VIRGIN ARSENAL:

Wooden Wand Returns to the Magic City

"We were at the Wal-Mart for the irony

And huddled 'round the flame at the KOA

And I was visualizin' something sinister and slow

The pavement got sticky burning with a scorpion glow."    

  
     James Jackson Toth is a hard man to keep up with. In fact, it might be damn near impossible. As one of the fledgling acolytes of the New Weird America movement that gave birth to the likes of Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsome, the chameleon-like songwriter has made a career out of confounding both critics and fans alike with his genre-bending forays into avant-folk, country, and- on occasion- good old fashioned rock n' roll. A prolific wordsmith whose workman-like ethos has led to over a hundred releases- both as a solo artist operating under the moniker Wooden Wand (or Wand), as well as with group projects- Toth doesn't pull any punches when it comes to stamping out product. Having served stints in such wildly eclectic outfits as Akron/Family, the Vanishing Voice, and the Sky High Band, his seeming need to keep consumers guessing has become something of a hallmark for the Kentucky based troubadour. Conventional enough to qualify as a true craftsman when it comes to songwriting prowess, his wayward musical tendencies have also garnered him the attention of such avant-luminaries as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Michael Gira of the Swans, both of whom have released records of his on their respective labels.
     Having traveled to Birmingham last year to record the excellent Briarwood album at Ol' Elegante Studios in Homewood- a project initially funded by an online Kickstarter campaign for diehard fans- Toth has come to embrace the city as something of a second home when it comes to music-making. Having initially arrived here to do a one-off split 7" with local rockers the Gum Creek Killers, Toth became so enamored with his musical cohorts (and they with him) that plans were hatched to do an entire album based off the good vibes and mutual admiration spawned during the session. Although the 7" has yet to see the light of day, the record that emerged in the aftermath was one of the best albums to come out of the Magic City in recent memory and stands as a testament Birmingham's increasing notoriety as a first rate music town. In fact, it was so good, it has already been re-released by Fire Records in an effort to give it a wider audience after having flown well under most people's radars both nationally and here at home.           
     Facilitated by Gum Creek Killers frontman Duquette Johnston- who had been a longtime friend of Toth's wife, Leah, when she lived here in town booking bands for Bottletree-  the partnership proved to be a match made in heaven. With additional help from fellow co-conspirators Brian Lowery, Through The Sparks' Jody Nelson, and producer/engineer Les Nuby, the band- re-christened the Briarwood Virgins- took a highly democratic approach in creating the album that allowed for a distinctly organic sound to evolve, with Toth giving everyone room to contribute.
     "James just came in and let everybody do exactly what needed to be done," says Nuby. "We just made an immediate connection. He's just one of those people where he might as well be from Birmingham. It's no wonder him and Leah are together, because he's just one of those guys who immediately fits into- not just being Southern- but that sort of, strange, 'Birmingham's a wonderful little secret' and we don't tell that many people about it. He understood all the dynamics of that and it translated into the recordings. I had never engineered or produced a record where so many different people from different bands played on it and left the ego at the door. Me included."
     With an arsenal of talent at his disposal, Toth utilized the strengths of each individual player and helped to foster a spirit of openness that translated into a heady brew of smoky harmonies, Dixie-fried Americana, and Neil Young-inspired riffage. Like a low-slung hymnal of lost country blues hellbent on a rock n' roll revival, the album seemed to coalesce around a need to inspire both each other and the music. From the snowbound melancholy of "Winter In Kentucky" to the hazy swagger of "Motel Stationary" the whole record teemed with outstanding performances from everyone involved.
     "It's funny thinking back on it," adds Nuby, "because it came together so quickly and so well I wanted it to come out so the secret I knew could be shared with people."
     And although many people are just now coming to find out about it, Toth has already returned to Birmingham to record the follow-up, which everyone from the band agrees is a major step forward in terms of the group's dynamic collaboration. In fact, Toth himself has gone as far as calling it a career defining album. With no release date set, fans will have to wait to hear the end results, but until then Toth and and his bandmates hope that more people will revisit the first album to help whet their appetites.
     As a preview of what's to come, I spoke with Toth to discuss his labyrinthine career, the making of Briarwood, and his thoughts on the Birmingham music scene. This is what he said....

