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Sasquatch . . . You think he and all the other dudes who have been so
faithful to rockabilly are pressing for their big chance at stardom?
This state might not be breaking bands and sending them skyward
toward fame and fortune, but it does host way more than its share
of players who are in it because they love it.
Psycho Dave Sasquatch's wacky musings on Burning Miles of Sin (Wet Floor),
the new Sick-A-Billys disc, surpass anything he’s done thus far in many
ways. Most critically, the songs manage to capture the sound and the
fury of his crew’s live set. To achieve that effect, the whole disc was
recorded live in a single eight-hour session, and the sonic blitzkrieg
paid off. With his buddies bassist Johnny Custom and drummer Mike
Levesque in tow, Sasquatch roars and burns through a set of satisfying
psychobilly freakouts. His vocals are clear and delightfully crude (make
sure the kiddies aren’t within earshot!) and pushed way up front in the
mix, and his greaseball Vega guitar licks aren’t far behind. Most of the
tunes here are quick, venomous blasts, pivoting on a particularly crass
lyric and a meaty hook. "Hot N’ Faster," the jamming-est, hardest-rockin’
tune on the disc, brings it home the way the band likes to get it on live.
Ditto for "Mean, Mean Man," which you’d be pardoned for assuming was
an autobiographical chestnut. "Almost Forgotten," while traditional,
manages to filter in a few crashing licks, the kind that distinguish this
band from its punkabilly brethren. In fact, the guy plays a savage guitar,
and his licks spread across these songs like gasoline in a rain puddle.
Having paid his dues for many years now, it’s great to hear Sasquatch’s
labors bear this most excellent fruit. Catch ’em the next time around.
Bob Gulla
Providence Phoenix
Sasquatch on Providence, The Moon, and Devil Nation.
After he walks into the room and introduces himself, the first words out
of Sasquatch’s mouth are, “I need a beer.” I have seen this man’s band
many times, and based on his stage antics, I was prepared for the worst.
I’ve seen him kick a bottle across a room, throw a shot glass through a window,
and light his pubic hair on fire. Basically, if he didn’t punch me in the face or
spit beer at me, I was going to consider this interview a complete success.
Sasquatch and the Sick-a-Billys won the 2005 WBRU Rock Hunt and have
been playing the New England area and beyond for a few years. The band
consists of Dave ‘Sasquatch’ on vocals and guitar, Johnny Custom riding
the standup bass and the glamorous Miss Natalie banging the drums.
Dave sings like he’s fighting a demon in his chest while the rhythm section
gives his songs the backbone that keep them propped up.
The first few times I saw The Sick-a-Billys, I was almost too caught up in
the show to notice how technically proficient they are. Things like the giant
bass, the cleavage behind the drums, and the guy with the hair grease flipping
you off tend to steal your attention. Once you get settled in and you can really
watch these cats play, however, you realize they’re not screwing around.
Johnny slaps his strings at such a pace that sometimes his hand is nothing
but a blur, and Natalie works the skins like a champion, playing with a ferocity
that shows her Hardcore roots.
Dave’s guitar playing skills shocked me as well, once I actually took a step
back and noticed. He doesn’t fall into the trap of having songs that are seldom
more complex than strummed chords,like many rock singer-songwriters do,
with emphasis only on the vocals and lyrics. He knows when to let the guitar
sit back and give the vocals room, and he knows when the guitar needs to
carry the song. He also understands the importance of the guitar solo.
Almost every song has one, and they have as much in common with the
grind of Kerry King as they do the squeal of Chuck Berry. There are three
cover tunes you might hear in any given Sasquatch and the Sick-a-Billys set:
The Clash’s “Brand New Cadillac,” The Misfits’ “Hollywood Babylon,”
and Johnny Cash’s “Understand Your Man.” Through those songs is the
perfect way to describe the band’s sound to the uninitiated- like a mix of
rock and roll, scary/heavy melodic punk, and outlaw country.
A Rhode Island native, Sasquatch did live in Texas for a few years.
While there, he picked up some respect for dark country music like
Hank Williams and Wayne Hancock. He brought that back to
Providence to start the Sick-a-Billys, and here he remains.
This is truly a band unparalleled in the Providence scene, and that’s
how Dave likes it- he speaks numerous times of his hatred of cliques
and scenes, and recounts a story of attending the show of another local
favorite, Zox, at the Green Room: “Zox puts a thorn in my side,” he says.
