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 City Paper graphic designer and contributing writer John Zara steps away from his computer and out of his office this afternoon, leaving this paper and this city for the bright lights of his native Piedmont digs near Rock Hill, S.C. His parting shot is a healthy Q&A with Yonder Mountain String Band bassist Ben Kaufmann, who performed with his band at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach last weekend. Kaufmann tells the tale via Zara:
Yonder Mountain String Band hails from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Their unique style of progressive bluegrass has earned growing fan base. A mix of jam and bluegrass, Yonder lends itself to improvisation and a chance to make new music at every show. We recently caught up with bassist Ben Kaufmann while the band was on its way to last week’s show at in Myrtle Beach. We talked about everything from life on the road to song writing:
CITY PAPER: Yonder has recently started a summer tour. How’s that going?
BEN KAUFMANN: We’ve been on the bus the last three days driving from Colorado. It’s a long trip. You get that, sort of, frazzle in your brain. I now know what it’s like to sleep at 75 m.p.h.!
CITY PAPER: You just got back from playing a few festivals [Telluride and Bonnaroo]. How did those go?
BK: They were great. The band played really well. There’s massive amounts of people, and it’s always fun to see if you can move them in the number. Telluride was really good. It’s kind of become our home festival, sort of, having been there so long now. Everybody there is aware of who we are. Bonnaroo still feels like we’ve got to prove ourselves. At Bonnaroo, we’re really aware that there’s a lot of crossover fans. For people who aren’t familiar with who we are, we look like a bluegrass band, so if they’re going to check us out then we really need to impress them. Playing for that many people is just a trip! 
CITY PAPER: With large festivals like Bonnaroo, are you more apt to play certain songs or covers to draw in that crossover crowd?
BK: The rule these days is “all original music.” If we feel like it will make a good impact then we’ll do a cover, and make sure it’s a good one. At Bonnaroo we played “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. We don’t want to become that bluegrass band that plays covers, you know? So, we want to be very careful of what we play and when we play it. Certainly for a gig like that, we figured it would be a good place to play something like that, and people were certainly having a great time with it. You can probably get away with one cover per set.
CITY PAPER: In terms of setlists, how do you determine what you will play night to night?
 BK: We travel with a list of what we’ve played at every show we’ve ever done. For one, we don’t put in the setlist anything we did the last time we played [at that town]. Then, we don’t play anything we played the night before. We’re really strict about it, too. Most bands will play the same set with one or two exceptions, but for us it would just drive us up the wall if we did that! I don’t know if it’s because we were raised with remote controls and short attention spans, but, honestly, if we didn’t mix it up to that degree, I’m not sure we’d still be together.
CITY PAPER: Yonder has four singers and songwriters. How does a normal studio session run?
BK: Most times we’re writing individually. Some people write on the bus, but more often than not, it’s ideas that are developed at home.
CITY PAPER: Would you say you draw from real-life when you write songs?
BK: I guess so, you know, sometimes the stuff we’re reading, or you could be listening to a piece of music and have an idea. On the other hand, we do get together with the specific purpose of writing as a group. When we were making our last studio record, we really got in to that. Everybody sitting around, improvising ideas, starting with a tempo, starting with a key, or some sort of theme, and trying to produce a song based on that. I think it yields, interesting results, and often times great results.
CITY PAPER: Is any one in the band is a perfectionist when it comes to song writing? Does a song go through multiple revisions before you consider it complete?
BK: Certainly, everything can benefit from another revision, and another revision. That’s how good stuff gets to be great. I don’t think any one of us is a perfectionist. We’re learning from people who could be called perfectionist, and seeing how their work methods yield really good results. Sometimes, it’s very easy to know when a song is done. Other times, you can second guess it forever. Songs are sort of like babies, there’s an incubation period, but once you play that song for people it’s not yours anymore, it is it’s own thing. You can make a new song baby, but you can’t have that one back!
CITY PAPER: Where do you get all the energy for the live shows?
