Music
Playing Friday, 28th at Mercy Lounge
by Jaime Lees
Call
him what you will: Charles Thompson, Black Francis or Frank Black, but
as the front man of the Pixies, ol’ what’s-his-name deserves a little
praise. From 1985 to 1993, Black pulled lead singing and songwriting
duties for America’s preeminent alternative band—and is credited with
bringing killer caterwauls, magnetic guitar hooks and paranoid,
UFO-themed lyrics to the masses. The Pixies reigned over college radio
and youth culture for a time, and the bands that followed in its sonic
wake still hail the power of the quartet as a revelation. (Most
famously, its loud/quiet/loud dynamic was claimed to be the singular
sound inspiration to a pretty, blue-eyed, blond-haired guy fronting
some band called Nirvana.)
Nashville singer-songwriter Bobby Bare Jr. counts himself among the Pixies’ many fans. As the son of country musician Bobby Bare, he grew up in music and has the distinction of having received a Grammy nomination at the age of five. First fronting the rock band Bare Jr.—and now as a solo artist churning out stripped-down, bittersweet compositions that push the envelope of alt-country—Bare has found genuine success throughout his entire career.
But for now, Bare has put all solo and future plans on pause in order to squeeze one more project into his busy schedule: His very own Pixies cover band, Is She Weird, Is She White. (Appropriately, it’s currently touring with a Guided By Voices cover band, Teenage FBI.) Bare’s Pixies covers can sound much different than the originals, often changing the tempo or the tone of the songs— making these interpretations insightful, and begging the audience to listen again with fresh ears.
The question is: Why would Bare, a renowned solo artist and pedigreed musician, start a cover band? That scene is usually a schlocky, dirty world populated by balding has-beens and portly never-beens. Why would Bare take the chance of sullying his good name—and embrace another artist’s music?
“Because the Pixies fuckin’ rock!” Bare explains.
And indeed, his love of Black Francis is well documented. The lyrics to “Dig Down,” a song found on Bare’s first solo album, Young Criminals’ Starvation League, include Francis in an exalted list of historical rock icons. He sings about all the distinguished dudes before him who have used up all the soul and original ideas in the world of rock ’n’ roll, listing Francis in a pantheon of recognized legends including Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry and The Beatles.
When we catch up with Mr. Bare via phone from Tennessee, he seems honest and charmingly childlike, as though he can’t contain any emotion—be it excitement or insecurity. He comes off as a hyperactive kid on a sugar high when talking about music that thrills him, and eager to relay fan-boy stories of Frank Black and the Pixies (like a fantastic “freaked out” moment when he got to sing background vocals on a recent Frank Black record). And of course, Bare’s most eager to discuss his past and future work and undying love for the Pixies.
Bobby Bare Jr: I obviously have been a fan for a long, long, long, long time. Because it’s like, I don’t know, do you dress up for Halloween?
Scene: Oh, hell yeah.
Bare: It’s exactly like dressing up for Halloween, for a musician. It’s just fun to be somebody else.
Scene: How do you have time to get all of this done?
Bare: It’s a whole lot of work. Usually for a real set you learn 15 songs—like, for an hour [long] set. If you learn 15 Pixies songs you’ve only learned 30 minutes worth of music. So, you know, we’ve got to learn 20-something songs. And we do some Breeders songs.
Scene: What’s your favorite to sing? Or what do you most look forward to?
Bare: What songs? The ones like “Gigantic,” where I just play guitar. ’Cause I never, ever, get to just play guitar in any band. So that’s what’s fun to me.
Scene: Are the people who come to the shows your fans? Or Pixies fans? Or a mix?
Bare: Um, I think they’re just mostly Pixies fans. We’ve only done this in Nashville.
Scene: The St. Louis show is the first out of town show?
Bare: Yeah. We’ve only done probably four of these. It’s me; the former drummer from […And You Will Know Us By the] Trail of Dead [Doni Schroader]; and Beth Cameron, both of whom are also in a band called Forget Cassettes. And a girl named Leah [Paxton] who’s been in bands with the other two people.
Scene: How did you get hooked up with the Guided By Voices tribute band?
Bare: It’s other people who have been in my band. It’s my drummer from my last tour who is also the drummer for Clem Snide [Ben Martin]. The guitar player is William Tyler, he’s in Lambchop and the Silver Jews.
Scene: Did you go see any of their [Pixies] reunion tour shows?
Bare: Yes, I saw three of them. I played Sasquatch in Seattle and Austin City Limits in Austin where they were the headlining band. …But they played the Ryman Auditorium and that was the best show I’ve ever seen anybody do anywhere. Seeing them at a festival where there’s 75,000 people was just okay, but at The Ryman it was transcendent.
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