August 31, 2010
WARTHOG & Flesh Vehicle upcoming shows!
WARTHOG (Ramones Tribute featuring Superdrag's John Davis & Tom Pappas, with Joey Sanchez) and Flesh Vehicle (featuring Tom Pappas) have a couple of epic shows lined up this fall!
WARTHOG w/ Teenage FBI (GBV Tribute)
Saturday, September 25th
The 5 Spot
1006 Forrest Ave.
Nashville, TN 37206
9pm
Cost: $10
. . . . . .
 Flesh Vehicle w/ Tok
Friday, October 1st
Firebird
2706 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
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July 24, 2010
Flesh Vehicle to rock Cincinnati
FLESH VEHICLE will deliver one rock and/or roll beatdown on Sat. Aug. 14th in Cincinnati, OH at the Northside Tavern. Local faves The MIGHTY shall headline. This is a free show. It starts at 10pm.
This show is in support of FV's new record RACKET. To download a free mp3 of the opening track "Everybody's Dead and No one's Talking", click here.
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May 20, 2010
A re-cap from John...
 Here's my best attempt to describe what went down in Memphis on Saturday. I sent it out to friends and family, but I figured I might as well share it with those of you who love Big Star, too.
Hey Everybody: I sat down last night and tried my best to put together my thoughts on what went down Saturday night in Memphis (attached); I have to cringe a little, 'cause it sounds like one of those year-end Christmas letters where people brag about where all they've been and what all they've done (ha ha). You know what I'm talking about? I didn't mean for it to be like that, and this isn't even something I would ordinarily do, but... it just felt necessary for me to document the occasion as best I could. I couldn't have been more honored to be there and take part in this. Here's a YouTube clip of us doing "In The Street":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS__HUTQ1zc
If you're in Nashville, or if you plan to visit this-coming weekend, come on out to the Mercy Lounge on Friday night (May 21) and the 5 Spot on Saturday night (May 22) to help celebrate the music of Alex Chilton & Big Star with us. Both nights are gonna be epic, and all proceeds will benefit MusiCares.
XO,
J.
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I’ve been asked to re-cap the Big Star gig-turned-Chilton Tribute that happened Saturday night at Levitt Shell in Memphis’ Overton Park---with strict instructions to “omit nothing.” (ha) This I am more than pleased to do, and I wanted to get it all down before it becomes more of a blur than it already was/is. Some of you may not feel like enduring a long-winded, blow-by-blow account, so I won’t be offended if you stop reading here and delete.
I’ll start by saying (without a moment’s hesitation) that just getting the invitation to be there and take part in this felt like the greatest honor I have ever received professionally. It’s hard for me to put it into words, exactly, but the truth is I probably don’t even need to. I know you understand. Let’s just say that being asked to fly to Liverpool and play for The Beatles would’ve been a lateral move in my book.
Jon Auer e-mailed me from a tour stop in Spain and asked me if I would be interested in playing and singing a couple of songs with the group at the Levitt Shell. I’ll assume you already know about the show having been booked months prior, etc. etc., much like the band’s scheduled SXSW performance, and the decision being made to press on in light of Alex Chilton’s untimely death and make it a tribute to Alex, and Chris Bell, and the unstoppable force of nature that the music of Big Star was, is and shall be. Whew. So, without a moment to lose, and after talking to Wendy about it, I told him I’d be there and started staying up late every night practicing. ‘Course I knew the tunes; they’re sort of permanently emblazoned into my psyche. (ha ha) But knowing them’s one thing; playing them’s quite another. (It should be noted here that, in their own unique ways, both Chilton and Bell were MONSTER guitar players… for those who don’t already know.) I wanted to give it my all… out of respect.