BK: I would love to be able to say nine hours of solid sleep and a healthy diet, but really 50 percent of it comes from inside of us, because we love music and music itself is energizing. Fifty percent of it comes from the audience. If an audience shows up and they’re tired or they’re not into it, or any number of reasons, then we probably won’t perform that great. There has to be a, sort of, meeting of the minds. It can be difficult to maintain, but at the end of the day playing music every night, that’s the fun part. We hope that people are still psyched to see us, and that they will bring their own energy. We don’t have too many bad shows anymore.
CITY PAPER: What’s your favorite song to play live?
BK: Let’s see … I like this song of Dave’s off our last studio record called Wind’s On Fire.
CITY PAPER: As a bass player, who are some bassist that you enjoy listening to?
BK: My father was a musician, and he really influenced my a lot. As for better known bassists, I’d say Billy Sheehan. He has great technique and is just a fiery player. Reed Mathis is great. He’s just one of the most original bassists I’ve heard. Victor Wooten is just amazing. Some others include Stanley Clarke and Edgar Meyer. One of the most under rated bassist, I would say, is Mike Gordon.
CITY PAPER: Yonder has collaborated with many different musicians. This summer you will be sharing the stage with Keller Williams. How did you come to know him? 
BK: Well, we would often find ourselves playing the same festivals as him, and that’s kind of how it started. He’s just so creative and unique. One of the most genuine, heartfelt people that I’ve met. That alone make us want to keep in touch with him. His style of music really gives us the opportunity to experiment when we’re on stage together.
(Live photographs by John “Upstate” Zara)
 We were sad to hear to news his morning on the passing of veteran comedian and actor George Carlin. I first caught wind of it on 1250 AM WTMA’s Morning Buzz with Richard Todd. The host played plenty of audio clips and spoke at length about Carlin’s style, impact, and cultural significance. It made we want to pull by box set, George Carlin: The Little David Years 1971-1977 out of the pile (see pics at left).
Carlin had a history of heart trouble, He had a major scare several years ago, but bounced back, Sadly, he died of heart failure on Sunday, June 22 at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. His last performance was last weekend in Las Vegas. He was 71.
 Regarded by many as one of the last great stand-up comedians of his generation, the irascible comedian seemed as determined to call out the crap in both in the mainstream and the contemporary “counter-culture” as he is to make his audiences laugh. For over 40 years, his observational humor was equal parts sociopolitical commentary, cleverly-worded gripes about “American bullshit,” and twisted renditions and reworkings of traditional comical bits. Thank goodness.
City Paper covered Carlin in October 2006 when he visited Charleston for a concert at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center, on the heels of his 13th HBO Comedy special, George Carlin: Life is Worth Losing, and the release of the album version (his 25th live album to date). He seemed rejuvenated as animated as ever.
Born in 1937 in an Irish-American family in the New York City neighborhood of Morningside Heights (or, as he tended to remember it, “East Harlem”), Carlin got his start in comedy at a young age. Fascinated by the quirks of the American-English language, odd phrases, and figures of speech, he began working on comical material while in Catholic High School. After a four-year stint in the U.S. Air Force, he got into disc jockey work at a variety of fledgling radio stations.
 In the late ‘50s, he worked in Louisiana alongside radio colleague Jack Burns on a Shreveport morning show. They began performing in local clubs as the necktied comedy team “Burns & Carlin,” doing impressions and material inspired by Lenny Bruce and other cutting-edge comics. The duo eventually broke up and Carlin struck out on his own as a necktie-wearing stand-up comedian doing pretty clean-cut stuff.
By the late ’60s , however, Carlin became hip to the counter-culture rumblings happening in the big cities and reinvented himself with a new, denim-clad, bearded “hippie” image and saltier, more confrontational repertoire of jokes, musings, and observations. He became a regular on such variety show and late-night programs as The Jackie Gleason Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Flip Wilson Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Carol Burnett Show. He also started recording his concerts and released a string of popular live albums. His 1967 debut, Take-Offs and Put-Ons, landed him a deal with the Little David label, for whom he recorded six albums.
Through the late ’70s and ’80s, Carlin continued to work on television, on stage, and in films, despite an increasingly serious bout with drugs and booze. He’d show up as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, or as a host on Saturday Night Live or Fridays, but his popularity waned a bit. Fortunately, he cleaned up his act, went sober, and bounced back in 1985 with the release of Carlin on Campus, followed by Playin’ with Your Head in ’86.
