MEET THE DANSETTES!

An Interview With New York's Saviors Of Sixties Soul


"Impressive!"

That was the word that came to mind the first time I caught a live performance by a most unique New York ensemble of top-notch vocalists and musicians, and was the word I immediately said with a grin as my response when, after the last note of the last song, friends asked "So what did you think?"

For this sensational septet had just spent forty minutes convincingly recreating mid-60s Memphis soul on a New York stage in 2005. The backing band had all the finesse and groove of a Stax session rhythm section as if the original 1960s musicians were channeling these young men...and out in front were three young lovely ladies in matching dresses who at the drop of a hat could transform themselves into Etta James, Tina Tuner, or Aretha Franklin, and who, though rather innocent and quiet looking in appearance, took turns proving their ability to pack more power, emotion, heart and...most importantly...soul into a vocal performance than any current Top 40 singers tagged "Diva." Musically this combo mixed covers of personal soul favorites with original compositions that could have passed for genuine artifacts of the era.

They were...The Dansettes! And they were...impressive!

The Dansettes are fronted by the vocal trio of Jennie Wasserman, Jaime Kozyra and newest recruit Leah Fishman (replacing founding member Dawn Carrington.) Supplying the sounds behind them are keyboardist and prime songwriter Jay "J.B." Flatt, bassist Tom Ward, and brothers Dennis and Andy Pierce on guitar and drums respectively.

After a few years of well-received live performances, mostly in the New York area, The Dansettes have recently taken to putting their groove on tape, and the first product of their toil and trouble is their EP *Oh My,* on Hammondbeat Records (www.hammondbeat.com). *Oh My!* presents studio recordings of three staples of their live set, each showcasing one of the three vocalists. The first selection, the dance-friendly (as are most Dansettes songs) title track, finds Jaime declaring gleefully that she's falling in love again. Afterwards, on "Money Tree," Jennie gives a most confident what's-what to her no-good man who first looks at the purse. Finally, Leah's vocal delivery of Baby Washington's "I've Got A Feeling" proves she most certainly has got feeling. Instrumental versions of the first two songs round out the disc for Dansette wanna-bes.

A full-length album is on the way, which hopefully will contain more of their concert favorites, such as "Monkeyshines," "Boomerang" and "Don't Ever Talk," all of which are beat-based enough to make you wanna move, and melodic enough to stay in your head days later.

What makes The Dansettes The Dansettes? Well, who better to ask than...The Dansettes?

________________________________________________________________

Let's start at the beginning and how the group got together: Am I right that you all met in 1966 when you were called to do a session for Etta James? Or did it happen some other way?

Jaime: Yes, you saw us perform with her on that TV show "The !!! Beat" right? Actually, we started sometime later...the summer of 2003 to be exact.

Dennis: Andy and I are brothers so we met that way. Andy and I met Jay off of craigslist, but we didn't start out playing in the Dansettes. Andy and I were playing with a fellow named Tom Merrigan. We put up an ad, and I think Jay liked the influences so he came by to jam with us. He was on bass and Tom was on Rhodes piano. Jay was by far the best bass player we played with and we had fun playing together. We never gigged out and then Jay got wrapped up with other projects, one of which was putting together the Dansettes. A few weeks later he got in touch with me to play guitar in that. Initially, Andy wasn't in The Dansettes (Tom and him formed a band called The New Rags).

Jennie: One person: Dawn Carrington.

Jaime: Dawn Carrington, co-founder of the monthly Subway Soul Club event was putting together an all-female DJ line-up for the September event. She really wanted a live performance by a girl group to round out the night, but couldn’t find anything of the sort. So, she approached Jennie and I and asked us if we might be interested in forming a girl group, with the three of us on vocals, for a one-time performance. It sounded like a great idea! We got a band together and rehearsed 3 cover songs - "I’ll Keep Holding On" by the Marvelettes, "Good Good Lovin’" by the Blossoms, and "He’s A Rebel" by the Crystals. The performance went over so well and we had so much fun, we decided to keep doing it. And two and a half years later...here we are.

Jay: Originally it was going to be just the three girls and me playing organ. But I said, "Hell, let's put a whole band together and do this right!" We all started making calls to get some more musicians. In the end it was eight people, because we originally had a violinist!

