The thing that makes Chandler Travis one of the archetypal showmen and performers of our age is not only his outlandish, swaggering humor. That’s the hook, I think… that’s what people mention and remember, the hysterically funny, outrageous wisecracks.
What really ropes you in is the awesomely courageous and gentle way he explores human emotion. All his many love songs are at the heart of it all meditations on this theme – not sentimental wishy-washy fantasies of imaginary happiness, but site specific stories of two way streets, cul-de-sacs and dead ends. It’s honest in confronting the tragic aspects, as well as the delirious joys, of falling in, out of and sideways in love.
Here he brings his quartet – naturally named Three-0 – to Saratoga Springs’ legendary Caffe Lena last Friday night. Opener was the master of solo electric guitar and sheer stream-of-consciousness poetic intensity Pete LaBonne.
NOTE: The Chandler Travis Three-O returns to Nippertown for a show the Ale House in Troy at 8pm on Saturday, June 16. Mark your calendar now…
If the name Chandler Travis means anything to you, it means a combination of dazzling musicianship and fearless merry-making – in his many incarnations, the man has developed a fiercely loyal cult following… and with good reason. Sage-like and impish at the same time, he explores the terrains of love and life’s absurdities with rowdiness, tenderness and a sardonic faith in humanity that never wavers. Plus he makes a habit of wandering around in the audience, mid-song, which creates an aura that’s hard to describe: we’re witnesses and co-conspirators in something that feels magical.
Last Saturday, he brought his Chandler Travis Three-O traveling road show to Troy for an afternoon stop at the River Street Beat Shop followed by an evening performance at the Ale House.
The Catbirds: Chandler Travis, Rikki Bates, Steve Wood and Dinty Child
Review by Fred Rudofsky
Photograph by Joseph Deuel
“Welcome to Rich and Denise’s Christmas party!” exclaimed Chandler Travis as he adjusted the microphone, strapped on his bass and smiled at his friends in the audience. It was time for the Catbirds to rock Valentine’s very foundation and for a guitar amplifier to warm up for its inevitable demise.
Twenty-six songs, spanning two sets, and all reverberating on the last real rock and roll venue in Albany on a Thursday night. Yep, you’re probably kicking yourself for not leaving the house.
Opening with “Everybody Christmas Time,” which fused the best elements of the Kinks and Rockpile, the Catbirds set the tone for the evening. Every song was like an unexpected gift, though the band was open to requests and “bequests.” Guitarist Steve Wood led the band through the tremolo-laden “Swamp Girl” like a ragin’ Cajun; Travis delivered “All I Wanna Know Is” like it was the hit it ought to be, complete with Rikki Bates swirling drum work. Guitarist-mandocellist Dinty Child stepped up for a spirited “That’s Right,” trading firecracker solos with Wood over a Latin beat.
The Catbirds’ influences are about as diverse as any in the land. T. Rex’s gem “Mambo Sun” was tipsy and wry; Mel Torme’s “Coming Home Baby” got a deft vocal round treatment; King Floyd’s “Groove Me” exuded beach music swagger; and Goffin and King’s “Another Night with the Boys” sounded like a honky tonk classic done in Shaver style. Equally stirring renditions of Love’s apocalyptic “7 and 7 Is,” Ronnie Dawson’s rockabilly juggernaut “Fish Out of Water” and John Lennon’s timeless, reassuring boot-stomper “Instant Karma” were like getting extra gifts in the Christmas stocking.
Yet the real treats were the originals that dominated the night. “First Warm Day” captured the essence of feeling a change in the weather, while “I Viborate” channeled the mayhem of Sun Records-era Jerry Lee Lewis. “Stoned” and “Are We Done Yet?” – both from the band’s recent short disc “Viborate” – were psychedelic garage-rock forays at their finest, awash with reverb, echo and guitar strings ablazing over thrilling drum patterns. “We Are New Men” wryly looked at the rapid, unforeseen technological shifts in our culture: “There’s a satellite above me/ That gives me tweets from David Duchovny.” Meanwhile, “Change the Names” and “Crutch of Music” showed off the superb interplay among the Catbirds as well.
You had to be there, trust me, just to smell an amplifier smolder at the end of the first set – now that’s rock ‘n’ roll. Look for a full-length cd release from the Catbirds in 2012.
Local favorites the Mysterios played a wonderfully raucous opening set inspired by sounds from the mid-1960s. Originals such as “Ed Wood’s Making Movies” and “Going to the Rodeo” were mixed in with choice covers from the Velvet Underground (“Rock and Roll”) and psychedelic pioneers the 13th Floor Elevators (“You’re Gonna Miss Me”).
