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The Firecracker Jazz Band
The two bands set for this weekend’s summer concert series hosted by the Highlands Chamber of Commerce are McIntosh and the Lionhearts and the Firecracker Jazz Band.
Front man for McIntosh and the Lionhearts, Spalding McIntosh, said music in his family runs deep.
“I’m the first musician in my family that actually plays, but my dad is the root of all my musical ambition,” McIntosh said. “He was an avid listener. He could tell you who the record was by, when it was recorded, what the drummer was wearing and all of that just by listening. The hook was in pretty deep for me.”
McIntosh said he made the decision to be a musician when he was seven years old.
“I’d say the defining moment was when I was listening to a recording of Lynyrd Skynyrd playing at Knebworth Festival in 1976,” McIntosh said. “There was about 250,000 people at that festival. I remember Ronnie Van Zant stepping up on that stage and I remember thinking, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ I was in the second grade. Up until that point, I wanted to be an astronaut.”
Since he started writing songs at 16, McIntosh said he was looking for a way to play gigs. He traveled to South Asheville, with just a guitar in his hand, to the Red Speakeasy hoping to have his first gig.
“At the time, I was working with Apple Tree Honda,” McIntosh said. “I took a lunch break and went to Red Speakeasy in a suit and tie and my guitar. I had no CDs or anything. I just walked up and said, ‘I’m Spalding McIntosh, and I want to play.’ She noticed my guitar and asked me to come out back and play. So, I rattled off a few songs and they gave me the gig. I played there twice a week, four hour sets for $50. To me, I just couldn’t believe that I was actually getting paid to play music.”
After working a maintenance job in Sapphire Valley, he did the same thing, walking into the Game Keeper’s Tavern with just a guitar.
“I did that for a couple of summers and then worked my way into playing at Micah’s,” McIntosh said. “I really cut my teeth playing at Micah’s for three years. They gave me a great opportunity. I don’t think I could have played live music, if it weren’t for Micah’s, so I give them a lot of credit for believing in me.”
McIntosh said events like the summer concert series on the Plateau are great because music brings people together.
“There are all types of people that come to these events,” McIntosh said. “Music really brings everybody together. I think whenever people come to the mountains, they think they are going to only hear bluegrass. That isn’t the case up here. There are so many good soul bands, funk bands and rock and roll bands. There’s such a blend. Personally, I think the music comes out of the river. I don’t know what it is, but to have all of these people, whether they only live here part-time or they have lived here their entire lives, we have two hours where everybody is drinking out of the same tap and I think that is pretty cool.”
For his show, McIntosh said it is all about storytelling.
“I’d say, if you’re coming to a Lionheart show, what you’re going to get is a story,” McIntosh said. “A lot of what I write, is about what I know and my life. I tell the guys all of the time to just play from their heart. We are a song band. We don’t really get out there and play long jams. Every song has a purpose and I feel like every song has something to say. I hope people will appreciate original music. We aren’t a jukebox band. Our goal is to always connect with somebody and maybe they take that song, and it means something in their life.”
McIntosh and the Lionhearts will take the stage during Friday Night Live on June 17, at the Town Square at 6 p.m.
For the Firecracker Jazz Band, forming in 2003 was kind of a fluke, according to founding member Earl Sachais.
“There was a clubowner in Asheville that knew the original drummer and wanted him to put together a band for Mardi Gras,” Sachais said. “So, he put together a band and we had only one rehearsal and we played there for Mardi Gras. Then, that was it, until a few months later, a Cajun Restaurant opened in Asheville. The drummer got together a four-piece band and they played there almost every Thursday night. Eventually, it morphed into a six piece and that is where we are.”
Sachais, a New Jersey native, got into band in the fourth grade.
“When I was in fourth grade, the music teachers had a demonstration at night and any student that was interested could rent an instrument and took lessons in school,” Sachais said. “Fortunately for me, I continued right through high school. In my junior year, I had an experience with the New Jersey All-State Band. They had a guest conductor from the University of Michigan. After that, I said to myself, ‘this is what I want to do.’ So, I ended up going to Manhattan School of Music and got my bachelor’s degree in performance and my master’s degree in education. Then, I became a high school band director in New Jersey. In 1997, I retired from teaching and moved to Asheville.”
Sachais said they play jazz music, because everyone in the band has an interest in that style.
“Our style would say is more like Dixieland or hot jazz,” Sachais said. “My first love is beebop, like jazz from the 50s and 60s, but I do enjoy playing Dixieland, even though it is an older style of jazz.”
He said the band hopes the Highlands audience will enjoy the show.
“We want them to enjoy this style of music and like it enough that they like listening to it once in a while,” Sachais said. “I think live music is very important. Not only listening to it but seeing the body language of the musicians. The more excited an audience gets, the more revved up the band gets, which could mean a better performance.”
The Firecracker Jazz Band will take the stage for Saturdays on Pine at 6 p.m. on June 18, at Kelsey Hutchinson Founder’s Park.
- By Christopher Lugo