The Whipsaws

Calling this band “The Best Americana Band in Alaska” is probably as shallow a compliment as calling the Benedict "The Best Pope in Italy", so why don’t we call The Whipsaws a good Americana band that is from Alaska!  They will probably accumulate the most frequent flier miles of any American band headed to SXSW this year.  That’s good for us, as the band will be featured in the AmericanaRoots SXSW showcase.  They are tentatively scheduled to perform on Friday, March 14 at 9pm at the Waterloo Ice House. I wish I could go but I’ll be stuck up here in Michigan.  If you are able to go, please have a beer for me! The band consists of Aaron Benolkin - Lead guitar, lap steel, banjo, vocals, James Dommek Jr. - Drums, guitar, vocals, Evan Phillips - Rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals and Ivan Molesky - Bass. According to the band they have "fine-tuned their sound into an original blend of Americana & Roots Rock, heavily dosed in twang, crunchy guitars, and lap steel that they call Alaskan Rock n’ Roll."

The band, which formed in 2002, has just released their second CD, Sixty Watt Avenue on ShutEye Records.  The new disc was mixed by John Agnello, a renowned engineer/producer who has worked with Son Volt and The Hold Steady.  The band’s debut CD, 10 Day Bender (2006) is an energetic, but fairly raw collection.  Some of my favorite tracks on this disc were actually rock instrumentals.  With the limited musical talent of many bands hearing an instrumental is a rarity these days, but I really enjoyed them.  The new CD is definitely a more mature record with the band showing growth musically and lyrically and a better overall sound, perhaps the influence of John Agnello. The band can sound like Uncle Tupelo on one tune and Rush or even Neil Young at his electric loudest on another.  The influence of Neil Young is evident by the inclusion of their cover of his tune “The Loner” on the disc as well as the dedication of the CD to Neil Young and Crazy Horse.  The required Americana CD song with a woman’s name as the title is “Jessi Jane” on this disc. This song gives us an insight as to a possible ulterior motive for the band to perform at SXSW, singing

        Oh Jessi Jane why have you gone

        You’ve gone away down to Austin for so long

        you broke my heart dear, and you blew my mind oh Jessi Jane…

Jessi Jane, consider yourself warned!  "Stick Around" is another standout, more of a country tune with pedal steel and piano thrown in.

The band has been touring constantly for 5 years, so if you are able to catch them in Austin (or elsewhere) you will see a young but seasoned performing band.  They are planning to tour extensively in the lower 48 and Europe in 2008 to promote the new CD.  Their website is www.thewhipsaws.com.

Author: Don Zelazny