Tag: James & the Ultrasounds

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Jeremy Stanfill’s New Sound

Jeremy Stanfill (Photo: Jamie Harmon | Amurica)

For those who love live Memphis music, Jeremy Stanfill has been a familiar presence for over a decade, often as a drummer for either Star & Micey or James & the Ultrasounds, or, in more recent years, as a singer-songwriter. And Stanfill, sporting a denim jacket, looking a little weathered, toting an acoustic guitar, fits the latter role perfectly. His words, his voice, and a few strummed chords are all he needs to put the songs over in a room. But if you’ve only heard Stanfill in solitary troubadour mode, you’re in for a surprise. 

Over the course of the summer, he’s quietly been releasing another side of his sound, and it reveals just how expansive his musical imagination is. Don’t be surprised if you hear him on the radio one day soon. With three singles dropping on streaming services this year (so far), Stanfill has unveiled a new, confident approach that is unquestionably pop. July’s “4403 (Time Machine)” sports a slow disco beat, percolating synths, and the singer’s plaintive falsetto; the crunchy classic rock guitar underpinning last month’s “Wild Heart” spins a moody vibe for Stanfill’s tough/tender vocals; and the most recent, “Moving Day,” starts with his solo voice, then gives way to keyboard flourishes and stacked harmonies, complete with subtle pitch-correct effects. 

But unlike some rookies hungering for stardom, Stanfill came to this glossy soundscape organically. At heart, he’s a deeply personal songwriter, and that has not changed even as he’s upped his production game. Even those recordings were the result of his long-standing friendships with fellow Memphians Elliott Ives and Scott Hardin, both studio-savvy engineers/producers/musicians who’ve worked in the big leagues (Ives with Justin Timberlake, Hardin with bands like Drew Holcomb, Saliva, and Drivin N Cryin). 

“We’ve all been friends forever,” says Stanfill of the trio, “and we’ve always wanted to work together. We just haven’t had the time or it just didn’t work out until now, but we have so much love and respect for each other. We were connected to Elliott through Young Avenue Sound because Star & Micey were connected to Young Avenue Sound early on.”

Young Avenue Sound, in turn, was where they made the magic happen. But it wasn’t all fun and games. Stanfill was still reeling from a series of hits his life had taken after 2015. “I had a lot of things happen,” he says. “I got really bad off with drinking, then ended up getting sober. My mom passed away. I was in a long-term relationship that was falling apart just as I got a small record deal. I ended up making the record, but then chose to walk away from it. I thought it was the best thing for me as an artist — I just wasn’t happy with it. But I was still thinking, ‘I want to make something.’ So I called Scott and Elliott.”

Stanfill’s old friends knew he’d abandoned one album already. “They were like, ‘Do you want to re-record what you just did, and make it sound really good? Or would you like to throw caution to the wind and just see what we can come up with and be creative?’ I was like, ‘I want to do that: be creative, and feel like I did when I was a kid, and be excited about music again.’”

From there, “we started building these songs together. ‘Wild Heart’ was already written, but the other ones were built from scratch. We weren’t trying to make a record or anything at the time. I just wanted to make something different, and I just wanted to change the gears. And immediately there was this magical chemistry.”

In the finished products, Stanfill’s sincere folk disposition becomes larger than life through the trio’s collaboration. And, he says, there’s more on the way. For now, there are the online singles, with two of them (“4403” and “Wild Heart”) slated for a vinyl 45 release on October 30th. That will be celebrated with a Memphis Listening Lab premiere party on the day of release. Meanwhile, Stanfill carries on in troubadour mode, playing Music Export Memphis’ Tambourine Bash at the Overton Park Shell on October 10th, and opening for Bailey Bigger at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts on Halloween. 

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Music Record Reviews

James Godwin Serves Up Homemade Musical Gumbo with Eclectic Ingredients

Most Memphians know James Godwin by his first name, as in James & the Ultrasounds. (Full disclosure: I was an Ultrasound from 2017-2019). He was a good front man for that now-retired combo, in all its permutations, with his movie star looks and the voice of a fur trapper. He sang like he was shouting from the mountaintops, and that served him well when backed by the powerhouse band that originally included skin-slammer John Argroves, later replaced by Star & Micey’s Jeremy Stanfill.

Now, having put the band in the deep freeze well before COVID-19, Godwin is unleashing his solo work on the world. His opening pitch is the five-song EP Hog Jowl, released just last week, and right out of the gate it’s clear that the Ultrasounds are absent.

