Biography
Currently recording. March 2009
In the beginning there was Herbie Hinkle....
Then, there was The Herbie Hinkle Ensemble...
Mysteriously... Herbie died.
The music lived on...
Behold! The Hinkle Family Trust!
Er, uh.. The Trust!
Founded in Louisville, KY by the mysterious Herbie Hinkle, and Jon Beazlie, HFT has developed a style that is hard to pigeon-hole but easy to love. The unique blend of funky guitar riffs, quirky lyrics, and intense stage presence, delivers a refreshing high-energy-meets-groove combination. Some call it "Surf Love," or "Riff Rock."
From the desk of Herbie Hinkle... (before death)
In my youth, being a connoisseur of fine record albums, the thought of becoming a professional musician titillated my enthusiasm and peaked my fancy. I would practice my homemade guitar (which I fashioned from rubber bands, half of a row boat paddle, and a whiskey crate) for hours, until my hands bled from exhaustion, or until I passed out from the whiskey (it was a full crate). Then when I had finally accumulated enough money plowing fields for an onion farmer, I bought my first real guitar. I. Was. Elated.
Unfortunately, two days later I was engaged in what I will only refer to now as the "Son of a bitch, I lost my fu@#ing left hand!" incident. In which I lost my left hand. I. Was. Devastated.
I became embittered by the battered embers of the cruel whore fate, and I turned my back on the world and both my guitars. Being a foreigner to this land and at the time not speaking much English, I spent my time poisoning stray dogs in the park, and setting wildly elaborate booby traps for unknowing joggers. However, one day I discovered an innocent young man, who had the intelligence of a rabbit, but the enthusiasm of a bunny, not to mention the gullibility of a hare, and I knew then that this young man would serve to be the perfect puppet to live out my fantasy, to achieve my masterpiece and ultimately...become me!
I got straight to work, cutting his hair, locking him in my basement and forcing him to transform my sung melodies into great works of instrumental opuseses (if that's even a word). I fed him a half-empty (or half-full, if you're an optimist) glass of bathwater a day, plus a mighty portion of the leftover communion bread from the church across the street. God's hand was an integral part of this process.
So, finally the day came when all the writing was done. I slapped together a band for him. One was a wino who slept in the church dumpster. Another I crafted myself, using the body of a dead sailor, a monkey's brain and a lightning tower. The last, was some sort of stolen Weapon X.
And now, I give to you.... the ultimate creation of my genius....The Herbie Hinkle Ensemble...
Or if I ever become "Dead," The Hinkle Family Trust.
Past email to the list people... - April 16, 2005
People of Herb,
As long as I have known Herbie Hinkle, I knew in the back of my head this would one day come. Folks... Herbie. Is. Dead.
As you may or may not know, Herbie had been sick for quite some time. Last week I got the call from Herb's caregivers that he had passed. Due to the nature of the subject and the reality of "What next?" it has taken some time for me to clearly collect my thoughts, thus resulting in the delay of this news.
From the moment I first met the guy, his pale skin reeked of death... actually, it was probably 90% b. o., 5% gangrene from his left hand, and 5% Old Spice. (That still don't make it right!) When I first set foot in his basement, the empty pill bottles, rubber bands, whisky crates, and piles of used gauze sprinkled with an occasional onion skin, clued me in to Herbie's dire situation, and of course my own cruel whore fate... months and months of tortuous, somewhat cryptic, musical information being crammed into my head, forcing me to ultimately become... A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN!
For over three years, The Herbie Hinkle Ensemble has been playing Herb's sung melodies. If you've had the honor of wittnessing the rare appearance of Herbie at a show, you are one of the lucky ones. As ill as he was, it was a wonder he ever made it out at all. (Hence our numerous excuses for his absences.)
The gradually worsening condition of the founder of the band left us confused and frustrated; we knew we were coming to a turning point and a very important decision. The time to make that decision came on Saturday, shortly after the death of Pope John Paul II (which was ironic, because the Pope WAS morally opposed to poisoning stray dogs in the park, unlike Herbie). We knew that Herbie would want us to continue in his absence, but ultimately we were too grief-stricken to move forward with the original band name. Together, we decided to honor Herb's memory by dutifully renaming the band The Hinkle Family Trust. Or, The Trust!
Instrumentation
The Trust is...
Jon Beazlie/guitar/vocals
Joe Wheeler/bass/vocals
Jeremy Smith/drums/vocals
Discography
The Trust/The Trust LP
The Herbie Hinkle Ensemble/Taxi EP
The Herbie Hinkle Ensemble/The Herbie Hinkle Ensemble LP.
Buy it online at www.cdbaby.com/cd/herbie
Visit us at Myspace!
http://www.myspace.com/thetrustmusic
Links
| http://www.thetrustmusic.com |