Skankonia
Ska fest comes to town
March 18 at Hair of the Dog
Like cicadas, fondue and The Dukes of Hazzard, ska goes in and out of vogue every 10 or 15 years. But, also like the cicadas, it never really disappears—it just goes underground. A cursory Internet search reveals gobs of sites, including "The Attempted Ska Page" (www.billtanner.net/ska/), which links to webpages for 1,346 ska-related bands. At any given moment, dozens of those bands are skanking their way across the country. Five such acts converge on Nashville Friday as Hair of the Dog hosts the Nashville Ska Fest, presented by southernska.com, a webpage hosted by Memphis musician Nick Hardy.
Though none of the acts on the bill are purists, they all feature old-school ska grooves, and at various times incorporate 2-Tone-era styles (The Specials, English Beat) and greasier reggae rhythms, at least judging from the sampler disc. Some of the bands occasionally hint at harder punk and ska-core sounds, but thankfully the drums and bass stay close to the Jamaican roots, which, after all, is what makes the style infectious in the first place.
The biggest name is King Django, a singer/MC/instrumentalist/Jewish-guy-from-Brooklyn who's been a major presence in ska for 20 years, as a member of The Boilers and Skinnerbox and as a trombonist with acts like The Toasters, Rancid and hardcore pioneers Murphy's Law. Not to mention his numerous solo projects, including King Django's Roots & Culture, a 1998 album that blended ska with klezmer music and Yiddish lyrics. His late-'90s work with Stubborn All-Stars is particularly strong, and his presence alone is enough to recommend the show.
Boston band Westbound Train inject a bit of old-school R&B into their music, and they understand that the funkiest grooves are usually not the faster ones. Their 2002 disc is titled Searching for a Melody, and that emphasis on tunefulness is evident. Deals Gone Bad, from Chicago, likewise are not in a hurry and have a hint of Motown. The most uptempo of the bunch, New Jersey's Hub City Stompers are a little punkier, but still manage to percolate. The Southern Ska All-Stars, featuring members of the local ska band A.K.A. Rudie and Boone, N.C.'s Las Cabriolas, will do a set of ska and reggae covers.
—Jack Silverman
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