The Freak of Araby

Got a chance to catch Sir Richard Bishop at the Swan Dive in Louisville last Wednesday. I didn't see the whole set (I'm too old to stay out until 2 am and catch an alarm three and a half hours later), but the big chunk I did see was amazing. He's been touring solo and acoustic frequently since Charlie Gocher (Sun City Girls drummer - R.I.P.) first became sick. I've seen him solo three times - had the pleasure of opening for him once - as well as with brother Alan on their tribute tour after Gocher's death. All the shows were amazing.

This time he's touring electric and with a band behind his new album The Freak of Araby. The sight lines at the Swan Dive are such that I could never actually see the stage, so I can't tell you the exact instrumentation, but it was a variation of the standard bass/guitar/drums lineup with Eastern spice. And boy, was it a hot set (in all senses of the word).

At some point when our paths crossed over cigarettes and bourbon, the brothers Bishop expounded at length on the connections between surf music and various Eastern musics, starting with the fact that, like Dick Dale, the Bishops are of Lebanese descent on the paternal side. The Freak of Araby sounds like a surf album built out of Eastern modes and melodies . . . and like a surf album, it works because the guitar is pristine and the melodies stick to you like glue.

Over the years, it seems that nobody writes about either Richard Bishop or the Sun City Girls without mentioning (and perhaps overplaying) the ethnic music angle. Much more interesting to me is Bishop's synthesis of Indian, Arabic, Persian, etc. musics with free jazz, Chet Atkins, Jimmy Page, Django Reinhardt, etc. The thing is that, unlike some guitarists, he doesn't play jazz, he doesn't play ragas, he doesn't play Arabic music, he draws on it for his own remarkable sound. It's not the discrete elements or how he uses them that are interesting, it is the incredible music as the thing itself.

There was some interesting discussions about summer music earlier in the blog. The Freak of Araby is one of my major records this summer. If surf music piques your interest, do yourself a favor and check out this tasty variation. And, here's a quick listing of his remaining dates this tour:

Saturday June 27 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7^th Street Entry with Paul Metzger

Tuesday June 30 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir

Wednesday July 01 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile

Thursday July 02 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall on Univ. of Oregon Campus

Friday July 03 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill with Rubber O Cement

By all means, if you can, catch this show . . . because, as amazing as the record is, it's twice as good live.