For the members of King`s X, 1992 has been six months of knocking down barriers that had gripped their potential like a vise.
In workmanlike fashion, they`ve shed the stigma of their heavy-metal musical framework, grown beyond the cramped confines of opening-act status, and added some welcome touches of radio airplay.
That kind of renovation would make TV handyman Bob Vila proud. But King`s X guitarist-vocalist Ty Tabor says it`s just a natural progression for a group that has been working steadily and methodically since 1980. Still, whether this is King`s X`s breakthrough year remains to be seen.
”It`s probably too early to tell,” Tabor says in a phone interview from his Seattle hotel room, where the group is in the midst of a tour that will bring it to the Oak Theatre, 2000 N. Western Ave., Wednesday night.
”But it has definitely moved up to another level this year. We`re playing much bigger places than we have in the past, and we`re getting more saturated airplay.”
The band`s sound is a curious mix. It`s hard rock, undergirded by the thunderous squall of Tabor`s guitar, Doug Pinnick`s bass and Jerry Gaskill`s drums.
But Beatlesque harmonies and flourishes-such as Tabor`s occasional sitar- abound. Toss in the soulful intensity of Joliet native Pinnick`s vocals, which nod to Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone, and you have an admirable musical melting pot.
Admirable as it may be, it has been a problem for King`s X. In an industry that thrives on cubbyholes, classifying the Houston trio was no easy feat. But because the band recorded for Megaforce Worldwide, Atlantic Records` heavy-metal subsidiary, the die was cast.
”We`ve never felt at home with that categorization,” Tabor says.
Record stores subsequently filed their albums in the metal section. Concert promoters followed suit in their bookings. ”We used to have thrash bands on the bill with us every night,” Tabor says.
But the group`s fortunes are changing with its new disc, ”King`s X.”
It`s on the mainstream Atlantic label. And instead of sharing the stage with thrash bands, the group has earned a chance to call the shots on its new tour, headlining venues as large as 3,800-seat auditoriums and choosing its own opening acts.
”We`ve done a lot of tours as the opening act,” says Tabor, ”and we got a lot of letters from people who were glad to see us but wanted to see a full show. So we decided to do our own tour.”
King`s X sold out most of its West Coast dates on the tour, from Los Angeles to Seattle, and Tabor and compatriots head to Chicago with a new arrow in their quiver: radio airplay. ”Black Flag,” the first single from ”King`s X,” is garnering plenty of air time across the country, ”everywhere except Chicago,” notes Tabor with a laugh. ”Prisoner,” the second single, has just been released.
Regardless of whether Chicago`s airwaves unfurl a welcome to ”Black Flag,” Tabor, 30, is grateful just for having had the chance to make music with Gaskill, 34, and Pinnick, 41.
”For us, it`s just a matter of this is what we know we should be doing,” Tabor says. ”We love each other as friends, and as time goes on we grow closer to each other.”
It hasn`t been easy, Tabor admits. The three come from extremely different backgrounds. Tabor was a precocious teen guitarist in Jackson, Miss., Gaskill hails from New Jersey and Pinnick is a Midwesterner. The three hooked up in Springfield, Mo., in 1980, and have been together ever since.
”We grew up in entirely different environments and cultures,” Tabor says, ”and it took us years to learn how to communicate.”
The band members moved to Houston in 1985, where they met their manager-producer Sam Taylor through a mutual friend.
Taylor, who helped transform ZZ Top from cult status to superstardom, has been a guiding force ever since, producing all of the band`s albums: ”Out of the Silent Planet,” ”Gretchen Goes to Nebraska,” ”Faith Hope Love” and now ”King`s X.”
With their heavy, psychedelic-tinged sound and their equally heavy, vaguely Christian lyrics, the group has carved out a distinctive niche. Tabor wouldn`t trade that niche for anything.
”A lot of time people ask me, `If you could play with anyone in the world, what would be your dream band?` I`m in it. Doug and Jerry are my dream band.”