Dennis: Before our first show, we had only one rehearsal and then played the short set at the Subway Soul night. When I attended that rehearsal, the only person I knew was Jay, but it was really cool because I think everyone got along really well and all the pieces fell right into place. All of this was supposed to be a one-off thing just for Subway Soul. But things went so well we all decided to keep playing together. Eventually we were able to worm Andy into the band on drums.

Tom: I got the call to play bass through Jennie, as I knew her well--but I was unaware of the others as musicians--or at all, in fact--except Jaime, whom I had met around the clubs a couple of years before. Her boyfriend had complimented me on my necktie or something, and we got to talking. Much, much later, she'd begun to spin records at some local spots. She'd moved from a few counties over to NYC proper, and was active in the scene. I'd been tipped off by Nick Rossi (of the Nick Rossi Set) about this heavy DJ chick Jennie Wasserman during her residency at the late, lamented M&R Bar, come to know her some, and had even subbed on a gig during her stint in Trans-Love Airways--so she knew I could play. When she and Jaime were tapped for this one-off girl-group shindig, I was immediately interested in seeing it done as well as could be and in taking part. Little did I suspect how very decent the other players would turn out to be! I'd been waiting since age fifteen to find a guy as predisposed to Steve Cropper-like Telecaster work as Dennis Pierce, and Jay Flatt has a natural charisma, writing, arranging, and keyboard talents--and a house to rehearse in.

What did each of you have previously as far as band/singing experience?

Jennie: I sang in a band before the Dansettes for two years called TransLove Airways, but had never sung in front of an audience before my first gig with TLA. I had a bit of jazz vocal instruction and a few months of vocal technique instruction while in TLA, but that's all as far as my technical experience goes.

Jaime: I’d never been in a band before, but I’d done some singing in school through choir and musical theater productions. In my first year of college I took a few months of opera lessons at a community theater.

Leah: I have no previous singing experience except for high school chorus, this was just on a whim because I liked the Dansettes and I was drunk when Jaime told me they needed a new singer.

Andy: I’ve been involved with music my whole life starting seriously probably around age 10 and I’ve been in various music projects with Den growing up.

Jay: I've been playing music since I was a very little kid. My mom is a piano teacher and started me early. As a teenager I played the bassoon in chamber groups and orchestras and the bass guitar in various doomed rock bands. I started writing songs at about nineteen in Virginia, where I fronted an indie band called Five o'Clock.

Dennis: I've played guitar in various rock bands, but then a few years ago I reached a point where I didn't want to play that style anymore. So I started teaching myself soul guitar, which I'm still learning. Andy and I tried to find some soul style singers to work with before The Dansettes, but nothing really panned out. At best it was sounding like The Detroit Cobras, who I love, but I really enjoy how we take a step back from that volume war and instead use a lot of texture and dynamics. Working with Jaime, Jennie, and Leah has been great because they are all really expressive vocalists.

Tom: I'm the oldest one in the band by far, and so go way back to the old eighties Sixties-influenced music scene in San Diego, California--as well as having spent 1988 in NYC and most of the nineties in San Francisco. I was the bass player with the Gravedigger V on its two records from 1984 (at the age of sixteen), have been with the Nashville Ramblers AKA the Black Diamonds from 1985 forward to even possibly the current day (we were on the bill at the Wild Weekend in Spain in Nov. 2004). I was with the Optic Nerve in 1988, recording an albums-worth of tracks with them the saw light in the nineties, and am working with them again now--an album is pending release. I dig many subgenres of '60s-type stuff, have even played twist material with the Saturn V...wait a minute, even that band covered Stax--"Last Night", by the Mar-Keys. I guess I got close to indie rock with the Davenports 2004 album "Hi-Tech Low-life", but even there I'm using a '62 Fender Precision Bass with flatwound strings, with moments of the James Jamerson thing creeping in.

How did you all get so deep into soul, and what other music do you like besides soul?

Leah: Through delving deeper and deeper into record collecting, and going to various people's DJ nights. Other music i like, country, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, classical, rock and roll, and punk.

