As previously mentioned, the Ball of Wax 24 release show this Wednesday at the Sunset features five artists (myself included) who date back to the first year of Ball of Wax. And that is true, although all five names might not be familiar to BoW diehards. I thought I’d take this opportunity to give you a little background.Our own Louis O’Callaghan has, until very recently, performed and recorded as The Graze (heard on volumes 2, 4, 6, and many more, up through 22). Apparently he’s been harboring some negative feelings about this band name for quite some time (maybe he’s sick of being mistaken for these guys – and/or an alien enthusiast), and recently, after several years and two albums as The Graze, he decided to pull the trigger on a new band name. Starting with Ball of Wax Volume 24 (the CD and the show), what once was The Graze will now be known as . . . Sun Tunnels! Based on that name, you might think the new project was going to involve lots of fuzzy guitars and delay pedals, but from the (wonderful) song he submitted for Volume 24, it’s still very Graze-y, which is a great thing as far as I’m concerned.
For years, whenever Casey Alexander (who was a key member of Wesafari, recorded two of my three albums, and played in various forms of my own band from time to time) released a solo song or played a solo show – which was all too rare of an occurrence – he did so under the name Troubleshooting (heard on volumes 1, 4, and 15). When he sent me his new song for Ball of Wax 24, he was hemming and hawing about how to bill it, apparently feeling he’d outgrown his previous moniker. He ended up deciding just to go as Casey Alexander, so that’s what we’re calling him from here on out. Until he comes up with something else, I guess. I won’t go so far as to say that the Casey Alexander material is going to be essentially different from the Troubleshooting stuff – I do hope he includes his old songs whenever he gets around to releasing an album – but there is something different about his song “The Best Thing You Can Give,” the first to be released under his given name. It’s a little more breezy, folky, porch-stompy than some of his previous work, but it’s still Casey, and still excellent.
So, to recap: The Graze is now Sun Tunnels. Troubleshooting is now Casey Alexander. Make a note of it, and come out to the Sunset on Wednesday to see them both.
Solo artists, let this be a lesson to you: There’s no shame in just performing under your own name (unless it’s Glenn Beck or something, I guess). I know Iron & Wine and Bright Eyes are super cool, but you never know when you might grow out of a band name, however awesome it might sound at the time. Then you change and you’re stuck with stacks of CDs and t-shirts with the wrong name on them. For better or worse, you’ll always have your given name; even when I’m trying to sell copies of my first few albums in the retirement home, at least the name on them will still be me.