TODAY’S CREATIVE LOVING PROFILE
Big fun on Sunday
OK, a quick show of hands. How many of you have been in a band, or at least tried to be?
Ideally, playing music is supposed to be fun. At its best, music is an outlet for creativity and self-expression and a rewarding social medium. But anyone who's played in a band knows that it can just as often become mired in personal or (if you're lucky enough to be working) professional conflicts. In other words, no fun at all.
In that light, it's refreshing to bear witness to the joyful work taking place Sunday nights at the Northside Tavern. There, for the last three-plus years, guitarist Stephen Talkovich has led a frighteningly capable rhythm section as they host a rotating lineup of local bandleaders.
Talkovich is accompanied by drummer Lee Goodness -- who spent years touring with Curtis Mayfield and who now works with the Electromatics -- and Breeze Kings' bassist Dave Roth, who's also worked with just about everyone on the Atlanta blues scene. Guest frontmen for these shows include guitarists Frank Moates, Ross Pead and Bill Sheffield, and pianist Bob Page. Guitarist Sean Costello -- or Costello's pianist, Matt Wauchope, will occasionally front the group when Costello's band is not on tour.
The Sunday shows thrive on intrigue and variety, along with the skewed sense of humor Goodness and Roth, collectively, bring to the stage.
"Guys who are busy [performing] all the time will come play with us at Northside," Talkovich says. "Dave and Lee, to my mind, are the reason that people keep coming back. They're so much fun to play with, and they're just about as off-kilter as I am."
"There's not another gig quite like that one, because of the rotating [bandleaders]," says Pead, aka Peadboy. "I enjoy it because every Sunday night, I never know what to expect. There are never two Sunday nights in a row where anyone should know what to expect."
Another part of the gig's charm is its casual, low-pressure vibe, Talkovich says. Each frontman already works elsewhere with his own band, so "they're not making their reputations" on Sunday night at Northside. Because of that, he says, a listener might hear just about anything.
Costello agrees. "It's nice to come home [from a tour] and play with them, and be totally free to not have to worry about putting on a show. I think it's one of the coolest things going. They can do anything from Merle Haggard to Guitar Slim," Costello says, "or anything that I throw on them."
Country bluesman Sheffield recently broke out a whole set of British Invasion rock 'n' roll. Who else could get away with playing the Turtles' "Happy Together" in a funky blues bar?
Pead plays everything from country blues, ragtime and train songs to vintage Beatles covers. He moves fluently from Blind Willie McTell's "Beedle Um Bum" to Louis Armstrong's "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" to Tom T. Hall's "The L&M Don't Stop Here Anymore."
Moates has an equally diverse repertoire, having strayed as far enough from blues to cover Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual." "Frank is amazing," Talkovich says. "And he's got a twisted enough personality to fit right in."
Twisted or not, the band needs a sympathetic, well-tuned ear to support and adapt to such a wide variety of players. Goodness brings different drum kits for various frontmen, and play with assorted types of sticks -- or with brushes -- to adapt to that player's style and dynamic level.
"It's big fun, and the different players keep it fresh," Goodness says.
Plainly, it's a challenge that invigorates the band.
"We're amazed at the fun we have," Talkovich says. "Plenty of nights, Dave and I will look at each other in disbelief, like, 'Wow, aren't we lucky white boys?'"
bryan.powell@creativeloafing.com