Dennis: My mom loves Motown and Doo Wop, with Smokey Robinson being her #1 singer of all time. So those records were always around and that music was ingrained in my head. What led me to get into southern soul was Elvis. He's always been a favorite of mine, but I mostly listened to his 50s stuff. Then while I was in college I got his Memphis recordings from 1969. Those are the ones where he went to Chips Moman's studio to revive his career. Anyway, I was blown away by the band and thought the playing and sound on those recordings was incredible. I started to look up who these American Studio session guys were and then started learning more about all the other great southern soul studios/session players - FAME, Stax, Muscle Shoals, Dixie Flyers, etc.

Jay: I got into the British Invasion thing pretty early on, and I always vaguely appreciated the soul and r&b acts that influenced those bands. But once I discovered Booker T and the MGs I got bit by the bug. From there I got into Stax, the Meters, James Brown, Aretha, and the obscure funk phenomenon. In 1999 I saw Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (then the Soul Providers) for the first time and realized that there is still a very enthusiastic audience for this type of music. It made me want a soul band of my own.

Jennie: I got into soul music seriously via listening to '60s ska and rocksteady. I began to realize that all of these great Jamaican artists, like Alton Ellis, were covering American soul and R&B tunes and I flipped! It wasn't long before I started seeking out the original tunes I'd heard recorded by the Jamaican artists. At the same time I had also started hanging out at a weekly soul night that Matt 'Finewine' did (and still does) at a bar called Botanica downtown. That was a really influential hang for me. It deepened my interest in the music and allowed me to meet a lot of the people on the 'scene' who also loved '60s soul.

Jaime: I always liked soul music while I was growing up. I started getting into it more seriously in college when I started going out to clubs where they were playing the lesser-known stuff. I actually like a lot of different styles of music. Jazz, rhythm & blues, beat, funk, glam, punk, rockabilly, and just straight up rock and roll.

Dennis: As to other music besides soul, anything that is genuine and doesn't sound all processed and corporate. Most of the stuff I like is older, but for new music I like a lot of the artists from Detroit. This response could easily turn into long boring list of bands, so a short list of current non-soul favorites would be Patsy Cline, Buck Owens, Jimmie Rodgers, and Brenda Lee, and Billy Murray.

Andy: I am not really that deep in. My soul knowledge is selective in that it is based around Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and Dusty and Elvis in Memphis...or more specifically the drum work of Gene Chrisman and Roger Hawkins. Mostly I stick to 60’s Pop, especially (and mostly) Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.

Jennie: As for other music, I grew up listening to jazz because my dad was a jazz musician. What blessing that was! I was instilled with this love and appreciation for black American music growing up, so for me, the soul music thing was the logical next step in terms of my musical interests. I really see all varieties of jazz, blues, R&B, Latin, and soul music as being connected and drawing on the same source, so I love it all. My jazz musician father was also a classically trained instrumentalist, as was my mother, who originally came to NYC to be a classical pianist, so I heard a lot of classical music, as well. But my main love, and my first love, was and always will be jazz. In addition, I like to keep track of the indie pop/rock music scene here in the city as well. I keep an eye on who's playing at Pianos, Rothko, The Merc, Southpaw, etc. and who's up-and-coming because I also appreciate good pop tunes accompanied by good lyric writing.

Tom: I like everything from Bert Kaempfert to, I don't know, early Mothers of Invention, but the first 45s I bought as an early teen (when you could still buy them in mainstream record stores like Tower) were "Green Onions" b/w "Chinese Checkers" by Booker T and Aretha's "Think" b/w "I Never Loved A Man (The Way That...)"--and the bass-playing on those singles knocked me out. So thank you, Lewis Steinberg...and Tommy Cogbill? Uh, I should know that for sure, shouldn't I? ANyway, I envied Duck Dunn for having one of the best jobs ever; except it begs the question, where would you have wanted to reside during the Sixties? Memphis? London? L.A.? Nothing much was happening when I was fifteen, but my town happened to have the Crawdaddies--and a little later, the Tell-Tale Hearts and Ugly Things magazine. Soul is just one facet of the Sixties ferment, but if you've got ears, you quickly realize that the Stones are nothing without Irma Thomas. Wait a minute, maybe it all goes back to the T.A.M.I show. I don't know man, it's too big a question!

I've heard The Dansettes described as "like the Commitments without the big guy." How does this sit with you?

