Rock star revival

The power of Swamp Witch Revival

by Sherie Dyer

“Swamp Witch is my co-pilot, God’s just here to piss me off!” Test my truth, bare witness to the irony, and dance. Swamp Witch will be playing with Tarpigh at the Skinny Thursday, October 19, at 9 p.m.

“Can you feel the love in the air tonight, my children? Can you feel the awesome power of rock and roll running through your veins? Let me hear you say yes as loud as you can.”

—Reverend Rubin Little

 

There is a revival going on. A revival of the time when KISS put the fear of God into parents, when Dazed and Confused was actually happening, and when going to rock concerts was all that mattered. And Swamp Witch Revival, Portland’s ’70s-metal-meets-white-trash-anthem-rock septet, are behind it all.

Swamp Witch are a live band. Sure, they’ll release an LP soon (they’re recording right now), but the Swamp Witch experience has to be seen — and felt. Their shows are revivals, the crowd getting whipped up with the kind of fervor you might expect from an old-fashioned Baptist tent sermon. And while it’s tempting to write the rest of the article on this semi-magical affect on the audience, the real impact of the shows comes from the force of each member’s character and their gloriously vulgar displays of power.

The Swamp Witch lineup includes Reuben Little on vocals, Jason Jolly on bass, Angus McFarland on guitar, Tony D’Agostino on guitar, Gina Branch and Sarah Coggeshal on backing vocals, and Greg Arnold on drums. Let us begin with Jolly, the man and myth. The man who only breaks bass strings when he tunes, and is only allowed into two bars in Portland. The man I have had to personally “revive” with cold water and slaps just so he could play. Crazy, drunk, and one of the most talented bass players in town. The talent not only lies in his ability to play blind drunk, but he has that busy jazz influence working within rock ’n’ roll. He scared us all when he had a daughter. We laughed in his face when he said he quit drinking. Jolly is the living model of Mickey Rourke in Barfly. “Glorious!”

Reuben Little, a crucial drinking partner for Jolly, contrasts the bass player’s chaos with his own control. A true renaissance man, the manic mechanic has been drawing and painting for years, specializing in ’50s pin-up girls and hot rods. (Nick Danger, the Piner’s, and the Capitol Gunmen have all commissioned art from him.) When Little sings gruffy and dirty you know he actually is gruffy and dirty. Chances are he just pried his beer belly out from underneath the hood of a car before the show. He’ll throw flowers at you, shake his tambourine, and yell “Hallelujah” over and over. Religion is funny here.

Tony and Greg played with Little and Jolly before in Fury 440. Tony’s guitar knows the pulse of their brains. Housepainter by day, drunk rock star by night, Tony is a very solid guitarist. His background in punkabilly/psychobilly provides him with the musicianship to be playful with their more straightforward material. However, he’ll never live down the time during a Fury 440 show he received third-degree burns setting his leather pants on fire. Only Nikki Six of Motley Crüe can get away with that.

Angus falls in between angry punk and sweetheart. His guitar playing is fast and fierce. Resembling the chunky-manly sounds of Deep Purple. On stage he’s constantly moving. Off stage, he’s docile and fiercely productive. School full-time, band part-time, and we all have jobs. Angus used to play in the Studds, an infamous punk band that scared more people than they entertained. Their core following consisted of the roughest and toughest. Not to blow his cover, but Angus looks more evil than he actually is. Then again, as the saying goes, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.

Greg Arnold is notorious for playing in two to three different bands, clubs, and shows on the same night. That’s how scarce good drummers are. Greg has currently hung up racing about town and has settled in with Swamp Witch. His hammering back beats and undeniable stamina lead the entire band. Somebody has to watch those crazy kids, and he is the band dad.

Saving the best for last: Gina and Sarah. Damn! These two are pretty easy on the eyes. Go-go dancing on platforms, singing back up, and shaking maracas. Gina, a fairly established punk rock advocate, has brought bands through town from as far away as Ohio. She has been responsible for booking shows with some of the more unbearable acts in that genre. She’s a good girl who is covered in tattoos, and drinks tequila like a champ. Sarah is a bit more subdued. The pair dress in black, tolerate the PBR poster boys, and add an element of class to the white trash.

These personalities make up a vibe through both presence and music that pack the clubs. Swamp Witch is currently the closest thing to rock stars we have in the scene — and they know it all too well. They were the only band cool enough to open for Bebe Buell when she came back to town. In fact, in my opinion, made her look like the washed up novelty she really is.

They have recently been recording at MixMinus, run by Marc Bartholomew and Fred Dodge, and located above the Skinny. But no recording can ever touch that frenzied feeling you experience at their live performances. Raw rock power.

Sherie Dyer can be reached at sheriedyer@netscape.net..