Good Press
Some odd local flavor
After traveling around, musically eclectic duo settles on Hot Springs
as home
BY JACK W. HILLARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Although locals are not usually perceived as "itinerant," the
Itinerant Locals are both.
Zac Smith and Cheryl Roorda are a married musical duo now living in
their own home in Hot Springs, rather than in Seattle, where they met, or
in their RV, which they had named "Clark Cortez." The Spa City has been home
for a little over a year.
Smith plays tuba and Roorda plays accordion; while still technically
a duo, they have a new "member" on stage with them: their 9-month-old daughter,
Eureka Kudzu Smith. (She’s the one on stage right, on her blankie with an
assortment of toys; the tip jar is stage left.)
The Itinerant Locals are comfortably outside the musical mainstream,
but have converted a novelty sound and goofy stage presence into something
like a living. And though the pair is relatively new to the Natural State,
it appears they already have a cult following.
"We wanted to get out of the city scene we were in," says Roorda, about
their time in Seattle. "We had a great downtown studio apartment, across
from The Crocodile club, which had great music, but after getting pregnant,
we started looking at raising a kid. We’re both from small Southern towns,
and we had spent a year driving around America and during one of our tours,
we came to Hot Springs. It stuck in our brain.
"We were up on Hickory Nut Mountain, and a woman gave us a phone book.
Then we met a midwife who plays accordion, so we moved here, without knowing
anyone."
From the start, things just seemed to fall into place for the Locals.
When their musical midwife, Barbara Mueller, had to miss a gig at the Hot
Springs Brau Haus, a German restaurant in Spencer’s Corner, Smith and Roorda
stepped up and covered for her, and did so again several times in a sixmonth
period. When the restaurant’s Friday night performer retired, Mueller took
his spot, and the Locals took hers.
"We’re there most every Saturday night now," Smith says. "We go out
and tour and leave, and (Brau Haus owner ) John Linehan is real flexible
with us. We were pleasantly surprised to come to a small town and find this
great restaurant and bar. He has no expectations or demands he makes of us;
he just lets us play."
And when the couple play, they’re not exactly providing background
music. While their first set is usually instrumental music, the presence
of baby Eureka on stage sometimes be- comes the focus of some of the patrons.
And it’s not unusual to spot children a few years older than Eureka, venturing
onto the dance floor to watch, more fascinated with someone small in stature
on stage, holding forth with a selection of toys and appearing to be oblivious
to her surroundings, except for when her parents strike a familiar note or
two.
‘STAY UP LATE’
"
Eureka likes it when Zac sings," Roorda says. "She especially likes it
when we do a song by The Talking Heads, ‘Stay Up Late,’ where we sing about
having a little baby. And it’s hard not to sing it to her. She just loves
it, since everyone is usually looking at her by that time."
Born Dec. 19 in Hot Springs, Eureka has begun to resemble a percussionist
at times, the couple reckons. The baby, who has been observed flailing her
tiny arms to that Oktoberfest favorite, "The Chicken Song," is also fond
of "The Bartender’s Polka."
"She almost always starts banging on something during that song," Smith
says. "She hangs in there, especially on the songs with the beat, the dancing
songs. If I notice a flash, I know she’s doing something and somebody in
the audience is taking a photo."
Eureka’s mother could not be prouder.
"Zac gets jealous," she notes, laughing. "But we’ve found that our
tips have gotten a lot better since she’s been on stage. I don’t think we’ve
ever gotten a sitter for her, although back in Seattle, we had a couple of
gigs where we couldn’t take her in that were at 21 and over clubs. Of course,
when she becomes mobile, we don’t know what we’ll end up doing.
"I think we’re becoming the back-up band for her. She wants to be front
and center, so we have to get louder and louder."
TURN DOWN THE CLOTHES
Smith and Roorda crossed paths when both made their ways to Seattle. He’s
from Tuckasegee, N.C., and she hails from Tallahassee, Fla. Both deny having
had extensive musical training. Smith took a lot of violin lessons as a
child, and Roorda paid her youthful dues learning piano.
"I was forced to play a lot in church," she says. "I didn’t study music
in college and didn’t get a degree."
A college degree was not in the picture for Smith, either.
"I picked up the electric bass and was a rock and roller for years," he
says. "Then I picked up the tuba. I wanted to play without amplification."
It was while both were playing for Seattle’s Cirque du Flambe, a music/juggling/acrobatics
group, that they met, destined to share a music stand, and, ultimately, more.
Besides their love for unusual musical textures, the couple also have
a mutual fondness for polyester, and like to present themselves in colorful
attire at their shows.
"People that don’t like the music can at least look at us and laugh," Smith
says. "We try to be visually appealing. So we’re out to dress up so that
our clothing is actually louder than our music."
At one recent show, Smith was decked out in a red hat and pants, a
black and silver shirt, long necktie and white shoes, while Roorda was "conservatively" attired
in a red polka dot shirt, gray checked slacks, turquoise socks and black
and white shoes.
