5-Track

Artist Information

Biography

I grew up in Vermont, where I spent 25 years in the woods doing nothing but play the guitar. From 2001 to 2007 I lived in Seattle, where I supported my music habit with a dayjob. In the meantime which is now, I dwell in Los Angeles.

In Vermont I played mainly in the band called Bruce, and also in various collectives at various open jams.

In Seattle I played the electric guitar with The Bond, Glass Goblins, Snoose Junction, Zoomsquad, Evan & The Modern Human Show and others, the idea being to play as much music as I could, all the time. I played bass in a few bands, too. That was a good seven years.

Now I am in Los Angeles. My girlfriend is here. I am glad to be with her. Many of my Seattle groups are still functional, as is the band called Bruce (out of Vermont). But mostly, here in L.A., I play the electric guitar, and I sing. (We call that a “solo project” ... ) I help out my friends, when they need an electric guitar player. And I play in a band called Cricket & The 2:19.

Here's a little bit about some of the bands:

***Glass Goblins is a specific attempt to wed Japanese psychedelia with a Medeski Martin & Wood type of groove. I am very fond of this project, though it is on temporary hiatus as the current members are scattered about the country. We will reconvene.

***Bruce is the world's greatest boogie band. Really. It's all about Marc Cantlin & me & the Big Groove. We're still based out of Vermont. Should be a new album soon.

***Snoose Junction is an improvising collective. We played at Mr Spot's Chai House (don't get me wrong, coffee house or no, we were LOUD) every Monday night for a year. What a blast! Since the personnel was never the same from week to week, neither was the genre or the mood. Sometimes we had ten people playing and singing at once, ranging in age from 17 to 65, with twenty more in the audience waiting for their turn. We recorded a lot of these shows and they are making it out there in various formats. Here's to many more!

***Zoomsquad is all-improvised psychedelically flavored ice cream, but with a definitely heavy temperament. No songs, and every session is different.

Every one of these bands has a special place in my heart.

I have recorded and released a bunch of CD-Rs along the way. They range from abstract and noisy improv ("321 Party") to solo-acoustic country-blues ("It's A What?") and electric rock'n'roll ("Kira"). There will be more of these - I can't seem to help making albums! It isn't enough just to play. I LIKE albums, I grew up listening to albums (I mean, forty minutes to an hour of music in a particular order, all at once) and now I HAVE TO MAKE THEM. I have posted samples of each on the CDs page.

Sometimes I write things. One thing that I wrote, an interview with Marc Cantlin, has been published online. You can read it here: http://www.furious.com/perfect/marccantlin.html

Anything else?

Oh, yeah: Nothing is etched in stone, don't let the bastards grind you down, and if you lose your happy thoughts you'll fall out of the sky!

Instrumentation

5-Track - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, sing

Discography

*mp3s of most releases may be heard at http://www.5-Track.com

selected discography:

"Bruce Lives" by Bruce - 2009 (forthcoming), psychedelic boogie music

"The Naturalization Of The Cetacean Nation" by Abalone Sandwich - 2008
 ambient guitar drones and underwater improvisations

"Live on KEXP Sonarchy Radio: The Last Days Of Ballard Saga Cycle" by Snoose Junction - 2008, non-hierarchical & fully-improvised psychedelic grooves, free downloadable album

"Interstellar Mating Rituals" by Zoomsquad - 2008, psychedelically flavored heavy ice cream music

"Kira" by Glass Goblins - 2007, rocknroll, 4-song EP

"A Moose Supreme" by Evan & The Modern Human Show - 2007, psychedelic music

Snoose Junction: Live At Mr Spot’s vols. 1, 2 and 3 - 2006, electric improv

"Glass Goblins @ Chop Suey" by Glass Goblins - 2006
 psychedelic rocknroll, improv & songs & singing

"It’s A What?" by 5-Track - 2005, acoustic guitar, songs and singing

"GUSTY WINDS may exist" by Underground Weather & Marc Cantlin - 2005
 a composition for improvising rock band by Marc Cantlin

"KAOS NITES" by Kaos Nites - 2004, electric improv

"5-A-Delic" web-only release by 5-Track & Delic - 2003
 psychedelic funk with Marc Cantlin & friends

