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The Tangents :: July 1985 :: By David
Rae Morris |
In terms of music, things didn't start kicking until the '70s, and they didn't really start kicking until The Tangents came around. The fabled unit often referred to as "Mississippi's House
Band" played a swarthy mix of R&B, blues
and rock 'n' roll — Mississippi music that spawned what has become a thriving music scene.
The Oxford music scene also played a major role in the simultaneous jam band and alt-country movements of the
1990s.
Beanland was right in the thick of the southern jam scene
in the late 1980s. Like The Tangents, they harnessed the
sound of Mississippi, from Memphis to New Orleans, but added a healthy dose of the exploratory influence of the
Grateful Dead to the mix. In the late 80s and early 90s, Beanland was not only Oxford's band, they were
Mississippi's band. Their self-titled debut, produced by Jim Dickinson, won them legions of fans as their
touring radius sprouted beyond the Southeast to Colorado and even to (gasp!) New York City! But in 1992,
keyboardist Jojo Hermann left Beanland to join Widespread Panic, and Beanland sputtered out a little more than a year later, releasing one more
album (the also brilliant Eye To Eye), with a different lineup just before
their demise. A decade after that, guitarist George McConnell joined Panic following the loss of
Michael Houser. [For a great look at Beanland and Oxford in the 1980s, I advise that you check out the
documentary Rising From The Riverbed, by Oxford filmmaker Scotty Glahn].
Beanland,
1988 |
At about the same time that Beanland was tearing up the South, a band called Blue Mountain (nee The Hilltops, nee The Hi-Tops) was making their mark in Oxford too. Focused on strong songwriting and
raunchy rock & roll energy, the husband-and-wife team of Cary Hudson and Laurie Stirrat were
a mainstay on the then
burgeoning alt-country scene, releasing several seminal albums of the genre, the highlight of which was 1995's
Dog Days on the Roadrunner label. Laurie's twin brother John left during the Hilltops days to join
a little band called Uncle Tupelo and is now a member of Wilco. Blue Mountain broke up soon after the marriage
did, but each carry on making great music - Cary with a string of solo albums and Laurie, most recently, with
Healthy White Baby.
Both of those bands left an acute mark on Oxford's musical soul, the community of which has used the influence of
each as a springboard to more diverse and inspiring achievements.
George McConnell By Jake Krolick |
On the little-bit-country side of things, there was an explosion. When Beanland called it quits and ended in the
1990s, a band called the Kudzu Kings soon
came along. Formed by the nexus of songwriter Tate Moore, members of a New Orleans funk outfit called
the Mosquito Brothers and a long-haired, reggae-loving New Jersey
transplant bass player, the Kings snatched the baton and ran with it for more than a decade. More than any band,
the Kings probably bridged the gap between the country and jam worlds to perfection. George McConnell,
though never really a full-time member, was such a frequent guest that he appeared on both of the band's albums
and
played about as many shows as he didn't. They too sputtered a bit after a good long haul, but spawned several
bands in their wake. Chief songwriter Tate Moore just released a stunning solo album, Punk Poet, and plays
with his new band, The Cosmic Door, which by no coincidence, contains several Kings alums.
Kings keyboardist Robert Chaffe and bassist Dave Woolworth have teamed with one of the most
prodigious but unheralded guitarists in town, Tom Queja, to form the fiercely funky Pithecanfunktus
Erektus (just call 'em "P-Rex"). Lap steel maestro Max Williams and banjoist Tommy Bryan
Ledford play in Taylor Grocery
Band whose sound is best described as Electric Catfish Music. And former King
guitarists Daniel Karlish and George McConnell have an outfit dubbed Drunk & Disorderly that
performs when McConnell isn't busy with his day job.
Following directly in the footsteps of Blue Mountain is Rocket 88, propelled (like Blue Mountain) by a husband-and-wife team — Rosamond
and Jamie Posey. Rosamand's sultry Stevie Nicks-ish voice buoys the duo's sometimes hard-edged songs that
speak of wishing wells and river days.
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