The 220s

CALENDAR LISTING

HARRY’S HOE DOWN

featuring Hot Day at The Zoo

June 24-26

Harry Brown’s Farm

45 Abijah Hill Road

Starks, Maine

21 Years of Gathering in Support of Marijuana Liberation!

“Congress shall make no law abriding the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”

Music, Camping, Speakers, Art, Dance, Puppets, Poi, Activism & so Much More!

Camping Tickets: $60 online $70 gate

Day Ticket: $20

Sunday by Donation

Tickets and Festival Info:

www.friendsofthehill.com

HarryBrownsFarm@gmail.com

Hot Day at The Zoo, Bearquarium, Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde, American Mixer, Blue Boy Productions, Cyborg Trio, Jamantics, Jesaka Saylove, Jordan Kaulback, Loose Leaf, Mudseason, Okbari, People With Instruments, Psylab, The Repeat Offenders, The 220s, VJ Foo & the Foo Crew

Political Action Tent: Soapbox & DJ’s; Co-Op Coffeehouse After Hours, Che Arrajj, Live Artist, Trash Into Art Puppets, Barefoot Truth of Belly Dancing, Fantasy Fuel, Main Fire Dancing Collective, Lizzyoo, Far Out Magazine, Radio Free Maine, Jodi’s Kids Area, Healing Arts, Little Shop of Random Stuff, Peace Love & Henna, Wandering Grounds, Peace Love and Rocks, Odds & Mends, Wolf Angel, The Heart of Glass, Last Fair Deal, Strangers Helping Strangers, Solar Cafe, Starks Diner. - Bangor Daily News

CALENDAR LISTING

HARRY’S HOE DOWN

featuring Hot Day at The Zoo

June 24-26

Harry Brown’s Farm

45 Abijah Hill Road

Starks, Maine

21 Years of Gathering in Support of Marijuana Liberation!

“Congress shall make no law abriding the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”

Music, Camping, Speakers, Art, Dance, Puppets, Poi, Activism & so Much More!

Camping Tickets: $60 online $70 gate

Day Ticket: $20

Sunday by Donation

Tickets and Festival Info:

www.friendsofthehill.com

HarryBrownsFarm@gmail.com

Hot Day at The Zoo, Bearquarium, Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde, American Mixer, Blue Boy Productions, Cyborg Trio, Jamantics, Jesaka Saylove, Jordan Kaulback, Loose Leaf, Mudseason, Okbari, People With Instruments, Psylab, The Repeat Offenders, The 220s, VJ Foo & the Foo Crew

Political Action Tent: Soapbox & DJ’s; Co-Op Coffeehouse After Hours, Che Arrajj, Live Artist, Trash Into Art Puppets, Barefoot Truth of Belly Dancing, Fantasy Fuel, Main Fire Dancing Collective, Lizzyoo, Far Out Magazine, Radio Free Maine, Jodi’s Kids Area, Healing Arts, Little Shop of Random Stuff, Peace Love & Henna, Wandering Grounds, Peace Love and Rocks, Odds & Mends, Wolf Angel, The Heart of Glass, Last Fair Deal, Strangers Helping Strangers, Solar Cafe, Starks Diner. - Bangor Daily News

Warren — The annual Warren Day is celebration is set for Saturday, June 25 downtown and around the village. Festivities begin at 6 a.m. with a pancake breakfast and conclude at 6 p.m. with the annual auction at the Masonic Hall.