“I’d heard a lot about them, and figured I should go check them out.
We walked in… and all eyes were on us. It was such an uncomfortable
experience, like we were being judged because we didn’t fit in.”
He then dismisses Zox as “weak Dave Matthews Band bullshit, anyway.”
“The Cliquey circles have slowed it down,” he says about the Providence
scene, “and clubs closing have slowed it down.” While putting over Jerky’s
Bar as a good venue on its way to being a great venue, he explains the
harm other clubs have had. “Rich, greedy owners like the Green Room
owners kinda put us back another couple of years… (The clubs) turn into
these Top 40 clubs, like we don’t have enough Meatheads running around,
and little chicks with their navels showing-and they’re in the snow not
wearing a jacket cuz they wanna look good in the club. That’s the
mindset in Providence.”
He even has words for the Olneyville Noise scene: “I like that stuff,
but that’s another clique where they kind of isolated themselves.
Either you’re dressed too clean and nice, or too punk, or not punk
enough. It became a circus to me.”
He will not hesitate to tell you that it’s his circle of bands that keep
the Providence scene real:
“We became a family because we were sick of all the people that were
making cliques. We got sick of it, and now we got punk, blues, country,
rockabilly, and metal all best friends and all sharing gigs once in a while.
” He credits bands like The Midnight Creeps, The Cobramatics, The Sleazies
and Vic Foley as bringing life back to Providence, bringing bands from
outside in, and therefore allowing Providence bands to gig further and
further away.
The road is a recurring issue in Sasquatch’s lyrics, with songs like
“The Road is Callin’” and “R.A.M.B.L.I.N.”
He says, “I have wanted to go on tour since I knew what going on tour was…
Traveling was maybe an early instant metaphor that I needed to reach a lot
of people. And the whole open highway, radio on, arm out the
window- Just to ‘be.’ That’s, I think, the American dream. Not to be lazy,
or be powerful, or be successful, it’s just to be. I think I saw that in rock & roll.”
If you’ve seen him live, you may have caught one of his political rants, in which
he encourages the audience to question authority, especially that of those
high up in government. “The murder of freedom is being called patriotism,”
he says. “Propaganda has taken over more than it did in the fifties with the
Duck-and-Cover films. It’s like a constant reality show or commercial.
Throughout people’s lives, too, not just what you see on TV. Now I’m
living in reality shows everywhere I go. It’s scary, people are turning into
drones.”
Occasionally he speaks in hushed tones, literally looking over his
shoulder, with the paranoia that only comes with being an experienced
pot smoker. “Wanna talk about the moon?” he asks me. After I nodded,
he comes back with, “I’m asking you and everyone who reads this-
How come we’ve only seen one side yet it rotates just like us?
How come we’ve only been there once- allegedly? How come we haven’t
been back? How come all this technology has arisen since then?
Maybe we struck a deal with another life form.
Maybe we struck a deal that they could inhabit us, abduct, come and go
as they want as long as they stay unseen, in return for some technology.
Laser, radar, plastic- all only came about since the Roswell crash.
And the moon stays on one side- No one has seen the dark side of the
moon except Pink Floyd and a couple of hits of acid… Everyone should
ponder why the moon controls the water, and we are mostly
made of water.”
If rock and roll is supposed to be the Devil’s music (and it is), then this
man is a dark savior for Providence.
His lyrics often deal with religious imagery and life after death, mostly
from the perspective of a man facing
his own mortality. “Sin, Sin, Sin/ Lord, would you let me in?” he sings in
“Mean, Mean Man.”
However, Sasquatch disputes his evil image. He laughs when people
tell him he’s evil. His message
is ultimately a positive one, of peace, he says. And if he has to sing about
the Devil and whiskey and guns to get that message out there, he will.
“I have to dress as the Devil to get to the Devil’s children.
” And man, it is working. He has my strict attention.
Sasquatch and the Sick-a-Billys’ CD Burning Miles of Sin is available
through their website
www.sasquatchandthesickabillys.com.
They will be heading to the studio in December to record the follow up.
Ted Krapf
'The Rhode Island College Anchor' and 'The Agenda'
[Warning: if you're gonna play this disc on the road, keep an eye on the speedo,
cause you'll get so caught up in the energy, you'll be driving like the proverbial
bat out of hell before you know what hit ya.]
