ZachsView

Omigod!! I've been lookin' for these guys for years! ...Okay theyr'e not guys. I've been wondering whatever happened to this band: two women and their friends who have participated on their journey. I just got an email from their domain. Apparently they caught wind of me babbling in my ZachsView blog back in late October of last year. They might have been in mp3.com for awhile. I don't spend as much time in there as I used to spend. I miss it, but simply haven't had the time to explore that place like I once did.

I've been searching for years for this band. I have one cassette that they made. Actually the cassette was a "promotion only" copy that a friend of a friend passed on to me. I never actually saw them in stores. This was back when I was in high school, or maybe my first year of college. Great band! Their music was a little rough around the edges here and there, and some would argue they didn't have range, but that was over a decade ago. Surely if they were still plugging, by now they would have blossomed and enriched their work and become even better than I could already tell they were.

But I heard nothing more. I found little to no evidence beyond that promotion copy of their album, and a little later I found a compilation album in which they collaborated with a man named Don Dixon, to make a song called "Why". After that, from my perspective they just faded into obscurity. Until now.

They've actually been at it since 1979. Back then they called themselves The Undeclared. Wednesday Week has gone through many changes over the years, but throughout their constant struggle and reinventions, one thing seems pretty consistent: Kristi Callan does guitar and lead vocals with her sister Kelly Callan on drums, and/or bass. Others have come and gone to help fill out their sound, but the core of this band is undoubtedly the love between two sisters. Soon after I "discovered" them for myself, they went on hiatus for eight years, which explains why I hadn't been able to find them for so long, but they've been back since 1998. Honestly I've been doing searches for them on the Web about once or twice a year, whenever I'd come across their old album in my music collection. I've converted that old cassette to CD by the way. I enjoy their music.

I went back and read what I wrote back last October. I feel bad now. Apparently they found me from what I wrote, and my words, though not venomous, in hindsight did not properly convey the enjoyment I get from that album. I was trying to be honest, and I still am. They did have room to grow in their sound. Their music back then was dark and serious guitar rock. The songs were not of the highest caliber, but what I heard in them was potential for greatness. Many undiscovered bands would kill or die to sound that good, but perhaps similar to a parent whose child is in the honor roll, I just have had this vague nagging feeling in my gut that this group could be so much more than merely the sum of their parts. There's a hunger here; a desire. The lyrics were dark and sometimes disturbing. One of their more memorable pieces for me is called "Suicide." Their songwriting conveys pain and distrust, lost love and loss of innocence, yet a constant search for the light at the end of the tunnel.

I think more than anything their music would well up inside my heart this strangely alluring feeling of restless frustration. It reminds me vaguely of dating a woman who's an incessant tease. You'd wanna break up with her but at the same time you can't because she just has her hooks into you and won't let go, and as frustrating as it is you also guiltily find yourself liking it. Any band or artist who can instill such complex emotions in their listenership is worthy of attention.

Anyway, they wrote me a simple request asking me what I think. Well I'm relieved first and foremost. I'm pleased to know they're still out there and still kicking --that they never gave up. I just downloaded their song "The Thing" from mp3.com. What attracted me to them in the first place is still there; this complex searching emotion of frustration and hope, but it's so much more now. Their effort is far more crisp and professional. Without being deliberate, their music is clean and more concise. They have grown as artists and as individuals. Time will do that to you. It's a "back from the brink" sound. A "been there done that lived to tell about it and there's no hard feelings" feeling. It's like having met them long ago as caterpillars, and then to see them again as butterflies. There has been a metamorphosis, but deep down they're still the same. It's exciting! And it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do now. Good thing I'm getting my next paycheck in a few days.

After all these years of searching for them, I'm glad they finally found me. =)
6/8/2001 12:28:59 AM | link to this post

Jevette shows for April:

The Jevette Band plays on Wednesdays nights at Lota's Goat - 7248 Gaston Ave. Dallas Texas 7-10 p.m. for happy hour 214.327.8119 for more info.

A Jevette Solo performance is scheduled for Tuesday April 17th 5:30pm @ The Womens Museum, in Fair Park, in Dallas

The Jevette Band plays Friday, April 20,2001 at 1pm, the Fort Worth Arts Festival, The American Airlines Stage in front of the Convention Center on Main Street.

