Barely Bi-Pedal. What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this band? Well, pretty much anything as it was a musical project that flew pretty far under the radar of the Tucson underground. I first met James Jordan somewhere in that outsider Tucson punk music scene that was clearly (in retrospect) a magical time filled with the normal struggles of youth and not knowing quite where you fit into a society you feel is broken. Tucson had a thriving scene in the late 80′s with the local punks and the collegiate outsider misfits mixing together at numerous parties filled with music, cheap beer and good drugs seemingly every weekend. James and John Mount, both members of the exceptional band The Blink Dogs, would often play country music around the keg at parties. Initially what might have impressed me the most was their ability to play endlessly on into the night until the beer ran out.
James and I developed a friendship as we both played in bands which often were booked for shows together. After I was fired from my crappy custom photo lab job, thus ending my lackluster “career” as a artistic photographer, I decided I wanted to try audio recording as my next form of documentation. I told James we should start recording some of the BBP songs, and the rest is a sordid history of somewhat functional 4-track recorders, various effects pedals, and what I think are some pretty amazing songs. I can say without hesitation my main influences initially at the time for this project were Eugene Chadbourne and Shockabilly. So that’s how this man’s vision of BBP started, with James, John, Nancy and me recording and manipulating songs and noise.
The machines were far from perfect, the performances were usually rehearsed the day of recording, the final products are peppered with mistakes, however in the end I think it all was pretty remarkable. The songs range from the completely absurdist to the painfully beautiful with just about all in between. Recording was always a challenge due to James and his mischievous personality which exhibits an attention span of approximately 2 minutes and 35 seconds, anything longer than that and I had to keep the shotgun handy to keep him in line.
Until now these songs had only been available on cassette, and since my last cassette player finally bit the dust I figured I’d need to do something about that. I was able to procure on loan a 4-track recorder to re-mix these down to the computer, and do some rudimentary mastering of the tracks, which is what is presented here. Most of the songs are exactly as recorded, however I couldn’t resist the opportunity to add a few things here and there, you’ll just have to see if you notice. Most of the members of this wonderful project have moved on to other endeavors and I’ve listed those on the Ongoing Projects section of this web repository. James and John can occasionally be caught performing under the Barely Bi-Pedal moniker, although I’ll let them field any questions as to exactly what BBP is or represents these days. This is MY recollection, I hope you enjoy.
Barely Bi-Pedal had a somewhat varied line up over the years this is what I recall.
James Jordan- guitar, tuba, recorder, singing.
John Mount- guitar, singing.
Nancy Pontius- guitar, singing.
Eric Royer- banjo, guitar, singing.
Craig Hall- percussion.
Kira Golberg Geddes- cello, singing.
Eric Baldoni- bass, audio engineering.
Sincerely yurs,,
Eric Baldoni
