Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Vermont Goes to the Planet of the Abts (December 2011)

[This article originally appeared at 101distribution.com]

Matt Abts, longtime drummer for the band Gov’t Mule, took the band’s 2011 hiatus as an opportunity to explore new collaborations, and the Planet of the Abts [POA] was born. Abts is joined in Planet of the Abts by Mule bassist Jorgen Carlsson and guitarist T Bone Andersson, both of whom had met as session musicians in LA, long before Carlsson joined Mule in 2008. Having recently circled New England during the last months of 2011, the electric rock trio appeared on stage and on their self-titled debut (produced by Steve Holyrod and released independently through Hitthenote.com) as being a thrashingly good trio, in the tradition of Cream. The 2011 POA tour began with a brief west coast run, a handful of dates in the northeast, and ended with the group reuniting with Mule bandmates, as well as guests including Bela Fleck and Del McCoury, at Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam fundraiser/festival in Asheville, North Carolina on December 10.

In some ways, POA bridges the gap between the Allman Brothers-inflected jam band sound of Gov’t Mule (originally a side project of Allman alums Warren Haynes and Allen Woody) and the strategic power blues settings of John Mayall and  Led Zeppelin. At the very least, POA has been an excellent use of the hiatus from tiring Mule tours during 2011. In an interview, Abts said he couldn’t have imagined getting “POA off the ground between Mule tour,” and the result—onstage and in the studio—of Abts’ efforts are clear. POA’s original material on their release (songs like “Trying to Be Myself” and “Dressed Up Looking Fine”) make clear the three members’ attention to detail; their recording (an analog one, made at a studio co-owned by Holyrod and Carlsson) offers far more diligent musicianship across what were originally conceived of as more loose, space-cadet moments. At POA’s fastest, they resemble a grungier, more complicated version of the electric blues, padded by an appropriate and interesting variety of musical introductions and conclusions, more thoughtful than the worst moments of the Grateful Dead, and constructed with more care than the best moments of Lynyrd Skynyrd. There is no sloppy noodling, and there are no extended and aimless jams on Abts’ Planet, but rather an ever-present progress in the simplest of three-chord songs. POA is a trio that moves quickly on its six collective feet; there is much communication between the members at work in the music. The scant lyrics of ever-serious introspection, and the abundance of soaring guitar notes, hover above the thunderous and solid rhythm section.

Abts is a wise and seasoned leader of this new musical Planet, and shows his leadership in running an outfit that proves itself flexible and fluent. Bassist Jorgen Carlsson played informally with Gov’t Mule since the untimely passing of founding member and bassist Allen Woody in 2000, and became the band’s steady bassist in 2008. He and Abts had a keen relationship, one built of careful and flowing riffs and fills; Abts appears ever at ease, and the trio smiled a lot at each other during both shows. T Bone Andersson’s  guitar work was mysterious and elusive in its origin, never shying away from the sudden and the brash, and expressive on his axe, and through a multitude of amps. Singing lyrics to “Circus” in performance, Andersson appeared emboldened, knowing well the simple tune and its nuances. Carlsson joined in on vocals on occasion; Abts, from behind the drum set, shouted verses to the band’s lone and choice cover that appears on the album, and shone in concert--the Rolling Stones’ “Off The Hook.” Performances included interesting and technically accurate Hendrix covers, including “Spanish Castle Magic,” the Doors’ “Light My Fire,” and T Rex’s “Children of the Revolution.”

Abts, Carlsson, and T Bone carried audiences to new prog-rock heights during the first weeks of December 2011, including two gigs in Massachusetts (Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury Beach was Abts’ favorite venue of their northeast tour), two nights in Vermont, and an appearance as part of Levon Helm’s weekly Saturday night Ramble, in Woodstock, New York, before heading south for dates in the New York metro area. Following Warren Haynes’ annual fundraiser in North Carolina, Gov’t Mule returns to ring in the New Year with their triumphant return across a pair of shows at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Across the short 2011 tour, POA were joined by Mule keyboardist Danny Louis at the New Ocean Music Hall, appeared with the Levon Helm Band in upstate New York, and catered with ease to unique crowds across two Vermont venues: the seated, contemplative listening room that is the Tupelo Music Hall in White River Junction, and the jam-band-aficionados attending the show at the cavernous South Burlington venue Higher Ground. Abts’ relationship with Vermont and New England runs deeply, being “one of the first markets we [Gov’t Mule] ever played,” he said, adding that Mule has played Higher Ground in Burlington over twenty-five times. A small drum manufacturer in Putney, Vermont produces Abts’ custom signature djembe; his relationship with Everyone’s Drumming began when, in celebration of the birth of his son, original Mule bassist Allen Woody gave Abts one of Nathaniel Hall’s handmade African ashikos, upon which was carved “a mother, father, and baby,” Abts explained. While his work with Gov’t Mule and other side projects have established him as one of the steadiest and most prolific drummers in live rock performance, Abts maintained that his “approach to the drum set” comes from study of the open and raucous sound of percussionists in the big band era, namely, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Abts responded favorably to a suggestion that his next solo project be to form a jazz band, in the style of his percussion heroes; for now, his rhythmic Planet represents his keen ability to coordinate and invent new musical collaborations.

Follow Matt Abts here: http://www.mattabts.com/index.shtml

Planet of the Abts here: http://www.planetoftheabts.com/