                        "Winter In Kentucky" by Wooden Wand & The Briarwood Virgins
  


A: You're a highly prolific artist in terms of recorded output and seem to have a nearly boundless vocabulary when it comes to making music. Is there a method to your madness or do you just enjoy the idea of documenting the process of creation?

WW: I started writing as a kid, and I guess I just never stopped. As an adult I enjoy the process as much as the results, so making a record is my absolute favorite thing to do. I do write constantly, but you have to write ten bad songs to write one good one, and 100 good ones to write one great one. Writing songs is the only thing I’m good at, unless you count making grilled cheese. My grilled cheese is the stuff of legend.

A: How did you first start out as a musician?

WW: My dad was constantly buying me records, or taking me to the record store and letting me pick out albums. I had a cousin in a pretty high profile metal band, and my uncle was a Neil Young fanatic, so, although I wouldn’t say I come from an especially musical family, there were a lot of things to inspire me and make me feel like I could make a living this way. I played mostly metal up until college, when I started learning country songs. That’s really when I began to write songs seriously, as opposed to dicking around making primitive recordings on a karaoke machine.

A: You've gone through a lot of permutations as both a solo artist and with bands. Do you see- or try to maintain- any conceptual continuity within your body of work, or are things more compartmentalized according to specific projects?

WW: Honesty in performance and execution is the only concept, and my only unbreakable rule. I don’t believe in repeating myself, and every record is and should be different from the previous ones. Most of my heroes made careers out of confounding expectations. You do risk alienating people by following the muse and ignoring current fashions, but if you start worrying about that sort of thing, you start making shitty records.

A: I know you are an avid record collector and music aficionado. Do you find yourself consciously trying to frame your music within a larger historical context or do you see it as something beyond your own influences?

WW: Tom Waits said, “whatever you absorb, you eventually secrete.” I just try to secrete the good stuff I absorb. I do like to think I am contributing to the Great Tapestry.

A: You seem to have a very cinematic/impressionistic narrative sensibility when it comes to writing songs. Are there any particular songwriters you draw inspiration from or who inform your work?

WW: Tons of songwriters inform my work, but I make a conscious effort to not imitate anyone. Before I go in to make a record, I’m usually listening to a lot of techno, black metal and jazz, so as not to accidentally plagiarize, you know, Vic Chesnutt or Richard Buckner, because that would be easy to do. I’m inspired as much by authors as I am by songwriters – these days, perhaps more so.

A: You just got done tracking your second album here in Birmingham with the Briarwood Virgins at Ol' Elegante Studios. How did you first get involved with the Birmingham music scene?

WW: My wife is from Samson, Alabama, and spent many years living in Birmingham. She promoted shows at the Bottletree, so she was really familiar with the music scene and its participants. We actually met at the Bottletree, while I was on tour with Akron/Family.Through her, I met all the guys who would eventually make up the Briarwood Virgins. Duquette proposed a split 7" on which his band, Gum Creek Killers, would back me up on the Wooden Wand side and I would sing on the Gum Creek Killers side. It went so well I decided to make a whole album there at Ol' Elegante.

A: The idea of a "Briarwood virgin" is long-running in-joke for Birmingham natives. Were you aware of the connotation? How did you all decide on the name of the band and the album?

WW: Again, my wife. I thought it was a hilarious name for a band. Despite the next record having most of the same personnel, I think we’ll be retiring the name, though – future records will be back to being filed under just ‘Wooden Wand.’ People get confused.

A: It seems like you really hit it off with everyone involved and developed a real rapport with each other both musically and personally. In fact, you mentioned in a recent interview that the Briarwood Virgins were "the band you had been looking for since you first started making records." What was your experience like making those albums?