NOTE: And by the way, Chandler Travis has already booked his return trip to Nippertown. He’ll be leading the Chandler Travis Three-O into the Ale House in Troy at 9pm on Saturday, January 21.
Chandler Travis (right) with his singing valet Fred Boak performing at Riverlnk Park (photo by Stanley Johnson)
Here are my Top 10 concerts for 2011. Not all were in Nippertown, and this list is not in any particular order:
The Chandler Travis Philharmonic @ Riverlink Park, Amsterdam The Hurricane Irene benefit @ Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany (Read his review) Josh Ritter/John Wesley Harding @ The Egg, Albany (Read his review) Paul McCartney @ Yankee Stadium, NYC Sonny Landreth @ Highline Ballroom, NYC Ray Davies @ The Egg, Albany Bela Fleck & the Flecktones @ The Egg, Albany The Spampinato Brothers @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs (Read his review) Singer/Songwriter Night with M.R. Poulopoulos, Matt Durfee, Tom Lindsay & Michael Eck @ Riverlink Park, Amsterdam
SUPERSTARS? Well, of course they are. It’s The Ticks, performing their chamber version of Jesus Christ Superstar at last year’s Christmas Cavalcade Benefit for the Homeless. STEVE SWAIN PHOTO
Written by Chandler Travis
Benefit for the homeless is nearly a tradition
It’s almost time for the 7th or 8th Annual Cape Cod Christmas Cavalcade Benefit for the Homeless at the Jailhouse Tavern (28 West Road, Orleans; 508-255-5245) or at least it will be on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m. Here’s a reflection or two:
Christmas is the lamest, most shameless, crass, inane, frustrating, blood-chilling, shattering holiday there is; also the most touching, mystical, and occasionally even noblest… it’s somewhere between suicide and a kick-ass good time, and the only holiday that comes with its own ridiculously extensive catalog of music, one that flaunts all these attributes and vices. Obviously, both the holiday and the music associated with it dote on the extremes of human endeavor, and encompass both the highest highs and the lowest lows. Which means you get Darlene Love singing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” plus (or minus) the Wilder Brothers’ immortal classic, “I Want A Goat For Christmas.”
In short, Christmas is a workout, and so is the Cape Cod Christmas Cavalcade.
Even with virtually all of the performers held to a song or two each (except the Chandler Travis Philharmonic, in our capacity of hosts), the Cavalcade has grown, in its seven- or eight-year existence (perhaps one day we’ll figure that out more precisely), to Ben Hur-like proportions, lasting four hours and then some. Each year there are surprises -this year’s show brings the inimitable Zoe Lewis, Polka Dan’s Beetbox Band, Christine Rathbun, Gip Hoppe, and Tad & Kate from Sidewalk Driver to the fold for their Cavalcade debuts; welcomes back some old favorites in the Parkington Sisters, Kami Lyle, and Carla Kihlstedt (from Tin Hat) and her husband Matthew Bossi (among others); and counts on some hardy perennials like Bruce Maclean, Toast & Jam, the Rip-It-Ups, myself, and the Ticks (whose annual Christmas pageants are always particularly dazzling – last year, they did a Classics Illustrated version of Jesus Christ Superstar, complete with costumes!)
Not to mention Sarah Swain & the Swain Sisters; last year, it was Sarah and her (then) 5-year old daughter, Lucy, bringing the house down; this year, (now) 5-year-old) Jesse joins the crew (with a vengeance, I’m told.)
One of the other factors that makes the Cavalcade great is that it’s all holiday music, which generally means all the acts are performing music they very rarely get a shot at; chance is definitely a factor, as none of us are really walking on firm ground here. Folks get nervous, and the atmosphere’s kinda giddy. At this point, there’s almost a class reunion aspect – a lot of us are friends, and glad to see each other; coziness prevails; some drinks gets drunk; occasionally, a mayor is elected.
I don’t know, it’s cheesy, terrifying, gorgeous, horrendous, raucous, dreamy, and sentimental; a total nightmare to produce, but nonetheless still sort of a treat to myself and my friends at the end of the year, and at this point I’d hate to go a year without. And, oh, yeah, it’s also for a terrific cause, the NOAH Shelter in Hyannis, which receives every penny.
