MySpacea place for friends

About MCTC....
More Drummers than Spinal Tap!
From the day of its inception the goals of Mary Carves The Chicken are as follows: Have fun. Play whatever the hell we want. Experiment. Mix it up any way we see fit. Mary Carves the Chicken takes its audiences through a maze of New Orleans funk and soul, pounding rock and roll, classic country, amazing blues, cow punk, rockabilly, blistering guitar duels, farfetched medleys, and spacey, often driving jams that go on as long as they feel good. MCTC thrives on improvisation, and goes there whenever the door opens. MCTC formed in the early 90s from the wreckage of two very different LA bands. Page Jackson was playing in the techno-rock band Tone Poets, while Bob Sherden was playing in the hard rock band Urban Circus. The two met by chance when Bob tried to sell some tickets to an Urban Circus show to Page, who offered to trade for tickets to a Tone Poets show. Soon they were writing songs together and commiserating about the frustrations of band politics. When they had about fifteen songs together, they decided to record them, just to have them on tape. They recruited some friends (and even invited a string quartet from the Santa Monica Promenade) to play on the recordings and the result is the debut album "Mary Carves the Chicken."

Once that album was finished, Page and Bob decided to form a band. After auditioning a handful of drummers they found Brian Lovins. As a three-piece, MCTC played regular shows and recorded their second album, "Welcome To Hollywood." However, Brian left the band in '96, and moved to Arizona. Page and Bob continued to play acoustic shows, but a few months later, Page moved to Berkeley.

Page and Bob stayed in close contact, and continued to write songs, sending tapes through the mail. Eventually, Page met drummer, Ron Butler, and asked him to record some drum tracks using Page and Bobs demos. Ron sent those tapes to Page, who recorded Bass and Vocals, and then sent them to Bob. Bob recorded Guitar and Backup Vocals, and mixed what were to become two albums, "Three" and "Jeez Louise."

The Schizo "Where do we live?" Days... or the Bi Band
(get your mind out of the gutter - you know we mean Northern and Southern California!)
Bob, Ron, and Page began playing occasional shows together, and recorded some live material that became the basis for the album Live Chicken. In 2001, they added guitarist and vocalist John Baker to form the four-piece lineup of Mary Carves The Chicken. John added a Southern Rock vibe to the band, and he and Bob began taking extended solo sections and guitar duels. The band continued to play live shows in both Northern and Southern California to a growing audience.

In 2002, Ron Butler resigned his position as drummer. The band didnt miss a beat. Drummers Dave Rhinesmith and Danny Keys jumped in, with Dave playing shows in the Bay Area and Danny playing shows in Southern California. Later that year, the band recorded their first country album, "Critically Acclaimed, Number-One, Smash Hit, Triple-Platinum, Debut Record," under the pseudonym "Double-Wide." The next year, the band added keyboardist Gary Pittman, forming the first five-piece version of MCTC. The band continued to play live shows to ever larger audiences. This was a very creative period for MCTC, and the live shows were incredible.

  

In late 2004, drummer Dave Rhinesmith made the decision to move to Texas, ending his tenure with MCTC. The band soldiered on with Danny Keys on drums, playing mainly in Southern California. With half the band in Northern California and the other half in Southern California, rehearsals had been difficult or non-existent. When Dave left, John and Gary decided to move on as well. Page, Bob, and Danny continued to write songs for a new album, but in the summer of 2005, before recording could begin, Danny moved to Oregon.

On The Right Track Again... Finally!
Once again, Page and Bob found themselves writing and performing as an acoustic duo. The thought of looking for a new drummer was daunting, but after an impromptu jam with David Weinsteins band at a charity event, they asked if he would play on their next album. David loved the idea. While rehearsing, the band solidified, and by the time recording began in July of 2006, David had become the new drummer for Mary Carves the Chicken.