Minus 5/Young Fresh Fellows frontman Scott McCaughey has been blurring the distinction between his two bands for a while, to the point where many of the songs on either group’s LPs would be appropriate for the other. Both return this week with new efforts: the Minus 5’s Killingsworth and the Fellows’ I Think This Is. The tunes are more divergent, with Killingsworth featuring a heavy alt-country vibe and I Think This Is being a typically funny garage-pop workout. When he’s not fronting his own combos, McCaughey is a sideman for R.E.M. and Robyn Hitchcock, the latter of whom produced I Think This Is. McCaughey is guest-editing magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our Q&A with him.
McCaughey: It’s hard to imagine anything being better than food and drink in New Orleans, but yeah, it’s the music! That’s really what you’re there for, isn’t it? New Orleans is synonymous with jazz and the extreme awesomeness of Professor Longhair, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, James Booker, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Meters/Nevilles, Louis Armstrong, etc. I’m proud to say that I’ve been bashed now by some of the incredible current music being played there, even after Katrina’s decimation of the population (musician and otherwise). At the Future Of Music Coalition/Air Traffic Control retreat in May, we were constantly either treated to, or stumbled upon, live music being performed around the city that was vibrant, beautiful, funky, crazy and all over the map. Insanely good. The first night, Paul Sanchez (ex-Cowboy Mouth, now turned hard-working musical ambassador of the city), trumpeter extraordinaire Shamarr Allen, Alex MacMurray (whose genius singing, songwriting and guitar can’t be contained by any one project) and trombonist Craig Klein (of Bonerama; pictured) joined together in an ad hoc group that astounded all with its range and instant repertoire. At d.b.a., Walter “Wolfman” Washington played in front of a packed, dancing audience. And at Tipitina’s, Bonerama (three trombones, indeed) came up with arrangements and backed up all the musicians attending the retreat, amongst them Jon Langford, Laura Viers, Jolie Holland, Wayne Kramer and the legendary Al “Carnival Time” Johnson. The musical talent in New Orleans is off the charts—I can’t wait to get back down there for more. See you at happy hour!
Bonerama’s “Hard Times” (download):
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/HardTimes.mp3