WW: Bliss. This is the perfect band for me. Making this last record was so much fun that a few of us got sorta depressed for a week or so after it was over. Ol' Elegante, especially after making this second record, feels like home. We just seemed to all catch this particular sort of wave, where we knew something special was happening. The experience was totally positive. Everyone contributed a lot. Special shout out to Les Nuby, who not only co-produced and engineered, but also played parts when no one else would or could. I'd say he was the secret weapon, but that ignores all the other secret weapons in this band. I'm the weak link, really. I just hope people can connect with this next album, because it’s by far the best thing I’ve done, and I couldn’t have done it without Brad, David, Jody, Les and Janet. “If you buy just ONE Wooden Wand album…”

 A: Were there any common touchstones you all leaned on in formulating your approach to the songs? Seems like there is a heavy Neil Young vibe on some of the tracks….

WW: Neil is always present, but it’s a tricky thing because a lot of bands try to do the “Crazy Horse” thing “and fail miserably. My goal is to not have a “thing.” Neil inspires me as much for his attitude as for his music. When people say a record sounds like Neil Young, they’re very rarely talking about Trans, or Old Ways, or Everybody’s Rockin', you know? His music is obviously very important to me, but I make a conscious effort to follow his example and his integrity, rather than attempt to mimic the greatness of a mere sampling of his best work.

A: The Briarwood album was made possible by a Kickstarter campaign you started online. What made you want to use Kickstarter as a vehicle for funding the record? Was it out of necessity or just another means of production?

WW: I got tired of depending on labels - who really don’t have the money they used to, at least not for bands that sell under 5,000 copies, like Wooden Wand – and felt like I could bypass the middle man and sell directly to fans. The experience was encouraging, and I may do it again someday, but not for a while. Like any business model, it has its own unique set of problems.

A: Fire Records will be re-releasing Briarwood in April accompanied by your demos for the album. How did that come about so soon after the initial pressing?

WW: Because we felt, frankly, that the record was a victim of a ‘perfect storm’ sort of scenario – it was released late in the year after most ‘top ten of 2011’ lists were already being printed, Kickstarter siphoned off a lot of the diehards and also made the “official release date” sorta moot, and the press campaign was an unmitigated catastrophe. Fire Records, to their eternal credit, were so disappointed by the response (or lack thereof) that they decided to re-release the album, which, to me, is a testament to their belief on the project. It's an album worth hearing.

A: How did the sessions go for the new record? Do you see it as a departure from the last album or just building on the foundation you all created for the first?

WW: I can’t discuss it too much, as the actual release date is pretty far off, but it is, by some distance, a defining record for me. It doesn’t have much in common with Briarwood at all – it is the Sunday morning wake-and-bake record to Briarwood’s Saturday night revelry. But it’s also so much more than that. I can’t wait for you to hear it.

A: So you're happy with the results so far?

WW: If people don’t see in this record what we see, it may very well be the last Wooden Wand record. I’ll be plenty happy to make this record my legacy. I’m just glad I got to make it before I died in some tragic accident or something. All of the previous albums feel like a rehearsal for this one.

A: Any thoughts about the Birmingham music scene and some of the great musicians/music coming from here?

WW: I love the Birmingham scene, and the bands here - Delicate Cutters, Through The Sparks, 13ghosts, etc - are all doing really cool stuff. Before I really spent any time there, I was already familiar with the Bottletree, as it was always a stop on tour I looked forward to. Love, love, love the Bottletree - who doesn't? Assholes, I guess. Anyway, I just wish there was more national attention paid to what's going on there. Hopefully soon!

A: Finally, you're getting ready to head out on the road with Janet Simpson as a pared down touring unit where you'll be making stops throughout the Southeast as well as Austin, TX for an appearance at South By Southwest. Is it just going to be the two of you? What can fans expect from you all in terms of the live show?

