poetry, writings & visuals by zcientist

Kid Midi


If you go by the lyrical content of the title track from “To The End of the Beginning”…

“we are Kid Midi!
I am Kid Midi!
and you are Kid Midi!”

Interesting to see inclusiveness when it comes to any artist or musician. Most of us are wallflowers deep down and sometimes afraid of the crowds we have to perform in front of. As a live performer, Kid Midi will work his ass off until he wins you over. If it means throwing candy in the crowd for you to catch as if it were Mardi Gras, he will. If it means climbing to the top of a post in a venue he performs in, he will. If it means crowd surfing, he will do that, too. The point is, he will win you over. If you’re into electronica, techno or a staunch rocker, somehow what he does appeals equally to those musical factions. To the point where you’ll be wanting to crank up his CDs loudly, just to feel like you were at a Kid Midi show all over again.


www.kidmidimusic.com


All works copyright Bret Bernard/zcientist.

The Howdies-Made With Pure Lightning


Don’t be fooled by the name.


The Howdies are NOT:

-bluegrass
-a band that plays both kinds of music: country and western!
-direct descendants from Minnie Pearl


The Howdies ARE:

-self-described hillbilly “stomp”
-storytellers of pain that only “elixir” can numb
-healers of ills with songs that get you dancing or jumping up and down


This band is comprised of members who have had vast past recording and performing experience in heavy rock to rockabilly. Guitarist Julian Primeaux bowed his debut solo disc this year which was steeped in earthy, soulful, rock & roll. Stand up bassist Christopher Slim performed with electro-garage rock outfit theTransmission and Atomic DeLuxx, which was a rock band a little closer to his love for rockabilly. Drummer Austin Keller was a member of lauded literate rock band, Told By An Idiot, whose spectre lives on via a message board for friends, fans and musical marks of Lafayette area indie and rock music. Stu Keller is the artist of the harmonica and kazoo, chancellor of charisma and is 1/3 of the Howdies lead vocal holy trinity that comprises of Julian and Slim.

Their debut full-length disc is titled, Made With Pure Lightning. If you go by the cover of this disc, it is lightning in a bottle.

Scientifically, this type of lightning would be “streak lightning”. It is comprised of positive electrical charges which are attracted to nomadic negative electrical charges that are based in clouds. Nomadic electrical charges are appropriate here, as this band has done quite a bit of regional touring and have been booked for more. If you get close enough to this disc and/or this band’s live performance, prepare to feel a jolt.

There are fifteen tracks on this excellently packaged effort released via Arlington VA based Rerum Novarum Records. “Bogalusa Stomp” leads off the disc with fun and danceability that even your grandmother might approve of. “Beat Dog Down” is closer to the musical neighborhood of a jug band and could be one of the tracks most likely to get airplay with radio stations whose frequencies reside below 92MHz on the FM dial. Despite the semi-catharsis of the lyrics, “Take It Easy, Mama” has potential to be one of their “call and response” live staples. “Can’t Stop Drinkin’ About You” has too enticing of a lyrical plot twist to spill the beans on and has the right type of haunting touch and occasional fuzzed out musical angst that was correctly brought to the surface by J Burton’s pinpoint production technique. “Barfly Rag” has a vaudevillian pinch in the overall musical recipe and Slim, Julian and Stu take turns performing lead vocal. “Lord, Don’t Give Me a Hammer” may not be as shocking as “Delia’s Gone” from Johnny Cash was when it was released to the public in 1994, but for 2009, it’s potent enough. “Nightblind” has the feel of a Sun Records side of the mid-1950s with an extra shot of adrenalin. “Drowning In Whiskey Bay” is best explained by Primeaux: “almost like if George Harrison played guitar in Queen, but Tom Waits and Sam Cooke collaborated and wrote it.”

“Bomberos” is a train that can’t be stopped and if you try to, it’s to your peril. The frenetic instrumental is akin to Hedley Lamarr and Taggart doing a “number six” on the peaceful town of Rock Ridge in the movie Blazing Saddles. “The Thirteenth Step”, though probably not intentionally at all, recalls The Kingston Trio at the point where John Stewart replaced Dave Guard. “Once More, We’re All At Home” if a video accompanied it, would start with a scene at a campfire and end with one at a big tent revival. “Fratricide (A Brief Pitch)/How Far Am I From Cain?” is self examination of the tug of war between good vs. evil consciences and starts with a megaphone enhanced mini-sermon voiced by Stephen J. Perron Guidry. “Tomcattin” is on its sleeve about the debauchery involved and has long told the “good conscience” to shove off. “Long Pine Box”, according to Primeaux, “(was written) on the back porch of a haunted house I was living in at the time on my family’s farm. I wrote “Bomberos” there as well.”

The conduit for the CD release party on Friday September 18th for The Howdies’ Made With Pure Lightning will be the Blue Moon Saloon at 215 E. Convent St. in Lafayette LA with special guests Shotgun Party.

The Howdies on bandcamp.com



Copyright 2009, Bret Bernard/zcientist. All rights reserved.