This is a good thing. The end result is that this feels unmistakably like an artist with no expectations or limits. Certainly the Ultrasounds could indulge in a bit of sonic chaos, but rarely did it compare to the bewildering, distorted slide guitar that defines the title track, which is closer to, say, Sonic Youth when high on barbecue. Even as a musician, I was disoriented. And, in terms of thinking outside the box, that’s a good thing.

The title song still sports Godwin’s throaty drawl, ragged but right. But the key difference is that, unlike the Ultrasounds, this is all Godwin, all the time. Most one man band records (except, perhaps, for those by multi-instrumentalists like Stevie Wonder or New Memphis Colorways) must needs sacrifice some of the drive of a full band, and this is no exception. Godwin does a serviceable job on bass and drums, naturally, but the lack of push-and-pull, of different players vying for a position within the beat, means that there’s a certain wooziness to the proceedings.

James Godwin

That fits the material to a tee. The songs range from the unhinged slide guitar of the opener to the rockabilly/gospel shuffle of “Down to the Valley” to the funky jam “Beans for Breakfast.” Recorded at “the Rainbow Recording Lounge,” these all have a homespun charm that makes the musical content as unpredictable as stone soup, made with whatever leftovers happen to be in Godwin’s fridge.

Nothing is as unpredictable as the very un-Ultrasounds-sounding closer, “Only I Know.” As an acoustic guitar lazily strums airy chords, Godwin’s voice exposes his tender side more than ever before. The shambolic musical reverie is a refreshing turn, spotlighting his most intimate lyrics to date. In all, as the song says, “it feels like it should.” Quarantine or no, this new approach gives free rein to Godwin’s imagination and promises many new surprises to come. 

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Music Music Blog

Madjack Records: 20 Years of Homespun Magic

Pawtuckets

In the early ’90s Mark Edgar Stuart, then a college student on an orchestra scholarship, picked up a copy of the Flyer, read an ad, and joined a band. “I was reading the Memphis Flyer one day, and there was an ad in the classifieds, ‘bass player wanted,’” Stuart says. “I never in a million years would I have answered a bass player wanted ad, except it said ‘influences — the Band and Blue Mountain.’” Stuart, who had expected to see a list of cheesy metal bands, says his interest was piqued. The ’90s alt-country movement hadn’t really gotten off the ground yet, but Blue Mountain was making some waves in Oxford — and of course Stuart knew the Band. “I called the number” Stuart says. “I wasn’t even interested in being in a band. It’s just one of those serendipitous things.” Thus began the career of the Pawtuckets, who will reunite after 18 years this Saturday to headline the Madjack Records 20th anniversary concert at Railgarten.

The beginnings of the Pawtuckets are relevant (beyond providing proof of the merits of regularly checking out the Flyer) because the Pawtuckets, and Stuart, are inextricably tied to the history of Madjack Records.

“Around 1998, with our second record, [Rest of Our Days], we decided to start a record label,” Stuart says. “It didn’t really mean much at the time. … It was just a vehicle to put out the Pawtuckets record.” With Stuart on bass and Kevin Cubbins handling guitar and pedal steel duties, the Pawtuckets were helmed by the dual songwriting talents of guitarist Mark McKinney and pianist/guitarist Andy Grooms. Percussion was handled by a rotating cast of drummers. “McKinney had a dog named Madison, and Andy Grooms had a dog named Jackpot,” Stuart remembers. “So we said let’s just name the label Madjack after the two dogs.”

Jamie Harmon

Mark Edgar Stuart

Though Stuart confesses to being more interested, at the time, in playing bass and drinking beer than in business, he says McKinney had bigger ideas and took a more serious interest in Madjack. Before too long, Madjack had signed Cory Branan and Lucero, a band the Pawtuckets often shared bills with. Co-owner Ronny Russell joined the Madjack scene to help McKinney with the business side of things. Says Stuart, “It just sprouted wings after that.”
Joshua Black-Wilkins

Cory Branan

Eventually the Pawtuckets disbanded, but Madjack soldiered on. The label continued to grow and to represent Memphis talent, through the CD boom, after the advent of the downloadable mp3, into the age of online streaming. “We definitely had to evolve,” Russell says. And still Madjack has signed Memphis artists like James and the Ultrasounds, Susan Marshall, and Jana Misener, up to and including Stuart’s recently released third album, Mad at Love, recorded in part at Scott Bomar’s Electraphonic Recording studio in Memphis and in part with Bruce Watson of Fat Possum in Mississippi.

