KINDLING BAND
Kindling - Photo by Kurt "Swingcat" Johnson
By Kurt "Swingcat" Johnson
Many things can change in a year's time. Yet some things never change.
And that's the way it is with the western swing honky-tonk band Kindling.
With a new personnel line-up and a tighter, even more polished sound,
Kindling continues to ramp up their music and live shows, while retaining
that same smooth western swing shuffle beat sound for which they’re
famous.
Kindling is "bringing honky-tonk back to the city." With
a western swing emphasis featuring shuffle beats and songs such as
Ray Price's Invitation to the Blues, Kindling provides a country purist
sound that easily fills the dance floor every time they perform.
Jollie’s Lounge hosted Kindling on this visit. Located just off
I-5 at the Clark County Fairground exit, Jollies offers live bands,
24-hour dining for travelers and a full breakfast, lunch and dinner
menu in the restaurant, along with a full bar and roomy dance floor
in the lounge.
Kindling is drummer "Mr.Shuffle” Ron Baldwin, pedal steel;
guitartist Robin Suskind; Bob Gagliasso on lead guitar; and new addition
on bass Ron Reedy. After dropping a second guitarist position, the
band now features a leaner, more stripped down and tighter sound, evolving
into a four-piece line-up. The result is a more blended, jelling effect
with even stronger, more polished harmonies. Kindling describes their
music as “purist country.” On stage, they completely look
the part, dressed in resplendent red checkered cowboy shirts, black
pants, cowboy hats and black sash ties. Their look is a key part of
their act and very much enhances the effect of the show.
Kindling’s music is very big on vocal harmonies and clever arrangements.
On Lynyrd Skynyrd's They Call Me the Breeze, the band gives it a countrified
twist to make it their own. With plaintive lead vocals, soaring harmonies
and pleasing melodies, there's tight, punchy percussion, wailing, crying
pedal steel, edgy and cutting lead and rhythm guitar work and a pounding,
rock solid bass line. On Ray Price's Heart's Over Mind, Baldwin's wailing
vocals and country shuffle beat and Suskind's smooth playing easily
filled Jollie’s dance floor. And it stayed that way for the rest
of the night.
First time visitor to a Kindling show was Greg Malby. He says this, "I'm
not really a country western guy, but they're good music and fun to
listen to. It's got a really good blend of swing and not too much tears-in-my-beer
stuff. It's uplifting. I'd listen to them again. We'd like to see them
again, and if I hadn't worn my sandals tonight, I'd be up there dancing."
An added treat to this show was guest gospel singing group GRIT-C (Girls-Raised-In-The-City),
featuring Jetta Smith, Jessica Brown and Mindy Tracy. With three-part
harmonies injected with gospel and bluegrass features, it was like
an old time gospel revival tent meeting when they sang.
Kindling has expanded their catalog of new material. Guitarist Gagliasso
explains,"We've added quite a bit of new material. We've added
more modern and older material with a new twist." He continues," We
want to get it as big as we can. It's getting better. We've got a good
following. We have a large email list to contact people. The band's
mission is still to bring honky-tonk to the city. We want to get the
younger crowd involved and broaden the appeal to all ages, not just
the C & W crowd. We've got swing, shuffles, blues, waltzes and
have added a bluegrass component by featuring GRIT-C."
Drummer Ron Baldwin talks about their new demo CD and recording studio
sessions; "The studio session is soon to come up. We want to have
a real good CD. We'll have at least 12-15 songs. There will be Ray
Price cuts, Brad Paisley, Jimmy Buffet and George Strait. It'll have
a Texas swing and traditional country sound. We're hoping to have it
ready by the end of the summer." He talks about his role in the
band; "I love harmonies and a good dance and a personal touch
to my heart songs. I bring the rhythms and beat and feeling to the
sound. I started playing in 1958. I've done country to rock and roll
to Tahoe, Vegas and Reno and I've had my own showband on the east coast." He
lists some of his influences as Otis Redding, James Brown and Merle
Haggard.
New bass player Ron Reedy talks about how he came to Kindling; "About
20 years ago I worked with Robin. We lost touch and just recently ran
into each other again. We decided to get back together. This is a group
that's really into quality sound. We're trying to look at all aspects.
We're trying to stay true to the country roots. We've all played for
many years. My dad taught me a couple of chords when I was 12, then
the Beatles came and it just went from there. I've worked with various
bands. I just try to push the sound out as far as I can and get the
people dancing. I work off the drummer. And we work off each other.
When it's working, we're in our zone. It seems like we're all on the
same wave length and heading in the same direction. These guys are
some of the best musicians in town!"
Steel pedal player Robin Suskin describes his role; "The pedal
steel and fiddle are the essence of country music. The steel as an
instrument went from being slide guitar to the instrument it is now.
All the great classic country bands like Ernest Tubbs and the Cherokee
Cowboys all had the greatest steel players that ever lived. I'm a very
old time classic player. I play like it was played 30 years ago. I
try for authenticity. A well crafted tone is a really important part.
I think we have a very traditional, authentic ‘50/’60s
west coast Bakersfield sound. We want to keep it authentic. This for
me is a musical tonic. It's unproduced and raw." Suskind was one
of the original founders of the band Pure Prairie League and is perhaps
the premier steel pedal player in the Pacific Northwest, if not the
nation.
With an authentic, classic, country-western swing and shuffle sound,
you can rely on plenty of dancing at a Kindling show and with a sharp,
professional country look, you can depend on hearing real, authentic
country western. You can bank on that. Catch one of their shows and
you'll experience what real, authentic country western music is all
about. (See Bandstand for
schedule.)
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