PAUL SIMON ONCE SANG about wasting his time learning "crap" in high school. But Gus Seyffert didn't have to spend too much time worrying about history and the like. His alma mater just happened to have the musical tools that led him to becoming a sought-after sideman and, eventually, a recording artist. His musical education is paying off now that he's on tour with his band Willoughby and opening for The Bird and the Bee — with whom he also performs as an auxiliary member.
"I went to an arts magnet school in Kansas City," explains the affable songwriting bassist. "The government was running an experiment on us. They had a recording studio class and they had this little eight-track recorder called the Tascam 388."
That was all it took to launch Seyffert on a musical journey. He left the heartland for Los Angeles, where he studied under jazz bass legend Charlie Hayden. Soon, he was playing as part of the touring band of iconoclastic Australian singer-songwriter Sia, where it was all wild times and getting "really silly."
GOT LITTLE ONES? Teach them to appreciate more than just vapid pop (not that we're talking about "High School Musical" or anything, we swear) and get them hooked on bluegrass, folk and world rhythms with a Dan Zanes & Friends concert this weekend.
The Del Fuegos founder and loud-suit-wearing rocker has turned his focus from people holding go-cups to people holding sippy cups. With any luck, your 5-year-old will be asking for a banjo for Christmas. Then we'll see some tears.
» Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore; Sat., Oct. 4, 11 a.m., $12-$20; 410-783-8000.
IF YOU WERE A FAN of some of the biggest blockbusters of the summer — "Iron Man," "Incredible Hulk," "Hellboy 2" and "The Dark Knight" — then there's a good chance that you'd find something that interests you at the Baltimore ComicCon, the D.C. area's answer to San Diego's comic extravaganza.
Besides countless dealers with tons of comics, toys, books and other pop-culture ephemera, some of the greatest names in comics today and some of the top publishers will be signing, sketching and talking about the four-color fiction.
Dan DiDio, senior VP-executive editor of DC Comics, who will be bringing the DC Nation panel roadshow to Baltimore, is especially excited about having a good portion of the creative team of a certain Man of Steel in attendance.
"We got Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle," DiDio says. "These are all guys who are really just the driving force behind the Superman stories and everything we got going with that character right now."
Continue Reading "We Need Another Hero or 2: Baltimore ComicCon" »
YOU ALREADY KNEW the lovely, long-legged ladies of the Rockettes had some powerful gams. But few realize the secret behind those famous kick lines. "We're never touching. So, it's all about the abs. It's total body," says Tiffany Whitaker, a 12-year veteran of the Radio City troupe.
The holidays came early last week when Whitaker and three of her colleagues sauntered into downtown Baltimore's Merritt Athletic Club clad in red velvet leotard-esque jackets with poufy white trim and silver heels (to promote their Christmas Spectacular, which opens at the Mariner Arena Dec. 2). Then they promptly changed into workout clothes and sneakers to teach gym members just how much hard work goes into looking that glamorous.
"It's discipline, discipline, discipline, and lots of sweat," explains Temple Kane, who is a yoga instructor on the side. "We're essentially professional athletes in 3-inch heels."
Continue Reading "Kicking It With the Rockettes: The Troupe Comes to Baltimore" »
INSTEAD OF CULINARY SCHOOL SNOTS, the man Food Network viewers know as "Ace of Cakes" exclusively hires art school grads to work in his Baltimore bake shop. He'll explain why next Thursday night at the Corcoran. And if you want to get on his good side, ask about his sweet ride (a jet-black '62 Corvette) and his rock band (he's the bass player).
» EXPRESS: How did you realize cake was your artistic medium?
» GOLDMAN: When I first started out, I made a cake for a couple that wanted something Gustav Klimt-inspired. I got this idea that I would do one that looked like "The Kiss." So, the wedding was at this winery, and I was bringing the cake into a barn to put onto a barrel, when the sun started setting. I had used all of these awesome golds and metallics, and the cake just started to glow. And I knew I had to do more of this.
» EXPRESS: Where do you fall on the buttercream versus fondant debate?
» GOLDMAN: All of our cakes have fondant because it's so much more versatile and you can do so much stuff to it. But buttercream tastes better. So, we frost everything with buttercream and then cover it with fondant, so they can peel it off. Fondant is just what you play with. We get all of these people saying it's gross that we touch the cakes a lot and don't wear gloves, but we wash our hands and nobody eats the fondant anyway. So, shut up.
» EXPRESS: How did you get the name Duff?
