Chris Beck--vocals, guitars;
Sara Catherine Wheatley--vocals;
John Cathcart-Rake--violin, viola;
Kylie Jo Neal--cello;
Eric Holder--guitars, mandolin;
Pete Castleberry--drums
Influences
Bob Dylan, Hank Williams, Merle Travis, Darrin Craig, The Band, Neil Young, Boris Vian, John Prine, My Morning Jacket, Sigur Ros, John Lennon, The Beta Band, Foghorn Stringband, Emmylou Harris, Sufjan Stevens, Sam Cooke, Dolorean, Jeffrey Frederick, Calexico, The Shins, Janis Joplin, Uncle Tupelo, Neko Case, Willie Nelson, Josh Piper, CSNY, Feist, Radiohead, Gram Parsons, Billy Bragg, Johnny Cash, Yann Tiersen, Rufus Wainwright, Buddy Holly, Leonard Cohen, Jon Itkin, Cat Stevens, Clem Snide, James Brown, Jacques Brel, Dwight Yoakam, Jimmy Cliff, Tom Waits, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen, Jackstraw, Townes Van Zandt, Ryan Adams, Otis Redding, Yves Montand, Bingo, Woody Guthrie, Merle Haggard, Simon and Garfunkel, Wilco, Beck, the Gourds, Cat Power, Elliot Smith, Gary Jules, The Jayhawks, Spoon, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Roxy Music, Elvis, The Beach Boys, Guy Clark, Jim Boyer, Eva Cassidy, Split Lip Rayfield, Greg Brown, Will Oldham, The Byrds, Harry Nilsson, Sun Kil Moon, M. Ward, Loretta Lynn, the Rolling Stones, Richard Buckner, Smog, Tom Petty, Bon Iver, Bright Eyes, Cali, Nicolai Dunger, Kelly Joe Phelps, Badly Drawn Boy, Patsy Cline...
Chris Beck is a singer/songwriter from Kansas who has called Portland, OR home for the last couple years. In that time, he has formed or been a part of several bands. When he's not playing in Meridian:www.myspace.com/meridiannorthwest;
or Les Flaneurs: www.myspace.com/lesflaneursband; he is busy at work with his current band of ruffians, The Checkered Present. He formed the band in the spring of 2008 after playing many duo shows with longtime friend John Cathcart-Rake, a fellow Kansan and journeyman. Joining Chris and John are Alabamans Sara-Catherine Wheatley on vocals and Pete Casteleberry on drums. And to complete the sound, Kylie Jo Neal adds the sweet sounds of cello along with the complex and cerebral guitar voicings of Eric Holder.
The Checkered Present has uprooted the rustic sounds from the Heart of Dixie and the Heart of America, and transplanted its its unique blend of Americana in the verdant hills of the Pacific Northwest. As of late, the band has been hard at work in the studio. Its new country and old time EP "high hopes and sweet dreams" was released in early July. Recorded live in a couple takes, the EP offers listeners an aural view of the group's stripped-down, yet soulful sound. In addition, the band has finished its first full-length album, "Hyperbole and Horsefeathers", to be released at the Alberta Street Public House on November 20th. Keep your eyes and ears on The Checkered Present.
"With a name to match their tear-in-your-beer country sound, the Checkered Present are a sad lot. Not content with just dipping their toes into gloomy waters, the band dives right in, basking in a level of sadness that works quite nicely around their mournful country ballads. On their debut recording, Hyperbole and Horsefeathers, the intertwined vocals of Chris Beck and Sara Catherine Wheatley mesh nicely with the band's tempered delivery, since, after all, if you're this down and out, you might as well enjoy it for a while.
" --EZRA ACE CARAEFF, The Portland Mercury
Wolfgang's Rizomatic Experiments "It's like watching history in the making!" LIVE in Portland at Vino Vixens (2929 SE Powell, PDX) Thurs. June 18, 2009 8:30pm
Drink great wine while enjoying the jawdropping improvisational guitar mastery of Wolfgang Rehmert.