Tom: Oof, don't pull any punches! At least they didn't say, "like Mick Jagger and whatsisface covering Bob & Earl"--in other words, that version of "The Harlem Shuffle" from ten years ago, without an ounce of the ineffable about it. Well, I remember seeing the movie when it was new, and I felt the movie had a big heart that was basically in the right place. But you could basically say the same thing about the Blues Brothers, for crying out loud.

Jennie: Hmmm....well, I suppose The Commitments is a logical connection in that the group in that movie was also a bunch of white kids playing black music. For some people, that may be all they have been exposed to in terms of '60s soul, so that's OK. Maybe through our music folks will be interested in checking out the real thing. I hope so, anyway.

Tom: It's just sad that the original thread was so completely lost that these pop-culture travesties of the real thing end up being remembered so well by people to whom Ray Charles might as well be resting (I nearly said "living") in an unmarked grave. One difference between us the bloody Commitments is there's no budget behind us yet--if ever. Oh yeah, and the flatwound strings on the bass!

Jay: Well, we do have southern soul influences and whiteness in common with the Commitments, so I guess that's valid to a point. But it misses something crucial: the Commitments are a straight-up cover band, while the Dansettes are playing new tunes, for the most part. I like to think that gives us a bit of an edge in the relevance department. You don't need to buy the Commitments record to hear "Mustang Sally." Just go get some Wilson Pickett! But if you want to hear "Oh My!" or "Money Tree," you have to get it from us.

Leah: The Commitments had good taste. That's fine with me.

Jaime: Well we definitely have a better fashion sense!

Dennis: I've never seen the movie. I don't watch too many talkies.

The new EP sounds great.

Dennis: Thanks.

Are you all pleased with it?

Jennie: Yeah. It's a good representation of where we were and what we sounded like at the time.

Leah: Yes.

Jaime: I’m really pleased with it.

Jay: Very. I actually can't believe that it came together as nicely as it did. We recorded and mixed the whole thing in one day.

Dennis: I think it came out really well and Jamie, Jennie, and Leah all did great jobs.

What were the sessions like?

Jaime: Very long and very hot. I think we recorded on one of the hottest days of the year!

Jennie: The sessions were fast-paced. We recorded live, with the three girls around one microphone, straight to tape, and mixed in two days, I think. As you know, studio time is expensive.

Dennis: They were a challenge, but still fun and laid back. It was interesting because we went to Daptone Studios and worked with Gabe Roth for the first time. I would consider Gabe and Daptone the peak of current soul music, so to get a chance to work with him was a great opportunity. Gabe is very laid back and has no ego. It was a good environment to record in.

Leah: We did everything in one day, so there weren't "sessions"- there was just one. We recorded everything live, and mixed it that evening, and didn't really have any major problems. A large bottle of Maker's Mark between us three singers, and everything's fine.

Jay: All the tracking was done live, except for the occasional percussion or organ overdub. So you are hearing the sound of people playing together in a room, which is very exciting to me. Since we were short on time and cash, it was a very focused session, and everything was done in just a few takes. But damn if we didn't pull it off! I'm very proud of the singers and the band for that. Gabe Roth at Daptone studios has a great boardside manner and coaxed good performances out of us.

Let's go through the songs one by one, and say anything you want to say about them: "Oh My."

Leah: Probably what would be deemed our "hit single" (hahaha) - the most accessible track on the record, and will be released soon on limited edition 45 (with the instrumental as the B side.)

Dennis: Very fun song to play. I guess this song to me is kind of where I feel "at home" playing. I love this southern soul type groove and I love how Jaime digs in on vocals.

Jay: I think this was the first song I wrote with a particular Dansette's voice in mind, and Jaime really sings the hell out of that sucker! Andy, Tom, and Dennis lay down an absolutely perfect groove - just the sound I was imagining, but I didn't have to explain it to them. They just know.

"Money Tree."

Jay: This song just wrote itself one day while I was cleaning my kitchen.

Dennis: Another great vocal. Where "Oh My" is our dance track, I think this one is our classy, entertaining at home song.

Jennie: Jay wrote this tune with me in mind.

Jay: I couldn't wait to hear Jennie sing it, because I knew she would really get into character and she really does. Check out the third verse when she says "When you BEG for a reunion." Rowr!

Jennie: I love singing it. It has a bit of a jazz feel, so it allows me to touch on some of my musical background.

Jay: Dennis came up with a brilliant guitar part that always grabs my ear.