One of our most treasured holiday traditions returns to Johnny D’s this year, Thursday Dec. 15, the 7th or 8th Annual Boston Christmas Cavalcade Benefit for the Homeless. We asked its founder/leader/pajama-clad madman Chandler Travis what the season and the event mean to him and he e-mailed us: “Christmas is the lamest, most shameless, crass, inane, frustrating, blood-chilling, shattering holiday there is; also the most touching, mystical, and occasionally even noblest… it’s somewhere between suicide and a kick-ass good time, and the only holiday that comes with its own ridiculously extensive catalog of music, one that flaunts all these attributes and vices. Obviously, both the holiday and the music associated with it dote on the extremes of human endeavor, and encompass both the highest highs and the lowest lows. Which means you get Darlene Love singing ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),’ plus (or minus) the Wilder Brothers’ immortal classic, ‘I Want A Goat For Christmas.’ In short, Christmas is a workout, and so is the Boston Christmas Cavalcade.”
This year’s paraded includes (of course) the Chandler Travis Philharmonic and Philharmonic Trombone Shout Band, Liv Taylor, Jen D’Angora, the Upper Crust, the Conolly / Conley Christmas Singers (with Mission of Burma’s Clint Conley and the Lyres’ Jeff Conolly), Merrie Amsterberg, Jennifer Kimball, the Darlings, Miriam, Shaun Wolf Wortis, Factory Seconds, Alastair Moock, Greg Greenway and the Athol Thingerth, plus one of our favorite groups, TBA.
Travis continues, “Even with virtually all of the performers held to a song or two each, the Cavalcade has grown, in its 7 or 8 year existence (perhaps one day we’ll figure that out more precisely), to Ben Hur-like proportions, lasting 4 hours and then some. Each year there are surprises -this year’s show brings the Upper Crust, Factory Seconds, and the Conolly / Conley Christmas Singers, Clint and Jeff, who have never performed together before now as far as I know) to the fold; welcomes back some old favorites in Jennifer Kimball, Livingston Taylor, Ramona Silver (among others); and counts on some hardy perennials like Merrie Amsterburg, Alastair Moock, Jen D’Angora, Shaun Wortis, and myself; hell, for the Philharmonic Trombone Shout Band and our chorus, the Athol Thingerth, this is the only gig we’ll play all year! This last, the Philharmonic Trombone Shout Band, is a particularly special annual Xmas experience, comprised as it is of 15 or so of Boston’s best and loudest trombonists, plus the immortal Mike Milnarik on tuba and and the CTP’s own Keiichi Hashimoto on trumpet, plus members of the CTP’s rhythm section. They can’t even fit on the stage, and the magnitude of the blast is always felt for days afterward.”
“One of the other factors that makes the Cavalcade great is that it’s all holiday music, which generally means all the acts are performing music they very rarely get a shot at; chance is definitely a factor, as none of us are really walking on firm ground here. Folks get nervous, and the atmosphere’s kinda giddy. At this point, there’s almost a class reunion aspect -a lot of us are friends, and glad to see each other; coziness prevails; some drinks gets drunk; occasionally, a mayor is elected.
“I don’t know, it’s cheesy, terrifying, gorgeous, horrendous, raucous, dreamy, and sentimental; a total nightmare to produce, but nonetheless still sort of a treat to myself and my friends at the end of the year, and at this point I’d hate to go a year without. And, oh, yeah, it’s also for a terrific cause, the Somerville Homeless Coalition, which receives every penny.”
Chandler Travis made a Capital District stop, once again, at the Linda, this time dragging the rest of the Philharmonic with him. The last time in town – at Amsterdam’s Riverlink Park – they were missing their mandocello-accordion player, Dinty Child. All nine members made this one, albeit with a slightly different line-up. I have seen the Philharmonic several times, but I do not believe it has been the same line-up twice, as Chandler has a stable of fantastic musicians he can draw from in case someone can’t make the gig. Trumpeter Keiichi Hashimoto and pianist Cliff Spencer came along for the ride this time.
Anyone who has seen Travis knows that he possesses a dry wit that can border on hilarity, so it should be no surprise that he would have good friend Pete LaBonne along to warm up for him. LaBonne has that same sense of understated humor. He may not be quite as polished as Travis – possibly due to living in a small cabin in Upstate NY… without power – but he can be just as funny. LaBonne hit the stage to a chorus of “PETE… PETE… PETE,” which of course, he joined in on. As he ran through his short set, all the members of the Philharmonic left the green room and sat with the audience to catch it, a tribute to how they all felt about him.
