Fat Opie (featuring Scott Mickelson)

FAT OPIE

Scott Mickelson - vocals, guitar, banjo
Robin Hildebrant – bass, background vocals, Moog
Dave Tavel – drums, percussion

This year San Francisco band FAT OPIE celebrates twenty years and more than five full-length records. Lead by singer/songwriter Scott Mickelson, they continue to paint both musical and lyrical portraits of contemporary life as an American. Known for varied instrumentations, and far-reaching production they continue to have a finger on the pulse of the fragmented culture here in the US. This is most evident in their latest release Victoryville already being hailed as their most important record.

Their debut CD Biscuits was recorded and mixed at The Plant Studios during the Thanksgiving weekend of 1994. This grunge rock record gained them a management deal with Lookout Management (Neil Young). The follow up release Hipsters, Freaks, Fags & Homeboys (1995) introduced the banjo, which is now a significant part of their sound. This, combined with their rock sensibility, brought FAT OPIE well deserved national recognition. The alternative rock CD Airstream (1999) triggered some of their biggest successes including the song “Bullets in My Briefcase” which won a national band search sponsored by 7UP/Sonicnet (MTV). This included a prize of $15,000. Also the song “Mouth Like a Trucker” was featured in the motion picture Along The Way. In 2002, the band downsized to the trio we see today and they released the stripped-down, acoustic CD Otis.

Then the music stopped for several years when singer/songwriter Scott Mickelson became seriously ill. During that time bassist Robin Hildebrant began building his own home recording studio. In 2008, Mickelson, Hildebrant and Tavel tracked two new singles the first of which “New Orleans”, led to an international distribution deal and a re-release of their growing catalogue. In 2010 they began performing again and began the work on Victoryville.

MEDIA QUOTES

“It's American folk-Rock with a post punk edge, rustic but scarred.” - Alternative Press Magazine

“Fat Opie's music is so catchy and tight, it's surprising the band is still playing venues as small as this one.” - San Francisco Weekly

“While Fat Opie’s sweet-sounding American folk-rock hits are undeniably catchy, it’s the profound messages within them that have struck a chord with the band’s loyal followers. Like a modern day Woody Guthrie, Mickelson tackles America’s polarizing views of illegal immigration in “Crying in Spanish,” discusses living with depression in “Monster In The Room,” and even sings from the perspective of a window washer working in New York City after 9/11 in “Nicorette.”
- Good Times Weekly (Santa Cruz)

“When punks do folk music: Fat Opie is Scott Mickelson, Robin Hildebrant, and Dave Tavel, and punk-folk, if that’s even possible, is how they sound. And by that I mean not just a punk band that went unplugged, but one that actually forged the gap into front-porch Americana and retained attitude.”
- San Diego Reader

“Music has been described as Thom Yorke and Jeff Tweedy had a baby and named it Mumford.”
- New Times (San Luis Obispo)

“Fat Opie completes this trio of national-quality acts with a set of tunes that is more overtly rock even if they make use of banjos and mandolin. They successfully translate a modern sensibility.”
- Willamette Weekly (Portland)

Hipsters, Freaks, Fags & Homeboys by Fat Opie. Rating: 5
This album entwines precision percussion, searing guitar, playful mandolin and banjo, meaty bass and soothsayer lyrics into a story of life. Could be anyone's life. Probably is yours. Fat Opie followed up with an even more masterful endeavor - “Airstream”.
- www.woodstock.com

“Tight, catchy and tangy with twangy.” - Tucson Weekly