What we've got here is the pre-release of 'Burning Miles of Sin' by Rhode Island
psychobillies Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys. [The official release is out now,
and is available on their website at: http://www.sasquatchandthesickabillys.com
This is currently my fave-o-rite disc. I'm filing them under psychobilly, but their style
isn't quite that narrowly defined; punk, rockabilly, hillbilly, roots, and flat out rock
'n' roll are melded together, amidst tall tales of angels and devils, sinners & saints.
With as much of a nod to the Misfits as to Hank Williams, this ain't your mama's
rockabilly. The disc opens with "The Road is Callin", a fast-paced track that grabs
your attention from the git, and it doesn't let you go until the bitter end. Even then,
the insidious rhythms will be stuck in your head. "Hot N' Faster" is a wild scorcher
that dares you to keep still; and you just can't. No skip button required here, folks.
The songs are well-crafted, the music and vocals compelling. Tracks like "Mean,
Mean Man" & "R.A.M.B.L.I.N." are pure roadhouse, while slow burners like "Bed
Full of Flames" & "Burning Miles of Sin" will just creep under your skin. I'd be
hard pressed to pick just one, but "Almost Forgotten" & "Thee Crazy One" are
particular favorites.
Karen Ireton
"More Sugar"
NY - August 2004
But! can't dawdle. I must run downstairs to the second stage so I don't miss one
note of even the soundcheck of a set I promised resect to: RI's finest, Sasquatch
& the Sick-A-Billys. What can I say that you don't already know - if, of course, you
read THE Man's manifesto in RnRP # 14 - and if not?!?! Get a back issue
immediately before I talk yo ya again!) Longtime swankmaster bassman Johnny
Custom and latest (& greatest) drummer THEE Miss Natalie (Courville) *meow*
aid & abet...a prettier Ron Jeremy...a stronger Jello Biafra...The One & Only
SASQUATCH - Who rocks our lameass world so we can all be FREE. His tribute
to the Twin Tower victims was probably *only* the 2nd crotch hair torching of that month.
Whadya want from a sech a goddam saint? OK, a cd entitled Burning Miles of Sin - now,
go rip that yellow ribbon magnet off of someone else's pickup (if not yer's) NOW...
The Joey Zone,
from the review of Drop Dead 2 Festival,
Knitting Factory - NYC
in an upcoming issue of Rock n Roll Purgatory
[First off, let me tell you that I really like this band. I've seen them live, and it was
almost a religious experience. There were a couple of instances where I had a real
guttural response. I felt a nervy fear in the pit of my stomach. Not because the lead
singer would roll his eyes into the back of his head, which believe me was very
creepy, but more like a primal fear I imagine the kids who saw the earliest rock 'n' roll
bands must have felt. Like what I was witnessing was dangerous in a fun way.
I bring this up because when I got the CD, I was afraid that there was no way the
band could capture what I saw live. I actually mentioned this to front man Dave
"Sasquatch" Caetano, and he told me about the recording sessions. About how the
whole thing was recorded "live" in studio with no over-dubs within an eight-hour
session. He also told me how he wore his grandmother's crucifix and how he felt
he was channeling her spirit during the process. The truth is they pulled it off. Sure,
there's no way to fully capture a band live and at their best, but damn if this disc
doesn't come close. Burning Miles of Sin is chock full of scorching rockabilly played
with punk fervor. No, there's nothing particularly punk here, but they pulled off a
recording that?s both reverent and reckless. All ten tunes are straight up rockabilly
with typical rockabilly themes. Most are about the open road and fighting demons,
inner or otherwise. I found these tracks to be very reminiscent of the old delta blues
stuff. You know, the old "cross roads" and "devil on my trail" type stuff. Really,
all ten tracks are standouts. But if I had to choose one or two, I would have to go
with "Let Me Ride" or "Beyond the Sun". Of course, that could change tomorrow
when I would recommend "R.A.M.B.L.I.N." or the title track. What I'm trying to say
here is this is one killer album from start to finish. At the risk of sounding like a
Sick-a-billy syc-o-phant, I'm going to name this as my choice for album of the year.
Do yourself a favor and go see these guys when they come to a venue near you.
If they don't make it to your neck of the woods, the next best thing is
"Burning Miles of Sin".
