Ventura Star

For folks with a wahoo world view, they’ll provide the perfect soundtrack on Thursday at Sans Souci in Ventura and Saturday at the Ventura County Fair. 29 Mules plays hard-edged country that’s beloved by dancers, lurkers and elbow-benders alike. Their new one is “80 Feet Deep.” Their old one is “No Rules For Mules.” Maybe their dream gig would be with Jackass. Frontman Casey Cannon and guitar player Xavier Gonzalez have been making new fans with their infrequent but highly anticipated local shows. Cannon discussed his favorite band during a recent phoner.

So why 29 Mules and not 28 or some other number?

Well, we got lost trying to do a head shot picture for the band when were out looking for 29 Mule Team Road. Yeah, we were out there in 29 Palms, Barstow and Boron and these people kept sending us further north. We drove for six hours and got lost before we realized they were lying to us. So we ended up camping and wrote a bunch of songs and played some cool stuff and decided on 29 Mules.

What’s your take on “80 Feet Deep”?

It’s really interesting that XM is playing us and some of the local college radio stations here in L.A. are digging it and playing it. We’re selling a bunch in Germany, in Spain and overseas because of XM. The soldiers love us over in Afghanistan. I know we’re No. 9 on the military radio.

Who goes to a Mule show in SoCal?

One of the beautiful things is that we get hippies and we get rednecks. We get bikers and we get rockers. And they all get along.

Wow. Then what? Do they dance or stare?

Once the girls start dancing, even the most macho man in the world will start to shuffle his feet a little bit.

You have zeroed in on the dynamics of the bar scene: Get the girls dancing, then you’re in there.

You are. It’s almost like a snake charm. I know men who say, “I don’t dance. I don’t dance.” But then show them a beautiful blond surfer girl in front of him swinging those hips and, suddenly, he’s dancing!

Exactly. So, are you guys too rock for country or too country for rock or are you your own thing?

I wish I could answer that. I don’t know. I was born in California, raised in Texas. My dad was in the Air Force. Even though I was raised on country music, I would say I was more influenced by Zeppelin, The Who, Hendrix and Black Sabbath — you know, the rockers. That’s really what my love was, my true love. In retrospect, once you hit 25 or 26 and you’re away from your home for about 10 years, you start loving the things that you used to have and that’s pretty much what happened to me. I grew up on Johnny Cash, George Jones and Waylon — that’s all Dad ever played.

When we got out to California, Xavier and I had a rock ’n’ roll band and when we started playing this stuff again, I realized that I really missed it. I also realized that we played it really well.

You have an 818 number. Is there a country music scene down there and do you guys hang out?

We do. You know, we play with all those fellers — the Welldiggers, the Snake Handlers, the Lonesome Spurs, the Doogans. Yeah, we all hang out together and try to play shows together. The problem with L.A. is that it’s whoredom. They expect you to pay 10 dollars to get in, 10 dollars to park and 10 dollars for a drink and we won’t do that. We won’t do that to our listeners, so we’ve semi-isolated ourselves away from that Hollywood scene because we will not ask our listeners to do that.

Excellent. How many 805 adventures have you guys had?

It seems like we’re getting a bunch more and I’m very appreciative of that. We’ve played the Sans Souci and Dirty Vinyl — I like Nick there, he’s a good guy. I love the Sans Souci and I love that little vibe. When it gets packed in there, you smell the energy. We love Ventura and we’re excited about playing the fair.

How long has the Mule band been around?

Well, Xavier and I started a band called Cold Water Canyon back in ’97 or ’98, but we found out the name was already taken so we changed our name to Cannon and played under that name and that band became 29 Mules. You know Roby Duron, right? He was an original in 29 Mules with Xavier and I. He was from the Santa Clarita area and Xavier and I were out of Rosamond. That whole area is what I like to call Palmtucky.

What’s the best and worst thing about being a musician?

I guess, be careful what you wish for. You know, you wish to be idolized, loved and generally appreciated and if you get that, you realize you don’t get any money and you don’t get any fame, so which is better? Maybe you get fame and money but no one appreciates you, so it looks like it’s a three-ring circus because you have to get lucky and hit all three.

It’s supposed to be fun, right?

People see you up there having a blast and, usually, they don’t think much about all the effort that led up to that moment. I typically spend at least two hours a day playing the piano, the guitar or mandolin. I try to keep my skills together for when that moment occurs and I have to play. I don’t wanna be behind in my game. I take the craft very seriously as well as I suspect actors do. If you’re a natural talent, then good for you, but I’m not. I really need to work at it.

Who would you pay to see?

There’s a lot of talented people. You mean in the area?

Whatever, man.

Right now, I’d really like to see Jamie Johnson. I like him. I’d always like to see Willie again. I try to see him once a year no matter what it costs. I’d really like to get out and see Black Cherry Smoke — that’s a kick-ass band. I really like seeing new bands that play something cool.

That’s why we do this, man, to find new music.

I can respect that.



Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/aug/10/in-your-face-country-29-mules-bring-their-brash/#ixzz1fbrY1lGY
- vcstar.com

< Go Back