"It’s a little hard, however, to find polyester baby clothing," she
adds. "You have to be dedicated."
In their early days, Smith and Roorda did a lot of "busking," or playing
on streets and in subways and in other public places, hoping to entertain
passers-by sufficiently that some tips would be left. They traveled around
in what they called "Paco the Prelude," living in an old white Honda. They
stepped up in class when they acquired "Clark Cortez," an RV with all the
comforts of home. They still keep Clark in their Whittington Avenue yard.
‘FIRST HOUSE’
"
It’s our first house, ever," Smith says proudly. "In Seattle, you have
to rent to afford a place. Here, it’s cheaper to buy a place than to rent
one. So we’re busy doing that. We drywalled our ceiling two days ago. We
had to live in Clark for a while when we got the house, which at the time
had no running water."
Though they’re currently busy feathering their nest, the couple hope
to start work soon on a second CD. Their first, Spred the Fred, from their
Seattle days, is all-instrumental and not that indicative of their current
style. Nowadays, they find plenty of vocal material to feature, ranging from
originals to their own versions of songs by Warren Zevon and Steve Earle
as well as The Pointer Sisters’ "Fire" and even Van Halen’s "Jump."
The Itinerant Locals will perform from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the
Oktoberfest event at the Diamond Bear Brewery, 323C Cross St., Little Rock.
They have played at several art gallery events in Little Rock for their
friend Tanya Hollifield’s Art After Hours, and they will be back there from
5:30-10 p.m. Nov. 18. The gallery is at 410 W. Third St. Smith and Roorda
emphasize their availability (see their Web site www. polkayoureyeout.com).
"We will play anywhere: weddings, singing telegrams, bar mitzvahs," Smith
says. "We played at a grand opening of a Hancock Fabric store in Conway recently."
This story was published Sunday,
October 10, 2004
Copyright and permissionCopyright © 2004, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
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Itinerant
Locals come to Town with Oomph and a Squeeze By Shara Rutberg
One button on the old Renelli squeezebox keeps jamming. The tuba is tarnished. But nothing gets in the way of the Itinerant Locals World Domination Tour, which swings through Crested Butte this weekend. So far, the Seattle-based duo of Zachary Smith on tuba and former local Cheryl Roorda on accordion have hit five cities in Canada, played in streets and parking lots up and down the east coast, and headlined at Betsy's Wedding (an event, not a night club) in Wisconsin. They've put 11,000 miles on Paco the Prelude, a weathered white Honda they've been calling home. Living in a Japanese compact is even more challenging when two large musical instruments take up most of the back seat. Two things keep them going on their musical cross-continental journey. The first is an addiction to the instant gratification the two enjoy when people turn a corner and hear the oompah of the horn and carnival-esque melody of the accordion. The second is polyester. "I'm thrilled to be doing this," says Roorda, who sports a polyester blazer in a color no longer manufactured in the Western world. "This is an absolutely ideal job for me. We're our own bosses and we're providing art. We're making people smile." "We love the one-on-one interaction
of street performing," says Smith from under a hat that resembles
a lampshade more than a little bit. "Our payoff is so instant." Smith
is not referring to the cash that fans toss into their instrument
cases, though they've earned enough on the streets to finance their
tour. He means the grins they get from passersby, the squeals they
get from kids who park themselves in front of the duo and the many,
many people who have told them 'thank you whatever the hell you
are." "In New York City, people came up and danced," he
says. The reaction has been different in other places. The Itinerant
Locals set up outside a Twins game in Minneapolis and nobody seemed
to notice the two polyester-clad minstrels tooting and squeezing
on the corner. Perhaps polyester and tubas are more common in the
Midwest. Polyester has become more than a costume for Roorda and Smith. It is a way of life. It is a political statement. "We're out to save our landfills!" says Roorda. "Because, like diamonds, polyester is forever." Smith explains the polyester connection: "It all started in Bismark, North Dakota," (as many things do). "I found a place that sold all the polyester clothes you could stuff into a bag for one dollar." A wardrobe was born. The duo encourages people who come to see them this weekend to squeeze into their favorite polyester ensembles. There will be a prize for the best display of synthetic fabric. "Go for the 'full Cleveland,' one hundred percent unnatural fibers," says Smith. "It's not easy. But it can be done." The band's repertoire runs the gamut from classic tarantella and polka to new tuba/accordion spins on old rock favorites. The mingled sounds of the big old horn and the piano in a box are a sign of future musical trends, says Smith. "There's definitely a revival of these instruments," he says, "a neo-Gothic feeling, a revival of vaudeville and circus." In fact, a circus is where the two met. Smith and Roorda were playing for the Seattle's Cirque du Flambe where they shared a music stand. In between flaming acts of juggling and acrobatics, something sparked between the two. Luckily, they weren't wearing highly flammable polyester ensembles at the time. The Itinerant Locals play the Forest
Queen Friday night at 8 p.m. Wear polyester.
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Itinerant Locals |
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By Tamiko Murray |
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