Press for Lost In the Graveyard

Downtown Tucson

The Carnivaleros 6th Anniversary at Old Town Artisans'

By Jamie Manser, May 2007

On Friday, June 1, The Carnivaleros will Rhythm & Roots it at Old Town Artisans' courtyard, 201 N. Court Ave., starting at 8pm-ish.

From rhythmandroots.org: "Racontour Gary Mackender celebrates The Carnivaleros 6th Anniversary in an accordion-fueled celebration of Southwest roots music. Mackender pulls from an impressive list of Tucson musicians that grace the stage on any given night. This party will be no exception. Come prepared to put a smile on your face and get rhythm in your feet."

The Downtown Tucsonan and Mr. Mackender did a little q&a via email - discussing what is currently in their bag, where they have been, and what is coming up.

When I interviewed you in October of 2003 for the release of the first album, "Step Right Up," you told me you assembled the band "from a desire to hear the music I've been writing played by an ensemble." When was that exactly (June 01?) and who were the musicians that were a part of the original ensemble?
That's right...it had been a little over a year since I came off the road with The Mollys. As I had been playing drums in bands for over 30 years, I felt it was time to step out of that comfort zone and try something else. I called up a few friends and asked them to come by the house 'cause I had some material I'd been writing on the accordion.Chris Giambelluca was the first to stop by and has been working with me since. He's a lot busier these days so I get him when I can. Others to play in those first couple years were Richard Medek, Teddy Morgan, Hans Hutchinson, Carla Brownlee and Catherine Zavala.

How long had you been playing the accordion when you formed the band and how many tunes had you written on the accordion at that time?
I picked up the instrument around '96 or '97. I started writing instrumentals on it right away. By the time "Step Right Up!" came out, I had written around thirty or so tunes of which I narrowed down to eleven for the CD.

You also play a bunch of other instruments - piano, drums, vibes, mandolin and you sing! (Did I miss anything?) What was the first instrument you learned to play and how old were you? What originally got you into music?
My grandmother was the town piano teacher where I grew up. I started lessons when I was five. I was also fortunate to have an amazing music instructor in the school system who got me started taking drum lessons when I was eleven. He also had me playing the double bass in the jazz band my freshman year of high school, only because my brother was the drummer. He graduated and I took the drum chair the next year.

Your influences have a large range of (seemingly) mostly folk traditions - from Irish to Eastern European and from Zydeco to Spaghetti Western. What is it about those styles of music that inform/inspire your song writing? What else would you say influences you?
Well, regarding the styles of music you're referencing, I dig the stuff that tells a story whether there are lyrics or not. I listen to a lot of "traditional" music but I'm definitely not a purist when it comes to playing music. As Dave Von Ronk put it, "The purists are out in the audience kibitzing, not onstage trying to make a living".
Regarding inspiration for writing my own material, I find that it's usually anything other than music that triggers the idea for a song. It could be something I read, a private joke between me and my wife, any number of things. Inspiration can come in the least expected form and time...I just need my pen and little spiral notebook close by.

Are you the solo lyricist and music writer or do members of the band also contribute?
I've written the original material so far, which means providing the basic sketch of a song, but what determines how a given song will end up sounding usually comes about by the entire band fleshing it out in rehearsals and on stage over a period of time. The current band has a different "sound" than the band in 2003.

What is your current line-up?
Current line-up includes Marx Loeb on drums, Chris Giambelluca on bass, Michael P. Nordberg on guitar, Mitzi Cowell occasionally on guitar, and a few revolving musicians that sit in.

The Carnivaleros released its second album, "Lost in the Graveyard," last June with accolades from local media as well as receiving national and international coverage. Did you send your album across the pond or did those reviewers find you online?
I was fortunate to garner some good press. It's more difficult to get attention when you're not out there playing the circuit. I did send the CD to a few reviewers "over there" but a few found me online or through CD Baby.

Has the band done any touring or have plans to tour?
We went to Bisbee once or twice! Touring is not an option at this time for various reasons but who knows what's next...

