They say you learn something from every experience. What did we learn at our show at the Underground Lounge on May 13?

1. Cub fans still like to drink to excess and dance to Journey songs.
2. Our audience is quite patient and loyal – they stayed for our set even though the sound guy was super late.
3. Our band actually plays quite well after multiple beers and shots of Jaegermeister.
4. If Jammer breaks a “high” E string. It’s not fatal.
5. A good set, tight and powerful? All is forgiven!

Jammer

photo by Mr. Mo.

As Morrissey once sang… “It’s time the tale were told…”

People often ask: “What’s with the name?” Yes, well, it would be great if it came from a vision-quest fueled by peyote buttons and psilocybin mushrooms, and a visitation from the ghost of Syd Barrett – “…then Syd appeared out of the foggy mist, he was floating above the shimmering beach, humming a lyrical little nursery rhyme; and with shells, star-fish, and a few shiny black stones, he spelled out the name of our band in the holy, glowing, sand: whitewolfsonicprincess…”

That would be cool. But instead it was an inside joke from a Black Forest  performance piece called “The Unbearable Whiteness of Being White.” We wrote some goofy songs, and dressed up as a sort of arty, inept, white-trash, Hip-Hop duo. Not so hip and not so hop. We had a little boombox with backing tracks, some improbable scenes, and “raps” like “Funky Spermatozoa” – “once they get going it’s all about dividing and multiplying and turning into other things – they go through all the stages of evolution, they get a tail, gill-slits, they start looking like something, like a pterodactyl, they no longer exist as separate entities they can’t explain it, they are one, yeah, that’s right, they are one…”

We came up with the name, figured no-one in the world would ever come up with anything close to it, then it sort of stuck, and then it morphed! It was no longer two things, two identities, but one thing – whitewolfsonicprincess – one word, one thing, all lowercase. And then we were no longer a duo, we were a band, a full band – an amazing group of co-conspirators.

The songs started to flow, and they were decidedly not goofy, they were about life and loss, about being lost, and being found, and the mysteries underlying everything. Our name became a symbol – a wolf in a princess hat, high-heels, a peace symbol arm-band, clutching a few wildflowers. “Wolfie” embodies a series of dichotomies: male/female, animal/spiritual, body/soul, low-born/high aspiration, aggressive/peace-loving, darkness/light.

Still, too many syllables.

Think: U2, The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Dylan, Sting, Cher. One, two or three syllables are perfect. Easy to remember. Easy to say. The less syllables the better. We join the list of bands with names with way too many syllables: Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Airborne Toxic Event, Buffalo Springfield, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jefferson Airplane.

Oh well. Resistance is futile. We must embrace it all. This is our band, our music, our name. 6 syllables. Some people seem to love it, some can’t even say it. “You’re that girl from White…er… Snake… or something… right?!”

Anyway, let it rock, let it roll… off the tongue… trippingly… – Jammer

We are decidedly not swimming against the stream. You can easily purchase a digital download, or live-stream, our new  album via iTunes, Apple Music and Google Play. But there are some great reasons to order the physical, tangible thing. You can purchase a Limited Edition Compact Disc on Bandcamp, or visit our favorite coffeehouse, Brother’s K Coffeehouse in Evanston, Illinois and secure your very own copy. There are excellent  reasons to purchase a Compact Disc!

Top Five Reasons You Need a Compact Disc of “The Shadow of the Marigold!”

5. At $8.00 per Compact Disc it’s a bargain!

4. The packaging is, as many fans have told us, “Gorgeous!”

3. Includes a 12 page booklet with cool photos, song lyrics and production info.

2. Glass Mastered CD sounds great – at home or in the car!

1. Thanks to the legendary Ray Kennedy @ Zen Masters, you experience the “silence between the songs.” The flow from track to track – don’t miss the silences!

Jammer

Hello All – So happy to say that today 04.07.16, our new album “The Shadow of the Marigold” is now available as a digital download on iTunes, and can be streamed on Apple Music and Google Play! iTunes link here: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1074463960 .

You can also purchase your very own limited edition CD with 12 page booklet on BandCamp: https://whitewolfsonicprincess.bandcamp.com/album/the-shadow-of-the-marigold

So happy to have this one out in the world! – Jammer

photo by Michael Doubrava

Terry Flamm from the great music blog, Broken Hearted Toy is the first to review our new record, “The Shadow of the Marigold.” He tells us it’s “a brooding though engaging effort, filled with sacred and destructive imagery.” And there’s this: “The more hopeful ‘Lavender Rays’ evokes Kate Bush, as Hayden – with perhaps her most gorgeous vocals yet – describes a vision while the band envelopes her in a haunting Celtic arrangement.” On Facebook Terry called “The Shadow of the Marigold,” “haunting and poetic.” Thanks for listening Terry! – Jammer

Radio play. Turns out it’s not that easy to come by. We have been lucky to connect with an amazing musical dynamo, Lord Litter, a DJ and musician based in Berlin dedicated to “quality music.” He hosts a couple of cool “underground” shows in Europe and the States. Last night, he played our song “Curse on You,” from our forthcoming album, “The Shadow of the Marigold,” on his show, broadcast from Bodega Bay, CA,  “Lord Litter’s Magic Music Box.”

It was so cool to hear our song slotted after Spanky and the Gang, and before Cary Grace. And what did the Lord have to say about our music? “Extremely relaxed, folky, psychedelic scapes, that invite you to float along…”  Well said Lord! – Jammer

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the archive of the Magic Music Box show hosted by Lord Litter, featuring our song “Curse on You!” First Spanky and then us!

The sneak preview “word of mouth” on our new record, “The Shadow of the Marigold:”

“A lost classic,” “A bit hippy, dippy, but not without it’s charms,” “Darkly beautiful,” “Powerful, mysterious, calming,” “Nothing is pretentious,” “Compelling sonic landscapes swept aloft by deep grooves…” “Like Patti Smith fronting the Stones,” “Folk-a-delic!”

Official release date: 04.07.16

photo by Melissa Gasparatto

It is true that Cate Blanchett, world famous actress, is one of my role models, inspirers, and gurus? Yes, indeed. But is she rock and roll? Why certainly. Did you see her play Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes’ “I’m Not There.”

Cate is cool. I mean, super-cool. Chiseled from the finest stuff. But what of her wisdom? Love this from the New York Times Fashion Magazine: “She hates monologue. For her everything interesting is in collaboration. ‘That the dangerous side,’ she said. ‘You really don’t know where you’re going to go.'”

Yes, I’d say an admirable creative credo – collaboration – dangerous – interesting – don’t know where it will go. Playing alone in a room is all well and good, but the magic alchemy only really happens when you are in that room with other committed creative, souls, all working together. That’s the “everything” of the creative thing. – Jammer