PRESS BLURB- Scatman Reverend Eddie Danger plays Cosmic Folk with a Tribal Twist of Jazz! It's Funky and Soulful. Danger plays over 25 different instruments! He uses Live Loop Sampling to create beautiful vocal harmonies, beat box percussion and barbershop rhythms to create a plethora of sounds. Danger is an ordained minister and is in favor of unorganized religion. His inspiration and Life story consists of bicycling from Canada to Mexico, living in a tree house in Alaska, trekking Peru and living as a whitewater raft guide.
“Dangers most important instrument is his voice: He scats
and oomps and sings through clever compositions, sounding
not unlike anti-folks answer to Bobby McFerrin!”
-THE ONION
Danger is effective and environmentally aware electro folk with an acoustic, almost spoken word vibe that reminds one of the late Frank Zappa's monologue inflections”.
-Maximum Ink
Feel Good Music -The Big Rock Studio
“A little bit world/bushmen, a little bit small furry creatures grooving with a pick, a little bit twisted dairyland folk” -California Recording Institute
Danger blends poetic whimsy with folk sensibility, suffusing the mix with rhythm-heavy melody, and an injection of jazz-style phrasing when you least expect it. Sounds bizarre doesn't it? Well, it is. But it's unique, and it works! -Lake Superior Sounder
"About as Funky as white Northern boys can get!" -Ricks Cafe
"A hallmark of Dangers performances and his music in general, is his sharp wit. He's extremeley entertaining live possessing a common-sense and ample humor which he weaves both into and between songs. The sheer variety of sounds is astounding & at times there are extended breaks that become hypnotic" -Ricks Cafe
“Danger's brilliant and worldly shows play more like an ensemble. He delights in finding snappy audio tricks and playing them on dozens of instruments, sometimes with an electronic aid- it's funky, heady folk.” -The City Pages
"Danger's style- A chunky, funky guitar statement and a rhythmic vocal melody with a message" -Ricks Cafe
A 12-foot tall green cow will be on hand in honor of The Rev. Eddie Danger's CD release party Friday during the Party in the Park concert at Pfiffner Pioneer Park. Admission is free.
There'll also be music beginning at 7 p.m. at the band shell from the "Scatman," who's billed as the "One-man Band with a Big Band Feel." Voice is his main instrument, Danger said. But he also performs on 25 others, including didgeridoo, saxophone, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitars, accordion, flutes, recorders, harmonicas and percussion instruments from around the world. He plans to give a sampling from among his collection during the party.
The new compact disc, "Welcome to the Feel Good Revolution," is Danger's third recording. Though still all original music, the CD is a departure from his earlier solo efforts, he said. "I brought in over 10 local Stevens Point musicians to play on this project. So it's kind of a conglomerate," said Danger, an ordained minister The recording was done at Dave Kruger's The Big Rock Studio in Rosholt. Among the featured musicians are Otis McLennon, Ken Stevenson, Jerry Smith, Johnny C, the Rev. Michael David White, Britney Von, Angie Arkin, the Rev. Steven Alphonses McConnell and Jeff Vandeloop.
His music is "cosmic folk with a tribal twist of jazz," said Danger. "It's also been called electric folk." He generally writes about politics, the environment and injustice, he said. "Or metaphysical epiphanies or frustrations or just kind of focusing on the positive in opposition to mainstream music today and all the vibes they've got going." His songwriting does tend to get somewhat word-heavy, said Danger, who's been back in town for about a year.
"Welcome to the Feel Good Revolution" is a concept album, and each song tells a story. For instance, "Big City" starts the album with a person who is unhappy in the city, then the second song, "Miracle," tells of happenings that take the person out of the city. The songs may be a a little autobiographical, but mainly they are based on "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis as well as nature, "the pretty things," people around him and Shel Silverstien.
He first came to this area to study environmental education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. But he only stayed a little while before heading out on a journey that would take him south as far as Australia then to South America, Mexico, Cuba and Europe, in addition to sundry locations in the United States. On a bicycle trip planned along the West Coast from Canada to Mexico, Danger ran out of money in Berkeley. He stayed with a friend, found a job and started performing. His first album was a self-titled release in 2003, and the second was "Live at Witz End," from spring 2004. Danger does all his own bookings, designed his Web sites, writes, sing, plays, releases on his own label and is his own driver and roadie. He's already getting some feedback from early listeners of "Feel Good Revolution," he said. "They said, 'some parts are kind of weird.' I think that was a compliment."
From the Lake Superior Sounder August 2003
MUSICALLY SPEAKING volume 1, No. 8
He's Dangerous! The Reverend Eddie Danger's wicked use of rhythm and phrasing
By Devon Henderson for the Sounder
In his self-titled Summer of 2003 release the Reverend Eddie Danger blends poetic whimsy with folk sensibility, suffusing the mix with rythem-heavy melody, and an injection of jazz-style phrasing when you least expect it. Sounds bizarre doesn't it? Well, it is. But it's unique, and it works.
The Reverend Eddie Danger is actually an ordained minister, who quips to the crowds he plays for that between songs he can marry any couple on the spot and then play at their reception.