Leah: This is my favorite Dansettes song, although we re-worked it drastically for our upcoming album.

"I've Got A Feeling"

Jay: We modeled this very closely after the Baby Washington version, which was no easy feat. It took a lot of practice to figure out the groove.

Leah: One of my favorite soul songs, this is the song I picked to audition for the Dansettes...

Jay: I can see why.

Leah:...and it then became a regular in our set.

Jennie: We liked it so much we included it in our set.

Dennis: After hearing her sing it I was like "Yep, she should be in." Another great vocal performance.

Jay: It's perfect for her range and she really captures this heavy feeling of dread. I think the version on the EP is take one, actually!

Obviously The Dansettes are especially 1960s minded. What special steps do you take in the studio to help ensure the vintage vibe?

Tom: A real Hammond organ with a Leslie speaker didn't hurt--and did I mention the flatwound strings on the bass? We borrowed a Wurlitzer electric piano because the one Jay owns keeps being beastly to him. The borrowed one became something of a talisman. We love working with Gabe Roth, but I also have dreams of recording with my old friend Mark Neill in California, and with Liam Watson in London, whom I recorded with once with the Saturn V back in '98. All three of these guys really know how to get "the sound"--yet in each case, it's a different sound.

Dennis: I think that 60s music has a sound that is lacking today. On one hand you think there's some kind of simple magic to it all. Like there’s some amp or piece of equipment that will make it all sound good. And I guess you see that with huge prices for vintage stuff. Going to record at Daptone, you think you'll get a peek behind the curtain and you'll see Gabe turning some knob to give us the "60s soul" sound. But of course it's not like that. And I'm not taking anything away from Gabe because he sets you up in an environment to get a good sound, and his attitude in the studio is great. I like vintage equipment, but I think the more important step to nail the 60s sound is practicing as a group and being smart musicians. To me the 60s vibe is about making the songs sound good by putting in time in the rehearsal room and on stage. When you record, you let things happen together rather than isolating every instrument and scrubbing the hell out of the recording until it sounds like it was recorded in an airless vacuum. I'm proud to say that the EP shows us how we are with no tricks or gimmicks. The girls sang that stuff live with us playing behind them. There were no computers or plugins used to polish up those tracks. Of course after recording like that, I have even greater respect for the quality of work that Gabe's bands and all of those 60s soul artists have released. It’s hard to nail a take with 7 different musicians doing there thing at once, but you have to aspire to something.

Leah: We record live and on tape, rather than digitally, to help keep things as real and authentic as possible and preserve the feeling of excitement in the studio.

When can we look forward to a full length Dansettes release?

Leah: We're working on it.

Jay: Well, the recordings for a full length are already in the can. We went back to Daptone in October to do more tracks with Gabe.

Jennie: The album is in the can. We're hoping to release it in the spring or early summer.

Dennis: We're planning for a release in the Summer of 2006. The tracks are recorded but we still have some other steps to complete (mastering, design, etc.)

Jay: I'd love to see an LP come out by summer for sure.

Any thoughts about taking The Dansettes' show on the road?

Jennie: Absolutely. We're very interested in going to England. We think there would be a real interest in what we do there. We'd also like to get out to play the West Coast sometime soon.

Jay: I'd love to do some more out-of-town shows. The expense of transporting a seven-piece is significant though. We get lots of gig offers in Europe, but so far no one can pay for us to get over there.

Jennie: We've already had offers to play in Italy, Germany, and Belgium, but we're waiting for the right offer to come our way before we go overseas.

Leah: As soon as someone wants to pay us to take The Dansettes show on the road.

Jaime: We’d love to, but it’s tough to get the financing to actually make this happen. It’s also difficult to coordinate the schedules of seven people who have full-time jobs.

Dennis: If we can get something where we'd have a lot of those costs covered, we'd be up for it. We've tried to focus our traveling on areas that are manageable.

Jaime: So far, we’ve played shows in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Delaware.

Dennis: Philadelphia is easy for us to get to so we've had some good shows down there.

Jaime: This spring we’re hoping to play Boston and Providence, and this summer we’ll be doing a show in Montreal.

Jennie: A scooter rally in Montreal in July..

Leah, you're the newbie. Was it rough catching up with the others?

