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• Million Dollar Quartet

Nearly ten years before the formation of rock ‘n’ roll’s first supergroup, Cream (including Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce), four of music’s most influential artists got together in the recording studio where their careers had begun and made music history.

On December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis spent the afternoon and evening together at Sun Recording Studios in Memphis where producer Sam Phillips launched their respective careers into the rock stratosphere. This one-time, impromptu jam session is the basis of the nostalgic musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” the name given to the legendary foursome in an article that appeared in the Memphis Scimitar the day after the session.

While only two of the songs that were actually recorded that day in 1956 are performed in the show (the gospel standard “Peace In the Valley” and Chuck Berry’s “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man”), audiences are treated to nineteen other classic songs, some that were hits for members of the quartet including: Perkins’ “Matchbox” and “Blue Suede Shoes” (also a hit for Presley); Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” and “I Walk the Line”; Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”; and Presley’s ‘That’s All Right” and “Hound Dog."

The musical takes a few liberties with this historical event, including the introduction of Dyanne, Elvis’s date for the evening. She performs a sultry version of “Fever” and a rockin’ turn on “I Hear You Knocking.”

In 2008, “Million Dollar Quartet” opened at Chicago's Apollo Theater, a 440-seat venue where this writer and his wife saw the show this past April. The theater’s intimate setting made the audience feel like it was sitting right in the recording studio as Elvis, Carl, Johnny, Jerry Lee, Dyanne and Sam Phillips joked, laughed, argued and sang the night away.

While the talented actors/musicians in the Chicago troupe bear resemblance to the actual quartet members physically and musically, this is not a tribute show by any means.

“Million Dollar Quartet” is an energetic musical that delivers a rockin’ good time.

In the years between, he’s made a number of his own CDs, recorded with novelist Nick Hornby and actor William Shatner and become a judge on the NBC a cappella competition “The Sing-Off,” which returns at 8 p.m. Sept. 19 for a third season.

I caught up with Folds this week in California to talk about his ISO show and his TV show. Here’s the conversation.

Q: You’re playing with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in October. How did that come about?

Folds: I’ve been playing with symphony orchestras now for, I guess, eight years. I commit to devoting a certain amount of my year to symphony orchestras. We’ve got now, I think, 40 charts, and if you know anything about it, that’s 10 to 15 grand a chart. It’s not necessarily always a lucrative thing, but I really love symphony orchestras. I grew up playing in symphony orchestras, and it’s a passion of mine. I’m now on the board of directors of the National Symphony Orchestra, and it’s just something that I’m into.

Q: So what will we hear?

Folds: Stuff from every album, really. Most recently, we’ve charted stuff from the record I made with Nick Hornby, the British novelist. Those charts were done by Paul Buckmaster, who did all the old Elton John stuff. He did David Bowie stuff. He’s the architect of strings on ‘70s recordings. And he does those charts for us; they’re pretty special. So every album I do, I go: OK, well, time to shell out 30 grand and do some new symphony charts. And we revise them constantly. Every show I go out and do, I talk about it with the conductor. We go: You know, the percussion and I ain’t workin’. Hasn’t worked for the last two shows. So we go back and revise. It’s getting really good.

Q: I have to admit, I hadn’t heard of “The Sing-Off” before, and I was surprised to see you were a judge. But apparently, you’ve been doing this for a while. How did they approach you, and what did you think when they approached you?

Folds: The quick history is that I’m a songwriter who was slightly disappointed that in my career I’ve never really been covered. Bette Midler did a song of mine (“Boxing”) on one of her records very early in my career, and then after that, there are no notable covers. As it turns out, a few years ago, someone pointed out that there were over 300 YouTube videos of university a cappella groups covering my songs. I thought: Wow, people are covering my music. I’m going to cultivate this event.

So I got in a van with an engineer — actually, I answered these people on YouTube. I said: This is Ben Folds and you nailed my song. What are you doing the third week of October? Because I’m going to come there with a van and a microphone and record you for a charity record. So we came through, recorded them and sold the stuff for a music education charity, and I made a year of being A Cappella Dude.

“Glee” came out the next year and the next year after that, NBC came to me as an expert because they’d heard my work with university a cappella groups. It was kind of a shoo-in for me because I just had myself in the position of listening to a group sing once, making a few comments, and then had one more chance to record them. So this was the same thing to me. They do it once, I have to make comments, they might come back again. I just thought it seemed really natural. I don’t think I’m very comfortable on TV. But I knew for this that I’d probably be OK.

Q: You give this show a hip factor I don’t think it would have otherwise. But I imagine there were a lot of people who said to you, “You’re going to be a judge on a talent show?!”

