LIVE 'N' SCORCHIN'; Jason and the Scorchers turn Exit/Inn into a recording studio

By RICK de YAMPERT Staff Writer
The Tennessean - November 7, 1997, Friday

Copyright 1997 - The Tennessean

When Jason and the Scorchers record their Exit/In gigs this weekend for an upcoming live album, the vibe may be like Michael Jordan pulling up for a three-pointer in the NBA finals ... with the Bulls down by two ... with 10 seconds left ... with two defenders splattering sweat in Jordan's face.

"Going into this record, we are feeling a certain heat, not to be coy with the words," says lead singer Jason Ringenberg. "We do feel like we need to really come through, because a lot of folks across the planet have said some outrageous things about our band live." Outrageous? That may be an understatement along the lines of calling Godzilla a big lizard.

"I remember we played London once," Ringenberg says. "NME rock magazine New Musical Express came out the next day and said, 'Those of you who missed last night's show at the Marquee Club missed one of the top five gigs of all time.' So people say things like that. I don't know that I would believe anything like that, but folks say things like that."

Check that earlier Jordan analogy: Given the Scorchers' bodacious reputation as a kick-butt live band, the pressure for them to prove it on record may be far more intense than Jordan stalking a 30-foot J with time running out. But you wouldn't really know it from talking with Ringenberg.

Sure, as he bops through Katy K's Ranch Dressing, a Nashville store offering vintage western clothing, he talks about living up to the Scorchers' live rep. He says things like, "We really need to deliver, you know." But he's also yukking it up, with a chuckling laugh that seems to fit his lanky frame that could slip through barbed wire unscathed.

Mention that the big boys of rock sometimes tape show after show to cull a live album, and question the wisdom of the Scorchers taking just two shots at it, and Ringenberg laughs quickly. Just these two shows? "That's correct," Ringenberg says. "Out of those two shows will come the live record. No question about it."

Ringenberg is aware that live albums are tricky ventures, that even the big boys such as, say, the Rolling Stones have delivered live albums as lame as Barney Fife and the Mayberry town band. Simply put, great live band does not equal great live album.

"Yeah, there's a lot of acts that I love, or I've been at a show that I thought was just brilliant, then I heard a tape of it and it wasn't so good," he says. "That's a danger that happens with all great live shows. With Springsteen's record the sprawling Live 1975-1985, as good as I remember those shows being ... I don't know, you know?"

The Scorchers' cow-punk, rock gigs have garnered ecstatic reviews ever since the band formed in 1981 in Nashville. Such raves have spurred the lads Ringenberg, guitarist Warner Hodges and drummer Perry Baggs to often talk of releasing a live album. And the group's newest member, bassist Kenny Ames, shares the enthusiasm for a live album.

But the stimulus didn't come until the band went on hiatus in the early 1990s, regrouped in '94, then released what Ringenberg calls "one of our finest records in years," the 1996 Clear Impetuous Morning.

"We've been kind of in the weeds for a while, because we weren't sure what the next career move was for us," he says. "After the success of Clear Impetuous Morning, our live shows had taken on a whole new dimension. We were no longer relying so heavily on older material. We had wanted to do a live album for a long time. It seemed like a good time to show people the band is creatively moving forward live as well as in the studio."

Exit/In was chosen as the recording site for several reasons, beating out such hotbeds of Scorchers fandom as Minneapolis, Minn., and no kidding Helsinki, Finland. (Perhaps Jason has a Viking in his family tree?)

"Historically, the Exit/In is a great room for our band," Ringenberg says. "We've had some of our most exciting shows there. Our first show back in Nashville, in January '95 after being broke up for four or five years, was one of the highlights of our career. And it's a great-sounding rock 'n' roll room."

That said, Nashville may or may not offer the lads a home-court advantage. Playing in their hometown "does create a different dimension," he says. "This is where I've had some of the best times of my life. So many people know us here: our best friends and our families. That can work in your favor or against you. We've had some of our best shows that we've ever done in Nashville, but we've also had some of our worst."

Hmmmmm. Such yin and yang brings to mind two songs from Clear Impetuous Morning: Going Nowhere and Victory Road. Given the Scorchers' track record, odds say they'll be trucking down the latter path when the recording equipment is flipped on at Exit/In.

"Most recently, most of our shows have been pretty good," Ringenberg says. "The band has always risen to pressure. We've done our worst shows when there was no pressure on us and our best shows when there was pressure on us, as a rule. Our goal, of course, is to capture the band's energy and magic live. This is not an in-between-records record. This is a record that will stand on its own. We're pretty confident that we'll be able to deliver."

Getting there

Jason & the Scorchers perform Friday and Saturday at the Exit/In, 2208 Elliston Place. The gigs will be recorded for a live album scheduled to be released in March. Music starts at 9 each night. Admission is $ 10 for each of the shows, which are open to ages 18 and over. Information: 321-4400.

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