Last of the Blacksmiths are one of the most talented and moving bands here in the Bay Area.  Comprised of Nathan Wanta, Nigel Pavao and Bert Garibay, who play everything from mandolin to keys to guitar to drums, the band's sound rolls from The Band-like harmonies and depth to deep fried Southern- sounding funky interplay and heaviness. To check out their music, visit the band's Myspace page. Their latest record, Young Family Song, is available at Amoeba. I chatted with Nathan and Nigel recently about their influences, their love of punk and how the band came together.

Miss Ess: So, what have you been listening to lately?

NATHAN: Seems that this can change so drastically from day to day, but thinking of albums that I’ve listened to most in the past year or so, I’d say Allen Toussaint’s first three records probably win, followed by Dennis Wilson’s Pacific Ocean Blue, the Amazing Visions Black Fiction cd that Bert gave me,Terry Allen’s Juarez, Candi Staton’s Candi, Clifford Coulter’s, East Side San Jose, and I can’t leave out Eugene McDaniel’s Outlaw. Was pretty obsessed with the song “Cherrystones” for a while.  

Last night I watched the 1973 movie Payday starring Rip Torn, which was released on DVD early this year.


It's about an aging country singer songwriter named Maury Dann who is on the road, working his way through gigs, women, alcohol and more during the day and a half of time the viewer spends with him.

It's a fully certifiable "Man Movie"-- that is, women are objects, hysterical and insecure, while the men grapple with their own manliness and keeping up appearances of masculinity. There's a lot of beer and belt buckles in this movie, is what I'm saying. There's gambling, hunting and fist fights and even a stabbing and a car accident! So much action, so much manliness on the line. 

The movie is interesting because Maury is so completely flawed and dynamic. He is more than slightly off the rails and no one has ever really been able to rein him in. We see him using and abusing overeager women and handing his mother a pile of pills to keep her quiet, yet we also see him gently pressing his face against his beloved spaniel when he realizes he can no longer keep him. It is clear that he thinks of himself as a great singer songwriter, but the film shows that the gigs are no longer as big as they used to be and that he has not had a radio hit in a while, if ever. Maury's life seems to have moved for years, decades maybe, at a non-stop pace-- from gig to car to hotel to radio station to restaurant and on and on and from whiskey to women to pills to weed and on and on and on. While he is busy puffing himself up, he actually appears more and more degraded.

Ethan Miller is one of the Bay Area's best musicians. He formed the psychedelic/noise, super intense band Comets on Fire in Santa Cruz in 1999. The group has met with much success-- Comets was signed to Sub Pop, has toured all over the world and released four great albums. After relocating to Oakland, around 2004 Ethan brought together another outlet for his creativity, the riff-heavy Howlin' Rain. Howlin' Rain has released two exceptional records and was recently signed to musical luminary Rick Rubin's label American Recordings, which should bring the group's heavy rockin' sound to even higher highs. Check out Howlin' Rain's performance at Amoeba back in March here.

What follows is my recent chat with Ethan about songs that make him cry, his old piano teacher, and why the studio is what really winds his clock.

Miss Ess: Is there someone in particular who recognized and nurtured your musical interest/talent when you were young?

Kathy Griffin?! Somehow I never thought I would say I enjoy Kathy Griffin. I know, I know-- considering the fact that I: a) have been referred to as a fag hag on many an occasion and also that I: b) actually live in the Castro, this should come as a shock to some.

Forgive me, for I have caught on at last: with the recent advent of cable to my home and the latest season of her reality show My Life On the D-List airing regularly, color me hooked.

I applaud Kathy for being so unabashedly herself. She knows what she is good at (making fun of others, but also herself) and she knows her fans (mainly gay men but also middle aged straight women), and she has no qualms about catering to them. In the near-past I had always thought of her as sort of irritating and uncreative. Now I see that she is both of those things at times, but plenty of others the rest. She knows she is merely a comedic commentator and she knows she is an attention whore, so why not live it up? She is a woman of many faces-- whatever it takes to continually secure her place on the D-List, and I support her in her quest.

Now I am scrambling to catch up on what I missed-- there are 3 other seasons of the show on DVD! I should never have underestimated my enjoyment of poking fun at celebrities. What have I been thinking all this time? Kathy has been there with her gays and her snarky humor all along, and here I was shunning her for no real reason other than her copious plastic surgery and her copious need to talk about it! For shame! Once again, I have learned not to judge a book by its cover...I'll let Kathy do that for me in her stage routine, so I can laugh along! 

Just wanted to say I found out there is an Island Camping Festival this Saturday, July 12 on Angel Island.  It's pretty much impossible to find any info on this secretive fest, but...



...I do know that amongst the performers set to entertain those at the campgrounds on the island are Michael Hurley, The Sarees, Lucky Dragons, Little Wings and maybe even Devendra Banhart!  Of course, the few camp sites on the island are long reserved, but if you can find a way, this sounds like the definite hot ticket for the weekend.  Hurley's songs alone were made for singing around the campfire, looking up at the stars.  It's gonna be an island jamboree!