Tom Beyerlein and the Soul Express

Soul Express:  Tom Beyerlein, Ken McCall, Chris Demmons, LaVon Ferguson and Phil Fleming.

    This New Year's Eve 2018 at the Irish Club in Dayton will mark the twentieth anniversary of the Soul Express.  This band specializes in the music of the Soul Era, naturally enough, covering songs from  groups such as the Temptations,  Contours, Four Tops, James Brown, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye among others. 

    Tom Beyerlein is one of the co-founders and the band's bass player, along with Ken McCall (sax, flute and vocals), Chris Demmons (keyboards, vocals), LaVon Ferguson (Guitar, vocals), and Phil Fleming (drums).

     So how did all this happen?

   

      Beyerlein grew up in the 1960s, and really did not have much affinity for the bass as a kid. His musical tastes in childhood were formed from AM radio.  At that time, portable transistor radios were becoming commonplace, but FM radios were more expensive than AM radios.  Consequently, AM tended to reach more listeners, with low quality sound on lower quality radios than today's versions.  "You couldn't really hear the bass on an AM transistor radios in those days," he laughs.  "I scarcely was aware that there was such a thing."

      AM radio in those days was less specialized. That is, the stations tended to play music that was popular, regardless of whether it was pop, rhythm and blues, or soul.  Later, music stations become more specialized, but in the 1960s, Motown and Memphis Soul were played alongside the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis.  

     Tom's first instrument was not the bass, but another four-stringed instrument, the baritone ukulele.  Tom's Dad made the unilateral decision that the family would learn music, and Dad would play guitar, Tom would play baritone ukulele and Mom would play tenor ukulele.  "Ukulele at that time was the most uncool instrument there is," he laments. 

      Eventually, Tom's parents became less interested in instruments and limited themselves to singing, while Tom, in addition to being a very good singer, became the sole accompanist. Tom tried to play his Dad's nameless cheapie guitar for while, and eventually moved up to an Epiphone copy of the Gibson ES-335.  That instrument was at least playable, but in the early days of mass production, the Epiphones were notoriously shoddy.  Perhaps Tom's Dad was actually not the best source of musical instruments, but love seemed to overcome the lack of instrumental expertise.  Perhaps because of that experience, Tom has come to really appreciate quality instruments such as his Fender Precision bass which come from the mid 1960s or earlier.

     Making a long story short, there really was a historical industry-wide decline in quality for about a decade as instrument makers incorporated more mass production technology, with varying degrees of success.  Some of the lousiest instruments in history were made in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Those of us who learned from instruments of that era really did have deprived childhoods!

    At any rate, Tom survived childhood trauma to become a good enough vocalist and guitarist to play with others in a band as a teen.  Much later, circa 1999, Soul Express came about when Tom and a few musician friends decided that they wanted to play together professionally, even though they weren't exactly sure what kind of music they would focus on.  Later they decided to focus on Soul.   That idea was partly inspired by a unique film, The Commitments, which you may have never heard of.  Although not a box office smash, The Commitments  is a story about working class kids in Ireland who are fanatically devoted to Soul Music, and achieved a sort of cult following world wide.  Et voila!  The Soul Express was born.  

    Soul presents special challenges to the bass player because of its intricate rhythms and complex scales and harmonies.  Although not fundamentally a different animal than jazz or rock n' roll, soul makes great use of the minor pentatonic and blues scales, and moreover it tends to be improvisational, especially during the instrumental breaks.  That is, the musicians often go "off script" and make new sounds during the break.   The bass player's job is to try to bring together the wilder impulses of the other band members, and lead them through the song.  Kind of like herding cats.  Cool cats, perhaps.

    So what happens at a Soul Express performance?  One thing is that if you go to a few you will start to see some familiar faces in the audience..  Mostly it is an older crowd, but you will also see young people as well.  You will also notice that most of the audience is really into the music, actively listening rather than engaging passively.   And if there is not a dance floor available, they  audience will make one.   That's the fantastic part of a live performance.  
    
    Soul Express is celebrating its twentieth anniversary on New Year's Eve.  Here's hoping that they have at least another twenty in their musical journey.   

