Tuesday, September 18, 2007



Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray are... Heavy Trash!

On stage and in the studio, Jon Spencer, has destroyed and rebuilt American roots music with such ferocity and wild abandon it is hard to believe that there is anything left.
The trail of musical destruction in the wake of his groovy hate-fuck combo Pussy Galore still smolders with the stench of avant punk trash and nasty garage ooze and grind, while his towering work with the Jon Spencer Blues explosion remains an indelible totem to his enormous mojo spirit and red-hot power of deliverance.
He is Daddy Boss Hog! He is the Blues Exploder and Microphone Destroyer! A Gibson Brother! The man who shared a Chicken Dog with Rufus Thomas, got Soul with R.L. Burnside, and enjoyed a greasy Lap Dance with Andre Williams! He is The Man Who Loved too Much!!!

And while the Blues Explosion is on a rock'n'roll holiday, Jon has not rested! He has not worked on his tan, he has not read the latest summer blockbuster!! NO!! Jon Spencer has chosen the righteous path, and got Way Out with his pal Matt Verta-Ray and the Heavy Trash!!!

Matt Verta-Ray grew up in the loving arms of left wing parents who would take him to folk and blues shows long before he sprouted sideburns. (His mother passed away in the '90s, still angry that Dylan had gone electric, despite the fact - Matt is quick to point out - that she owned tons of Sun rockabilly 78s, which he very gratefully still has.) In the late '70s, young Matt found himself one of only twelve people who went to see Bo Diddley at a Canadian fairground. After the show, Bo came out and preached to Matt for an hour about the dark secrets of rock'n'roll.
And the rest, as they say, is history - from sitting on the edge of the stage with Bo, to thumping bass for Madder Rose, and then onto his hard-wired decontructionist rootsabilly band Speedball Baby, where he developed his slashing-dagger guitar style - to forming Heavy Trash with his friend Jon Spencer. Matt is also the mad scientist behind the jungle of tube amps and old-school echo machines that form the mutated nucleus of his analog cave, world-class recording studio NY Hed, where musicians come from all over the galaxy to get... Way Out!!!


HEAR THE UPCOMING HEAVY TRASH ALBUM!

3 Comments:

Blogger Ktinos said...

Hi there. My name is Zoe and I live in Bham.I found your blog by accident. I was horrified to find out , two days after their show, that Jon Spencer was in Brum. I never saw it advertised, I was gutted...Where was this poster placed? I cannot get over this...I had to share it with someone. BTW do you know of any other events/music similar to Jon Spencer/ rockabilly/60s garage in Bham? I can't seem to find much info...Thank you!

October 15, 2007 at 3:43 PM  
Blogger Pete Ashton said...

Hi Zoe,

Well, the gig was put on by Cold Rice who do similar sorts of things but they're not as active as they once were. I've put out a call on the Created in Birmingham blog so we'll see if anyone responds to that. In the meanwhile I'd go explore Cold Rice's MySpace friends.

October 15, 2007 at 4:31 PM  
Blogger jezc said...

Hi, There is a brand new rockabilly, garage, surf and all things in between night starting on Thursday at Atticus, the night is called Primative and is the resurrection of a previous night. It’ll be a night to hear great music in a relaxed friendly bar. Kicking off at 8.30pm it’ll be a once a month event. Free entry Atticus 113-114 Three Shires Oak Rd, Bearwood, B67 5BT open till late

October 16, 2007 at 12:51 PM  

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