Deadwood Revival

When Deadwood Revival took the stage at Eugene's Sam Bond's Garage on a Wednesday night this last week, there was electricity in the air, and it wasn't static. The crowd had been gathering for some time, for Eugene is Trenerry country and the extended clan showed up early to get good seats because DwR sports two Trenerry's, Kim by birth and Jason by marriage. Sure, Jason Mogi is not really a Trenerry, but for this one night it didn't matter, for the family welcomed all of DwR as family, as did the crowd. To the family, this wasn't a show, it was a reunion! What it ended up being was a party, though, and if no dead were revived, it was through no fault of the band who played long and hard in the vein of asses off.

I was lucky enough to have caught the band last Spring at Corvallis' Bomb's Away Cafe and knew they came to play, but even those of us who had seen DwR's sweat-inducing shows in the past were not prepared for what was to come. The doors behind the stage slid open at 7 PM, and the five touring vagabonds (four band members and their manager, Carol Pope) filled the stage with equipment in less than ten minutes which was something to see in itself--- poetry in motion, it was. By 7:30, they had plugged, arranged, mic-checked, sound-checked and body-checked everything to their satisfaction and spent the next half hour visiting and reacquainting themselves with relatives and friends they obviously see all too seldom. Hugs, drinks and kisses were passed around like candy at Halloween until it was time to take the stage and I'm not too sure they didn't take it, literally, because I had to leave on the midnight side of 11:30 due to pure exhaustion (I felt like a deserter) and the party was still going strong. And this was a Wednesday, fer chrissakes!

From the first note, you knew you were in for something. Jason Mogi is a maniac on the clawhammer banjo, Ches Ferguson lays down a bottom line with his uke-bass (you have to see it to believe it amd it uses rubber strings!) that is as bottom as you can get and Trenerry and Julie Campbell? Sharp as a tack on their respective instruments (that would be acoustic guitar and fiddle) and loaded for bear. The band quickly worked their way through a solid list of country and bluegrass flavored songs, mostly originals with a few traditional tunes for good measure and it wasn't long before the tables and chairs were moved to create dance floor. Most notable on the first set were Mogi's Bound To Go, a light-stepper which allowed his banjo and the voices of Mogi and Trenerry a chance to warm up, Mogi's rousing Roscoe Stomp, and Trenerry's Ain't the Buying Kind. Along the way, they belted out a version of Johnny Cash's Big River, Dylan's You Ain't Going Nowhere and songs by the Dead and Neil Young. The highlight of the night, though, was an extended version of Mattie's Jam which eventually gave way to their rockin' showstopper, Shake the Barnhouse Down. By the time that was over, even the building was sweating.

After an hour and fifteen minute set, they took a short break and hit the stage again, picking up right where they left off, and the longer they played, the more the crowd responded. Hoots and whistles began to meet every vocal and solo and even crescendo until the crowd was as much a part of the music as was the band. Like I said. It was a party.

And like I said, I walked out on the left side of 11:30, tired and dreading the long drive home, but I felt good. My ears weren't ringing (my thanks to Kevin, the sound man, and Jason Mogi, who ran the instruments through his own board) and I was grinning (couldn't stop, in fact, and after a bit that gets downright annoying). All the way home, I kept thinking what a shame it is that festival promoters were so busy plucking from lists of so-called 'names' that they overlooked Deadwood Revival. Sure, they get an occasional spot, but not like they deserve, and they are made for the festival circuit. They are the kind of band you stumble upon and stick around for what you think will be a minute but end up staying for the whole set. They are the kind of band that people ask for because it isn't the popularity or status that puts the bomp in the bomp, if you get my drift, it's the music and the showmanship.

This isn't the review I wanted to write. I wanted to convey the rush the music gave the crowd and the good fellowship and the joy it spread. I am not a good enough writer to even begin to describe that, so you'll just have to use your imagination. I also wanted to say that it isn't easy, being on the road for two weeks and playing show after show between long drives. Imagine what it is like to drive somewhere and play two or three sets only to load up and drive again. Luckily, this was their last show of the tour and it was hellacious, the kind of show that can rejuvenate a band. Bet most of the people there that night needed rejuvenation on a grand scale the next morning.

Crap! I'm grinning again. My face muscles are sore. Know what? I'm beginning to hate those guys.

