Far From Kansas

URL: http://vcreporter.com/article.php?id=4407&IssueNum=114

Ask any local music fan about what is missing from the scene and usually you get the same two answers: not enough venues and not enough bands. Of course, there is an unending supply of young hardcore bands who play one show then break up, but when it comes to original, scream-free rock bands, Ventura County is in short supply.

Perhaps both issues will be closer to a resolution when two longtime staples of the scene throw their hats back into the ring. The Selah Cafe, for years a hotbed of local music as the Garden Village Cafe, is reopening under new management, and they're kicking things off on the sonic side with a free performance by Ventura's gift to alt-country, Far From Kansas.

Far From Kansas and its members have been playing around Ventura in various incarnations since the late '90s. The brainchild of two longtime friends, chief songwriter-singer Joel Levin and multi-instrumentalist Frank Cruz, the band has more or less been a side project to their main priority: higher learning.

Education is a running theme in the band's music and history. Author of over 200 songs, Levin is better known locally as an English teacher at Buena High School, while Cruz spends his days working on his Ph.D. in American literature at UC Berkeley.

Obviously, such a background makes for super-literate songs that drip with Steinbeckian imagery, like "rusted Golden Gate Bridges" and "sunrise in the freezing Barstow desert." In fact, beyond their obvious influence, John Steinbeck and Bruce Springsteen are both mentioned directly on the group's new record, The Ghost Inside of You.

Recorded last year and recently released on their own label, Shelter From the Storm Records, the band's second album finally makes good on Far From Kansas' long promise of becoming a great band. Full of lyrically rich and hook-filled rock songs, it is an early front-runner for local release of the year. When you add in last month's sold-out CD release party, it is safe to say that the band is quickly becoming more than just a weekend outlet.

Which leads one to ask: If things continue in such a positive direction, is the band ready to give up the cushy day jobs, leave the wives at home and take to the highways of America they spend so much time singing about? The answer, according to Levin, is yes and no.

"I have a fantastically awesome day job, but I have to be honest and say it would be nice to do both," he says. "We've got no preconceived notions about major label deals, but we would love to find a supportive indie label and tour during the summer. That would be our dream come true."

It's a dream that gets a kick-start when Far From Kansas heads out on its first ever tour of California next month--during spring break, appropriately.

Until then, you can catch them for free on March 10 at what just might be the start of a rebirth for a venue, a band and, if we're all lucky, a scene.

Far From Kansas performs at the Selah Cafe on March 10 with the Ashtray Life. 40 Day Road, Ventura, 642-1146.

--Chris Jay, March 8, 2007 - THE VC REPORTER

While attending a show by now defunct local rockers Bad Judgment, singer/songwriter and full-time English teacher Joel Levin was struck by the desire to finally take off the Bob Dylan hat and rock. Grabbing his already band-savvy younger brother and two old friends, Levin started Far From Kansas. With a Get Up Kids-influenced sound, FFK combine thought provoking lyrics with a hook oriented musicality. In between juggling full time jobs and school, the industrious foursome just released their first full-length CD, Change For The Better, and plan to gig locally while shopping the record to indie labels.

--Chris Jay, 2004 - The VC Reporter

THIS CLASS ROCKS: If you happen to be a 10th-grader at Channel Islands high School in Oxnard, your big score is getting Mr. Levin’s English class. At one point or other between the Shakespeare and Chaucer lectures, the teacher’s other favorite subject—rock ’n’ roll—is going to come up. He seems like an ordinary, fresh-out-of-college teacher—but Mr. Levin, or Joel, as the local music scene knows him, moonlights as a bona fide songwriter and performer. His day job, in fact, brings him back to the roots of his music career.

TALENT SHOW INTRO: The 22-year old Levin’s rock roots took hold in the mid-‘90s, when he became immersed in the singer-songwriter genre, a near taboo for the post-grunge era he grew up in. Drawn to the lyric-heavy songs of artists like Bob Dylan, Elliot Smith and Neil Young, Levin dived headfirst into writing his own material. Making his first appearance at a talent show—a staple for high school artists—Levin received a hugely positive reaction, and the fire was lit. Moving up to local coffee houses, Levin learned a host of covers and diligently worked on his own material. He also formed two different acts, Common Thread and The Hardcore Troubadours, which featured his brother Matt and fellow high school songwriter Frank Cruz. After graduating in 1998, Levin was faced with a tough decision: head to college or follow the way of the rock.

