40 - CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, June 9 - June 15, 1995
Arts & Entertainment
Steppin
Resort rocks with Touch of Strange, Cowboy Mouth
Sir Guy's plans to throw Full
Moon Saloon
By Denise M. Marshall
Touch of Strange, a young alter-
native rock band, sets itself apart
from other cover bands by per-
forming lesser-known rock music.
"The whole idea of the band is
to try to do mostly new music that
we like," explained Ron Thomp-
son, singer and guitarist for Touch
of Strange.
Thompson is joined on stage by
Scott Gordy on bass and vocals
and Bob Swiger on drums. All
three men live in the Lewes area.
The group formed in November
after the breakup of Thompson's
and Gordy's former bands. Gordy
had performed with Reality Sand-
wich and Thompson had played
with Order Disorder of Ocean
City, Md.
Thompson and Gordy, who
went to school together at Cape
Henlopen High School, met
Swiger through Thompson Music
Center, where Thompson works.
Swiger is a teacher at Sussex
Technical High School near
Georgetown, and Gordy is a pro-
fessional musician.
The band members performed a
couple of times during acoustic
jams at Arena's in Rehoboth
Beach.
"It went over so well, they gave
us some gigs," Thompson said.
Touch of Strange has also
played at the Bottle & Cork in
Dewey Beach, Mulligan's Tavern
in Rehoboth Beach, Schultze's
Island Restaurant & Bar in
Rehoboth Beach, Club 22 in
Seaford, and The Dungeon and
party Monday
Amazon Bay in Ocean City, Md.,
"Each of us has different musi-
cal taste," Thompson said. "It's
been a good mix so far."
Swiger is influenced by hard,
classic rock. Gordy prefers jazz
and funk, and Thompson likes
hard rock and blues.
• Touch of Strange performs cov-
er songs by groups such as the
Stone Temple Pilots, Phish, Pearl
Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and
Jimi Hendrix.
Although the group currently
performs all cover music, Touch
of Strange plans to produce origi-
nal material after it becomes more
established. Thompson explained
that the band tries to play covers
that are not overplayed by other
cover bands. In addition, the
group is continuously adding new
songs to its repertoire of music.
"Some of the songs we do, we
do them a little harder and louder
than they would normally be
done," Thompson said.
Touch of Strange will play at
Schultze's on Wednesday, June 14
and Arena's on Saturday, June 17.
In other entertainment news,
Cowboy Mouth will be in the area
this weekend promoting its latest
album, "It Means Escape." Based
in New Orleans, the pop rock band
will perform at the Bottle & Cork
in Dewey Beach on Saturday,
June 10.
"It Means Escape" is the
group's third release, but the first
one to have national distribution.
The album was self-produced and
recorded in New Orleans.
Cowboy Mouth, a pep rock band from New Orleans, will per-
form at the Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach on Saturday, June
10. The group has released its third album entitled "It Means
Escape" on the independent Monkey Hill Records. The band
is comprised of (from left to right) Paul Sanchez, Steve Wai-
ters, Fred LeBlanc and John Thomas Griflth.
Touch of Strange, an alternative rock band, will perform at Schultze's Island Restaurant &
Bar in Rehoboth Beach on Wednesday, June 14 and at Arena's Bar in Rehoboth Beach on Sat-
urday, June 17. Members of the band are (from left to right) Scott Gordy, Ron Thompson and
Bob Swiger.
"We wanted to capture more of
the feel of our live performances
explosive, emotional, but still
concentrating on the main part of
any record, which is great songs,"
explained drummer and singer
Fred LeBlanc.
LeBlanc takes the unorthodox
role of center stage, helming a live
act with energy that is nearly
impossible to match. Guitarist
Paul Sanchez, the band's lyrical
craftsman and gentleman scholar,
balances the intensity of LeBlanc,
guitarist John Thomas Griffith and
bassist Rob Savoy.