 By the ’90s, Carlin began writing a published collections of essays, routines, and stories — including Braindroppings, Napalm & Silly Putty, and When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? His unique observations on the ridiculousness of modern life turned almost angry and exasperated on the microphone — as demonstrated on one of his most livid (and hilarious) albums, 1999’s You Are All Diseased.
I’ll miss his wild facial expressions, his sharp delivery, his critical spirit, and his cutthroat “non-bullshit” approach to observing life with humor.
Calling it one of the biggest concerts to ever be held in the venue, management at the North Charleston Coliseum announced Friday that veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen — “The Boss” himself — and the E Street Band are solid for Sat. Aug. 16.
 Springsteen, 58, has been writing music and making albums since the early ’70s. Released last fall, Magic (Columbia) is Springsteen’s latest studio recording and his first with the E Street Band in five years. Produced and mixed by Brendan O’Brien, the album features 11 new Springsteen songs and was recorded at Southern Tracks Recording Studio in Atlanta.
Tickets for reserved seats and general admission go on sale Fri. June 27, and are available for $30, $66, and $96 at the Coliseum ticket office, all Ticketmaster outlets (including select Publix grocery stores), by phone at (843) 554-6060, or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Two big shows for the Charleston Music Hall were announced this week.
 Canadian-born veteran rocker Bryan Adams — the blonde heartthrob with the raspy voice best known for such hits as “Cuts Like a Knife,” “Run to You,” “Heaven,” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” — steers his special acoustic solo tour to the Charleston Music Hall at 8 p.m. on Mon. July 21.
The lengthy North American tour aims to promote songs from his recent album, 11. “The album started out as an acoustic record, and halfway through I sort of switched gears and decided to make sort of an acoustic rock record,” Adams says in a recent press release. The appropriately titled disc is his 11th album of all-original music and features 11 songs. Tickets are sale now at www.etix.com and all Cats Music Locations this week for $40 (plus applicable fees).
 The legendary soul singer Reverend Al Green makes his way back to Charleston in July for a special fund-raiser concert at the Charleston Music Hall. The vocalist, songwriter, and practicing minister last performed in town when he headlined the 2006 ChazzFest on Daniel Island (it was one of the hottest concert events of the year).
With a mix of soul, funk, and high gospel, the 62- year-old Green is a living legend — a Southern gem who pioneered a hybrid of spiritualized soul music. His latest album Lay it Down (Blue Note) — a sharp follow-up to 2006’s 12-song album titled Everything’s OK (Blue Note) — was co-produced by ?uestlove (of The Roots) and features a slew of younger R&B artists, including John Legend, Anthony Hamilton, and Corinne Bailey Rae.
Presented by Baker Motor Company, Green and his band are set to perform at 8 p.m. on Sat. July 26 at the Music Hall. Tickets are a bit pricey, and they went on sale at www.etix.com and all Cats Music locations this week for $125 and $250. Proceeds from the concert will benefit MUSC’s Children’s Hospital Fund.
(from City Paper contributor Caitlin Baker):
Pearl Jam rocks The Colonial Center
 “Well, it’s been over a decade since we’ve played in this state. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” Vocalist Eddie Vedder has it right. The last time Pearl Jam played in our state’s capital was 1996. The show on Monday at the Colonial Center in downtown Columbia on Monday was the bands’ only stop in the Carolinas. Needless to say, three hours of rocking out was very much appreciated. Tennessee indie-rock band The Kings of Leon opened. Vedder joined the quintet for their final song just before the main act took the stage. Pearl Jam played more than 20 songs, including everything fans love from the ’90s. The band even played a few request songs at the conclusion of the show. It was definitely a non-stop evening as the band only took a few short breaks. That is, until Vedder hit his soap box.
As always, when he has a moment to shed the light of his opinion on things, Vedder mentioned the war in Iraq and the rising gas prices. He encouraged the people to speak up about what is going wrong in this country today. And after receiving a few hoorays and a handful of boos, he ended his speech with a witty quote: “I won’t apologize for what I’ve said, but I will thank you for listening.” Then he continued to rock out until the event staff was ready to call it quits and brought up the house lights, only for the crowd to continue singing along. You couldn’t have asked for better energy from Pearl Jam or the crowd. I can guarantee that after the display of southern hospitality in Columbia Monday night, Pearl Jam will not wait another decade to return.
