Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

That's Mr. Dammit to You

It's been quite a long time since percussionist Larry Mullins left Knoxville, and what a strange trip it's been. The former Wh-Wh drummer made his bid for the bigtime in 1988, and has since established an international career playing with respected musicians worldwide.

Mullins is probably most known for a nine-year stint with über Raw Power rocker Iggy Pop. Mullins traveled extensively with Pop, logging in several international tours and playing on a handful of Iggy's albums during his tour of duty.

After leaving the Ig behind, Mullins went on to join New York dirgemongers The Swans for their final tour. Once the Swans had cashed it in, Mullins continued to collaborate with Swans frontman Michael Gira in the new band, Angels of Light.

Gira has a bit of a reputation as a scary, demanding and difficult taskmaster—and his cathartic, brooding recordings are often demanding of listeners as well. "Michael's not scary," says Mullins. "He's a close friend of mine. Of course he can be difficult, but who can't? I wouldn't say he's scary at all."

Not content to merely play in other people's projects, Mullins released a solo album in 2000, appearing under the unlikely moniker of Toby Dammit. The album Top Dollar (Omplatten Records) has received quite a lot of critical acclaim in music publications that cater to those with more experimental and adventurous tastes, and rightly so.

Top Dollar is an all percussion album that actually sounds like it would fall in the electronica spectrum—even though the drumming was actually recorded live without the aid of sequencers. The result of a painstaking recording process, the record sounds, well, not really like anything else. Let's just say that listening to the CD's collection of militaristic beats and sampled sound effects conjures up mental images of drag races, surgical procedures, automated mass production, sadomasochism and other similarly exciting/uplifting pursuits.

"The whole record is drums run through guitar amps," explains Mullins. "We got about 15 amps, stacked them up against the wall, and programmed the different parts through an 808 machine. so we could run every sound through its own amp. We put a series of different guitar effects on the drum sounds at the same time. Then we miked it, and afterward I'd record acoustic—like symphonic percussion. And we'd run that through the amps as well. That's why it sounds so electric. There's no computer. If we'd have had a computer, we could have probably did what we did in a week. Instead, it took about three months."

Never one to rest on his laurels, Mullins has also entered the record business in Europe, starting a label called Hit Thing Records. "I started the label with one partner in Hamburg," says Mullins. "Really, the label is just a way to put out all this stuff that's on Omplatten—they don't have European distribution."

Currently residing in Brooklyn, Mullins spends at least half of the year in Europe and plans to relocate to Hamburg after finishing the second Toby Dammit release. Toby Dammit's Top Dollar album is available through amazon.com.

Local CD Review

Mountain Soul
Trotline

Local bluegrass quintet Mountain Soul lives up to its name and its regional heritage with this self-produced CD. Kicking off with a blazing run through "Train 45" featuring the lightning banjo picking of Sonny Smith, the album covers a lot of ground: traditionals ("Katy Daly," "I Know You Rider"), more recent classics (Townes Van Zandt's "White Freightliner Blues"), and a healthy dose of originals written by singer/guitarist Shawn Kimbro and mandolinist DJ Morrison. The band, rounded out by Shawn's wife Amanda Kimbro on vocals and Daniel Kimbro on bass and guitar, is as tight as the genre's conventions dictate but heartfelt and adventurous enough to transcend them. The major shift since their first release, Clinch River Valley, is the addition of national banjo champion Smith, who doubles on fiddle and provides virtuosity when called upon but tasteful restraint the rest of the time. Shawn Kimbro is a fine songwriter whose themes and melodies draw as much on folk singer-songwriter traditions as bluegrass. The title track is a nice piece of narration, the lament of a farmer who lost his land to the TVA and now makes his living fishing on the lake that drowned his former home. There's an easy warmth to Shawn and Amanda's harmonies, and Amanda's lead vocal turns (particularly the wistful "Train to Boulder") are highlights. Throw in some gospel ("Rainbow Sign"), a jaunty "Foggy Mountain Special" and Morrison's sprightly lament "Far Away From Home," and you have a well-rounded collection of contemporary roots music. It's a pleasure to hear such a skillful group of musicians making their own way through East Tennessee's rich musical and narrative traditions.

Go.

Thursday: Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks at Tennessee Theatre. In honor of his birthday, some Gershwin will be on the menu.

Friday: If you scored some tickets, Scott Miller at the Laurel Theatre is a great, rock-filled choice. Ex-roy Mic Harrison will open for The High Score (former Ramblin' Roys) at The Pilot Light later in the evening. Also, The Degenerate Cardboard Cabaret, a political puppet troupe, will be at Cup-a-Joe in the Old City at 8 p.m. Come see W., capitalism, and pop culture get skewered!Saturday: The Bitter Pills with Daikaiju at The Pilot Light. The Pills we've praised before. Daikaiju's weird surf rock (sorta), though, is well worth showing up early for.

Sunday: Rent at Civic Auditorium. It ain't your daddy's Broadway show.

Monday: Paul Haar at UT Music Hall. Saxophone goodness that can be had for free.

Tuesday: Sweet Honey in the Rock at Tennessee Theatre. Warm sounds that have a rich history.

Wednesday: David Madden at University Club. Madden is a noted author (Pulitzer nominee Sharpshooter, The Suicide Wife and Bijou) and Civil War historian who is also a Knoxville native. The topic for his presentation will be "Remembering and Researching the Bijou Theatre and Fort Sanders."

—Emma "Tied the Russians for the gold in pairs figure skating, too, dang it" Poptart and John Sewell