial album among fans of 311.  Most either love it or try to hate on it.  I personally LOVE it!  Of course, I am the kind of 311 fan that has really never heard one note that I did not respond to from them.  I felt then and now that Transistor is a brilliant collection of songs that spotlight the versatility of the band that I most love to spend my time with.  You can imagine how happy I was when Nick Hexum announced, “Now, seeing as this is the ten year anniversary of a record we made called Transistor, we’ll play a couple songs off of it.”  At that point, I screamed…and had a glimmer of hope that they might finally play my song, “Running,” in Atlanta…after ten years of begging… Read More »

Concert Sutra With Friends and Family at Trash Monkey Studios

By terri sapp

Photographs by Leah Yetter, Photographer

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

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In the past couple of months, Leah and I have had the delight of getting some time in Macon, Georgia’s Trash Monkey Recording Studio.  The local Atlanta act, Pop! On Command is currently recording there, and has been kind enough to allow the Concert Sutra girls hanging rights in the Mephisto Tape Sessions!  Owner and Proprietor, Russ Kennington offered some time for an interview as well.  This last month’s session brought a very special guest down from Atlanta, Vietnam’s Stan Satin.  Check out the following interview to hear about our fun with the boys!

To catch a glimpse of the good times, visit:  http://www.leahyetter.com/cstrashmon0107/.  Leah is back, and ready to shoot!  We are looking forward to a great year with friends and kicking live music!!!  Read More »

Concert Sutra sizes up The Liabilities

by terri sapp

Photographs by Leah Yetter

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

Concert Sutra’s Photographer, Leah Yetter, lives in Macon, Georgia, a historically musical town in middle Georgia, known for many great artists as well as the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.  When deciding on our feature for this month, I asked her what was hot around Macon.  Her first response was The Liabilities!  Made up of Aaron Irons (vocals, guitars), Justin Smith (vocals, bass, cigarettes), Brandon Fickler (vocals, lead guitar), and Josh Smith (drums), these guys are making their way around and keeping busy pleasing the fans and working the crowds.  Due to scheduling conflicts, our busy multi-talented and high demand asses were unable to actually attend a show this month (what a bummer), so pictured are The Liabilities on the night of their CD release at the Hummingbird, candid and “Elph-stye (camera type),” rocking it out.  Live action all the way!  Totally inspired and off the cuff “gotta get a photo” action.  Ladies Love The Liabilities!  To check out for yourself what touches the Concert Sutra girls about The Liabilities, visit them at www.myspace.com/iamaliability.  I had the opportunity to ask lead singer and guitar player Aaron Irons some questions.  It went something like this: Read More »

Concert Sutra catches up with Squat

by terri sapp

Photographs by Leah Yetter

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

click photos for photo gallery

            In what seems to be a very rare event these days, Leah and I both attended a show together!!!  We have been keeping a look out for something to grab us both to want to work it out, but also to settle in with both our schedules.  Apparently, with the exception of the Scared Records crew (i.e. Vietnam, the Subliminator, and Greg Connors), quality live shows (in my opinion) have been few and far between lately.  And then, it happened…I was perusing the Creative Loafing, and saw an old favorite from our days in Macon, Georgia together, jazz boys extraordinaire, Squat.  These guys have been in our music lives since we first knew each other, but the Concert Sutra never featured them.  We felt that was odd, and that we should fix that problem right away. 

            The last time I remember seeing Squat was during Bragg Jam a couple of years back.  I was happy to see that pleasant part of my Macon past still standing strong and playing better than ever.  Now in 2007, Trey Wright (acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards), Carl Lindberg (upright and electric bass, percussion, guitar, and vocals), Tommy Somerville (piano and keyboards, percussion, guitar, and vocals), and Darren Stanley (drums and percussion, sequencing) dazzle audiences all over with their abundant talents and overflowing charm.  On March 24, 2007, many gathered at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta, Georgia for the release of the Athens/Atlanta jazz quartet Squat’s CD, “Squat.”  Read More »

Concert Sutra talks with Greg Connors

By terri sapp

Photographs taken by terri sapp

© Concert Sutra, All Rights Reserved

click photos for artist website

Concert Sutra:             What inspired you to become a musician?

Greg Connors:             Other people’s music moving me.  Certain songs, I believe, have kept me alive or going or ‘feeling less alone’.  Bill Taft said that of my writing once and it made me realize I was doing something right.  Writing with a musical formula can ‘come across’ to more people.  Instruments being an infinite source of potential skill honing and frustration has always appealed to me.

Concert Sutra:             When did you write your first song?  What was it?  When did it happen?

Greg Connors:             I was 6.  It was a song called ‘When I get angry I spit fire’.  My dad read it aloud as it sat on my desk in this nasally New York accent like an adult reading a children’s work and it sounded ridiculous.  It was my first lesson in how not to phrase. phrases. Read More »