Conjugal Visitors

Artist Information

Biography

Conjugal Visitors shows are always a hoot. With their unique mix of mountain dance music, bluegrass, jazz, jug band, and good old rock 'n' roll, The Conjugal Visitors always rage. And judging from the massive crowds that keep showing up to their gigs all over the Northwest, and the fact that they were voted Best Acoustic Band in the Eugene Weekly's "Best of Eugene" reader's poll, it seems like there is an ever growing crew of people who know that there's always a good time to be had with The Conjugal Visitors!

These folks are hot musicians and great singers, and they aren't shy about putting it on display during explosive marathon sets of tightly woven arrangements and jazzy improvisation. Watching them perform makes you feel like you've stumbled into a free-wheeling living room jam session party, but the talent and polish soon shine through the laid back attitude.

2010 was another fine year for the Visitors. Highlights included playing opening sets for Maria Muldaur and the Asylum Street Spankers, and performing at numerous festivals from northern Washington to southern Oregon, including the Northwest Folklife Festival, Oregon Country Fair, and the brand new Beavergrass Festival.

The Conjugal Visitors' newest CD, "The Gang's All Here"' spotlights the band's creative talents, with eight original songs and high-octane instrumental numbers. The CD covers genres from old time country to swing to tango to rollicking Russian folk music. Mainly it's good clean fun.

Here's to lots more singin', dancin', pickin', and grinnin'
yet to come!

Instrumentation

Reverend Jesse Lawton - Vocals, mandolin
M.D. "Moz" Elsworth - Vocals, Guitar
Brien "Bobo" McMullen - Upright Bass
Flip Sparkle-Pony - Saxophone, and Banjo.
Shams - Washboard and Guitar

Discography

The Gang's All Here (2010)
A wild romp through the diverse styles of music that the CV's claim as their own.

Satchel's Rag (2008)
A smokin' studio album, featuring former band members Joby on washboard, Matura on harmonica, and Zach on banjo and vocals, in addition to the current line-up. The disc includes the perennial favorites "Satan's Mandolin" and "Corn Bred".

Monkey Dance (2007)
The first album which mixes studio cuts with raw but real recordings of live shows.

View videos of the band at the following link: "www.myspace.com/conjugalvisitors"
www.youtube.com/conjugalvisitors

Links

• MySpace
• Twitter
• You Tube Videos
• Videos
• Facebook

Audio

• ain't got jack
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• good life
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• singin
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• I Told Them All About You
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• Emerald Valley
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Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• NOT JUST VISITING; The Conjugal Visitors show their staying power with new CD [+ Show ]
  

  The Conjugal Visitors gathered a solid fan base more quickly than the average independent local band...The Conjugal Visitors gathered a solid fan base more quickly than the average independent local band. That’s because in their first couple of years, they performed free shows almost every week at New Day Bakery in the Whiteaker neighborhood.
  
  People quickly realized that although they were holding a mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo and upright bass, this was not Bill Monroe’s bluegrass.
  If you want historical re-enactment, a Conjugal Visitors show is not the place to be.
  
  The Conjugal Visitors not only fuse styles, they can vary their set depending on the crowd, playing straighter if the crowd seems to want that and toning down adult themes in mixed-age gatherings.
  
  “The Gang’s All Here” includes nine originals, mostly written by [Jesse] Lawton and [M.D.] Elsworth. Lawton and Elsworth have very different styles, which adds depth to the live shows.
  A three-minute fiddle tune from Chip Cohen called “Friday the 13th” shows off the seasoned player’s traditional chops while maintaining the Visitors’ trademark playfulness.
  
  Elsworth ...has been playing square dances since the ’90s.
  Elsworth grew up in Kentucky and moved to Oregon for a carpentry job.
  “It was just part of the culture back where I am from,” said Elsworth, who probably has the most distinctive look of the group with his big bushy beard and dreadlocks the length of a second-grader.
  
  [Jesse] Lawton wrote the stand-out track of the CD, “With My Baby,” a charming meditation on getting drunk with the one you love.
  
  [Brien] McMullen performs barefoot, dancing along with his instrument, slapping percussion on the bass’s hollow body and finding off beats to insert his sound.
  
  So they started playing... under a borrowed canopy. Several dozen people soon surrounded them as Lawton picked ferociously at his mandolin and growled a sort of Tom Waitsian tango, “You Ain’t Got Jack.”

• Young bands breathe new life into acoustic roots music at Northwest Folklife Festival [+ Show ]
  

  The [Conjugal Visitors] featured a guitarist with waist-long dreadlocks and sang while a crowd of ki...The [Conjugal Visitors] featured a guitarist with waist-long dreadlocks and sang while a crowd of kids and parents stood enthralled.
  "If they're at Folklife, they're cool parents," mandolinist Jesse Lawton later explained.
  They also played old-time string music, heavy on the upright bass, dobro and shouted vocals.
  