In between, there is a lot of food, fun activities for all ages and the big parade at 10 p.m. The afternoon will offer live music. Everyone is invited to bring their lawn chairs and gather around the gazebo for some good tunes.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Stacey's Jamboree veterans Don Nickerson and his Country Mist band will play country western favorites new and old. From 2:30 to 5 p.m., Belfast-based The 220s will offer alternative/progressive rock influenced by everyone from The Beatles to Radiohead to Yes. - The Village Soup

... There’s also plenty of talent from Waldo and Knox counties, from groups such as the alternative rockers the 220s, psychedelic folk from Ancestral Diet and bluegrass from the Gawler Family Band. Not to mention other Mainers such as orchestral folk rocker Audrey Ryan, a Bar Harbor native now living in Boston, and In Houses in Trees, the new side project from Bangor-area indie rockers Patrick Cunningham and Anthony Bitetti. And that’s only scratching the surface; a full list of bands can be found online at freerangemusicfestival.com. - Emily Burnham - Bangor Daily News

... There’s also plenty of talent from Waldo and Knox counties, from groups such as the alternative rockers the 220s, psychedelic folk from Ancestral Diet and bluegrass from the Gawler Family Band. Not to mention other Mainers such as orchestral folk rocker Audrey Ryan, a Bar Harbor native now living in Boston, and In Houses in Trees, the new side project from Bangor-area indie rockers Patrick Cunningham and Anthony Bitetti. And that’s only scratching the surface; a full list of bands can be found online at freerangemusicfestival.com. - Emily Burnham - Bangor Daily News

When Joel Watson starts playing guitar, he’s in happy land. You can see it in his eyes and in the way he relaxes once he has pick in hand. Not that he’s a high-stress guy to begin with — he’s a laid-back kind of cat — but once he’s off and strumming, he’s in his own world.

“Yeah, it’s kind of an escape,” said Watson. “It just feels natural. It’s always interesting.”

You’d never know from listening to him that Watson is just barely 18 years old — he sounds like he’s been at it for decades. Watson is lead guitarist for the band Steel Rail Express, a group of rock veterans hailing from all over the country, though they’re now all based in Waldo County. Steel Rail Express will play their brand of amped-up, we-mean-business country rock on Friday and Saturday night at Toziers II in Bucksport.

“We take it seriously, in that we want to put on the best show we possibly can, but once all that’s said and done we don’t take it seriously at all,” said Tim Woitowitz, drummer for the band. “We have so much fun onstage. It’s a blast. We wouldn’t play 164 shows a year if it weren’t fun.”

Watson and co-guitarist Paul Vachon are Maine boys, but bassist and lead singer Michael Ponder comes from North Carolina, and Woitowitz grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Ponder and Woitowitz migrated northwards, with Ponder settling in Liberty, Woitowitz in Stockton Springs. The two played with Vachon on and off for years, before meeting Watson.

“We met Joel at an open mic at the Parent Gallery in Belfast,” said Ponder, who grew up playing bluegrass with his family throughout the South, including appearances at the Grand Ole Opry. “I had never seen a kid his age play like that. He’s got soul. He’s got his own thing going on. He plays like he’s been playing for 20 years.”

“I asked him for his phone number, and said we wanted to jam with him. He didn’t think we were actually going to call him. He was 16 at the time,” said Woitowitz, who played with rock bands in and around New York City throughout the 1960s and ’70s. “But we called him the next day. Two days after that we played a gig. We’ve been together ever since.”

Watson got his first guitar when he was 11 years old — a purple Les Paul knockoff that he beat up on for a few years, before graduating to the much nicer models he plays today. For nearly two years, he’s played almost every weekend with Steel Rail Express. The best musical education is sometimes just to dive in headfirst and learn as you go.

“I taught myself guitar, for the most part. And these guys have taught me so much, I can’t even begin to describe it,” said Watson. “I just learn by ear. I don’t know how to read music. I would go to school, but I think it would ruin my technique. I just kind of feel it.”

Steel Rail Express plays a mix of classic rock, country and funk. Think Big and Rich meets AC/DC, with a little bit of Led Zeppelin thrown in for good measure. The band drives around in an old school bus, spray-painted black and red and outfitted with bunk beds. Their mission at each show is to make sure everyone has a good time.