Folds: Yeah, and I had to think about that stigma. My knee-jerk was no. But I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Sometimes you say, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that.” Especially people from my era. Nineties groups are so quick to say, “I won’t do that. It’s selling out.” But I had to think about why and I couldn’t come up with any good reason not to do it. If it had been a different show, I don’t think I would have done it. I know that puts a signal out that could stunt my upward mobility, but I don’t think I want to do another one. I’m interested in this because I can dissect the inner workings of the vocals and the rhythm section and how it works together in a group. And the fact that it’s never been done on television. All those things are compelling. The celebrity part of it is off-putting, and the corniness of some of these things are off-putting.

All of my friends were like, “Folds, you’re doing this TV show? I guess I’ll watch it.” And they all got hooked. They’d call up, “Who’s going to win this? Because I’ve got my money on this one.” So it must be working.

Q: I was wondering if it was a business decision in that it’s so hard for artists to connect with audiences, there’s no radio play for your work and you thought this was a better avenue.

Folds: You have people to think about that for you by the time you’ve made your first record. I’ve found that when I go into something on intuition, something happens I didn’t expect. I went into this, and I think the conventional wisdom was that this is going to sell records. I now know that it won’t. But that’s not really why I did it. When I got into it by taking three months of valuable touring time off — we’re talking about a lot of income that I turned down to go record these groups — it was pure instinct. And it landed this show. Now I’m on this show and maybe it leads to something else interesting.

But I don’t think that people buy records because some dude’s talking on TV. And people who see me on the show first — which is most people, if I’m to admit it; most people who see this television show have never heard my music. And I’m learning that. Because I get in taxicabs and the guy goes, “You’re Ben Folds from ‘The Sing-Off’!” They had no idea I play music. They’re not interested in buying my music at all. So I don’t think it works that way. So the decision comes down to: Do I have the time? Am I willing to do it? Does it actually pay enough for me to miss my gigs? Which it does — barely.

Q: At the session with TV critics, it was interesting when one of the critics asked about a song the three judges could sing together, because there’s so little common culture. We all know about four of the same songs.

Folds: That’s a real interesting point because whether you realize this, our culture, our fabric, is really transient. And it’s just whatever’s on the radio at that moment. And that brings people together just as much as “Kumbaya” would. In other countries, other cultures, they sing together more. They sing in pubs, they sing at football games, they just sing together more. We’re so much more commercial here. But that’s what it is; it’s just about the moment. But that’s good enough. Finding the talent for this show has been the easy part. Finding songs to license that everyone knows season after season, they’re going to run out of those before they run out of talent.

Q: What’s next for you on CD?

Folds: I have a 15-year retrospective that I worked really hard on that’s coming out in October. It’s 60 songs. It’s just been going through a lot of vaulted material and lot of live stuff — like this amazing show we had no idea we had on tape with strings and horns at Royal Albert Hall with my old band. All the songs are the best version of those songs I’d ever heard. So we have all this unreleased material. Really fun for fans, and fun for me to put together something that would sum up my career. I’m not planning on kicking off anytime soon, but after 15 years, it’s the first time I’ve sat back.

Q: The first time I saw you was on a side stage at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival in ’93 or ’94. Now you’re playing with symphony orchestras and you’re a judge on a talent show. Is this anywhere close to the trajectory that you saw for your career?

Folds: Not at all. And that’s what’s truly fun about it. The music business has blown apart too, so none of us are doing it the way we thought we would. It makes you do things outside your comfort zone, and I have to say that’s probably a good thing. It’s like symphony orchestras. They’re institutions that are in danger of serious atrophy. So now they’re trying to find pop musicians to join with to sell subscription tickets. So now I get that opportunity as a result of the downturn in the whole economy. I have to credit the downturn in the economy to my success in my second half.

Thursday night in Bloomington, the IU Hoosiers beat Illinois 52-49 in men's basketball. Great win for IU. Illinois was ranked in top 25 in both polls. IU had played like crap in losing to a horrible Iowa team last weekend. And can we all admit at least a cursory understanding of how and why IU hoops has been mired a years-long cycle of wrong coaches, wrong players and the beyond-patient rebuilding process?

With that point understood, after IU won the game (Illinois missed a last second three-pointer to tie), fans went apeshit (is that one or two words? I vote one). It was a loud crowd all night - engaged and glad to finally be seeing some defense played by the home team. Students ran onto the floor a few seconds following the buzzer. More naive craziness that anything, celebrating the first win since Tom Crean has been coach that their team has beaten a ranked team. It's all good, clean fun.

So someone in the hallway and in the South lobby of Assembly Hall had a video camera rolling as students were still chanting and whooping as the fans streamed toward the exits, not really in a hurry to leave. College kids freaking out on fun as if they had just seen a 1969 Sly and the Family Stone show.

