Blue Mountain

A Brass ReunionFlashback to the early spring weeks of 2007, possibly around the time current Brass Rail co-owner John Commorato, Jr. was thinking about quitting his day job to buy and manage a bar, and the upcoming Blue Mountain show would - for every reason under the sun - seem impossible. For starters, Blue Mountain - a band centered around two married musicians - were not only defunct, but also long divorced and seemingly getting on with both their personal and professional lives. That’s not all. In the event that the aforementioned pair of artists - guitarist Cary Hudson and bassist Laurie Stirrat, as well as drummer Frank Coutch - were to reunite (which they did, late last spring), why would they play a small rock n’ roll bar in Fort Wayne, a city whose recent history with live music screams metal, not roots-y rock music?

The answer, in a word, is camaraderie. Commorato, Jr., long known around the Fort Wayne area as both a literate creative writer and an encyclopedia of punk music and culture, befriended the members of Blue Mountain in the early 90s while going to school in Oxford, Mississippi, one of the United States’ Top 6 college towns of all-time, so says USA Today. The facts that this ostensibly dead band would reunite just as one of their old friends started booking shows at a rock n’ roll bar is nothing if not happenstance of the sweetest kind.

“I don’t think I’d have a bar, let alone be booking shows, if I hadn’t toured with Blue Mountain,” laughed Commorato, Jr. in between stories about his days in Oxford, a town of about 20,000 (half of which are students at the University of Mississippi) known for it’s rich music and literature scenes. “They taught me a lot. Touring with them and running their merch table is a big part of the reason I’m doing what I’m doing.”

Working his way through U of M’s Faulkner Writing Program, Commorato, Jr. found himself working at a bar and unhappy with school. A chance meeting with Blue Mountain, who would soon enough become critical darlings who spent their fair share of time on the road, changed Commorato, Jr.’s path; soon enough he’d dropped out of school in order to tour with the band, near and far, working their merch table, as he tells it, for free beer.

“John was maybe our friendliest guy on the road,” laughed Hudson in a recent interview with whatzup. “I wish I remembered those days a little better. What can I say, it was a rock n’ roll band on tour; you’re not supposed to remember much, right?” Fittingly, Commorato, Jr. echoed Hudson’s sentiments, citing the guitar virtuoso as one of the key influences of his younger years. “I unfortunately can’t remember too many details from those days,” said Commorato, Jr. “Let’s just say that a lot of beers have gone down since then, if you know what I mean.”

The Band, the Break

Raised on the blues, country and rock sounds of the South, Blue Mountain independently released their eponymous debut in 1993. After some modest success and tours with heavyweights like Uncle Tupelo (Stirrat’s twin brother, John, was in Tupelo and is now in Wilco), Blue Mountain went on to release a string of influential albums, including 1995’s classic Dog Days, in an era that saw rock trends transitioning from grunge to alt-country and indie rock. Sometime around the release of their third studio album, 1997’s Home Grown, the name Blue Mountain began popping up in interviews, almost always cited as a major influence for many in the new crop of alt-country artists, most notably Ryan Adams’ then band, Whiskeytown.

“During the 90s we were often tagged as an alternative country band, but to me it’s just Southern rock,” said Hudson. “I think that the Blue Mountain sound is built on the basic foundations of rock n’ roll. Blues. Country. Folk. But with a big beat.”

By the turn of the century Blue Mountain seemed ready to pay closer tribute to their initial roots, namely the sounds of Mississippi hill country blues and folk music. Living within easy driving distance to the clubs and bars legends like R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough often played - not to mention within walking distance of the Fat Possum offices - the band members released what they thought would be their final studio album, the aptly titled Roots, in February of 2001. A month later the band recorded a live album before breaking up and starting new projects.

Back for More

“We were asked to headline a night at TwangFest in St. Louis last spring,” explained Hudson. “After that show we started getting offers to play. It was fun, so we decided to keep going. One of our goals was to write new songs so it wouldn’t feel like a nostalgia show. We wanted to write another chapter in the story.”

While Blue Mountain was on hiatus Hudson kept busy, recording three solo albums - The Phoenix, Cool Breeze and Bittersweet Blues - while playing guitar in Shannon McNally’s band and often playing shows with Andy Friedman, a close friend of Hudson’s who will open for Blue Mountain at the Brass Rail.

Known most prominently for their five studio albums, rumors of Blue Mountain again planning to release new material started hitting the Internet blog circuit two months ago.

“We have been recording since getting back together,” said Hudson. “We recorded an album of new material in Dallas with Stuart Sikes handling production and engineering, and also recorded a bunch of our favorite songs from our back catalog with Andrew Ratliffe in Oxford. We plan to release both records on July 22 on the Broadmoor label in the U.S.”

Their chemistry back on track and their passion seemingly renewed, Hudson seems very happy with where the band is currently at, saying that “Playing with Frank and Laurie is as fun as ever, and it’s exciting to work up new songs.

“We’re doing a lot of the songs off the new record at our shows but we are doing stuff from all our albums because we know our fans want to hear their favorites. We didn’t really have any plans when we started back up and don’t realy have any now other than going out and touring to promote the new records.“

In addition to the upcoming Commorato, Jr. reunion show, Hudson, Stirrat and Coutch plan to keep busy touring in support of their new records. “We have plans to tour the U.S. through the summer and will also be going over to tour Europe this winter.

“We’re not planning to stop, either. We’re mostly just enjoying the ride and not planning the next step right now. We really enjoying playing together again and will keep it up as long as it’s fun.”

Written by G. William Locke