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Excerpt from: Happy Birthday www.seattlelivemusic.net!
Review of Happy Savage and Hot Pony
The Rainbow Seattle 02/16/02A
By Michael Trevors
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Happy Savage has the ability to weave a complex tapestry of
melodic sounds while still keeping both feet firmly planted on
the ground. Their style of funked up blues and jam-oriented
reggae has undertones of The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers
Band and Little Feat with a certain spacey, psychedelia that
they can call their own. In the typical jamband fashion,
they will journey out during the middle sections of songs, for
10 to 15 minutes, taking you places you've never been before,
and then gently set you back down on the ground, only to do it
all over again.
With the incredibly wide ranging lead vocals of Beth Collins,
soulful lead guitar work of frontman Luke Painter, awesome percussion
from Martino Goldstein, drumming from Mark Drake, Larry Penoza
putting down the under currents on the Bass, and Bruce Johnston
laying down keys and guitar work, Happy Savage plays and sings
mostly original compositions, with a here and there smattering
of cover tunes. Their songs echo the feelings we all share
with regard to love, life and nature, in ways that are beautiful
yet real, and simultaneously have a pro-activist aura about them.
If you haven't seen Happy Savage yet, make a point to do so.
They will assure you a great evening of very danceable, groove
inducing, and spirit moving music that will cause you to yearn
for more.
The CD Treehugger is available online at http://www.happysavage.com/music.html
You can also find mp3's to download, as well as band bio's and
tour dates.
There is a reason Happy Savage is the www.seattlelivemusic.net
hot band of the month.
To put it quite simply, they're really good.
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HAPPY SAVAGE, "TREEHUGGER" (Hypermusic) -
Sometimes low-budget discs from local bands are more enjoyable
than high-budget major label productions because of the raw energy,
sheer, unadulterated talent, and goddamn-it-we-mean-it vibe that
comes shining through on them. Seattle's Happy Savage has made
such a disc. In concert, Happy Savage stretches out into credible
and enjoyable 20-minute jams, often on [Grateful] Dead songs
like "The Other One" or "Fire On The Mountain."
On this record, however, they demonstrate the strength of their
songwriting, and ability to be concise, giving voice to the environmental
concerns and alienation from modernity that were more often found
in the Dead's audience than in their music, in fine three to
five minute rock songs. The title track alone makes this a great
gift for the music-loving activist in your circles. A strong
disc demonstrating that folks in the Great Northwest looking
for a good time would do well to check out Happy Savage.
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The Town Tavern brings Happy
Savage
-Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader |
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Happy Savage, a dynamic five-piece band, performs at the Town
Tavern at 9:30pm Friday, May 12, to promote the release of its
first CD, "Treehugger." If you like the music of bands
such as the Grateful Dead and Phish, chances are good that you'll
like Happy Savage.
Known for its ability to get people up and dancing with its
unique funk, rock and reggae grooves, the band's energy is evident
on stage and on the dance floor. At a recent event, the proprietor
of Bishop's on Vashon Island was quoted as saying: "I've
never seen so many people dancing—and they danced all night."
Happy Savage has an element of spontaneity not commonly found
in bands. The fans of Happy Savage sometimes participate in the
performance. As Luke Painter, the band's guitarist puts it, "Often
the lines between the stage and the dance floor are blurred.
It's not unusual for me to look up and see someone I've never
met joining in on percussion or sax or maybe improvised vocals."
Once, midway through one of their tunes, the bassist, Larry
Penoza, broke a string. After finishing the tune, Painter announced
that the band would take a short break while Penoza replaced
the string. However, a few members of the audience refused to
let the energy subside and kept the party going with an impromptu
rhythm jam that was soon picked up by the rest of the band, including
Beth Collins singing a Middle Eastern-style chant.
Happy Savage was recently chosen to perform on Seattle's Mural
Amphitheater stage for the Earth Day celebration. Much of the
lyrical content of Painter's material deals with respect for
the Earth and its inhabitants, through songs like "Treehugger,"
"Acid Rain, " Chief Seattle" and a special arrangement
of "Home on the Range." The band has also been selected
to appear in this year's Peace Concerts in the Parks and will
be contributing to a compilation recording to support those concerts.
The Town Tavern is located at 639 Water St.
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This past Sunday night, January 23, Bishop's Pub held a benefit
for Chris Cuevas, who was paralyzed in a drinking and driving
accident some years back. A big New York bank has been threatening
to throw him out on the street, where he would surely die a violent
death in no time flat.
Well, there's not much apathy (or patience for that sort of
thing) here on Vashon. And there's a whole lot of reason for
most folks here to celebrate, so Wayne and Carol Bishop decided
to do just that. Celebrate, help enliven our droopy music scene,
as well as have an auction to benefit Chris and Genni Cuevas
in their fight to keep their home. Happy Savage entertained a
large crowd, and man, there does seem to be a revival going on
in the music scene right now. Grunge has been dead for a while,
but now the pop that came along to replace it seems to be giving
way to another wave of creative good times. From Santana to Tom
Waits there's a tenner of great music coming out, from the veterans
of rock and newcomers alike.
Alex Anderson, Bishop's bartender and singer/songwriter, one
of many who play with Happy Savage, helped to organize the event.
The band was paid separately. There was no cover charge. All
the proceeds from the auction, over a thousand dollars, went
towards the cause.
Happy Savage transformed the room into a swirl of colors and
rhythms. The band had a big rich sound. Members changed as the
moods of the music changed. Energetic music which was great for
dancing, and everyone did dance, and dance. "I've never
seen so many people dance up and down like that for so long,"
said Wayne Bishop, after the party. "But, I liked it, and
those good, generous young people really did a lot of good for
poor Chris."
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