 One of our homeboys has a busy weekend ahead of him, In addition to his weekly writing duties, longtime City Paper staff writer Stratton Lawrence (pictured at left with his band) will present a 13-band local music showcase called “Summer Shakedown at the Local Dive” at the Pour House on Sat. June 21. Last December, Lawrence and RadioFreeCharleston presented the first “Shakedown” at the Pour House with performances from Justin Burke, Haley Shaw & Friends, Geoff Cormier, Kelly Cheats, Po’Ridge, Daniel Davis, Elise Testone, Dangermuffin, and others. The gig drew over 250 people. As with the previous event, Lawrence encouraged all the bands to highlight their original material and to invite local guest musicians to come up and play.
“You can go out and see something incredible at least six nights a week if you go to the far reaches of the Charleston area,” says Lawrence. “Our music scene is thriving. All the time, I hear people say the music scene is weak … it’s suffering … we need some good music here. If you don’t think the music scene is good in Charleston right now, you’re simply not paying attention.”
 This Saturday’s event features sets on the outside deck stage and the main stage inside from Magic Bronson, Elise Testone (pictured) & The Art of Soul, The Louie D. Project, Dangermuffin, Quasiphonics, Three Piece & A Biscuit, Reid Stone, Justin Burke & Small World, Kentucky Shoes, Green Levels, Jamisun, Sean Waterman — and Stratton himself.
Sponsors include Fiery Ron’s Home Team BBQ, Barberitos, Ad-Naps (who are providing compostable plates, cutlery, and cups), and the City Paper.
“Everything here is high quality,” he says of this Saturday’s roster. “We’ve got reggae, funk, acoustic songwriters, country, and Americana. Of these 13 bands, only five have already played at the Pour House, so it’ll be a great experience for them as well. The cover charge is only $12 — that’s less than a dollar an act. The food will be cheap and served in a buffet style [from 6-8 p.m.], thanks to Cuban restaurant El Bohio. The deck is ready to go. A lot of these bands already play around town for five-dollar or seven-dollar covers or more, so there’s definitely some bang for the buck.”
Check out more at Stratton’s own weblog, The Truffula Seed.
(photos by Robert T. Ried)
I want my dollar back.
Hungry and in a slight hurry, I dropped by the East Bay Deli (334 E. Bay Street, 843-723-1234) today shortly after 1 p.m. for a late-lunch-rush take-out order of their New York Yankee — a triple decker pastrami and corned beef with swiss on rye. The place was pretty full, but there was no one in line ahead of me. The cashier took my 20, asked me for my name, and handed back the change — no problems, very polite. “We’ll call your name out when it’s ready.” Cool. I dropped a dollar into the plastic tip jar by the register and stepped to the side by the “Pick Up” counter.
 I skimmed through a copy of last week’s Preview. Twice. Ten minutes go by. I browsed a copy of Charleston Review with the Duda Lucena on the cover. Twenty minutes. Nothing. I kept glancing at the cashiers and servers — and at the black Styrofoam boxes piling up at the counter. Nothing. No name called, no acknowledgement. Joe Giant**, an acquaintance from the band scene walks in the back door and greets me — he’s about to clock in for his shift at the Deli.
“Hey Joe, how about checking on my lunch order,” I say.
Joe: “How long have you been waiting?”
“Over 25 minutes or so — they said they’d call my name.”
Joe walks to the far end of the counter by the salad bar and drink area — there it is, just sitting there.
Joe: “I don’t know how long this has been sitting over there …”
(my original cashier looks over): “Oh, they probably called your name a while ago.”
“Well, I’ve been standing right here waiting — and I never heard any name called.”
Cashier: “Yeah, you just didn’t hear it because of the chaos.” (turns away).
Joe: “Sorry, man.”
I shoulda gotten the Salad Bar.
I want my dollar back.