  These kids are picking at the frayed thread of acoustic roots music, breathing new life into 80-year-old standards. This is folk music — work songs, hobo songs — played with punk-rock chutzpah. That it skews so young means folk music is alive and well.
  
  Perhaps the complexion of Folklife is shifting. In its 39th year, the venerable festival seems less a magnet for aging hippies tooting pan flutes and more a destination for itinerant-punk banjo-busking bands.
  
  Many of these teens and 20-somethings — pierced in very visible places, dragging dogs, smelling of wet cigarettes, wearing oily clothes held together by safety pins and patches — were extremely talented.

• Singin’, Dancin’, Pickin’ and Grinnin’ [+ Show ]
  

  Unlike the naughty nudge of the name, the music is (mostly) good clean fun, with some laugh-out-loud...Unlike the naughty nudge of the name, the music is (mostly) good clean fun, with some laugh-out-loud moments about singing in the bathtub and drinking a bottle of liquor down to the dregs.
  
  Each of these nine tracks shows just how vocally and musically polished this trio is, and, no doubt, why Weekly readers vaulted them to the top of the musical heap.
  
  The band’s name brings a smile to the face of everyone who hears it.
  That wink-inducing moniker may be one reason that Eugene voted The Conjugal Visitors the Best Acoustic Act in EW’s 2008-09 readers’ poll, but it’s certainly not the only reason.
  Eugeneans love the band’s music.

• Best Acoustic Musician/Band '08-09 [+ Show ]
  

  Besides having one of the greatest names in local music, the Conjugal Visitors have one of the most ...Besides having one of the greatest names in local music, the Conjugal Visitors have one of the most infectious sounds, consistently moving their audiences with rootsy beats and a mischievous sense of humor.
  This fast-picking, harmonizing acoustic powerhouse takes the prize as Eugene’s favorite unplugged performers.
  Fans of mandolins and washboards should check out their newly released album, Satchel’s Rag, as well as upcoming performances at the Axe and Fiddle, John Henry’s and Holiday Market.

• The Pursuit Of Folk.com [+ Show ]
  

  "This band is as good as advertised. The band maintains an eclectic arsenal of fiddle tunes, old-tim..."This band is as good as advertised. The band maintains an eclectic arsenal of fiddle tunes, old-timey traditionals, and lively originals.
  I recommend you catch one of their captivating live shows."

• They'll make you slap your Mason jar of moonshine in double time. [+ Show ]
  

  Conjugal Visitors With a name like Conjugal Visitors, they should be punk, right? More at home at t...Conjugal Visitors
  With a name like Conjugal Visitors, they should be punk, right? More at home at the Grand Ole Opry than CBGBs, they'll make you slap your Mason jar of moonshine in double time.

• Voted 2nd Favorite Band in Eugene and #1 Best Band Name [+ Show ]
  

  The Community Center for the Performing Arts announced the official winners of the 14th Annual WOW H...The Community Center for the Performing Arts announced the official winners of the 14th Annual WOW Hall Awards for 2007 earlier this week. CCPA started handing out the WOW Awards in 1994 as a way to honor the public’s favorite performers of the past year. A ballot was published in the January issue of the WOW Hall Notes and a ballot box was available at the WOW Hall from Jan. 2 through Feb. 14, 2008.
  
  Here are the winners:
  Favorite Local Band
  2) Conjugal Visitors
  
  Best Band Name
  1) Conjugal Visitors

• "A roaring freight train of a string band. Great!"
  

  noted roots guitar player and teacher

• The Conjugals played my wedding [+ Show ]
  

  We had the Conjugal Visitors from Eugene play at our ceremony and reception. They were incredible! W...We had the Conjugal Visitors from Eugene play at our ceremony and reception. They were incredible! We couldn't have asked for a better band for our wedding. They kept everyone dancing the whole time. And, they even made up songs on the spot about our dog, and one about my best friend's baby! It was awesome! It was our favorite part of the wedding...aside from getting married.

• Riverside Grange Hall Party
  

  This is the best band I could have possibly hired to play at my birthday

• "The best band in the entire known universe!"
  

  Author, Merry Prankster

Setlist

The band has a catalog of over 300 songs. Aside from over 40 original tunes, the Visitors also dig deep into classic Americana, playing tunes by artists as diverse as Bill Monroe, Duke Ellington, Buck Owens, Fiddilin' Arthur Smith, Nina Simone John Hartford, Peter Rowan and The Asylum Street Spankers, just to name a few. They also play quite a few tunes that are so old, that they can only be credited as"Traditional." Songs like "Lost John" and "Cripple Creek" fall into this category.
The band frequently plays 3 hour sets with a combination of covers and original numbers. You gotta see it to believe it. It's pretty awesome.

Basic Requirements

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