Leah: Not really. When I first started out, there were no solo songs for me to sing (except "I've Got A Feeling," which I already knew), so it was just a matter of learning backup for the songs, which is pretty easy. I think I had my first practice with the band in the beginning of January 2005, and our first show was the first weekend of February, so I had about a month to learn about ten songs. A little stressful, but not too bad!

You recently did a live radio spot on WFMU for Terre T's 'Cherry Blossom Clinic.' (http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/17641) How did that go? How different was it from doing a live concert?

Jennie: The live set on Terre's show was a lot of fun. It was very different than playing for a live audience though, since, especially as a vocalist, I try to sing to the crowd or a particular member of the audience. When that's not there it's a little more challenging to get a song across. You encounter this same thing when in the recording studio, which is why I'm always so blown away by great studio recordings. It's a challenge to capture the energy you have in a live performance while in a studio setting. From the audience's standpoint, they don't have the pleasure of seeing us react to one another while we play, nor can they see what we're wearing, or our synchronized dance moves; so they are missing a vital part of our performance by just hearing us on the radio. Nevertheless, we hope it was good exposure for the group and that it will tempt folks to come to our live shows to get the full Dansettes experience.

Jay: Terre T rocks. It was totally inspiring to play for her because she is so upbeat about the Dansettes. Her show is basically a punk rock show, but I like the fact that we still fit into her world somehow. We got some great responses from her audience too, which I guess says something about the universal appeal of soul music. Or something. Our website has a link to recordings of the show, which sound pretty damn good actually.

Who picks your cover tunes?

Leah: Jay, for the most part.

Jaime: We all do. Usually someone will bring a cover tune to rehearsal and then we all decide if it’s something we want to do.

Jay: I remember picking the Eddie Bo tune "Hip Drop," which is a staple of our live show.

Jennie: It's sort of a collaborative effort. If there's a song that particularly speaks to one of us, we'll suggest it to the group. If we all like it, we do it!

Jennie, Jaime, Leah...do you have any particular role models for your singing?

Jennie: Yes, absolutely! My vocal role models, starting from my adolescence, are, first, Ella Fitzgerald for her general musicality, diction, and sense of effortlessness that she brings to a tune. I love Nancy Wilson for her unmistakable vocal timbre and her versatility. In my opinion, she is a true crossover artist. She can sing anything. Plus, I so admire how she never shies away from breaking the rules if it means singing a song the way she wants to sing it. That is to say, she always puts her own stamp on each song she sings. Finally, there's Dusty, for her unique sound and truly emotive gift. Her instrument is incredible -- she can shout with the best of them -- but she also has an arresting touch of vulnerability in her voice, and in her approach to a tune. You always have the sense that she's singing about her own experience, because she emphasizes the lyric as much as the melody to get a song over. That is a quality that really resonates with me as a singer.

Leah: There's not really one person, more of certain styles of singing, mostly the gritty sound of Southern Soul and the New Orleans sound...drawing especially on the singers whose songs I sing, ie Mary Jane Hooper and Baby Washington.

Jaime: I’m definitely influenced by Etta James, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Betty Harris, The Ikettes.

Okay, here's where we have fun: Jennie, describe Jaime.

Jennie: Jaime is a kitten with a lion's roar. Underneath that sweet, unassuming exterior, she's all business. Don't mess with Jaime.

Jaime, describe Leah.

Jaime: Leah loves kittens, gin, and having fun!!!

Leah, describe Jennie.

Leah: Uh, I dunno...I guess I'd have to say Jennie's one mean mamma cleverly disguised in a candy coated shell.

For each of you, what's been the best moment so far of being a Dansette?

Jennie: That's hard because there are so many great moments with this group, but it would probably the day we received the shipment of our EP in the mail. It was so fulfilling to see our work materialize in a tangible way.

Leah: I don't know about "best", but the most hilarious and weirdest thing is when people ask for autographs.

Jaime: I really like playing shows, so for me the best moments are those really high energy shows where we’re having fun and the crowd is having fun. I love to see people in the audience really getting into it, smiling, dancing, and having a good time.

Jay: Every time a new song comes together in practice, it's like Christmas morning for me. And I've had several moments on stage where I'll look at the girls swaying in their matching dresses, the guys in their suits and ties, and a bunch of smiling folks in the audience, and I think, "Man, we are putting on one hell of a show up here!" That's when I get the goose bumps.

