who: Vince Herman and Great American Taxi

what: alt-country jam band

where: Turley Park Gazebo

when: Thursday, July 9

A Request from Vince Herman:
Brian R. Powell in His Disco Jacket at the Sunset Concert

by Meg Moynihan

Area veterans of slamgrass and the jam-band scene can look forward to the return of one of their own for the latest offering from the Sunset Concert series. Vince Herman, founder of classic bluegrass outfit Leftover Salmon and current frontman of Great American Taxi, will take the stage at Turley Park on Thursday, July 9 at 7 p.m.

Though music has been a lifelong occupation for Herman, he first gained national prominence as a singer and guitarist in Leftover Salmon, one of the original slamgrass jam bands to make their name on the touring-festival circuit. Herman was notable for his eclectic taste in songwriting and arrangements, often drawing on diverse traditions including gospel, bluegrass, country, and folk to create a unique roots music grounded in the aural experience of live performance.

Founded in 1989, Leftover Salmon spent four years touring relentlessly and honing their multi-instrumental sound before recording their debut album, Bridges to Bert, in 1993. Four more albums would follow during the course of the next decade, culminating in their final self-titled studio release in 2004. The band then went on indefinite hiatus in 2005 while members each pursued other musical directions.

For Herman, that has come in the form of Great American Taxi, the band with whom he has been playing since Leftover Salmon's vacation. In addition to Herman on guitars and vocals, the lineup features Chad Staehly on piano, organ, and vocals; Jim Lewin on guitars and vocals; Edwin Hurwitz on bass; Chris Sheldon on drums and vocals; and Barry Sless on pedal steel and guitar.

When Nightlife recently caught up with Herman to discuss his upcoming performance at the Sunset Concert, he explained what he saw as the artistic differences between the two groups.

"Compared to the Salmon stuff, [Great American Taxi] is more alt-country, less bluegrass, and more songwriting-oriented," he said. "We're in the process of getting our second record ready for release, and we're all really excited about it.

"It's called Reckless Habits, and we had hoped to have it out this summer, but now a major label has become involved and they want to release it as part of their catalogue in January. But I'm just so fired up to be playing and touring with these guys, and we're hoping to put out a compilation of live recordings sometime this summer."

The followup to their 2007 debut Streets of Gold, Reckless Habits has found the band experimenting with heightened studio effects and layering, a decision that Herman said has helped them create two versions of their new songs: one for live performance and one for the album itself.

"This record was a little bit different from some of the ones in the past, because we really tried to use the studio and to take advantage of the opportunities [it provides] without worrying about how we were going to recreate the sounds live," he explained. "So the album is really big-- we have gospel singers, full horn sections, pedal steel. Basically, we tried to manipulate the effects in the studio to capture the largest version of these songs that we'd always heard in our heads."

While Herman remains the primary songwriter, he credits his fellow bandmates with helping to create a collaborative atmosphere that has allowed everyone a sense of artistic freedom. He also credits the laidback lifestyle in mountainous Colorado-- he lives in Nederland, at nine-thousand feet above sea level, when he's not on tour-- with assisting his creative processes.

"You save a lot of time now having to mow your lawn up there," he said, laughing. "It gives you more time to think, to play and to write, not having to worry about your lawn."

Perhaps the similarly relaxed atmosphere of summer musical festivals helps explain why Herman's efforts have always found such a captive audience there.

"I think everyone is at their best at a festival, both the people who are performing and the people who are there to listen to the music," he mused. "As a musician, you get to play outdoors in a great atmosphere with, hopefully at least, great weather, and you get to go around and listen to other people play when you're done. There are so many of my favorite bands and favorite songwriters that I've discovered at one festival or another.

"And for the audience, they've come to the festival with the expressed intent of going to another world," he continued. "They get to leave behind their jobs and their daily concerns and go have a good time listening to good music for a day or two. It's not like you have to go fight traffic to get home and be tired at work the next day after the show. It's just such a wonderful environment for live music, especially in the summertime."

Veteran Sunset-goers can expect plenty of catchy, roots-driven Americana from Herman, but many of his newer songs are also infused with the same rhythmic Cajun influence that was evident on Great American Taxi's first album.

"That infectious Cajun groove just comes out in my music," he said. "To me, it's so universal-- everyone, no matter where they're from, hears that 'chanky-chank' and starts moving and enjoying it.

"Sometimes people ask me why I connect to it since I grew up in the city in Pittsburgh, and all I can say is that I think everyone enjoys it to some degree the way I do."

