Energetic. Spontaneous. Rambunctious. There are not enough words to describe the kind of electric show that Larry And His Flask put on any given night. A band that is difficult to pin any genre of music upon, yet is instantly easily listenable and accessible to anyone who loves a good time. Taking the stage quickly after the opening act, the band wasted scant time springing in to their first song, fingers slapping strings, drumsticks flying, sweat flying sixty seconds in to their act. Pounding out a set of songs that march to no drummers beat but their own, the guys had the hall jumping on their feet quickly with one rousing song after another. I'm pretty sure half of the band spent more time in the photo pit than I did, jumping up and down in there with their instruments, slapping hands with the fans, and being in your face musicians. I spent some a short time with drummer Jamin Marshall before they went on stage to get the low down on the band and what they're all about.
Mick: Welcome to Detroit! Have you guys played here before?
Jamin: Yes, actually we have. We've got a great group of friends here and a couple of bands that we know in the area that we've stayed with many times, played their house parties, stuff like that. We've played The Magic Stick a few times and the Warped Tour the year before last. That was a lot of fun.
Mick: How long has the band been together now?
Jamin: The band itself around nine years with the core group of guys who kept it going. This current line up has been around for about four years.
Mick: How did you guys get your start?
Jamin: Perseverance! My brother and I always played music together and learned together, fueled each others love of music. We went to a lot of shows too. Most of us in the band know each other from high school, or right out of high school. Some of the other guys were in another band that we toured with back then.
Mick: As the drummer of the band, who or what was your inspiration to get into that particular instrument? Jamin: My older cousin actually. My cousin Dan played a lot when we were kids growing up and I loved it, so I tried messing around with the drums a bit. There was a band called Brainchild that had their drummer quit, and they were pretty much like, “Hey, you gotta learn to play drums by Saturday for this show.” And that was it, I had about four days to learn.
Mick: You guys have any downtime in between shows to get out and sight-see the cities you visit?
Jamin: Not generally. We like to go camping every chance we get, lots of outdoorsy kind of stuff. But mostly just relax and sleep. Lots of sleep.
Mick: How would you guys describe your style of music?
Jamin: We’ve never been good at this question or pegging it. We just kind of leave it up to anybody to come up with their own description of it. In a lot of the interviews I do now I just say rock and roll because that’s the core of it, rock and roll. The show is the most important thing to us really. It’s kind of like a big party, just party music. Its got its own niche somewhere between bluegrass and rock and punk. We try to mix it all in there.
Mick: What other instruments do you guys play in the band?
Jamin: We have acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, standup bass, and mandolin. Three of the dudes also play horns and harmonica.
Mick: What’s the biggest show you’ve played to date? I know you mentioned Vans Tour, anything else really exciting for you?
Jamin: Riot Fest was another great one for us. But we just got done doing a run in Alaska and Canada, and while they weren’t as huge as some festivals they were really fun times.
Mick: Tell me about your next release coming out.
Jamin: We’re putting out a six song EP called Hobo’s Lament that will come out on the 25th of this month. It contains three old songs and three new songs and then the next album is going to be all new stuff.
Mick: What’s the craziest thing you experienced on this tour?
Jamin: Um, pretty much the drive from Idaho to Boston to start this tour. Driving non-stop solid in the van the whole time. Fifty-six hours non-stop. But it was cool once we got there, we love that town. Our manager is from there so we stayed at his house.
Mick: Ever hookup with the Dropkick Murphys out in Boston?
Jamin: Yes! We did a tour with them a couple years ago, along with a couple one-offs in Vegas. They’re really great guys to play with.
Mick: Fun times for sure. Cool then, sounds like the first act just ended so I’ll get down there and get ready to watch you guys. Thanks for hanging out on short notice. Any last words?
Jamin: Just keep on rocking in the free world and keep the dirty side down, and stay away from those lot lizards. (laughs).
The EP Hobo's Lament will be released digitally and as a limited edition 12" picture disc September 25, 2012. Pre-order for the record will be available soon via the Paper + Plastick website at: www.paperandplastick.com
Catch Larry And His Flask on these remaining tour dates:
** = w/ Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, Jenny Owen Youngs
""= w/ Lucero
^^= w/ Willy Tea Taylor
9/15 Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest and Carnival
9/16 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater**
9/17 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater**
9/18 Denver, CO @ Summit Theater**
9/20 Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues**
9/21 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Theater**
9/22 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad**
9/24 Houston, TX @ Fitzgeralds**
9/25 New Orleans, LA @ The Parish at House Of Blues**
9/26 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade**
9/27 Roanoke, VA @ Martin's Downtown
9/28 Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Tavern**
9/29 New York City, NY @ Webster Hall**
9/30 New York City, NY @ Webster Hall**
10/6 Bend, OR @ Bend Fall Festival
10/8 Hartford, CT @ Webster Underground^^
10/9 Pawtucket, RI @ The Met^^
10/10Harrisburg, PA @ FED Live^^
10/11 Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theater""
10/12 Winston-Salem, NC @ Ziggy's""
10/13 Athens, OH @ Donkey Coffee""
10/14 TBA
10/15 Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant Street""
10/16 Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre""
10/17 TBA
10/18 St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway^^
10/19 Nashville, TN @ The End^^
10/20 Memphis, TN @ TBA^^
10/21 Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music Hall^^
10/22 TBA
10/23 TBA
10/24 Myrtle Beach, SC @ TBA^^
10/25 Jacksonville, FL @ TBA^^
10/26 Gainesville, FL @ The Fest 11
10/27 Gainesville, FL @ The Fest 11
10/28 Gainesville, FL @ The Fest 11
10/29 TBA
10/30 Orlando, FL @ TBA^^
10/31 St. Petersburg, FL @ TBA^^
11/1 TBA
11/2 TBA
11/3 Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest Nites
11/4 TBA
11/5 TBA
11/6 San Diego, CA @ TBA^^
11/7 Fullerton, CA @ TBA^^
11/8 TBA
11/9 TBA
11/10 Reno, NV @ TBA^^
For more info see the following links:
www.larryandhisflask.com
www.facebook.com/larryandhisflask
www.twitter.com/larrysflask
