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UNPLUGGING FOR SPECIAL “FAN APPRECIATION” TOUR THAT MARKS 15th ANNIVERSARY OF “SIGNS”
by Ernie Thomas
When the Tesla came along and started charting hits in the 1980s, they got unfairly lumped into the whole “hair band” scene, even though their music had little in common with the likes of Poison, Ratt, Warrant and others of that genre. “We really weren’t like those bands with the spandex and make up and all that,” said Tesla’s vocalist Jeff Keith. “ We’ve always just been a blue-jean wearing, blue collar band of tomato farmers from Sacramento.” Their music then, like today, is basic guitar rock with melodic vocals. Though they broke up in 1995 after being caught in the career undertow of the whole grunge/alternative wave, Tesla members –– singer Jeff Keith, drummer Troy Luccketta, bassist Brian Wheat, and dual guitarists, Tommy Skeoch and Frank Hannon –– reunited in 2000 for what they planned to be a one time only hometown performance. After that one show turned into a three year tour, the boys began to think they had given up the ghost too soon in ‘95 and got busy writing and recording. Tesla’s first new album of songs in nearly a dozen years hit retail racks last March. While Into The Now sounds contemporary and modern, the simple fact that it was a Tesla album prevented much of the media from hearing it with open ears. While print reviews were largely favorable and enough fans bought copies to make the album debut in the Top 30 of the Billboard charts; many radio programmers failed to embrace it, despite its containing some of the best material the band has ever written. “Just the name Tesla links us to the past,” sighed Keith, grateful to those Active Rock stations that listened to Into The Now and that gave air play to it’s first single, “Heaven Nine Eleven.” “We did a few things on this new album that maybe we didn’t do on past albums. A loop on one song, some strings on another. We experimented a little bit, but there’s no denying that this is a Tesla album,” assured Keith, who is the band’s primary lyricist. Though they had not been in a recording studio together for more than a decade, things fell into place as Tesla set about self-producing their comeback album at Hannon’s home studio. The spent two years writing, re-writing and demo-ing the material, until everything was just right. “It was a little strange at first, but then it all started clicking,” said Keith, who confessed to having writer’s block when they first started working the album. “Going into it, we weren’t sure how it was going to work out, but it ended up being great. We all have a lot of respect for each other and we voted on things. It turned out being a lot of fun!” Comfortable that they have forged enough of a new identity with Into The Now, Tesla has decided to step back and embrace their legacy for their current tour. This road trip celebrates the fifteenth anniversary of their ground-breaking “Five Man Acoustical Jam” album. That 1990 album featured Tesla’s chart-topping cover of the Five Man Electrical Band’s 1971 hippie anthem, “Signs”, which according to Keith is why a variation on that name was used to title that collection of laid-back songs. Tesla’s take on “Signs” was such an across the board, multi-generational hit, that it helped to launch the whole “unplugged” craze of the ‘90s, which culminated when MTV jumped on the bandwagon to beat an already dying horse, with their “MTV Unplugged” music program. This current acoustic romp is touted as “a fan appreciation tour”. “I know that a lot of bands say it, but our fans really are great,” stressed the singer. “They have always been there for us...always!” What the fans are getting is all Tesla, all night. The group is performing a two hour show loaded with their classic hits, a few tasty covers like Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”, plus a few Into The Now songs like “Caught In A Dream”, “Heaven Nine Eleven”, and their current single, “What A Shame.” Over the holidays, the fans were also were allowed to vote for what songs they wanted Tesla to play when the band hit their respective town, via the band’s website: www.teslatheband.com Local radio stations in each city are awarding a handful of winners the opportunity to sit on stage for the entire show, via random contests. One super lucky winner in each city will actually get to step center stage and perform one song with the band. “I’m enjoying things a lot more this time around,” concluded Keith, when asked to compare their current career to their early “salad days” of success. “Back then, things moved really fast, too fast maybe. One thing I do remember, is being really glad that I didn’t have to drive a septic tank truck for a living any more.” TESLA perform their “Five Man Acoustical Jam” show live on Tuesday, March 15 at The Vic Theatre in Chicago | ||
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