Sunset Band Defies Labels; Improvises During Live Shows

By Noma Faingold

Vince Dewald, 27, lead singer, guitarist and chief songwriter of the San Francisco-based rock band Buxter Hoot'n, says he and the other four members of the close-knit outfit were all drawn to the City for the same reason.

"There was an allure," said Dewald, a native of Mishawaka, Indiana, a small blue-collar town near South Bend.

Reading Beat Generation writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg and listening to the Grateful Dead and Neil Young fueled the promise of what San Francisco might offer, even decades after those artists made their significant marks on the music scene.

"Those guys came from artistic communities and were people who changed things socially and artistically," says Dewald. "For me and everyone in our band, coming to San Francisco was about hooking up with an artistic community. It really is a creative town. Musically, it's a great place to be."

The band, which has an eclectic sound that's hard to pin down, has influences in the folk-rock singer/songwriter tradition of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Young, jazz artists like Django Reinhardt, country-folk cult singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt and roots rock bands like The Band and the Allman Brothers.

A few music journalists have referred to the band's sound as psychedelic, which might be a label that does not quite fit, even though Buxter Hoot'n actually did record its latest CD, "In Another Life," at Mission Bells Studios in San Francisco using the same two-inch tape machine owned and used by the Grateful Dead to record its 1987 album "In the Dark." Also, Buxter Hoot'n engages in a certain amount of musical improvisation during live shows, a Grateful Dead signature.

"Psychedelic is a term with an image that people instantly think of and I don't think we're that," says Jimmy Dewald, 31, bass player and brother of Vince. "Improvising on stage is a strength, but we do it in a very refined and contained way, within the context of the song."

Adds Vince: "We keep improvisation in the mix because, playing live, we're willing to be in the moment. It's a risk, but that's the point."

Buxter Hoot'n first formed four years ago. The Dewald brothers met two East Coast transplants, drummer Jeremy Shanok, 28, and Ben Andrews, 24 (guitar, violin and mandolin). Singer/songwriter Melissa Merrill, who grew up in Lee, New Hampshire, 27, joined the band two years later. The brothers share a three-bedroom Inner Sunset flat with Andrews and Merrill, who is Vince's girlfriend. "It's all very familiar," says Vince.

According to Vince, the addition of Merrill in the band while being a couple has not presented any complications.

"She adds an important sound to the band and writes her own songs," he says. "It's also great for me personally because we both have that artistic mentality. We understand the odd hours. It's good to work toward something as a band and in our relationship, too. And, by living and working together, we see the whole spectrum of each other."

While Vince writes most of the band's material, with some collaboration from Jimmy and Andrews, Merrill wrote one of the more evocative songs on the band's current CD, "In a Veil." Like a number of Buxter Hoot'n, songs, it tells a story.

"It's a very ambiguous, haunting song about a woman who's visiting her husband's grave post-Hurricane Katrina," says Vince, who sings harmony on the country-laden track. "It's full of images. It's not a linear narrative, but as you listen, you can piece it together. People get all sorts of things from it."

Another track, "Hillbilly Heroin," written by Vince and Jimmy, showcases the band's engaging moody/rootsy blend and Vince's effortless twangy/bluesy vocals. It tells two parallel stories: one about an athlete and one about a disillusioned young woman, who each become addicted to Oxycontin. The verse about the athlete includes the lyrics: "He lost all the slaps on the back and the pats on the behind, oh lord/ever since he lost his game you know he's been trying to find."

The band released the CD "In Another Life" on its own, without a record deal, management or any other type of representation. Currently, they are doing everything themselves - from creating the music to promoting the album to booking a tour. Having to devote so much time to the business side is a reality for independent minded bands like Buxter Hoot'n.

"Some weeks we're doing more of that stuff than the music, which is a problem for me," says Vince. "I like that we can take control of it ourselves, but I haven't been writing or playing as much because I've been on the computer."

Jimmy, who has been devoting a lot of time to organizing a mini-tour, adds: "At some point, you have to let all that go and just play music."

The band has managed to get back to what makes them tick enough to have several new songs written. They expect to have enough material to record another CD next year and they've also secured a band-in-residency gig every Monday night at Mojito's in North Beach.

"We have a lot of plans," Vince says.

Buxter Hoot'n plays every Monday night at Mojito's, 1337 Grant Ave. (between Green and Vallejo streets.), at 9 p.m. There is no cover charge. The tour kick-off show will be held at The Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St., on Sept. 9, at 8:30 p.m. For more information, call (415) 861-2011.