DON’T BE A FOOL; STAY IN SCHOOL: Levin enrolled at UC Berkeley, but he by no means let go of his passion for music. In fact, between all the protesting gigs (Levin was a notorious activist), he continued his musical pursuits and managed to release not one but two self-produced low-budget records, The Same Old Ground and Lo Fi Angels. During summer and holiday breaks, Levin would head back home to Ventura to perform at coffeehouses packed with friends and family. After graduating this year, Levin opted to return home and scored the job at Channel Islands High. This, of course, also drops him right back into the lap of the area’s music scene at a time his enthusiasm is sorely needed.

THE LUCKIEST: The plan right now is simple. Levin has a stunning number of originals (more than 100); accordingly, he intends to start a band in the alternative country vein, start gigging and see how things work out. He’ll be doing a show at Latte 101 on Saturday, Nov. 16, and most Tuesday nights you can catch him at the Garden Village’s open mic. In the meantime, his sophomore English students need not worry; he ahs no intentions of leaving, at least not yet. As Levin himself notes during a recent between-class break: “If I had the option to rock full time, I’d do it. I mean, it’s the greatest job ever. But the second-greatest job is teaching. So I’m a lucky man. I’ve got the No. 2 job, and I’m working on the No. 1. I can live with that.”

--Chris Jay, 2002 - The VC Reporter

URL: http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/entertainment_columnists/article/0,1375,VCS_4436_5302111,00.html

Since J.D. Levin lives in Ventura, which isn't at all close to Kansas, is it any wonder the Buena High School English teacher has named his rock band Far From Kansas?

And since he's Far From Kansas, it makes sense that he's singing catchy songs about places somewhat close to home, like Barstow, Placerville and even Victoria Avenue, which runs next to Buena High. The tunes can be found on the group's new CD, "The Ghost Inside You," and they can be heard live Friday when Far From Kansas plays at The Alpine in Ventura. The bands Mama Jojo and Ashtray Life will open the show.

Levin discussed the latest during a recent phoner.

Q: What's up with your night job?

A: It's definitely what we do primarily for fun. None of us are in it for the money.

Q: Are any of you actually from Kansas?

A: No, we're all born and bred Californians, but we do have some family in Kansas.

Q: On your album, I like your shout out at the end to Ventura. In the past, some bands would not admit to where they were from, but not you guys. Cool. In any case, how long for the Kansas band?

A: We've been playing together in different incarnations for a while, but I'd say the official Far From Kansas formation was in late 2002.

Q: Wow, five years then. You also give thanks to the Red Cove. Many of us do. I'm assuming you survived a gig there?

A: Yeah, we did. I think it was one of the only bar shows we've ever played.

Q: Was it cool?

A: It was a lot of fun. The Red Cove is definitely a unique place. I don't wanna say "dive bar," but I will – it's totally a dive bar, but a great dive bar. I've seen a few things there that we probably shouldn't discuss in a family newspaper.

Q: So is this your debut album?

A: This is the second one officially. We did a first one that was called "Change For the Better" and we went through a low-cost production company and printed up a hundred copies back in 2003. I think the last two copies in existence are at Salzer's in Ventura.

Q: Are they still there?

A: Yeah. Two copies left, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's one of those work-in-progress things.

Q: Who are the boys in the band?

A: There's me and there's Frank Cruz who is a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley. He's majoring in American Literature, specifically, literature of the Southwest – a lot of border studies stuff. Then there's Chris Dixon who is just another Ventura kid. My little brother, Matt, is the bass player.

Q: What's the deal on this Alpine gig?

A: It's going to be us and this band, Mama Jojo, which is a bunch of kids that are still in school at Buena High School.

Q: Are they your students?

A: I had the drummer and the bass player last year in an English class. There's also Derek Jennings from The Return, who will be playing as Ashtray Life.

Q: How often do you play? I don't recall listing your band very often.

A: Last year, we were all living in Ventura, so we practiced every week. But now we're pretty limited so we play about four or five shows a year.

Q: That is limited. You almost make Raging Arb & the Redheads seem like workaholics.

A: I think part of it is that between PhD programs and full-time teaching, there isn't really a lot of time for the fun stuff.

Q: What does the Kansas band sound like?

A: It's definitely a lot of alternative country influence, a lot of Wilco. The Old 97s are a huge influence and then, definitely, Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown and some of the more folkie indie rock stuff like Elliott Smith, Death Cab for Cutie and stuff like that.

Q: How did you end up with a gig at the Alpine? You guys sound like more of a Zoey's band to me.

