John Wheeler - Album Launch
John Wheeler - Un-American Gothic album release party at The Borderline 07/02/13
The Borderline venue is hidden away off Manette Street in Soho, named after fictional Dr Manette in Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, who is said to have had his offices there on what was then called Rose Street. Naturally, I had great expectations (see what I did there?) when I got the assignment to review Hayseed Dixie frontman John Wheeler’s solo offering Un-American Gothic, which he wrote while touring with the band over the previous few years.
One can imagine that being born in Music City USA Nashville, Tennessee means you’ve got rhythm coursing through your veins from day one. This man certainly does.
The man himself says that “trying to write text about music is like trying to dance about architecture”. With that in mind let’s write about the show itself.
After the very gifted Chris Peck (chrispeckmusic.com) warmed up the crowd with catchy creations of his own like the “Riversong”, “Missing The Girl” and a well-crafted reinterpretation of The Police’s “Every Little Thing...” amongst other offerings, it was time for Mr Wheeler to take to the stage alongside drummer Rob Pennel and Ben Bastin on the biggest violin I’d ever seen, which turned out to be a Double Bass.
Without much ado we were treated to one of my personal favourites off the album, “Doomsday Dance” which is a fast paced jig which has stayed in my ears since I first heard it and quite frankly, if it doesn’t when you listen to it, you’re probably dead already. Inside, anyway.
Next a lament of an unfulfilled love with undertones of arson called the “Street Sweeper Lullaby” which is incredibly bluesy (is that a word?) and a lovely change of pace, beautifully highlighting how talented these three musicians are.
Further proof of this came before the next song when a mysterious hum started emanating from one of the amps. Mr Wheeler fixed this himself with a couple of cable-wiggles and knob-turns stating that this is the way to do it as it saves you £150 for a sound engineer. Who can argue with that!?
After a brief interlude filled with thoughts on the finer aspects of a particular sub-genre of German pornography, John, Ben and Rob performed “Trickle Down” from Hayseed Dixie’s “No Covers” album for us. I’m sure you get the connection, so let’s leave it at that.
Now we all know that Hayseed Dixie have made their name primarily performing bluegrass style covers (how I hate that term) of rock songs and an evening with John Wheeler just wouldn’t be complete without one. Hence “The Ace Of Spades” was next on the setlist for this evening. Since pretty much everyone there knew the lyrics we all did our best to sing along.
John Wheeler is an avid motorcyclist, racking up millions of miles on his Triumph when on tour. “Wondering Why I Ever Go Home” is a song about doing just that but more specifically, about his adoration for a stretch of the trunk road SS1 from Pisa to Rome all along the Mediterranean Sea.
Next up was “Deeper in Debt”, which was, according to Wikipedia, released last November and coincided with the US presidential elections. I have to say it’s quite refreshing to hear a song about the current state of the world economy that doesn’t necessarily lay blame at anyone’s door but rather states the effects of it all one everyday life in a sardonic kind of way wrapped up in some versatile tunes. Away from the show, do make sure you check out the video to this on John Wheeler’s Youtube channel. It’s rather novel. (Note from Dave – check it out below!)
At this point John was nearing the end of his bottle of Old Speckled Hen and kindly asked for someone to replenish him. I immediately fulfilled this by buying a round of Hens for the band, Simon on the merch stand and myself at a very reasonable £22 which is a mere £4.40 (!) per 330ml bottle. Amidst the shock of all that I totally missed what song they played in the meantime but after gratefully accepting the drinks we were treated to an impromptu title called “Let’s Drink Some Ale” to the tune of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”. It was a special moment for all who enjoy a quart every now and then!
After this ode to the gods of malted barley John told us a little anecdote of an insight a friend of his who is a doctor gave him. When asked why as a doctor he’d smoke, he said that if you don’t drink and smoke how you don’t necessarily live longer, life just gets so boring it feels like it goes on for ever.
The set went on with more renditions penned by Mr Wheeler and was rounded off with one of Hayseed Dixie’s greatest love songs entitled “I’m Keeping Your Poop (In a Jar)”.
After realising that they had approximately 10 minutes of stage time left, the choice of what was to be played fell to the audience. Being furnished with some powerful lungs I shouted “The Moonshiner’s Daughter” as it’s one of my favourites. What I didn’t realise was that Ben and Rob had never played this song before but being the professionals they are, rose to the challenge and played perfectly! Make sure you check it out if you like double entendre lyrics.
The musical evening was rounded off with John Wheeler’s stunning own interpretation of The Jam’s “Eaton Rifles” during which I couldn’t help but wonder what Americans would make of this song since the opening line “Sup up your beer and collect your fags,...” has quite different meanings in either side of the Atlantic but then again we’re talking about an elitist boarding school so who knows what sort of thing goes on there.