What was the inspiration for the name "The Carnivaleros?"
When I was growing up in the 60's, the carnival coming to our area was a BIG DEAL. It was entertainment, it was creepy, it was thrilling, it was oh so American. I popped the "eros" on the end for "love" and it's also a tip of the hat to the ring of Tex-Mex music in some of my writing.

The website is pretty quiet about what is planned for the 6th anniversary party! What's in store for the show?
Yeah, at the time of this interview I've been slacking a bit with trumpeting the show on the web site. I'm looking at this as a celebration of the band's 6th year in existence by gathering as many of the players together that have been contributing for the last year or so and just rock out a bit. Joining me will be Marx Loeb, Michael P. Nordberg, Chris Giambelluca, Mitzi Cowell and Heather Hardy.

What else would you like to share about the band?
I'm sorting through material for the next CD project so hoping to jump on that sometime later this year or early 2008. In the meantime, the title track to "Lost In the Graveyard" will be included in a compilation CD "The United States of Americana, Vol. Six" from Shut Eye Records to be released sometime this summer. I also like to keep folks informed a few times a month of our activities - so if anyone reading this would like to get on our email list, drop me a note at gary_at_carnivaleros.com

Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Mark S. Tucker • (progdawg@hotmail.com)
February, 2007

Click here to go to review

Starting off with a coolly creepy Waits-esque ramble on mid-West oddities and homeliness, Gary Mackender and crew initiate a very interesting collective of accordion-centered instrumentals and lyrically intriguing tunes. The Carnivaleros occupy that ghostly twilight niche manned by lurking gatherings of really good musicians who keep a tight lock on neighborhood familiarity and loose professionality by capturing a Saturday Night vibe and keeping it firmly stoked. Every track seems cut straight from dives, socials, backroom jams, and jes'-plain-folks get-togethers. Elsewhere in this corner of the musical universe, there's a great longstanding (30+ years) bluesrock band, the Nighthawks, that has the trip down cold, not to mention a righteous hybrid TexMex rock-swing band, the Juke Jumpers, equally friendly. Anyone familiar with those ensembles should well know whereof I speak. The indies are probably the sole resort for such things, but they're not often enough host to this high a degree of warmth, inventiveness, and strangely attractive mutations.

Mackender isn't trying to be a virtuoso, at least not in the sense of lightning-knuckled chops specialists (I've seen Nick Ariondo live and, thus, can attest to what such a specimen might constitute—whew!), but...man!, can he write a mesmeric tune and imbue it with a compelling instrumentality well-seasoned by Americana, importations of Euro backcountry, and swampy good times. His partners in crime are equally impressive, especially Carla Brownlee and her slightly swozzled sax. There's a bayou courtliness to the combo and Marx Loeb's unhurried percussives help greatly in that, scoring the pace in gentler-than-usual metrics.

The listener also very broadly perceives the dark side of Mackender, though, and it may be that, in a generous portfolio of equally provocative upsides, this is his greatest asset. Song titles hint at it (Fools and Angels, Spook Waltz, and Misery and Hope, the last of which, believe it or not, is very sweet and endearing, despite being damn near an oom-pah-pah cut) and lyrics often lay the social entablature out, as in Carnival Ride:

Gave my money to the barker outside
But I couldn't wait to find the banners of awe
And see the freaks that they keep inside

Well we paid our dime so they could give us a thrill
'Cause they were different than you or me
But anymore I think I could give 'em a run
Things just ain't what they seem

Spook Waltz, though it carries no words, has much the same vibe, spectrally waltzing in the slow anxiety of a Residents composition, a disintegrating circus dementia inexorably bent on collapse amidst ghosts, clammy evenings, and Spanish moss. However, the pervasive Cajun flavor through the disc also inspires much brighter fare, and the Carnivaleros frequently remind one strongly of Taj Mahal and Dr. John, rootsy but sophisticated, a twist of lime drifting down into the pina colada. Then there's a Sicilianly cut, smoky and zesty, Gina Lollabrigida, where the vocal section consists of a bunch of kids singing the famous actress' name, and nothing more than that, in the first movement. Lost in the Graveyard, in fact, is a gumbo of many exotic flavors, all issuing from common ancestry: the mutations of gypsy songcrafting that still so hugely inform the continent across the Atlantic and can't help but infect unorthodox minds over here.