Susan Marshall

 Stuart, who began his Memphis music career playing upright bass in an orchestra pit, has transformed again in the past few years with the growth of an unexpected singer/songwriter career. “I just started the singer/songwriter thing about six years ago,” Stuart says. “Up until that point I was just a bass player. I played for the Pawtuckets and Cory [Branan], Alvin Youngblood Hart, and just whoever needed a bass player,” Stuart says, listing an impressive curriculum vitae. He adds two more Memphis heavy hitters: Jack Oblivian and John Paul Keith.

“If you’d told me 10 years ago I’d be doing what I’m doing now, I would have told you you were crazy,” Stuart says. “Then in about 2011, I got cancer and lost my dad and it just inspired me to try to do something different.” Stuart says he felt like he had something to write about and a more mature viewpoint to bring to his craft. Around this time, with his 2013 debut solo LP, Blues for Lou, Stuart first pinged my radar. I remember hearing “Remote Control” on the radio, and pulling over to the side of the road to listen. I imagine I’m not the only one who’s been so affected by Stuart’s powerful songwriting. Stuart will perform his solo material at the anniversary show in two sets — a full band set and a stripped-down songwriter set — as well as joining Jana Misener and Krista Wroten-Combest and the Pawtuckets on bass. 

James & the Ultrasounds

“I never thought [the Pawtuckets] would get back together, but this seemed like the perfect moment,” Stuart says of the Pawtuckets reunion show set to close out the festivities at the Madjack anniversary shindig Saturday. “We haven’t played together since 2000, and we haven’t played with the original drummer since 1998, so it has been 20 years since we played with the original lineup.” With the Pawtuckets reunion concert and brand-new and soon-to-be-released albums from several of the artists in the Madjack arsenal, the anniversary show should present a mix of old and new sounds from the Memphis label.

Madjack Records celebrates 20 years at Railgarten Saturday, October 20th, at 1 p.m. Free.

Lineup:
Wampus Cats – Outdoor Stage – 1:00 – 2:00p
Jed Zimmerman – Outdoor Stage – 2:00 – 2:45p
Corduroy & the Cottonwoods – Pong Bar – 2:45 – 3:30p
Keith Sykes – Outdoor Stage – 3:00 – 3:45p
Delta Joe Sanders – Pong Bar – 3:45 – 4:30p
Mark Edgar Stuart (solo) – Outdoor Stage – 4:00 – 4:45p
Rob Jungklas – Pong Bar – 4:45 – 5:30p
James & the Ultrasounds – Outdoor Stage – 5:00 – 5:45p
Eric & Andy – Pong Bar – 5:45 – 6:30p
Susan Marshall – Outdoor Stage – 6:00 – 6:45p
TN Boltsmokers – Pong Bar – 6:30 – 7:15p
McKenna Bray – Outdoor Stage – 6:45 – 7:30p
Mark Edgar Stuart (band) – Pong Bar – 7:45 – 8:45p
Jana & Krista of Memphis Dawls – Outdoor Stage – 8:00 – 8:45p
Cory Branan – Outdoor Stage – 9:00 – 10:00p
Pawtuckets – Pong Bar – 10:00 – 11:00p

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Music Record Reviews

James & the Ultrasounds: None of the Above and Then Some

“I never cared for the typical; I kind of like being difficult,” sings James Godwin of James and the Ultrasounds on “None of the Above,” the opening track of the new album of the same name. As a statement of ethos, it’s a fitting introduction to an album that won’t sit still long enough to be easily categorized. Still, the song kicks off the record with a flurry of electric guitars; there’s a hint of surf rock in the drums, a little bit of slap-back somewhere in the mix.

Godwin sounds soulful as hell and just shy of coming completely unwound. I can almost see his wide shirt collar and the sheen of sweat plastering hair to his forehead as David Johnson, the band’s gangly bassist, bops around onstage, feeling the bounce in the groove. The song sounds like rock-and-roll should, like it’s blasting out of a glowing jukebox in a crowded, smoky room, even though it’s just my computer and my headphones, played at a reasonable volume. It sounds like the same James and the Ultrasounds I’ve seen in at least half a dozen dives. But the Ultrasounds have done some growing, and as None of the Above keeps playing, it shows.

None of the Above, released by Madjack Records, is the Ultrasounds’ second full-length album, the follow-up to 2014’s excellent Bad to Be Here. Recorded at Electraphonic Recording and produced by Memphis songwriting and guitar-picking heavyweight John Paul Keith (whose Memphis Circa 3 a.m. is a personal favorite), None of the Above spools out a quick succession of tight tracks, seemingly effortlessly. There’s a definite swagger to the songs on the Ultrasounds’ newest release.