After the gig, the band mingled with fans over by the merch stand shaking hands, chatting, posing for pictures and kindly signing a copy of the album dedicated to the readers of Loud Stuff. Watching the interactions between them and their fans it became obvious that despite being accomplished musicians these three chaps take nothing for granted and warmly appreciate the comments and company of those who ultimately help pay their rent.
I hope this little piece will help you understand what the show was like but I highly recommend that for a full understanding of the musical talent you purchase the album from your local HMV a licensed online retailer and check out John Wheeler’s website at johnwheelermusic.com.
Check out John Wheeler on his Facebook page HERE.
Words: Pete Student
The Borderline venue is hidden away off Manette Street in Soho, named after fictional Dr Manette in Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, who is said to have had his offices there on what was then called Rose Street. Naturally, I had great expectations (see what I did there?) when I got the assignment to review Hayseed Dixie frontman John Wheeler’s solo offering Un-American Gothic, which he wrote while touring with the band over the previous few years.
One can imagine that being born in Music City USA Nashville, Tennessee means you’ve got rhythm coursing through your veins from day one. This man certainly does.
The man himself says that “trying to write text about music is like trying to dance about architecture”. With that in mind let’s write about the show itself.
After the very gifted Chris Peck (chrispeckmusic.com) warmed up the crowd with catchy creations of his own like the “Riversong”, “Missing The Girl” and a well-crafted reinterpretation of The Police’s “Every Little Thing...” amongst other offerings, it was time for Mr Wheeler to take to the stage alongside drummer Rob Pennel and Ben Bastin on the biggest violin I’d ever seen, which turned out to be a Double Bass.
Without much ado we were treated to one of my personal favourites off the album, “Doomsday Dance” which is a fast paced jig which has stayed in my ears since I first heard it and quite frankly, if it doesn’t when you listen to it, you’re probably dead already. Inside, anyway.
Next a lament of an unfulfilled love with undertones of arson called the “Street Sweeper Lullaby” which is incredibly bluesy (is that a word?) and a lovely change of pace, beautifully highlighting how talented these three musicians are.
Further proof of this came before the next song when a mysterious hum started emanating from one of the amps. Mr Wheeler fixed this himself with a couple of cable-wiggles and knob-turns stating that this is the way to do it as it saves you £150 for a sound engineer. Who can argue with that!?
After a brief interlude filled with thoughts on the finer aspects of a particular sub-genre of German pornography, John, Ben and Rob performed “Trickle Down” from Hayseed Dixie’s “No Covers” album for us. I’m sure you get the connection, so let’s leave it at that.
Now we all know that Hayseed Dixie have made their name primarily performing bluegrass style covers (how I hate that term) of rock songs and an evening with John Wheeler just wouldn’t be complete without one. Hence “The Ace Of Spades” was next on the setlist for this evening. Since pretty much everyone there knew the lyrics we all did our best to sing along.
John Wheeler is an avid motorcyclist, racking up millions of miles on his Triumph when on tour. “Wondering Why I Ever Go Home” is a song about doing just that but more specifically, about his adoration for a stretch of the trunk road SS1 from Pisa to Rome all along the Mediterranean Sea.
Next up was “Deeper in Debt”, which was, according to Wikipedia, released last November and coincided with the US presidential elections. I have to say it’s quite refreshing to hear a song about the current state of the world economy that doesn’t necessarily lay blame at anyone’s door but rather states the effects of it all one everyday life in a sardonic kind of way wrapped up in some versatile tunes. Away from the show, do make sure you check out the video to this on John Wheeler’s Youtube channel. It’s rather novel. (Note from Dave – check it out below!)
At this point John was nearing the end of his bottle of Old Speckled Hen and kindly asked for someone to replenish him. I immediately fulfilled this by buying a round of Hens for the band, Simon on the merch stand and myself at a very reasonable £22 which is a mere £4.40 (!) per 330ml bottle. Amidst the shock of all that I totally missed what song they played in the meantime but after gratefully accepting the drinks we were treated to an impromptu title called “Let’s Drink Some Ale” to the tune of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”. It was a special moment for all who enjoy a quart every now and then!
After this ode to the gods of malted barley John told us a little anecdote of an insight a friend of his who is a doctor gave him. When asked why as a doctor he’d smoke, he said that if you don’t drink and smoke how you don’t necessarily live longer, life just gets so boring it feels like it goes on for ever.
The set went on with more renditions penned by Mr Wheeler and was rounded off with one of Hayseed Dixie’s greatest love songs entitled “I’m Keeping Your Poop (In a Jar)”.
