Indy In-Tune #094: Cootie Crabtree Returns

Lots of fun in this week's episode, which will hopefully be as entertaining to listen to as it was to record. First off, it features the return of Cootie Crabtree, one of our more-popular guests, last seen a little over a year ago ... which in my book, isn't often enough. Second, it was recorded about twenty minutes after we recorded the all-star extravaganza that is Show #100 ... so the "tone" for the day had already been set when we drove down to meet Mr. Crabtree. Third, I had the improvisational comedic stylings of Mr. Pres Maxson in the co-host chair, which pretty much ads an element of randomness to any episode. Fourth, we feature, for the first time, a live on-podcast performance by our guest ... something I'd always wanted to do, but have generally shied away from out of fear of not doing justice to the guest from an audio quality standpoint (I record one-channel mono with 2-6 microphones, so leveling and mixing is generally done by moving mics closer and further away from people while they talk). Fifth, we had an audience, which is always fun and adds air of excitement to any show. And, finally, sixth, there were whiskey shots involved. Only a handful of times have I deviated from lite beer while recording, and the results have been mixed at best. There is a lot of trepidation when going back and editing a show -- in this case about half of the raw material was cut strictly for time reasons -- when you don't remember what the heck you talked about in the first place. I could go on for a few more paragraphs about what a fantastic musician and all-around great guy Cootie Crabtree is, but his body of work, which includes collaborations with and guest appearances by nearly the entire central Indiana roots/folk/Americana scene more than speaks for itself -- a favor he generously attempts to return in this interview by giving props to everyone in the local music scene and one point or another -- thus, giving me by far the longest set of show notes I've ever had to put together. A dynamic songwriter, distinct vocalist, born showman, and gifted player, you can be guaranteed an evening of great music and fun any time you see his name on a bill. Links referenced in the show: Coot Crabtree can be found here: Reverb Nation | MySpace | Facebook. Cootie last appeared on Show #064. Co-Host, Pres Maxson can be found here: Web Site | MySpace | Facebook | Reverbnation. Pres has previously appeared on Show #044 and Show #093 as a guest, Show #048 as a co-host, and Show #072 as a guest host. Look for him again on Show #100. Cootie was originally the host of the Back Road Radio Show, Wednesday nights at 8:30 on 91.9 WITT. That role has since passed to Andrew Funke and Tim Plunkett of the Rhinestones (Web Site | MySpace). At the time it was sponsored by Spencer's Stadium Tavern. Cootie has been known to perform songs written by his friends Johnny Ping, Owen Neighbors, and Jethro Easyfields (guest on Show #054 and hopefully returning in the very near future) . You can hear Scott Kern's long-faded Crabtree's Trunk podcast here. Scott has a wonderful band called Strawboss Union (Web Site | MySpace), which though we pronounced it dead during the show, we will learn in our next episode (#095 with Junk Box Mike) it is merely on hiatus. Cootie is a regular at the Lower T Jamboree in Paris, Illinois, thanks to his friends Jeff Randall and the Sunday Best (Facebook | MySpace | Reverb Nation), who we hope to have on in the near future when Cootie does his "Artists Present Artists" episode for us. Cootie generally appears with the Rinestones and the Payton Brothers (MySpace | Web Site) as his backup band. He is currently working with Steve Smith (Facebook | Reverb Nation) who appeared on Show #041 with Fernhead (Web Site | MySpace | Facebook | Reverb Nation) and who hosts the open mic night at The Blind Pig in Greenwood, Indiana. Fernhead also features Jacob "Conga J" Guinnup ( Reverb Nation | Facebook | Blog) who recently produced a documentary on Indianapolis' open mic scene. January Postcards was originally done for Kevin Phillips' / Standard Recording's Christmas compilation album, A Very Standard Christmas, Volume 3, in support of FACE Spay/Neuter Clinic of Indianapolis . Kevin is also better known as the bartender at Locals Only. Don't Blame your Baby on Me was recorded at SnapJoint Studios by Perry Stevens (MySpace | Web Site) who appeared on Show #028. Somehow the picture of Cootie's tattoo -- designed by Shelby Kelley (Show #034 | Facebook | MySpace) -- was lost, however, it looks a lot like this. He counts the Strand Theater in Shelbyville, Indiana as one of his favorite venues. He also is a fan of the Bluebird in Bloomington and someday hopes to play The Vogue. Our first ever (serious) live music recording features an impromptu lineup of Cootie, Tim Spainhower (Show #007 | Show #050 | MySpace | Web Site | Facebook | Twitter) on lead guitar, and Huck Finn (Reverb Nation | MySpace) on percussion. Forty minutes of material was edited out of the original interview in order to get the show down to an hour. This features a round of Pres Maxson's signature game, "Which Beatle?" You can hear that unused excerpt here. You can see Frank Zappa's referenced appearance on the Monkey's show here. We recommend the album Joe's Garage as one of his best. Special thanks to Whit's Inn in Whiteland for their hospitality in hosting this episode.