So the day of the gig came, and I felt like I was as ready as I’d ever be. I managed to time my departure just right, so I showed up right on time for the rehearsal at Ardent Studios. The first 2 people I met when I arrived were Van Duren and his son, Ian. (!) How cool is that? Van was a friend and some-time bandmate and writing partner with Chris Bell & Jody Stephens in the mid-70s, Richard Rosebrough and John Hampton in the 1980s, and Tommy Hoehn into the 90s. Needless to say, he was a big part of the whole scene Big Star sprang from. (Case-in-point: he still owns Chris Bell’s ’66 Bandmaster head and cabinet---and he’s now handing it down to his son.) If you don’t know Van’s music, start with Are You Serious? You’ll be glad you did. Next I met Susan Marshall; she was super-friendly right off the bat, and sure has a great voice. Before long Jon, Ken and Jody arrived and started wiring up. The backline and P.A. were set up in the A room from the previous night’s rehearsal. [The blackface Super Reverb Jon played through for the rehearsals and the gig was the one used on all the Big Star records. How I walked past it several times without involuntarily genuflecting I’ll never know. (ha ha ha)] Brendan Benson and his wife came in, with their beautiful 3-week-old boy, Declan, and Sondre Lerche. About that time, the guys started jamming on “Mod Lang” with Van Duren. It was as close to perfect as you’d ever want it to be; there was no need to run it again. I was tuned-up and ready to roll, so I went next.
Jon had asked me to work up “Don’t Lie To Me” and “When My Baby’s Beside Me”, and to have “In The Street” “in my back pocket” just in case Tommy Hoehn couldn’t make it. Sadly, he was unable to be there due to illness, so I was on the hook for all 3. By that time, of course, I knew what I was doing, so I was past the point of being nervous and just stoked beyond belief. When Jody counted us in and we started playing “In The Street”, I didn’t even try to suppress the shit-eating grin on my face. (ha) Wow. I can’t really describe the feeling accurately. It was kind of like having an out-of-body experience, I think. (ha) The music sounded great, though, and our voices were jiving really well together. I should probably mention that there was a documentary film crew on-hand filming this whole deal. They did their best to film everything, and why wouldn’t they? Their film is called “Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story”; I’m sure most of y’all are aware of it, and for all I know, some of you might’ve helped to fund it. Anyway, the cameras were rolling the whole time, but it never really bothered me or anything. John Fry was there hanging out, too---more about him in a second.
Next we played “Don’t Lie To Me”, and it was pretty ripping. Getting to holler it full-blast in unison with Jon was a real treat for me. I mean, for crying out loud, I’ve always loved The Posies, too! Those 2 guys play and sing their asses off, but you already know that. Chip Holland put me onto The Posies a long, long time ago. The guys seemed real happy with the way everything was sounding, so I felt relieved. Time to switch guitars for “When My Baby’s Beside Me”, which as it turns out (and I swear this was not intentional) is in the same DGDGBD tuning as “Amphetamine” off of the 2nd Superdrag album. I’m guessing Alex might have picked it up from Keith Richards, too. Anyway, I had to repo my Strat from Pastor Craig for this one. (ha ha) The 3 songs went down without a hitch, and the band seemed like they were fired-up. Jon said, “man, you really put a lot of time in”, and I said, “yeah, man… for many years.” (ha ha) “Lots of independent study.” (See “the 1990s”). So yeah, I was stoked, and I knew we’d go out there later on and own it. Jody said, “I don’t know about expending all this energy now!” He was really rocking back there, and seemed like he was having a lot of fun.
One by one, all the special guests came through and rehearsed their numbers. Brendan Benson really sounded great, in spite of having the hardest song (“O My Soul”) by far. About that time, the film crew invited me back to Studio C to talk a little bit about my introduction to Big Star, and push the faders up and down on the raw multitracks from any one of the Big Star sessions that I chose to listen to. ‘Scuse my slang, but are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me right now?!!! (ha ha ha) Man oh man. What a trip. It was at this point that I started to feel as if I’d won some kind of a contest. I picked “Kizza Me”. They asked me to describe the song, and the best I could come up with was, “it’s FUNKY!” (ha ha ha) There were only 4 tracks of drums: Kick, Snare, Mono Overhead and Floor Tom; straight off the tape (via a ProTools set-up, obviously; I’m sure the reels are tucked away safely), they sounded so incredible, so well-recorded and vibey. There were 2 electric basses, one direct (sounded like a Jazz Bass to me), and one with some kind of completely wacked-out envelope filter-type effect on it that sounded like something off of a Parliament record. It was wicked-sounding. There was another track of bowed double bass that went down with the other strings. You can imagine how much fun it is to isolate all these different elements that really pop out of the track on record and analyze each one individually! There was a scratch guitar (so bad-ass being able to listen to that) from Alex, then 2 additional guitar ODs. There were 2 completely maniacal piano tracks played by Jim Dickinson; sounded to me like they used both in the mix, with the first one being the loudest and most out-front. Hearing them by themselves was incredible. I just solo’d Alex’s lead vocal for a few seconds; it was almost too much to listen to by itself. There was also a pretty ragged vocal from Jody which in retrospect really sticks out in the track if you’re listening for it. All told, there were 15 tracks. They didn’t even need to fill up all 16. It sounded like they really had a blast that night---and I’ll never hear that track the same way again.
