Chandler's World

Nippertown – LIVE: The Chandler Travis Three-O @ Caffe Lena, 5/11/12

valet — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:18:23 +0000

Review and video by Joel Patterson

The thing that makes Chandler Travis one of the archetypal showmen and performers of our age is not only his outlandish, swaggering humor. That’s the hook, I think… that’s what people mention and remember, the hysterically funny, outrageous wisecracks.

What really ropes you in is the awesomely courageous and gentle way he explores human emotion. All his many love songs are at the heart of it all meditations on this theme – not sentimental wishy-washy fantasies of imaginary happiness, but site specific stories of two way streets, cul-de-sacs and dead ends. It’s honest in confronting the tragic aspects, as well as the delirious joys, of falling in, out of and sideways in love.

Here he brings his quartet – naturally named Three-0 – to Saratoga Springs’ legendary Caffe Lena last Friday night. Opener was the master of solo electric guitar and sheer stream-of-consciousness poetic intensity Pete LaBonne.

NOTE: The Chandler Travis Three-O returns to Nippertown for a show the Ale House in Troy at 8pm on Saturday, June 16. Mark your calendar now…

original online content

Chandler Travis – “Mother’s Day”

valet — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:45:57 +0000

To all our favorite mothers everywhere …

Mother’s Day

The children are singing / the church bells are ringing
Everyone’s happy, we’ve all had our nappy
There’s anticipation all over the nation
As hearts all race recklessly

‘Cause every mother’s son sure loves his mum on Mother’s Day
And every other day / prepares for Mother’s Day
It’s a festival, it’s a carnival, it’s a totally mind-numbing interval, yes it’s Mother’s Day
And if Hallmark had it’s way, it would be every day

There’s flowers and candy / there’s my cousin Randy
There’s even a maypole (that’s kind of a staple)
There’s bees making honey / there’s cats, ducks, and bunnies
It’s a blessed maternal explosion!

‘Cause every mother’s son sure loves his mum on Mother’s Day
And every other day / prepares for Mother’s Day
It’s a special day, it’s a holiday, it’s a time when we’re apt to get carried away, it’s Mother’s Day
What better time to say “I love you, Ma”

(originally written and included as a “Song of the Weak!!!” by CT on May 9, 2010)

Chandler’s on a New Record

valet — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:34:33 +0000

… and when we say “record” we really mean a “record” – seven inches of pretty purple vinyl perfectly pressed with a little hole in the center to be played at 33 & 1/3 RPM. The Petite 7 Inch Record is a record about lovingly assembled by our dear friends at our favorite radio show, Bubbles in the Think Tank as a celebration of Record Store Day.

The Petite 7 Inch Record marks the debut of a new assemblage from the Chandler Travis stable of artists, The Chandler Travis Philharmaniacs (Chandler, Rikki, Dinty, Whitey, Keith, and Phil), who perform the song “Still Wanna Make a Record“. They are just one of a cavalcade of stars featured on the record, which also includes Bubbles in the Think Tank regulars:

NPR & PRI contributor David Greenberger (also of Duplex Planet fame) w/ avant-prog group Birdsongs of the Mesozoic(including occasional Philharmonic saxophonist Ken Field) and drummist Rikki Bates (“How Records Are Made“)
Ray Mason (Western Mass fave whose songs have been covered by The Ass Ponys and Eric Ambel, among others) w/ his trademark Silvertone guitar (“Liner Notes“)
Always delightful Paulette (“Record Store Owners“)
Internet video sensations Socky & Jamie w/ The Spampinato Brothers (“(If You Wanna) Borrow My Records“)
Bawdy broad of 1940′s R&B Ruth Wallis (“Long-Playing Daddy“)

The Petite 7 Inch Record is available for purchase as a digital download (you get a free digital download when you purchase the record), including bonus and radio edit tracks. If you purchase before Friday April 13 you should even get your record in time for Record Store Day (Saturday, April 21).

This is a limited edition of 300 copies and half of them have already been sold, so be sure to order early and often!

The Petite 7 Inch Record by Bubbles in the Think Tank

SonicTrout Digital presents “First Warm Day”

valet — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:00:17 +0000

I’ve got a song I’ve been saving up for years called “First Warm Day“; it’s written about those freak early warm days you get sometimes in March and how good they feel, and we’re determined to release it on the first warm day of 2012 (not that there’s really been all that many cold days this winter to begin with, but you get the idea)… so you’ll know when I think it’s really and truly the first warm day by what day this song pops up on our website (not to mention itunes, amazon, etc -they’re all in on it!) [ed note: that would be today,thank you very much]

The song is one that I’ve played a little bit the last couple of years with all my bands (it’s unusual in that regard), and we started on the recording back in 2009, during the sessions for “The Chandler Travis Philharmonic Blows“; it’s got Catbirds, Incredible Casuals, and Philharmonic members on it: Rikki Bates on drums, Johnny Spampinato on guitar, Phil Clements on clavinet, Dinty Child on mandocello, and myself on the rest, so I wasn’t really sure who to credit it to… so, it’s ending up as the first (and quite possibly last) single by the Incredible Chandler Travis Catualbirdomonic -of course!!

“First Warm Day” is now available from SonicTrout Digital.

First Warm Day by The Incredible Chandler Travis Catualbirdomonic

Philharmonic track on new WFMU compilation

valet — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:54:12 +0000

The Chandler Travis Philharmonic has a track on a new compilation from the legendary independent radio station WFMU, available as part of their 2012 Fundraising Marathon.

