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South Regional Report
Edited by Mike Jones - lovetoy2@geocities.com

Hello, everyone. Summertime is finally starting to creep up on us all and that just means good traveling weather to get out and see some shows, wherever they are. Down here in the south, May means it's festival time. There are major festivals coming up in Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans, as well as some other festivals in Little Rock, Nashville, Jackson and Montgomery. If you can make it to any of these, please do. I'll be hitting the Memphis and Jackson festivals for sure. I've had a page for bands based in the southern regions of our great United States. If you want your band or your favorite band listed there just send me some mail and I'll get you hooked up. The page can be found at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/9460/index.html. Anyway, here come the reviews...

Mike

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The Guy Smiley Blues Exchange

by Graham Spice

The Guy Smiley Blues Exchange, formed in 1993, has been compared to groove/jazz artists like Groove Collective, Phish, and Medeski Martin & Wood. The main focus of the band is the horn section: Patrick Dolan on alto sax and flute, Chris West on tenor sax and flute, and Bill Schultz on bari sax. Pete Meriwether plays drums, Frank Reynolds plays bass, and Graham Spice rounds out the rhythm section playing keyboard and guitar. Andrew Swift adds percussion and vibraphone to the mix. Their sound is a collection of many musical styles. In one live performance they play everything from straight-ahead jazz to rock to Latin to funk. They stretch the word music.

The band's drummer, Pete Meriwether, has played with Michael Ray and Dave Grippo (members of Phish's Giant Country Horns) and sat in for John Fishman in his band The Music Of J. Willis Pratt. Sax players Bill Schultz, Chris West and Patrick Dolan have played with members of The Flecktones such as Bela Fleck, Jeff Coffin, Roy Wooten, and Victor Wooten. Speaking of the Wooten bothers, Graham Spice recorded with Victor, Reggie Wooten, and J. D. Blair on a project for Treason Records. Most recently, Andrew Swift appears on Leave Me Alone from Natalie Imbruglia's RCA release Left Of Middle. They have combined their experiences, their influences, and their energy to create The Guy Smiley Blues Exchange.

We are based in Nashville, TN and play in most surrounding states including NC, GA, VA, WVa, KY, AL, and IN. I'd be more than happy to send you a copy of our CD and a press kit to have something to start with. The CD was nominated for Best R&B Album of 1998 at the Nashville Music Awards (Nammies) and was reviewed this week by Tim at PauseRecord.com (check it out at http://www.pauserecord.com/tim/GSBE.html). Send me your address or the address of the local reviewer and I'll get the press materials out to them.

Here's a list of the gigs that we have in the next two months in your areas:

MARCH DATES
18th - The 'Boro - Murfreesboro, TN
19th - Vanderbilt - Nashville, TN
20th - Baker Street - Bowling Green, KY
21st - Indienet Records - Nashville, TN
26th - Windows on the Cumberland - Nashville, TN
27th - The Mad Frog - Cincinnati, OH
29th - Sebastian's - Murfreesboro, TN

APRIL DATES
2- The Office - Evansville, IN
3- Coffee Tea & Me - Murfreesboro, TN
8- The 'Boro - Murfreesboro, TN
9- Jacklegs - Nashville, TN
16- Sebastian's - Murfreesboro, TN
17- Hemp Fest - Bloomington, IN
22- Blast!/SatCo Spring Feast - Nashville, TN
23- Belmont University - Nashville, TN
30- Windows on the Cumberland - Nashville, TN

The Guy Smiley Blues Exchange - http://www.GSBE.com

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Ekoostik Hookah
Thursday, April 1, 1999 - Lynaugh's Lexington, KY

by Alia Dietsch

Over the past year and a half, I have become a die-hard fan of a Columbus, OH based band known as Ekoostik Hookah. Why this incredibly fivesome has taken over my soul and forced me to spend numerous hours on the road following them as much as I can, I don't know. But I can't tell you how freakin' awesome this band is. It's not something I can put into words, really, it's just in the way I dance, and in the way the smile shines from my soul when I'm spinning...

Trust me, you have GOT to go see this band!

My most recent excursion to see Hookah was in a small bar in Lexington, KY. Around 10:45ish they went on stage, and I melted into the world of fandom, as the boys did a little tuning and broke out with "Brighter Days." Probably one of the best ways to get any show groovin'. Steve Sweney (lead guitarist, and THE best around!) decides to go ahead and break a string on his first solo of the night, but it was fixed soon enough. I think it was the smiles on all of our faces (though it coulda been the awesome jam...), but when "Comin' Back to Me" came on, there was more and more on the dance floor. Then Steve whipped out the Les Paul, and "Surround" ensued. WOW! This song just keeps going higher and higher, and everytime it brings me right along with it. The "Faces in the Crowd" was probably a tribute to the growing group of groovers in front of the stage. Next was "Rollercoaster" which started me goin' around and around and around (there she goes). Next was a rather laid-back version of "Blow 'Em Away," but still always one of my favs. The energy freakin' soared when the opening notes of "Daffodils in Detroit" broke out. By now, everyone in the place was dancing, and I was trying not to lose my balance (I'm a spinner by nature). Dave Katz (keyboardist, and acoustic guitarist) calmly walks to the center of the stage, announces the trip to Jamaica that the band is taking in June (sponsored by High Times), and Spring Hookahville, which is to be held Memorial Day Weekend (May 28-30) at Buckeye Lake in Columbus, OH. The line up consists of Ratdog, Jazz Mandolin Project, Calobo and Jamie Notaramous, and of course EKOOSTIK HOOKAH. Then Dave breaks out with "Hookahville" which had the crowd jammin' away. Dave decides to treat us to some more acoustic, and ends the set with "Loner." One of the better jams I've seen/heard on this song, and you couldn't have beat the smile out of me.

Heavy sigh, it's set break. After so much energy, it's hard to stop dancing... We sat down and chatted with various people. Unfortunately the lights in the place were pointed directly in my eyes, so I couldn't see anything at all, the whole time we sat there. Before I knew it, Hookah was back on stage, and I was back in the crowd.

"Thru Hiker" started us off for the second time again. I have to admit, the jam near the end of this one was INTENSE. Then we were treated to a beautiful "Drift Away" and my soul was definitely free. Now, I'm kinda partial to this song, but when I heard the first note of "Slipjig", I about had a heart attack. Still can't figure out how it does it to me, but this song just takes me up, does weird things to my insides, and plasters an instant perm-a-grin on my face. WOW! Never sure how they can follow up such an awesome song, I was extremely pleased to hear "Float." Incredible version, with a very fun Cliff Starbuck (the bassist) tune in the middle that the crowd seem to know, but I didn't. My feet were beginning to hurt, this was soooooooooooooooo good. Extremely interested in how they could follow both of theses tunes up, a near fatal (to my dancin' soul) "Somewhere Down the Line" had me groovin' my heart out. This version was pretty long, but I didn't want it to stop. Well, it did, unfortunately, and Dave tells the crowd to have a good night, and they walk off, with the lights coming on. Freakin' out thinking I wasn't going to get an encore, I was a little upset. Some guy next to me offered to start a chant, but it didn't matter, the boys were back. We were treated to a very groovy "Wild Thang." The crowd was lovin' it!

Overall, a beautiful night of musical madness. If you haven't seen Ekoostik Hookah, than I'm not quite sure how you have survived all these years. Seriously, if you feel even half as good as I do after seeing them, you are set for life!

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