Five By Nine - Nineties ATL Hardcore Recognized

Here is the download: Five By Nine - Almost Complete Discography

So here is everything I have by Five By Nine, a band from the mid-Nineties Atlanta hardcore/Somber Reptile hardcore scene. The "Discography" posted here includes the Recognize album from 1996, the 7" on Soda Jerk Records and the It's Groovy first 7". Brad Castlen tells me that there are some songs missing from this collection, but this is everything I have at the moment and if I receive any more files I will add them to the list. I remember them playing on several shows I attended, but the only member of the band I know is Cade Lewis (Venosity, Myssouri, Chocolate Kiss, Jackson County Line), who I played in a band with for two years but for some reason we never caught up on his Five By Nine days. According to him, he was the replacement bassplayer for Jason Gagnon and Nikki Kimber (also from Venosity) was the replacement drummer for Jay Nault. So you have the Venosity rhythm section in this band, although I'm pretty sure they were not on the CD, but nonetheless the instrumentation and performances are very good for the time. The core team of Robbie Williams on guitar and Steve Dalton remained throughout the band, so hopefully they can provide some more backstory on the life and times of Five By Nine. Enjoy a slice of Atlanta HC from Marietta St. circa 1995-1997.

Update: Jay Nault (original drummer) sent me the attached message, which fills in some blanks: "Robbie Williams and I started playing together in high school in a band called Third Rail and formed Five By Nine with Jason Gagnon around 92-93. I think it was in 93-94 when we got Steve Dalton as singer. Sometime in 96 we brought in Cade Lewis to replace Jason Gagnon on Bass. And I left the band sometime in early 98 to follow my career.

The band was signed by OneFoot Records in 96 who released the Recognize album. The best songs by far were recorded after Recognize, but were never released. These 9 songs are included in the discography you posted though. 5 of the songs I played on and the other 4 (the first 4 on the list) were Nikki Kimber. Cade Lewis played on all 9 of the unreleased songs. You have the majority of the songs listed, but I can name a couple you don't have. They are Crackdown, Friends, Let Go and Blue Hat. There are more but they were from when we first formed and I can't even remember because we stopped playing them."

I remember the band Third Rail when I was playing in the Midget Farmers around that time, but we never met or played a show together as far as I can remember. So thanks to Jay for the info, and I'm glad we were able to get more of the story.

 The Recognize CD on One Foot Records

 The 7" on Soda Jerk Records

The First 7" - I dig it.

Corndogorama 2012

This Sunday will mark the seventh year I have played Corndogorama - really an institution in Atlanta Summer festivals and I really want to thank Dave Railey for bringing it back. What is really great about Corndogorama and sets it apart from the other festivals is that it really has the feeling that one guy is behind it, who loves the experience and really does his best to make it an informal and fun experience. So many festivals out there feel so detached from the music and excitement that should be in the air at these events, more like an outdoor shopping mall with some bands playing in a tent at the end of the street. So I'm glad Dave is back, bringing the depravity and absurdity that is Corndogorama, which has always been one of the most memorable events of the Summer.

I believe this year the bands will play inside the EARL, which I think is the best scenario since the heat and rain variables are taken out of the equation, the sound will be great, and it will be a perfect environment to enjoy both the music and insanity that surrounds this event.

Here is an old post I did of past Corndogoramas, and I'm still looking for scans of all the lineups of every year if someone can send them to me. Some bands that I have noted related to posts on this blog are of course Skin Jobs featuring Rick Moore of Barrel, Rebar, Galanas:Cerdd, Copa Vance, Home of the Wildcats, The Wayne Williams, Lay Down Mains, and several others I am forgetting, Mysourri who did include Cade Lewis from Chocolate Kiss on bass, but I'm not sure if he will be playing in this lineup, The Meeks Family featuring Brooks Meeks from The Close, and of course Noot d' Noot with many connections to this blog. So in total I have played Corndogorama 4 in 1999 (with Chocolate Kiss), Corndog 5 in 2000 (with Chocolate Kiss), Corndog 6 in 2001 (with Chocolate Kiss), Corndog 12 in 2007 (with Sonn Av Krusher), Corndog 13 in 2008 (with Noot d' Noot and Sonn Av Krusher), and Corndog 14 in 2009 (with Noot d' Noot and Judi Chicago).