“We’re a party band. We’re a dance band. Our first priority is to make sure everyone is having fun,” said Woitowitz. “We play mostly covers live, but we get our own stuff in there a lot too. If the crowd likes a song, we stick with it. We’re all about pleasing the audience.”

Last weekend, Steel Rail Express won the Colgate Country Challenge in Augusta. They were up against some stiff competition, and the band was shocked and very, very pleased to learn that they’d won. In October, the band will travel to Massachusetts to play the regional semifinals. If they win, they’ll go on to Nashville next year to compete for a recording contract and a cash prize.

For Watson, playing with Steel Rail Express has been a great musical learning experience. It’s also developed into a second family for him.

“We definitely have this kind of psychological connection when we perform. We know exactly what someone’s going to do, just by someone moving a certain way or looking at each other,” said Watson. “It’s a family. They’re my road family.”

Steel Rail Express plays nearly every weekend throughout this state, including this weekend at Toziers II in Bucksport. For a full schedule, and to listen to some tracks from the band, visit myspace.com/sreentertainment.

eburnham@bangordailynews.net - Emily Burnham - Bangor Daily News

Boy meets guitar. Boy spends most of teenage years learning the art of rock. Boy plays with lots of other musicians, but isn’t sure what he wants to do — just that he loves to play. Then boy, now man, finds what he was looking for in his friends. Man is now rocking, along with other men, in a rock ‘n’ roll band. And all was well.

That’s the extremely abridged version thus far of the career of Joel Watson, a 20-year-old guitar phenom performing in the band the 220s. The Belfast-based four-piece also features guitarist and keyboard player Ian Maddocks, bass player James Taylor (no, not THAT James Taylor) and drummer Jason Dean. They’ll perform an acoustic set Friday night at Ipanema in Bangor, and a full set Saturday night at Bowen’s Tavern in Belfast.

Before the 220s, Watson performed with the country-rock band Steel Rail Express. In spring 2009, Watson had the opportunity to play a solo gig at a local venue, and decided to put together a pickup band for the occasion. Those friends were Maddocks and Dean, along with former guitarist Gordon McLaughlin.

“I needed a band, so the people I first thought to ask were, of course, my friends,” said Watson, who also covers lead vocals for the band. “I’d never even really played with any of them before, except when we were hanging out sometimes. But we did the show, and we realized afterwards that we really, really liked what we were doing.”

That chemistry was something Watson remembered, and when he decided to leave Steel Rail Express to pursue different musical avenues, he knew that was the band he wanted to be in.

“For starters, the musicianship is really high. Everyone’s playing is just excellent,” he said. “We all get along when it comes to different genres. They get where I’m coming from. We can try whatever we want. It’s really freeing.”

The band name comes from a long day of trying on different names and not liking any of them — until they passed by a house with an address of 220, and Watson suggested, out of sheer frustration, that they call themselves the 220s. It stuck.

“It was really just a joke. But it just sounded so good,” said Watson. “People expect some kind of really cool story, but it’s not. We just liked it.”

The band’s sound comes from all four members’ voracious appetites for music of all kinds. Watson name checks bands and artists such as the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, Harry Nilsson, Radiohead, Soundgarden and Pink Floyd as big influences — especially the guitar work of Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

“We do extended jams like the Dead, but we’re all huge fans of alternative rock and even weirder, more experimental stuff,” he said. “Our original music has that dark, melodic kind of feel. We do a lot of covers live, but once we’ve done a really popular song, we do an original. Once you get the crowd going with a really good cover, they’ll listen to what you really have to play.”

Next weekend, the band will enter Acadia Studios in Portland to record their debut EP. A few demo songs are available to listen to on the 220s Bandcamp website, at the220s.bandcamp.com, but a fully produced album is something the four musicians have been waiting to do for a while.

At just 20 years of age, Watson already is a formidable force on the guitar. His weapon of choice is a gold-top Gibson Les Paul; his long hair and leather jacket gave him a rock star vibe. His expressive fluidity on acoustic and his raw rock edge on electric show that he’s well ahead of his years in terms of natural talent. Maddocks, Taylor and Dean provide ample rhythmic muscle, and each has a different perspective towards making music that gives the band a unique edge.

