Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
It's called flowpoetry and it was born out of an open mic experience in Madison where guitarist Tate McLane and vocalist Adam Gregory Pergament first met.
McLane, 24, had performed at open mic venues before, but he had never witnessed anything like what he heard that night back in 2003 when he first saw Pergament perform. Pergament is a spoken word artist whose poetry speaks of a variety of cultural, political, and life experiences ranging from Asian gods and goddesses to cowboy stories of the Wild West.
"I always liked poetry, but I never liked watching people read it. It always seemed so stiff and boring," he said. "but when I saw Adam up there, what he was doing was very original. He was talking about all kinds of interesting stuff--bus rides through Sumatra--he just blew me away."
The two became friends as Pergament experimented with reading his poetry while McLane's band played. It wasn't long before the idea of Rock and Fire Flowpoetry was hatched as a collaborative effort between the writer and musicians. They formed a band called StoneFloat to perform it.
Racine audiences will have their first chance to experience StoneFloat's unique sound on Saturday when the band comes to George's tavern for an evening of rock 'n roll. Their show that night could feature a variety of styles,as the band often performs acoustic numbers as well as full-blown electric rock and blues, and sometimes they incorporate other artists into their shows.
"Our key word--and it's one that goes back to our open mic days--is inclusiveness," Pergament said. "We've always been very open to working with other artists, from visual artists to people to doing theater. We've done a whole host of things."
And while the message of their music is something the band takes seriously, their performances are not all work and no play.
"We want people to come out and dance and have a good time," Pergament said.
When it comes to their audience, StoneFloat draws listeners that spans ages and interests.
"Some of it depends on where we are playing, but we get everybody from frat boys with their popped-up collars to hippie kids. We get geeks, poetry lovers, and rock 'n roll lovers," said Hugo Reynolds, the band's 21 year old drummer. "Really, it's everybody, which is good."
"Give it a shot," said McLane. "Come and check it out--you'll have a wicked good time and you'll get to see something you haven't seen before," said McLane.
Lee B. Roberts Journal Times Friday May 6, 2005 - The Journal Times, Racine, WI (lead Entertainment Section feature 5/6/2005)
Strolling across library mall on a sunny September afternoon, I was snared and held in a semi-hypnotic trance by the sounds I heard. Like some ethereal rhythmic superglue washing over me, the self-proclaimed “improvidelic thwack” of the Madison band StoneFloat had effectively fixed my feet to the concrete.
Climbing from their earliest beginnings as an ensemble in January 2003, StoneFloat has found a cozy seat between the written word and the savory sounds of rock and roll. Using growlingly heartfelt lyrics, some genuinely intense poetry, and an impressive display of musicianship founded on extensive roots of hard rock and psychedelica, StoneFloat is one big progressive musical mix.
Their schedule in Madison is rigorous, balancing time between live shows and recording an album. (Some of these upcoming tracks can be heard on StoneFloat’s snazzy web site, http://www.stonefloatrecords.com) Frequenting Madison venues like Mr. Roberts, The Liquid Lyrics Lounge, and The Portal Music Cafe, StoneFloat is cutting out a new niche in music for lovers of poetry and rock alike.
Davyd Betchkal 12/18/2004
(for the full text of the above article please go to:
http://www.emmiemagazine.com/articles.php?articleID=150)
- Emmie Independent Music Magazine
StoneFloat first came to my attention at an open mic this spring (2004) at Liquid Lyrics Lounge and it quickly became apparent that these guys put all of their heart, soul and energy into their creative work. StoneFloat's attitude and approach to performing in Madison seems refreshingly urban and progressive in the best sense of those words. Their readiness to jam with others reminds me of what I hear about the best part of Chicago's scene. Their backgrounds run the gamut from small town roots to years of academia. They are a hybrid of sorts, not falling squarely into any one category, and are in a good position to bridge the gaps between cliques and genres as they would love nothing more than to see musicians and artists mix it up more around town.
Obviously it is not the first time a band has mixed it up and used spoken word, but StoneFloat's unique influences and how they choose to use them make their sound hard to define. One can hear the muddy classic rock/blues influence of early Traffic and Led Zeppelin as well as echoes of bands like Sublime and Nirvana. For example the song "Terpsichore" vaguely recalls Traffic's "Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys" as well as early Sublime. (Lead vocalist Tate) McLane's voice is much deeper than Steve Winwood's but evokes a similar feeling here. A fan commented at one of their Portal Cafe shows that McLane's voice is similar to Eddie Veder's and Leonard Cohen's, and those are good reference points for those who haven't heard him, but it would be an injustice to McLane to leave the description at that. His voice is raw and true.
StoneFloat is fortunate not only to have such an excellent vocalist but also musicians who are exceptioanlly solid on their instruments and who possess a keen sense of timing and inprovisational ability. In "Terpsichore," McLane sings while (Poet Adam Gregory) Pergament recites some of the verses in double-time. The result could have easily been a mess , but it flows well. It is surprising how smoothly Pergament's words flow unselfconsciously into the rhythm of the music and vice versa: "Johnny Techno don't rock just pop/Machine beat bop down at the hop/Silver string strum can't make him stop/Jump jam jive Mr.Lollipop."
