INTERVIEW:

A "Six-Pack" to Go, with the Lone Sharks
by Yolanda Carruthers

It was only fitting that our interview took place at a restaurant that promised genuine southern-type barbeque eatin's, located on the north fork of Long Island's east end. For years ("maximum rhythm & twang since 1988" reads their website) the Lone Sharks, led by singer/guitarist Gene Casey have been serving up their own southern-fried fare of rockabilly, swing and blues music in every bar room, dancehall and would-be honky tonk on the island. Their love for all things rural and raucous is unquestionable and if one hasn't the time or inclination to venture into the swamps and backwoods of the deep south one could do worse than spend a spirited night dancing to the Lone Sharks. Gene sat down at the bar and we discussed the group's CD, "Six Pack," a mini-album full of vintage roots rock sounds.

Q: So, let's open up a "Six Pack," what do you say?
GC: Excellent idea.
Q: "Sherri on the Ferry" starts off the record. I've seen you do this on stage and the crowd really gets into it.
GC: It's that primal beat, I think, the Cajun/zydeco/polka two-step that people seem to like, especially after a lot of beer.
Q: Is "Sherri" a real person?
GC: Most definitely! She's a friend of ours and she indeed works on the ferry, on Shelter Island. We were worried that she wouldn't welcome the attention but she's taking it in stride. Joe (Lauro, the group's bassist) taped those ferry sounds, the horns and crowd noises you hear, He spent a morning down there with his portable tape machine. All for authenticity, folks
Q: Moving along, I really like the ballad, "Who's Sharing the Moon." It might be my favorite.
GC: That's gotten a nice response, thank you. Our friend Nancy Atlas performed it at a concert last year, which was very nice.
Q. It sounds like something Elvis might've done.
GC: Well, I was actually thinking of Dean Martin when we did it, but then again Elvis and Dino are related.
Q. It has a romantic sound.
GC: Paul (Scher, the Lone Sharks sax player) brought his lap steel to the session and he gives it that country/Hawaiian feel that we really like.
Q: How did you go about selecting cover tunes for this record?
GC: Well, we've always resisted recording other people's tunes for a Lone Sharks record, even though at a show we do a lot of vintage stuff. We felt there wasn't much point doing a cover unless it was something relatively rare or something that we felt we could really put our stamp on. I think we did that here.
Q: "Stagger Lee" is pretty well known, of course.
GC: Yes. We wanted a Chris Ripley lead vocal, and in the case of "Stagger Lee" it is such a standard that we felt it went beyond the issue of it being covered many times. It's just a lot of fun to play. New Orleans music is such a big part of our repertoire.
Q: "We're Gonna Move" is more obscure. Elvis did this one?
GC: Well, if you're going to do one of his songs it had better be one, y' know, NOT included on his 50 million number-one-records-can't-be-wrong deals. It was in his first movie and it has that gospel feel that we love. We love gospel music, but the truth is we're rather a secular bunch of guys…
Q: Nice guitar playing on that one.
GC: Thank you very much, but, well, I call it "all thumbs-picking" because it's a bit rough! It's a feel thing, rather than a precise, virtuoso type of playing. Those old Carl Perkins records and things like that were not really about perfection and virtuosity. They were simple and funky, and now are absolute classics.
Q: "Dearest Darlin'" really rocks. Now THIS sounds like the Lone Sharks.
GC: We cranked it up on that one. We tried to get that raise-the-dead, voodoo sound. I think we all played maracas and tambourines on it trying to do the Jerome Green thing. Bo Diddley was/is a genius. Maybe the most underrated singer of the rock & roll era.
Q: So it is a Lone Sharks "Six-Pack" only it has seven songs…?
GC: One for good measure, for the road. I really think the old "E.P." format was great for pure rock & roll. LPs and now the full-length CD, well, they DO run rather long for my tastes. I'd rather a bunch of 45s and e.p.s to get the party moving, you know, or better yet a real jukebox with vinyl.
Q: Nice to hear the piano on the bonus cut.
GC: Courtesy of Andy Burton. He's been on the road all year with various guys, Ian Hunter and so on, so we've been the leaner, meaner Sharks, which is what you get on this record.
Q: Let's see, there is also "Uptown," by Roy Orbison?
GC: Yes. This was a tune that we naturally fit into. That shuffle groove. It's a mix of country, pop and rhythm & blues, which pretty much sums up the band.
Q: You referred to this record being a "take home souvenir." Explain, please.
GC: That is really the aim for something like this. People come see the band and want to take a little bit of home with them, or in their car, of whatever. I like that. Radio play, of course, is great, and we appreciate some of the local stations and the college-type shows that have roots music programs, but in the large scale of things we are trying to keep it direct and simple, musically and in terms of vision and so forth. That's probably why this record was so much fun to make, really.
Q: Well, it certainly comes across that way.
GC: Thanks. That's really the whole idea.

 

 

 

 

Gene Casey, guitar

Joe Lauro, doghouse bass; Paul Scher honkin' tenor sax.