The world was bleeding. Profusely. And it looked as though this well-meaning country was about to dodge a hollow-point bullet aimed for our collective soul. Then we didn’t. Shellshocked, we stumbled about the debris of a shattered psyche, wandering through the stunned silence like the unblinking walking dead. With the realization that the darkness was looming over us like the immense, growing shadow of a fork-tongued flying demon, we retreated. And in the case of Fernando Viciconte and his long-time musical cohort Luther Russell, entered Luther’s four-track shack, dubbed the “Mirage Garage”, to see what could come from the ashes of nothing. Co-written and recorded in the space of a week, Traitors Table is their massive missive, a record aimed at a very wary world tired of the division, hate and cynical snipping at the golden circuitry that once made us hope for the future. Luther and Fernando tried to turn their despondence into a daydream, coming up with a feeling of understanding for the right, the left and the left-outside-in-the-rain. In the extremely personal “I Don’t Know”, Fernando wails about coming to the U.S. as an immigrant child and how—after growing up identifying as a proud American—he felt the acute, nauseating fear of being sent back to a country he never really knew. This is the trauma the DACA kids face, and we all face with them. “Hey Darlene” tells the story of a small-town couple from a one-and-a-half-horse town who feel shut out of the American dream, but like many among us, also feel it’s just within reach. So they vote against their own self-interest for those worm-tongued, two-faced chameleons who say what they so desperately want to hear. “The Company”, a bouncy, impassioned plea to the so-called “millenial” generation to not shoot down bold ideas in the name of political-correctness, is in Viciconte’s words: “about the concept that even though we are more connected via technology, we are more isolated and divided than ever.” In the final track on the record, “Turned Away”, a stark acoustic guitar announces the beat-up story of a soul that was judged before he was born, a man whose very spirit was shot—execution-style— simply because of how and where he was born. Perpetually shunned, he finally snaps, the whirlwind of pain swirling with slashing, thrashing guitars, snarling and howling in writhing agony. As the final note of feedback dies, everyone dies, and what’s broken remains broken, repair seeming ever out of reach. Traitors Table tells a multi-faceted tale of an unspeakable, palpable shadow that rests laden across our souls and heavy on our hearts. Luther and Fernando began their musical collaboration twenty years ago with a reminiscence of days gone by called Pacoima. They now file this new chapter as an angry warning about an wobbbly, uncertain future. Pre-Order and preview single “I Don’t Know” at Fluff & Gravy Records.
My pal and legendary songwriter Dan Stuart ( Green on Red) asked me about my thoughts on the current DACA situation and my history and experiences as an undocumented immigrant in the US. Read it here http://marlowebillings.com/musings/
Big thanks to the Willamette Week and to Matthew Singer(music editor) for our show preview and for exposing that I once used to snort cocaine off of public bathroom toilets ha! I guess there goes my political career!
Fernando appeared on KGW channel 8 to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Widows and to promote his upcoming reunion with the Widow’s era band and their first time performing together in nineteen years. Release party for remastered vinyl is this Friday Nov 10th at The Star Theater. Watch Here
20 years ago, the original Widows Band consisting of Joe Chiusano, Marilee Hord, Clayton Jones, Dan Eccles and I broke down outside of Bakersfield on our way to open up for Lee Rocker from the Stray Cats (sadly, a total asshole!) at Jack’s Sugar Shack in Los Angeles and thanks to Loren Leed and Joe Chuisano, the memories of this fateful trip have been preserved for posterity and your viewing pleasure.
This band will be reuniting for the first time in 19 years to celebrate the 20th Year Anniversary of Widows at The Star Theater on November 10th and the band will be performing the entire record in sequence. Our good friends The Old Joe Clarks and Little Sue will be performing as well!
Domingo Records will be selling the first ever pressing of this record on vinyl at the show as well!
Fernando’s video for the song Save Me was selected as Staff pick of the Day by Vimeo. The video was produced by Oriol Puig and Trizz out of Barcelona, Spain. Check it out here https://vimeo.com/172585260
Larry Crane, famed producer ( Elliott Smith, Sleater Kinney), Editor of Tape Op Magazine and owner of Portland’s legendary Jackpot Studio recently celebrated Jackpot’s 30 year Anniversary. The Portland Mercury reported that “One of Crane’s favorite albums cut at Jackpot! is Fernando Viciconte’s extremely underrated Old Man Motel—a power-pop pièce de résistance ripe for rediscovery.” Read Entire Article Here
Fernando’s entire Domingo Records catalog which includes Season in Hell (1996), Widows (1997), Pacoima (1998), Old Man Motel (1999), Dreams of the Sun and Sky (2001), Enter to Exit (2006), True Instigator ( 2011), The Dogs 7″ (2015) are now available via Bandcamp! All proceeds go directly to the band, so we encourage all of you to support this page because funds raised will go directly to fund the recording of Fernando’s forthcoming 2017 release. (more…)