Like Travis, it is very difficult to pin a music style label on him, but it’s clear from songs such as “100 Monkeys Typing” and “Hillbilly Coupe De Ville” that his songwriting lies delightfully off-center. He wasn’t going to let a balky guitar amp distract him too much; when Travis offered up his amp, he basically said fuck it and kept on playing, producing cheers from the audience. He did, however, borrow a familiar song from the Chandler Travis set list for the obligatory singer/songwriter sing-along, “Turning The Page”, but since he wrote it, I don’t think anyone minded.
The Philharmonic hit the stage dressed for the occasion – in PJs with their usual antics on full display. Just looking at the horn section (dubbed the June Trailer Dancers) jumping around between parts, you get the sense that they are not serious. You could not be more wrong. They take the music very seriously; just not themselves. They generally appear to be having as much fun as the audience. Many musicians are very good players, and others are good entertainers. The CTP is both. While taking a break from his valet duties, Fred Boak stepped up from his back-up vocals to be featured on “O Miserable Love” with the accordion, giving it an almost polka feel.
Again, trying to peg them into a particular style is really pointless as they can shift styles quicker than Travis can change costumes (which he does several times). “Mid Morning In Moscow” harkens back to the big band era with its heavy brass of Bob Pilkington on trombone and upright bass of John Clark, while “Where’s My Glasses” is beyond a label, but resonates with anyone over a certain age. (In fact I’m sure most of us have sung along to its opening line without even realizing it, “FUCK… FUCK… FUCK… I just had them on”). LaBonne came up and joined them for one of his songs, “Supermarket Employee,” also to the thunderous chant of “PETE… PETE…,” only by this time, more of the audience knew the words.
Throughout the show, it was hard to tell who was having more fun, drummer Rikki Bates or woodwind player Berke McKelvey, as their smiles never seemed to fade. This could also be said about the audience. While they ended up playing two encores, the second was done unplugged as the CTP strolled around the aisles of The Linda singing “Things To You” and “Goodbye.”
Review by Ed Conway
Photographs by Joe Deuel
THE CHANDLER TRAVIS PHILHARMONIC SET LIST
Ronald
Don’t Blame Me
My Father Met My Mother in New York
Where’s My Glasses
Suddenly Everything is Different
Make the Small Things Pretty
Did You Ever Know
Last Thing I Needed
Graciously
Mid-Morning in Moscow
Milk Truck on Fire
All My Good Luck Is Gone
Human
Supermarket Employee (with Pete LaBonne)
January
Get Ready for Freddy
O Miserable Love
Let’s Have Some Fun
Thanksgiving in Stoughton
Grand Route St. John FIRST ENCORE
Fluffy SECOND ENCORE
(unplugged)
Things To You
Goodbye
PETE LaBONNE SET LIST
Guest of Honor
Turning the Page
Toothy Ruthie
Hillbilly Coupe De Ville
We Rolled the Car
Pour Beer on Each Other ENCORE
100 Monkeys Typing
No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. The Chandler Davis Three-O contains four people. The band, which plays "Mountain Stage" on Sunday, is (from left): Berke McKelvey, Chandler Travis, Fred Boak and John Clark.
By Bill Lynch
CHARLESTON, W.V. — Chandler Travis laughs easily. He’s got a lot to laugh about. For the most part, he’s a man who’s gotten to do what he wants. The singer, guitarist, bandleader and former newspaper columnist’s career in music spans more than four decades, a couple of bands — including the Chandler Travis Three-O, appearing Sunday on “Mountain Stage” — and at least one long-term partnership with an American comedy icon.
Travis got started in music in the late 1960s, after he met guitarist Steve Shook. The two began playing together as Travis Shook, a duo.
“We were just a duo because we were too stoned to find a drummer,” Travis snickered, and then added a little more seriously, “Well, OK, it wasn’t entirely being too stoned. It just took us 10 years to find the right drummer.”
In the meantime, they played all over the country and, in 1972, met George Carlin at The Main Point coffeehouse in Bryn Mawr, Pa. It was a few months before Carlin’s arrest for his routine “The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television” at Milwaukee’s Summerfest.
“I think he was a last-minute replacement for Dave Van Ronk,” Travis said. “George’s album, ‘FMAM,’ had just come out, and we’d seen him a couple of times on Ed Sullivan.”
They became fast friends. Carlin, Travis said, was a big record collector. They had that in common, along with a general interest in music. With his star on the rise, Carlin decided he wanted a band with him on tour. During the early peak of Carlin’s career, Travis and Shook were that band.
“We shared a love of music . . . and dope,” Travis chuckled. “I mean, mostly just pot. You know that point in the late ’60s, early ’70s, when everybody was doing everything? We were, too.”
