Mt. Thelonious

If you’re looking for a little midweek pick-me-up Wednesday night, check out Mt. Thelonious at Coffee Gallery Backstage.
The Pasadena native boasts a long career in the three-piece band hailing from the musical city of St. Louis, formed a few years back out of the desire to create something new. They decided to break out of the mold that educated jazz musicians are supposed to fill, and by all critical accounts they’re succeeding. With each member possessing a heavy jazz background, the band incorporates a mixed brew of klezmer, bluegrass and traditional rock and roll. That eclectic blend of Americana has caused enough of a buzz to keep the band on a busy touring schedule, as the threesome is currently on a wide-ranging national tour.

The live show keeps the critics and crowds showing up, with each show featuring unexpected musical twists and turns. The repertoire boasts a combination of inventive originals with reworked classic covers, keeping the shows consistently fresh.

The band’s self-titled debut CD is available at mtthelonious.com.

Music starts at 8 p.m. at Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena. Tickets are $15. Call (626) 798-6236 for tickets and visit coffeegallery.com for information. - Pasadena Weekly

Mt. Thelonious

The members of Mt. Thelonious are Alyssa Avery (violin), Ian Lubar (guitar and vocals) and Mark Wallace (bass). Recently, the group recorded a nine-song disc, featuring eight originals and the production skills of the well-regarded Adam Long. In many respects, the work was created for a very specific reason: a 16-date tour that the band was undertaking this summer. Figuring that they needed a little bit of product to help keep the gas tank full, the band went into Long’s studio with a good idea of the songs they wanted to perform and how they wanted them to sound.

The sessions with Long yielded a CD that did the trick. All along the band’s tour, the group found receptive audiences, folks willing to give a chance to the band in the live setting and via disc. Perhaps not all of their club shows were smashes; as a band touring for the first time, a few slow nights were had, but those were generally offset by busking sessions during the day hours. One in New Orleans, for example, was a highlight, the band pouring out songs on a street corner to an enthusiastic audience.

“The bar set is very low,” Wallace figures. “It’s a wino with a trombone. If you’re better than a wino with a trombone, you’re a success.”

In fact (and, of course, it goes without saying), the band’s got a much-higher ceiling than that. All three are alumni of Webster University’s music program and have been gigging around town in different variations since graduation; both Avery and Wallace, in fact, play in different configurations with Tommy Halloran, featured in this month’s St. Louis Magazine print edition. (A story which you can also read here.) While still hustling after paying gigs in the hometown, Wallace believes that the recent roadwork confirmed for him that, “you can make a living as a musician in St. Louis.”

Of course, that takes hard work and talent and a bit of luck, too. And friends can help. On this count, they’re covered a bit, having intersected with a variety of creative types in their years at Webster, including videographers, filmmakers and web designers. Their site, for instance, is a handsome one, drawn up by a friend; they’ve dipped their toes into promo videos on YouTube, too, crafted by friend. And they’re looking to take the next step on that level shortly, with video work that goes beyond the simple live-with-instruments variety.

There was more to our conversation, a good discussion, at that.

One thing not sketched out here, maybe not even hinted at, is a notion of how the group sounds. That’s always a bit of a challenge, anyway. They, as a group, call it “American Music,” and that’s a fantastic umbrella term for it. But since our own words are soggy and our descriptive powers feel equally soft, we’ll let the digital style of storytelling make the case for us, with this video for the song “Good Day Sir,” filmed by Randy Hall and recorded by Kevin Cheli: - STL Magazine

Mt. Thelonious plays acoustic music on acoustic instruments, which may lead to a knee-jerk "folk" appellation before you hear the first note. It's a big enough umbrella to cover this three-piece, which flirts with a good-sized range of American music on its first full-length. Ian Lubar (vocals and guitar), Alyssa Avery (violin and vocals) and Mark Wallace (upright bass) are precise stylists, with Avery and Wallace usually showing deference to Lubar's passionate playing and full-bodied delivery.

The great thing about a band this small is that each part is so neatly prescribed — the guitar drives the rhythm, the violin carries the melody, and the bass buoys each song with sonorous, resonant low-end. That's not as limiting as it may sound — Lubar throws in some light flamenco pastiches in "No Disrespect," which takes the tension off of his strings from a little too much flurried strumming. That song finds Avery pulling some throaty double stops and what sounds like a pizzicato solo. Later on the disc, Lubar shows a bit more deftness in the plucked intro to "Signs of Mine," and Wallace's upright bass adds a nice harmonic counterpoint to Avery's gentle, sawing rhythm. The formula is established in each song, but Mt. Thelonious is smart enough to subvert it in small, subtle ways. (And some not-so-subtle ways — "Signs of Mine" turns on its head and becomes a Klezmer hoedown in its final minutes.) The sole cover on the disc is, suitably enough, a traditional ballad. "In the Pines" has been kicked around for the better part of a century, though Gen X-ers on down probably know it best as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" as covered by Nirvana on its MTV Unplugged watershed moment. The Mt. Thelonious version walks a line between the tortured strums of a cuckolded junkie and the Appalachian strains of the fiddle line. On this self-titled LP, Mt. Thelonious proves itself apt at playing with forms of folk music without sticking to one set path. - Riverfront Times

On Sunday morning, I borrowed a small, handmade notebook. It was a tiny thing, one of those cool little books you pick up for a pittance at a local craft show, before it settles into an empty existence at the bottom of a drawer. I tried to give the book some love, starting it out with interviews with the group Mt. Thelonious and the songwriter of The Defeated County, Langen Neubacher. On Monday morning, it appeared that the notebook, only granted new life a day prior, had met a watery fate in the depths of a washing machine.

