Put Some Sourgrass in Your Pipe and Smoke It
In the garage with Sourgrass.
Some folks smoke dope, people have tried the banana peel, the Native Americans brought us the tobacco leaf; but I recommend you put some Sourgrass in your pipe and smoke it!
With a name like Sourgrass, one might picture a cross-legged hillbilly plucking banjo in a rocking chair next to his toothless counterpart still trying to work over the mouth harp. Not even close. They’d blast those guys out of their rockers and straight off the front porch. Still, as their popularity spreads, there is something in the name that fits the prolificacy of sourgrass itself.
“It’s one of those things that is sour as hell, but you just can’t stop chewing it… even when your mouth hurts and your parents told you that dogs pee on it and that’s why it tastes sour… you just can’t help but pick up a stalk and give it a chew,” says Drew Cirincione of Sourgrass.
Sourgrass is a Santa Cruz-based band with dominant South Bay roots.
Drummer Drew Cirincione, lead singer Jay Palmer, and bass guitarist Eric Ressler, are all graduates of Redondo Union High School. Only their guitarist Conor Spicer hails from northern beer country in Petaluma.
“Conor and I met in the dorms at UCSC and hit it off!” says Cirincione. “Been playing tunes ever since… we started out playing in a super single dorm room – which means a two person room with only one person living in it – and used to jump out the window to avoid getting written up… for the loud music of course… and nothing else…”
As for the rest of the band history, Cirincione calls it a mystery, claiming, “We met, fell in love… have had a few love affairs, but always stayed true to our roots.”
“It’s four guys and we all play music, but it’s like being with this beautiful, psychotic woman,” adds Palmer.
Together, Sourgrass has developed a strong sound and a thick following – or is it a thick sound and a strong following? Either way, they’re turning some hard-hitting, blues-based rock ‘n roll tunes with substance reminiscent of classic power trio bands, i.e., Cream, Andromeda, Taste. But as they’re not a trio (the lead singer sings), maybe think more along the lines of Led Zeppelin.
Cirincione says “We are all very different and draw on sounds from old n’ muddy blues – like Muddy Waters baby, The Band, Keb Mo… to the most modern foot-stomping electronic sounding indy rock – like Phoenix, Portugal, The Man, and MGMGT.”
Even with influences ranging from the Black Keys and old dirty blues to Deer Tick and new age indie, Sougrass’ sound still doesn’t waver too far away from their home base. Whether they’re knocking the inside of your skull with pounding rock ‘n roll, or thumping your heart into your throat with a bluesy ballad, they always maintain that thick bottom, emphasized by Palmer’s beefy lead vocals, and keep a line hooked to the blues. But there are elements of other wanderings. Their track “Change In Your Condition” (sometimes titled alternately as “Count Funkula”) might even get a shake out of James Brown’s spectral hip, or a tip of the hat from slide guitar master Derek Trucks.
“We play whatever feels good in the moment,” says Cirincione. “Some songs are filled with love and joy, while others are dark and allow us to vent.”
Sourgrass’ strong sound is matched by powerful lyrics as well. Songs can be fun, wistful, controversially critical, and always well penned.
“I love the lyrics of our tunes,” Cirincione continues. “They can be interpreted by anyone and apply to any listener’s individual life, but at the same time [they] have an extremely special and specific meaning to the band mates and some of our close friends. For example: “Flashing Lights” our new single is an inside joke… it originally had to do with a faulty light that flashes off and on in our practice studio… after much time spent playing the song we realized that it had a far deeper meaning and can be applied to art, creation, and the unpredictable “flash” of inspiration that motivates artists to create.”
Sourgrass only has one EP available so far, “Mint Condition,” although I happen to know they have enough material for at least two full LPs.
“It’s been years overworked and underpaid,” says Palmer. “We don’t have much to show for it except our shows and our songs.”
Their self-proclaimed hit single “Flashing Lights”, or “Flash”, will be released on New Year’s Eve and features an expanded sound with Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay’s most acclaimed viola player Chad Kaltinger.
“‘Flash’ is an amazing track,” suggests Cirincione. “Kaltinger ended up becoming a good friend of the band and wants to continue to collaborate… we take pride in experimenting with new sounds.”
Sourgrass always possesses one of those live sounds that makes the music feel real. Even in the studio they’re able to preserve the effect in their recordings. It’s not low-fi, rough garage music though; they’re raw sounding to be sure, but totally refined and professional. You can hear each drum taking and loving its beating. Each riff being torn, shaken, and chopped out of the guitar. Powerful vocals without overdubs, reminding you some artists can still sing and shout and jerk around your emotions with sheer voice.
And then there’s the live show itself. In the flesh the band roars like a wild animal and gets the people sweating with them. They’re a natural live band, and it’s this sphere where the dogs lose their leashes completely.
“We have always been a live band,” says Palmer. “The shows are such defining moments for us for sure… it’s an out of body experience… the characters that you tap into as musicians. We spend so much time in the studio… writing, arranging, all the energy put into the recording experience… once you put it into a live show it’s a chance to release… and another part of the whole experience.”
Like the leader of a pack, front man Palmer commands the audience and makes men wish they could control a stage like he does. In fact, Sourgrass is the leader, the audience is the pack.
“There’s not much separation between the band and the crowd,” continues Palmer. “It’s unreal, playing music in the live setting… that’s why we keep doing it.”
Sourgrass has performed in such notable venues as the Viper Room in Hollywood, the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco, the Catalyst main stage in Santa Cruz, and our own Cafe Boogaloo and Saint Rocke.
“The Catalyst was probably my personal favorite,” says Cirincione. “Being backstage and seeing Bob Dylan’s signature on the wall is pretty unreal.”
He digresses, “At Saint Rocke with Tommy Castro, we rang up a $750 bar tab, haha… it went down hill from there.”
Sourgrass is in town for the holidays, and will be performing at Saint Rocke with Sand Section and The Ofersures on Tuesday, Dec 28. In the meantime you can listen to and download their EP “Mint Condition” at DirtyHippieRadio.com, and check out their video of “Summer Saturdays”. ER