California band Tied to the Stone rooted in spiritual faith

Written by Carson James

Tied to the Stone belongs to the Neil Young school of Americana, built on a foundation of country and folk but given a classic-rock kick. Based in California, Tied to the Stone more closely resembles the roots-oriented acts of the late ’60s and early ’70s (I could imagine them opening up for the Band or Poco) than much of what passes for Americana today. Lead singer Dan Worley discusses the meanings and origins of the group.

Carson James: The name of the band: Tied to the Stone. It can have two meanings, one positive, one negative. The positive being that the stone is a solid foundation, such as spiritual faith that you’re devoted to; the negative being that it’s something that is holding you in place, preventing you from moving forward. Which side of the coin is it on?

Dan Worley: I named the band after the song. I wrote “Tied To The Stone” on one of the worst days of my life. I wanted to give up on everything. I didn’t know what else to do so I sat down at the piano to try and sort it all out; that’s when the song came out. I could feel God giving me that song as a blessing to help remind me what was important and to hang onto Jesus and not let go. He’s the Stone I’m tied to. I decided to name the band Tied To The Stone to keep reminding me. I need a lot of reminders or I take over and screw everything up.

James: Your songs strike me as being quite personal. Were any of them uncomfortable to write?

Worley: Extremely so. For the most part, I enjoy writing songs, but for me it’s always a journey into uncomfortable territory because I end up having to wrestle with feelings and issues and aspects about myself and the world that I’d rather ignore. I’d love to just write about how hot and sexy and wonderful I am (like so many songs I’m hearing on the airwaves), but for some reason that never seems to come out. I wonder why? Even the happier more positive-sounding songs can be uncomfortable to write because it takes me a lot of internal processing to get to that point. I cop out once in a while, for sure. Out of fear, I may not go the entire distance to explore what it is the song is trying to reveal to me, or I just don’t have the talent or patience to get there artistically, so I end up taking short cuts and missing some of the scenery. Many of the songs for the album were specifically uncomfortable to write because they deal with pain I’ve carried with me since my youth, self-inflicted and otherwise.

James: Do you consciously write songs with the goal of longevity or are you not even conscious of that during the process of penning them?

Worley: Longevity, no. Integrity (hopefully), yes. When writing, I never think about if a song’s sounding like a hit or if it’s current or if it will have staying power, or anything like that. I want to write what’s truthful and meaningful to me at the time I write it, and it has to have the right feel and sound and fit. Songs are not commodities to me; they are a form of therapy and a way of communicating with myself and others.
I do want people to listen, and I do want them to get something out of them and like them, and I try to do the best I can so that will happen, but I can’t write specifically for a market or for posterity’s sake.

James: Is Tied to the Stone a real group or is it just you and session musicians? How did everyone get together?

Worley: We’re all friends who have played music together in one way or another throughout the years.

James: When did you start your musical career? Let us hear your story.

Worley: I’ve been writing songs for 40 years, since I was 12. In and out of bands and work for a lot of that time. Gave it up and tried “regular” jobs so I could raise a family. Bored me to tears (the jobs, not my
family). I always kept writing. Went to work for my producer Carolyn Wing Greenlee at her studio. She took a liking to my songs and encouraged me to do something with them, and she supported that effort.

http://www.tiedtothestone.com

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Side F/X plays with ‘Contradictions’ on seductively rocking new album

Written by Kit Burns

Side F/X can never be called predictable. On their new album, Contradictions, the band effortlessly shifts gears, from Motels-styled early ’80s New Wave (“Scattered”) to blues rock (“Her Escape”) to country (“Life’s Mystery”). Through it all lead singer Kim Cameron, who also wrote these songs, seduces us with her soulful tones. Contradictions doesn’t sound like an independent release at all. It’s a polished, professionally executed affair with top-flight guitar work, especially the searing riffs on “Won’t Break Down,” and hypnotically throbbing bass lines, as on the funky “My Hero.”

Kit Burns: Side F/X’s eclectic genre-shifting is not something I usually hear from rock groups coming out of Washington, D.C. How has the reception been in D.C. thus far?

Kim Cameron: D.C. is a confluence of different nationalities, cultures, and therefore, music. My co-writer and I have taken advantage of those diversifications and styles into our approach. So far, we have been lucky.  Everyone has taken a liking to the variety – especially women.  That was the general approach of the album, to make sure the listener did not get bored.  Our general philosophy was [that] people like a lot of different sounds, genres – so why not produce something with a little magic in each song?