**(Giant dropped by with a generous offer of a free lunch this afternoon — East Bay Deli has been redeemed … I’ll try another “Yankee” soon, thanks!).
(from City Paper contributor Susan Cohen):
Rilo Kiley: Jenny, You’re Much More Than Barely Alive
 I went through a Saddle Creek phase in high school and I still have a collection of t-shirts to prove it. When I was 15/16, the music and emotions of Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos, and Cursive satisfied my post-pubescent angst. Rilo Kiley was prominently featured on the mix CDs I made in those days — one of the only “girl singer” bands I listened to at that time. But I grew out of it. I wear those t-shirts to bed now instead of out in public. And five years changes things. Rilo Kiley isn’t on Saddle Creek anymore. My hair got shorter, Jenny Lewis’ got longer, and we both developed a more mature sense of fashion.
 Honestly, I don’t think I would have gone to their Thursday night show at the Music Farm if (despite a regrettable snafu that almost kept me outside the whole night) I hadn’t gotten in on the press pass list. Sure, The Execution of All Things is an oft-played part of my vinyl collection, but now that they can charge $25 for tickets, they’ve gotten just too big for my britches. And when a band has a status of raging popularity like Rilo Kiley’s, one whose promo pictures display them constantly as pensive at best, it wouldn’t be unexpected for them to be total assholes. Douchebags, even. The kind of band that runs through its set with no more than a “hello” and a “thank you” to the crowd. The kind of band that doesn’t smile. The kind of band, I learned last night when Lewis greeted the crowd with a rowdy “Hey y’all” and Blake Sennett joked about humidity and Disneyland, that Rilo Kiley isn’t.
 Thank goodness. Otherwise, leaving the Music Farm that night, covered in sweat (some belonging to me and some certainly belonging to all the kids around me) would not have felt so worth it.
Lewis is undoubtedly a performer; Shelley Long taught her well. Parading around the stage while singing “Does He Love You?,” her heart breaking behind the sweet smirk on her lips, it was almost like watching some sort of Broadway triple threat (if it weren’t for the obtrusive microphone in her hand). Later, she put that mic down in the ultimate unpretentious act to sing along with the crowd to her “With Arms Outstretched.” Editorial assistant/Rilo Kiley interviewer Erica Jackson and I agree: We have girl crushes on her.
 And her fellas — Sennett, Pierre De Reeder, and Jason Boesel — were right there with her, having a blast in their button-ups. The show finished when Jenny walked off the stage at the end of the encore, leaving her bandmates, facing each other in a lit pyramid, to pivotally jam out the rest of their closing song and prove that Rilo Kiley isn’t just another version of “Jenny Lewis and …” I think it was the best part of the night. I think I should add that their lighting cues were spectacular. Thank goodness for major labels? —Susan Cohen
(photographs by Erica Jackson)
 Bin - [Orig: Gullah, for “been”], to occupy a position, exist, live
Yah - [Orig: Gullah for “here”], in this spot, locality
Local film organization ChasDOC’s first feature-length documentary — Bin Yah: There’s No Place Like Home — makes its television premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on ETV as part of SCETV’s “Southern Lens” series. The recently-released , hour-long documentary film by director Justin Nathanson (of The Cut Company) tells the story of the Gullah-Geechee communities and historic African-American neighborhoods of East Cooper.
 Nathanson arrived in Charleston from New York in 2006 to work as the lead editor on the ill-fated TV show Palmetto Pointe. He stayed in town and became involved in numerous video, TV, and film productions and organizations — including the newly-established Charleston Documentary Film Festival.
 Piccolo Spoleto featured Bin Yah in two screenings earlier this month at the Mother Emanuel AME Church at 110 Calhoun Street. A low budget but professionally assembled project, the film was produced by Nancy Cregg (of the Coastal Conservation League) and Cara White (who also co-wrote), and narrated by Ron Daise. It spends time with community leaders from the Scanlonville/Remley’s Point area (just off of Mathis Ferry Road) and basket weavers and longtime residents from the Four Mile, Six Mile, Hamlin/Seven Mile (Reverend Victoria Washington, Hamlin/Seven Mile Community is pictured at right), Phillips, and Snowden communities located along Highway 17 and Rifle Range Road. Many of these communities were established in the late 1800s by freed slaves and have been home to generations of their families. As the filmmakers put it, the film documents the escalating “struggle between the real ‘bin yahs’ and ‘come yahs.’”
