George Kinney and Kohoutek, at Velvet Lounge
http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2010/07/kohoutek-velvet-lounge-george-kinney-golden-dawn.php
by Johnathan Rickman
July 14, 2010
As bandleader of the Golden Dawn, an unsung 1960s acid-rock group
from Austin, Texas, George Kinney lived on the psychedelic edge of
the era's musical explorations.
Kinney's crazed howl and sun-drenched blues guitar can still be heard
on the band's sole recorded outburst, 1968's "Power Plant," a
psychedelic cult classic, if you can find it.
Now an outlaw troubadour on a country kick, Kinney is enjoying recent
renewed interest in Austin's fabled fuzz-toned rock scene, which also
included the wall-melting music of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators.
"The psychedelic sound of the 1960s was a state of mind that
reflected the time and place in which it occurred and cannot be
imitated with much success today," says Kinney.
"It's like Plato's idea that most of our existence is just a picture
of a picture ... far removed from essence. I try hard to capture the
essence of my life and express that in my music."
Revering Kinney as a real rock 'n' roll rebel, the members of local
group Kohoutek, a rogue improvisational collective that counts the
Texas rocker as a key influence, in 2005 offered to set up a tour for
Kinney with Kohoutek serving as a de facto Golden Dawn.
The plan resulted in only one performance together, at a used record
store in Baltimore. But the seed that was planted finally sprouted a
five-day 2010 East Coast trek, including a show on Thursday, July 15,
at the Velvet Lounge.
"What we're attempting to do as George's backing band is present some
of those songs in a modern context," says Scott Verrastro, Kohoutek's
core member and percussionist. He says the group also plans to pull
from Kinney's current solo songbook.
"George refuses to be a nostalgia act and we respect him for it,"
says Verrastro. However, he adds, "George isn't really interested in
spontaneous composition either," meaning the group will have to
temporarily scale back its usual space travel and forays into free jazz.
But Kohoutek guitarist John Stanton says rehearsals with Kinney have
been a trip. "We've gotten a charge out of this collaboration and
it'll be great to bring it to the stage."
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment