Editorial
Front Page - Friday, February 11, 2011
River City Roundabout
Get the gist
Erica Tuggle
The best way to describe the new local band “The Gist” is to say they sound familiar, and like many other bands you’ve heard before. Yet, at the same time, the way they sound from one song to the next makes them about as versatile, new and fresh sounding as anything out there.
The Gist played a show at Rhythm and Brews on January 26 that made the audience stand up and pay attention to this relatively unheard of group.
Unfortunately, I caught a winter cold and was down for the count the day of the show and the weekend afterward. Through the wonders of technology, I was still able to see The Gist show through a recording made by a FlipShare camera, providing great audio and visual of this new local act.
The Gist describes their style as a blend of rock with jazz chords and progressions mixed throughout. Listening to their set though, I would say they have a lot more going on than just jazz and rock ‘n’ roll. One song was undeniably a slow dance jazz tune, but the next tune was so upbeat and playfully chaotic, it sounded like I was at a ska concert.
During one of their songs, “Not Perfect,” I couldn’t figure out who the sound reminded me of. Later, I placed the song to be similar to Sonic Youth noise rock, and recall the song as being my favorite in their set.
“We improv’ when the groove is there, but we’re not just going to jam aimlessly for hours,” says Roger S. Lux, who plays rhythm guitar and sings for The Gist.
“Our [improvisation] is our strength,” Lux says. “This is the first band I’ve been a part of where each member was listening to what the other members where doing. We literally come from four completely different backgrounds with almost nothing, personally, in common other than a love of music.”
Having almost nothing in common may account for how different all of their songs turn out from one another, producing a great blend of variety that many different audiences can enjoy.
The other members of The Gist are Van Todd as the jazz drummer; Jose Perfecto, a classically trained bassist; and Jeremy Matthews, a lead guitarist who was almost strictly into metal until this project came together.
Lux says being the son of a preacher, he had the opportunity to sing starting at adolescence. He attended 19 schools in six states before dropping out in the ninth grade. He’s worked as a boiler-maker, truck-driver, welder, cook and server among many other things.
The Gist came together through the power of Craig’s List except for Matthews, whom Lux has known since high school, and proudly takes credit for bringing him in on this project.
Lux is now also currently and permanently a father and husband, he says.
His commitment to the band goes so far as to result in his recent ban from Facebook messaging for sending out too many invites to friends for the recent show, Lux admitted during the set.
“I want to blow this town completely up. I want to draw huge crowds of locals and see waves move through the crowd when they finally get The Gist,” he says.
During the show, one of the notable songs was “Dance With the One Who Brought You,” a ska sounding melody that wrapped up the set. There was also “Circle A,” that was dedicated to the recently deceased zoo chimpanzee, Hank. “Rusty Bet” was an ode to Ft. Oglethorpe and included a long and pleasant groove session within its core. Another one of my personal favorites was the tune “Needs Air” that featured heavy bass with lots of interesting sounding guitar tweaks throughout.
The band also showcased their talent with an instrumental piece that was titled simply “Cool Jam Session.” The title and the playing spoke for itself.
The Gist is definitely going to be a band to pay attention to as they begin to hone their skills, write more songs and share their wide range of musical styles and
sounds with Chattanooga. The
next show for The Gist is Feb-ruary 18 at Rhythm and Brews, starting at 10 p.m., with the group Moon Taxi also playing.
The Gist will have another show March 2, starting at 9:30 p.m., at The Honest Pint. This venue is a relatively new one, located near the corner of Georgia Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard The Gist will be playing a must see show there with local favorites, The Cadillac Saints, a five-piece southern rock and blues band.
For more information on The Gist shows and band information, check them out on Facebook. Email Erica Tuggle at reporter@hamiltoncountyherald.com.
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