Interview: So, in anticipation of tonight’s show, I was interviewed by Damon Howard (formerly of Elan and The Verge, for you old heads), for his blog, switchflip.com. Click here to get the inside scoop on The Lift Up. Thanks again Damon!
And Wilmo News Journal reporter Ryan Cormier posted a little pre-show write up on his blog as well. I know this piece has a few folks up in arms, so I just want to be clear that I had nothing to do with this, no one from the paper contacted me about the show or doing a write-up. We don’t use the words “surviving members” when talking about this group, and we’re not out to exploit our past lives or the life or death of our dear friend. So let’s just leave it at that. If you know, then you know all to well.
And in preparation for our debut show, I’ve been sneaking out stealth style and hitting a few open mic nights here and there to test out the material – this past Monday I went to Jazmine Thai in West Chester, which oddly enough is in the same building that used to house Rex’s back in the day, a spot I played quite a bit in both Nero and The Situation. In fact, the last time I played there I think was with Raccoon, right when they were first starting to morph into Dr. Dog. Was it really ten years ago? Damn.
Anyway, open mic night host Jan Bohan was kind enough to write this little review on her facebook page: “Joining us for the first time was Joe Castro, who I’d met out at Burlap and Bean a couple months back. I remember being impressed with him the first time around, but think the even more ‘intimate’setting at Jazmine served to compliment his direct, pop-infused folk songs that much more. Each line within a given verse seemed to be that much easier to grasp and examine, before moving on. Hook lines would then emerge for balance, giving the music a chance to take over the listener’s attention. Joe clearly enjoys toying with changes in time signatures, and this couldn’t have been better demonstrated than on his third song of the night which speaks of ‘trading in dreams for a good night’s sleep’. Music is far from Joe’s only creative outlet, as he is a very accomplished painter and graphic artist as well!”
Enough rambling – I’m very excited to play tonight and am looking forward to everyone hearing what we’ve been working on. See you at Mojo Main!
