A new double barreled symphony from shotgun opera

To say that 2009 has been a banner year for area music releases would be a vastly gross understatement.  Not only has the amount of product in just the first half of this year already nearly doubled that of all of last year, the quality of releases has been astounding leading many to confidently put these releases up against anything coming out of the state, southeast, and in some cases, even the entire country.

On August 29^th Shotgun Opera, featuring vocalists Mercer and Grizzly, guitarist Samrock, bassist Jo Bone, and drummer Cappy, jump into the 2009 Augusta music CD frenzy when they release their official debut disc “Vanity” at Rock Bottom Music and Sky City.

Created in August 2007 as the brainchild of Grizzly, Shotgun Opera shot quickly out of the gate just a month later and pulled in fans with their duel vocalist setup and melodic meets heavy sound.  By 2008 Bone had entered the mix and the band was holding auditions to replace Grizzly’s original vocal partner.  Enter Mercer and the rest is history.  We recently spoke to Cappy about all this and a bit more.

LL – This is not the first material Shotgun Opera has recorded and put out but would you consider this your sophomore release or first “official” release?

BC – This is definitely our first release. Over the past two years we have done some recordings but were never fully satisfied with the final result so we mostly kept them as practice tools and references to what we can improve on.

LL – Now it wasn’t that long ago that the band had some shakeups in the lineup.  How did that affect the band and did the experience of those changes contribute to the creation of the new disc in any way?

BC – A little over a year ago we had a major lineup change with the arrivals of Jo Bone and Mercer. I’d have to say it affected the band in the most positive way possible. It made playing much less stressful and allowed us to get back to just having fun and I think that comes through on the CD, but even more so in the stage show.

LL – Shotgun Opera has a unique setup featuring two distinct vocalists.  How difficult was it to replace one after you were an established band and how has the switch changed the band dynamic?

BC- At first I didn’t think we were ever going to find someone who could take it and make it into their own since we’d been playing the songs our for about a year, but Mercer walked in and put his own spin on things which we think perfectly meshes into what we were originally going for and seemed to lose in the preceding months.

LL – Tell us a little bit about the recording of the new CD.  Where you recorded it, when, etc.

BC -Well, we were on vacation in the Amazon when we came across a group of gorillas who had built a studio in the trees. Of course we were lost so they took us in and taught us the songs that they’ve been playing for years and let us use their studio to record while it was raining for a month. The song “Razorblade” actually got its name from Jo Bone falling into the Amazon River and surviving a piranha attack. The gorillas liked the story of his bravery and wrote a song about it. It was nice to get home though. We miss the apes though.

LL – What excites the band the most about releasing this disc?

BC – Being able to prove that we’re in a band to girls.

LL – How and why did you guys decide to go with the other bands playing the CD release show?

BC – We’d done a show with Uncrowned a few months back and they were amazing and said that they wanted to play the release so who are we to say no to one of the biggest up and coming bands in the country? Dear Enemy came HIGHLY recommended from numerous bands in the Atlanta area, Uncrowned being one of them, and since they are just getting off of a tour with Taproot and Sevendust, the timing couldn’t be better. All three bands mesh very well and put on high energy shows. If anyone leaves this show and isn’t exhausted then they have no right being at a rock show.

LL – And any particular reason why you chose Sky City to host the event?

BC – Sky City has supported us greatly in the past year and we have an absolute blast every time that we play there. The stage allows us to move around and unleash the emotion of the music and the sound system is tops in the area.

LL – What are your hope for the CD show and the CD itself?

BC – We’re engineering the shows ( all ages acoustic show at Rock Bottom Music starting at 3pm) to be extremely fan oriented since they are the ones who make everything possible. W hope that at the end of the Sky City show that no one will want to leave and we have to do it all over again starting at 2am. As far as the cd goes, we’re hoping that it gets people camped out on our porch in anticipation for the next one which is over halfway written. Who knows, you might hear some new stuff at the show(s).

LL – For those unable to make the show, will it be available online or at future shows?

BC -The cd will be available at EVERY show from the 29th on and will be available online as well shortly after on iTunes.

LL – Cool!  Thanks!

BC – Jo Bone says hey and Mercer says f*#k Jo.