An interview with Eddie Taylor for the Churchkey Three Day Party

The free day party action at Hopscotch is going to be almost as good as the main event. Case in point: The Churchkey Three Day Party taking place at noon on Saturday (Sept. 11) at Tir na Nog. The name is a celebration of this indie label's third anniversary, and the line-up is a great one: Dirty Little Heaters, Free Electric State, Last Year's Men, The Dry Heathens and Hammer No More the Fingers. To get everyone in the mood for the party, various local blogs are posting interviews with bands on the Churchkey roster over the next few weeks.

I chose to interview Eddie Taylor from The Loners because I've known him for ages, and think he's a great musician and all-around swell guy. I can't tell you how much fun I had during this interview.

This interview began and ended -- and was briefly punctuated in the middle -- with a round of shots. That’s how yours truly found out that Eddie really isn’t one for tequila or Jaeger. If he’s going to do a shot, which isn’t often, he says, he’d prefer to do something “girly” like a Lemondrop. That was the one in the middle.

I also found out that Eddie, one of the friendliest and most gregarious people I know, doesn’t much like talking about himself. In fact, he’s downright shy at times. Sitting in a dark booth at the newly opened Neptunes, with ska in the background, we downed that first round of 1800, and I tweeted that I was about to interview him. The Love Language immediately replied “tell eddie we said hey!!” He seemed flattered and almost a little embarrassed that his name was being thrown about on Twitter. That’s the sort of thing associated with rock stars, or people who think they’re rock stars, and Eddie definitely doesn’t want to be a rock star.

“I don't like rock stars,” he says. “I don't like seeing friend get changed into something they aren't. I like them the way they were. I have a friend who did a video game. He's making bank. I've had a lot of friends who have become real successful, and they're not the same as they were after that.”

Really? Even if being a rock star meant that he, as a newly single dad, would have women throwing themselves at him, plus a nice nest egg for his daughter?

“It's an integrity factor that gets lost in all that,” he says. “There are very few that hold on to that integrity. Neil Young has always held on to that integrity. There's a lot of people I respect that have been able to granted they're great, they're famous, but they haven't lost touch with where they came from.”

He doesn’t even care that much about playing anywhere other than the Triangle.

“I'd like to go out and play more in other places but I can't dump money into that, get to that town and play for five people who don't really give a fuck,” he says. “I just can't do that, cause I've done it. If someone offers us something in New York, and have a weekend in New York and go play at WFMU, I'm there. But playing to nobody? I can practice and do that!“

Despite, or perhaps because of, this total lack of giving a damn, The Loners have gained a reputation around town as the band that you don’t miss. If you want people to come out and see your band, you make sure to get a show with The Loners. It doesn’t really matter if they play Slim’s three times in the same week. People will go see them, and will love them, all three times. That’s been especially true since they reformed in 2007 (at the goodbye party for the first Kings) after breaking up for several years. During their first incarnation, they were known for putting on shows that might be great and might be crap, but were always entertaining. Now they’re solid every single time.

The Loners formed out of the ashes of Big Joe, Eddie’s alt-country band that moved to Raleigh from Tucson (via Kentucky) after being invited to play the SPITTLE Fest at the Brewery. He struck up a friendship with popular local drummer Chris Jones, who shared his love of ‘60s garage and psychedelic music as well as ‘80s hardcore.

“Chris Jones is one of my heroes,” he says. “I have the utmost respect for that person. I like the fact that I've heard us referred to as a Raleigh tradition. That's a nice feeling. we're not a national act. we don't tour. we are what we are.

The band’s sound has changed a little bit over time, he says, but still retains those two influences, but still retains a healthy dose of ‘70s punk and arena rock. That’s fitting because his first concert, back in Murray, Ken., was Rush, Angel and Blue Oyster Cult. He was 15 and tripping his balls off. His main memories are that he accidentally ripped up his own ticket, and the members of Rush wore silk outfits and appeared to over over a massive shag carpet on the stage.

Eddie says he’s had more time to write lately and that he’s been listening to a lot of Guided by Voices. One of his old pals has an “Eraserhead-meets-’50s-Sci Fi” film that will debut at the Fright Night festival in Louisville, and a couple of Loners songs are in the movie. There are a couple of other things in the works too, but he doesn’t want to jinx them by talking about them prematurely. Buy him a Lemondrop and maybe he’ll spill his guts to you.