After realising that they had approximately 10 minutes of stage time left, the choice of what was to be played fell to the audience. Being furnished with some powerful lungs I shouted “The Moonshiner’s Daughter” as it’s one of my favourites. What I didn’t realise was that Ben and Rob had never played this song before but being the professionals they are, rose to the challenge and played perfectly! Make sure you check it out if you like double entendre lyrics.
The musical evening was rounded off with John Wheeler’s stunning own interpretation of The Jam’s “Eaton Rifles” during which I couldn’t help but wonder what Americans would make of this song since the opening line “Sup up your beer and collect your fags,...” has quite different meanings in either side of the Atlantic but then again we’re talking about an elitist boarding school so who knows what sort of thing goes on there.
After the gig, the band mingled with fans over by the merch stand shaking hands, chatting, posing for pictures and kindly signing a copy of the album dedicated to the readers of Loud Stuff. Watching the interactions between them and their fans it became obvious that despite being accomplished musicians these three chaps take nothing for granted and warmly appreciate the comments and company of those who ultimately help pay their rent.
I hope this little piece will help you understand what the show was like but I highly recommend that for a full understanding of the musical talent you purchase the album from your local HMV a licensed online retailer and check out John Wheeler’s website at johnwheelermusic.com.
Check out John Wheeler on his Facebook page HERE.
Words: Pete Student
John Wheeler
You’ve all probably heard of the rockgrass band Hayseed Dixie and have heard a couple of their tracks in all likeliness, but have you heard of John Wheeler – their front man? If not, now’s your chance to get on board and see what you reckon of things as he’s just released his solo album, Un-American Gothic, and we here at Loud-Stuff think it’s an album you need to hear.
Describing himself as a cheap bastard and a raging control freak (his words on the FB page….not mind), John runs his own FB page, works hard to get his music out there, and plays in an ‘acoustic-electric jazz-punk riding on the back of some old-school folk-funk’ style of music – so there! Now that we’ve cleared up his style, and introduced the man himself, what of the album?
Opening the album with Down At The Exit we’re immediately tossed into a world of upbeat guitar lines, soaring vocal lines and a roving sense of bass which adds a sense of movement into things. Upbeat and accessible from the word go, this opening track sets the album up in style, letting you know what to expect from the rest of it and beginning to showcase the unfaltering style of John Wheeler and his music. Doomsday Dance continues this theme, shifting things back towards the more rockgrass roots of his other outfit and combining them with a sense of old school punk and groove – it’s a mix which I’ve not come across before but one which works for sure. This is music designed for drinking – the sort of thing you’re going to move along to whilst swigging on a beer, custom made for a damned good time from the off.
Offering up a cover of Eton Rifles (Paul Weller) next, the mood of the album switches once again and moves towards a more laid back and emotionally charged style. Opening with a soft piano line which leads us into the track and keeps things sounding real, this is music which doesn’t allow him a place to hide, instead keeping him on show throughout and demonstrating how moving a track can sound when it’s performed in a slightly different style. Turning an upbeat punk track into something soft, haunting and emotionally moving, the resulting track here is one which stands out as a serious high point on the album for sure, and a moment which demonstrates exactly why you need to be getting your hands on this album. Shifting once again for Deeper In Debt, the mood shifts back to the upbeat and dance orientated style which kicked things off, hammering through a track packed with a political message without allowing the message to get in the way of the music. Another track which is surely designed for the live scene, this is another one which you know fans are going to lap up and want to hear more of, even listening to it on CD I found myself moving along.
Little Houses In A Row, Kuss Mich Noch Einmal, Like I Want You, Street Sweeper Lullaby and Wondering Why I Ever Go Home all continue to push the album forwards, each track continuing to showcase the style of Mr Wheeler and show that his solo stuff is just as accomplished as the stuff his band have come up with. Each track seems to present a slightly different approach, from upbeat moments to more emotionally charged and laid back tracks, each one oozing out of the speakers to engulf you in a blanket of sound, simply letting you know that it’s all ok and all that matters right now is what you’re hearing. Following on with another cover, this time in the form of Masters Of War (Bob Dylan), we’re once again put back onto a familiar grounding, but with John’s own personal take on the style thrown into the mix. It’s a brave move including two covers on a solo album like this, but through the choice of track and the manner in which they’re performed they’re pulled off and well received, simply sitting perfectly in place and continuing to keep you listening.
Black Forest Skies is another soft and hard hitting track, full of intricate piano lines and more of those captivating vocal lines. If you were wondering about what the style of music was going to sound like here, then this track is a good demonstration of what to expect, the sort of track which almost showcases the style throughout and allows you an insight into the inner workings of John’s mind – and it’s a strangely appealing place. It’s only then left to Walk Between The Raindrops to close the album, finishing on an upbeat note and leaving no doubt that this has been one hell of an album from start to finish. Soft guitars work with roving bass, restrained drum lines and upbeat vocals to craft a sound which is fun, built for a good time, and the sort of thing which everyone is going to enjoy regardless of musical taste. It’s that old cliché of finishing on a high point, but here it is, it’s happened, and it sounds good.
