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Now Hear This |
JANUARY/FEBURARY 2012 |
Blue Sullivan
In a city where it seems like every other musician playing the bars covers the same 20 songs by the same 10 classic rock artists, Goat Hill String Band is a welcome anomaly. They chose an eclectic set from the last several decades of popular music. The arrangements approximate what the Foggy Bottom Boys (the fictitious band from the Coen Brothers’ brilliant 2000 film about the 1930s South, O’ Brother Where Art Thou?) might sound if they performed in 2012. They have a wonderfully anachronistic sound that provides a welcome antidote to the ever-pervasive norm of “guy with acoustic guitar plays Allman Brothers cover again.” RSVP sat down with JP Reed, vocalist, guitarist and banjo for the band.
RSVP: Tell us about Goat Hill String Band. How was it formed and when?
JP: First, let me introduce the band. Fred Clements on mandolin/vocals, Aaron Peters on fiddle/vocals, John Garman on upright bass/vocals, and last but not least, me on guitar/ banjo/vocals. In 2008, we were all playing with different groups at the time and had played together on several occasions. Aaron, Fred and John were playing in a country/ bluegrass band called the Coosa River Broadcasters. They had discussed maybe doing more than just bluegrass with bluegrass instruments. They had mentioned maybe taking pop songs and rearranging them to fit our sound in hopes of drawing a larger and more diverse crowd. Thus Goat Hill String Band was born!
RSVP: Also, where does the name come from?
JP: “Goat Hill String Band” was a name that we agreed would tie us to Montgomery, being that’s the name of the hill where the Alabama state capitol building sits today. All four of us live in Montgomery, and most of our gigs are here, too. We hope that our name gives our fans a sense of ownership.
RSVP: Your set list has a lot more variety than what you always hear from other bands.
JP: We want to play what the crowd wants to hear, but with regards to the classic shout outs for “Freebird,” “Sweet Home Alabama” or ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” We consider these to be a bit taboo for us, since you can hear every other cover band play those songs.
RSVP: How do you come up with your set?
JP: We began rehearsing and arranging songs that had been hits by other bands but just not with the sound we were able to produce. Then we began bringing songs to the table like “Billy Jean” by Michael Jackson and “Take on Me” by the 80s band A-ha. People loved it! So performing pop and rock covers became our trademark and what set us apart from other bands. We could take old and new songs, insert our own crazy interpretations, and then turn it into something unique. I think one of the reasons people stick around to listen to us is because they are constantly asking, “I wonder what they will play next?”
RSVP: Tell us about your own personal journey to becoming a musician.
JP: I grew up a pretty shy kid. I was never good at sports, and music seemed to be something that came naturally. I like to say that I was baptized into bluegrass at a very young age, so young that some of my first memories are of the Lawrence Mill Opry in Fayette County, Alabama. My father began playing fiddle in a bluegrass band around that time, and I was always privileged to tag along.
RSVP: When did you first start playing with other people?
JP: When it came time to sign up for 6th grade band, I was the first one in line and percussion was first on my list. After all, I had been jamming on a drum set to Metallica songs with my brother in the basement since I was 10. Marching band, jazz band and multiple rock bands throughout high school helped me to develop an appreciation for all genres of music. As I grew older, I began picking up more and more instruments to experiment with. From percussion to guitar to banjo, and I even had a round with bagpipes. It wasn’t until I was in my late teens that I began experimenting with bluegrass.
RSVP: What made you want to play bluegrass?
JP: In college, I discovered artists like Bela Fleck, who had taken the banjo and bluegrass music to an entire level. From that point on, I was devoted to doing something different. Music is just notes on page, but when played in the right way can haunt the very depths of your soul.
RSVP: What artists influenced your current sound?
JP: For me personally, my primary musical influences vary from the Grateful Dead to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. As far as the band goes, a love for good ole’ bluegrass is probably something that we all have in common. Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, the list goes on forever. But we all individually have certain things that we can’t get enough of. John is a huge fan of the precision and artistry of Drum Corps International, or DCI. He travels all summer watching shows and can’t get enough. Aaron is a five time Alabama Old Time Fiddling Champion and some of his biggest influences are Andy Leftwich, Stuart Duncan and Aubrey Haynie.
RSVP: Who were the first artists you remember listening to that made you want to be a musician?
JP: Some of my first memories are watching “Hee Haw” on Saturday evenings with my family. Of course, we didn’t have a choice. “Hee Haw” was more important than the news it seemed. I remember dancing to Ricky Skaggs’ “I’m Just a Country Boy” when I was really young. Also, I remember my parents buying a new car and the song “Africa” by Toto was on the demo tape for the car stereo, which is really funny, because that’s actually a song that we’ve talked about playing in the band.