None of that prepares you, though, for the ultra-cool inclusion of Graham Gouldman's old chestnut for the Hollies, Bus Stop, woven into Mackender's own Bazaar 54, both of them now New Orleans jumpy, tipsy, and burnin'. Too, special mention must be made of Mitzi Cowell's guitar playing, perhaps most brilliantly, if only briefly, showcased in Fools and Angels, sounding like the superb Jon Claussen from John Zawacki's (Johnny Z & The Originals) killer late 80s releases. Like Mackender, not content to remain in one style, she turns Morricone-esque in Hang 'Em High Tango Redux. However, every single player fits snugly into the landscape, orchestrated by the wry accordionist, a guy to be watched if you dig the idea of fare issuing from the likes of Jimmy Buffett, the laidback songs of Zachary Richard, and the groups mentioned above, all thrown together, shaken, and poured out like an exotic cocktail in a bar you're not sure really exists.

Copyright 2007, Peterborough Folk Music Society.

The Gospel Accordion to Gary Mackender

Review by David Cowling, January 25, 2007

It is not often that the accordion finds itself centre stage and even here though Mackender wrote most of these songs on the said instrument, it often stays in a stout supporting actor role. On the swing of ‘One More Name’ it plays second fiddle to the exuberant saxophone.

The instrumental ‘Misery and Hope’ has the saxophone playing the former and the accordion the latter; it could be Eastern Europe rather than Tucson, Arizona. Mackender is at his best with the theatrical pulp tales like ‘Lost In the Graveyard’ or ‘Carnival Ride’ - they are full of narrative details and heady atmosphere; these though are in the minority.

The majority instrumentals range from the Klezmer/Ska of ‘Bazaar 54/Bus Stop’ Flamenco/Mariachi of ‘El Choclo/Over the Rainbow’ and the self-descriptive ‘Hang ‘Em High Tango Redux’ or the gloomy portent of ‘Spook Waltz’.

Though it isn’t quite a compelling argument for the accordion to usurp the guitar or piano, it is an interesting and broad ranging journey through a diverse selection of styles.

Good New Music, Fall 2006

Peter Hund is a Northern California-based writer and editor who believes there are only two kinds of music: good and bad. He formerly reviewed for the Orange County Business Journal, World Trade, RoadStar and Green Man Review.

Click here to go to Good New Music

Lost in the Graveyard
The Carnivaleros
RootaVega

Mr. Banjo, meet Mr. Accordion. Mr. Accordion, meet Mr. Vibes. And of course, you all know Mr. Guitar, Mr. Bass and Mr. Drums.

It’s a good thing Gary Mackender switched from drums to accordion and formed a new Tucson band after his old one, the Mollys, broke up. Otherwise, there’d be no mostly instrumental, exceedingly eclectic Southwestern outfit that loves to blend frothy multi-genre concoctions from disparate materials such as klezmer, zydeco, polka, country and blues.

Several instrumentals really shine:

1) The back-to-back three-pack consisting of the ska-treated medley “Bazaar 54/Bus Stop” (the latter half of which is the Hollies hit written by Graham Gouldman, who went on to co-found 10cc); “Hang ’Em High Tango Redux” (self-explanatory); and the reggae-driven “Skinned Knees and Fishhooks.”

2) The spaced-outro “Spook Waltz (Gesture Pie),” with its reverb-drenched, slow-mo, desert/surf New Orleans Brass Band Under the Big Top motif.

Downtown Tucson

By Jamie Manser, June 2006

On Saturday, June 3 The Carnivaleros celebrate their sophomore release and 5-year anniversary party at Old Town Artisans, 201 N. Court Ave.

Though a bit darker than frosh release “Step Right Up,” Lost showcases the signature accordion of bandleader and singer/songwriter Gary Mackender with help from Carla Brownlee’s sax; Mitzi Cowell’s guitar; Chris Giambelluca’s bass and Marx Loeb on drums. Guest artists include Catherine Zavala (mandolin, vox, mandowrinch) and Tony Rosano (sousaphone).