Vinny "GimmeNoise" Bratti - September 27, 2004
Now Wave Magazine
Then Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys take the stage, and everything is good. Scary
good. Good because it's scary. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that's what
it is. Sasquatch is like a man possessed, eyes rolling back into his skull, spittle flying,
foot stomping; if Jesus were here, he'd be trying to lay hands on the guy. The guitar
seems like an extension of him; he's so natural with it, teasing out an amazing
variety of rumbling rambling lines mingled with all the twang you can handle.
And the rest of the Sick-A-Billys are dead-on perfect. Johnny Custom on stand up
bass and Miss Natalie on the drums do more than just lay down the foundation for
Sasquatch's theatrics; they're both legitimate players in their own right. Johnny handles
his bass like a ballroom dancer; and Natalie pounds the living shit out of her drum kit.
Up close and in person after the show, she's like the sweet girl next door; on stage
she's a dynamo. The climax of the set comes as they kick into a song called
"Thee Crazy One" from their 'Burning Miles of Sin' CD. Sasquatch turns his back
to the audience while Johnny and Natalie lay down the rhythm. It looks like he's
adjusting his amp, but when he turns around, his fly is open and he's got a handful
of pubic hair and flesh in one hand and a Zippo lighter in the other. He proceeds
to apply flame directly to that most sensitive of areas, a look on his face somewhere
between agony and bliss. He then turns his back to us again to zip up. When he
comes back around, he's fully into the song, a blistering indictment of the USA's
treatment of Native Americans. Somehow, the pain has exhilarated him and lifted
him to a new level of brilliance. Of course, he's also filled the air around the stage
with the odor of burning pubes, which is not exactly pleasant.
Jarrod's Place, Attleboro, MA w/ Reverend Horton Heat
September 23, 2004
Bmo
'Now Wave Magazine'
I'm a little bit drunk as I write this, or at least pleasantly buzzed. Sometimes alcohol
can be a good thing for a writer, or for a musician; and sometimes it can be a bad
thing. Case in point: while Providence RI's Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys weren't
visibly drunk, lead man Dave "Sasquatch" did tell me that he'd been drinking
pretty much non-stop for the previous seven days. If that's the case, then I hope he
doesn't ever join AA. This was one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen.
The Sick-A-Billys played a powerful set of rockabilly with just enough punk to get
your pompadour in a twist. Imagine that The Exorcist was set in Memphis, 1957, and
Elvis's guitar player Scotty Moore is the one who's been possessed. That's how
Sasquatch plays. His voice recalls all the '50s rockabilly giants, but again with demonic,
punk-tinged madness. The only problem with their set was that the vocal mic wasn't
functioning for the first four or five songs, and you couldn't hear a word he sang. But
you could see the passion in his face, and you could sure as shit hear his guitar.
Eventually, the mic got straightened out, and we were treated to the full Sasquatch
experience. Every once in a while he would roll his eyes up into the back of his head.
He told me this is his way of blocking out the room, and reconnecting with the song.
From where I was sitting in the audience, it looked fricking scary. He's up there
singing about devils and demons and backstabbing girlfriends, and he looks like
he's about to swallow his tongue and roll up into a ball. Meanwhile, The Sick-A-Billys'
rhythm section never missed a beat, despite all the twists and turns that Sasquatch
led them through - time changes, long pauses, it didn't faze them a bit. Behind the
drum kit was the tiny, almost delicate-looking Miss Natalie, upper arms covered in
striking tattoos, but with the face of an angelic girl next door. She pounded the shit
out of those things, and sounded like she'd been playing with these guys her whole
life, even though she only joined them in June. Working the stand-up acoustic bass
was Johnny "Custom" Viveiros. And I do mean "working". Invoking the spirit of
Jerry Allison*, Custom span and tilted and straddled his bull fiddle with flair and
seeming ease. Towards the end of the set, he moved out into the center of the room,
stood his bass up on top of a four-foot high table, then jumped up there with it, and
proceeded to stand up on the side of it, balancing there with the bass leaning at what
my geometry teacher would have called an obtuse angle, and played a whole damn
song. The proprietor of the fine establishment in which this spectacle took place came
out from behind the bar, apparently preparing to catch Johnny and his bass should
they have fallen. We learned later that the table top wasn't attached to the barrel it
was resting on. Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys believe in pushing their art to the
limit, without regard for their own personal safety. I can't urge you enough to see
these people if they come any where near your hometown.
