WESTERN CIV - "No, we are not alt-country OR Southern Rock!"
Like most bands of the indie-rock persuasion, the members of Western Civ tend to balk at efforts to define the band's sound. "Can I just tell you what it isn't?" asks guitarist/singer Rich Henderson. And it's not that he hasn't had time to mull it over-- Henderson and his longtime pals belong squarely in the catagory of musical "lifers". "I don't think I could do anything else," Henderson says, his generally-easygoing features taking on a steely edge as he makes the admission.
Despite Henderson's characteristic reticence, a few adjectives spring readily to mind when listening to the Chapel Hill, NC-based outfit's upcoming release, the Mitch Easter-produced Shower The People You Love With Gold: terms like "textured" and "intricate" might seem at odds with "infectious" and "raucous", yet any listener who's ever worn an ironic thrift-store sweater would be compelled to admit that, yes, they all apply.
The new release, due on the 24th of February, is the third from the group, whose core lineup of Henderson, Jason Briggs, and Bryan Cabler remains unchanged. The trio is frequently augmented both on stage and in the studio by cohorts Jason Hall, Kemper McDowell, and Ken Larson).
Western Civ descended on Mitch Easter's Fidelitorium Studios in May 2008 to lay the tracks for Shower, which was recorded in eight days and mixed in five. "We're ecstatic at the outcome of the new record," gushes drummer Cabler, whose enthusaism often serves as the precise opposite of Henderson's restraint. "Working with Mitch was easily the most amazing experience of my...can I call this a 'career'? Maybe I should say 'my musical life'."
Henderson, Briggs, and Cabler were all members of the same small-town Alabama high school class, and have been making music together with virtually no interruption for well over a decade. Nonetheless, they only began to concentrate on public performances and recording in 2005, when they released the self-recorded EP Regent Kingfish Slumberpad. "We decided to let the rest of the world in on what we'd been doing for fun in a practice room for ages," says bassist Briggs.
Slumberpad was followed, in rapid succession, by the band's first taste of touring; by its first receipt of flattering critical praise; its relocation, en masse, to Chapel Hill; and the well-received follow-up LP, 2007's Remington Steele Magnolia.
Magnolia, in turn, garnered impressive radio play and justified further touring before the group turned its attention to the studio again-- this time with Mitch Easter at the controls -- to begin tracking Shower The People You Love With Gold, a ten-track affair loaded with exuberant melodies, guitars that alternately buzz, shimmer, and wail, quirky lyrical conventions, thunderous rhythm-section heroics, and Mitch Easter's renowned mixing-desk brilliance.
As the album, which was tracked on 24-track Studer analog tape machine, began to take shape, Easter's studio toybox was plundered by the band-- in addition to typical rock instruments, a 1980's Casio keyboard, a vintage Leslie cabinet, and a child's bull roar toy were employed in the pursuit of sonic diversity. And that's to say nothing of the bright-orange metal folding chair which was rechristined an instrument, miked up, and played con brio by Cabler with a drum stick.
Western Civ will be touring extensively in 2009 in support of the new release, which will be available on CdBaby.com, itunes.com, digstation.com and can be ordered by your local record shop through Super D Distribution.
Rich Henderson - Lead Vocals, Guitar
When not traversing the Southeast to add to his enormous vinyl L.P. collection or rooting, often in vain, for the Atlanta Braves, Rich Henderson devotes untold hours to his songcraft. In elementary school, he achieved the status of legend with an essay about frogs and a work of fiction in which Mr. Rogers and the Beatles incongruously shared center stage. Rich inhabits a 'bachelor's lair" in downtown Florence, Alabama, and revels in drawing the ire of Republicans with his seditious bumper stickers. Stab him, rape him, kill him...but don't take away his coffee. Or his turntable.
Jason Briggs - Bass, Keyboard, Backup Vocals
Truth be told, Jason Briggs would always rather be in the deep woods-- hiking, backpacking, or simply absorbing the indisputable splendor of as-yet unplundered nature. Fortunately for his bandmates (and clearly despite his preferences), he spends a substantial portion of his time city-bound, where he masquerades as a mechanical contractor when not playing bass. Jason is the, "I can build it," guy. Whenever the band needs something that is out of their more often than not broke price range, he willingly states, "I can build it." If the band needed a nuclear sub, he would figure out how to build it. Musically, Jason has long been deemed by the other members of Western Civ to be the group's most instinctively talented member, to his abject embarrassment
Bryan Cabler - Drums, Backup Vocals
Bryan Cabler has never been able to decide if he'd be happier as a rock and roll musician, a left-wing activist attorney, a writer of bizarre modern fiction, an investigative reporter, or international pornlord. Perhaps fortunately, the latter four have taken a backseat to his drumming for Western Civ. Bryan spent his elementary school lunch breaks rhapsodizing with Rich Henderson about the Beatles, which made them decidedly unpopular in the Michael Jackson-dominated musical atmosphere of the early 1980's. When the pair finally learned to play guitars in high school and began their first attempts at starting a band, Bryan played guitar-- until every drummer for the Henderson-Cabler projects proved to be a lout, untalented, or a chronic no-show. Laying down his electric guitar with a sigh, Bryan invested in a drum kit with the intention of being a guy who played drums but "was not a "drummer"...with all that that implies." He has held onto the sticks since 1997, relegating his romance with his six-string to the front porch of his country digs, where he can frequently be spotted on a tractor or dove hunting in the cornfields.
Jason Hall - Guitar, Xylopipes, Keyboard, Tambourine, and Various Instruments
Jason Hall's two-year tenure as guitarist and 'utility man' for Western Civ makes him the band's newest addition-- but in short order he's found his natural space in the dynamic flowing between the other three (pals for the greater part of their lives). Jason revels in life's simpler, if somewhat extralegal, pleasures in life-- like spending lazy summer days sitting up to his waist in Cypress Creek, roasting in the sun and periodically retrieving beer buried in a gravel bar, avoiding the watchful eyes of Florence Park rangers. With a tireless ethic vis-à-vis assisting his bandmates with complicated electrical issues in their firetrap practice facility, Jason can be counted on to switch instruments from one song to the next-- guitar, percussion, cheap keyboard, Mooger-Fooger, or Vibra-Pipes. Jason also enjoys outdoor activities, scuba diving, and surreptitious recording projects on which he plays everything. The true social butterfly of the group, he is the kind of person you can trust with your most prized possession or most humiliating college story.