This Saturday, if you happen to walk by the Smoke and Barrel and you see that the building is vibrating, and you peer in the window to see a mass of hair and arms flailing, heads bobbing, and butts shaking, you can blame Little Rock’s Eclipse Glasses.
The band will be making their Fayetteville debut this weekend at the Smoke and Barrel, and the excitement about what these guys have been doing in Little Rock has already traveled up Interstate 40, and through the mountains to Fayetteville.
Self described as “funk, soul, electro, Afrobeat, reggae and weirdo disco,” people in Little Rock have been gushing about the Eclipse Glasses, and we can’t wait to see them.
The band is made up of Andrew Morgan (Chinese Girls), Lorenza Harrington (Sugar and the Raw, Applescruffs), Kyle Carpenter and Zach Reeves (Tel Aviv) and Colin Miles (the Moving Front). Right now, the band doesn’t have a website, so if you want to find out what all the fuss is about, you’ll have to head down to Smoke and Barrel tomorrow night. Jacob Enwood and the The Good Fear will open the show.
We got in touch with the Eclipse Glasses, and they answered a few questions, which is further proof that they rule.
Fayetteville Flyer: What have you been listening to lately?
Elipse Glasses: Stevie Wonder, Judas Priest, Horace Andy, La Dusseldorf, Tlahoun Gèssèssè (really), Lee Scratch Perry, on and on and on…
FF: The show on Saturday is a benefit for Luke Hunsicker of the American Princes. Have you guys heard how he’s been doing lately?
EG: I am sure that he and Sydney are doing well and thriving.
FF: You guys have been in a ton of bands before Eclipse Glasses. Can you give our readers a little background?
EG: Tel Aviv, the Moving Front, Chinese Girls, Amores Revenge, Sugar in the Raw, solo projects galore and numerous “older” bands we won’t mention.
FF: How did you guys start playing together?
EG: Plain good timing and mutual admiration
FF: There are some cool things going on in the Little Rock music scene. What are some Little Rock bands we should check out?
EG: At the advice of our attourneys we will only state “little rock has a complicated palette
which should be savoured at a leisurely pace at our local venues”
FF: You guys are involved in a really cool project to restore the Dreamland Ballroom in Little Rock. Can you tell us a little about it?
EG: It was, in the wayback, a center for entertainment in the black community, most anyone worth listening to (Ellington, Holliday, Armstrong) performed there. Due to a hole in the roof and the freeway destroying the center of the community, the ballroom fell into disrepair and decay for decades.
We are playing a part in fundrasing and awareness for the restoration project, and have hope for ourselves and other artists to perform there in the future…..in space.
FF: How many of your shows end up in a full on dance party?
EG: Well, “end up” isn’t as appropriate as “start off”, except for the ‘inaugural ball’ when everyone was lined up for dinner while we played, then line danced when we were done.
FF: Will the show on Saturday be your first Fayetteville show? (w/ Eclipse Glasses)
EG: Yes, the first two attempts were foiled by acts of nature.
FF: Any recording plans in the works?
EG: We plan to finish and release what wev’e started (soon), start working out more, saving money…
The show on Saturday is also a benefit for American Princes Luke Hunsicker. For those who don’t know, Luke recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor. He’s doing fine now, but anyone who’s spent any time in the hospital knows that medical bills are the suck. The show is $5, and the proceeds will go to help Luke pay some bills.
[Photo by AiLien Draheim]