 

Gary Antol and the Jakobs Ferry Stragglers

Gary Antol is living out the dream shared by many professional musicians, to be a full-time professional musician. Many people share a similar dream, but Gary is actually making the dream reality. Gary's band, the Jakobs Ferry Stragglers (Libby Eddy, fiddle and vocals; Ray Bruckman, mandolin and vocals; Evan Bell, bass; Jody Mosser, resophonic guitar and vocals) is allegedly headquartered in Stockdale, Pennsylvania, but much of the time they are on the road. I recently caught up with Gary just a day after the band returned from touring Florida.

So, Mr. Antol, how did that happen? How do you get to be a professional musician and give hundreds of concerts a year and actually get paid for it? 

Is it magic or luck that allows someone to be "discovered" and to sign a lucrative recording contract.  But in reality, it's usually not that simple.  Becoming a professional musician is something that Gary dedicated his life to.

Gary demonstrated an early aptitude for music, starting to play the guitar at age 5. By the time he was a teenager, being a professional musician became a serious goal. “I had the dream of being a famous musician as a teenager,” he confesses, “but I didn't know what it meant.” Later, when it became time to go to college, Gary auditioned for guitarist Joe Negri of Duquesne University and was accepted into the music program. Among other roles, Joe was famous for his part as “Handyman Negri” on the Mister Rodgers show. Mister Rodgers was not just a children's show, but was an American Institution, and especially so in the Pittsburgh area. Hence it was really an honor to study with someone as famous as Joe Negri.

Gary credits Negri and the other faculty at Duquesne for preparing him for the real world of being a professional musician. Realistically, being a professional musician is in fact achievable, but it's hard work. “Joe taught me that I had to get ready to accept that, much of the time, it might not be glamorous at all. For example, you might be getting paid to play in a lounge, and some of the people may not be listening to you at all. But you can still be getting paid and earn a living. 

Negri is a world renowned improvisational jazz guitarist, and young Gary figured he would follow in his teacher's footsteps. But he was disappointed by a comment the master made one day out of the blue. “Gary, when you graduate, you should move to Nashville and be a flatpicker.” Young Antol was a bit put off by this, figuring that he would rather emulate his mentor. Joe elaborated “You can play way more than fast, you have the skills to be sure. But no matter how hard you try, you're going to sound like a country player. That's your sound.”

Years later, Gary realized that his teacher was right. Although “country” might be a little loosely defined, those countrified fans are the ones that want to hear the Antol sound, “Joe was right. And the last 7-8 years have been by far the most gratifying.”

But prior to pursuing that dream, Gary obtained work on Disney and Carnival Cruise Lines, and also performed in the House Band at Cedar Point, and even worked the Stardust Lounge house band in Las Vegas for a while.

Eventually, Gary teamed with bass player Andy Gregg and started playing country and bluegrass, as recommended by Joe Negri years later. Gregg was a rare talent because he could write songs and sing lead in addition to being a terrific bass player. Gary on the other hand was a sensational instrumentalist who can dish out a guitar break with the absolute best of the bluegrasss flatpickers, and also sings lead and is an accomplished songwriter.

Together, they developed a strong work ethic, which more than anything is the key to success in the difficult world of music. One of their regular gigs was at Rinky Dink's Roadhouse in the charming hillside community of Amity Pennsylvania. One night Gary and Andy appeared at the annointed hour, but the place was completely empty. The owner apologetically informed them that he would not be able to pay for the music, since, obviously there were no customers. But rather than packing up and going home, the two musicians decided to wait. “Maybe just one person will come, and if so we'll perform for them,” they reasoned. There were two important principles at work. One is that true professional musician will perform from the heart, at all times. To paraphrase, a pro does not loaf through a performance if the pay is low, but puts out as if it were halftime at the Super Bowl for each performance. Hence in a little a couple named Bob and Mara, both fans of Bluegrass, showed up at Rinky Dink's and Gary and Andy were ready to perform their level best. Perhaps it was kharma, but people kept streaming in, and they stayed because of the band. By the end of the night, the crowd numbered about 125. The other important lesson is that work leads to more work. It is vitally important for a struggling band to find gigs not only on weekends but especially during the week, and even if they are not the greatest gigs, it's an investment in future fans and better times.