"321 Party" by 321 Party - 2003, electric improv

"4.5 Won’t Do" by 5-Track - 2002, acoustic guitar, songs and singing

"The Blind Shark" by Bruce - 2000, psychedelic funk

"The Devil’s Music" by Pofis & 5 - 2000, lo-fi psychedelic improv, cassette-only

"LIVE NUDES" by Live Nudes - 1999, lofi ambient porch grooves

"Fewmets" by Bruce - 1999, cassette-only improv compilation

"Bruce For Your Life" by Bruce - 1999, psychedelic rocknroll

"Bruceshit" by Bruce - 1999, lofi psychedelic rocknroll, cassette-only

Audio

• Texas
  Listen  
• Nothing To Complain About Today
  Listen  
• Tinfoil Helmet
  Listen  
• Godless Weather (acoustic)
  Listen  
• Static (Neon Brown cover)
  Listen  
• HeadLands
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Godless Weather
• Static
• (He's Not Dead, He's Just In) Texas

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• FolkWorld CD Review - It's A What - July 2008 [+ Show ]
  

  The American singer and songwriter who performs under the name 5-Track, has on his album "It's A Wha...The American singer and songwriter who performs under the name 5-Track, has on his album "It's A What", seven of his own compositions and a cover version of Neon Brown's "Static".
  
  He is a very good guitarist who plays his own style and lets elements from the most diverse directions influence the flow of his playing.
  
  His voice lacks some strength of volume and expression and therefore there is depth missing in some songs.
  
  However, his somewhat experimental sound is very interesting.
  
  5-Track plays with the guitar and its sounds, changing the rhythm and timbre of his playing and singing which is, in itself, a difficult accomplishment.
  
  Sometimes it sounds a little like Led Zeppelin, like with "Intra-Venus", then it becomes bluesy like with "Out of Range". Apart from these two songs, Neon Brown's "Static" is my favorite.
  
  Not everyone will like the music of 5-Track because it is not necessarily easily accessible. For me, though, there are some absolutely remarkable pieces on this CD and the guitar playing is really worth hearing.
  
  5-Track, "It's A What?", self-published, 2005.
  

• 5-star reviews of "It's A What" [+ Show ]
  

  A voice to absolutely covet! (5 stars) author: A. L. The songs are well crafted and the guitar wo...A voice to absolutely covet!
  (5 stars)
  author: A. L.
  The songs are well crafted and the guitar work is good old fashioned down home fun. The selling point though is that unique, craggy, squeaky, jiving, bluesy wail of a voice that carries these songs to the Acoustic Blues Promised Land. It's that good folks. Check 'em out.
  
  Five's best to date!
  (5 stars)
  author: J.P.
  Five gets a 5 for this acoustic collection of mostly original material. My favorite is "Godless Weather," but they're all mind-bendingly brilliant. Five's gravelly voice and chiseled lyrics are uniquely his. Give this one a listen and you'll go back for more.
  
  It's not a what ... it's a hit!
  (5 stars)
  author: Sierra
  Godless Weather is addictive. Everything about it is perfect. It should be playing on every radio in the USA.
  

• Julian Cope on 5-Track & Abalone Sandwich [+ Show ]
  

  "...I’ve also been digging the tripped out lo-fi oceanic world according to THE NATURALIZATION OF TH..."...I’ve also been digging the tripped out lo-fi oceanic world according to THE NATURALIZATION OF THE CETACEAN NATION by 5-Track and Abalone Sandwich, a shambling and ambient quartet that starts off something like my own ‘Ringed Hills of Ver’ (from RITE 2) before descending into a series of long and distant coastal wah-guitar meditations that send listeners to the edge of Catatonia. Imagine generic free rock bubbling through a 2” shortwave radio speaker overheard on an Ibiza beach whilst swimming close to the shore, and you’ve nailed these guys’ metaphor completely. When you’re in these guys’ company, time evaporates and everyday is Southern Sardinia. By the way, their album is available from guitarist 5-track, via his own website at www.5-track.com or through his myspace site at www.myspace.com/fivespace."
  
  -Julian Cope, headheritage.com, Address Drudion October 2008

Setlist

A set can run a half hour to an hour and a half, depending on what is needed. A typical set is made up of original songs and improvisations, sometimes including but not limited to:

(He's not dead, he's just in) Texas
(I don't need a) Tinfoil Helmet
Blues For Horselover Fat
The Last Asian Cowgirl
Nothing To Complain About, Today
Galapagos
Kira
Godless Weather
The Clock Song
Right Here & Now
Tacoma Motel
Easy Way Out Of Touch
Lunar Sunrise
Powerlines
Morning Train
Angle Of Repose
Tar
Out Of Range
Space Angel
Exit Zero
Stargoat
Mule's Teeth

Basic Requirements

Calendar