“Before I started playing out, I didn’t know how to work well with others,” said Watson. “I’ve learned so much with these guys. I’ve learned band dynamics. And I’ve learned that less is more. It’s made me a better musician all around.”

For information about the 220s, e-mail them at the220s@gmail.com, or find them on Facebook. - Emily Burnham - Bangor Daily News

Boy meets guitar. Boy spends most of teenage years learning the art of rock. Boy plays with lots of other musicians, but isn’t sure what he wants to do — just that he loves to play. Then boy, now man, finds what he was looking for in his friends. Man is now rocking, along with other men, in a rock ‘n’ roll band. And all was well.

That’s the extremely abridged version thus far of the career of Joel Watson, a 20-year-old guitar phenom performing in the band the 220s. The Belfast-based four-piece also features guitarist and keyboard player Ian Maddocks, bass player James Taylor (no, not THAT James Taylor) and drummer Jason Dean. They’ll perform an acoustic set Friday night at Ipanema in Bangor, and a full set Saturday night at Bowen’s Tavern in Belfast.

Before the 220s, Watson performed with the country-rock band Steel Rail Express. In spring 2009, Watson had the opportunity to play a solo gig at a local venue, and decided to put together a pickup band for the occasion. Those friends were Maddocks and Dean, along with former guitarist Gordon McLaughlin.

“I needed a band, so the people I first thought to ask were, of course, my friends,” said Watson, who also covers lead vocals for the band. “I’d never even really played with any of them before, except when we were hanging out sometimes. But we did the show, and we realized afterwards that we really, really liked what we were doing.”

That chemistry was something Watson remembered, and when he decided to leave Steel Rail Express to pursue different musical avenues, he knew that was the band he wanted to be in.

“For starters, the musicianship is really high. Everyone’s playing is just excellent,” he said. “We all get along when it comes to different genres. They get where I’m coming from. We can try whatever we want. It’s really freeing.”

The band name comes from a long day of trying on different names and not liking any of them — until they passed by a house with an address of 220, and Watson suggested, out of sheer frustration, that they call themselves the 220s. It stuck.

“It was really just a joke. But it just sounded so good,” said Watson. “People expect some kind of really cool story, but it’s not. We just liked it.”

The band’s sound comes from all four members’ voracious appetites for music of all kinds. Watson name checks bands and artists such as the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, Harry Nilsson, Radiohead, Soundgarden and Pink Floyd as big influences — especially the guitar work of Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

“We do extended jams like the Dead, but we’re all huge fans of alternative rock and even weirder, more experimental stuff,” he said. “Our original music has that dark, melodic kind of feel. We do a lot of covers live, but once we’ve done a really popular song, we do an original. Once you get the crowd going with a really good cover, they’ll listen to what you really have to play.”

Next weekend, the band will enter Acadia Studios in Portland to record their debut EP. A few demo songs are available to listen to on the 220s Bandcamp website, at the220s.bandcamp.com, but a fully produced album is something the four musicians have been waiting to do for a while.

At just 20 years of age, Watson already is a formidable force on the guitar. His weapon of choice is a gold-top Gibson Les Paul; his long hair and leather jacket gave him a rock star vibe. His expressive fluidity on acoustic and his raw rock edge on electric show that he’s well ahead of his years in terms of natural talent. Maddocks, Taylor and Dean provide ample rhythmic muscle, and each has a different perspective towards making music that gives the band a unique edge.

“Before I started playing out, I didn’t know how to work well with others,” said Watson. “I’ve learned so much with these guys. I’ve learned band dynamics. And I’ve learned that less is more. It’s made me a better musician all around.”

For information about the 220s, e-mail them at the220s@gmail.com, or find them on Facebook. - Emily Burnham - Bangor Daily News