And The Stash! Band Played On!

And The Stash! Band Played On!
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I dare you to turn on commercial radio, or access a 'new music' playlist on any of the streaming services and experience that sensation of discovery. If you don't genre hop you're living in a total box! There's so much information available, there's so much going on in the world! I find it impossible that you could not be influenced by more than one thing, one region, one genre. " Stash Wyslouch, composer, recording artist, bandleader, guitarist

He's a bona fide bluegrass superstar (Molsky's Mountain Drifters, The Deadly Gentlemen) who honed his craft in noisy thrash ensembles during his formative years. No big deal. When I mentioned the fact that many a metal guitar god, namely Tony Iommi and Jimmy Page, were given to acoustic folk-country revelations, Mr. Wyslouch guffawed heartily in approval. The guy gets it!

The Stash! Band - comprised of drummer/trumpeter/vocalist Sean Trischka, Fiddler Duncan Wickel, and bassist Noam Wiesenberg have waxed a watershed sophomore slab aptly entitled The Faucet of Love - which may open a few mainstream doors. Really!

Stash's busman's holiday has oft been equated in the press to Frank Zappa and the Mothers - but how do you compare the incomparable? Sure the odd time signatures, virtuoso musicianship, and wry socio-political libretto are simpatico, yet Wyslouch is no slouch when it comes to originality.

On a recent gig at the hipster haven Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, Stash led his small group (with bassist Brittany Karlson) through a tight, whip smart set you'd expect from punk rock band of yore. Bedecked in a white, monogrammed boiler suit evocative of A Clockwork Orange, the bandleader and his quartet managed to render their newly released repertoire in double-time!

Delivering the line "her lips were eggs, her bed was toast…her hair was frayed, like a lightning bolt…" - from the composition "Lips R' Eggs (The Pastry Song)" with the alpha male assertion/passion of, dare I say, Marc Anthony, even the jaded venue waitresses took notice. A guy like Stash could get lucky in a joint like this! Says Stash "the audience reactions are actually polarized - people either love it, or they just really can't stand it! It's such a dynamic band, everyone has chops, and everyone sings…it's not just my fireworks."

Borne of a Boston music scene known for its unconventional aesthetic, the maniacal stance of The Stash! Band is strictly by design. Notes Stash "all the people in the group are bandleaders on their own…and the all have great arrangement ideas all the time. That's why the album is credited as 'arranged by the Stash! Band' for that reason. They all had input, and even if it was only one small dynamic thing, it makes a big difference. A lot of what we did was 'cutting out' - the songs are thoroughly sketched out - but they'd come' in and out' based on what they thought worked best. You know, 'what not to play' is just as important as 'what to play!’’

With a caterwaul worthy of W. Axl Rose, Stash led his posse through a scathing rendition of "The Internet's My Brain Without It I am Nothing" - which is the final track on Faucet - replete with dynamic interludes peppered by abstract violin motifs, sensual moans, and heavy breathing.

Despite Stash's status as the official instigator on stage, it appeared as if his employees were doing the heavy lifting on this one "oh yeah, they're all willing to get completely outside the box…and totally weird! I am in good company…"

Jazz fusion aficionados will likely mistake Duncan Wickel for Jean Luc-Ponty on "Pigeons (Dip It)" - however when Stash kicks in with his Anthony Kiedis / Red Hot Chili Peppers rapid-fire rap, you know this is 2017. It's all part of the larger picture that is Faucet.

Explains Stash: "I like to hear a volume of work. When I buy music I look for the box set! Unfortunately I do not think it's commercially relevant any more. This record is the product of who I am…and who I am is somebody who likes to devour whole pieces of an artist, not just individual tracks at a time! However I think it's relevant culturally, even if it's not immediately relevant commercially and consumer-ly right now!"

With album art inspired by cold war Soviet images, Mr. Wyslouch's confidence in his work on stage and in the studio is most refreshing.

"I'm infinitely subjective - as the producer and the artist - I really like this record and how it translates to a live performance."

The Stash! Band - The Faucet of Love is out now.

For all things The Stash! Band - visit http://www.thestashband.com

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