Pink’s Acoustic Pulse
Where: Canal Street Tavern, 308 E. First St., Dayton
When: 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21
Cost: $10
More info: (937) 461-9343 or canalstreettavern.com
Artist info: signsoffloyd.com
There are plenty of Pink Floyd tribute bands performing today, but few take the nontraditional approach of Pink’s Acoustic Pulse. The unplugged group, an offshoot of Cincinnati-based Floyd tribute act Signs of Life, features Jonathan Stankorb (guitar, lap steel, vocals), John Hoerr (acoustic bass, guitar, vocals), Randy Thompson (saxophone, flute, penny whistle, vocals), Julie Ann Martin Bernard (cello, viola, violin, vocals), Tom Bartel (piano, organ, vocals), Daniel Epure (percussion, drums) and Rhnee O’Brien (vocals).
Stankorb took a few minutes recently to answer some questions about his unique group and their Canal Street Tavern debut on Saturday, Aug. 21.
Q Most tribute bands stick closely to the source material, but you’ve taken a different approach. What is the concept?
A “Stylistically we’re treating it a little differently with classical guitar, steel-string guitar, 12-string guitar, cello, violin, woodwinds and that sort of thing. It’s the same songs, but we’re kind of going deeper into the solo material of David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Syd Barrett and Richard Wright. We have a little bit more latitude to interpret the songs. We’re not straying that far from them, but we are giving them a little tweak here and there.”
Q How is that working out?
A “There’s seems to be a thread, a conceptual continuity that runs through all of their solo music and the entire Pink Floyd catalog. That’s what I was thinking about when I put the group together. There are a lot of fans who would like to hear deeper album cuts and some solo material, especially when the tone and flavor is so different.”
Q What are some of those threads?
A “If you’re a fan from the early days, in the middle or in the later stuff, listening to all of it, there seems to be an interesting humanitarian slant, like an empathy towards man’s inability to treat each other well. But then some of the music is slightly abstract and left up to the imagination. We’re trying to incorporate all those elements. The acoustic thing, I think, is very appealing to a lot of people because it’s not as bombastic.”
Q What can folks expect at Canal Street ?
A “We wanted to provide something for the people who wouldn’t normally go to a Pink Floyd tribute. Maybe they’ll check this out because there’s not many places you can go to see this kind of instrumentation playing these songs. In some ways it’s kind of like a chamber group, but playing Pink Floyd stuff. It’s a completely different vibe.”
Contact contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.
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