 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Lawn Chair Kings are based out of Durango, CO. They formed in 2000 as a power trio with Erik Nordstrom on guitar, Dan Leek on bass, and Matt Joyce on drums. Nordstrom, a songwriter who enjoyed listening concurrently to Hank Williams and the Ramones, needed a roommate to help with the opulent Durango lifestyle. Joyce came into the situation as a roommate, drummer, and country music enthusiast. The search was on for a bass player. After a series of auditions with bass musicians that had various household chemical addictions, they met Dan Leek. Leek was a model of mental and chemical stability, his only vice being a nasty, inexpensive crawdad fetish, probably attributable to his Louisiana upbringings.
Under the guise of playing “suburban rock” (a blend of country and urban styles, country-punk, alt-country, something to that effect), they attempted to take over Southwest Colorado and the Four Corners Region with a flurry of short songs of questionable wit. Earlier stage props included pink flamingos, strobe lights, actual lawn chairs, astroturf coasters, and patriotic symbols. As the props degraded with the shows, including a time in which an unlucky patron was pushed to the ground while sitting on one of the aforementioned lawn chairs, the stage gimmicks became less prominent. This was compounded by an angry letter to The Durango Telegraph, in which the “three-chord shriekings of the Lawn Chair Kings” were derided as inferior to more sophisticated bands such as Phish and Widespread Panic. Unfazed, the band went on with a focus on the music.
Matt Joyce, who was well-known for his enthusiastic drumming, shoulder rolls, interpretive dancing, and badly-botched attempts to raise the collective conscience, decided that it was time to find something more productive to do with his spare time and moved to Texas. Eric Hopper, a cynical film aficionado, took over as the new drummer with the full realization that the band was never about constructive social change and encouraged everyone to get back to the basic three-chord formula. On the other hand, he sensed the need for something more, this being nothing less than the guitar prowess of Steve Stokes.
Steve Stokes had been a jazz-funk figure in the Durango scene for some time, and, despite his new degraded status, took to playing the same three chords over and over with renewed vigor. Lawn Chair Kings were on their way to something big, perhaps even bigger than being just a three-chord band, and they played a fourth and even fifth chord when they could (behind Hopper’s back, of course).
Perhaps Eric Hopper caught on to increased noodling of the band, perhaps pastures were simply greener elsewhere. He moved back home to Indiana and is currently doing artsy things in New York City.
Enter in Steve Mendias, who grew up in Durango, as the new drummer. Steve had been a back-up drummer for the band whenever Matt or Eric could not tolerate it. Steve, a connoisseur of irritating lounge music, has had much tolerance and has coined the term “western garage” to describe the gritty and goofy country-punk sound of the band.
In the meantime, Lawn Chair Kings have been titled “Colorado’s favorite wedding band” and have played numerous weddings. They have played extensively in the Four Corners area, including such exotic places as Bluff, Utah, Flagstaff, Arizona, and numerous Colorado towns: Silverton, Telluride, Cortez, Dolores, Gem Village, and their beloved home, Durango.
Lawn Chair Kings now have self-titled CD available. The band intends to keep recording, touring, and playing the full gamut of music, from the base of suburban rock to the ever-expanding frontier of western garage.