SLOW BURN: Werner Ghost Truck took a year to complete.
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Barn Burning has been through a myriad of changes since releasing its debut, Weatheredbound, in 2003. Almost no one from that first record is around anymore, save for bandleader Anthony Loffredio and intermittent string player Corwin Butterworth. According to Loffredio, it was hard for former members to log tour miles, and most had other ideas for their future like attending grad school or relocating. But Loffredio believed in the band and pieced together an act with a revolving door of musicians, staying on the road around the US and Canada for two and a half years. “I can’t say it’s been easy,” he admits. “That’s a long time to tour a record. But we knew we had to do it at our level.”
Today, Loffredio is happy that Barn Burning boasts its longest-standing lineup: James Toomey (drums, percussion, toy piano) and James Merida (bass, keyboards, vocals). The Jameses and Butterworth are on the new album, Werner Ghost Truck, which is being released this weekend at Jake’s and nationwide on Seattle’s Tarnished Records
on January 30.
Werner Ghost Truck took almost a year to complete. “After it was done,” says Loffredio, “we decided to sit on it until we found a record label.” Weatheredbound was released by the Catamount imprint in Tennessee. Five months turned into almost seven until the folks at Tarnished heard it and liked it enough to release it. During that time the band recorded and released an EP, Choir Practice. “I felt like I had to get something out there so that people didn’t think we totally died off.”
Werner Ghost Truck was recorded in Lowell, Massachu¬setts, in a big empty house in the middle of last winter on an estate cared for by band friend/producer Jim Reynolds. “The woman who owns the place gives Jim full run of the extra house on the property to do his recordings,” says Loffredio. “I did a lot of my guitar parts in different empty rooms and I did most of the vocals at the top of the stairs. We had a lot more time to experiment with different sounds and how we wanted the songs to take shape on the record.”
That liberty and looseness is laid bare on Truck, a compendium of fresh, ringing, and rustic strums that resonates with warmth and feeling. “This record actually sounds more like a band that has spent a lot of time on the road together,” says Loffredio, “rather than players just playing their parts. It’s tighter, yet more disjointed. It’s more experimental and it’s also the loudest and at the same time the quietest we’ve ever been. The estate felt very cut off from the rest of the world. I think that helped to effect the overall mood of the recordings.”
BARN BURNING + SHARKS COME CRUISIN’ + DOUG CHEATWOOD & THE BASTARDS OF FATE | January 27 | Jake’s Bar & Grille, 373 Richmond St, Providence | 401.453.5253
HABLA ESPANOL?
Honeyhander’s Anthony Ferreira has taken a break from his superstar vehicle — OK, I’m exaggerating, but they’re pretty damn good — to tour with his side project/solo alias SPANISH DANCER. But it sure ain’t the flamenco act it sounds like, nor is there much Español involved, as far as I can tell . . . Spanish Dancer is Ferreira getting’ all wiggy in a new wave kind of way, with the main character accompanying himself on guitar and freaky synth backdrops, kind of what I’d imagine Marc Bolan would sound like if he ran amok in Timbaland’s studio. Ferreira has a Provi¬dence tour stop at AS220 on January 31. There’s a full-length on the way which, based on the cuts at Myspace cuts, could provide an ample pop thrill.
ACE OF CLUBS
I’m happy to report to those given to grousing about the club scene that there are a few more reasons to be cheerful now that the calendar’s flipped to ’07. A few weeks back I noted that the newly revamped Penalty Box on North Main is booking local live music. Stay tuned for listings, as that process is now in swing. Just as exciting is word from former Green Room/Shed local music guru Dave Lysik, who writes: “Well, it looks like Jerky’s is gonna be doing live music. We just got our entertainment license after a very long and expensive ordeal. We almost didn’t make it. But here we are at the end of it all.” So Jerky’s, 71 Rich¬mond Street, Providence, is joining the fray thanks to the efforts of co-owner Lysik and longtime owner Jeff Ward, who ran the legendary Club Babyhead. This Friday, January 26, THE JESSE MINUTE and THE FASHION FAILURES play Jerky’s, which is a great way to get started. The Jesse Minute, the ’06 winners of Little Steven’s Underground Garage Battle of the Bands, has a new EP on the immediate horizon and they’re looking for a new bass player. In Warwick, a new venue called the Nostalgia Grille and Lounge (557 Warwick Avenue) will also be getting in on the act. On Monday nights the venue will be hosting “Band Auditions.” Book a slot then show the brass what ya got. If you’re da bomb, well, you can look forward to a paying a weekend slot in no time. The Nostalgia also intends to book national acts. Call 401.467.8998.
WANDERING EYE
Congrats to SOMA CITY who, along with the band PHI, split the recent Battle of the Bands contest sponsored by Rock Hard Entertainment. The two acts divvied a cash prize and each received 20 hours of studio time. Rock Hard will also be dispatching press kits to A&R reps in the industry on behalf of the winners. You can check out Soma City opening for SEEMLESS on Friday, January 26, at the Living Room. Call 401.521.5200. THE LAME DRIVERS will open a show at the Living Room on Sunday, January 28, headlined by VIC THRILL (aka Billy Campion, ex-Bogmen) and THE SATURN MISSILE. Apparently, there’s a movie in production about Vic Thrill, to be written by Tina Fey and starring Sacha Baron Cohen. The Lame Drivers had their debut reissued by 75 or Less last year. Lastly, the new RHODE ISLAND SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION website is up and running. It’s updated with performance and event info so check it out: www.risongwriters.com.
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Bob Gulla:
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