Artist of the Week: South End String Band
THE SOUTH END STRING BAND
“Homegrown in the rich manure of island ravines fog-kissed for eons, we’re the South End String Band, classically trained at the prestigious Elger Bay School of Pickin and Grinnin, performing irregularly in the hill country of South Camano to legions of loyal detractors, dropouts, delinquents, parole officers, undercover surveillance teams, unemployed muleskinners, deadbeat dads, acne-pocked groupies, underage children and other neighbors in the Great Mossback region of the island’s fabled and much maligned South End. Experience a nostalgia so keen you’ll think you smell woodsmoke curling off the banjos. Either that or the burn barrel is smoldering. We’re an old time fiddle band of four stringpluckers. Erich Schweiger’s on fiddle, Monika DeNasha covers the guitar and jawharp, Bill Gum whacks a mean standup bass and Jack Archibald is trying his damnedest to learn banjo. We play music from the backwash of the American Archipelago, dike building, ditch digging, river damming, log jamming Roots Music for the next generation raised on Game Boy, bad video and an apparent lack of historical perspective. We play a lot of benefit concerts, fundraisers, Save the Grange, library anniversaries, Harvest Jubilees, firemen fundraisers, Snow Goose Festivals, American Legion dinners, Crab Fests, school assemblies, Floyd Norgaard cultural events, Cama State Park opening, Christmas at the old folks’ homes, goody two shoes type stuff. We plan to save the American economy, restore faith in our political system and end all wars. When we get really bigheaded about our essential goodness, we just go down to the local grocery stores at Tyee or Elger Bay Store and set up in the parking lot. A little exhaust fume deflates our balloons nicely. If we had a goal —- if we were the type of folks who could even imagine such a thing —- we might shoot for world music domination, except we have trouble remembering when the next practice is, much less enunciating a Vision for the Band. But occasionally, usually late at night when the jug is nearly empty and it’s time once again to shuffle home to face a very different music, we like to think we’re here to help bring hi-falutin culture to the well washed masses. If you’re ever down our skinny keester end of Camano, stop in and sit a spell with us. We got some pretty good songs to sing and we got a few whoppers to tell. We’ll leave the gate open.” www.sesb2009.files.wordpress.com
