| WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE STEAM DONKEYS?
They were playing their own brand of honky tonk before the phrase Alternative
Country joined the vocabulary (that label doesn't even begin to capture the
depth of their talents).
Their first CD, "Cosmic Americana" came out four years ago ... before
the Americana format was even thought of.
If you've caught one of their shows on their frequent tours down the Eastern
Seaboard, you already know they can torch a stage with their combination
of great songwriting (courtesy of singer Buck Quigley), showmanship (one
of the all-time great encore sets -- check out a
website-only recording of it!) and instrumental virtuosity (Charlie Quill's
guitar tool box has expanded from Sun runs to the Bakersfield sounds, with
an entire encyclopedia of country and rock in between ... and wait 'til you
check out fiddler Doug Moody and the jazz and classical skeletons start falling
out of his closet!).
The rhythm section of Joe Kross and John Weber can swing some too.
Since recording their first CD with Robbie Goo of the Goo Goo Dolls --
just before their platinum-selling days -- the group has seen that disk reissued
on Atlanta's Landslide Records.
Now their new one is out and "Little Honky Tonks" is set to take over
your CD player.
It's a 15-song collection of vintage Quigley songs like "Hollywood Stars,"
"Waltz Through the Rubbish," the satirically charged "Pothead" and the vintage
honky tonk of the title tune.
The band produced the disk itself with Marc Hunt, who has worked with
bands such as the Goos and the Barenaked Ladies.
|
 |
WHO ARE THE STEAM DONKEYS:
BUCK
QUIGLEY,
singers, songwriter,
guitarist: The first thing people usually ask about
Quigley is "how could he have written that many great songs? A sometimes
playwright as well, Quigley was a key member of the JackLords, |
 |
| Buffalo's top roots rock/garage combo of the late '80s (their
lone released album has some great songs). |
| DOUG
MOODY, fiddler: Moody joined
the Donkeys after sitting in with the French Ticklers, Buffalo's earliest
Cajun rockers. He was invited to come to a Donkeys rehearsal and picked up
35 songs the first night. A one-time Suzuki kid, Moody went |
 |
| on to become the "only Bebop fiddler" at the University
of Buffalo before joining the Donkeys, where he still plays a mean "Caravan"
over Joe Kross' Ellingtonian drum solo during one Donkey jam. In the same
showstopper he frequently roars between pieces of "Flight of the Bumblebee"
to "Orange Blossom Special," with him and the band splicing in any number
of other songs that cross their fevered minds. |
CHARLEY QUILL,
guitarist: Quill played with Buffalo roots/rock icon
Dave Meinzer in Dry Bones and the French Ticklers, meeting Quigley in the
latter. The rest is history, |
 |
| as they were founding members of the Donkeys, starting out
playing country/rockabilly versions of punk standards and punked up versions
of country classics. Quill's style, like the band's music, has continues
to evolve through the years as he has become a master of country and rock
'n' roll styles. |
| JOHN
BRADY, drummer: John has a
storied history with the Donkeys, and he can tell a pretty good story! He
was the band's first drummer, recording on the "Cosmic Americana" and "Songs
From a Stolen Guitar" sessions, even taking the vocal lead on "Grandpa's
Thunderbird." He took a break in 1995, now it's time to say "Welcome Back,
John!" |
| JOHN WEBER,
bass: John has played bass
with Buffalo-area bands going back to the mid-'80s, starting with the dance
band New York to Paris. From there it was on to reverb instrumental land
with the Surfivors and then Sun of Memphis, a band that covered |
 |
| early Elvis ... and proved great training in the basic,
no-frills, in-the-pocket bass lines of the Steam Donkeys. |
|