Tragic on many levels.

But having just conducted the talks a day prior to sitting down at the computer, I feel confident that I can at least give a few highlights and background bits about the new releases by Mt. Thelonious and The Defeated County. Here goes! Wish me luck!

Mt. Thelonious

The members of Mt. Thelonious are Alyssa Avery (violin), Ian Lubar (guitar and vocals) and Mark Wallace (bass). Recently, the group recorded a nine-song disc, featuring eight originals and the production skills of the well-regarded Adam Long. In many respects, the work was created for a very specific reason: a 16-date tour that the band was undertaking this summer. Figuring that they needed a little bit of product to help keep the gas tank full, the band went into Long’s studio with a good idea of the songs they wanted to perform and how they wanted them to sound.

The sessions with Long yielded a CD that did the trick. All along the band’s tour, the group found receptive audiences, folks willing to give a chance to the band in the live setting and via disc. Perhaps not all of their club shows were smashes; as a band touring for the first time, a few slow nights were had, but those were generally offset by busking sessions during the day hours. One in New Orleans, for example, was a highlight, the band pouring out songs on a street corner to an enthusiastic audience.

“The bar set is very low,” Wallace figures. “It’s a wino with a trombone. If you’re better than a wino with a trombone, you’re a success.”

In fact (and, of course, it goes without saying), the band’s got a much-higher ceiling than that. All three are alumni of Webster University’s music program and have been gigging around town in different variations since graduation; both Avery and Wallace, in fact, play in different configurations with Tommy Halloran, featured in this month’s St. Louis Magazine print edition. (A story which you can also read here.) While still hustling after paying gigs in the hometown, Wallace believes that the recent roadwork confirmed for him that, “you can make a living as a musician in St. Louis.”

Of course, that takes hard work and talent and a bit of luck, too. And friends can help. On this count, they’re covered a bit, having intersected with a variety of creative types in their years at Webster, including videographers, filmmakers and web designers. Their site, for instance, is a handsome one, drawn up by a friend; they’ve dipped their toes into promo videos on YouTube, too, crafted by friend. And they’re looking to take the next step on that level shortly, with video work that goes beyond the simple live-with-instruments variety.

There was more to our conversation, a good discussion, at that.

One thing not sketched out here, maybe not even hinted at, is a notion of how the group sounds. That’s always a bit of a challenge, anyway. They, as a group, call it “American Music,” and that’s a fantastic umbrella term for it. But since our own words are soggy and our descriptive powers feel equally soft, we’ll let the digital style of storytelling make the case for us, with this video for the song “Good Day Sir,” filmed by Randy Hall and recorded by Kevin Cheli: - St. Louis Magazine

Mt. Thelonious plays acoustic music on acoustic instruments, which may lead to a knee-jerk "folk" appellation before you hear the first note. It's a big enough umbrella to cover this three-piece, which flirts with a good-sized range of American music on its first full-length. Ian Lubar (vocals and guitar), Alyssa Avery (violin and vocals) and Mark Wallace (upright bass) are precise stylists, with Avery and Wallace usually showing deference to Lubar's passionate playing and full-bodied delivery.

The great thing about a band this small is that each part is so neatly prescribed — the guitar drives the rhythm, the violin carries the melody, and the bass buoys each song with sonorous, resonant low-end. That's not as limiting as it may sound — Lubar throws in some light flamenco pastiches in "No Disrespect," which takes the tension off of his strings from a little too much flurried strumming. That song finds Avery pulling some throaty double stops and what sounds like a pizzicato solo. Later on the disc, Lubar shows a bit more deftness in the plucked intro to "Signs of Mine," and Wallace's upright bass adds a nice harmonic counterpoint to Avery's gentle, sawing rhythm. The formula is established in each song, but Mt. Thelonious is smart enough to subvert it in small, subtle ways. (And some not-so-subtle ways — "Signs of Mine" turns on its head and becomes a Klezmer hoedown in its final minutes.)

The sole cover on the disc is, suitably enough, a traditional ballad. "In the Pines" has been kicked around for the better part of a century, though Gen X-ers on down probably know it best as "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" as covered by Nirvana on its MTV Unplugged watershed moment. The Mt. Thelonious version walks a line between the tortured strums of a cuckolded junkie and the Appalachian strains of the fiddle line. On this self-titled LP, Mt. Thelonious proves itself apt at playing with forms of folk music without sticking to one set path.
- Riverfront Times

If you’re looking for a little midweek pick-me-up Wednesday night, check out Mt. Thelonious at Coffee Gallery Backstage.
The Pasadena native boasts a long career in the three-piece band hailing from the musical city of St. Louis, formed a few years back out of the desire to create something new. They decided to break out of the mold that educated jazz musicians are supposed to fill, and by all critical accounts they’re succeeding. With each member possessing a heavy jazz background, the band incorporates a mixed brew of klezmer, bluegrass and traditional rock and roll. That eclectic blend of Americana has caused enough of a buzz to keep the band on a busy touring schedule, as the threesome is currently on a wide-ranging national tour.

The live show keeps the critics and crowds showing up, with each show featuring unexpected musical twists and turns. The repertoire boasts a combination of inventive originals with reworked classic covers, keeping the shows consistently fresh. - Pasadena Weekly