At this point I got to meet John Fry, which was a real honor for me. He founded Ardent, and he also happens to be the man that recorded all the Big Star stuff… and untold numbers of other great records and hit songs. He seems like quite a character, as you can probably imagine. He gave me a pen to sign my release form with, and said I could keep it as a memento of my trip to Ardent. (ha ha) I told him I would put it in a glass case, to which he replied, “my brain probably ought to be in a glass jar by now.” (ha!) He reminds me of R.S. Field.
About that time everybody started clearing out for soundcheck. I drove over to the park, which is really beautiful, then loaded my stuff in and started getting squared-away. The backstage catering was from Rendezvous, but I made the wise decision to hold off until after my performance. Maybe some of you can rock effectively after eating a huge plate of Bar-B-Q; I myself cannot. (ha) The Bell family had furnished a couple of Chris’s guitars to be used by Jon and Ken during the performance (!!!), so I got to stand around and gawk at ‘em in disbelief while the tech looked ‘em over. There was a red Gibson 330 with the silver P-90s, exactly like the one Slim Harpo used to play, and very similar to the Beatles’ matching Epiphone Casinos from the ’66 tour. No coincidence there, I’m sure. The other guitar was a 1967 Gibson acoustic, and when Adam from the studio picked it up and played “I Am The Cosmos”, you just kind of knew that was the same instrument he’d tracked it with. F—k me. Goosebumps there, big-time. Inside the case, you could see his chord book, a couple pieces of mail addressed to him, and some other random stuff like a disposable razor and a capo. I heard there were 20+ members of Chris’s family in attendance later on that night. I really hope they enjoyed the concert.
Since I was scheduled to be the first special guest of the evening, I did the soundcheck with the guys and then I went back and talked to Van Duren and his son for quite awhile. Talk about a nice couple of dudes. It was really a pleasure meeting them. Ian’s getting ready to buy himself his first proper guitar, a Gibson SG. No doubt about it, that kid’s gonna rip. I got to meet Mike Mills, and I told him that R.E.M. at Stokely was pretty much my first proper Rock concert. It was the Document tour; 10,000 Maniacs and Pylon opened. My cousin Rick (who plays bass for the Rude St. Peters) took me; I was in the 6th grade. When I told him that, he said, “well, I was in the 6th Grade emotionally at the time.” (ha ha) He’s a funny dude.
Then somebody told me Andy Hummel wouldn’t be there on account of a broken hip, which was really a bummer. I imagine that’s a really painful injury. Hope Andy’s doing OK. Not too long after that, Wendy showed up. She had a Yoga class to teach that day, so she was several hours behind me. She got one look at little Declan and for a minute there I thought she had baby fever. (ha ha) That little guy was rockin’ it. He had some tiny socks on that looked like high-top Chucks. Storm clouds threatened all day long, but the opening act Star & Micey had to cut their set drastically short and just played 2 songs in hopes that we’d be able to get the Big Star set off before the rain set in. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t end up working out that way---more about that later.
While we were wiring back up for our set, Jody Stephens was presented with a Beale Street Brass Note for Big Star, to be embedded into the Walk Of Fame. Getting to actually witness that was pretty moving. They belong there, alongside all the greats. By this time, of course, the crowd of 2,000+ plus was more or less fully-assembled on the hill out there, ready to hear Big Star… or something like it, anyway… for the very last time. Obviously, without Alex there can be no Big Star… but you know what I mean. Jon sang “Back Of A Car” first, and I was standing in the wings, ready to play.