McLane is also a talented writer with a style quite different from Pergament's. An excerpt from his song "Golden:" "She said she had to wait, just for a little while/I stare at the sun all day, because I couldn't see her smile/She said, 'I'm sorry, just not right now'/But I swear to God, I'm gonna get that girl somehow." All of the guys in StoneFloat are very involved in the process of putting together the final result. They all have strong personalities to match their strong performances. The self-description on their website www.stonefloatrecords.com says: "... StoneFloat explodes genre by foggily blending sludge rock, dustygritty guitars, driving bass and flowpoetry puddled over double clutched drum beats. This is all mixed in with a dose of twang and soul vocals, electrically and acoustically performed. "
Amanda Gaze 9/10/2004
(for a printable copy of the full text of this article please go to: http://webzoom.freewebs.com/stonefloat/stonefloat in Ricks article1page.pdf and http://webzoom.freewebs.com/stonefloat/stonefloat in Ricks article2page.pdf) - Rick's Cafe (South Central Wisconsin's regional Music News)
Discography
StoneFloat Archive Series 1: Live From The Portal 8-20-05
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Simply put, nobody else is doing what Madison, Wisconsin's StoneFloat does. The originators of Improvidelic Rock and Roll, StoneFloat is the only band who dares to mix emotional, intelligent and musical spoken word flowpoetry with well-crafted rock-and-roll songs. As such, StoneFloat has placed themselves at the forefront of the new movement toward a lyrically significant rock, reggae, and blues form that combines intense jams, spoken word, and tight, well-written songs. Currently one of Madison's fastest growing and most well-respected bands, StoneFloat has been embraced by the city's music lovers of all ages and, even more impressively, warmly welcomed into the jam, jazz, spoken word and rock-and-roll band communities in the city.
Madison, Wisconsin's StoneFloat is the inevitable result of the growing musical and artistic revolution in a city which now holds pride of place as recipient of the largest single private individual donation to the arts in the history of America. This money has created a dynamic performing arts and music scene at the highest levels of professionalism and a community of musicians incredibly hungry and motivated to share in the festivities. StoneFloat is not waiting for that money to trickle down however, but are boldly striding forward and forging their place in the arts community of Madison through talent, persistence, and hard-work. When you add an extremely well educated and politically active populace to the mix (witness the 80,000 people who showed up on the steps of the Capitol for a political rally in Fall 2004), new and unique forms of expression are bound to explode forth. StoneFloat is at the musical and spoken word center of this dynamic synergy.
StoneFloat's successes have not happened over-night but through much time and effort. All of the members have at one time hosted open-mics (combined the band members have more than three years of weekly open-mic performance and hosting experience in Madison) and have paid their dues in the Madison community through providing the space for countless other musicians and artists to hone their craft. This has resulted in StoneFloat viewing themselves as a collective of artists who are incredibly comfortable on stage and able to perform solo and in countless variations as a band. It has also given the members of the band a profound respect for all of those who choose to share their voice and place themselves on the line through creative performance. StoneFloat is inclusive in their outlook, has performed numerous times in support of arts incubation in Madison, at political rallies to get out the vote, and at benefits for campaigns focused on social issues. StoneFloat often involves and collaborates with other bands and the local poetry and arts communities at their shows.
StoneFloat's improvidelic mixture of rock and roll, blues, and reggae, all held together by spoken word flowpoetry, has set a new standard by which other bands in the Midwest are beginning to be judged. Wholly original, at times as tight and bracing as a frozen mainsail on a clipper ship skirting the Cape Horn, at times as loose and comfortable as a paddle boat on the Mississippi in July, StoneFloat now stands poised to begin to take their show out into the eddies and swirls of the national music scene and beyond.
In 2004 (StoneFloat's first collective appearance was New Year's Eve at the now legendary and aptly named Liquid Lyrics Lounge) the band exploded onto the Madison scene, having now logged over 70 shows in Madison and beyond in 16 short months. This meteoric rise has included packed shows at The Portal Music Cafe (one of the most musically diverse rooms in the city), Mr. Robert's (Madison's jam band central in the shadow of The Barrymore Theater), and most recently, The Annex (voted Madison's best live music venue in the 2004 Madison Area Music Awards). StoneFloat is starting to see a fervent following of dedicated fans at their shows who are singing along with the songs, shouting out requests, and wildly applauding as poems morph into song and back around again. This is clearly a band that inspires dedication, creativity and transcends all previous notions of what a rock and roll show can entail.
What sets StoneFloat apart from their peers is their ability to put forward an incredible amount of energy and musicianship during live performance. The result is a completely unique sound that is at times aggressive and at times incredibly soothing. This is much more than the everyday attack and release of most bands. StoneFloat is able to move horizontally, to drop like an anvil and soar like a hawk. Already music and spoken word fans are coming forward and volunteering to help the band widen their circle of listeners. Trading of live recordings has begun and street teams are currently forming.
The members to StoneFloat view themselves as family and are committed to the kind of work both on and off the stage that it takes
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