The Tim Herron Corporation tears down musical pigeonholing with The Ameribeat Sessions DVD
Most people don’t know the term “Ameribeat.” It’s not used on CD divider signs at record shops nor on iTunes as a genius category. But for the local musicians who employ it during the documentary-style DVD The Ameribeat Sessions: Volume 1 (Musically Delicious Productions), the name just seems to fit. Those musicmakers on the DVD include members of the Tim Herron Corporation—Herron (guitar, vocals), Eric McElveen (bass, vocals), David Salce (drums) and Patrick Strain (guitar, pedal steel, vocals)—plus saxophonist Jesse Collins.
Ameribeat was coined by McElveen, producer and promoter of the Sterling Stage Kampitheater, where an Ameribeat Festival is held each summer. He defines the term in the DVD as “taking a holistic approach to all the different influences of American musical culture rather than focusing on specific subgenres.” In other words, nothing is off-limits. The idea is in the same vein as that of the Grateful Dead, who took reggae, rock, folk, blues, bluegrass and jazz improvisation in new directions.
So, the Tim Herron Corporation took a step back toward the Dead and created their own mix. “Anything can be thrown in,” McElveen says. “But it’s got to fit with the stew. It’s a recipe that is meant to play for the party.”
The result? Four songs presented as a film rather than a traditional album or single release, with jumps from funky to psychedelic, twangy to clear, all captured in the most casual way possible—in a Baldwinsville barn on a Flip Cam.
“A guy was supposed to film, but he bailed on us that day,” Herron says in a phone interview. “I happened to have a little Flip Cam, so we recorded on that. {Barn owner} Eric Misenko was like, ‘I’ll do it!’ He didn’t even know how it worked! He said it was the hardest thing to keep it steady and he didn’t know he could stop it, so he just recorded straight through. And we liked how he did it so much, we kept it.”
Misenko captures the free-form jam from angles any music fan could appreciate. Rather than stand back for stationary images, he weaves around the musicians, focusing on fingers as they pick or catching shots from behind the drum kit. It’s shaky at times, but considering the substandard equipment and the lack of preparation given the circumstances, the video captures the relaxed feel of the session. Viewers may feel like they’re sitting in the barn beside the jammers; near the PBR cans, barn beams, an old red bicycle and various chickens.
The project, like the idea of Ameribeat music itself, came together organically. Herron and McElveen wanted to record a live performance, such as a party gig, but they instead decided on the barn, owned by friends Misenko and his wife Kimmy Connor-Misenko. So they set it up like a studio and Flip Cammed the tracks last August. It wasn’t until later that the film took its documentary-like shape. “It was an interesting experiment,” Herron concludes.
The film opens with a shot of McElveen sitting slightly in front of Herron, who is lounging in a brown recliner, as an abstract painting hangs above. It’s not a studio or the barn where they recorded the performance. They’re hanging out at Herron’s residence, drinking beers.
“I had a party at my house and we had no idea Eric’s wife {Megan Dolbee-McElveen} was gonna turn it into a Bob Costas thing on us,” Herron says with a laugh. “She just grabbed the camera and said, ‘Let’s go.’ At one point I tell the people in the kitchen to shut up.”
In most situations, these circumstances probably wouldn’t fly. But mix together the laid-back attitude, the experimental vibe of the music and the barn setting, and it all seems to gel neatly for The Ameribeat Sessions.
The DVD offers the musicians’ casual discussions of record companies limiting genre titles, the ways that Americana ignores the rhythmic aspects of American music and how much better the barn was than a traditional recording studio. And there are those four songs, starting with “Tolerance,” which is Herron’s answer to John Lennon’s “love is all you need” idea. “That’s hard to do,” Herron says. “Love is a lot to ask. Just tolerate each other. `Love is all you need’ is great, but let’s try this for now.”
The song builds to a groove, led by Herron, then joined by hi-hat, drums, guitar and bass as each player in the circle joins the Ameribeat mix. Collins’ precise, yet natural, sax noodles come later in the song, and act as the solidifying glue, the wild-card element that truly breaks open the Ameribeat genre. The jazz vibe is strong as the musicians circle around soloing, but the base-rocking jam of the tune is never lost in the mix. And in the way it’s presented, it’s not only fun to hear, but fun to watch.
“Nine” addresses Herron’s view of American’s pill dependency as he sings, “Mikey take a pill and make everything OK/ ‘Cuz their mamma took pills to make everything OK.” “We Want Ameribeat” directly talks about a genre that can make people sing, dance, fall in love, change the world and more.
And in the priceless introduction for “To All the Young Boys,” Dolbee-McElveen inquires whether the lyrics are meant to impart some kind of wisdom, as Herron sings, “Young boys I am on your side/ I am here to tell you quit passing up good women for a good time.” Herron quickly replies, “Of course! Not that they’ll listen. But that would imply that we’re old men…”
To see The Ameribeat Sessions: Volume 1, visit
timherroncorporation.com. Hard DVD copies are also available online at
timherroncorporation.com or at all THC shows. Donations are accepted.
