Split Lip Rayfield
Saturday, 12-29-07
The Bottleneck
Better than: Ezra
By RICHARD GINTOWT
Is there any band that means more to Kansas than Split Lip Rayfield? Oh yeah – Kansas. But since Kerry Livgren long ago traded in his long hair and axe for a pastor’s robe, I’m gonna have to go with Split Lip Rayfield.
For twelve years, these guys have been blowing gaskets with a superfast bastardization of bluegrass. If you locked Yngwie Malmsteen in a cave for a year with a mandolin and a banjo, you might get something like SLR. It’s a nifty trick, but it’s backed up with great songs about boogan escapades and Batman.
The trio kicked off a three-night stand at the Bottleneck last night with a Tall Boy-sized set that spanned two hours and a decade’s worth of material. Banjo man Eric Mardis dedicated the show to Kirk Rundstrom, a founding SLR member who lost his courageous battle with cancer last February. Rundstrom’s passing initially seemed to signify the end of SLR, but the remaining trio of Mardis, Wayne Gottstine (mandolin) and Jeff Eaton (one-string gas tank bass) returned to the stage this summer and decided to honor Rundstrom’s memory the best way they knew – playing music.
Since then, the extended Split Lip tribe – composed of punks, boogans, fratties, festivarians and just about every other subculture that South Park would parody – has assumed the fourth-member role in the band. They sing Rundstrom’s parts and cheer on the band with fists-a-pumping and legs-a-noodle-dancing. It’s the kind of manic crowd response you’d expect from a Flogging Molly or Andrew W.K. concert, injected with the boozy serum of the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS (where Split Lip built its legend on the campground stages). Even if you don’t dip your wad in the bluegrass chaw, it’s an experience worth chewing over at least once. Fortunately, you have two more chances to do just that:
Sunday, Dec. 30, with Drakkar Sauna and Woodbox Gang ($13)
Monday, Dec. 31, with Truckstop Honeymoon and In the Pines ($21)
Both shows are at the Bottleneck.
Critic’s Notebook
Personal bias: Upon my arrival in Kansas, SLR was a gateway drug to what became an enduring fascination with old-timey string music. Coupled with Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, I was sucked in to a world of plucky banjos and high-lonesome harmonies.
Random detail: Jeff Eaton is a friend to baby kittens.
By the Way: Crowd surfing is not making a comeback. Do not attempt.
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