But added attitude isn’t the only difference. The band has undergone some lineup changes, with the departure of guitarist and backing vocalist Luke White. “I’m grateful for all of the musicians in my life,” Godwin says. “I’ve learned a lot from all of them.” To help flesh out the sound for the album, Godwin recruited Flyer music editor Alex Greene, a bandmate from a previous combo, to contribute organ and piano and some rhythm guitar. The organ riffs, plaintive and soul-drenched, would be right at home on a soul song cut over at Royal Studios. The instrument adds a layer to the Ultrasounds’ sound, especially on tracks like “Nowhere to Go” and “Drop the Act.”

None of the Above shows off a side of the Ultrasounds that’s sometimes eclipsed by the ferocity of their rock-and-roll cool. And the band is cool, cool as a Ramones movie or sweat on a bottle of beer, but they can be tender, too. At first glance, they’re all suit jackets and sunglasses at night, telecasters and stories of hard-partying Serbian concert promoters, but great performers know when to take off the shades and show a little vulnerability. James and the Ultrasounds’ second album slows down long enough to show off some Southern soul and old-school country that’s always been a part of the band’s musical make-up.

Godwin traces his tastes back to quiet moments in childhood, times when his grandmother would, if only for a little peace and quiet, tell him to sit still and just listen. “My earliest musical memories are sitting in my grandmother’s house when I was four or five. I would get into stuff, and she would tell me to sit there and be quiet and listen to her music,” Godwin remembers. “She was always playing Patsy Cline or Charlie Pride, always sad stuff. Day after day, I would hear it.

“The country influence has always been there,” Godwin says. “Touring with J.P. [Keith], we’d always listen to old country stuff in his van.” A veteran of a slew of Memphis bands, Godwin used to play bass for Keith. Bad to Be Here’s rollicking “Party Dracula” was inspired by a promoter Godwin met while on tour oversees with Keith’s bad. And perhaps some of the cohesion of None of the Above is a result of so many hours already spent together, a shared set of musical references. “John Paul told me one time ‘There’s one band in Memphis, and we’re all in it,’” Godwin laughs.

“I was his go-to bass player for a good handful of years. I’ve still to this day probably played more shows with him on stage than with anyone else,” says Godwin. “We’ve covered a lot of ground together, from Memphis to Serbia and everywhere in between.” Whatever the reason, there’s a confidence on display on None of the Above that hints at an easy connection between everyone involved. These songs are tight enough to make the listener suspect the musicians and producer shared a telepathic connection.

“I’ve got 27 different jobs, but I still don’t like my odds of getting my money back,” Godwin sings on “New Subtraction.” Drummer John Argroves’ tight tom work on and the doubled guitar lines during the song’s instrumental turnaround evoke a frantic energy that feels like being out of luck and out of gas on the baking asphalt of a Memphis street corner. “New Subtraction” is the Ultrasounds at their unrestrained best, but the band somehow manages to turn up the heat still more a little later in the record.

Keith brought in the award-winning Billy Gibson, aka the Mississippi Saxophone, to contribute his much-lauded harmonica skills to “Am I Crazy.” Gibson channels the mood of the song, ripping riffs from his harmonica that sound fearlessly deranged. Gibson’s wailing harmonica sits on a bed of bumping bass and crunchy guitars. There’s plenty on display here for any fans of Bad to Be Here’s reckless rock-and-roll energy. For all the added subtlety of the new record, the Ultrasounds still know how to crank up the amps and wake up the crowd. Now they just know how to do it with harmonica, too.

“Drop the Act” is a soulful, heart-wrenching song, with Godwin pleading for honesty over warbling organs in 6/8 time. A motif runs through the lyrics on None of the Above, and it’s on full display on this track. Lovers leave, lies are told, money is in short supply, and there are sleepless nights to spare. Tires go flat and need to be repaired. But if Godwin sounds like someone who knows how it feels to be locked out, shaken up, and shaken down, he seems to know when to laugh off his bad luck and when to shoot straight with the listener, to admit “I suppose that much of the blame is mine.” As a result, no matter how dark it gets on None of the Above, the problems never appear insurmountable, and Godwin never shades into the maudlin.

If Bad to Be Here is the Ultrasounds’ punk-tinged rock-and-roll record, then None of the Above is the band plunging deep into the country and soul that were rock’s first influences, its grandfathers. For all the instrumental energy on display, the band puts the 11 songs on None of the Above through their paces with cool grace, almost making it look easy. And the addition of organ adds a frequency to the Ultrasounds’ sonic spectrum, opening up new spaces for the band to explore. The result is a matured sound that feels like an evolution for a mainstay of the Memphis music scene.

James and the Ultrasounds play an album release show for None of the Above at Bar DKDC, Friday, August 24th, at 10 p.m.