Herman paused.

"But it could also be that the rhythms remind me of polka in Pittsburgh," he laughs. "Who knows?"

Even with so many genres under his belt, Herman remains on the prowl for new sounds and new ethnic traditions to incorporate into his increasingly eclectic approach to writing and recording. In particular, he identified the rhythms of the Caribbean as especially intriguing to him now.

"I'd love to spend some time in Trinidad and hang with the Calypsonians," he enthused. "Music plays such an interesting role in their culture-- you know, they have these improvisational contests every year where the competitors have to improvise songs on stage about stuff that's going on politically, socially, economically. Then they pick a winner and everyone performs that song for the next year. Music is so free and tied to the moment-- that's very appealing to me, and I'd like to spend more time on it."

Herman also announced a wish specifically for the Sunset show, directed toward one well-known Southern Illinois resident.

"I'd really like to see Brian [R. Powell from WDBX] at our show in his disco jacket," he added. "The thing has got to weight about fifty pounds-- it's all covered in mirrors-- and we'll definitely be looking for it. It's highly visible, kind of like Dick Cheney these days.

"We first saw [Powell] in it when we came to town to record a song for that CD to benefit the Buckminster Fuller dome with Randy Crouch-- what an unappreciated legend he is, by the way. And we saw the jacket and thought it was just so great, and that's such a great radio station, so we'd love to see both of them represented at the show. We're looking forward to it!"

For more information, log on to <http://www.GreatAmericanTaxi.net> or <http://www.VinceHerman.com>.

who: Max Allen Band

what: original blues, rock, funk, and jazz

where: Tres Hombres; StarView Vineyards

when: Thursday, July 9; Saturday, July 11

The Max Allen Band:
Endless Possibilities in Blues, Rock, Funk, and Jazz

by Leah Williams Wright

For guitarist and songwriter Max Allen, good music must have authentic origins to have any sort of cred at all.

"It has to be genuine," the twenty-five-year-old musician said. "It can't be bullshit. It has to have meaning."

The Max Allen Band will bring their blend of blues, rock, funk, and jazz Thursday, July 9 to Tres Hombres. The Indianapolis-based group-- which includes Allen on vocals and guitar, drummer Shaan France, and both Dace Robie and Ethan James filling in on bass guitar-- is also scheduled to play Saturday, July 11 at Starview Vineyards.

Allen was first introduced to music through his family. His grandfather performed at jazz clubs to put himself through medical school and is still an active performer. He soon followed suit, taking up piano lessons at age five.

But after one listen to the guitar riffs on his father's records, Allen set his sights on a different instrument.

"I thought it was the coolest thing in the world," he said. "So I put aside the piano and focused on the guitar."

While attending Butler University, Allen studied under Bret Terrell, an instructor who specializes in classical guitar, flamenco, fingerstyle, and jazz. He also started playing with an older group called the Max Allen Sound and Jam Band. Allen would then switch from that band's more blues-rooted tunes to the intricate rock guitar now featured in his current band.

Allen's debut album No Way was released in May 2001 and is now in its second pressing. The follow up, Mr. Big Man, came out in June 2002, and the third, That's Why, released a year later, was produced by Michael Clark.

Earthwalker, the most recent Max Allen Band album, debuted in November 2006 on new label Big Walnut Record.

This past spring, Allen released a solo acoustic album, Uphill. And the Max Allen Band plans to release a new album featuring new material later this summer.

Allen is also nearing his one-thousandth performance and showing no signs of slowing down. The group performs about 125 shows per year in twenty states.

"What we try to tie in is popular music, and also more intelligent music," Allen said. "That's where the jazz and the New Orleans-funk elements come in."

Allen said there is an interesting dynamic in music now. Thanks to the internet, musicians from across the globe have easy access to one another's music. For example, one guitarist in Seattle is able to swap songs with a songwriter in Brazil or a fellow guitarist in London.

"The possibilities are endless," he said. "A lot of old music styles develop over here. Anyone can listen to anyone's style."

He also said he believes that much of what made groups like the Beatles and Phish stand out is going to come back again, because a new generation of musicians is able to be influenced by them.

"There is so much music out there, so for the music lover anything is game," Allen said. "What a movie or a good book would do, a song can do also. Like a Bach tune, it takes you on this journey with its own climatic points. It's a page-turner."

For more information about and audio by the Max Allen Band, log on to <http://www.MaxAllenMusic.com>.