The title track has an eerie Tom Waits-esque feel, with Mackender singing deep and low about being lost in a graveyard where bones are rattling and “nights a hummin’ with the insect sounds.” Track 2, Gina Lollobrigida, is an upbeat, drum and bass heavy instrumental with ten kids singing the song’s title, which segues into a jump jiving swing tune about alcohol-induced memory loss on One More Name.

Of the album’s 12 tracks, eight are instrumentals showcasing the sublime talent of the musicians. The combined vibes of the songs are a bit carney, a bit bluesy, with a lot of folk-inspired traditions ranging from Irish to Eastern European and from Zydeco to Spaghetti Western.

Mackender also includes awesome arrangements that fuse together his musical outlook with covers on track 7, Bazaar 54/Bus Stop, and track ten, El Choclo/Over the Rainbow. Guitarist Mitzi Cowell contributes her original piece on track 5, Fool and Angels.

The Carnivaleros website, www.Carnivaleros.com, has four of the new songs online for your streaming pleasure. The CD release show commences at 7pm and entrance is obtained with a fiver. Call 623-6024 for more information.

LOCAL ACCORDIONIST MAKES GOOD

Tucson Weekly Music Soundbites
Published June 1, 2006, by Stephen Seigel

While playing drums for Tucson's late, lamented Mollys, Gary Mackender spent his spare time learning to play the accordion, and it's paid off, big-time. Following the Mollys' split, Mackender formed The Carnivaleros, who this week will release their second album, Lost in the Graveyard (RootaVega).

Mackender's no dummy, so he's rounded out his band with some fine players, including Mitzi Cowell (guitar, banjo, vocals), drummer Marx Loeb, Carla Brownlee on sax and bassist Chris Giambelluca--plus a couple guests--for the album, recorded at Wavelab Studios. As usual, the songs--roughly half of which are instrumentals--are all over the place stylistically. Opener "Lost in the Graveyard" is a dirge that's spooky like latter-day Tom Waits, but nowhere near as dissonant; "Gina Lollobrigida" is a snaky instrumental--save a children's chorus at the beginning reciting the titular character's name--that opens up in all the right places; "Bazaar 54/Bus Stop" resembles nothing so much as an authentic second-wave ska tune, if, say, The Specials or Madness had an accordion player. The missteps here are few: "One More Name" is a subdued swing tune with too-cute lyrics (or maybe I just favor the darker stuff). But on a disc crammed with so much to like, that's a pretty small complaint.

The Carnivaleros celebrate the release of Lost in the Graveyard at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 3, at Old Town Artisans, 501 N. Court Ave.

Carnivaleros: Band's sound has many roots

By ROGELIO OLIVAS, Published June 1, 2006

Tucson band The Carnivaleros has recorded its second CD, "Lost in the Graveyard." To celebrate the release of the CD and to mark the group's five-year anniversary, the band will have a concert-party Saturday at Old Town Artisans. Calendar Plus editor Rogelio Olivas interviewed Los Carnivaleros founder Gary Mackender about the new CD.

RO: For those few Tucsonans who haven't heard The Carnivaleros, how would you describe your music?
GM: That's always been a tough one for me to put in words. I get my writing inspiration from 40 years of absorbing all kinds of music, especially American music, which, to me, includes jazz and blues, elements of country and the sounds of Louisiana and Texas: Zydeco, Tex-Mex and Cajun music. I suppose a stew of all of those with a bit of the Old Country (Europe) thrown in should wrap it up. We might be labeled as folk or American Roots in a record store bin.

RO: Tell me about your new CD. What were you trying to accomplish?
GM: This CD is more autobiographical than "Step Right Up!" The challenge was to lay down a cohesive set of music that together might capture a certain essence of my Midwestern background along with 16 years of influences and life changes here in the Southwest, both musically and lyrically.

RO: The CD is dedicated to your father, Charles Duane Mackender. Did he die recently?
GM: He died two years ago. I was with him in home hospice for two weeks and he died in my arms at 3 in the morning. Most of the lyrics on the CD were written driving home after the funeral.

