Eugene Chadbourne teaser: "a beginner's guide" to his music

Poster by ARGH!! 

Have you ever wanted to hear "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" adapted for banjo? How about a pro-choice protest song that begins with the words "Heil Hitler?" A rockabilly-ish rocker retelling the story of the Ymir from 20,000 Million Miles to Earth, with a psychedelic coda from the Ymir's point of view?

More to come on this, but just gotta point out that Eugene Chadbourne - Doc Chad - will be playing LanaLou's on July 22nd - his first tour since the pandemic; he was here just before the first lockdown, but actually was derailed from his busy tour schedule by COVID. Eugene has a very rich history, & since about 1976, when he released his first album of acoustic guitar improvisations on his own Parachute Records imprint, he has been one of the most singular musicians working in America - an improviser with a taste for Appalachian folk and traditional country, someone whose influences range from Roger Miller and Bugs Bunny to Boris Karloff and Frank Zappa. A great place to start is There'll Be No Tears Tonight, which features John Zorn on saxophone (mostly doing country music!). His other projects also include Shockabilly - with Kramer of Bongwater and the Shimmy Disc label; Camper van Chadbourne (with various members of Camper van Beethoven and Cracker); albums with Brian Ritchie and Victor DeLorenzo of the Violent Femmes - including Corpses of Foreign War, a singularly goofy and rather uncharacteristically polished pop album from Doc Chad which, last I checked, was in the Misc. C section at Red Cat for around $12; I am more of a fan of LSDC&W, a 2-LP document of his early work with John Zorn, Tom Cora, and other notables, who toured as "the Chadbournes" (that one is at Sunrise Metrotown last I checked, but I forget the price). He also put out a number of (mostly self-released albums) with Jimmy Carl Black ("the Indian of the group" in the Mothers of Invention, RIP). He has also played extensively with jazz drummers Han Bennink and Paul Lovens, Japanese pianist Aki Takase (doing Fats Waller tunes), and Chicago free jazz hero Anthony Braxton. He is partial to doing the odd Phil Ochs cover, Or, say, Beatles covers. Have even heard him do Michael Jackson's "Beat It" at the Western front some 15 or so years ago, but no one has that on Youtube (yet). You never quite know what Doc Chad will do, but I've seen him something like a dozen times over the years and have always loved it. There are a few of his albums on Youtube (check out Country Protest, maybe?).

Oh, and he has a terrific album with the Sun City Girls and Elliott Sharp, Country Music in the World of Islam. Forgot about that. It's also online in full! 

So if you want a singular evening of music, it will be an early show at LanaLou's on July 22nd, featuring Red Herring as an opening act... tickets available here, Facebook page here. MORE TO COME!  

Eugene and I, 2005, taken by Dan Kibke