Sitting with a guitar in lap and notepad on the ground awaiting inspiration is a luxury foreign to Sam Craft. Instead, an idea will hit him while driving down the freeway or when he's in a complicated social setting. When he is finally able to rush home, Craft struggles to remember the elusive idea.
He characterizes his creative process as 5 percent divine, 95 percent hard work.
"I have this tiny popsicle stick of an idea, and it's my duty then to build up more of these popsicle sticks until I've built a 'house,' that's (actually) a song, ... whittle it away and work until it's built up into something significant," he says.
Craft's band, Glasgow, began with Sam Craft, 24, making music with his brother, Jack Craft, 25. The brothers followed their mother's musical tradition when they graduated from Loyola University in 2009 with degrees in cello and violin performance, respectively.
The Crafts joined drummer Jon Arceneaux and bassist George Elizonbo, both 21, who were serendipitously between bands. Vocalist Alexis Marceaux, 22, trained at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts along with the Crafts and Arceneaux and completes the current Glasgow configuration, which is two years old.
Though all members are New Orleans born and bred—except Elizonbo, who is from Nicaragua—Glasgow's musical style markedly veers from the music that surrounds the band. Refusing to trumpet (literally) their Louisiana heritage sets Glasgow apart from its contemporaries. Glasgow is musically universal, though other collaborations between band members clearly embrace Cajun and folk influences. The members of Glasgow all cite Electric Light Orchestra, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer as musical inspirations. The TV show "Seinfeld" and the board game "Catchphrase" also influenced the band members.
While Arceneaux and Elizonbo balance working odd jobs and gigs, they also study jazz and psychology at the University of New Orleans. Marceaux files for law firms by day before swinging musically between Glasgow and her solo endeavors by night. Jack Craft works for a talent agency hiring headliners for conventions and events. Sam Craft is frontman, manager and janitor of Glasgow.
Oct. 8 will be Glasgow's second appearance at Ole Tavern.
"We just love the Jackson audience: always ready to dance, always ready to listen...if people are ready to have a good time, we are ready to bring it," Sam Craft said.
The band generally plays a majority of original music, with covers mixed in the set sparsely.
Glasgow may self-promote to labels, instead of using a publishing company, after it completes its ambitious acoustic rock opera, "1986." The large-scale, continuous album intends to realize the marriage of hallowed classical tradition with the band's contemporary rock flavor.
Set in 1986 America, the opera follows the redemptive tale of politically involved Joseph and prostitute Mary. "1986" promises to diversely address contemporary issues of politics, religion and relationships in longstanding, academic genre. Glasgow recently released a preview EP but is taking its time to complete the opera and to do it right.
Marketing this "nerdy and erudite" style to live gigs can be challenging. "Glasgow's hard to find a niche for," Sam Craft said.
"We don't look at it as a challenge or work," Craft adds, even though the members put much time and energy into the band. "... We feel gross when we're not doing something with the band ... (and) can't sleep at night. It's not a matter of trying to balance different things going on in your life, because we'll find the energy to make the band work."
Craft equated Glasgow to a child, saying: "It doesn't matter if he's a failure, you still love him, you'd still do anything for him. It will always exist in some way shape or form, because we'll always keep it going out of love."
The hard work is paying woff. Glasgow performed at New Orleans' Voodoo Music Experience in 2009 and at Austin, Texas, festival South by Southwest in 2010. Next ambition: Carnegie Hall.
Check out Glasgow at 10 p.m. Oct. 8 at Ole Tavern (416 George St., 601-960-2700). Cover is $5. For more info, visit http://www.glasgowband.net. Glasgow's music is available for download on iTunes.
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