Do it before they hurt themselves.
Bmo
Now Wave Magazine
Live review at Sean O'Toole's in Plymouth, MA
(August 27, 2004)
"What's the big news about Sasquatch and The Sick-A-Billys? Well, the manic trio
with a greaser-punk edge and "angry train rhythms: now features Johnny "Custom"
Viveiros on upright bass. And while bandleader Dave 'Sasquatch' is optimistic about
the trio's progress, he's recalcitrant about many other things. One source of
consternation is that some people have insinuated that after 2 years together, the
Sick-a-Billys have seen better days. "We're not a bunch of washed up things out
there playing all the time. We're smashing bottles on stage, screaming, and swearing
at the crowd." . "People seem to like it. I'm like, "Start drinkin' and shut the fuck up!"
Sasquatch and Viveiros are joined by kick-ass drummer/chef Jamie Souza. They play
all over New England and do particularly well outside of Providence- in New London
at the El'n'Gee, in Worcester at Ralph's Diner, and in Cambridge the Plough and Stars.
"People are bootlegging stuff", says Sasquatch, incredulously. The band will add to that
string of bootlegs with an official collection of it's own. "We're calling it Clusterfuck for
now. It'll be all the live recordings we've done in the last 2 years. We just started
editing: we'll be doing it all ourselves and it'll be a lot of pissed -off old school stuff.
It's gonna be great."
Bob Gulla, The Providence Phoenix
Best Music Poll 2003
Tightening up the reins as they plow their way around the northern east coast is
Sasquatch and The Sickabillys from Providence, RI. Quickly becoming a barroom
staple in clubs across New England, these furious hillbillys flavor their roots rock
and cranked amps, cranked attitudes and a fuck-all flair that leaves many screaming
for more. High in demand they just played a gig with everyone's favorite minister,
'The Reverend Horton Heat' winning Texas fans without having to step foot in the
state. "My new favorite Southern New England band. The show was a raucous treat
for all as Sasquatch played like the devil possesses his soul and burns with delight."
LB Worm, Wormtown.org
I decided to stay for one more band,
SASQUATCH and the SICK-A-BILLYS...
How can I describe them? If Lenny Bruce became a tele-evangelist and formed a
band, it would SASQUATCH and the SICK-A-BILLYS. They are a raw, raucous 3-piece
combo. The lead guitar & vocalist has a voice like sandpaper and a vocabulary that
would embarrass a sailor, but he was a ball of energy and very funny. The bass
player routinely climbs on his flame-adorned bass and plays like he's showing it
who's the boss. The drummer, who was wearing a "Kings of Nuthin" T-shirt,
manages to keep the beat hard and fast all night long. Too bad it was his last night
with the band. You an check them out at Ralph's on Friday, Feb. 13th, 2004, an
anti-Valentine's Show.
The Blue StingRaye,
'Official NESMA reviewer'
"A Force of Nature!"
Bob Gulla, The Providence Phoenix
We made some new friends along the way, namely, Sasquatch and the Sick-A -Billys,
from the great state of Rhode Island, who came to visit on a bunch of occasions and
infected the citizens of Worcester with the fever of stripped-down rock and roll.
LB Worm, wormtown.org
Ralph's Diner in Worcester, Ma. hosts a B-movie-lover's dream triple bill:
Satan's Teardrops, Sasquatch and the Sickabillys, and Gein and the Graverobbers,
who offer up the ultimate in retro-raunch, instro-sleaze, and zombie surf, respectively.
Carly Carioli/Roadtripping
Boston Phoenix
Next up for your trick or treat was Sasquatch and the Sick A Billy's. Now you all know
what a fan I am of these guys, and Halloween was made for a band like this, "We're
here to steal the show" Sasquatch proclaimed at the start and from there on out he
was hell bent on doing just that. All dressed up for the festivities, he and the boys
tore through their set with fury and mayhem and members of the crowd plied him
with shots of demon alcohol. The bassist took to riding his instrument on and off
stage while the drummer provided the backbeat of zombies to fuel them along.
About halfway through, Sasquatch's amp gave out and had to recruit one from
another musician in the house. At the end of the set I turned around and saw a
girl dressed as a nun and told her "You got here just in time. Save us all."