They brought me out, I waved to the crowd, and we were ready to do “In The Street.” Jody kept having to put his glasses on so he could see what song was next on the setlist. But after that, he counted us in, and we busted into it. I was trying really hard to stay reasonably calm, with mixed results. (ha ha) The song seemed like it was over in about 10 seconds… but it was definitely rockin. (ha) See for yourself! It’s a little blurry… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS__HUTQ1zc. We ended it on the same Jazz chord Alex had been hitting at the recent gigs. I have no idea what it’s called I think he would’ve liked that. “Don’t Lie To Me” was appropriately nasty (ha ha), in the best possible way, and “When My Baby’s Beside Me” sounded fantastic, I thought. “Melodious to my ears”, anyway. (ha ha) (Complete with the Strat’s 5-position pick-up switch in the required Big Star split-coil position.) From where I was standing, I thought we killed it, and that’s not meant to be self-aggrandizing in any way; I just mean, those guys did what they do, and I felt like I held my own and paid my respects, which were the 2 things I’d wanted most to do. Here’s an excerpt from the Commercial Appeal’s review:
“The first guest to stand in for Chilton was John Davis of Knoxville power-pop outfit Superdrag. The intensely expressive Davis threw himself into a trio of #1 Record classics, working up a wistful ‘In the Street,’ a gnarled ‘Don't Lie To Me’ and a playfully insistent ‘When My Baby's Beside Me.’" -Bob Mehr
I waved goodbye to the crowd and made my way around the back of the stage and out front to find Wendy… and hear “I Am The Cosmos”, played to perfection by Jon on Chris Bell’s red Gibson. What a joy. I had just enough time to go back, hook up a plate of Rendezvous and get to the side of the stage before Van Duren came out for “Mod Lang”. I mean, when you’re standing on the side of the stage where Elvis played his first pro gig, in Memphis, eating Rendezvous, listening to Van Duren play “Mod Lang” with Jody Stephens AND Jon & Ken from The Posies… you’re pretty much all set at that point.
Not long after that was when the rain started. It was a mild drizzle at first, but nobody out in the crowd was going anywhere regardless. You’ve probably seen the pictures on Facebook of Brendan Benson holding the umbrella for Sondre Lerche. That was pretty classic. Jody’s brother Jimmy came out and played bass on “For You”, just like he did on the Third record. I got to meet him after the set and he was super-nice. Amy Speace joined the guys on “Give Me Another Chance”; that sounded fantastic. Come to find out she just moved to East Nashville not long ago. She and Susan Marshall did the “doot-doos” on Mike Mills’ rendition of “Thank You Friends”, then Susan gave a really nice, laid-back and soulful rendering of “Night Time”. Everybody sounded so great, it would be almost impossible to choose a favorite performer. “Feel” was killer; Ken sang that. When Amy went back out to do “Try Again”, the clouds opened and it really started pouring. And even though the front line of monitors, mics, pedalboards, etc. and even the guitar amps at this point were basically sitting in the rain, except for a brief pause for some tarps to be thrown over stuff, the show never stopped---and the crowd hung tight. I was a little paranoid about somebody getting electrocuted there for a second. Brendan even threw in a couple of mock spasms to heighten the effect when he went out to put his guitar on. He closed the show with a cracking version of “O My Soul”, followed by “September Gurls”. For the encore, Jon & Ken went out and played a really sweet version of “Take Care”, and for the grand finale, they brought us all back out to sing and clap our hands on “A Whole New Thing”, which kind of devolved into a trainwreck, as the “All-Star Jam” has been known to do from time to time---but with some proper face-melting guitar leads courtesy of Mr. Mike Mills. He was handling business over there. Then there was kind of a big group hug and that was it.
Well, I’m about wore-out; I’m sure you are too. I found some pretty good pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/areacodegreetings.
There’ll be an obligatory Snapfish album of the ones we took ourselves. I hope this doesn’t seem ridiculous, but I really did want to document what happened the best I could, lest I should forget… but I really don’t think that’s possible. Besides, at least in one particular case… you asked for it! (ha ha)
Big Star is dead… long live Big Star… thank you, Alex… thank you, Jody… thank you, Chris… thank you, John Lightman… thanks, Jon & Ken… thanks, John Fry… thanks, Andy.