WW: Just a duo, yes. With Janet, the music improves by about 200%, so I’d encourage everyone to come out. We’ll be playing a lot of new stuff, and stuff from Briarwood, and hopefully even a Delicate Cutters tune if I can convince Janet to let me play on one. I’m lucky to have her along. Also, our touring partner this time, Jeff Lewis, is an old friend, and he’s also a ton of fun to watch live. Should be a good time.


(Wooden Wand is on tour NOW with Birmingham's Janet Simpson and will be appearing at Eclipse Coffee & Books in Montevallo on Friday, March 9 at 8 pm.)

Spontaneous Combustication
w/ Medeski, Martin & Wood 

(***Editor's Note: This is the long version of an interview I did with John Medeski that was supposed to be published in WELD- in edited form- for their upcoming show at the Alys Stephens Center on Feb. 10. Due to an unfortunate series of circumstances it did not run. Thus, I'm putting out- in its entirety- here. Hope you enjoy it....)

        When it comes to jazz fusion, there are few groups in contemporary music who can match the wide open eclecticism and technical prowess of Medeski, Martin & Wood. As one of the leading lights of New York's experimental music scene, for the past twenty years, the trio has been out on the road pushing the limits of audio exploration with their unique blend of avant-garde aesthetics, off-beat collaborations, and dance-friendly grooves. Equally adept at churning out abstract soundscapes, sublime melodies, and streamlined funk- often in the same breath- they have become the standard bearers for a new type of audacity in modern composition. At once populist and esoteric in their approach to their craft, the three members of Medeski, Martin & Wood have managed to win the unwavering support of both new music geeks and jam band aficionados alike, in what has been a remarkable rise from underground night clubs to mainstream music festivals. As master improvisers with thirsty ears and a seemingly infinite musical palette, there's a little bit of something for everyone in their singular brand of Third Stream artistry.  
Having recently put out a year-long series of monthly digital singles in honor of their twentieth anniversary, the group is set to take a much needed break from touring and recording in 2012 to give each other a chance to catch their breath and work on various projects outside of the band. Returning to Birmingham for the first time in several years to play a special acoustic show at the Alys Stephens Center on February 10, Weld caught up with keyboardist John Medeski to ask him about the band's unlikely career, the art of improvisation, the influence of Sun Ra, and why he doesn't like being labeled a "jam band." This is what he said....



Audiovore: You all just celebrated your 20th anniversary together as a group this past year. How has your original vision for the band stacked up against everything you've accomplished over the past two decades? Did you think you'd be able to take your music this far when you first started out?

Medeski: You know, we had a feeling….we knew there was something there. We didn't really have a plan you know. It was always about the music. I would say beyond anything I ever dreamed of. It's so different we didn't know what to imagine. We thought that what we had going had a little bit of value. There was a little chemistry there the very first time we played, so we just took that and when we first went out on the road we said, "Look, we need like forty or fifty people to show up a night and we could be playing this type of music." We couldn't play six nights a week in New York. It was once a month or something like that. So we just figured, "Hey, you want to go out, we'll see if anybody likes it and we'll hit some clubs and see if anybody relates to it." We felt like anybody could relate to it, but we didn't really know. We felt it more than we knew it. The whole thing's kind of been like a dream. Twenty years….it's hard to believe actually.

A: What's been the biggest surprise as you've grown up together as working musicians?

M: Well…that we still love playing together and it still feels fresh. I mean, I've seen so many bands that have been together for a long time and they don't talk to each other, they don't like each other…they ride in separate buses. And they get up and they play the gig and they play the same songs they did forty years ago- thirty years ago, twenty years ago- and, I don't know, for us it still feels great to play together and to hang out together. That's really the biggest surprise. That and- like with the live show- we keep growing.

A: So the spark is still there?

M: I guess so. It's hard to believe.

A: You all are very much rooted in the Downtown experimental music scene in New York City, yet many people outside of jazz/new music circles associate you with jam bands due to your penchant for improvisation, constant touring, and your appearances at festivals like Bonnaroo. Is the "jam band" tag something you all are comfortable with or do you find that label to be a bit limiting in its appeal?

