Background: Prior to going solo, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Fulks played with the Special Consensus Bluegrass Band. He’s been on his own for three years. “I’ve always been an avid songwriter and wanted an avenue for my stuff-other than bluegrass really afforded me,” explains Fulks. “Although I wrote a little bit for Special Consensus, the vein that I like to write in is Marshall Crenshaw, Terry Adams, Elvis Costello-type pop and rock. I wanted an outlet for that, which necessitated my getting together a band and teaching it my songs.”
Band personnel: Fulks is accompanied by former Rockamatics guitarist Randy Lee, ex-Burning Hunks of Love and Special Consensus bassist/vocalist Jerry Eliason and Stump the Host drummer Dan Massey.
Influences: “I listen, more than anything else, to honky tonk music these days,” says Fulks. “Like Hank Thompson, Merle Travis, the Carlisles, Jimmie Davis, old people like that. Of new people, I like Jonathan Richman, Lucinda Williams and the Skeletons.”
Least favorite instrument: “I don’t even associate with people who play keyboards,” says Fulks. “They have been very religiously kept out of the band so far. The idea of keyboards to me is sort of the tip of the iceberg of pomposity that is the problem with rock ‘n’ roll. So we’re basically a guitar-heavy band.”
Onstage routine: ” `Trailer Trash Nights’ is the rubric under which we assemble every month,” says Fulks. “The idea is to convey what the band’s about-which is, not taking ourselves too seriously about having a good time.” The show features, among other things, dancing go-go girls. “They aren’t strictly go-go dancers,” suggests Fulks. “They might actually upset somebody that came down wanting to see some chest or some white vinyl boots. They are more along the lines of the Baltimore barmaid outfit most of the time-a lot of high hair, leopard skin outfits, tight black fishnets and stuff like that.”
Covers: Fulks and the band play covers of songs by bluegrass old-timer Jimmy Martin (“Sephronie”), vocalist Louis Prima (“I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal You”), Carl Butler (“Honky Tonkitis”) and others. “We play for about three hours, and I’ve only got about two dozen songs of my own that I do with the band,” Fulks explains. “I try to do covers that nobody knows.”
Philosophy: “My idea of rock ‘n’ roll is that it should be fun, it should be a good time,” says Fulks. “Our live performances, at their best, represent the ideal of rock ‘n’ roll for me: a kind of drunken, anarchic, wild, crazy fun. It’s a simple enough idea, but it tends to get swallowed in the overbearing pretentiousness and pomposity of an age in which rock stars have opinions on politics and huge publicity machines.”
Recordings: Fulks’ recent self-released single is on sale during the show.
Next appearances: “Trailer Trash Nights” take place the first Friday of each month at the Deja Vu Bar and Grill.
