Jul. 25, 2012 - Issue #875: Shout Out Out Out Out
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club
Fri, Jul 27 (8 pm)
New City $8 in advance, $10 at the door
Slim Cessna's Auto Club has been called many things since its inception in 1992, but amidst all the labels, which have included everything from gothabilly to alt-country, it comes down to a good dose of Americana folk.
Lead vocalist and founding member Slim grew up listening to Johnny Cash prior to being introduced to the likes of The Dead Kennedys as a teenager in the '80s, and the eclectic mix of the band creates a unique sound that roots itself deeply in folk storytelling.
"I don't really believe in the whole idea of genre, because especially in this day and age, in the times we live in, we all have access to the Internet. The whole world is literally right in front of us. We're not locked in little mountain communities with banjos and mandolins anymore," Slim notes. "We tell stories about our people and where we come from and who we are and what we're influenced by in the same way as the folk music tradition."
Just as the band's sound is an eclectic mix, so are its members. Slim is the only one who's been with it since the beginning and jokes that his stubbornness is likely the key to its longevity. For him, Slim Cessna's Auto Club has been one big evolving family of friends, with different versions of the band hitting the road at any given time. Each member has their own side projects as well, which he says is like a constant juggling act and people making sacrifices to make it all possible.
The hard work has culminated into the group's latest album Unentitled, which Slim admits surfaced out of a brief moment where the band was feeling a little sorry for themselves. The band has gained a loyal fan base and critical acclaim at SXSW, and Slim adds he doesn't feel like anyone owes him anything, but it was essentially a fun moment of joking they were the unentitled, rather than the ones who seem to have the world at their feet at the snap of a finger.
"We don't make music that strives for mass appeal ... I don't even think we know how to do that, which is OK, so we're the ones that will always be working," he says. "There's always going to be a really small percentage of the population that will get it, or that will want to get it, and that's OK for us."
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