A few weeks ago, I approached 51 Acres about doing an interview for SA Rocks. They agreed, and we discussed several different ways of doing it - in person, via e-mail, etc. Finally, due to time constraints and my lack of a digital video camera, we decided to do it via e-mail. I wanted to check them out first, so I went and saw them at Rebar, which led to the review I posted a couple of weeks ago. And now, here it is! My first interview!
In case you don't know who's who, 51 Acres is:
Troy Reisner - lead vocals/acoustic guitar
Brandon Reisner - lead guitar
Zuri Cabaza - guitar/harmonica
Fil Grady - bass guitar
Jordan Slaughter - drums/percussion
AND...I noticed that Matt from The Groove Movement contributed to the interview, so I wrote Jordan and asked if Matt was a member of 51 Acres now, and he replied:
"I guess this would be the perfect time to announce that Matt Wolff is an official member of 51 Acres. He will play all shows w/ 51 unless his band, Groove Movement, has a gig. We have been looking for a keyboardist for over a year now, and we feel that Matt is the perfect piece to complete the puzzle. We are writing new music as a band and Matt is having an incredibly good influence on us. We are so lucky to have found such a good musician, and we kind of just let it all fall into place, so thats how we know its right..."
So, welcome to:
Matt Wolff - keyboards
Now on to...
The Interview:
Rowan:
OK, first the name, 51 Acres. What does it mean?
51 Acres:
The name 51 ACRES comes from a house that the band was formed in. It was an old 70's style pier-to-pier house with a great porch that used to sit on 51 acres of Texas land out by I-35 and Judson. Supposedly, it was Tommy Lee Jones' batchelor pad when he attended college at South West Texas in San Marcos. We didn't have a name for the band yet and were tossing around some lame ideas and then Fil asked "Hey man, how many acres does this house sit on?". Brandon replied"Fifty-one" and the rest is history.
Rowan:
On your website, you list as your influences some jam bands like DMB, the Dead & Phish, as well as several classic rock artists like Hendrix, Clapton, & Led Zeppelin, and some funkier stuff like Sublime and Marley. I can hear all that in your music, but I also hear a lot of blues and southern rock. What blues and southern rock artists have influenced you?
51 Acres:
Our Southern Rock influences include: Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band, ZZ Top, Widespread Panic and The Black Crowes.
Our Blues influences include: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, BB King, and Robert Johnson.
Rowan:
What's in your CD player right now?
51 Acres:
Troy - String Cheese Incident
Brandon - Phish
Zuri - Chuck Berry
Fil - Antibalas (from New York)
Jordan - Addison Groove Project (from Boston)
Matt - Herbie Hancock
Rowan:
What would be your dream gig here in San Antonio? Where would you play? With what other local band(s)?
51 Acres:
Selling out Majestic Theatre with our good friends The Groove Movement, Full Throttle, and Jake Owen.
Rowan:
Same question, only on a grander scale, the absolute Fantasy Gig...if you could play anywhere in the world with any band (past or present), where would you play and with who?
51 Acres:
We talked about playing the Pyramids in Egypt with The Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd, then we talked about Central park in New York with the Dave Matthews Band.We finally decided on Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado with an all star line up of guests who we consider to be our heroes on our given instruments. We would want these guys to sit in with us on our originals and then jam some of theirs too, afterwards we would do a full out jam session to close the show. We chose Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), Dave Matthews (DMB), Page McConnell (Phish), and John Bonham (Led Zeppelin).
Rowan:
Freebie: what do YOU want people to know about 51 Acres?
51 Acres:
We want people to know that there's a whole different side to the music scene here in San Antonio that doesn't revolve around Punk or Metal. With original and creative artists such as The Groove Movement, Sexto Sol, Dog Men Poets, and Jake Owen we are looking to change the landscape of the San Antonio music scene. We love and respect all forms of music and some of us even have influences from Metal and Punk Rock, but we want people to know that there is an alternative. We want people to recognize that there's so much more to the San Antonio Music Scene than Country, Hip-Hop or Hard Rock, and hopefully there's room for all of us to enjoy success here in SA.
Well, they definitely proved that to me. I generally consider myself a hard rocker, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show at Rebar and doing this interview! Thanks guys!
You can catch 51 Acres:
July 1st at Broadway Brew Haus
July 15th at Crabby Jack's
July 22nd at Sam's Burger Joint with The Groove Movement
July 29th at Booze Hounds
August 5th at Rebar
August 12th at Broadway Brew Haus
August 19th at Crabby Jack's
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