M: I would say it's totally limiting. I mean, it's a weird term. You know, it's been around a long time- that quote/unquote "scene," or term for that scene- and there's nothing really we can do about it. When it was first happening we really were open. We were trying to see if there was something else, some other way to define it, but it didn't happen. I mean, the whole idea of "jamming" in the traditional sense- in the jazz sense of like a jam session- it's great, but it sort of implies a lack of thought to me. We're very careful. We consider what we do spontaneous composition. The truth is, we've never been calculated, like I was saying. You can't pick your audience. And we didn't try to. We just played our music and whoever liked it would come. And to me, that scene sort of attracted itself to us, and that's partly because the music has some groove to it and there's some improvisation. That scene wasn't around when we first started. It didn't exist. Phish was out on the road, but that term came around after we were out there. You know, that's what the audience sort of came up with. Nobody was paying attention to the music…the critics, the record labels…nothing. The scene just really built itself on live music. It's about live music. I mean, there's so many different bands out there playing live. That part of it is great. But to be honest, at a certain point a lot of the noodly guitar- for me- is boring [laughs]. But that's me [laughs again]. I definitely come from more of a jazz background. I listened to funk and r&b, but I didn't really check that stuff out. But, you know, all music is good really.

A: There's only two kinds right? Good music and bad music….

M: Yeah, but even then it's just a matter of opinion [laughs].

A: Speaking of improvisation, live you all seem to thrive off the need to push each other- and the energy of the music- in different directions to see what happens and have created a vast common language within which to speak to one another. What is it about the live context that seems to bring out the best in you all as performers?

M: You know, recording has only been around for a short period of time in the scope of human history, and music is about live communication. When we first started recording we didn't know why we wanted to record, because, what are you trying to capture? So, for us, it's what music is really about. It's the truest way to touch somebody. It's like a direct transference of energy. It's not filtered through all the intellect of recording. And you're also not separated out in the room and not getting any of the energy of the individuals. You're receiving the notes and the music. So, it's like half the experience [of playing live].

A: It's the crucible of the moment….

M: Yeah. For us that's what it's all about. Being in the moment for that moment. It's what we thrive on. It's what improvisation is. So really, if you're listening to a record of improvisation, it's not really about the moment you're listening to it, it's about the moment you played it [laughs]. Don't get me wrong, I listen to it all the time and love it and I've learned a lot and still do. It's still interesting. I love recording music and there's a whole art to making a record and creating this work, but what's fascinating to me is having somebody's idea and realizing it with a group of people. It's like, "What is that? What is that?" If you add more individuals things are gonna change. Things are gonna change because of the addition of the people and their energy...and their everything. And, I always feel like the collective thing is better than what one guy can come up with because you're entering all these other elements and your entering the crucible of reality and all these other things and…it's life…it's including life in the art. Music has it's power. The vibration is powerful and the vibration coming from the instrument itself is very different from the vibration coming through your headphones or the speakers in your car stereo. It's a different experience. It can be inspiring or it can be fun, but getting the benefit of each sound is good. It's about a feeling.


A: You've mentioned that you often go into something akin to a trance when performing live. How important is the subconscious to you in terms of improvisation?

M: None of it's really important. What's important is to be beyond all of it: conscious, subconscious, ego…everything. To just let the music come out and do whatever it needs whenever it needs to, and just allowing your ear and your heart to take you where things need to go, what needs to happen. You know, I think ultimately all that stuff is coming out: subconscious- even conscious thoughts- whatever you take in intuitively and embed in yourself will come out. It's really hard- or impossible- to nail down. You know, some of the nicest people in the world….you don't hear much from their music. And some people who are mean, awful people can play some of the most beautiful, heartwrenching music. I mean, Miles Davis is a perfect example. He was not a nice person, but he could play like nobody else. It's so undefinable.

A: Your last three albums [the Radiolarians series] were born out of compositions and improvisations developed live while out on tour. Yet, this past year you took a very different approach and released a series of monthly digital singles as part of your 20 year anniversary? What made you decide to take a more focused approach this time around?

