Let’s Get Awesome: WVRockscene talks openly about its J Marinelli fetish

Morgantown native and Lexington, Kentucky resident J Marinelli brings his angry-one man band to Shamrocks tonight


Looking back on the posts I’ve done on J Marinelli, it’s, well, frankly embarrassing.

Over the four or so plus years I’ve covered bands at this illustrious online destination, and before that at thegazz.com and in Graffiti, there hasn’t been any band I’ve listened to more than J Marinelli -- his angry one-man band.

It’s weird because first hearing his Pity the Party EP, several years back, the swingin’ songs were tough to get into originally because the vocals were on the whole just so loud and distorted. But “A Little Action” is still a favorite, what with its caveman guitar and cool lo-fi vocals, and “400 More Years” is still awesome to hear.

“A Little Action“


But you can’t talk about getting awesome talking about Marinelli without mentioning Keep It Fake, his February, 2007 16-song release. Arguably his best release, ably recorded by Mark Poole, who captures a fuller, pub rock (?) type garage rock sound than what was heard on Pity the Party.

It’s not that the songs are that much different, it’s just that they sound better. No other record has been played more on the WVRockscene home stereo and the various briefly lived mp3 players. Every song is a favorite, maybe none more so than Marinelli’s nostalgic look back to 1985, “Let’s Get Awesome,” with its huge rock band ending.

“Let’s Get Awesome”


Literally my favorite record; my hand-numbered copy is 103/1,000.

“Lying In State”


Marinelli’s two-volume cover cassette series Stone Age Kicks found Marinelli (in small parts) embracing a more folk-centered but no-less-angry one-man sound; banjo and harmonica flavor Marinelli’s versions of Neil Young’s “Winterlong,” the Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers,” and Pixies favorites “Head On” and “Wave of Mutilation,” and the near-overdriven vocals are replaced by bare, emotive singing. A great direction to take his sound, simultaneously keeping his angry one-man sound on other tunes.



Pre-emptive Skankery Sessions, Marinelli’s Fall 2010 release, really has more of a live feel than anything. Maybe it’s how the arrangement of the first few songs play like one of Marinelli’s live sets. “Rebel Without Applause” goes right into “Hey Pinkerton,” which segues into “She’s My Cheerwine,” Marinelli’s ode to the drink, or, more subtly (?) punk rock.

“Hey Pinkerton/She’s My Cheerwine”


While Marinelli’s sound on PSS is washed in more reverb and has a more experimental bent than on previous releases, that’s the point of all this -- seeing Marinelli live. You can spend all the time you can on his bandcamp page, you can hear fellow Morgantown natives cover their favorite Marinelli tunes on Morgantown Does Marinelli, or you can read long-winded posts by swooning bloggers, but you won’t have a chance to really fall in love with rock and roll all over again unless you catch Marinelli live.

It’s not like his minimalist sound loses anything at all between the studio and the stage, and you can witness the passion, attitude and one-man phenomena itself in front of your own very eyes. Then you can buy whatever CDs “the man” is selling (probably himself, in DIY fashion) at his merch table.

It’s tough to convey the rump-shaking appeal and deep-rooted passion and love for punk found in Marinelli’s music. Now living in Lexington, Marinelli doesn’t come to Huntington frequently -- Charleston, much to this blogger’s dismay, less often -- but you can catch the sensation tonight as Marinelli plays Shamrocks.

You won’t feel old again, that is for sure. And the dancing boys and dancing girls will tell you he has won.

photo: Andy Pickens

J Marinelli plays Shamrocks Irish Pub tonight with Dayton’s Gem City Saints.

Todd Burge talks about 63 Eyes' "Cassette Days"

As part of our “Cassette Days” series, Todd Burge talked with us about his time in the Morgantown-area band 63 Eyes. Pictured below are some tapes Burge has managed to hold on to, with brief descriptions from Todd.

Hear our mp3 interview with Burge at bottom...


(Clockwise from top left)

Bunj -- “Worthless Serenade”

This was a cassette only release post-Larries, pre-63 Eyes. Landed me a recording contract that took me places...places like, nowhere and then back...ha


63 Eyes first Underground Railroad show Oct 30, 1986. Recorded from the sound board.


Todd Burge -- “New World Out of Order” (1991)

My second solo release, on cassette only. This was a recording of tunes written around the time of the first Gulf war, thus, the play on Bush’s “New World Order”

Perry Kirk, drummer for 63 Eyes at the time, did the cool cover photo. It isn’t a double exposure and of course, not photoshop; he stapled stuff on plexi-glass


Owen Davis and Todd Burge -- “Live at Maxwell’s Morgantown” (1992)

Owen Davis is my musical hero.


