Sketchy At Best

This story begins with 30's musician Papalardi Thigpen and his existential German lyricist Kasper 15. They took the post-Dada world by storm until disappearing in the early 40's. Papalardi was rumoured to be in the south of France living as a beekeeper. He surfaced periodically and helped Miles form his second great quintet. Papalardi has since come to be known as the legendary 'Dirty' Potts. His was the hand you see giving Hendrix the lighter fluid at Monterey. He wrote 'Let It Be' and handed it to McCartney saying, "Here, you guys need a hit". He was in Zappa's recording truck outside the Casino Hotel in Montreaux, Switzerland when "some stupid with a flare gun" burned the place down. He and Funky Claude pulled dozens to safety. In the aftermath, he co-wrote the Deep Purple smash hit 'Smoke On The Water' with the band. Legendary indeed. 'Dirty' Potts has been on the lowdown for several years and is rumoured to be behind the formation of Sketchy At Best. Front man Tom writes tuneful melodies; Ryan, Mark and Matei concoct the stew underneath drawing from influences as diverse as Little Feat, Richard Thompson, mid sixties blue-beat, late 40's hard bop (Potts sold the plastic sax to Bird for the legendary Massey Hall gig), The Beatles, G Love and Special Sauce, sea shanties and some bluegrass. 'Dirty' Potts will re-emerge to manage the band when he knows they are ready to step into the light. "Any day now", he says. He sometimes refers to Tom as 'Kasper', but Tom has been steadfastly quiet on the subject.