Performer of the Year
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18.10% Wailhounds*
Others with Votes:
* On the ballot |
Sandy Golden was curious as to why she was invited to be a presenter at the 2002 Whammy Awards show. First of all, any event Sandy Golden — the brains behind Piere’s (admit it, husband Stan Liddell) — graces with her presence is better off. But there was another reason. Golden read the nominees for Performer of the Year: Rosemary Gates, Blue Moon Boys, homeless J, Might As Well and the Wailhounds. Behind her onstage, the Wailhounds, featuring Golden’s son Noah on guitar, had just finished playing their set. A huge smile spread across mom’s face as she read the winner’s name: the Wailhounds. They also won Best Rock Cover Band and tied with Rosemary Gates for Best Original Rock Band. Within minutes, the Wailhounds launched into a second set of driving music, capping off a night of amazing musical performances. And capping off an amazing year for the Wailhounds. Fort Wayne’s premier jam band has just started to hit their stride. They released their first CD in 2001, Psychedelic Groovy, had a track included on Essentials Vol. 5 (“Break of Dawn”), opened for two red-hot national acts at Piere’s (Joe Bonamassa and Afroman), went on a memorable tour in California and Arizona, and expanded their influence to cities such as Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Bloomington. And, of course, edged out Rosemary Gates for Performer of the Year in a very close race among all the nominees. The Wailhounds are distinguished among this distinguished company by at least a couple of factors: Their versatility in playing multiple instruments onstage, their catholic musical influences and their sheer, unadulterated joy at playing their patented style of “psychedelic groovy blues-based” music. “We have moved in a new direction although our original plan of attack in how we approached music has stayed the same,” said Joe Trammel. “We all wanted to play various instruments and have become more jam-oriented. Although we’ve done that in the past, our intensity has changed.” As for influences, many are evident, but none predominant. Try the Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys, even Willie Nelson. “That comes from the wide variety of musical tastes all of us have. We all like pretty much any kind of music. We can name five favorite artists in any genre. All of us have enjoyed listening to jam bands in the past and we hold to that. But we also add R&B, hip-hop and blues-influenced bands,” Trammel said. One recent change has been the addition of Kyle Haller as the full-time keyboard player. George Mallers, who plays guitar for Sfumato, played keyboard on Psychedelic Groovy. “We had keyboards on the whole CD but didn’t have a keyboard player in the band. As soon as we heard the keyboards in the studio, we knew we needed keyboards in the band,” said Noah Golden. The band was familiar with Haller, who used to play with Phil’s Family Lizard, and were glad to have him come aboard. Increased touring the last several months has resulted in — incredibly — a greater tightness among the band’s members. They’ve been playing an average of 10 shows a month since last summer, in addition to the tour last year at which they played shows in two outdoor venues, in Lake Apache and Lake Havasu City, Arizona. “Playing so much has kept our chops up and brought us together as a band. When someone (changes instruments) and wants to go somewhere else, we can do it because we know each other so well musically,” Trammel said. For the record, or the stage, Wasvick plays harmonica, drums, bass, congas and guitar; Golden plays guitar and bass; Warney plays congas and drums; and Trammel plays guitar and bass. Whatever they’re playing at the moment, they play their music with a joie de vivre that’s impossible to overlook. Down in the Columbia Street West mosh pit, fans were grooving and swaying like it was a Dead concert, for goodness sake. “We try to choose a lot of epic tunes that a lot of people won’t touch,” Golden said in a whatzup interview last year. “Some of the ones we pick are good because they are short and get people to dance. We try to put our spin on songs. But they have to be done right or you make a fool out of yourself. We try to pick songs and do justice to them.” Again for the record, the band’s favorite Dead song to play in concert is “China Cat Sunflower.” Thought you’d like to know. Psychedelic Groovy featured 10 songs written and arranged by the band and two covers: Dickey Betts’ “Back Where It All Begins” and “Echoes,” written by some guys in a band called Pink Floyd. “Lots of the show is spontaneous,” Trammel said. “We go by how the crowd feels. We write a set list, but rarely do we follow it from start to finish. Lots of times we group songs according to what instruments people are playing. We might do one group of songs with Noah on guitar and one with Noah on bass.” Much of this family feeling onstage has its roots in the long-standing friendships of the band’s members. As is common in many Fort Wayne-based ventures, the main players go way back. Wasvick and Trammel originally got together to play with guitarist Chris Patalita. Wasvick was learning to play harmonica and Patalita was teaching Trammel to play guitar. “We were just jamming. We did not have a band formed. One time there were eight people playing with us,” Trammel said. There followed one of those cross-country car trips that play a vital in many an American story. Wasvick and Trammel found themselves with no money and decided, what the heck, if they had to come home they might as well form a band. Patalita eventually left, but Golden and Warney joined their boyhood pals (all Snider High School graduates) to become the Wailhounds. (Haller, like Mr. whatzup, is military School grad). The rest is Wailhounds history. |
Copyright 2002 Ad Media Inc.