Then the crowd parts as a lone figure comes through the hallway, and it all gets surreal. Crean is seen playing the part of the Beatles circa-Hard Day's Night in this YouTube masterpiece. Reminded me of why sports can be fun. And occasionally enjoyed to the point of good nonsense.

In the past year or so, The E.S. Jungle has seen more experimental music than ever before, thanks to promoter Sia Hanna. Hanna, who recently organized a showcase for artists on Beardology Records, is working to bring an eclectic mix of electronic, minimal and noise-based music to the all-ages scene. When I heard that she booked the dynamic duo Lightning Bolt for last Friday night, I was elated.

Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt have been playing together since 1994, though it wasn’t until 1997 that they recorded their first album. Watching them at The E.S. Jungle was like wading in a pool of abrasive sound. The crowd ranged from the “mosh warriors” of the front, to the middle layer of people struggling to see the band and getting splashed by pre-pubescent back sweat. There was also a far outer layer of people standing on chairs in an attempt to see over the pit. As soon as Lightning Bolt started, the room went rabid.

Lightning Bolt at the ES Jungle. Photo by S. Raychel.

Follow Lightning Bolt's epic journey on their website, and Myspace.

The openers weren't too shabby either. First up was the local electronic duo, Meltface, who combined a steady bass line with abrasive, provocative noises to create an ambient feel. It was a solid way to start off the night, and the crowd seemed to approve of their experimental approach.

Second was Edifice, a lone man behind a laptop. Though he lacked hardware, Edifice made up for it by collaborating local artist Christopher Steffes. Steffes applied layers of colors either by brushing to the beat or letting paint randomly fall out of the bottle onto the canvas. While the final product of the painting wasn't all that impressive, the development of the shapes and colors over time suited the progressive approach of the electronic performance.

Edifice at the ES Jungle. Photo by S. Raychel.

The guys in Phoenix Bodies kept their clothes on throughout their entire set. This is certainly a feat. Shows are few and far between for the fan-favorite hardcore band, with several members living outside of Indianapolis. And while the rumor spread that the band would play its last show Friday night at the E.S. Jungle, we'll maintain hope that the rumor was unfounded, and that Indy will see them reconvene on special occasions.

On August 28, CJ Boyd played a house show in downtown Indianapolis that could only be described as a presentation of experimental music at its best. The show, booked by promoter Sia Hanna, included circuit bender Meltface and ambient noise artists Clouds As Oceans from Bloomington. The setup didn't look like the punk basements to which I'm accustomed—each band had played in a living room area that was filled with chairs and stools. I unfortunately missed most of the show while attending my great uncle’s 80th birthday, and by the time I had arrived the crowd was already in full force.

CJ Boyd, joined by a young lady playing the violin, called his group the Kirtan Choir. A Kirtan is a call-and-response chant used as part of devotional practice in India. Vaisnava devotionalism, Sikhism, the Sant traditions and in some Buddhist groups employ the Kirtan for worship.

The two set up in front of the small living room crowd and promptly removed all of their clothing before they began their set. Boyd has been touring nonstop for the past two years and each of his performances are improvised and often feature guest artists. In reference to their song titles they warned, “These are inside jokes—you won’t understand them,” and smiled brightly as they began an epic set of experimental joy.

“A Cut Inside” was a somber, minimalist piece that consisted solely of a violin and Boyd’s bass guitar. The crowd was quiet and intent on hearing every pop of the electric bass. Their eyes followed each glide of the bow as it began to screech and waver. The bass melded perfectly with the fluid violin—imagine what the Titanic really sounded like while sinking.

“Chapter Twelve” began with the physical rocking of an upright bass. The endpin was pressed against the floor to create a unique, creaky rhythm. The violin was softly plucked and sounded like soft chirping. Both songs told stories with notes instead of words. Gradually Boyd began to play the bass strings and progressed into frenzy. Their voices started to become part of the music, and alternated between a sweet birdsong and a coo like a mourning dove. Once the violin joined in they both exploded and then reformed into an evocative dirge.

At the end of the show the crowd clapped and cheered, as the Kirtan Choir had conjured up a deep energy that rang throughout the house. Their mantra was bold, and they seemed to weave in and out of each other’s auras as they played. One thing is for certain—Boyd is devoted to the bass and the natural rhythm of the universe.

In 2009 Boyd signed with Joyful Noise Recordings and has released an album entitled “Aerial Roots”. “Alternate Roots”,a live perspective of the album from a performance in North Carolina, has also been released. He will be returning solo to Indianapolis on September 3rd at Big Car Gallery.