Memphis is certainly no stranger to music. Bands attempting tofind their feet instead find a horde of competition and come torealize that building a fan base is hard work because there is somuch live music from which to choose.
Stout is a good example of a band with aspirations to be aviable force on the Memphis music scene. The five-man band doesn'tkeep day jobs in their all-or-nothing venture.
"Essentially, playing music is a gift," said drummer RobertKamm, not referring to talent, but to the idea of getting to playmusic for a living. "It's not selling real estate or some otherkind of day job.
Although four of Stout's members have been together since 2002,percussionist Tony Walsh, joined guitarist and vocalist MattOliver, keyboardist and vocalist Craig Schuster, bassist RoryGardner and Kamm to form Stout. Initially, they played togetheroutside on Beale Street, putting together set lists.
"We figured out what works and what doesn't," said Schuster.
Outside time working out the kinks, the band has traveledconstantly on what Schuster called their "now and forever tour." Inroughly six months, the band has played nearly 150 gigs.
"Memphis is a great place to come from for music," saidSchuster, "but to make it in Memphis you really have to leaveMemphis."
The band travels to build a steady fan base and to make a livingand escape day jobs. Another avenue of their successful touring isplaying at a style and tempo to keep in tune with the mood of thecrowd. Most of their set lists are original music written by Oliverand Schuster. Yet, Schuster described their typical show asstarting with a light, uplifting sound and moving to hardcorerock.
"It's like moving from Paul Simon to Black Sabbath," hesaid.
Kamm agreed that Memphis is not an easy town to make it in. Itrequires a narrow focus instead of "spreading your wings," he said.An early fan base and connections are important as well. Many ofthe heavy hitters in Memphis have had a fan base since high school,he said. Yet the band keeps a positive outlook on the Memphisscene.
"If you play good music, you'll find a place," he said, "andMemphis loves live music."
Kamm also coined the name Stout. The name has worked well forthe band, but there's no real special reason for it. Membersdecided it would be a cool name to hear on the radio.
"It's just an adjective I use often in my vocabulary," hesaid.
The band's lyrics are what they feel sets them apart.
"We're often labeled a 'jam band,' but a lot of times we'renot," Schuster said. "We play just about every type of music thereis."
Rory compared their music to a maze and said their music is like"math rock because there's an equation for where the song is goingto go." Every day listeners don't necessarily comprehend where theband is going at first, he said.
"We can go from funky to tear your head off," he said. "Ourmusic is not just three chords and a cloud of dust."
The band released its debut CD, On The Rocks, produced by theband with the help of Willie Pevear from Young Avenue Sound. Thesongs are about everything from racial tension to what they label"Aesopian fables" to people the band has met while touring. Theband members tend to agree that they would like to spend more timein the studio.
They certainly don't lack material. Forty new songs have beenwritten since their CD was released, said Schuster. On the road somuch, the band eats up a lot of energy, whereas the studio allows agreater level of focus, said Kamm.
"If we had the ability and the position, we'd love to get intothe studio," he said. For now, the demands of keeping their headsabove water keep them on the road.
"We're doing a 20 show minimum a month," Kamm said.
Stout opens for Jazz Mandolin Project Friday, April 30, at theNew Daisy Theatre launching Memphis in May. For more Information onthe music and touring, go to www.stoutband.com.
