The Captain Midnight Band

In contrast to their predecessors of the weekend, The Captain Midnight Band offered up an entirely different
musical experience than any previous performers. Costumes adorned both the stage and the crowd. as far as the
eye could see. Although strange, the whimsical air established by the group endured for the rest of the festival. - DeGaetano
- Honest Tune 9/16/2010

...we were blown away by both their energy and humor. Some songs make you want to get up and dance, while others are rock that you must sit back and simply absorb. - themusicjunkies.com

...Part jam band, part American rock band in the Bob Seger and Tom Petty tradition, the band definitely induced some — to fish out a 1990 phrase — bouncing around the room. - Nashville Scene - Nashville Cream March 2011

In the middle part of the last century, Captain Midnight and his Secret Squadron successfully defended the country from all manner of threats in comic books, films and on the radio. More than 60 years later, Midnight's namesake is trying to keep the world safe for goofy, irreverent, funky rock-and-roll.

"We call it Waterbed Rock-and-Roll," says Midnight, who performs with his eponymous band at Newby's Saturday. "It's very of that era of the waterbed, very '70s-influenced, lighthearted but still with a lot of power. I'm equally into the Bee Gees as I am into KISS. There are aspects of both those bands that I love, not just visually and socially but musically. The crunchy guitars and high falsetto seem to work really together, and if you have a good groove on that, its hard for people not to get into it."
Captain Midnight, who performs with his band Saturday at Newby's, grew up in Oxford, Miss., the son of a college professor.

Captain Midnight, who performs with his band Saturday at Newby's, grew up in Oxford, Miss., the son of a college professor.

Like most good super heroes, Midnight comes from humble beginnings. He grew up in Oxford, Miss., the mild-mannered son of a college professor, but all along there was a wild inner rock god inside him waiting to come out. So when he strapped on a guitar in the early '90s to form the band Cardinal Fluff, he took on a new persona. Inspired less by the old '40s serial character than by the handle of John MacDougall, the television satellite technician who hijacked HBO's signal for a brief few minutes in 1986 to protest the cable channel's fees, he became the flamboyant Captain Midnight. And in true superhero style, when he took on the alter ego, it was to protect his loved ones.

"At the height of the grunge movement when everybody was real down on the sex and drugs aspect of sex and drugs and rock-and-roll, my friend and I had started this band to celebrate the insanity and fun of rock music," says Midnight, who still prefers to go by his stage name lest his parents have too much to explain. "(Our parents) were not real keen on us going out and singing about horizontal refreshment and statutory blues and wearing women's clothing and jumping off amplifiers in the town we all lived and they practiced in. So we took on aliases and disguised ourselves."

Cardinal Fluff was a popular regional draw for a few years, but disbanded when Midnight graduated college and moved to New Orleans. Though the band was no more, the name persevered. Midnight joined the New Orleans band Crönk, a hard-touring jam outfit that frequently performed with acts like Galactic and DJ Logic. And as the demands of the gig began to wear on him, the wall between Captain Midnight and his previous self began to crumble.

"The two personas kind of blended into one person," he says. "I didn't have the time or the energy or the wardrobe to maintain much of a difference. So it's really become this one kind of confused but happy character."

In 2003, while still playing in Crönk, Midnight started the first version of the Captain Midnight Band as a side project. Playing a fusion of hip-hop, jazz, and jam rock, the band released two EPs, but was still an afterthought for all involved until Hurricane Katrina presented Midnight with the opportunity to make it something more.

Midnight relocated to Nashville and recruited a new lineup of musicians, which he sometimes augments with a horn section or backup singers known as the Cosmic Trollops. The new band has slowly been earning a spot on the national jam scene, playing Arkansas' Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival and the upcoming Smilefest in North Carolina. They are currently part of a Nashville competition that could garner them a spot on the bill at Bonnaroo.