With Love Always,
John Davis
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May 11, 2010
MAJOR UPDATE
Superdrag People: We have several late-breaking (and pretty bad-ass) announcements for you. Check this out:
First of all, Superdrag's John Davis has been asked to join the remaining members of Big Star (The Posies' Jon Auer & Ken Stringfellow, and founding members Jody Stephens & Andy Hummel) and a host of other rock luminaries (including The Raconteurs' Brendan Benson, REM's Mike Mills, and Big Star contemporaries Van Duren and Tommy Hoehn) in paying tribute to Alex Chilton this Saturday night, May 15, at the Levitt Shell in Memphis' Overton Park. Initially slated as a Big Star performance and Levitt Shell fundraiser, in light of Alex's untimely passing it's become a sort of memorial celebration of the man and his beautiful music. John's been asked to perform a couple of numbers with the band. Try to imagine how stoked he is. (ha ha) General Admission is $20, and VIP Packages are available for $65. Doors open at 6:00 PM, show starts at 7:00 PM. Be there if you can!
John will also perform as part of the "house band" at Nashville's Mercy Lounge (on guitar and vocals, alongside Ken Coomer, Jason Moon Wilkins, Neilson Hubbard, and Elle Macho's David Mead) on Friday, May 21 for another Big Star/Alex Chilton tribute benefitting MusicCares. A $10 minimum donation gets you in. Expect to see a host of great "guest singers" and maybe a big surprise or two (???)
 The following night, Saturday, May 22, Superdrag will appear at "O My Soul: A Tribute To Alex Chilton" at East Nashville's The 5 Spot. All proceeds will benefit MusiCares, and the bill features Chilton/Box Tops/Big Star songs performed by the likes of Superdrag, Ned Van Go (members of Who Hit John & The Cowards), The Carter Administration (w/ Sam Powers!), Derek Hoke, The Red Caps, House Of Wolves (featuring ex-Flesh Vehicle bassist Matt Fuller), The Fuel-Injected Legends and more. It's sure to be a great time, and not to be missed.
 I know some of the Superdrag faithful and message board regulars have been waiting on this one for quite a while, so I'm very pleased to announce that 30 AMP FUSE is back! It's ON! It's going down Friday, July 9 at Barley's Taproom in Knoxville, TN. Openers and special guests TBA. The guys (Mike Smithers, John Davis and WARTHOG's Joey Sanchez) will perform the classic Wind-Up record in order from start to finish. If you're a 30 Amp fan... you might want to consider making a road trip for this one.
A quick reminder: John Davis Liberation Front plays Barley's on Friday, June 4 (with Flesh Vehicle!), Shamrock's Irish Pub in Huntington, WV on Saturday, June 5 (with The Fontaine, Down Goes Frazier, Party Or Die!), and The Basement in Nashville on Friday June 11 (Flesh Vehicle opens). Get some!
Last but certainly not least, John's been hard at work on a song-for-song, Johnny Flame 4-track rendition of the Misfits' classic Walk Among Us entitled Walk Among Me. A handful of the tracks have been leaked already, and so far people seem to think it's pretty sick! You can read John's personal announcement via the message board by clicking here. Once all 13 tracks are complete, the finished product will be available as a free download right here at Superdrag.com, before the bottom of the 4-track cools off. Count on it!
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May 3, 2010
WARTHOG records "Needles + Pins" ; download starts Tuesday
WARTHOG fired up the 4-track this week to put down a very special rendition of "Needles + Pins" (the Sonny Bono-and-Jack Nietzsche-penned nugget immortalized by "da brudders" on their 1978 classic Road To Ruin), for a very special purpose indeed.
Laura Powers (rock and roller, and wife of Sam) hosts a most excellent radio show called (you guessed it) "Needles + Pins" every Tuesday morning from 6:00-8:00 AM on Nashville's 91.1 FM WRVU. Who better to record the "theme song" than us? As long-time fans of the show, we were stoked to help out. If you ask me, it's the best 2 hours of radio Nashville has to offer.
If you're up early on Tuesday (May 4), and you want to hear the exclusive World Premiere over the airwaves, you can log on to www.wrvu.org at the top of the 7:00 (CST) hour and hit the "Listen Now" button to stream it live. After Tuesday's broadcast, Laura will host a FREE DOWNLOAD of WARTHOG's "Needles + Pins" for your enjoyment over at www.needlesandpinsradio.com. While you're there, you can check out past playlists and a whole lot more.
Gabba Gabba Hey!