They stayed with Carlin until about 1980, when Shook and Travis formed The Incredible Casuals.
“A noisy rock band,” he said.
After that, they didn’t tour as much with Carlin — just a couple of dates a year — but The Incredible Casuals did OK. “We did shows, released albums and everything.”
From The Incredible Casuals, he formed the Chandler Travis Philharmonic and eventually the Chandler Travis Three-O, which he sees as a kind of satellite ensemble for the philharmonic, not unlike a chamber group made up of members from a symphony orchestra.
And the music?
“Well, that’s a funny thing,” he said. “You work really hard to come up with something that’s hard to describe, that’s unique, and the first thing you’re asked to do is describe it.”
Still, after about 15 years, Travis has come up with a couple of working titles for his buffet-style mix of musical genres. There’s a little bit of everything in there, from rock to odd bits of folk to South American music to jazz.
“It’s been called Alternative Dixieland or Omni-Pop,” he said. “We also use ‘gospel music for atheists.’”
Whatever Travis calls the style, his lyrics often come with a slightly askew perspective and a wry sense of humor.
“My first instinct as a songwriter is to subvert any given form,” he said. “If I write a pretty love song there’s likely to be a twist, because I don’t want to be writing the same song again.”
No, it wasn’t the latest Star Wars droid. It was, instead, another Chandler Travis musical project coming to Nippertown. As in his many other bands, Chandler is the ring master of the circus, albeit a little smaller circus than others. Billed as a trio – er, rather a three-o – the actual line-up caused Sarah Craig, Caffe Lena’s director, to quip that math wasn’t the reason they went into music. The band began entering the stage with bassist John Clark first – the rest of the band letting him hang out by himself for awhile, swinging in the breeze, as he said. Maybe it was less than three, as the rest of the light crowd chuckled. Eventually, the other bandmembers showed up – a grand total of four, with valet Fred Boak joining in.
Chandler used the smaller, more nimble, line-up to fully utilize the Lena setup. Shifting from the stage, to traveling minstrel, Chandler wandered (sometime running) through the audience along with the lone representative of the June Trailer Dancers (the horn section from the Chandler Travis Philharmonic) Berke McKelvey (soprano and alto sax, bass clarinet, keyboards and please forgive me if I forgot something) in tow. Even the upright bass was unplugged and brought into the audience. Luckily, there were no injuries.
The set list included Chandler Travis Philharmonic staples such as “Anne” and “You and Me Pushing Up Daisies” (with lyrics by David Greenberger, who was also in attendance, creating another source of one-liners for the friend of comedian George Carlin. Being more nimble also allowed them to perform songs from some of Travis’ other projects, Travis Shook & the Club Wow and the Incredible Casuals.
If you have never seen a Chandler Travis show, do yourself a favor and go. Luckily, you will have a chance at the Linda in November when the full Philharmonic will be performing. While the crowd was not very large, there were certainly fans. And while some may not have known much about the band when they arrived, they definitely left as fans. Who else can have your sides aching from laughter while at the same time appreciating the musical abilities? A full night of entertainment rolled up in one. Although they have performed in the area several times in the last year, they are actually from Cape Cod, so hopefully they got back home through Irene in one piece.
Thanks to Gene Griessman at WhatYouSay.com for including Chandler’s “Wedding Warning” on his public speaking blog. A recording of the “Wedding Warning” is available on the album “Hi! I’m Lippy Blappinklappy”
…a one-of-a-kind songwriter whose absurdist wit coexists with a bruised idealism that gives his best tunes a deep and haunting resonance. — Scott Schinder, Time Out New York
One of our most treasured holiday traditions returns to Johnny D’s this year, Thursday Dec. 15, the 7th or 8th Annual Boston Christmas Cavalcade Benefit for the Homeless. We asked its founder/leader/pajama-clad madman Chandler Travis what the season and the event mean to him and he e-mailed us: “Christmas is the lamest, most shameless, crass, inane, frustrating, blood-chilling, shattering holiday there is; also the most touching, mystical, and occasionally even noblest… it’s somewhere between suicide and a kick-ass good time, and the only holiday that comes with its own ridiculously extensive catalog of music, one that flaunts all these attributes and vices. Obviously, both the holiday and the music associated with it dote on the extremes of human endeavor, and encompass both the highest highs and the lowest lows. Which means you get Darlene Love singing ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),’ plus (or minus) the Wilder Brothers’ immortal classic, ‘I Want A Goat For Christmas.’ In short, Christmas is a workout, and so is the Boston Christmas Cavalcade.”
