It was the combination of skills, along with shared musical tastes, that prompted Robert Pollard to enlist Mitchell for his post-Guided by Voices band Ricked Wicky.
“It’s pretty amazing, because I’m not just working with somebody with a built-in audience, it’s Robert Pollard!” Mitchell said. “I’ve basically become his right-hand man, at least for the time being. I have no illusions it’s going to go on forever, and I’ve told him that. No one guy, one band or one group of guys could ever totally facilitate Bob’s muse, but I’m honored as hell to be working with him.”
Mitchell performs weekly at local venues Harrigan’s Tavern, Dublin Pub, Chappy’s Taproom and Wings Sports Bar & Grill. He got to know Pollard during his weekly happy hour sets at Wings.
“We realized how much we have in common musically, especially on the super-obscure prog and ’60s stuff,” Mitchell said. “We can talk for hours about bands, labels and stuff like that. We’ve both read every rock biography you can possibly get your hands on. We’re both ate up with that stuff, so any time we’re together trying to work on music, we have to shut ourselves up and get back to the microphone.”
Despite the distractions, the two music fanatics are getting plenty of work done with Ricked Wicky bandmates Todd Tobias and Kevin March. The group’s first album, “I Sell the Circus,” was recorded at Cyberteknics in Dayton in late 2014. It will be released on Feb. 2. The musicians are currently completing the follow-up album in Mitchell’s studio.
“Working with Bob has been a learning experience,” Mitchell said. “A lot of guitar players like me, who aren’t super-prolific songwriters, force it by trying to come up with guitar parts first or build a song off of a chord change. Like a true writer, Bob hears it in his head first and then he articulates it anyway he can.”
Although no dates have been announced, Mitchell says he and Pollard will have a band on the road this year supporting these and other releases.
“We’re going to be doing tour dates, and they could be some very big ones, actually,” Mitchell said. “Bob has some pretty big stuff brewing. I’m not really allowed to disclose it yet, but it could possibly elevate everything even more.”
For more information on Mitchell, go online to www.skepcat.com.
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