St. Louis & The Sunshine Makers: Mark Groth writes on his informative blog, St. Louis City Talk, that: “Netflix recently made The Sunshine Makers available for streaming. This 2015 documentary chronicles the life and times of two men, Nicholas Sand and Tim Scully, who together set in motion the psychedelic revolution of the late 1960s. Both men were idealists who thought that if everyone would just drop a little acid, the world would be a better place. People would be kinder to each other and the planet, have a larger awareness outside of one’s own selfish desires, etc, etc.”
Watching the film, Groth sharply picked up on some St. Louis connections, via one of the film’s subjects, Nick Sand. Turns out that Sand kept ahead of the law by moving from New York State to St. Louis, setting up shop in the 2200 block of Delmar for a time in the early ‘70s.
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Astutely mixing-and-matching some original research with the film’s own, Groth writes that “As it turns out, the documentary followed the same missteps with location accuracy that even the St. Louis media hasn’t consistently figured out… but there were enough hints from the film that tipped me off to investigate where the LSD revolution continued to prosper and then came to an end just nine miles from St. Louis.”
The mention of this here, in a local music blog? Well, anyone with a minimal, working knowledge of psych rock knows that LSD is part of that genre’s story. And the film, itself, is dappled with a rich soundtrack of the period-appropriate music. And, hey, we love to see our town on film for this/that/the other, even when cast in a weird or negative light, so let’s enjoy the moment!
Here’s the film’s trailer:
Pat Wolfe’s Back on KDHX: This Friday morning, a transition will take place on the KDHX airwaves, as the show Interstate returns, in lieu of Juke Joint, which had been airing in the 5 to 7 am slot. In fact, this week will be a bridge show, as Juke Joint (with single-name host Doug) and Wolfe’s Interstate transition during the station’s spring pledge week.
Wolfe writes that, “I’m very excited to be back on the air at KDHX hosting The Interstate! It’s been a long 13 months off the air, and I am thankful for the support from many fellow DJs at the station, as well as the program committee. I’m looking forward to kicking off Friday mornings with an upbeat mix of Americana, bluegrass, country, and the rock and roll.”
(In the interests of disclosure, this columnist will appear as a support pitchman on two KDHX shows in coming days: this morning, from 10 am to noon on “Pop! The Beat Bubble Burst” with Rich Reese; and with Art Dwyer on “Blues in the Night,” from 4 to 7 pm on Friday.)
New Shark Dad: The band Shark Dad’s got new music arriving, with an EP release at the Heavy Anchor on June. The five-song album’s currently on pre-sale at the group’s Bandcamp. Recorded at Gaslight Studio by Mark Cange, the album was projected as part of the studio’s multi-EP release show at the Ready Room, but circumstances changed. Still, the recording was done there, in the distinct environment of that place.
“Recording was pretty unusual,” Founder Jason Robinson says. “You’re there in this great big studio, wood paneled walls, great isolation booths, and then you turn your head and there’s a big pane of glass between you and a bar full of people. And they’re watching you sing, drink in hand. It was a little awkward at first, because man, I felt like under the microscope, but after a while we got into it, even at one point having Jeremy jokingly suggest that patrons come in and sing backup. Mark turned red when he said that, so we didn’t wind up doing it, but the atmosphere changed, it became way more fun than a standard session, once you get over the idea that, even though it’s not a gig per se, you’re still having to be ‘on’ in public, while still getting things as right as possible for the take.”
He adds that, “this is just a short, sweet batch of newer tunes—that includes a re-recorded version of ‘(Conversation With) Jesus Christ.’ The release of an EP vs. an LP is partly that we had these Gaslight sessions in the can, and we were looking at our summer. We wanted to have something that wasn’t just the vinyl to document how much we’ve changed as a band in the past year. These five songs were just right for that, it’s mostly new material, all written with Jeremy and Kevin and it’s a nice little time capsule of this new period of writing as a group. On the topic of EPs in general, some of my favorite songs by, say Superchunk or Guided by Voices, are only found on some of the EPs they’ve put out. My philosophy when it comes to releases is that you want to get it out in the wild as soon as possible, so if that means there’s only enough time/money/songs to do an EP, then put out an EP.”
In addition to the Heavy Anchor release gig, the band’s active as early as… tonight, at the Schlafly Tap Room, part of a multi-band, free show with Holy Hand Grenades and The Fade.
Sights and Sounds: The band Bruiser Queen were recently cited for Record of the Day on the site 50thirdandthird.com, via their 2016 single, “Have Fun.” You can read that blurb here, including a full set of lyrics. Or you can pop directly to the band’s Soundcloud page here. If you go the latter, check out their cover of Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark,” a classic STL cover if ever there was one…
A 15-minute documentary on Tory Z Starbuck will be show on Sunday evening, at Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium. The work will be part of a student showcase, produced by Andrea Williams and Megan Griesenauer.
