<< Back 1/7/04 The Skinny on The Skinny By Zach Laminack Hugh Brown, keyboardist for Sylva rock quintet The Skinny, was once punched in the face in a Swain County bar. “It’s on file,” bassist Jeff Redman says from across the booth we are sharing. “The lead singer of another band was talking shit to him, and Hugh turned away for a second. When he turned back around,” Redman hits in his open palm with his fist, “right in the face.” Tommy Dennison turns to me, “It’s a good thing that all of us weren’t there.” But The Skinny isn’t a bunch of swaggering braggadocios boasting about their success in bar fights. They aren’t even arrogant. In fact, they’re atypically personable. “There’s so much bullshit that goes along with being in a band,” Redman says, “and we’re over that.” The longer we sit together drinking cup after cup of coffee, the more I come to believe it. The Skinny becomes what many bands aren’t — honest. They don’t veil themselves in back-patting self-service and they don’t try to convince anyone of their greatness. Redman and Mason were in the band Hammerloop before joining guitarist Dennison along with Brown and vocalist Jeremy Hyatt to form The Skinny. Redman, Mason and Dennison described Hammerloop as a “college jam-band.” “I can appreciate jam bands as much as anyone else, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not what we’re doing now,” Redman says. These three make it very clear that their previous experience isn’t something they regret. “We learn from our experience,” Dennison says. “Look at all the bands out there doing the same thing. We want to play tight songs that people enjoy rather than going off for half-an-hour.” Jam bands can get repetitive, redundant: “You end up pulling from the same bag of tricks,” Redman says. Dennison nods in agreement. “Many bands lose touch with their audience. What we have to keep in mind is ‘what would the listener appreciate?’” he says. Since combining Hammerloop and Dennison’s previous band Oliver Soup, The Skinny has made an effort to get away from their jam-band origins and into a new style. Tommy described the band’s sound as “a mix between the Black Crowes and Widespread Panic,” only to be met with resistance from across the table. “Widespread without the jam element,” Mason says. They chuckle. The band cites the area as the driving force behind the change in their style. “It’s a tough place to have a band,” Redman says, speaking of the counties west of Asheville. “Bands in this area have to work doubly hard.” He’s right. There are few venues and little publicity for bands in the western counties. Asheville is full of places to play, but also full of bands; and according to The Skinny — exclusive. “They tend to shy away from bands out of the area,” Dennison says. If Asheville closes the door to “westerners,” the Skinny has to work even harder to keep their name in the minds of listeners and promoters. “There’s a difference between art for art’s sake and commercial art,” Redman says. “It’s difficult to do what you want and still be in a popular band. We don’t have to go as lowball as Britney Spears, but we have to play music that appeals to more people than us.” And that doesn’t seem to be a problem for The Skinny. “When the first note is hit my adrenaline kicks in so hard it feels like I’m going to float off the stage,” Dennison says. “I love to convey our energy to the audience.” “It’s a perpetual cycle,” Mason follows up. “We get into it when we see them getting into it.” So get into it. Catch The Skinny’s first note at the Rusty Lizard Bar and Grille at the Jackson Plaza in Sylva on Friday, Jan. 16, at 10 p.m.