Johnny, Joey, Sammy & Tommy
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April 21, 2010
SUPERDRAG Thursday April 22 ; WARTHOG Saturday April 24
This Thursday April 22nd, SUPERDRAG will be playing Sundown In The City in Knoxville.
Then on Saturday April 24th, WARTHOG (the Ramones Tribute Band featuring members of Superdrag) will be playing a benefit show for Jasmine and Junior Brooks (the survivors of a house fire in Nashville). They will be playing with Dan Halen (Van Halen Tribute band). The show starts at 9pm. Admission is a modest donation of $10 at The Basement. Come on out and support a worthy cause!
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April 14, 2010
JOHN DAVIS LIBERATION FRONT: MORE JUNE SHOWS ANNOUNCED!!!
John Davis Liberation Front (John + Ethan Luck, Josiah Holland & Joey Sanchez) just added two more dates to the June schedule:
FRIDAY, JUNE 4 : BARLEY'S TAPROOM : KNOXVILLE, TN : OPENER TBA : $5
200 E. Jackson Ave., Knoxville, TN 37915
SATURDAY, JUNE 5 : SHAMROCK'S IRISH PUB : HUNTINGTON, WV
(W/ THE FONTAINE, DOWN GOES FRAZIER, AND PARTY OR DIE!)
2050 3rd. Ave., Huntington, WV 25701
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April 8, 2010
Sundown in the City with Superdrag
 Superdrag are now scheduled to play Sundown In The City on Thursday, April 22.
For those who are unfamiliar with this event, Sundown In The City is a long-running series of free, all-ages outdoor concerts in Knoxville's historic Market Square. Gates open at 6:00 pm.
This will be the inaugural show for the 2010 Sundown season and is FREE to the public.
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April 7, 2010
SUPERDRAG / WARTHOG / JOHN DAVIS / FLESH VEHICLE SHOWS ANNOUNCED!!! + 2 new tunes!!
Hey Everybody: There's alot going on in Superdrag World that might be worthy of your attention, so without further delay, let's get into it:
First and foremost, Superdrag will be appearing at an Alex Chilton Tribute concert on Saturday, May 22 at the 5 Spot in East Nashville. The guys will be playing a short set of Big Star songs alongside members of The Carter Administration, Ned Van Go, ex-Who Hit John (!) and many more. This is guaranteed to be a great night of music honoring the late, great Alex Chilton, with performances by some of Tennessee's finest Power Pop purveyors.
WARTHOG is scheduled to play at a benefit concert for two small children, Jasmine and Junior Brooks, who recently lost their father, mother, two sisters and a family friend in a tragic house fire. All proceeds from the door will directly benefit the kids. We are hoping to raise as much money as possible to help provide food and clothing for them, and help to meet any other needs which they may have. Your $10 minimum donation at the door gets you two premium sets' worth of Rock & Roll from WARTHOG & Dan Halen (Van Halen tribute), and directly supports a worthy cause. It all happens on Saturday, April 24 at The Basement in Nashville.
John Davis Liberation Front (John + Ethan Luck, Joey Sanchez & Josiah Holland) will appear on Friday, June 11 at The Basement in Nashville along with Senator Pappas' "50s Arena Rock" juggernaut, Flesh Vehicle! Yep, that's 2 Superdrag side projects for the price of one. There's an early show, so doors for JD & FV will be 9:30! Hope to see you there!
 WHIP! has been tapped to open up for The Legendary Shackshakers at Barley's Taproom in Knoxville on Friday, May 14. Show starts at 10:00 PM sharp. Knoxvillians take notice---this one's not to be missed!
Lastly, people have been asking alot of questions about new songs, a new record, what comes next, etc. We're short on details at the moment, but let's just say the stockpile of cassettes is dwindling, the 4-track is staying juiced-up and new jams are going down on tape pretty regularly. Want a small taste of what we've got going on? Head on over to Superdrag's MySpace and Facebook pages and check out new demos for "Save It" and "Something To Do." Enjoy!
Much Respect,
Superdrag
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March 22, 2010
For Alex Chilton
 Since the beginning, Superdrag has been deeply indebted to the music of Big Star; the influence is unmistakeable, and has been fairly well-documented over the years, so it goes without saying that the guys in the group were deeply saddened by the news of Alex Chilton's untimely death. John Davis has written and recorded a new song called "Cerulean Blue (For Alex Chilton)" in his memory.