63 Eyes -- “Gravel” (1993?)

A cassette only release, recorded at the recording workshop in Chillicothe on the same board used on John Lennon’s “Double Fantasy.” That didn’t make the recording any better, but it is a cool thought to me. Might release this one next year.

(Center)
63 Eyes self-titled cassette (1996, I’m thinking??)

Various songs from unreleased and compilation recordings.


mp3: “Cassette Days” 63 Eyes interview with Todd Burge


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--- Related: Charleston Gazette article on Todd Burge, and our review of Todd Burge & The Odd Urges' CD Distraction Packed

See also: Greetings (From the Inner Self) -- Justin Johnson kicks off “Cassette Days”

--- bumper music: Billy Matheny & the Frustrations

Greetings (From The Inner Self)

I was recently approached by the proprietor of this blog site asking if I’d be interested in contributing to a new series here on WVRockscene.

As communicated to me, the focus of this series would be the music scenes based in and around Huntington, Charleston, Morgantown (and surrounding areas) of the 1990’s, before the Internet Age made it possible for every musician to more easily promote themselves and sell their original music to a seemingly endless audience.

I was intrigued by the idea and immediately signed on, which is why you are currently reading this.

Quite honestly, and although some of you may already know this, I’ve entertained a similar idea as the basis for the book that I’ve yet to write.

That book, which is still a goal of mine, would concentrate specifically on Huntington’s music scene, 1989-1998, 10 years bookended by the opening and closing of the city’s two most infamous live music venues, Gumby’s and Drop Shop.

Anyone that spent any significant amount of time at either joint can attest to the numerous memorable moments that took place at 1318 4th Ave., where both places called home.

Whether it was G.G. Allin, The Afghan Whigs and Kyuss at Gumby’s, or Godflesh, Type O Negative and Corrosion of Conformity at Drop Shop, these were shows that people still talk about to this day.

But perhaps what people most remember, at least from the perspective of those whom frequented Gumby’s, is John Kerwood, the man most responsible for helping plant the seed for what would eventually become a vibrant, local music scene.

Kerwood was, in the eyes of many, Gumby’s.

Although I was only 17-years-old at the time, I was first introduced to him in 1994, when I was asked if I’d be willing to help promote a Cannibal Corpse show that he and Gumby’s booker, Brian Barlow, were putting on.

It would be another couple of years, however, before we would cross paths again, as Gumby’s would soon close and Drop Shop would take over residency at its former home in the fall of 1995.

We ran into one another in 1997, at Davidson’s Music and again, most memorably, in 2002, when two friends and I made the trek to Charleston to pay a visit to the newly renovated Sound Factory, for which he was, quite proudly, responsible.

None of us knew it at the time, but it would be the last time we’d see him alive, as he passed away a year-and-a-half later.

In the years that have gone by since John Kerwood died, many new music venues have propped up in and around Huntington, and the Sound Factory is still thriving in Charleston.

What I often wonder when I find myself in one of these establishments, though, is whether or not those whom are present realize how it all came to be.

Unfortunately, and I’m a pessimist by nature, the only answer I can usually find is “no.”

Call it an unfortunate characteristic of society, but a great many of us don’t have a sense of history or, most disturbingly, don’t even care to.

It’s an epiphany such as this that motivated me to sign on as a guest blogger when I was offered the opportunity.

Too often we take for granted what we’ve been given, a naïve perception that says “It’ll still be there in the morning when I wake.”

Well, you have to hang on tightly to the things that are important to you because there are no guarantees in life, and even though the sun may rise tomorrow, the place you once called home may not.

An adverse symptom of the “here today, gone tomorrow” disease is the notion that once something is out of sight it is out of mind.

In my opinion, those words best sum up Huntington’s formative years as a burgeoning music town and, sadly, people like John Kerwood who helped build it.

It’s this premise that has prompted me to only write this, my inaugural contribution to this site, but a lot more in the coming months.

You may call it informative reading, but I’d like to call it a history lesson.

Stay tuned.