Jevette plays Solo on Thursday April 26th, 2001 7-10pm at Obzeet's (On the Pattio), 19020 Preston, Plano Texas, off the George Bush Tollway (behind the pottery shop). 972.867.6126 for more info.

Then she's back with her band for Friday,April 27,2001, 9-12 pm @ Fat Ted's in Deep Ellum - 2713 Commerce. 214-747-8337.
4/10/2001 05:34:45 PM | link to this post

Gonna start trying to pass on this kinda information as I get it. Gropius shows for April...

Sat. April 7th @ Deep Ellum Arts Festival - Short set on the Miller Stage 8:30pm.
Sat. April 7th @ the Liquid Lounge with Mercova and 99 Names of God. Gropius goes on at midnight.
Fri. April 20th @ Dan's Bar in Denton. Doors at 9.
Sat. April 21st - the "Free" Fair at the corner of Oak and Fry St. This will be at the other Fry Street Fair aka "The Free Fry."

For those of you who don't know about the politics of it, there's a "Fry Street Fair" that is sanctioned by the city or alleges itself to be official or whatever and others have in previous years been upset with how it's run and how expensive it is, so competitive alternatives have cropped up, and Gropius is one of the twenty bands playing at the other Fry Street Fair. I've heard about both of them. If I attend either, it's gonna be the Free Fry. The price is right and it just sounds like it'll be more fun. For those of you who don't care about the politics of it, I'm right there with you.
4/4/2001 11:05:50 PM | link to this post

Jim Scott of The Touch got me a copy of this demo for their new CD A Moment's Light which will be coming out later this year. This puppy's gonna take off like Apollo 11. More to come on this.

---

I don't normally pass this kinda stuff on. However this is one of those "practice random kindness" kinda things. Mp3.com artist Little Bastard... well let me let him tell it:

...One of my best friends, my bass player and the person I could always count on for support, died suddenly at the age of 38, 2 weeks ago of a brain aneurysm. He left behind no children but just a young wife, 10 months into their wedded bliss. For the next month, I am planning to put all my earnings towards a fund many of us have started to help Emily (his widow) out of the financial trouble she has been left with after Mike’s death. A quick listen and consideration of my tribute to Mike, “SONG FOR MIKE” for your station (even a listen would help) would be a great help in raising funds for a great tragedy. (Or again any of my other songs) Thanks for even reading this...

It's a good song, so you'll be entertaining yourself and helping a family in need at the same time. Just click...
3/22/2001 01:18:01 AM | link to this post

Loses Something in the Translation

This one's a bit of a backstory with very little pay-off at the end, but I think it's funny. I often get emails for my station pages that basically say "Hi! Loved your station! I gotta band! Can you include me in your station? Thanks!" And I do keep these emails, planning to someday listen to all of them. Actually handled a few a couple weeks ago, but there's still around 600 others. I'll never get to them all. Got an email this evening, but it was in spanish:

Hola, como están por ahí? Les escribo porque escuche su interesante emisora y llamó mi atención. Mi grupo Russ tiene una canción (Demo) que me parece que entraría perfectamente en ella. Si puede por favor óigala en http://www.mp3.com/russrd. Gracias por su tiempo.

As is my habit, I hopped over to AltaVista's BabelFish to find out what it said. I'm well aware that the BabelFish isn't 100% accurate and never expect that. I mean it just gives me an idea what the guy wanted to tell me. However, this time I saw something that I really wasn't expecting. Here's the rough translation.

Hello, as they are that way? I write to them because it listens to its interesting transmitter and it called my attention. My group Russ has a song (Demo) that seems to me that it would enter her perfectly. If óigala in http://www.mp3.com/russrd can please. Thanks for his time.

I'm not making fun of Russ or BabelFish or mp3.com or even my own email account. Just the combination of factors that personally left me in stitches.
3/22/2001 10:33:01 PM | link to this post

Zach Garland is a 33 year old red blooded american male living in Dallas Texas USA who is terrible at describing himself (myself) so this time we'll just delete the old and replace with absolutely nothing whatsoever. You'll just have to guess what I am. Animal, vegetable or mineral?

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