M: It's just a different kind of focus. Radiolarians was very focused in that we wrote the music, then we toured on it, then we recorded it. You know, there's so many different ways to create, so we just sort of set the limits and decided on the parameters of how we were going to create those records. And what it was about was, a lot of times you go out on the road, you make a record, and then you tour on it. So you do all this work in the studio, and then you get on the road and things change….sometimes it gets better, sometimes not. So what we did with Radiolarians was include the live performance in the process of the creation of the music. We wrote the music, then we played it live on tour, and then we recorded it after we had it mutated through the live performance. Then, with the twenty singles, we thought it might be fun to see what the digital realm might do for us. I guess the idea was a different way of focusing: forcing us to select twenty tunes in the course of a year. There's so many different ways to compose and to approach things in a different form. The structure we set up was, "Hey, we're gonna do this many tunes, and they're sorta going to be released as A and B-sides, and it's not about making a decent record, it's about letting songs be the whole thing." Also, it was something we had never done before. We had an occasional tune here and there, but we always made records. When we were creating Combustication, or The Dropper, or Shackman there was an overall vibe and feel and concept to the record. And, you know, Radiolarians had it's own concept and focus. Each record has a focus. This time we decided we weren't going to worry about the focus and just focus on each tune and let them be what they are for what they are, not how they fit within a collective whole. Like a single. I think we've done a few single tunes over the years, but not that many in a run.

A: Digital 45's?

M: Yeah, sort of. 78's….[laughs].

A: You've spoken before about the ever-expanding musical vocabulary you all like to explore as a group, collaborating with djs, spoken word artists, and musicians from across the spectrum of the sonic arts. What is it about staking out new territory that you find so appealing? Do you still see new horizons for you all as a group?

M: Yeah, as long as we keep playing together. It's in our nature- our individual nature- to grow like that and keep growing. We want to grow. We want to get better and learn more.  It's what we do and what we've always done. It's what we do as individuals. We all individually do things- we all have other groups- and that all comes into the band as well. So, having that richer, more varied life allows you to change and grow. It's all about playing with different people.

A: You began your career as a classically trained musician. Who were some of your earliest influences? Are there any artists you would point to as having laid the groundwork for your own aesthetic? In jazz or otherwise…

M: Not really, you know. It's like, what I appreciate at this point is that it would be unfair to single anything out because I would be leaving something else out. Also, it's just the same stuff we've all heard. Everything's available. There's no mystery in music out there. Sure, there's people out there that you know that I don't know, and bands that I love that maybe you haven't had time to check out yet. But everything's out there for us. We've heard a lot of the same things, so you know, I can't really say there's this one artist in particular, because I love so many. There's so many incredible musicians out there still.

A: You almost got to play in a touring band with Jaco Pastorius as a teenager. How did that come about? Why didn't you get to tour with him?

M: I was 15 or 16, and I was playing with him. I was in a band with some friends in Ft. Lauderdale and they were friends or students of Jaco, and he used to come play with us. And…he liked me. Sometimes he'd get me to play Beethoven for him before the gig and then he'd play piano for me with all these amazing harmonies of his. He was an incredible piano player…incredible harmonies…a master. And we played together a bunch of times in different settings. Did everything from straight ahead jazz to the more electric trio kind of things we were doing, and he'd sit in and play and take over the rest of the night. And we'd play his tunes…other stuff. I even sat in on a country recording with him one time. He was in the studio recording and I was in the studio in another room- I think I was actually making my classical demo for auditions for colleges- so I went on over and played on that for a second. And he liked me and was really, really encouraging and was just a wonderfully empowered musical spirit, and he asked me to go out on the road with him in Japan, but my mom wouldn't go for it. At the time I wasn't too happy about it, but I think it worked out all right.

A: Are you a fan of Sun Ra? I know you all have worked with members of the Arkestra in the past.

