Wednesday, May 11, 2011

From L.A., it’s The Janks

Live Music


The Janks will play the Sun Valley Brewery in Hailey tonight, May 11. Courtesy photo

The Janks, a Los Angeles-based rock band, love coming to the Wood River Valley—any wonder why? Fresh out on a new tour, the band will make its way to the Sun Valley Brewery in Hailey tonight, Wednesday, May 11, for a rock show for real classic rock 'n' roll lovers. Think Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and other hard-core 60s rockers, especially with the letter Z.

"We came in October," said band member Zack Zmed. "It was very low key, but we are finishing up a record and ready to play."

Zmed, vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter, shares the stage with band members Garth Herberg, vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist; Wade Ryff, bassist, guitarist, vocalist; Lucas Ventura on drums; and Dylan Zmed, vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, mandolin player and percussionist.

"The band has been working under the name The Janks since 2006," Zmed said. "There have been numerous incarnations."

On tour through the Pacific Northwest, The Janks bring their solid grasp of Americana rock wherever they are booked. A psychedelic 60s influence is the band's most distinctive trait, which hails from Zmed's love of that era.

"What is strange is stuff back then, in the 60s, was at the time pop music," he said. "It was breakthrough music. The old stuff still seems really fresh to me."

Zmed said The Janks' are working hard to finish their new record, which has a light and dark theme.

"We've tried very hard to try and build a loose narrative with all the songs," he said. "There are no pre-conceived ideas. It's a bunch of music that has some threads that bring it together."

Zmed said the album is arranged with the first half as acoustic, conjuring the feeling of light, daytime and brightness. He said the second half is dark and heavy.

Highlights on the album will include the title track, "Just Hands of Time and Demon Dance," which is about as dark as music gets.

"It's about being completely unhinged and loosely about possession and letting yourself go," he said. "We are going to do an entire album release when it's ready."

The Janks will be joined by The Shivers, a New York City-based band. The two bands are touring together.

For a complete listing of music events in the valley, see the Music, Dance and Theater section of the Calendar on Page C5.

—Sabina Dana Plasse




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