LB Worm, Halloween 2003
wormtown.org
Dave 'Sasquatch' knows he doesn't have as many friends around town as he'd like. The
gritty, outspoken leader of the band known as Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys has,
by his own admission, burned a few bridges over the years. But he's OK with that.
It's not that he has no regrets - he says he has a few. It's just that things are going
pretty well with his band, well enough to offset the ill feelings that occasionally dog
the straight talker on the local scene. "I think I have a chemical imbalance from all
this shit," says the embattled artist. "You see all the cliques in Providence. In public,
everybody says, 'We need a scene. Yeah! Let's get a scene going!' But the next thing
you know they're pushing people out of their little cliques." He adds, with a bit of
that aforementioned regret, "No one has helped me get to where I'm going. I put a
lot of bands out there. So many bands have had their first gigs with me. Meanwhile,
I'm the black sheep dickhead. 'Oh, don't go near Dave!' I've got problems in my head
because of all this shit." It could be that Sasquatch, longtime friend/drummer Jamie
"Diablo", and new bass player Johnny Custom often perpetrate some pretty radical
behavior. Like many punk and psychobilly acts, Sasquatch finds that tactics like
berating his audience has an exhilarating effect on the show, as well as a therapeutic
effect for him. Lately, he's also been known to set his pubic hair alight, which turns
heads, as you can imagine (though he says to repeat that trick he needs to "wait a bit
so it grows back")." The drama with the band has just kicked in. Our rep is getting out
of hand. Me and Jamie fuel each other. I can't seem to control myself right now. I
blurt anything out. It's not an act, though. Some people think it is, but it's real -
we've totally lost control onstage." Fortunately for Sasquatch, these insane tactics are,
against all odds, earning the band some serious attention. Lately Sasquatch has been
turning heads in places outside of Providence, including Worcester, New Haven, and
Boston, where they have regular gigs and often outdraw the local headliners. "We've
done what we could in Providence," he says. "We're concentrating on Jake's and the
Green Room. We had it packed in there pretty good. We've been surprising ourselves.
I'm not sure who's coming, but it seems like they're coming out!" Sasquatch, a veteran
of a bluesy rock band called Altered Minds, discovered rockabilly and country music
late in life. After leaving Providence in the mid-'90s, Dave went to Dallas for a year,
where he encountered a crazed roots music legend named Wayne Hancock. He caught
Hancock at a club one night and was overwhelmed by the sight. "I hated country music
when I moved to Dallas, "he admits." I left my van at the bus station and just took off.
It was my first time away from home. It was tough. But the show and the people I met
there had a big effect on me." In Dallas, Sasquatch lived in some dodgy places, including
on the street for a few weeks. He played some open mikes, but never assembled a
band. Soon enough, fueled by his newfound interest in country and roots music, he
returned to Providence and has been on a collision course with punk-flared rockabilly
ever since. "I'm a maniac about it. It was tough to get a band, but now that I have one,
and a damn good one, I'm not gonna let anything stop us," he says. Of course, despite
his ambitions of world domination, Sasquatch still has some more mundane concerns.
"I'm afraid to death of tornadoes," he says, commenting on his Achilles heel. "I have
this nightmare where there's a tornado and we're playing a club and Jamie's stealing
cases of beer to bring home and I'm trying to get my ass out of there." Another thing
that gets to Sasquatch is the current world war scene. "I just want God to come down
and hug me and tell me it's gonna be all right," he says, exhibiting a somewhat softer
side."Someday I hope to get my angel wings with side pipes and cruise around heaven
playing little lounges."
Bob Gulla, Providence Phoenix
2003
SASQUATCH and the SICK-A-BILLYS are a great and strange psychobilly band.
If you like this kind of music then you know you can take the 'Reverend Horton Heat's'
recommendation along with mine.
Seth McBastid, R.I.Crew Punk Zine - Oct. 2003
Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billy---I use the singular tense of Sick-A-Billy as their regular
drummer Diablo had a previous commitment. Sean of 'The Young Ones' filled in for a
song or two until relinquishing the sticks to the drummer from The Starlight Drifters.
