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In the summer of 1993, four wide-eyed youth fueled by Sauza Commemorativo, Olympia beer and Taco Bell got together in a Milwaukee-area basement to give life to Dan Patscot's haunted musings on sin, redemption, drinking, dying, life, loss and shit like that. Two guitars, a bass and some drums whispered or roared as the song demanded, and 15 years, enough unreleased recordings to put out a respectable box set, and half of an actual commercially released CD later, they're still going strong.
Initially inspired by everyone from Neil Young to Uncle Tupelo to Hank Williams to Dylan, the band features Patscot, Bob Eickhoff (The Mighty Deer Lick, The Lackloves, The Lost Toothbrushes) on guitar, Jack Rice (The Blow Pops, The Lackloves, The Mighty Deer Lick) on bass, and drummer Scott Gorsuch (E*I*E*I*O). The Carolinas are generally known as the slowest-moving band in the Midwest and possibly the world, playing once and sometimes twice a year and occasionally going years between gigs. In fact, many people think they broke up a long time ago. They didn't. The band has played some big, small, strange and far-out gigs over the years, including Milwaukee's Summerfest several times, Toronto's North by Northeast, the now-defunct Mississippi River Music Fest in St. Louis, the 1995 Roy Orbison Festival in Wink, Texas (where country legend Johnny Rodriquez, who later when on to allegedly kill a guy--although it was in self-defense and he was acquitted--was to headline until a tornado touched down shortly after the set, knocking over the soundboard and nearly killing Bob), and of course Bratfest in Platteville, Wisconsin in the morning, outside in a snowstorm. They have shared the stage with The Smithereens, Richmond Fontaine, Michael Hall, ex-Blue Rodeo ivory tickler Bob Wiseman, Sam Llanas of the BoDeans, Dolly Varden, and Veruca Salt (at a bar in Milwaukee in front of 20 people about five minutes before "Seether" became a huge smash hit). The Carolinas have recorded hours of songs over their longish history, very few of which have ever seen the light of day. They have released one CD, the 1996 eponymous 5-song EP. Send a message if you want one. Their current project has been in the works for a couple years now, and will feature guest turns by a few friends, including Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) and Ken Coomer (ex-Wilco and Uncle Tupelo). It is slated for release sometime around the last half of the first decade of the 21st century. In the meantime, the band has recorded a nifty version of "The Loner" for the recent Neil Young tribute Bridge School benefit CD More Barn: A Tribute to Neil Young, now available on Slothtrop Music.
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