Formed in The Queen City, Charlotte NC, during the summer of '99 from a list of regional/national acts including: FETCHIN BONES, SUGARSMACK, 49 REASONS, COME ON THUNDERCHILD, NEW JACK RUBIES, THE GENTLEMEN SUITORS, PSYCHO KILLER and SMITHWICK MACHINE. The Snags four DON DIXON produced discs, THE COUNTRY CLUB SESSIONS (2001), PARADING ABOUT IN THE ALTOGETHER (2003), THE SOUND REPORT (2007) and DOING MUSIC (2012) capture their horn fueled new wave rock party attitude.
SNAGGLEPUSS is:
HOPE NICHOLLS---vocals, saxophone
SCOTT WEAVER---vocals, trumpet
MICHAEL ANDERSON---saxophone
AMY KENNEMORE---guitar
DARRIN GRAY---bass
AARON PITKIN---drums
ONCE A 'PUSS ALWAYS A 'PUSS DEPT.
JOHN MORRIS---keyboards, vocals
TRAVIS LAUGHLIN---bass
SNAGGLEPUSS...MORE HISTORY
Hope Nicholls and Aaron Pitkin have musical credentials that go back to the dawn of the DIY movement in the early 80s. Armed with hundreds of dollars, they entered the studio with their group, Fetchin Bones, to begin recording their first album, Cabin Flounder, which found its way to Danny Beard of DB Records in Atlanta. On the strength of this record and their searing live show, Capitol Records signed Fetchin Bones, enjoying a successful run of three albums for that Hollywood hit factory over the next few years.
But Fetchin Bones proved to be an enigma. They didn’t fit neatly into any category. Bored by the mainstream, Hope & Aaron always sought out the nooks and crannies of pop music, then jammed a crowbar in there to see what they could find.
When the band broke up for all the usual reasons, the adventurous couple formed Sugarsmack, an industrial dance outfit with high energy and powerful musicianship that featured more of Hope’s elegant, whimsical, evocative lyrics. With a kinship closer to Nine Inch Nails than the jangle-pop origins of Fetchin Bones, like a roman candle, Sugarsmack was destined for a colorful, fiery burnout.
The day-to-day life of a rock band is a hard life and the couple decided it was time to get out of the van and see how regular people lived. End results are seldom what one expects. Music continued to beckon and not content to pack it all away, Hope and Aaron decided to go back to their DIY roots. They also decided to try their hand at new instruments. Aaron got behind the drum kit, Hope picked up a saxophone. They recruited friends like Amy Kennemore (Amy Kay) just learning to play the guitar, Michael Anderson (Almond Joy) on sax, Darrin Gray holding down the low end on bass, John Morris bashing the ivories, and Scott Weaver (Chaka) weaving his angelic vocals with Hope. He blew the dust off his trumpet case and brought that to practice, too.
Together, these individuals began to create a new monster…a party monster. They asked their old friend, Don Dixon, to take aural snapshots of this monster so they could share it with their friends. The results are THE COUNTRY CLUB SESSIONS (2001), PARADING ABOUT IN THE ALTOGETHER (2003), THE SOUND REPORT (2007) and DOING MUSIC (2012).... four fun, brash albums filled with color and energy, youthful enthusiasm and mature professionalism.
In a word, unique.
Read more...