Like many other bands, Starkville, MS-based The Persians play music, and not just any type of music, but rock music, which means the guitar and bass are usually electrified, the drums are often pounding and frenetic, and the singing, though effective, is not operatic. Not on purpose, anyway.
The two lead Persians, John Brocato (guitar, vocals) and Todd Hunt (drums, backing vocals) knew each other for years while playing music in the local area before deciding in 2001 that they really ought to play together and just stop with all this “rival bands” business. So that’s what they did, and before long they were playing energetic, moderately loud live shows at places like Rick’s Café and the Darkhorse Tavern (Starkville), Memphis Jam (at Mud Island in…um…Memphis), Hal and Mal’s (Jackson, MS), Grand Central (Mobile, AL), and the colossal outdoor festival Big Spring Jam (Huntsville, AL).
Playing live, however, can be somewhat unproductive if bands don’t have something for potential fans to remember them by (business-savvy people refer to this something as “product”; modern musicians refer to it as “a CD”). After two years of working up nearly 30 original songs and several obscure covers, they released their debut album, A Thing Like Any Other, in September 2003. The album’s songs, it should be noted, have distinct beginnings, middles, and endings; none of them simply fade in or fade out, because that’s silly and careless. Some of the songs last longer than others, but the average for all 11 tracks is 3 minutes 27 seconds, which is nice and reasonable. As for the style of the songs, they owe a debt to a bunch of big names, like Led Zeppelin and Elvis Costello and Nirvana, as well as several smaller names, like Billy Bragg, Pavement, and Guided by Voices. Some of the songs are very hard-rocking (“Swimming Herward,” the opener), others are mildly hard-rocking (“Daguerreotype,” which is hard to spell), others are mildly hard-rocking and melodic (“Accidental Physics”), and still others are not at all hard-rocking but are nonetheless extremely melodic, perhaps because they’re not so hard-rocking (the well-known “U.V.A.,” the evocatively titled “Mashed-Potato Sky”). All in all, it’s a good debut album if the band does say so itself. Thankfully, other people feel this way too, including CD Baby (where the band sells its album) and the 30 music-download sites on the Internet (such as iTunes, Napster, and Tower Records Online) where A Thing Like Any Other is available.
Now that bassist extraordinaire Lee Graham and guitar genius Steve Chrestman have decided the Persians are worth their time, the band is looking forward to releasing its sophomore album, Allergic to Juggling, which will have no fewer than 14 songs, some of them about construction sites, very mean men, and two warring recipes for red velvet cake.
For more info visit our website: www.thepersians.net.
Cotton District Arts Festival
Saturday, April 21
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Starkville, Miss.
Cotton District / Page Avenue Stage
• 9 a.m. -- 5K Race Results & Awards
• 9:20 to 10:05 a.m. -- Jeff Cummings
• 10:20 to 11 a.m. -- Starkville Jazz Alliance
• 11:10 to 11:50 a.m. -- Chase McGinnis
• Noon to 12:40 p.m. -- The Gurls Next Door
• 1 to 1:40 p.m. -- Jubilee
• 1:55 to 2:45 p.m. -- Cary Hudson
• 3 to 3:50 p.m. -- Mayhem String Band
• 4:10 to 5 p.m. Mayhem Breakdown
WMSV 91.1 FM / Col. Muldrow Stage
• 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. -- Waco Dead
• 10:25 to 10:50 a.m. -- Z-Flo
• 11 to 11:45 a.m. -- Kitchen Blues Band
• Noon to 12:45 p.m. -- Joe Whaley & The Benders
• 1 to 1:45 p.m. -- The Persians
• 2 to 2:50 p.m. -- Daybreakdown
• 3:10 to 3:55 p.m. -- Young Agent Jones
• 4:10 to 5 p.m. -- Big Blue Truck
MSU Foundation / University Drive Stage
• 9:15 to 9:45 a.m. -- Rolling Hills Center Staff Glee Club
• 10:10 to 10:50 a.m. -- BARK
• 11:05 to 11:50 a.m. -- Seth Libbey & The Liberals
• 12:05 to 12:45 p.m. -- Musical Malpractice
• 1 to 1:40 p.m. -- Roadhouse
• 1:55 to 2:40 p.m. -- Big Jim & The Hotshots
• 2:55 to 3:45 p.m. -- Jesse Robinson
• 4 to 5 p.m. -- The CatDaddy's
So I moved to Mobile recently and I miss my family and friends for sure! But wow do I miss seeing you guys! I think I am going to have to come all the way back up to Starkville in May just to get my Persians fix! LOL Have a great weekend!
I had fun Saturday night. AS soon as you know your upcoming shedule for the next few weeks we need to book an interview. I may have Jan. 24 open; most of Feb. and March are open. Meanwhile, either tonight or tomorrow, I will post those pictures I took and message them to you.