Eventually, however, the musical interests diverged, and Gary formed the Jakobs Ferry Stragglers along with the dynamic Libby Eddy on fiddle and female vocals, and they were joined by mandolin player Ray Bruckman, bassist Evan Bell and Jody Mosser on resophonic guitar and vocals. Together they have combined to create a unique sound with elements of Appalachian string music, Old Time, Bluegrass and Jazz. Sometimes their sound is described as “Appalachian Bluegrass,” to distinguish it from the stylized Kentucky folk music referred to as Bluegrass.

Influenced by Gary's early experiences in the industry, Jakobs Ferry Stragglers is one of the hardest working bands this veteran observer has ever known. The band van puts on 55,000 miles a year and they perform upwards of 165 or so gigs per year. Success did not come easily or automatically.

Gary and JFS have had the opportunity to appear onstage with a number of highly successful musicans. He says that he habitually asks other famous musicians for advice, and two constant rules have emerged. First, have fun and create original music. Be true to your art. Second, it can never be about the money. Although money is important the top priority has to be the integrity of the music. If that is missing, in the long run it won't work out.

So, dear reader, if you harbor dreams of becoming a professional musician you would do well to heed the example of Gary Antol and the Jakobs Ferry Stragglers. Be prepared to learn how to be an accountant, travel agent, booking agent, mechanic and diplomat. Sure, it is important to be talented and it helps to have sexappeal, but dedication and hard work are probably even more important.

You can link to the JFS website here:

https://www.jakobsferry.com/

Gibson Goes Chapter 11

Elvis Presley and his Gibson J-200.

  
       How could you guys mess this up?  
     The most famous if not the greatest acoustic American folk instruments ever made were from the Gibson company, which was founded by Orville Gibson founded the company, circa1902 as the "Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Manufacturing Companyk Limited,  in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to make mandolin-family instruments. Gibson brought unprecedented craftmanship in American folk string instruments.   Gibson designed and manufactured high-end but affordable masterpieces.  They weren't just instruments, but industry icons such as  the F-5 Mandolin, Mastertone banjo, and the Les Paul electric guitar.  These are the instruments that everyone else copies.  Gibson also made a terrific acoustic guitars, though I wouldn't say that these guitars have the same iconic status as their other instruments, or at least the C. F. Martin company might want to contest it.  There are thousands of other instruments made by Gibson.

Bill Monroe and his famous Gibson Mandolin.  

The Les Paul, with Les and lefty Paul McCartney demonstrating, is one of the most popular electric guitars of all time, 

The Gibson ES-350 semi-hollow-body is forever associated with Chuck Berry.

Did you stupid accountants really destroy the quality of the B-25 by replacing the wood bridge with a plastic lookalike?  Yes you did.  

    Yet the business side was not as successful as the artistic side, apparently.  Faced with competition from low-cost mass production instruments from the Pacific Rim, American companies began to cut back, and there were noticeable dropoffs in quality from Fender, Martin and especially Gibson.  I worked as a guitar repair person at J.D. LaBash Music in Berea Ohio in the 1970s, and I remember one day taking apart a Gibson B-25 and to my shock and horror, the bridge was made of cosmetically disguised plastic (see the photo if you don't believe me). I absolutely couldn't believe it. This is absolutely impermissible because the bridge is part of the structure of the guitar and must withstand string tension in order to transmit vibrations to the top of the guitar.  Surely this was a forgery or a customer modification?  But no, J. D. explained that this was the modern business practice of Gibson. But that's not all.  I can further testify that almost every Les Paul I ever worked on from this era had a warped neck, which was probably caused by shortcutting the installation of frets on the neck, which results in inadequate stress relief. They also developed a new line of imported guitars using the Epiphone name which they apparently licensed from a rival.  This was really a throwaway instrument beyond belief.  All I can tell you is that the glues they used would pull apart after about a year under stress.  It was pathetic.
     I haven't worked in the field for years, but my impression is that the quality returned to Gibson and the other US manufacturers in the 1980s, after the MBA types were run off.  
     You can get higher quality instruments from very skilled small builders around the country, so professional musicians will always have options.  Gibson's Chapter 11 adventure causes us to ask, whether there there room for high-end mass produced instruments from America?  My heart tells me that there must be, though I confess I can't really evaluate the soundness of the business plan. I just can't believe that a company with this magnificent heritage could slide into bankruptcy.
     Scuttlebutt is that the company got in trouble with their business units having to do with high-priced musical electronics, and this was apparently not sound.  The company says it is going to return to its core competency to emerge from bankruptcy.  That sounds like the right strategy, and I hope it works.  
     As a folk musician, even one with very modest proficiency like me, it's not just a blip on the business page.  It's not just a company, but a major part of America's musical heritage.  It's inconceivable that they can mess this up.    
     