Deadwood Revival By Frank Gutch Kim Trenerry could be on Broadway right now. That's where she was headed when she ran into Jason Mogi, who could just as easily be drumming in strip clubs or in a Fleetwood Mac tribute band. Ches Ferguson could still be soaking in the Sol Duc Hot Springs, isolated in winter and overrun in summer. And Julie Campbell - well, Julie would more than likely be doing just what she does, teaching, because she is evidently damn good at it and you tend to love what you do best. Somehow these four ended up as Deadwood Revival, an acoustic rock experiment mistakenly labeled everything from bluegrass to folk rock to newgrass and beyond. They also ended up in Port Angeles, Washington, not exactly center of or central to any kind of serious music business. So why are they there? Because it is home - home for all but Campbell, who commutes from Tacoma - and if you have been paying attention, you know there is a... BACKSTORY A number of years ago, Trenerry was a card-carrying member of Actor's Equity, hitting the road with such luminaries as Robert Goulet, Tammy Grimes, Marla Maples, Tom Urich and Lisa Brown. Knee deep in music and neck deep in greasepaint, she worked toward the mecca of all things musical and theater, New York City. Through contacts in the biz, she gained invites to try out for two upcoming Broadway shows, "Will Rogers Follies" and "Crazy for You." While living in Atlanta and awaiting callbacks, she hooked up with a band or two singing backup. The drummer for the last of these was one Jason Mogi. Mogi, a journeyman drummer scratching together a living playing clubs, knew Trenerry before she joined the band he was with, was impressed with her voice and took time to acquaint himself. One night he sat down with his guitar and they blended their voices (while Mogi does not use the word, it was epiphanic, which is definitely not a real word) and their lives. Trenerry, one foot pointed toward New York, backstepped and they headed out to Port Angeles to visit her mother (Hey, Mom! Guess who's coming to dinner?). In spite of Mogi's lack of manners, they were asked to stay, and Mogi found himself in the midst of paradise with no marketable job skills (the last tree he had felled was a mulberry bush he attacked with wooden sword while still a child and, to his mind, fish came ready to eat). Remembering that fateful blending of voices, he bought Trenerry a guitar and set about teaching her to play. Thus, Tongue & Groove was born. A simple duo, Tongue & Groove was a band in search of members. Ches Ferguson had just given Sol Duc a goodbye wave, returned to civilization and scored a job at the local music store. The day after he started, in walked Mogi and Trenerry. The connection was immediate and Ferguson slowly worked his way into the simple duo, now trio. Not long after, they found a drummer and a keyboard player and the band was complete - for a while, anyway. After a time, the drummer suffered a realization that working 40+ hours a week AND playing gigs was a sure way to health hell and opted to keep his day job, eating having become a habit. Tongue & Groove were again a trio. They kept it going for a short time, Ferguson lost interest, and Mogi and Trenerry became, once again, a simple duo. Wait! Did I mention banjo yet? Seems Mogi had picked up banjo a few years before but put it down to concentrate on guitar. Now that they were once again two, he picked it up again, tried it and, voila! - Deadwood Revival! They were invited to String Summit's 2005 gathering, won the competition and were on their way. The gigs lined up, business was good, but keeping the energy for 3+ hours took its toll. They called Ferguson and asked him to fill in on a gig. He did. Then they asked him to do another. He did. And another. At some point, he realized he was as good as a member of the band again. Mogi and Trenerry, needing the support, could not have been happier. Ferguson's bass gave the band the bottom it needed, but Mogi needed more. Prior to Ferguson's return, DwR had played shows with bassist Jason Mellow and fiddler Ellie Holzemer from Portland-based Cross-Eyed Rosie. It felt good. They set their sights on a fiddler. Julie Campbell played fiddle (and very well, indeed) but she had her own band, Looking Glass. Mogi loved her "soulful" style and her energy. They approached her and made the connection. Not long after, Looking Glass disbanded and, as Mogi likes to say, the rest is history. THE PRESENT While that is the Cliff's Notes version of the Deadwood Revival story, even Cliff's Notes would call it incomplete. Behind the scenes, a fifth and non-playing member of DwR plays a crucial role in not just the existence but the development of the band. Carol Pope entered the story during the Tongue & Groove days. Originally just a fan, her interest in the music grew exponentially with her exposure to the band, stopping just short of obsession. Over the years, that interest developed beyond that of fan to helper and then manager. With no prior experience, she threw herself into the fray with dogged determination, no job too small. She provided, and provides, everything the band cannot, from coffee runs to tour scheduling to equipment logistics. More importantly to her, she provides that outside ear that many bands lack, that sense of what works and what doesn't. Having joined forces in 2001 during the Tongue & Groove days, she saw Mogi and Trenerry (and, in a way, Ferguson) through the transition from a hard working bar band to an old-timey duo. She was against the banjo at first, but softened her attitude as Mogi honed his skills as musician and songwriter until she eventually embraced the idea. Deadwood Revival slowly became Obsession #2, if you will. Summer festivals helped to solidify DwR as a musical force, the banjo more and more a key part of the sound. Pope has now seen them through three CDs--- 2005's self-titled release, This Old World in 2006, and this year's Sat 730, DwR's first live album. A linear hearing of the albums shows a progression which could only be described as evolution. Rather than toss musical styles under the bus, they carry them forward, adding to them as the future warrants. From the laid-back folk and old-timey days, they have ground their way through their versions of bluegrass, newgrass, country, and now rock and jam. The addition of Julie Campbell's fiddle has opened the band to a more open and fluid presentation and given the other three the breathing room needed for expansion of their individual styles. One can only say, tongue in cheek and not groove, "Our little band's growing up, Momma." Growing and maturing and loving the very existence of it all. You can hear it in Mogi's rock slams on the banjo strings and his powerful acoustic guitar leads, in Trenerry's treble voice and sometimes transcendent guitar, in Ferguson's always flowing and occasionally booming bass, and in Campbell's weaving fiddle. It seems to get better all the time. What you cannot hear but can almost feel is the amount of love generated by those four and that quiet fifth. They are family. They just happen to be an extremely talented and musical family. Stay tuned. Their real future is just ahead.