Help yourself to the free download if you like. The normal "old house electrical hum/4-track cassette hiss" caveats apply, but they hardly matter. With regard to the track itself, John said simply, "I wrote this one for Alex. I couldn't help it."
Download the "Ceruelan Blue (For Alex Chilton)" here.
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March 5, 2010
Flesh Vehicle makes some Racket!
As you probably know, Superdrag's Tom Pappas has a side project called Flesh Vehicle, and he's just released a new CD Racket that's full of high-octane, punk-influenced rock 'n' roll.
Racket is Flesh Vehicle's 3rd CD, and you can order it (and the band's other two CDs) from the band's Nimbit OMT -> here.
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February 25, 2010
WARTHOG online articles & Friday FEB 26
Quick reminder: WARTHOG (Ramones tribute featuring John Davis, Tom Pappas, Sam
Powers, and Joey Sanchez) are playing this Friday FEB 26 at Barley's Taproom in
Knoxville!
There's a few new online articles for your reading pleasure:
Knoxville.com
Metropulse
Steve Wildsmith
If you have a chance, be sure to check 'em out this Friday!
Gabba gabba hey!
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January 18, 2010
WARTHOG - Members of Superdrag to play Ramones tributes
Back in March of 2009, Superdrag's "Senator" Tom Pappas, John Davis and Sam Powers enlisted the help of unstoppable drummer Joey Sanchez to put together a short set of Ramones covers for a Joey Ramone's Birthday benefit gig in aid of lymphoma research at Nashville's Mercy Lounge. They christened themselves WARTHOG for the occasion, to honor the late, great Dee Dee Ramone who penned the song of the same name (which also happened to be in the set that night.) Anyway, they had such a great time playing, they're bringing their Ramones tribute back for a couple more shows! They'll be playing a half-hour set at The Basement's 5th Anniversary show on Feb. 6 in Nashville, and a proper headlining set at Barley's Taproom in Knoxville on Feb. 26.
Sat. Feb. 6 : The Basement : Nashville, TN : 9:00 P.M. : 21+ : FREE SHOW
Fri. Feb. 26 : Barley's Taproom : Knoxville, TN : 8:00 P.M. : 21+ : Special Guests TBA
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December 22, 2009
"Jesus is Real (God is Alive)"
To get you in the mood for the holiday season and to help celebrate this Christmas time of year, Superdrag.com is offering a free download of John Davis' track "Jesus is Real (God is Alive)".
Download it here.
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December 21, 2009
Comeback of the Year
 The Daily Vault has graciously awarded Superdrag's album INDUSTRY GIANTS with their "Comeback of the Year" award for 2009.
Check it out here.
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December 8, 2009
A brief message from Superdrag...
Hey everybody---we're very pleased to announce the 2009 HOLIDAY HYPE SUPERDRAG SALE right here at superdrag.com!!! We're offering some sick deals on everything in stock, just in time for the holidays. The flagship offer is our special HOLIDAY GIFT PACK: take your choice of ANY SHIRT, PLUS ANY POSTER, PLUS ANY CD (3 items) for one low price of just $19.99. It's outrageous! New shirt designs in stock, including all of our 2009 tour shirts (the "Ants" shirt featuring the Industry Giants cover image and the "Sunsphere" design depicting the group members towering over Knoxville's most legendary landmark.) Limited quantities of the classic Chattanooga and CMJ posters are now available with the Holiday Gift Pack, and all remaining posters in stock are sale-priced at $10. All remaining T-shirts in stock are reduced to $10. All ARRCO releases are priced to sell at $6.99, or grab all three for just $15! All remaining copies of our mammoth 2-CD set 4-Track Rock: 1992-1995 + Complete "Bender" Sessions must go, so we're slashing the price down to $10. (!!!) 2 CDs FOR TEN BUCKS! Cop it for your friends and loved ones now---when they're gone, they're gone for good! It's been said before, but it's worth saying again: we here at superdrag.com are ready and waiting to turn your holiday merch dreams into reality.
And on a more serious note, we would like to thank you corporately and individually for checking out the new album this year, for buying a ticket to see the show, for checking us out on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter, for posting your YouTube videos, hyping us on your blogs, even hating on us (that's right, we need you too); essentially, just for helping us to be able to continue to do what we do best. Superdrag - our fans = nothing. Much, much respect and lots of love from our family to yours. Wishing each and every one of you a safe and happy holiday season and a bright New Year for 2010.