Burns: There are too few women on rock radio these days. What challenges do you feel you face as a woman leading a rock group?

Cameron: The biggest challenge I have come across is appearance.  When you tell people you are a part of a rock band, they expect to hear a raspy/screeching voice on the mic. People are always trying to box women into a hardcore look or sound in the rock world – but to me, you can be feminine and sound feminine without losing the rock spirit. I believe it is important get the industry to take notice of music that has something to say, not necessarily who, or which, gender says it. It is in this spirit that we created Contradictions.

Burns: Is there a hidden meaning behind the album title Contradictions?

Cameron: Absolutely!  Actually, the entire album has many hidden meanings. Contradictions represents a clash between sounds and lyrical content. “Never Forget” is a song about a cancer victim that I know personally and was impacted by, but the vibe in the song is actually quite cheerful. To me, we all face challenges each day, but it’s up to us to see the positive to keep our spirit alive, hence the ‘contradiction.’ If you look at the album cover, you will notice vines wrapping around myself and my lead guitar player.  As you unfold the cover, you will see two birds.  While the birds start off together, as you unfold the cover, the birds fly away, and one of the birds carries away with it a broken heart. Similar to the album artwork, Contradictions also represents my personal growth – growth as a person, growth as a songwriter, growth as a woman, growth as a singer. The true contradiction, is, what you see is not always what you get. Inside all of us are some hidden talents that are often overlooked.

Burns: You co-wrote the lyrics on Contradictions. How do you find the process of a songwriting collaboration? Is it easier, or harder, than penning the words on your own.

Cameron: Having a journalism degree, I am not only accustomed to being edited, but find the process invaluable. Anytime you can place two people, and sometimes three on a project, you will always gain a better experience and song in the process.  Since these songs are all about personal life experiences, I would be lying if I said the editing process was not challenging because it can feel like someone is taking apart your soul, but in the end, if you can explain your story in a way that makes sense to others, that is really the objective.

Burns: How long have Side F/X been around? What is the story behind the group?

Cameron: Side F/X started out as a basement concept with two of my very close friends, who happen to be brothers. One ended up as a co-writer on over half of the songs. We would get together; play music for their extremely large family gatherings for a couple of years until last year, when we decided to make ourselves ‘official.’ Part of the decision was based on the creation of the original works (Contradictions), which began on April 2007. It took us several months, but I think we are right where we should be, a very diverse mix of musicians from two Iranian transplants to a D.C. native who has fought hard to rise above a very poor and drug-infested neighborhood to an information technology professional. What I have found is the more eclectic the backgrounds, the more inspirational the sound. All musicians bring their background to the sound; they cannot help it. 

http://www.sidefxband.net

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Canada’s utterly unique Tig Wired pays tribute to workers in the industrial field

Interview by Kit Burns

Don’t blame Canada for Nickelback.

The country has a long tradition of influential cutting-edge greatness, from Leonard Cohen to Rush. You can include Tig Wired among Canada’s unique properties, an amalgam of alternative rock, country, blues, and jazz that shouldn’t make sense at all. Tig Wired’s new album, Ne Obliviscaris, is a homage to the blue collar working class. Colin and Chris Campbell provide insight on one of the most original projects in the music scene.

Kit Burns: Your album, Ne Obliviscaris, carries the theme of songs for blue-collar workers in industrial areas such as welders and riggers. What was the inspiration behind this?

Chris Campbell: The inspiration came from working in the industrial arena for the last 25 years; there are a ton of people who work this lifestyle and no one ever gave them a mention, so I figured it was about time someone expressed what life on the road can be like. Being blessed with having a musician in the family, it was an easy step to take the idea to my brother and have him get involved. Lets face it: welders weld, fitters fit, riggers rig, and music pros make the music. I tried to get the gist of the workplace and feel of the temperment of the workers across to Colin, and he made it work. The name Ne Obliviscaris comes from the Campbell Clan motto which means never forget or forget not, which is a very appropriate saying in the business of working in the trades on a lot of levels. You spend weeks on end working 12 hours or more, seven days a week until the job is done, away from home and family, it can be a rough haul on peoples relationships and the Tig Wired CD reflects some of the things we all go through because of the job we do. The tunes speak across a number of trades – boilermakers, pipe fitters, millwrights, iron workers, scaffolders, brickies, tin bashers etc…even engineers. All these people are involved in making a project work and be successful. There are a lot of dynamics that go down on the job due to money and time constraints; the environment is very rarely a friendly one to work in. Lots of times the heat, gasses, and dusts create difficult situations. The stress of the job and the unwinding from a job all create a surreal life when the end of your day ends up in a camp housing for everyone. Let’s face it: it is a cauldron for mixing things up. The CD is meant to reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of the trade.

