The Yayhoos-Sunday, May 7th @ 3rd & Lindsey
Well, it was a Sunday night and my bands drummer, Johnny, invited me to go out to see the Yayhoos. They used to be called the Yahoos but there was a problem between them and the drink manufacturer so they added a “Y” and there ya go, The Yayhoos. These guys have the watered down choco drink beat all to hell anyway so they deserve the extra letter. So, they are not the Yahoos as in a redneck rebel yell, they are The Yayhoos as in a bunch of great rockers from the south.
I arrived a little later as is the custom in Nashville and the band was already playing. They had started early due to the fact that the thing was being broadcast live on radio. I want to say lightning 100, but that could be wrong.
The Yayhoos are not the typical Nashville metal or punk rock band. These guys have been around and I can best describe them as a band of Keith Richards. So, if you enjoy open tuned British style guitar playing perverted by the American south, then this band is for you. You probably can recognize the member’s names. Dan Baird was originally with the Georgia Satellites.
You might remember The GS’s most famous of tunes “Keep your Hands to Yourself” or whatever that song was called. The one about the uptight bible belt bitch. For the most part, Dan is the singer/ guitar player, but they all change up instruments so it would really be hard to pin the labels on ‘em like that. Dan played bass, too. The drummer switches with the other guitar and the bassist sings and plays guitar, too. So, it’s like an ever changing lineup. Dan has produced a handful of other bands over the years. Dan lives in Nashville, currently, so I will call him a local. The bass player, Keith Christopher, has been around a long time and is a notable Nashville local.
I’ve known Keith a pretty good while and I still don’t know what the hell he just said. He mumbles something about Jagermeister a lot. He is a wild man bass player. He also sings and plays guitar in this band and does a damn fine job of it. Keith was an original Georgia Satellites member too, but he dropped out or moved on about the time the band hit radio fame. He kept busy though touring, recording and appearing in music videos with the likes of Billy Joe Shaver, Tony Joe White and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Paul Westerberg and Todd Snider. Eric Amble plays guitar for the most part, but also whips out a guitarolin?, I think, and at one point in the show swapped up and played drums.
Eric was a founding member of the Del Lords and Joan Jett’s Black Hearts. He has a long history with rock and roll music as a performer and producer. He has worked on projects for Nils Lofgren, The Bottle Rockets and The Blood Oranges. The drums, for the most part, are manned by Terry Anderson, who I think is a part owner of a New York night club and a record label, but like I said, he does sing and jump up and play guitar at points.
The Yayhoos have just released a new album entitled “Put The Hammer Down”. The album is full of great rock tunes and is well worth a check out. The thing has some entertaining cover tunes on it, as well as some new stuff. The covers are Roam from the infamous B52s and a great version of the Ojays tune Love Train, that’s right Love Train. Live these 2 covers kick mucho ass and I must mention that the band is still playing another fine cover song Live, Dancing Queen, ha ha, yeah you gotta hear that. The new album is full up of songs written by the band, too and like I said before is well worth a listen.
Live these guys are a party machine full of energy, great licks, personality and all just covered in sweat. They play on with the fervor of the energizer bunny with shows lasting for hours. The Sunday night show was well attended and a few of our most famous of locals were in the crowd. Spotted were: Warner Hodges of the Scorchers fame hangin’ out with Slumpy Boy/ Duster, Ken McMahan. I also ran into an old friend, Chief (Greg Frahn) who has been a touring guitar tech now for many years for many a great band including Steve Earl, George Thorogood and a zillion more. He was outta the country the next day for Australia. It was good to see The Chief again. He was one of the first to sport a Mohawk back when rock first started blooming in Nashville. He played bass with the punk band Tommy Rot, now that was an era.
Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed the show, ran into some old friends and ended the night chatting with Mark Miller the new bassist/vocalist with BR549. Find out more about the Yayhoos at http://www.yayhoos.com
-Dave Baker
photos by Dave Baker
disclaimer: Ok so the intro yahoo story probably isn't true because the drink is Yoohoo and Yahoo is a search engine so I don't really know the storybut it sounded good to start, ha ha. So sorry ,I write these on a spirograph anyway so thats why this is such spirographic writing.