Sincerely,
John, Don, Brandon & Tom
Superdrag
:: Go to the Online Store ::
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October 21, 2009
Superdrag to play 2 CMJ shows in NYC on Friday... Photos to follow
 Superdrag will be playing two shows in New York on Friday, October 23!
(1) The band will be playing a FREE show, Skewer CMJ at Pianos on Ludlow. On stage time is slotted for 2:40pm.
(2) Superdrag will also be playing the CMJ Music Marathon at the Highline Ballroom later that night.
For more info, check out the Tour page.
Be sure to check out the Photos page for images after the show. Currently, there are photos posted from the ninja-rific Chattanooga show (from last Friday, Oct. 17). Be sure to check 'em out!
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October 6, 2009
Brendon Benson gets "Sucked Out"
 Brendan Benson (The Raconteurs) recorded a DayTrotter Session recently, and one of the songs he played was Superdrag's infamous hit "Sucked Out". DayTrotter.com has been kind enough to post the session online for all fans to download.
You can download Benson's version of "Sucked Out" as well as other songs from his session RIGHT HERE.
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September 15, 2009
* U P D A T E *
What’s up, Superdraggers? Due to a flurry of recent activity around Superdrag World HQ, we’ve got a lot of good news and info to disseminate about the latest happenings and goings-on, and what’s to come in the near future… so here goes.
First of all, the long-awaited live session from our 2nd visit to Daytrotter (I like to call it “Daytrotter II”) is available for download HERE. Read the article, download the tracks, and rock out. (Keep your ears open for the distinguished members of our studio audience, who came through with some fine backing vocals.)
We’ve got a couple of upcoming live shows to announce:
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 : JJ’S BOHEMIA : CHATTANOOGA, TN
JJ’s Bohemia
231 E. M.L. King Blvd.
Chattanooga, TN 37403
423-266-1400
www.myspace.com/jjsbohemia
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23 : HIGHLINE BALLROOM : NEW YORK, NY
2009 CMJ MUSIC MARATHON & FILM FESTIVAL
Highline Ballroom
431 W 16th St
New York, NY 10011
212-414-5994
Ticket price: $15
www.highlineballroom.com
High-quality downloads of our recent performances at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club (4-11-09) and Chicago’s Metro (4-25-09) are now for sale through our Nimbit webstore.
Now’s the time to take advantage of a great deal with our Superdrag ARRCO Blow-Out Sale! Buy ALL THREE ARENA ROCK RELEASES (In The Valley Of Dying Stars, Last Call For Vitriol and Changin’ Tires On The Road To Ruin) for ONE LOW PRICE: JUST $15. In these tough economic times (ha ha), 3 CDs for $15 is an unbeatable bargain. Click the “Music” button on our Merch page, and you’re on your way.
As always, thanks for your support... and thanks for choosing Superdrag.
With Love & Respect,
John, Don, Brandon & Tom
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July 11, 2009
NEW SHOWS: John Davis, Flesh Vehicle, and Whip!
Superdrag fans -- here are a few shows of which to take note!
Fri. July 31 : Knoxville, TN. @ Barley's : 10pm
The Scenesters, John Davis and Whip!
* this is a Funhouse event. 10pm.
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Sat. August 22 : Nashville TN. @ The Basement : 10pm
The return of Flesh Vehicle
* featuring Tom Pappas, Mark Robertson(SHACKSHAKERS) & Steve Latination(AGENT ORANGE)
* this is the band's first show in 3 yrs. so get there early because they go on first!
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May 26, 2009
Superdrag in SPIN
 Superdrag are in the June issue of SPIN magazine. The band's ad is on page 105. There is also a little picture of John amid the SXSW coverage on page 96.
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May 15, 2009
"Aspartame" on Pitchfork TV
 If you haven't seen it yet, Superdrag's music video for the song "Aspartame" is up over at Pitchfork TV.
You can check it out here.
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May 8, 2009
Amplified by ABC
 Superdrag has been AMPLIFIED!
Check out the video interview on ABCNews.
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Superdrag's 
Superdrag are scheduled to open up for 
Tyler Pollard hosted a lengthy and informative interview with 
