Southern improv at its finest

Since 1986, Dennis Palmer and Bob Stagner have stood at the center of Chattanooga’s free improvisational music ensemble, Shaking Ray Levis. Utilizing an arsenal of synthesizers, samplers, percussions and cartoonish storytelling, the group has stirred a dense and distinctively Southern blend of experimental sounds. No two Shaking Ray shows ever unfold in the same manner.

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Over the years, SRL has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists, including the late British guitarist Derek Bailey, New Yorker John Zorn and folk eccentric Eugene Chadbourne. Guitars have long been the wild card in the SRL equation, making each pairing with new artists a trek into unknown sonic terrain. “Folks tend to think of Shaking Ray Levis only as a duo, which ain’t the complete picture,” says Palmer.

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He calls the group’s approach “ol’-timey avant-garde,” which serves as more than just a convenient sound bite, but a working method for all the musicians to come together in the moment and forge the crutches of repetition, musical structures and grooves. “It is truly a spontaneous collective experience created through thinking, feeling and willing, therefore trust and cooperation among players is important,” Palmer says. “It takes a certain kind of courage and honesty to pull this off, which is why I call it ‘pure improvising.’ It’s friendly and ridiculous, too!”

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It’s the ridiculous qualities that set Shaking Ray Levis apart from the stuffy tendencies of improvised music. Throughout the group’s 1997 offering, Boss Witch, or the more recent Live at Lamar’s, truncated rhythms embrace improv aesthetics. That mind-set especially resonates in the 1992 release False Prophets or Dang Good Guessers (Incus). In the opening cut, “The Popcorn Gomer,” Stagner asks, “What kind of music are we are going to play?” Palmer responds, “I don’t know, Bobby, but I think we’re going to be famous!”

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This punk comedy dialogue is somewhat of a big bang for Shaking Ray’s absurdist humor. “That was poking fun at the idea that some folks I’ve run into from time to time actually believed that they were going to get rich and famous playing the precious improv,” Palmer explains.

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Making fun of the group’s Southern heritage is equally rich fodder for self-parody. On stage, Palmer is prone to erupt into the voice of a Southern preacher, rambling on about hellfire and improvisation.

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Recently, Shaking Ray Levis have performed as a trio with Athens-based composer/performer Erik Hinds, who presents a particularly challenging new angle for the group. Born and raised in New Jersey, his musical background is rooted in East Coast hardcore and heavy metal of the late ’80s. Hinds spent his formative years seeing Metallica play when bassist Cliff Burton was still alive, and covering Judas Priest songs with his early “fantasy metal” bands.

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These days, Hinds spends his time forging an abstract blend of primitive folk, metal and sacred music from around the world with the H’arpeggione, a one-of-a-kind 18-stringed upright acoustic instrument that he affectionately calls “the devil cello.” Built for Hinds by California luthier Fred Carlson, the H’arpeggione uses “sympathetic” resonating strings similar to those found on a sitar that create an ethereal and dark cluster of sound.

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Hinds refers to the body of work he has created with the instrument as “Appalachian trance metal.” His most definitive offering is an ode to Slayer’s ‘86 death metal opus, Reign in Blood (Solponticello), in which he covers select numbers from the album with stripped-down malevolence.

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This blend of metal and experimental influences sounds a bit absurd in its own right, which is precisely what makes Hinds a perfect SRL collaborator. “I’m relatively lighthearted on one hand, but also very serious on the other,” says Hinds. “I think that Dennis and Bob fall in the same category. They know how to have fun and realize that this music isn’t supposed to be a drag. I don’t have a funny bone like Dennis, but I look at the absurd side of things. Improvised music is absurd, but so is Britney Spears. The whole human endeavor is ridiculous and we relate on that level.”

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These aren’t exactly complementary résumés but despite their differences, Hinds and Shaking Ray Levis share an impeccable chemistry that upholds the traditions of the group’s collaborative essence. “We all get along dang well in the most ‘wretched-like’ ever-loving, severely heartfelt sonic way,” Palmer adds. “And we all don’t go to the same church, either!”