Since relocating, the group has also issued another EP and two full-length releases, including last year's Cardinal Fluff Rides Again!, which is mostly made up of songs from Midnight's Cardinal Fluff days.

"I'm still real proud of those songs," says Midnight. "It's interesting that some of the songs that we had written in Cardinal Fluff like 'Jug of Wine' and 'Statutory Blues,' when we were playing them in Oxford we had some fans that kind of liked 'em and thought, 'ha ha, that was funny.' But we just started playing 'Jug of Wine' in the Captain Midnight Band in the last year, and people are going nuts for it. It's really funny to me that this nearly 20-year-old song is finally getting the appreciation that I thought it always had deserved. It was definitely ahead of its time." - The Commercial Appeal - gomemphis.com

The Captain Midnight band from Nashville played an amazing set of their 70's inspired "waterbed rock and roll" music at Newby's on the Highland strip. While they were backed by a rhythm section that couldn't have been any tighter, the captain and keyboardist/vocalist Lil' Rae Rae filled the room with guitar driven Frank Zappa-ish sound playing their songs "Instant Buzz' and "Jug of Wine" while channeling a retro prince mongo-type party vibe. - Jungleroom.com

Led by the enigmatic Oxford native Captain Midnight, this tongue-in-cheek boogie rock act relocated to Nashville from New Orleans in the fall of 2006.

Sort of a Southern version of Ween with a greater focus on '70s funk and AM radio rock, the band mixes lascivious and at times juvenile subject matter with spot-on music. The incendiary guitar playing comes courtesy of Captain Midnight himself on tracks such as Bebe Fatt and Position: Impossible. - Carey Miller

- The Clarion-Ledger

Captain Midnight is a true Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. On stage, he�s a flamboyant guitar god, strutting with confidence and leading his band through a futuristic funk and rock universe dripping lyrically with sexual innuendo and songs that speak amusingly to the human weaknesses of romance and interpersonal relationships. Offstage, he�s laid back and insightful, a fellow who can speak with a professor�s clarity on the historical movements of rock music, often referencing KISS, Shalamar and Donnie Hathaway in the same conversation. Billy Thinnes - Where Y'at? New Orleans

Captain Midnight supplies arena rock attitude, hard rock leads and a healthy dose of teenage sarcasm...Midnight can strut the funk with the best of ‘em...- Tom Speed, editor - Honest Tune Magazine

Captain Midnight, the outrageous and flamboyant guitarist has a great stage presence that is only upstaged by his skillful playing. Crecent City Correspondant - Jambase

Captain Midnight is probably the most rabid upholder of 70’s rock radio on the local scene...the showboat guitarist celebrates the forthright style of classic American rock. - C. Deittenger - Gambit Weekly Magazine

"... the butt-wiggling beats of P-Funk, the smooth vocal stylings of Steely Dan, the ribald antics of KISS into an infectious, hormone-soaked subgenre that the Captain has aptly termed “waterbed rock-and-roll." - R. Hynum - Oxford Enterprise

"...There's a time and place to call attention to yourself, and that place is onstage" - Take 5 - The Citizen-Times Asheville

Captain Midnight — The term “Southern-fried” takes on new meaning with the music of this outlandish band. Part funk, part classic rock and part comic-book costumes, it adds up to all spectacle. On its own songs, such as the lasciviously humorous “Position Impossible,” the band pairs glam-rock excess with leering lyrical humor. K. Oliver
- Free Times - Columbia, SC 07/21/2010 - 07/27/2010

The term “Southern-fried” takes on new meaning with the music of this outlandish band. Part funk, part classic rock and part comic-book costumes, it adds up to all spectacle. On its own songs, such as the lasciviously humorous “Position Impossible,” the band pairs glam-rock excess with leering lyrical humor. K. Oliver - FREE TIMES

Midnight, the band's leader, knows what's what...arena rock attitude and the spice of Midnight's former hometown of New Orleans. The stage show is more than just music being played, but a show loaded with energy and quirky humor. - Macon.com