Eric Bauman for Clovis Mann
Daniel Walkner, Ethan Noordyk and Stosh Jonjak of Clovis Mann
Madison-based blues rockers Clovis Mann will be taking on the classic At Fillmore East by the Allmann Brothers Band on Wednesday at the High Noon Saloon, after beginning the evening with a set of original material.
The trio has been together for about two years in its current incarnation and includes guitarist Dan Walkner, drummer Ethan Noordyk and bassist Stosh Jonjak (everyone sings). Since the ABB was originally a six-piece band, some extra players will help fill out an Allman-like lineup: Mike Camilleri of The Kissers will handle piano and organ; Frank Martinez of El Clan Destino will hold down the other drum/percussion stool; and Nate Rentmeester of King Cruiser will assist on guitar.Walkner says this is the second time Clovis Mann has tackled At Fillmore East. "We did it one other time at the Memorial Union Terrace and it just killed ... it was great."
He notes that the show won't be a note-for-note re-creation in the style of Grateful Dead revivalists Dark Star Orchestra, though.
"We just do the songs off the album in order and we do them our way," he says. "We do the double guitar leads, but do our own take on the solos.... Neither of us is specifically in the Duane Allman or Dickey Betts role. We switch off."
Walkner explains performing an entire set of another band's material helps bring in new listeners that may not otherwise discover the band. "We'll probably also do a few other songs with the full band up there," he says. "We just find this is a way to get people out and also expose them to our original stuff as well."
"Hopefully they'll like what we do with our own material, and want to come back to see us. There's so many bands out there trying to do their thing that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle."
Clovis Mann is currently fleshing out the songs for a follow-up to their debut album last year's, and also plans to showcase another performance captured at the Fillmore East -- the Band of Gypsies album by Jimi Hendrix. Nominated in both the blues and rock "Artist of the Year" categories in the 2007 Madison Area Music Awards, the trio maintains a busy gig schedule -- Walkner estimates that they've played around 200 shows the past couple years -- and will also be performing at Mr. Roberts on Thursday.