» GOLDMAN: My real name is Jeffrey. But when my parents told my older brother, "This is Jeffrey," he kept saying, "Duffy." My parents said, "Call him what you want," and then they started calling me Duffy, too. So, when I started school, the teacher reached "Jeffrey Goldman" on the roll cal,l and I didn't say anything. I didn't know that was my name. In college, I dropped the "y" to be cooler. But if my name was Jeffrey Goldman, I'd be a CPA right now.
SOMETIMES, IT SEEMS like M. Ward is noticed based on the company he keeps rather than his six solo albums. Recently, all talk of Matt Ward has been accompanied by actress-turned-songstress Zooey Deschanel. And together, he and she make She & Him.
The two met through the 2007 film "The Go-Getter," in which Deschanel had a starring role. Ward was working on the movie's soundtrack and he and Deschanel ended up recording a cover of Richard and Linda Thompson's "When I Get to the Border" for the film's end credits. From there, Deschanel began sending Ward her own personal demos — one of which, a cover of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," shows up on She & Him's first album, "Volume One" (Merge Records).
Ward and Deschanel began working on the album during the fall of 2006 and winter of 2007. She took on songwriting duties and he handled the arrangements and production, a division of labor that Ward says they've stuck to: He doesn't have a single writing credit on "Volume One."
Ward pairs Deschanel's sweet but at times sultry voice with an organic array of guitars, strings and the actress' own piano playing. She & Him recalls Linda Ronstadt, 1970s AM radio and Phil Spector-produced girl groups with relative ease.
"Volume One" came out in March, and two weeks ago Ward and Deschanel began the first proper She & Him tour, which wraps up Sunday at Virgin Mobile Fest in Baltimore. Express talked to Ward via the magic of e-mail about the band's first tour, plans for "Volume 2" and his array of activities outside of She & Him.
LIKE ANYTHING WORTHWHILE in this life, the Virgin Mobile Festival has positives and negatives. The bad news: It's a music festival in August, people. It's hot, it's long, it's crowded. The good news, however, is that in the festival's third year, it's managed to snag some serious winners.
The super sweet lineup includes Kanye West, Bob Dylan, Nine Inch Nails, Lupe Fiasco, Lil Wayne, Wilco, Chuck Berry, Chromeo and Stone Temple Pilots. And, to our minds, the piece de resistance: Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. You can see the full schedule here, and then decide if you're going to make it a one or two day affair.
» Pimlico Race Course, 5101 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore; Sat. & Sun., Aug. 9 & 10, $97.50 for one day, $175 for two; 202-391-7328.
Photo courtesy Foo Fighters
A LETHAL DIAMOND-ENCRUSTED, titanium-based codpiece. Blistering opuses titled "Bloodrocuted" and "Castratikron." The world's fastest guitarist, Skwisgaar Skwigelf, who registers disapproval of all things unshreddable by Swedishly sneering, "That is dildos."
A pudgy, lisping bassist with a Sphinx-head afro who tools around in JFK's death car, pimped out with the chair Lincoln got shot in. And in every episode, Guignol so Grand that the animation team probably has a maggot specialist.
And yet, according to co-creator Brendon Small, the Adult Swim cult hit "Metalocalypse" is not making fun of metal. "Our show makes fun of celebrityism, and it gets to be about metal."
"WE'RE STILL PUTTING in work; we're not rock stars," says John Gallagher, vocalist and guitars of the Upper Marlboro-based death metal band Dying Fetus. "I never wanna think that I am bigger than I am because you get all crazy and content, and that's when bands start [---ing] up."
Despite humble beginnings and dizzying lineup changes — Gallagher is the only remaining original member of the quartet — Dying Fetus is still going strong after 17 years of face-melting shreddage. It plays the Maryland Death Fest this weekend, an event the band last attended in 2003. Its profile has gone up since then. "War of Attrition," the band's 2007 release, saw the biggest Dying Fetus sales to date, says Gallagher.
Continue Reading "Back to the Grindcore: Md.'s Dying Fetus" »
TURNING PINK FLOYD into reggae?
Easy Star Records co-founder Michael Goldwasser was skeptical at first. One of his partners at the label, Lem Oppenhimer, had the idea while walking down the street listening to "Dark Side of the Moon."
But then Goldwasser, Easy Star All-Stars' musical director and producer, worked out some arrangements and realized a reggae Floyd could work.
So, in 2003 "Dub Side of the Moon" was born, marrying the sound of Jamaica with Pink Floyd's landmark album.
"We really didn't realize the enormity of what we were doing," Goldwasser said. "I was aware of the album, but I wasn't as into it as everyone else."
And the album has been a huge success for Easy Star Records, with sales at more than 125,000 copies. Prior to "Dub Side," the small, independent label had never sold more than 5,000 copies of anything.
Continue Reading "Welcome to Dub-Rock: Easy Star All-Stars" »
Addison Road