Jay, Tom, Andy, Dennis...In addition to providing the backing for The Dansettes, you also play shows as The Bourbon Dynasty. Tell us about The Bourbon Dynasty.

Jay: The Bourbon Dynasty is our alter ego when we perform without the girls. We usually do several instrumentals, some covers, some originals. Tom and I usually sing a couple of tunes. For a while we played a monthly show at Magnetic Field for Jennie's DJ night there.

Dennis: The Bourbon Dynasty is our attempt to re-capture some of the magic of those great 60s studio/backing bands, with Booker T and the MGs as the most obvious model. I think The Bourbon Dynasty should have a sound (which I don't know if we do or not), but at the same time let the vocalists shine. We're not there to upstage them, but at the same time we want to give them a unique backing sound. We'll have a chance to branch out a little bit in February when we'll back The Mighty Hannibal.

What other musical projects are you all currently involved with? And many of you not only play/sing 1960s soul but DJ regularly as well, don't you?

Jennie: I have been DJing for seven or eight years in various clubs around the city and at private parties etc. Currently, I have a monthly night in Brooklyn at Magnetic Field on the 4th Saturday of the month. I generally spin '50 and '60s jazz, blues, R&B, Latin, boogaloo, and rocksteady, all on vinyl. The format of the night is fun because I chose a different band to play each month that I feel complements the kind of music I spin, or vice-versa, if you will. Typically, a band will play a set or two and I spin before after and in between sets. I often invite DJ friends to do guest spots, as well.

Jaime: I’m still DJing, but not regularly at the moment. Leah and I used to do a monthly party with Layla ‘peppermintwist’ Lozano and Cassandra ‘Bossyboots’ Holbrook called The Debutantes Ball, but we recently put the night on hiatus because our schedules were too hectic! So, I spin here and there every couple of months, when I can.

Jennie: Jaime and I also DJ together under the moniker of "The Soul Sisters" here and there. Our next appearance together will be at the Reaction Weekender in February. And following that we'll be doing a repeat performance this year at MODChicago in June.

Leah: And I'm just a wandering DJ, going wherever I'm called to.

Andy: I am in a band called The New Rags, a pop-rock-ragtime duo. Our EP is currently out on Silent Stereo Records.

Dennis: I play guitar with some various other musicians. I have an analog studio in my house so I've worked with some friends to help them record their music. Nothing as permanent as The Dansettes, which is my main band. But I like to support anyone who tries to keep those pre-digital music philosophies alive.

Jay: I play bass and sing backing vocals in a female-fronted indiepop band called Charming. We play in New York a couple of times a year and are putting out our third album, hopefully soon.

Future plans for The Dansettes?

Jaime: Touring, an album...

Leah: Action figures.

Jaime: ...action figures, Saturday morning cartoon.

Jay: We haven't put out the first album yet, and I'm already excited to start working on the second one.

Jennie: I feel comfortable letting what is meant to happen happen. We've achieved more than any of us could have imagined when we formed the group, and things seem to be going in the right direction with little intrusion or effort on our part to make things happen. That is to say, that we've been incredibly lucky in that what we're doing seems to resonate with people now. We often talk in the group about why that is, but can't explain it. Nevertheless, we're happy to be playing this music that we all love, and to offer it to a public that is appreciative.

Dennis: I love playing this type of music and it's been great working with everyone in the band. My future plans would be to keep playing and hopefully people keep enjoying what they hear and see from us. Soul music deserves to have more artists explore it. There’s still more to be said in this genre.

Thanks, Dansettes. Here's wishing a very enjoyable and successful 2006 and beyond for the group.

________________________________________________________________

Vist The Dansettes' web site at www.thedansettes.com for information about personal appearances and releases.

Their Oh My! EP can be purchased through Hammondbeat Records at www.hammondbeat.com

____________________________________________________________

To reach any other page contained in this month's update on Fufkin.com, read the home page for the appropriate link and click on it. You can also search the site from any page using the search box located at the top of each page. Merely type in the word, phrase, name of the band, recording, name of the Fufkin writer that you are looking for or Whatever in the search box, and then click on "Search". If you would like to e-mail us, go to the About Us page for a list of e-mail addresses.

Go back to the home page by clicking here

________________________________________________________________