BEGINNINGS at the CROSSROADS~
Ah, yes, the scene in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”: the three main characters stop at a crossroads in rural Mississippi where they see a black man standing with a guitar. The man asks if they’re headed to Tishomingo, a place where he heard people can get paid for singing into a can. They pick him up, and they all go to a radio station in Tishomingo. There, under the moniker The Soggy Bottom Boys, they record a song that becomes a huge hit. In Tishomingo, four drifters became a band.
As it turns out, four guys who now call Athens, GA, home, thought the name fitting for their own band. They altered the spelling a little bit and Tishamingo was born. Maybe they aren’t exactly drifters – more like long-time friends originally from Tallahassee, FL – but their brand of blues-based rock ‘n’ roll calls to mind a Southern flavor and boasts soulful singing, honest lyrics, and two-guitar interplay reminiscent of the bands that have inspired them. Take the rock, blues, and the soul music of the late ‘60s and ‘70s, mix in a healthy dose of childhoods spent in the swampy wetlands of northern Florida, and you have a concoction that pleases the ears.
TRADITION~
Cameron and Proc have been writing and playing music together since they were in seventh grade. They were the founding members and songwriting duo of Black Creek Band and Uptown Rudy. While touring with Black Creek during the early ‘90s, they shared the stage with such bands as Widespread Panic, Derek Trucks Band, and Tinsley Ellis, to name but a few. While Cam and Proc were doing their music thing, Jess and Spivey founded Jess Franklin and the Best Little Blues Band while they were still in high school. Jess’ reputation as a guitarist grew to the point that seasoned musicians were coming out to see “the kid” play. The Best Little Blues Band toured throughout the South and played with the likes of B.B. King, Gov’t Mule, Derek Trucks Band, and Kenny Wayne Sheppard. The four members who were to become Tishamingo knew each other through the Tallahassee scene.
As is always the case, bands came to an end and the musicians found themselves playing in different combinations. “I was doing a solo acoustic thing in Atlanta,” Cameron says. “Richard and I were also playing together. Jess and I were doing an acoustic duo thing in Tallahassee. The three of us ended up together, and we recruited Spivey, who’d been playing with Jess before. We played our first gig at The Warehouse in Tallahassee in March of 2001.”
The March date cemented what the band suspected all along: that the individual members all really wanted to work together. A mutual decision to move to Athens happened around the same time, and while Jess was finishing up at his job before the big move, the others joined him in Tallahassee for a month to rehearse. They got a regular Friday night gig at Potbellies, but realized they only had enough material for one set per night. Proc had the idea to cover an entire album for their second set, and the band embraced the challenge. In addition to rolling out all of the Tishamingo originals they’d been working up, they covered, in order: The Allman Brothers Band’s self-titled record, Black Sabbath’s self-titled album, Led Zeppelin’s “Led Zeppelin,” Jimi Hendrix’s “Axis: Bold As Love,” and Derek & The Dominos’ “Layla.” The experience, which they dubbed “band camp,” meant they learned fifty-two songs in a month. “It was a great way to find out how everybody played and how we all interacted with each other,” Cameron says.
FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS~
After band camp, they settled into a farmhouse in Athens, where they rehearsed for several hours virtually every day. Once they felt they were prepared, Tishamingo was unleashed on the Southeastern United States. Rampant touring followed, adding up to over 200 live shows in the past year. When the band was ready to record, they knew who they wanted to work with and had no qualms about reaching out to the person directly. “Proc looked in the phone book, found John Keane’s number, and called him up,” Cameron remembers. “He came out to hear us play a few times. When he said he wanted to work with us, it was a huge compliment.” Keane, whose production credits include R.E.M., Widespread Panic, and the Indigo Girls, “was the perfect person for us at the point in our career,” Cameron says. “John’s got a really good method of how he records. I really loved what he did with the vocals and the time he took with it. Working with him was a really special time for the band.”
The resulting self-titled debut album was initially sold at the bands shows and via their website. The strength of their sales drew the attention of Innerstate Records, who picked up the album for national release. The album has twelve original tracks that showcase Tishamigo’s diverse musical ability – ranging from blues, to county, to straight-ahead rock. Keyboard player Jason Fuller (Ween) joined them in the studio and is also currently touring with the band.
“We want to be able to live our lives and play music and make a living at it,” Cameron says. “The touring and the shows are what we love. I feel like there really is a place for us and what we deliver – keeping rock ‘n’ roll alive, especially in the live arena. We don’t have a get-rich-quick scheme. We didn’t go into the studio to make an album that sounds like what’s hip and what’s in.”
What’s hip and what’s in are usually also very fleeting and flavor-of-the-month, and Tishamingo is anything but that. Their songs have a timeless, evocative quality, with craftsmanship and musicianship propelling them. Not bad for four musicians who met at a crossroads and decided to journey to Tishamingo together. You should come along for the ride...
Source: http://www.tishamingo.com/
