Hey-Ho,
Let's Go- Uncle Monk
by
Peter Aaron
..."Well,
it can be difficult sometimes, because he has such a history
and sometimes people expect something different than what
we play,” she says. “But it’s still very
nice.”
The
couple met on the music scene in the 1980s and formed Uncle
Monk in the early ’90s. “Originally, it was an
electric group with a drummer,” recalls Tommy. “Kind
of a jam band, with longer songs, lots of solos. I’d
always loved bluegrass and old-time stuff, and I got a banjo
and a mandolin and brought those in just for fun. Then the
drummer left and we decided not to get another, to go in more
of an acoustic direction. So it all happened very organically.”
The
seeds of this new, earthy direction eventually resulted in
a self-titled debut album, released late last year on the
duo’s own Airday label and populated with rousing hoedowns
like “Emotional Needs,” wounded heartbreakers
like “Mean to Me,” even a couple of bemusing,
autobiographical ditties, like “Mr. Endicott,”
which takes to task an ornery boss from Tommy’s youth.
The CD has been warmly received, garnering positive reviews
in MOJO, Harp, and other taste-making magazines, and resulting
in tours of the South and the West Coast. [The band hopes
to hit England and mainland Europe next.]
Although
Tommy and Claudia still keep a place in New York City, they’ve
been part-time Phoenicia residents since 1993. “Claudia’smother
lives in [nearby] Mount Tremper, so we were coming up to visit
a lot,” says Tommy. “We saw a place we really
liked and we ended up getting a really good deal on it. It’s
just so beautiful up here, and I’ve become much more
of a nature person. I guess the change in music goes along
with that."
It’s
certainly a long way from CBGB and the Bowery....
CONTINUE... |