A multi-talented musician, he is a one-man band whose adult musical involvement began with an "enlightening" experience in the parking lot of Soldier Field in Chicago during a Grateful Dead concert. He bought a bongo drum and started frequenting drum circles.
It's not surprising to me that the Reverend E.D., as he's affectionately known, got his start playing in drum circles. His music, "cosmic folk with a tribal twist of jazz" as he describes it, is heavy on rhythm, like old Phil Collins tunes. However, the use of drums as a main instrument is where the comparison between Danger and Collins ends.
Listening, you have to keep up with the lyrics, which seem to roll breezily alingside the music. Lines like "Life is like the morning, morning is like a palm tree" or "My hands are in my pocket because they have no where else to be" are playful and evocative.
But the Reverend E.D. can brood too, as evidenced by heavier ditties like 'Rip Me Open' (which vaguely reminds me of The Doors' Crystal Ship): "There's goblins in my dreams and I don't know what they mean."
Instruments like flute are certainly 'tribal' in the mood they set, and serve as evidence of Danger's accomplished musicianship.
However, there are a few stummbling blocks on "The Reverend Eddie Danger."
Danger has a unique vocal style. While he's a master of scatting (a succession of nonsensical, yet rhthmically correct words and sounds, perfected by old time jazz artists), his singing voice has a twang that is charming at first, but grates as the music plays; mainly because Danger lays it on so thick he starts sounding a little like Kermit the Frog (think of The Rainbow Connection).
Also, while the songs are well-crafted (especially so, considering that E.D. is a one-man band that manages to pull of a good, full sound), they get to sounding the same after a while, perhaps because of the emphasis on rhythm.
Mind you , these are minor parts of the good whole. The Reverend Eddie Danger's music is great to drive to, holding your attention without distracting, and never becomes dull, or worse yet, cliche.
I think E.D. would be a great act to see live; then the music itself becomes just one part of the whole experience, the auditory and visual sensation.
E.D. grew up in the Midwest, but found himself living on the West Coast, in Berkeley, after running out of money on a 1,500 mile bicycle tour. Here he found a job and started recording music. To help support his musical aspirations, E.D. became a jack of all trades, from designing and building home composting systems to school bus driver, from editing books on sexual astrology to halter-breaking llamas. His first musical scene was mainly Portland, Oregon. He has since moved back to the heartland, and plays frequently in northern Wisconsin, including Superior, Bayfield, Ashland, Stevens Point, and around the Twin Cities.
From: Volume One Arts Magazine volumeone.org
By: Megan Zabel
JAN 2004
I know what you're thinking. "Reverends aren't dangerous, what a silly yet intriguing word juxtaposition."
Well, the Reverend Eddie Danger isn't your avereage one man show. And he's not your average Reverend.
Ed, as he prefers to be called, plays a smorgasborg of instruments, including the didgeridoo, accordion, bamboo flutes, a recorder, harmonica, and mandolin. He's known for "scatting" (do you remember the scat man? do be do be fo fo fo mm bop, do do mm bop) and he does a lot of live loop sampling, which has drawn comparisons to Keller Williams.
"I think he's (Williams) great, but we are extremely different," Ed says. "We are like farmers using the same tools. Except I grow basil and garlic and he grows asparugus and watermelons."
Ed's musical inspiration: He's driven a school bus, haltered Llamas, been on NPR's Car Talk and travels to and fro in an Astro van named "Eddies White Wonder". Musical inspirations include Ani DiFranco, Bela Fleck, and The Greyboy Allstars.
"Basically I am trying to give to people not just music, but a show." Ed said. "I always have people coming up to me after a show and saying, 'how the hell did you do that?' or 'how did you get that sound?'. I play music that makes people smile and want to move their head around. YOu can't quite dance to it and you can't really sit still either."
And yeah, he's really a Reverend, but not a preacher. He once recited the "plethora scene" from the Three Amigos word for word, naked on stage, and was banned from a different venue for using the word "assfire" in a song. Don't expect him to sing your favorite Psalm.
"I have a strong relationship with God, Nature and the Universe, but it's mine and I don't bug anybody with it," he said. "Accentuate the Positive, That's my sermon, the end"
Valley Jams from The Scene October 2005 Name: Reverend Eddie Danger
Hometown: Stevens Point
First a little background: Illinois native Danger was done with music as of ninth grade, when the budding saxophone player was kicked out of his school’s jazz band. A Grateful Dead show at Soldier Field in Chicago, the band’s last gig ever, reignited Danger’s love of music. He started doing drumming circles in Stevens Point and played as a percussionist in a world music band there. He later lived in Berkeley, Calif., and Alaska before moving back to Wisconsin in 2003 and releasing a self-titled CD. Danger’s latest CD, “The Reverend Eddie Danger & The Band of Thieves,” was released in August.
You probably will like this band if you like: Grateful Dead, Blind Melon, Frank Zappa
Why our band is better than your band: “I play over 25 different instruments and I’m tall and lanky and have big hair so I’m fun to watch,” Danger said.
Decide for yourself: Like the man said, he plays more than 25 instruments and uses recorded loops on stage to create a full band sound. Check it out when Danger plays Oct. 8 at Cranky Pat’s in Neenah. For more information on Danger’s experimental hippified rock ’n’ roll, go online at www.reverendeddiedanger.com.