Take a look at the other interviews:

July 28: Diversions (The Daily Tar Heel) talks with The Dirty Little Heaters
August 4: WNnG (Bull City Records) talks with Hammer No More The Fingers
August 11: Mann’s World talks with The Loners
August 18: Triangle Music talks with Last Year’s Men
August 25: Recess (The Chronicle) talks with Spider Bags
September 1: The Independent Weekly talks with The Dry Heathens
September 8: On The Beat (The News & Observer) talks with Free Electric State

Weekend party favors

I had a lazy weekend that stupidly included golfing in Sunday's 101 degree heat, but I did manage to catch some rock. These videos are from two parties honoring some folks you know if you hang out at Slim's a lot.

The first one, from Friday's birthday party for Slim's bartender Olivia, is the Infamous Sugar doing a very special cover song. I really wish I'd gotten video of Suge's new song, "Coke Zero," about, in his words, the sorry state of cocaine in this town. That was clearly the crowd favorite.


The Infamous Sugar from Mann's World on Vimeo.

The second video is The Loners doing "Soulshaker" at Mike and Allie's wedding party on Sunday, also at Slim's. That was a really fun early show, made even more entertaining by watching Eddie Taylor's little girl dance wildly while watching her daddy play. I didn't capture any of it in this video, but it was very sweet to watch. She's a lucky little girl to grow up with such a cool dad.

On a related note, I did an interview with Eddie not too long ago, and will have it online soon. After doing the 5 questions thing for so long, it was good to sit down and have an in-depth conversation, but I'd forgotten what a pain it is to actually write the thing. Maybe I should just have a video podcast where I interview people, Charlie Rose-style.


"Soulshaker" by The Loners from Mann's World on Vimeo.

$18 for two beers

 I could ruminate on a lot of things about the new Raleigh Amphitheater after last night's opening. I could discuss the good things, such as how walking with the crowds downtown made Raleigh actually feel like a real city,  how you can get food from your favorite Empire eateries, or how the shimmer wall is really pretty stunning when viewed from that angle. And I could write about the not-so-positive things, such as how the amphitheater itself is really pretty charmless and is in fact built RIGHT BESIDE the railroad tracks. The Amtrak and a CFX came through during the short time I was at the show, and both times the train horn drowned out the music.  And then there's the ultimate insult-to-injury of having to walk by the empty lot where Kings once stood. It truly appears that the City of Raleigh bought that building and tore it down for nothing. 

But the thing that just kind of stuck in my craw was having to pay $18 for two beers. Granted, they were local micro brews (a Big Boss Bad Penny and a Lonerider Shotgun Betty), and they were the 24 oz. variety. I know this is probably what I would pay for a beer if I went to RBC or Walnut Creek, but I wasn't at either of those out-of-the-way venues. Three blocks away I could get both of those beers for $5 apiece. And the truly irksome thing is that the $9 per beer price tag was actually kind of a deal; the $16 oz. varieties are $8 apiece. 

Basically that means if you're going to a show at the amphitheater and don't feel like going through the hassle of sneaking something in, go across the street to Deep South, or next door to Poole's and get your drink on beforehand. 

We got to the show right before

The Loners from Mann's World on Vimeo.
">I Was Totally Destroying It's last song, which was a cover of "In a Big Country," which they nailed. If they're going to keep doing the '80s covers, I want to hear them do Paul Young's underrated "Come Back and Stay."

I could have gotten a little closer, but they started playing this song right as we got there, so I just stopped where I was and started recording.

IWTDI at Raleigh Amphitheater from Mann's World on Vimeo.

After IWTDI, Raleigh legends The Connells played to a sedate but appreciative crowd. It really did seem like family night at the amphitheater with small children running everywhere. I wonder how many of those parents are aware of the Connells kid-friendly off-shoot Mommie. I honestly wasn't in the mood to do much shooting last night, and just retired to the small lawn area to enjoy the ambiance and my overpriced beer.

Afterward we ended up at Isaac Hunter's Tavern, a place I really don't go to that often (usually I'm at The Remedy or Landmark). It took over the spot formerly inhabited by the Capital Room/Fayetteville Street Tavern, which used to be the one unpretentious place to get a drink downtown. It's a little more upscale now with a good North Carolina beer selection, a DJ, and a Wii. If you were there last night and saw a couple aggressively playing Wii tennis (and knocking over a Dewars in the process), that was me and the Wiz. The place was packed, but I didn't see anyone I knew, which can be a very good thing.

After Isaac Hunters we headed over to Tir na Nog, getting there just before the end of The Loners set. I got a quick photo and video, then got a quick photo of Red Collar before leaving. Both bands put on energetic shows as usual.