A: We've been trying to get to Zoey's for a long time. I know Franklin For Short's played there a lot of times. I think we'd be a good fit.

Q: So you teach English, but you may have a future in social science. Geography references abound on your album and most kids don't know where anything is besides the mall, school and their house.

A: Tom Waits once said something about how the key to a good song is specificity. You know, you have to be specific with names and places because that's what gives a song its cultural identity. And so, I took a cue from Tom Waits — as much as I could — and I throw specific names and places into these songs even if they're non-existent.

Q: So have you actually frozen your butt off in Barstow before?

A: You know, the last time I was in Barstow, it was snowing. That first song about scraping the ice off your windshield with a credit card? Well, I was going to grad school at Stanford and it got really cold in Palo Alto and I remember scraping the frost off my windshield in the morning with my credit card when I was flat broke.

Q: You also have a song about "Victoria Avenue" on there.

A: When I was an undergrad at Berkeley my mom was living just off Victoria Avenue - VENTURA COUNTY STAR

URL: http://www.vcreporter.com/article.php?id=4232&IssueNum=108

FAR FROM KANSAS When not busy inspiring the youth, teacher Joel Levin has one seriously cool after school job. Mr. Levin, as the kids call him, fronts the local rock band Far From Kansas with his brother Matt and friends Frank Cruz and Chris Dixon. One of the county’s best kept musical secrets, their sound is as much alternative country as indie rock. The band has been playing in various incarnations since they were teenagers. While their aspirations of full time music superstardom may be gone, their focus on solid songwriting and the occasional but always stellar live gigs are still intact. They’ll be celebrating the release of their new CD, The Ghost Inside Of You, with an all ages show at the Alpine on Jan. 26, where you can expect Hohner harmonicas, Hammond organs and some extremely literate songs sung by the super-cool teacher everybody wished they had in high school.

--Editors, January 25, 2007 - VC REPORTER

URL: http://www.americana-uk.com/auk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2623

Far from Kansas is principal songwriter J.D. Levin's side project when he is not teaching English in high school in Ventura and very good in parts it is. All the touchstones are here – Springsteen, Young, Ryan Adams etc. and for the first few tracks it bowls along with a laudable gusto but little to inspire beyond the appreciation of reasonable songs and credible playing. Then the title track ups the ante and the whole CD thereafter pops and fizzes with an energy and spark lacking in the first 5 or 6 tracks. The liner notes state that the recordings took place in various living rooms; perhaps some evoke a better vibe than others? It is reassuring that they seem to recognise that some songs are stronger than others and bodes well for the future. The vocal styling of Levin himself could do with some tweaking for a more individual sound but that apart these songs and the way they are played and produced signals an intent that the English teacher may have to follow up. If one of these songs were picked up by The OC or One Tree Hill (which is entirely possible) they could have a credible mainstream hit on their hands and a certain Ventura school will have a situation vacant sign in its window. Excellent work, A-.

Reviewer's Rating: 7 of 10

--Keith Hargreaves. Feb 20, 2007 - AMERICANA UK

URL: www.cdbaby.com/cd/farfromkansas

Far From Kansas's The Ghost Inside of You takes listeners on a sonic road trip through the badlands of California and an emotional journey through the most aching of human experiences.

The CD moves from reflective, moody tracts ("Barstow," "The Ghost Inside of You") to regional anthems (my favorite is "Steinbeck's America") that demand to be played with the windows down and a vanful of friends.

Although Levin's vocals take a bit of getting used to (he can come off as pitchy or thin at first), the feelings and images invoked by this album recall the best of American roots rock: from Gutherie and Dylan to Wilco and the Old 97s. Fans of the Mermaid Avenue CDs will find resonances in The Ghost Inside of You.

More than college-town bar rock, Far From Kansas delicately combines a powerful regionalism with the emotional honesty of contemporary indie sounds, adding a melodic, searing intensity that can overpower the barest tracks in the CD's middle section. The combination works best in songs that temper the indie whine with steady percussion.

If The Ghost Inside of You makes you want to cry into your liquor with your best pal standing by, it also makes you laugh. "Danielle's" playful lyrics (particularly the easy rhyme scheme and familiar bluesy strumming) makes it a song that's instantly sing-alongable. The final track, "Friday Night," is both irreverent and witty and recalls the lyric manifestos of American folk classics. For all those who claim that American rock n' roll is dead, The Ghost Inside of You proves the genre is very much alive and more dynamic than ever.

Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

--Jennifer Reimer, March 1, 2007 - CDBABY.COM