The contrasting writing styles of
each of the band members, as they
trade off throughout "It Means
Escape," bring a sense of dynam-
ics and subtlety to the band's
sound. Sanchez's and LeBlanc's
harder vocals contrast sharply
with Griffith's softer sound.
Some of the songs portray men
who are scornful of women. The
songs touch on themes of betrayal
and bittersweet romance.
In "Hey Bartender," Sanchez
sings "whiskey and women, well
they fool me every time into think-
ing I'm the hero I have pictured in
my mind." In "My Little Blue
One," he sings "you're gone and I
don't even think of you." "How
do you tell someone you don't
love them?" paints a bleak picture
of romance.
"Looked Like A Woman (but
dressed like a man)" has a rousing
beat. Sanchez describes a woman
who "has muscles and a crewcut,
she had shoos like mine, she had a
way with pool cue, she had a pick-
up line."
Sanchez said he draws his lyrics
from personal experiences.
"I'm not a novelist," he said. "I
don't write good fiction."
Cowboy Mouth fuses country,
funk, rhythm and blues into a
dynamic rook 'n' roll sound.
The band's name was adopted
from a Sam Shepard play titled
"Cowboy Mouth." The group's
latest album title, "It Means
Escape," is the last line in the play,
according to Sanchez.
Cowboy Mouth is featured in a
new murder mystery film titled
"The Underneath." The band's
vocals are also on the movie
soundtrack, Sanchez said.
In July, Cowboy Mouth will go
on tour with Hootie and the Blow-
fish. The two bands used to take
turns opening for each other,
according to Sanchez.
"We've known these guys for a
long time," he said.
Cowboy Mouth, which played
at the Stone Balloon in Newark
last year, is scheduled to appear at
the Cork at 11 p.m. Tickets are
$3.
On Monday (June 12), Sir
Guy's Restaurant & Pub in
Rehoboth Beach will throw its
first Full Moon Saloon party with
DJ Marty Party.
"Whenever there's a full moon,
people go crazy," Marty Party
said. "So we're just going to get
crazy too."
Staff will replace the upstairs'
lights with black lights, and glow-
in-the-dark T-shirts will be avail-
able. The party will feature drink
specials; giveaways, fun and
games.
The Full Moon Saloon will be
open upstairs once a month when
there is a full moon. Come on out
and join the lunacy !
Here's what's going on at other
resort establishments:
REHOBOTH BEACH
• Arena's Bar and Dell: 149
Rehoboth Avenue (in the Village
by the Sea Mall); every Tuesday -
acoustic jam hosted by Cliff
Hillis; Friday, June 9 - Gravity's
Pull; Saturday, June 10 - Tequila
Mockingbird; Sunday, June 11 -
Cliff Hillis and John Fifer; Mon-
day, June 12 - Planet Ten; Friday,
June 16 - Gingham Shmfiz; Satur-
day, June 17 - Touch of Strange;
Sunday, June 18 - Open Mind;
Monday, June 19 - Grassdaddy.
For information call 227-1272.
• Bandstand: Rehoboth
Avenue; Sunday, June 11 - The
Hub Tappers beginning at 8 p.m.
For information call 227-6181.
• Catcher's: 249 Rehoboth
Avenue; every Monday - acoustic
jam with Blue Raven featuring
Regina AaMacha and Thomas J.
Bent from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. For
information call 227-1808.
• Club Potpourri: 316
Rehoboth Avenue; every Friday
and Saturday - live jazz with
Funch from 8 p.m. until midnight.
For information call 227-4227.
• Crab Barn: 4345 Highway
One; Friday and Saturday, June 9
& 10 - J.D. Martin in the lounge;
Friday and Saturday, June 16 & 17
- Blue Raven featuring Regina
AaMacha and Thomas J. Bent.
For information call 227-6700.
• Fran O'Brien's.' 59 Lake
Avenue; every Friday and Satur-
day - DJ and dancing beginning at
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