Here is this year's lineup:

Saturday, July 31st
12:30am-1:30: Speakerfoxxx
11:30pm-12:30: Snowden
10:45-11:15: Sealions
10:00-10:30: Pls Pls
9:30-9:55 (side stage): Moodrings
8:30-9:30: special guests
7:30-8:15: Stallone
6:45-7:15: Abby Go Go
6:15-6:40 (side stage): Glen Iris
5:45-6:15: The Liverhearts
5:00-5:30: Skin Jobs
4:00-5:00: CORNDOG EATING CONTEST
3:30-4:00: Hip to Death
2:45-3:15: Mysourri
2:00-2:30: Ray Dafrico
1:30-1:55 (side stage): Mack Messiah12:45-1:15: Virginia Plane
12:00-12:30: TBD

Sunday, August 1st

10:15-11:30: Noot d' Noot

9:45-10:10 (side stage): Christ, Lord

8:45-9:45: Dead Confederate

8:00-8:30: Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires

7:15-7:45: The District Attorneys

6:45-7:10 (side stage): The Meeks Family

6:00-6:45: The Villain Family

5:15-5:45: The Hindenburgs

4:30-5:00: Iron Jayne

4:00-4:25 (side stage): Blake Rainey

3:30-4:00: Matt Hudgins & His Shit Hot Country Band

2:45-3:15: Chickens & Pigs

The Kossabone Red - Live at WREK March 25, 1997

Here is the download: The Kossabone Red - Live at WREK - March 25, 1997

I have posted a good bit of the studio output of KR in the post here, but as the WREK Underground Recordings has been broadcasting these snapshots of our Atlanta music history, I thought it would be a good idea to archive a few of them here for others to enjoy at their leisure.

So we have the classic combination of Jesse Smith, Justin Snyder and Chris McNeal in its semi-original form, starting as Ripchord and then moving on to later permutations as Some Soviet Station and Paper Lions, each time changing drummers but keeping the two guitar/bass unit intact. Of course Jesse continued on in Carbonas, Gentleman Jesse and His Men, C.O.P.S., Gaye Blades, etc. and Justin/Chris teamed up with Josh Lott in Teenage Meth Lab, and now Chris plays in Vincas as well as some guest appearances in Maserati. All of these guys have over 15 years in this "business", so as much as they probably want to move forward and not remember what they were doing in their teenage years, it deserves admiration, and made them the musicians they are today.

Neon Christ - Live at WREK

Here is the download: Neon Christ Live at WREK 15-July-1985

Thanks to Henry, as always, for transferring the master DAT and sending me over this recording for all of us to enjoy. He has been able to access the Live at WREK vaults to transfer so many amazing performances from that station, so keep checking back for more archived recordings. WREK actually does a retrospective show on Tuesday nights, which you can listen to here for the past two weeks, as there are some real gems broadcast on a regular basis.

This is the Neon Christ Live at WREK session from 1985, and a comprehensive set at that. It is not the same session that produced the amazing version of Saviour that was included in The View compilation, but it is a great listen with the limited 5-piece version of the band. I thought Savior was recorded on Live at WREK, but maybe it was recorded somewhere else? Can someone verify this? What more can be said about Neon Christ? They were Atlanta's first great hardcore band, kickstarting a scene in Atlanta that has had many peaks and valleys all the way to today. Any Hardcore DIY shows you have seen in Atlanta, whether at a house, bowling alley, matinee show, etc. are indebted to these guys for setting up the framework. I never was able to see them myself, as I believe it was probably 1987 when my friend played me his tape of their 7", and several years after that before I started going to local shows, but they always have a special place in my local music heart. There were several reunion shows held a few years back, one even including Greg King on Drums (GG King, Carbonas, Quadiliacha, Regicide, etc.), which I would have loved to see, but unfortunately I was just moving back to Atlanta and out of the loop at the time.

They are compiling footage for a documentary to be released soon, but as everyone knows these projects can take some time. I am also still hoping for a high quality digital discography to be released, but we will have to patiently wait - we will sell no wine before its time.

Also, along those lines it has been about a year since my last post, and I'm sure this has been taken out of everyone's regular circulation of blogs to visit, but I have a huge backlog of music to post, and will do my best to keep working on it as often as possible. Thanks everyone for their patience and please let me know if you are looking for anything or find any missing links or files to repair on the site.