KENN MCCRACKEN: bass, ,vocals, vocabulary
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ERIC MCGINTY: guitar, vocals, attitude
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CARLOS PINO: guitar, electric piano, slide, vocals, clout
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CHANCE SHIRLEY: drums, vocals on rolling stones, genius, dickle
Influences
words, music, ideas, arguments
Sounds Like
It’s like this: You can be a big fish in a small pond or a medium sized fish in a big pond full of really huge fish. We, of course, are neither. We’re more like a minnow that mysteriously appears in a large puddle after a heavy rain. And oh! NOW the sun is shining.
You Don't Live Here
Influenced by the big band sound that was all the rage in the underground clubs, producer/writer/Theremin player extraordinaire Avery Ellis begins to play daily concerts on street corners throughout town. Despite his scruffy appearance and fierce stench of cheap Tequila, his mastery of the instrument and unique interpretations of the songs of the day gain him an immediate following among homeless people and drifters. His crowds soon grow into the double digits, and he decides to take his performance on the road.
Mississippi, 1943
Having peaked in 1935 with his swing sensation “Don’t Let the Smell Fool You (I’m Only Drinking)”, Avery Ellis meets with a dark stranger on the backs roads of Mississippi’s Delta and agrees to give up his soul in exchange for fame, fortune, and a bottle of Thunderbird. Soon after, he sells his Theremin and buys a cheap acoustic guitar, absorbing the Blues influence of the region. He is joined at this point by drummer Mad Dog McGillicutty and trumpeter Sweet Lips Norton. Rumors that the band also included a young Miles Davis are strong but unfounded.
Los Angeles, 1965
Avery Ellis is fascinated with the burgeoning streets and glistening dreams of Hollywood, and sinks his sizeable fortunes into the career of a young actor named Al Pacino. It is during this period that he gained a newfound appreciation for visual art while visiting the galleries of the town, and the band name was soon set in stone: Avery Ellis’ Exhibits (whispered rumors that the band was to be named Avery Ellis’ Black Light Velvet Poster are categorically untrue). This was also the height of the band’s rotating membership: while musicians were often members for a mere thirty to forty seconds, they included in their ranks Frank Sinatra, Jim Morrison, David Bowie, John Bonham, Paul McCartney, and a fetal Courtney Love.
Montgomery, Alabama, 1974
Young guitarist Eric McGinty, in a drunken fit of despair, joins the Avery Ellis Exhibits on the promise of fame, fortune, and a bottle of Dickel. The following day’s hangover is exacerbated by the discovery that he has signed away any and all rights to everything he ever writes or performed to the band. In turn, he insists that the parentheses are added to the band name.
Birmingham, 2000
Chance Shirley is inducted into the band, now a power trio playing opening gigs for a reunited Rush. The induction ceremony goes smoothly until the goat decides to fight,. The ensuing carnage leaves the band hospitalized with severe head trauma, leaving them unable to appreciate prog-rock any more. Instead, their focus shifts to aggressive acoustic roots metal, inspired by everything from Metallica and Led Zeppelin to Radiohead and local semi-legends Every Alice on Earth.
Birmingham, 2003
The addition of bassist Kenn McCracken and lead guitarist Carlos Pino finally provides McGinty with the motivation and position of power to do what he had dreamed of for nearly thirty years: to fire Avery Ellis from his own band and kidnap the 135 year old, placing him in a small shed somewhere in Verbena, Alabama, and assuming his identity. This allowed McGinty, Shirley, and McCracken to continue using the vast catalog of songs written by Avery Ellis over his century-long career, as well as leaving open bar tabs across the Southeast in his name. The name of the band was shortened to The Exhibit(s) at this point, although legal and contractual obligations (and a website domain name) forced the band to continue using Ellis’ name in the title -- Avery Ellis presents The Exhibit(s).
New York City, 2009
After a brilliant performance to over 4 million people in Central Park, the band is abducted by aliens. Anal probing ensues.
TONIGHT! Wed. 21st at THE NICK. It's Dagger Dolls and very special guest Luego. Show starts at 10 pm. Come on out and see us or we'll show up at your house and rub your dishes all over our private areas.
SOUTHWORD SUPER SESSION Come out and party all night long after the Jill Scott Concert!!!
Featuring:
RUDDER: Keith Carlock(Sting, Steely Dan, Wayne Krantz), Tim Lefebrve(SNL Band, Wayne Krantz, Chris Potter), Chris Cheek (Charlie Haden, Paul Motion, Bill Frissell), Henry Hey(Rod Stewart, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Bill Evans)
The Exhibit(s) are one of Birmingham's most un-heralded bands. Featuring the fernetic fretwork of Eric McGinty --one of Birmingham's best, if not most inventive, guitarists -- multi-instrumentalist Carlos Pino, drummer Chance Shirley and bassist Ken McCrackin, The Exhibit(s) don't fill an easy niche -- perhaps for this reason, they rarely (an inexplicably) end up on a lot of local indie rock bills. Instead, they enjoy a poular residency at Bailey's where they can keep a crowd dancing for hours with both McGinty's urgent original compositions and manic covers generously re-interpreted in the bands' image.
But don't let their homebase fool you: The Exhibit(s) are neither a cover band or purveyors of hippy scuzz. Rather they are a rock and roll perpetual motion machine that, when left to it's own devices (and a long night of drinking), will whirl you into a slack-jawed dervish. Given forty-five minutes, though, thier focused energy will penetrate, mesmerize and leave you begging for more. Imagine "Hail To The Theif" Radiohead scoring a Romero-inspired horror-hick-flick and you might get the idea. Oh: They did that already!
So it's with great pleasure to report that The Exhibit(s) will be opening for Chris Thile of Nickle Creek this Sunday at Vulcan After Tunes. Thile, as you may or may not know, could be McGinty's bluegrass-infused doppelgaenger -- a mandolin madman known for a taking chances of his own. Needless to say this double-bill is gonna bring the fastest-fingers you've seen all week.
It's also gonna be a gorgeous day to hang out in Vulcan Park (sunny, high of 79 degrees), so bring a blanket, a few friends, have a few beers and bask in the dazzle. The park opens at 1:00, show starts at 2:45, and admission a mere $6 ($4 if you have a Blcak and White card).
