How to go
Who: Absinthe Junk
Where: Canal Street Tavern, 308 E. First St., Dayton
When: 9 p.m. Sunday, March 14
Cost: $5
More info: (937) 461-9343 or www.canalstreettavern.com
Artist info: www.mypieceofjunk.com
Fans of local music know musician-producer Patrick Himes for his work with indie rock groups like Shrug and Flyaway Minion. When he returns from Nashville on Sunday, March 14, for a performance at Canal Street Tavern, he’ll be performing with a decidedly different type of band.
Absinthe Junk is led by enigmatic singer and multi-instrumentalist Blair. The elastic modern rock band draws on elements of world music, pop and classic rock and reconfigures them in a way that’s quite infectious. Severe Records will officially release the group’s debut full length, “Living Ghosts,” on March 16, but Absinthe Junk will have copies available at the Canal Street show.
Himes answered some questions last week about “Living Ghosts” and about going from studio engineer to touring member of the band.
Q How did you first meet up with Blair?
A "It started out like every other client coming into my studio to record, and Blair and I became fast friends. I started out doing some session work on the album, and it's become what it is now. She knew in her head what she wanted, but she wasn't necessarily surrounded by the people that could get her to that point. Luckily, we were able to find the folks who could."
Q What appealed to you about joining the band?
A "Blair is a genius. She not only does vocals, but plays violin, cello, viola, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, guitar and bass. She can do anything, and there isn't an arrogant bone in her body. She's a comic book artist. She rides a motorcycle and races cars, and she's like 5-foot, 90 pounds! It was really cool to meet someone like that."
Q How do you feel about "Living Ghosts" now that it's finished?
A "It's a really cool record. It's all Blair's vision. It's got very heavy orchestration. I've always loved heavy music, so it was fun to crank it up and play really loud."
Q What's next for Absinthe Junk?
A "We're going to South by Southwest. We've got a publicist, and they're shopping us around to some really great booking agents, so hopefully something will happen. We went on our first little mini-tour a few weeks ago, and we just had a blast. That was good because we expect to do some extended touring in the near future, and it was definitely good to test the waters and make sure everybody got along. We didn't know how it would go, but it was fun. We had a great time."
Contact contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.
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