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On stage and in the studio, Jon Spencer has destroyed and rebuilt
American roots music with such ferocity and wild abandon it's
hard to believe that there is anything left. The trail of musical
destruction in the wake of his groovy hate-fuck combo Pussy Galore
still smolders with the stench of avant punk trash and nasty
garage ooze and grind, while his towering work with the Jon
Spencer Blues Explosion remains an indelible totem to his enormous
mojo spirit and red-hot power of deliverance. He is Daddy Boss
Hog, the Blues Exploder, Microphone Destroyer and a Gibson
Brother! The man who shared a Chicken Dog with Rufus Thomas, got
Soul with R.L. Burnside, and enjoyed a greasy Lap Dance with Andre
Williams! He is 'The Man Who Loved too Much!!!' Now, with his pal
Matt Verta-Ray, he has become Heavy Trash, and is inviting you to
their Midnight Soul Serenade.
Matt Verta-Ray grew up in the loving arms of left wing parents who
would take him to folk and blues shows long before he sprouted
sideburns. (His mother passed away in the '90s, still angry that
Dylan had gone electric, despite the fact - Matt is quick to point
out - that she owned tons of Sun rockabilly 78s, which he very
gratefully still has.) In the late '70s, young Matt found himself
one of only twelve people who went to see Bo Diddley at a Canadian
fairground. After the show, Bo came out and preached to Matt for
an hour about the dark secrets of rock'n'roll. And the rest, as
they say, is history - from sitting on the edge of the stage with
Bo, to thumping bass for Madder Rose, and then onto his hard-wired
decontructionist rootsabilly band Speedball Baby, where he
developed his slashing-dagger guitar style - to forming Heavy
Trash with his friend Jon Spencer. Matt is also the mad scientist
behind the jungle of tube amps and old-school echo machines that
form the mutated nucleus of his analog cave - world-class recording
studio NY Hed - where musicians come from all over the galaxy to
learn the dark secrets of the Midnight Soul Serenade.