Un-American Gothic from John Wheeler is one of those albums that a lot of people are going to enjoy, the sort of thing which you can whack on, listen to and enjoy without feeling that it’s over the top or hard work – it’s simply a damned good album which is going to raise the spirits of anyone who hears it. As someone who’s listened to Hayseed Dixie for a while now, it’s interesting hearing the solo stuff, and to be honest, I almost prefer this….just don’t tell them!
To find out more about John Wheeler (in his own words of course), check out his Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Describing himself as a cheap bastard and a raging control freak (his words on the FB page….not mind), John runs his own FB page, works hard to get his music out there, and plays in an ‘acoustic-electric jazz-punk riding on the back of some old-school folk-funk’ style of music – so there! Now that we’ve cleared up his style, and introduced the man himself, what of the album?
Opening the album with Down At The Exit we’re immediately tossed into a world of upbeat guitar lines, soaring vocal lines and a roving sense of bass which adds a sense of movement into things. Upbeat and accessible from the word go, this opening track sets the album up in style, letting you know what to expect from the rest of it and beginning to showcase the unfaltering style of John Wheeler and his music. Doomsday Dance continues this theme, shifting things back towards the more rockgrass roots of his other outfit and combining them with a sense of old school punk and groove – it’s a mix which I’ve not come across before but one which works for sure. This is music designed for drinking – the sort of thing you’re going to move along to whilst swigging on a beer, custom made for a damned good time from the off.
Offering up a cover of Eton Rifles (Paul Weller) next, the mood of the album switches once again and moves towards a more laid back and emotionally charged style. Opening with a soft piano line which leads us into the track and keeps things sounding real, this is music which doesn’t allow him a place to hide, instead keeping him on show throughout and demonstrating how moving a track can sound when it’s performed in a slightly different style. Turning an upbeat punk track into something soft, haunting and emotionally moving, the resulting track here is one which stands out as a serious high point on the album for sure, and a moment which demonstrates exactly why you need to be getting your hands on this album. Shifting once again for Deeper In Debt, the mood shifts back to the upbeat and dance orientated style which kicked things off, hammering through a track packed with a political message without allowing the message to get in the way of the music. Another track which is surely designed for the live scene, this is another one which you know fans are going to lap up and want to hear more of, even listening to it on CD I found myself moving along.
Little Houses In A Row, Kuss Mich Noch Einmal, Like I Want You, Street Sweeper Lullaby and Wondering Why I Ever Go Home all continue to push the album forwards, each track continuing to showcase the style of Mr Wheeler and show that his solo stuff is just as accomplished as the stuff his band have come up with. Each track seems to present a slightly different approach, from upbeat moments to more emotionally charged and laid back tracks, each one oozing out of the speakers to engulf you in a blanket of sound, simply letting you know that it’s all ok and all that matters right now is what you’re hearing. Following on with another cover, this time in the form of Masters Of War (Bob Dylan), we’re once again put back onto a familiar grounding, but with John’s own personal take on the style thrown into the mix. It’s a brave move including two covers on a solo album like this, but through the choice of track and the manner in which they’re performed they’re pulled off and well received, simply sitting perfectly in place and continuing to keep you listening.
Black Forest Skies is another soft and hard hitting track, full of intricate piano lines and more of those captivating vocal lines. If you were wondering about what the style of music was going to sound like here, then this track is a good demonstration of what to expect, the sort of track which almost showcases the style throughout and allows you an insight into the inner workings of John’s mind – and it’s a strangely appealing place. It’s only then left to Walk Between The Raindrops to close the album, finishing on an upbeat note and leaving no doubt that this has been one hell of an album from start to finish. Soft guitars work with roving bass, restrained drum lines and upbeat vocals to craft a sound which is fun, built for a good time, and the sort of thing which everyone is going to enjoy regardless of musical taste. It’s that old cliché of finishing on a high point, but here it is, it’s happened, and it sounds good.
Un-American Gothic from John Wheeler is one of those albums that a lot of people are going to enjoy, the sort of thing which you can whack on, listen to and enjoy without feeling that it’s over the top or hard work – it’s simply a damned good album which is going to raise the spirits of anyone who hears it. As someone who’s listened to Hayseed Dixie for a while now, it’s interesting hearing the solo stuff, and to be honest, I almost prefer this….just don’t tell them!
To find out more about John Wheeler (in his own words of course), check out his Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls