August 2, 2009 6:00pm
Rumba Cafe
2507 Summit Street
(614) 268-1841
$8
Ages 18+, under 21 pay $2 surcharge at door
Wooden Wand
http://www.myspace.com/woodenwand
In addition to running the Polyamory label with Tovah O’Rourke, James Toth was the leader of New York-based avant-garde/freak folk ensemble Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice. Taking the first part of that name as his own — and occasionally billing himself as “Wooden Wand Jehovah” — Toth gathered at one point or another O’Rourke (who also comprised Dead Machines with her husband, Wolf Eyes’ John Olson), Satya Sai, Glucas Crane, Steven the Harvester, and Heidi Diehl. There were others, too — the Vanishing Voice lineup shifted as much as its members’ various aliases. The sounds the group made were fluid, too, incorporating everything from the ’60s mysticism of Donovan and Van Morrison to free jazz, noise rock, folk traditionals, and the entire Silt Breeze catalog. Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice released numerous CD-R and vinyl recordings into the indie folk/experimental underground during the early 2000s; they were also responsible for relatively more conventional releases like 2003’s Xiao (Destijl, later reissued by Troubleman Unlimited), 2004’s Sunset Sleeves (Weird Forest), and Buck Dharma, issued in September 2005 through 5 Rue Christine. That same year Toth released Harem of the Sundrum & the Witness Figg simply as Wooden Wand. The recording’s skeletal folk structures and evocative lyrics garnered quite a bit of positive press, especially in the wake of Devendra Banhart’s success. The band released two albums in 2006, Gipsy Freedom and Second Attention. 2007 saw the release of James and the Quiet, followed in 2009 by Hard Knox, a collection of demo and home recordings under the moniker Wand. - ©1992-2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Jerry DeCicca
http://theblackswans.com/
Playing dark but sadly beautiful folk-influenced indie rock, the Columbus, OH-based Black Swans are centered around the core trio of guitarist and singer Jerry DeCicca, violinist Noel Sayre, and bassist Canaan Faulkner, though many of their recordings and live shows have found them expanding their sound with an ever-changing variety of guest musicians. The group was formed in 1999, but its early progress was stalled when circumstances forced Sayre to relocate to West Virginia for several years, and while the group began writing material for its debut album in 2000, it wasn’t until 2004 (two years after the band began recording) that Who Will Walk in the Darkness with You? was released by the Nashville-based independent label Delmore Recording Society. The Black Swans’ next recording project was on a somewhat smaller scale — a 7″ vinyl EP called Sex Brain, which over the course of five songs focused on the war between the id and the superego. After earning critical acclaim for their first two records and sharing stages with the likes of Okkervil River, Damon & Naomi, Michael Hurley, Richard Buckner, Mark Eitzel, and the Schramms, the Black Swans released their second full-length album, Change!, in the fall of 2007. The CD edition was released by La Société Expéditionnaire, while the Black Swans created something special for the vinyl version of Change! — each LP cover featured an original piece of hand-painted artwork created by students at the Arc North Workshop, a learning facility for the developmentally challenged in Columbus. - ©1992-2009 All Media Guide, LLC