Flipoff Pirates to celebrate new album release May 21 at George’s

Event poster

Maybe it’s the power of friendship. Maybe there’s something in the water over in Newton and Boone Counties. Maybe it has to do with an unnamed intra-dimensional being bathed in the light of 1,000 stars and something about the space time continuum, and the threat of worlds colliding. (They’ll explain later).

Whatever it is, something magical happens when Matt Smith, Jake Weeden, Barry Moore, and Jeff Kearney get together and play music together as The Flipoff Pirates.

The musicians, who have been performing together in the band while also anchoring other interesting music projects in and around Fayetteville for more than 25 years, are set to release a brand new Flipoff Pirates album titled Bones of the Past this weekend at George’s.

The band has been working on the album on and off for the better part of a decade, and they’re excited to bring it to life at their release show, set for Saturday, May 21 at George’s Majestic Lounge. Their friends Monk is King, Patty Steel Trio, Mildenhall, Rachel Ammons, and The Salesmen will join them on the bill to help celebrate the new record.

Flipoff Pirates CD Release


When: Saturday, May 21
Where: George’s Majestic Lounge
With: Monk is King, Patty Steel Trio, Mildenhall, Rachel Ammons, and The Salesmen
Tickets: $15/$45, stubs.net

Tickets to the show are $15, on sale now at George’s ticketing site. Music should start at around 8 p.m.

We got in touch with the band recently to learn more about the new record, their songwriting process, and how they’ve been able to continue making music together after all these years, and they were nice enough to answer some questions for us.


What have you been listening to lately?
Jake: Personally, lately, I’ve mostly been listening to the gears of the universe grinding in the depths of my own mind, oh yeah and also Haley Reinhart.
Jeff: I have really only been listening to this damn record. I’m a full submersion kind of guy. For better or worse I get completely hyper focused. It usually takes me a few good years before I can listen to a record again after I’ve released it, but I’ll find time for some Haley Reinhart.

You guys have been playing together for so long. Are you guys still playing with the same lineup?
Jeff: The band formed in 96. Matt and I joined in 97, and it has been the four of us (Matt, Jake, Barry, Jeff) since then. We have been blessed to play with some truly great drummers throughout the years. Our first 2 records are up on our YouTube channel, and have original member Ben Ellis on drums. Also, on our YouTube we have a playlist called “The Trosper Years 2003-2005) which is a compilation of live recordings featuring The late Richard Trosper AKA Joe Squirrel on drums. The new record features Marlon (Cat) Davis, of Little Rock, and Matt Beach. All freakin’ legends! The drums on this record are insane!

How did you guys get started playing together?
Jeff: We are all from Newton and Boone Co, a pretty Rural area, so it was fairly easy to find the weirdos and narrow those down to the ones that were dedicated to making music. Jake is from Deer. Matt is from Harrison. Barry is from Wayton, and I’m from Dogpatch, so it wasn’t too hard to find each other. You just raise your freak flag and see who it attracts, and hope you don’t get your ass kicked by normies.

Probably equally interesting, how have you managed to keep playing together for all these years?
Jake: The reason why we have managed to stay together for so long is a very simple matter as well. After we played a gig at “The Sexual Festival of The Moonlight.” An Intra-Dimensional Being with no
name appeared to us, bathed in the light of 1,000 stars, and conveyed a telepathic message that if we ever disbanded then Earth 1 would collide with Earth 2 and cause an irreparable tear in the space
time continuum resulting in a post apocalyptic hellscape the likes that not even M. Night Shyamalan could imagine. So basically we have no choice.
Jeff: It was Rufus.
Jake: Ha Ha, an Intra-Dimensional being bathed in the light of 1000 stars named Rufus!
Jeff: You’re welcome people of earth.

Interesting. Tell us a bit about the new album. Where did you guys record?
Jeff: We started this process a decade ago at Crisp Recording Studio (hence the album title, “Bones From the Past”) and I can’t speak more highly of Darren and his studio. Darren is incredible to work with. He is always present, effective and efficient, and over this time we have become close friends. This album would not have been possible without his patience and counsel.

Ten years is an awful long time to work on a record, but if you have the time I highly recommend it. You get the young angsty version of yourself, and also the (hopefully) better, wiser, more musically sophisticated version of yourself. We originally recorded 15 songs, 11 of those seemed to have a cohesive sound, so that’s what became “Bones From the Past”. I would describe the overall vibe of the record as dark and heavy, like a thunderstorm in the night, and kinda surfy in parts. We decided to keep it a fair representation of our live show, without extravagant overdubbing or effects. Keep an eye out for an EP of the remaining material coming soon, where we plan on going off the rails a little.

I’m always interested to hear about band’s songwriting process. How does that typically work for you guys?
Jake: Typically, in order to write a song, we do a 3 day ayahuasca ceremony followed by a trial by fire, if we emerge from the flame with no burns then we know that the correct chakras have been
opened and the process can begin. After that it’s a simple matter of communicating with other worldly spirits as well as insects and birds, you know pretty standard stuff. I’m assuming that’s how the Black Eyed Peas do it.
Matt Beach) Fergie wrote about it in her book.
Jeff: You mean Fergie’s book “Tips and Tricks for Singing the National Anthem?”
Jake: Right, it’s a technical manual.
Jeff: Published by Chilton.

What’s going down for the release show this week? What can you tell us about that.
Jeff: The CD Release show is going down on May 21st at George’s Majestic Lounge, and will feature a stacked, multi Genre line up of amazing and hardworking local musicians and bands.
Fellow rockers The Salesman, local funksters Monk is King, the multi genre up and coming quartet Mildenhall, the incredible Patti Steel will be there with her trio and Rachel Ammons and her “no man band” which is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It is going to be a truly spectacular night of music, and promises to be the bash of the summer. Tickets are $15 and you can get them on George’s website. It’s our own little micro festival, and you don’t wanna miss it!

How can folks get their hands on this new music, anyway?
Jeff: Our first 2 records “Live” and “Trillions of Voices” are on YouTube. We will be putting all of them on Spotify and all the major platforms soon, but our new record “Bones From the Past” will only be available at the CD release show…for now.

Flipoff Pirates – Live from Crisp Studios