Burns: Stylistically, the album is fairly eclectic. How did you match the sounds with the lyrical content? Did the music come first?

Colin Campbell: I’d say both approaches took place. Initially Chris generated pages of lyrics about his perceptions and experiences in the industry over the past 20 or so years. He had some general ideas about what type of feel or style certain lyrics could fit with – like hurtin’ blues or country rock or whatever. I filtered the lyrics through my head, got a main idea or concept to run with then re-shaped, added, deleted and ultimately wrote more lyrics with the idea of making them fit a musical structure. With other tunes I had a musical idea or hook in my head that I thought could develop into a good groove or set of changes. I purposely moved the ‘musical styles’ all over the place in an attempt to connect with as many of the people in the workplace as possible. If you like country, funk, blues, rock, reggae, jazz, you’ll hopefully find something to suit your musical palate on the CD. This approach might make the CD harder to promote since it doesn’t lend itself to compartmentalization or packaging where you could say for instance that this is a collection of 14 blues tunes or 14 R&B selections. On the other hand a lot of people don’t want a CD with the same genre of music from start to finish.

Burns: Is Tig Wired a band or a project?

Colin: Project. Again, I’d say its both. It was a concept of Chris’ which led to a project, which led to the utilization of some local musicians/friends/fellow band members of mine to air out some of my ideas in live and studio settings, which led right back to the further development of the project. At the moment Tig Wired isn’t performing but if we were presented with the opportunity to play a series of gigs the ‘band’ would get together in a hurry.

Burns: Where does the name come from?

Chris: TIG is a form of welding on the upper end of the technique scale, and I felt Tig Wired would be a name easily recognized by the people we are getting the message out to.

Burns: You’re based in Canada. How has the album been received locally?

Chris: Locally, now there’s a concept. I guess because the idea behind the Tig Wired project is aimed at such a wide variety of people (age, trade, locations where they live, jobs they are working at etc..) that local exposure really would mean exposure to the trades people out there in the shops, refineries, power plants and pulp mills. I’ve packed the CD along with me to shutdowns/turnarounds and am selling them to the people whom I work with. Needless to say, the reception is great as it relates so well to those people who are also on the road working. Sales across Canada are OK and also there have been requests to send the CD abroad to places like Japan, Australia, Europe, and Arabia where there seems to be a decent reception to it. Some of the Union Halls have helped out by selling the CD for us.

The music scene has not really picked up on the project at this point but it has received good exposure from the work force such as Union newsletters throughout North America, from several of the trades. A couple of the tunes do speak of the need to work safe and smart and it’s been good to see the Unions and contracting companies willing to use the safety message offered as a way of reaching workers from ‘outside of the box’ mentality. We have also had construction companies purchase the CD as a recognition or safety award to give out to their employees, something different than a hat or a mug. So locally speaking the reception to the audience it is aimed for is good. We have been getting radio play from the college / university stations as well as CBC and public radio like CKUA in Alberta. It’s good to see the support offered to independent recording from these venues.

http://www.tigwired.com

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Lisa Dudley deserves standing ovation for patriotic songs

 

Reviewed by Kit Burns

Lisa Dudley/”I Believe in America”

I’m reluctant to call Lisa Dudley a patriot although her three-cut EP, “I Believe in America,” especially (obviously) the title cut pretty much defines her as one. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s just that patriotism in America is often viewed as being supportive of their war against Iraq.

On what political side of the fence Dudley belongs to is something I am not aware of. Certainly the initial song on here, “Bring ‘Em Home, Lord,” acts as a Gospel-flavored prayer to return the soldiers back to their anxiously awaiting hometowns. Then again, it could be interpreted as bring ‘em home as in, let them be safe as they continue their missions. The genius of the lyrics is that it can be bent either way, from a liberal or conservative perspective, and neither of which would be an incorrect analysis. Dudley’s hauntingly angelic voice sounds like a phantom from ’40s country radio; you can almost imagine the crackling of vinyl and the static of the AM dial. 

According to Dudley’s bio, she is the daughter of two veterans so she is indeed singing from the heart here. “Twenty-One Guns” is written for those who fight for their country’s freedom. These days, it seems that we take those soldiers for granted. They deserve a warm, hearty standing ovation, and so does this EP for reminding us of that.

http://www.lisadudley.com

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