We had seen Sasquatch open up for 'Slim Cessna's Auto Club' at the late, lamented
El N' Gee Club (New London, Ct.) NOT lamented was the sound system there, so it
was a treat to actually hear the lyrics issuing forth from the cavern hung with giant
chompers that is The Mouth of The Sasquatch. Imagine if a young William Devane
took up auto shop instead of acting; stomps into Yer fave-o-rite smoke-filled watering
hole; then gets up on stage and kicks up even more dust-IN YER FACE-such is
The Way of The Sasquatch. A sonik punch in the ribs to initiate thee proceedings...
The Joey Zone, Rock-N-Roll Purgatory
Review of:
'The Road Agents' 5th Annual
Hot Rod and Rockabilly Rumble- E. Hartford, CT
The crowd was working themselves up for an appearance by Sasquatch and the
Sick-a-Billys. I had only heard about these guys recently and caught a few songs
when they played Vincent's on a Sunday evening a few weeks back. You ever hear
that song about "If there's a rock 'n' roll heaven..?" Well, if there is a rock 'n' roll hell,
these guys are the house band. The bassist plays an upright painted primer black
with pin stripped flames rising from the floor, and plays through an amp fashioned
from what looks like a 1960's console stereo unit like your grandma's, ha. (I got a
couple, too) The lead guy Sasquatch, AKA Dave, looks and acts like he is
one of the Devil's own here to insult and rock the house at the same time. Their set
builds from a nice enough start, but soon finds Sasquatch letting everyone know it's a
good thing he's not drunk yet, otherwise there would be some trouble, and invites no
one in particular to blow him. Every once and a while, along comes a band with just
the right stuff to not only entertain, but spark some real interest for their approach,
because they are so different from what's already here. This is such a band, and
should be watched for further gigs, recordings, or petty crimes, in general.
LB Worm, Wormtown.org
Dave from Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys is sitting at the bar in a wide-shouldered
zoot-suit, dark dress shirt, and a snazzy tie. He's working a bit of a duck's ass and
two-inch 'burns. He looks like a rockabilly cat and plays a vintage Gibson hollow-
body. But with its elements of punk and metal, the band's sound recalls the eerie
post-rockabilly icons 999 and the Gun Club. They just played the Met and the guy's
sweating profusely. His guitar chores are demanding, without question. "It comes
more out of anger and emptiness than anything," he says, wiping the sweat off his
brow. But if people call it rockabilly, let it be OK, right?
Bob Gulla, Providence Phoenix
Complex rockabilly.
Sasquatch and the Sick-a-Billys roar into the Green Room at Snooker's tomorrow
night with their trademark combination of real live rockabilly instrumentation and
sentiment, with musical complexity and loony lyricism.
I used to call them the Emerson, Lake and Palmer of rockabilly,
but after Sasquatch made me watch four hours of Frank Zappa on video I realized
that's where his heart lies.
Rick Massimo, Providence Journal
It sure ain't about peace, love, and hair grease (well, maybe the hair grease) with
Sasquatch and the Sick-A-Billys. Mr. Sasquatch, aka Dave, commandeers
a stage presence befitting the mysterious, scary-ass creature at times, single-handedly
redefining the phrase Anger Management Tour. "Goddamn," a friend mumbled during
a recent Sick-A-Billy show with an almost concerned look on his mug, "this is some
sick hillbilly-type shit right here. "Hence the creative moniker. Granted, Sasquatch seems
like he just might jump into the crowd, drink your old lady's beer,
then smash the bottle over your head. This guy feels the pain of everyone, and then
he feels a whole lot more - and the payoff ultimately arrives in the musicianship.
Sasquatch has been an integral part of the scene on and off for more than a dozen
years. After a stint with late '80s local icons Altered Minds, Sasquatch spilt town for
Texas, where he "went on the road, went through hell and came back." The trio-
Sasquatch on six-string, Ian "Lefty" Lacombe on bass, and Jamie "Diablo" Souza on
drums - have been kicking around the scene for a mere six months as the Sick-A-Billys,
and word has obviously spread about the intense live gigs. "We're mean, man. We're
coming out guns a-blazin'. I got big plans," Sasquatch calmly and confidently proclaims.
"It's the Doors meets Muddy Waters meets '50s Johnny Cash meets Zappa -
it's pyschobilly rock and roll," Sasquatch explained. Or think of the Dead Kennedys
on mescaline navigating a runaway train through the backwoods of hell. If that's not
a reason to get off your ass and see a show, then what is?
Chris Conti
Providence Phoenix
Best Music Poll 2002
"Best Local Roots Act"
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