The Loners from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Finally got some use out of my Troika pass

OK, lesson learned. Buying a 3-day pass for a music festival only makes economic sense if you actually go all three days. And if you go to more than one show on any given night. I had good intentions of doing both at the Troika Festival but The Jesus Lizard kind of got in the way, and I underestimated my desire to drive around Durham going to different venues.

Seriously, here's a tip for the Troika organizers: Next year, buy an old school bus and ferry people for free between the venues. You could probably even get someone like local music-friendly Piedmont Biofuels involved. Maybe even have someone play an acoustic set on the bus. I know if they'd had such a thing last night I would have used it, because after hunting for a parking place at Broad Street Cafe, I just didn't feel like driving anywhere else.

We arrived at Broad Street early for The Dynamite Brothers (left), and the place was already getting crowded. I hadn't seen them in a while, and Dave hadn't ever seen them, so I was very much looking forward to the show. They were tight as always, and had me wondering once again if they aren't the best band in the Triangle. Not sure I'm ready to bestow that quite yet because The Love Language (above) are giving them stiff competition.

The Dynamite Brothers at night 3 of Troika from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Next up was a Rat Jackson (left), with whom I was unfamiliar, and, for the first part of their show, unimpressed. But something happened, and by the end of their show I found myself really getting into their geeky, straight-forward rock. At the end of their set, the guitarist introduced The Loners as a band that would "rock twice as hard with half as many people -- damn them!" That was pretty funny, and I have to hand it to them rocking pretty hard on their own.

Rat Jackson at night 3 of Troika Music Festival from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Indeed The Loners were next, and they did rock. Twice as hard? I don't know, but they did rock pretty hard. 

The Loners at night 3 of the Troika Music Festival from Mann's World on Vimeo.

By the time The Love Language came on, Broad Street was packed and uncomfortable. I got up front a good 20 minutes before they played, and I still couldn't get right next to the stage. But The Love Language made up for it because they are easily the most exciting band, and maybe the best, in the Triangle right now.

The Love Language - "Chesapeake" from Mann's World on Vimeo.

The Loners on The State of Things

The Loners will be on NPR's The State of Things TODAY at noon.

Goner tomorrow night, plus a download!

I must apologize in advance because even though I've been driving around listening to an advance copy of Goner's "Rock 'n' Roll Always Forgets," I didn't bother to try and upload it to my computer until just now. That's when I realized that the song titles aren't listed in the track information, so I have no idea of the name of the song listed here. It's the first one on the CD. I have an e-mail out to Chris Dalton, so maybe he'll get back with me soon about the title, and I'll pass it on to you. they apparently have another download available at the Indy's site, so if you like this song, you might like that one as well.

Goner is playing tomorrow night (Thursday) as part of the local band, local brew night at Tir na nOg. The show is free, and you get samples of Big Boss brew. Plus, The T's are opening. Advance warning: The T's are going to have their CD-release at Slim's with The Lonely H, who were seriously one of the most amazing bands I saw last year. That show is Feb. 8.

A couple of other cool shows I'm going to try and go to this week:

The Loners, Wednesday, Jan. 16, at White Collar Crime (free!) with Russ DeSena's new band Rocket Cottage.

Megafaun, this Saturday, Jan. 12, at Bull City Headquarters. I haven't been to Bull City HQ yet, so I'm really going to try and make it out for this one.

Now, here's that Goner song.

UPDATE: this song is called "Better than Blue"

Download it here

Suburban Sweethearts with The Loners tomorrow night!

I don't need to tell you about The Loners, who just might be the most beloved band in Raleigh (and deservedly so), who will be at Slim's tomorrow night. But you most likely don't know about the opening band, Suburban Sweethearts, a new band with Joe Yerry from The Bleeding Hearts, Lucius from The Greatest Hits and Sir Arthur & His Royal Knights, and Erik Sugg (Dragstrip Syndicate), who, I have repeatedly said, is one of the best guitarists in this area. Erik knows raw, MC5-style rock, and Joe Y himself described this band to me as "Hellacopters-meets-MC5", so you should make a point not to miss it. I will be there, despite the fact that I have to work the following morning at 4:30 a.m.

If you want to know why I love The Trousers so much ...

Check out this video from Friday night's show at Slim's:

The Trousers from Mann's World on Vimeo.

I just like this band more and more each time I see them, which isn't nearly often enough. I got couple of OK photos too.

This second photo is funny because it looks almost like Russ is on stage with them, which wouldn't be unusual considering Russ is in every other band in town.

The Loners from Mann's World on Vimeo.

The Loners were great as usual. I swear, I think they're the most popular band in town now because every time I see them, the place is packed with rabid fans. It was cool to see Eddie quoted in the N&O the other day too.