Much of Bin Yah touches on Scanlonville — one of the first African-American communities to be formed in Charleston after the Civil War. Scanlonville resident Ed Lee consulted the filmmakers as they gathered historical information on the houses, hotels, speakeasies, nightclubs, beach pavilions, boardwalks, and shopping districts of these communities through the last few decades. The film covers significant developments pertaining to the Scanlonville historic cemetery as well — a very old graveyard that was the subject of a recent heated legal battle between the community and developers.
Hot licks, great tone, heavy riffs, and those raspy and soulful vocals … guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard of ZZ Top made it look easy last night (Sunday, June 8th) in front of loud packed-house at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. Approaching their 40th year as a trio, they looked pleased and at ease.
 With their matching white guitars, Gibbons (in black biker gear and shades) and Hill (in a black sweat jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots … and shades) strolled out onto a refreshingly bare stage set up consisting only of Beard’s sizeable double-kick drum kit, a red fabric backdrop, and three white-painted amp stacks on either side of the drum riser. The pounding opener “Gimme All Your Lovin’” — one of several droning hits in the set from the 1983 album Eliminator — brought the entire audience to their feet. Gibbons voice sounded surprisingly strong through “Under Pressure” (my favorite rocker from Eliminator), but his guitar tone was the best thing blasting from the speakers — thick, fuzzy, sustained, edgy, and mean — on his solos and rhythm work.
 Up next was the famous double-shot from Tres Hombres of “Waitin’ For The Bus” (“Have mercy, y’all!”) right into the slinky “Jesus Just Left Chicago” (“That muddy Mississippi water turned in to so fine red wine,” Gibbons elaborated during one verse). Beard loosened up a bit on the kit during this jam, adding just a few extra-tasty rolls and fills without losing the groove … his billiard ball-topped cymbal stands were a nice touch, too.
On an extended rendition of “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” Gibbons traded slide licks, chicken-pickin’ solos, and pinched harmonics with Hill before “going south of the border” with a fiery version of “Heard It On the X,” one of several old fan favorites featuring that classic call-and-response double lead vocal between them both (most of the crowd clapped in time during the big break — just like the studio track!).
“We’re the same three guys and the same three chord,” laughed Gibbons, during one of his asides on the mic between tunes. He and Hill looked almost too hip in the shades and hats — especially when they gestured, pointed, and chuckled at each other and at the audience. There was a genuine connection between the bandmates — and between the band and the fans in the seats. No frills, no distractions, and no tricks.
 Other highlights included “Just Got Paid” from Rio Grande Mud, a few newly-penned heavy-beat blues tunes in 6/8 time, an amusingly dirty introduction to “Planet of Women” (from Afterburner), and the closing two-fer of “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs,” replete with plenty of great fuzzed-out guitar work from Gibbons. The encore featured the unremarkable “Tube Steak Boogie” and a totally rockin’ boogie blow-out of “La Grange” right into “Tush.” Beard nailed the big fills and drove it with the classic shuffle beats across the snare. Hill belted out the verses in “Tush.” Billy G delivered hot guitar sounds with an ease of spirit. It was awesome.
(Photographs by Jon Santiago)
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City Paper graphic designer and contributing writer John Zara steps away from his computer and out of his office this afternoon, leaving this paper and this city for the bright lights of his native Piedmont digs near Rock Hill, S.C. His parting shot is a healthy Q&A with Yonder Mountain String Band bassist Ben Kaufmann, who performed with his band at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach last weekend. Kaufmann tells the tale via Zara:
BK: We travel with a list of what we’ve played at every show we’ve ever done. For one, we don’t put in the setlist anything we did the last time we played [at that town]. Then, we don’t play anything we played the night before. We’re really strict about it, too. Most bands will play the same set with one or two exceptions, but for us it would just drive us up the wall if we did that! I don’t know if it’s because we were raised with remote controls and short attention spans, but, honestly, if we didn’t mix it up to that degree, I’m not sure we’d still be together.