Bury Me Beneath the Willow

So, why are these people so happy to be singing about deception, unfaithfulness, suicide, death and burial?  (Hey, isn't that Camilla Neideman and Peter Strömquist from Le Chat Mort, the Swedish fusionist group? I'd recognize that snare drum anywhere.  Well, if you have a jam, you never know who might show up. 😊)

"Bury Me Beneath the Willow" is a strange song.  People seem so happy when they sing it, even though the lyrics are about betrayal, suicide, death, burial and guilt.  But it is definitely a joyous song!

To understand why, the historical background might be helpful.  This song is believed to have been the first country music song ever recorded.  The Carter Family were the first superstars of country music and needless to say they had a huge and passionate fan base.   

This song, then, became a standard of American folk music, and so when it is played, everyone knows the lyrics and they know how to play it.  Hence at a jam, say with some intermediate skills, when this song is played everyone can join in so it's louder and more skillfully played.  We get reminded of the Carter Family, and what they meant to our grandparents and parents, so it's a very sentimental experience.  Plus it's catchy, and has a positive sound and beat to it. 

So it's not the case that the words don't matter, but the serious dark tone of the song is overcome by the positive memories associated with the song, and thus the bond that most of us feel to the song as well as with other musicians, our families and musical heritage.  Another song like that is "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."  Everybody knows it and loves it, even though the subject matter has to do with transporting a dead body.   

The Lonesome Meadow nails "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow"

OK so back to betrayal, suicide, death and burial, now that we have explained why these experiences make us happy.  Mother Mabel Carter attributed this song to Riley Kincaid, though probably she meant that the Carter Family learned it by hearing Riley's version.  It's possible that Riley actually composed the entire song, but the existence of varying words suggests that many musicians may have had a hand in it.  

     The Carter version (full text below) seems to be an amalgamation of at least two or three variants.  The presumption is that song lyrics make more sense when the song is written, and deviates as it is passed from one musician to the next.  That may not be true, but in any case the premise of the song varies from one verse to another. 

     The first verse lyrics are about a woman who has lost her true love due to death. But she looks forward to a future meeting in heaven where they will be reunited.
     However, the chorus suggests that both the singer and the singer's lover are alive, but the singer is planning to die soon.  Burial wishes are given. The suggestion is that death will make the lover feel sorry for her "perhaps he will weep for me."  The "perhaps" suggests that there is some doubt about the lover's attitude, so the singer may have been jilted by the lover. This theme is strongly confirmed in verses 2 and 3,Verse two seems to be a scathing denunciation of the young man's deceiving character, and verse 3 would suggest that the young man is not even worth getting upset over.  Good riddance!  But in the last verse, she seems to still be in love and hopes her death will cause the young man to feel differently.
    Well, young love is not always sensible, but it is also possible that one variant of the song dealt with the death of a lover, and then another version dealt with the rejection of a deceitful lover. It's a little unclear who rejected who.  These different themes are welded together in the song.  

   That gets us back to the original conclusion.  The lyrics may not make sense, and the rhymes might be a little strained, but the song is precious to American folk musicians, and we love to sing it together.  

My heart is sad, and I'm in sorrow

For the only one I love

When shall I see him, oh, no, never

Till I meet him in heaven above

Oh, bury me under the weeping willow

Yes, under the weeping willow tree

So he may know where I am sleeping

And perhaps he will weep for me

They told me that he did not love me

I could not believe it was true

Until an angel softly whispered

"He has proven untrue to you"

Tomorrow was our wedding day

But, Oh Lord, where is he?

He's gone to seek him another bride

And he cares no more for me

Oh, bury me under the violets blue

To prove my love to him

Tell him that I would die to save him

For his love I never could win