As busy as Cletus Got Shot has been over the last year or so, I don’t even know how they keep track of themselves.
Not only are they a near constant presence on our calendar here at the Flyer playing at venues all over Fayetteville, they have also managed to write and record an 11-song full length album while somehow finding time to travel around the region playing music festivals and dive bars from Kansas to Tennessee and in between.
I’m starting to think they must have developed the ability to clone themselves.
A couple weeks ago, Mark Landry and Adam Cox dropped by the Flyer office with an advance copy of their new CD, “Unamerican,” set to be released on June 19 at a party at Smoke & Barrel Tavern. Once it’s released, the entire record will be available via Creative Commons licensing, meaning they are encouraging their fans to copy it and spread the music as far as possible.
We got in touch with Mark recently, and he told us a little bit more about the reason for the creative commons licensing, the new record, the release party, and the most badass bass guitar made of a gas tank I’ve ever seen.
Fayetteville Flyer: What have you been listening to lately?
Cletus Got Shot: We just got back from a festival in Tennessee called the Muddy Roots Festival, and we traded CDs with almost every band that camped by us. The stack of CDs in the van is pretty damn impressive right now, but the best bands are definintely Larry and His Flask from Oregon, the Calamity Cubes from Lawrence, KS, Goddamn Gallows from Michigan, and Cutthroat Shamrock from somewhere in Tennessee. I can’t say enough good things about Larry and His Flask. Best acoustic/bluegrass/punk band we’ve seen.
FF: You guys have been busy. Where are some of the places you’ve been over the last year?
CGS: We’ve been hitting a midwest circuit that covers most points in between KC, Wichita, Tulsa, Little Rock, and St Louis. Not all the show are worth it, but we’re paying our dues!
FF: Tell us a bit about the new record. Where did you record it?
CGS: The album was a pretty oddball experience, we recorded it live in one day, that day in January when the snow storm shut down everything in town. We managed to pull some favors and use the Starr Theater at the Walton Arts Center. We barely made it, but we worked with the house sound guy, Brian Van Auken, to record a marathon session of something like seventeen songs. We narrowed the songs down to eleven that made the album, and we are very happy with the final result.
The Jankity Tankity
FF: What’s the story with Mark’s bass? What is that thing made of?
GCS: The gas tank bass is nicknamed The Jankity Tankity, and it is mad out of an old Saab gas tank. My previous bass was a hand-me-down that had seen better days, and couldn’t handle the stress of gigging and being thrown around any more. It was so junky when I got it, that I actually traded a broken ukelele for it. One sided…
FF: The new record comes out on June 19, correct? Anything you want to tell everyone about the release party?
CGS: CD release party will be at Smoke & Barrel Saturday the 19th, and we are planning on having a few yet-to-be-named guests who will be joining us. We will also have a bunch of new merchandise, hand-screened by me.
FF: It’s also available to stream / download ahead of time, correct? Where else can folks get their hands on this recording?
CGS: The album is streaming on Grooveshark, and will be available on cletusgotshot.bandcamp.com for name-your-price downloads as of the 19th. Our website, cletusgotshot.com, will hopefully be live by then, but is currently an under construction sign. Check back soon.
Also, I want to mention the Creative Commons licensing. Our album is CC licensed, and that means we trust and respect our fans enough to grant them legal permission to copy our album. We want this music to be heard. The music industry is tired, and old hat. Local, independent, and original music is the way to go.
Click below to hear Unamerican, the title track from the new album by Cletus Got Shot
[audio:http://wonderstatemedia.com/assets/flyer/mp3/cletusgotshot_unamerican.mp3]