RO: "He was Here" is a beautiful song, with very moving lyrics. Is it about your father?
GM: Thanks. Yes, it most definitely is.

RO: Which other songs have special meaning or are among your favorites and why?
GM: Well, the title cut, "Lost In the Graveyard," contains lyrics that I wrote in 1990 shortly after moving to Tucson. As it was a major life change for me, I was taking stock of many events and images from the span of my pre-Tucson life. On a lighter note, "One More Name" is a humorous fictional account of a drinking binge gone awry.

RO: The CD seems to have the perfect balance between whimsical and serious material. What's your philosophy about the music you create?
GM: Well, that's life. I don't have a pat philosophy about the process of making music. I never know when ideas are going to present themselves and it's usually when you least expect it. I'm the nerd with the pen and spiral pad in my pocket at all times whom you'll see madly scribbling something down in the light bulb aisle at Ace. The work comes in when it's time to distill those thoughts, experiment with musical ideas and see where it will go. I rarely have a complete piece present itself to me at once.

RO: How does this CD differ from past Carnivaleros recordings?
GM: I think the sound of the band has jelled and I'm slowly developing my own voice on the squeezebox. Give me another 20 years or so and I'll really have something to say!

RO: The music sounds like a fusion of Ry Cooder's Southwestern folk, Chris Isaak's rockabilly and the B-52s' festive energy. How accurate is that description?
GM: Man, that's the first time I've heard those references in conjunction with the band, especially the last two. I certainly have been a big fan of Ry over the years. I love the energy reference of the B-52s as well. I just hope when I hit the stage that there are some folks ready and willing to take a ride on the screamin' train and leave their musical preconceptions at home.

RO: Where does the title "Lost in the Graveyard" come from?
GM: It refers to the time I first landed in Tucson and my attempt to start a new life here while emotionally dealing with the skeletons of my past.

RO: Any special collaborations on the CD?
GM: Special guests include Catherine Zavala on mandolin, acoustic guitar, mandowrinch and a shared vocal on "He Was Here." Tony Rosano of Molehill Orkestra played sousaphone on a cut and we had a wonderful choir of young adults come in as the "Gina Choir" on "Gina Lollobrigida."

RO: What's been the band's biggest challenge in its five-year career?
GM: There are several challenges for all musicians right now. There aren't as many folks out supporting live music as there were even 10 years ago. And The Carnivaleros are not in a position to be touring, which is the main way an independent band builds an audience. Folks who haven't seen the band are much less likely to buy a CD. Ideally we would be happy just to host a little happy hour event every week at some venue here in town, build an audience and everybody goes home smiling at the end of the night.

RO: What keeps you guys going?
GM: That elusive one out of every so many gigs where the band is full of all-consuming passion, the audience is rockin' and the room is alive with a kinetic energy that makes the hair on the back of our necks stand up. That's pretty good stuff.

artiest: The Carnivaleros
cd: Lost In The Graveyard
label: Roota Vega

Gary Mackender speelde in de jaren negentig drums bij The Mollys, een bijzonder gezelschap uit Tucson, Arizona, dat Tex-Mex en Ierse muziek samenklutste tot een soms wat al te experimenteel soort worldcountry. Als leider van The Carnivaleros heeft hij van de accordeon zijn hoofdinstrument gemaakt. Ook op Lost In The Graveyard schuwt Mackender het experiment niet. Het titelnummer met Beefheartsiaanse zang is nog als altcountry te omschrijven, maar op het merendeel van de veelal instrumentale composities drijft hij daar nogal ver vanaf. The Carnivaleros verkennen de raakvlakken van Tex-Mex, polka’s, oosteuropese klanken, blues en swing. Bazaar 54/Bus Stop houdt het midden tussen de ska van The Specials en een stukje klezmer. 0rigineel is het zeker, maar een wat meer normale song als Carnival Ride is eigenlijk veel fraaier. De cd werd opgenomen in de Wavelab-studio, dus met het geluid zit het wel snor. Grappig is overigens het nummer Gina Lollibrigida, dat wordt ingeluid door een kinderkoor en om die reden doet denken aan The Wall van Pink Floyd. (John Gjaltema)