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Who:
Mister Skinny

When:
Friday, January 21 at 10 p.m.

Where:
Campus Pub

Info:
Call 525-3268

Knoxville's Mister Skinny proves that you can mix good times and good sounds

by Greg Siedschlag

On a given night in a particular section of Knoxville known as The Strip, hundreds of students from the adjacent University of Tennessee can be found, quite literally, having the times of their lives. Forget studying for exams, forget tomorrow's lectures, but don't forget tomorrow, because someday you'll probably have to work five days a week and you probably won't be able to have this much fun.

Ever present behind all this revelry is music, be it the type played by a DJ or the type played by a live band. Either way, it's got to be danceable, youthful, and fun. A young Hank Williams or Bob Dylan would never even obtain cult popularity in this environment, and to an outsider it may seem as if these soundtracks to mass foreplay could aspire to anything but substance.

Knoxville's Mister Skinny would probably object to that. In fact, they would probably object to being characterized as a "party band" because these musicians are more ambitious than that, but it is the most convenient characterization. Very quickly, one realizes that underneath its funk-laden dance grooves, the band aspires for something deeper and more permanent than just a good time.

For instance, take the band's mission statement: Mister Skinny aspires to form a real-life connection with and among its audience; to move people musically, lyrically, physically, and visually, and to push no agendas, save for positivity and originality, through the merging of four individual personalities.

There is often a fine line between merely entertaining and trying to "move people" in any particular manner. There is a strong tendency to rely on preachy politics or morals to achieve this "moving" of people. Mister Skinny would rather let the music do the moving.

"I don't like rock stars who push life values on you so that it's almost like being at church sometimes," says Jeff Minyard, the band's bassist and background vocalist. "When you leave a show it's like 'Man, I feel so guilty now...'"

Instead, Minyard continues, the band has a more subtle and less confrontational approach to getting its message across. "[We have a song called] 'The New G,' which is basically...about taking the circumstances that are around you and stepping up to them, like 'Now's the time to lose our inhibitions/And make our plans come into fruition' is one of the lines, and I think that pretty much sums up a lot of what we're trying to say. You know, get out there and do what you want to do as opposed to sitting around thinking about it. Instead of wondering how you can do it, just get out there and do it."

If you went to see Mister Skinny live, you could expect to hear mostly original material featuring some improvisational jams and a good deal of '70s-style funk propelled primarily by the guitar work of singer/primary lyricist Davis Mitchell, and the bouncy rhythm section of Minyard and drummer Dave Sharp. The keyboard work of Carey Archer—who sometimes plays a piano, sometimes an organ—shines through on the '60s-styled slow rock numbers.

In this distrustful era, there is something refreshingly positive and straightforward about these four 23 to 25 year-old UT graduates. The guys moved in together in September and there is a strong sense of camaraderie in the group. Mister Skinny will have been together three years in February, and although two different second guitarists have rotated in and out of the group, the current line-up is how the group began and, presently, is how they would like it to end. In its three years together, the band has played in numerous clubs in over 16 cities to thousands of people and released an EP, which is available at local stores and any of the band's upcoming performances. The band has had to deal with adversity, but thus far has proved quite resilient.

The normally silent Davis Mitchell remembers one worst-case scenario that came to life at a place aptly called Grumpy's on the Ocoee River. "Just imagine the Blues Brothers and the chicken-wire, but there was no chicken-wire," he says. "Believe it or not, there were some good things that came out of that night. There were some people who actually like us. You know, we focus too much on the bad stuff that happened that night, like the chair-throwing and stuff, but it really wasn't that bad."

Here in Knoxville, and in similar college towns, crowds have been much kinder—and larger. Mister Skinny played to over 900 people one night at what was then Rudy's on The Strip, and they draw sizable crowds whenever they play at Moose's Music Hall or Campus Pub.

Certainly, the band is having fun right now, but it would like to taste some real success eventually. "A lot of it's selfish," says an earnest Archer. "We do a lot of this for ourselves. Really, we love it. We'll drive 800 miles and play to a very small crowd because we love what we're doing and we want to make ourselves successful. And we're going to do what it takes... We're college graduates and we want to try and make this work." Minyard adds that "if we weren't serious about this we'd be out looking for jobs by now." As long as there are fun-seeking college students who want something inspirational as well as something that could woo an attractive co-ed, Mister Skinny stands a good chance. Ideally, though, Mister Skinny would like to be a part of your life after you're done with your four-year bachelor party.