A live version of the Maxine Nightingale song “Right Back Where We Started From”, recorded during our 2004 summer residency at Harry’s Blues Bar in Hyannis, MA, appears on the CD “Super Hits of the Seventies”, Michael Shelley’s contribution to the stations’ DJ Premiums.

Details about the album (including an awesome video commercial for the CD) are available on Michael’s website, michaelshelley.net

Donate to the WFMU 2012 Marathon here

Nippertown! – LIVE: The Chandler Travis Three-O @ the River Street Beat Shop & the Ale House, 1/21/12

valet — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:48:27 +0000

Review and video by Joel Patterson

If the name Chandler Travis means anything to you, it means a combination of dazzling musicianship and fearless merry-making – in his many incarnations, the man has developed a fiercely loyal cult following… and with good reason. Sage-like and impish at the same time, he explores the terrains of love and life’s absurdities with rowdiness, tenderness and a sardonic faith in humanity that never wavers. Plus he makes a habit of wandering around in the audience, mid-song, which creates an aura that’s hard to describe: we’re witnesses and co-conspirators in something that feels magical.

Last Saturday, he brought his Chandler Travis Three-O traveling road show to Troy for an afternoon stop at the River Street Beat Shop followed by an evening performance at the Ale House.

original online content

A Record About Records!

valet — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:56:36 +0000

Our dear friends Belinda and January Fairy at Bubbles in the Think Thank recently launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to raise funds so that they can release “The Petite 7 Inch Record“, a compilation to be released in time for Record Store Day 2012 which will feature tracks from Ray Mason, David Greenberger, Paulette, and our very own Chandler Travis.

Check out the video and the project description and hopefully you’ll decide to become a backer of the project. The deadline for backing the project is noon eastern time on Monday, January 30.

Nippertown – LIVE: Catbirds @ Valentine’s Music Hall, 12/29/11

valet — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:27:40 +0000

The Catbirds: Chandler Travis, Rikki Bates, Steve Wood and Dinty Child

Review by Fred Rudofsky
Photograph by Joseph Deuel

“Welcome to Rich and Denise’s Christmas party!” exclaimed Chandler Travis as he adjusted the microphone, strapped on his bass and smiled at his friends in the audience. It was time for the Catbirds to rock Valentine’s very foundation and for a guitar amplifier to warm up for its inevitable demise.

Twenty-six songs, spanning two sets, and all reverberating on the last real rock and roll venue in Albany on a Thursday night. Yep, you’re probably kicking yourself for not leaving the house.

Opening with “Everybody Christmas Time,” which fused the best elements of the Kinks and Rockpile, the Catbirds set the tone for the evening. Every song was like an unexpected gift, though the band was open to requests and “bequests.” Guitarist Steve Wood led the band through the tremolo-laden “Swamp Girl” like a ragin’ Cajun; Travis delivered “All I Wanna Know Is” like it was the hit it ought to be, complete with Rikki Bates swirling drum work. Guitarist-mandocellist Dinty Child stepped up for a spirited “That’s Right,” trading firecracker solos with Wood over a Latin beat.

The Catbirds’ influences are about as diverse as any in the land. T. Rex’s gem “Mambo Sun” was tipsy and wry; Mel Torme’s “Coming Home Baby” got a deft vocal round treatment; King Floyd’s “Groove Me” exuded beach music swagger; and Goffin and King’s “Another Night with the Boys” sounded like a honky tonk classic done in Shaver style. Equally stirring renditions of Love’s apocalyptic “7 and 7 Is,” Ronnie Dawson’s rockabilly juggernaut “Fish Out of Water” and John Lennon’s timeless, reassuring boot-stomper “Instant Karma” were like getting extra gifts in the Christmas stocking.

Yet the real treats were the originals that dominated the night. “First Warm Day” captured the essence of feeling a change in the weather, while “I Viborate” channeled the mayhem of Sun Records-era Jerry Lee Lewis. “Stoned” and “Are We Done Yet?” – both from the band’s recent short disc “Viborate” – were psychedelic garage-rock forays at their finest, awash with reverb, echo and guitar strings ablazing over thrilling drum patterns. “We Are New Men” wryly looked at the rapid, unforeseen technological shifts in our culture: “There’s a satellite above me/ That gives me tweets from David Duchovny.” Meanwhile, “Change the Names” and “Crutch of Music” showed off the superb interplay among the Catbirds as well.

You had to be there, trust me, just to smell an amplifier smolder at the end of the first set – now that’s rock ‘n’ roll. Look for a full-length cd release from the Catbirds in 2012.

Local favorites the Mysterios played a wonderfully raucous opening set inspired by sounds from the mid-1960s. Originals such as “Ed Wood’s Making Movies” and “Going to the Rodeo” were mixed in with choice covers from the Velvet Underground (“Rock and Roll”) and psychedelic pioneers the 13th Floor Elevators (“You’re Gonna Miss Me”).

NOTE: And by the way, Chandler Travis has already booked his return trip to Nippertown. He’ll be leading the Chandler Travis Three-O into the Ale House in Troy at 9pm on Saturday, January 21.

Original online content

Chandler Travis Three-O – “January”

valet — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:00:30 +0000

A new song for the new year from Sonic Trout Digital – “January” by the Chandler Travis Three-O.

January by Chandler Travis Three-O

Chandler Travis Three-O – “Drunk Angry People Shut Up”

valet — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:00:38 +0000

Now available from SonicTrout Digital – a digital release by the Chandler Travis Three-O – “Drunk Angry People Shut Up”

Drunk Angry People Shut Up by Chandler Travis Three-O