M: Yeah. He'd be in the top echelon- to answer your other question- of influences. I love Sun Ra as much as anybody. I mean, Sun Ra was an early explorer of sound. And I like to explore sound. And there's certain keyboards that he played that I wanted to check out because he played them. And I don't really pick instruments according to what people play, I do it according to what it sounds like when I play it and what I relate to and what I'm hearing. But Sun Ra is such an inspiration in every way: the instruments he chose, the voices, the melodies he created, the harmonies. Everything about him: his soloing, the image he created for himself, the spiritual side- or whatever you want to call it- that he was into. All that. It's a never-ending inspiration. His whole life is an inspiration. And he's from Birmingham, you know, so whenever I come to Birmingham I can't help but think about that. You feel that energy and that spirit…that Sun Ra spirit.

A: He got dropped off here…

M: Yeah, apparently so.

A: Do you have any younger players you pay attention to? Anyone you think is pushing the envelope in new and exciting ways?

M: That's a hard one to say. Yeah, I hear things out there. There's so much great music out there…younger players. There's this band the Crash Kings that I really like. They're kind of poppy, keyboard based, no guitar [laughs] kind of stuff. I really like those guys a lot. I mean, there's a lot of great musicians out there: Jason Moran, Craig Taborn…guys from more of the jazz world. Rudresh Mahanthappa is a great sax player. The thing is, especially in jazz, there's sort of this new, really intelligent, soulful music out there. It's a pretty amazing era right now I think. More in the jazz world than the pop world. Pop music is in a lull I would say [laughs]. It's in a post-indie rock world waiting for something to happen. Plus the industry is so screwed up….

A: You all will be giving a rare acoustic performance when you play here in town at the Alys Stephens Center. Are there any particular dynamics you enjoy about the acoustic setting that are missing from an electric show? You all started out as a largely acoustic trio….

M: Well, you know, piano is my first instrument. The piano itself is an orchestra. It's an incredible instrument. It has unlimited colors and within its range it has a lot it can do. And it forces a certain kind of listening. It just creates a different atmosphere. It forces you to go a little deeper…both the audience and us. Which we like. It's about music. It's really about an experience and a journey. We never set out to be a dance band, you know? We play music. We love so many dance-influenced musics it's definitely part of our fabric, but it's never been like, "You have to dance to our music." That's never been a rule. Our rule has been to do whatever you want and whatever you feel. The most important thing is to come along for the ride and be open minded….that's the only thing we really care about. If you're open minded, we're going to get into things and we're all going to go there together. And the more we stay together, the more we can really go someplace special, rather than that old comfortable place you recognize from sitting on your couch with the headphones on. That's not what we're about. It's about here and now.

A: You all are known as a very groove-oriented band. Are you a believer in the old adage "jazz is the teacher/funk is the preacher"?

M: I think it's great. James "Blood" [Ulmer] was right on the way I see it. It's true. But, you know, jazz is also a preacher. It has some preaching to offer. It's a great line. There's so much to be said. There's so much truth to it. Jazz is an incredible teacher. It's a super advanced language. It's roots are the results of the melting pot of America. It's a beautiful thing and it's opened up all over the world. There's all kinds of versions of it. People get inspired by it and influenced by it. That's why I'm baffled by all these people claiming "what" jazz is today. But what are you gonna do? I wouldn't necessarily call MMW jazz. I mean, for a long time I haven't even cared what it means. I just know I love certain music. It's all relative to your perspective. It's just names….words.

A: What can fans expect from you all in 2012? Any big plans? Any end of the world party tunes in store for the coming year?

M: I don't know. We're touring a little less this coming year. We're each doing other things- more projects- but we're not going to be out much this year. So, if you see us out there you better go, 'cause we're not going to be doing as many festivals and stuff as we've done in the past. We'll be out together in the fall, so, we'll figure out something to celebrate the end of the world.

Tav Falco & the Panther Burns

Tav Falco & the Panther Burns re-issue on Fat Possum. Check it out!

The Shakes

The Alabama Shakes new Single off of their debut album "Boys & Girls."