Cracker: Alternative band stops in Juneau on solstice tour
"I'll track you down, I'll steal your mail, a lock of hair, some fingernails. A piece of you upon my shrine, now you're with me all the time."
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"Superfan" from Cracker's latest CD, "Forever"
The alternative rock band Cracker has a superfan in Juneau but he doesn't have a shrine to the band. He is dedicated, though, and his enthusiasm has led to a Juneau concert for the band, known for songs such as "Low," "Eurotrash Girl," "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)" and "Can I Take My Gun Up to Heaven."
Gene Nelson, a musician and self-described Crackerhead in Juneau, noticed last month the five-piece band was headed to Alaska. Cracker was booked to play Homer, Fairbanks and Anchorage for an "Alaska Solstice Tour." Nelson also noticed a big fat hole in the tour schedule for Friday, Dec. 20.
"My first thought was not to bring the band here but to go up there, rent a car and follow them for the weekend and see the three shows," said Nelson, who grew up in Sitka.
By coincidence Sitka musician Lucky Walker invited Nelson to sit in on a gig at Marlintini's Lounge. At the end of the evening, Marlintini's co-owner Jim Cashen was talking with Nelson about bringing in guest bands and Nelson brought up the Cracker tour.
"I was doubtful - but I told him about the open day," Nelson said. "Jim was very interested. He called me back a week later and said it was confirmed."
Nelson, 39, works at the Alaskan Brewery, and said Justin Ginter and other coworkers at the brewery introduced him to the band when he arrived in Juneau two years ago.
Ginter saw Cracker twice in concert in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., and he said the energy, music and showmanship sold him on the band.
"They're straight rock 'n' roll, also a little rockabilly, a little country twang," he said. "They rocked. I'm really looking forward to seeing them here."
Ginter said the band's guitarists switch between acoustic and electric, changing up the sound. Nelson called Cracker a Southern rock band with humorous, catchy tunes, and an alternative twist.
Cracker has been around since 1992 when songwriter, guitarist and singer David Lowery teamed up with lead guitarist Johnny Hickman. Lowery already was a veteran musician and started the rock band Camper Van Beethoven in the mid-1980s when he was a mathematics student at the University of California in Santa Cruz.
Camper Van was known for sassy lyrics and songs that jumped genres, from punk to folk to pop to straight-ahead rock 'n' roll. After touring the country and Europe numerous times, releasing half a dozen albums and actually earning his math degree, Lowery disbanded the group in the late 1980s.
Cracker in concert
When: 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20.
Where: Marlintini's Lounge.
Tickets: $25 in advance at Capital Records and Marlintini's, $30 at door day of show.
Cracker debuted a few years later with the band's self-titled first album. "Cracker" came out in 1992 and got strong airplay on college and alternative radio. It was followed by "Kerosene Hat," which went platinum. The band went on to release eight albums, including the brand new CD, "Forever."
Cracker's songs have been used in the soundtracks for seven films, including "Speed" and "The Cable Guy." The band has contributed songs to tribute albums for bands ranging from the Kinks to the Carpenters.
The band is Johnny Hickman on lead guitar, David Lowery on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Brandy Wood on bass, Kenny Margolis on keyboards and accordion and Franks Funaro on drums. All sing and Hickman shares the songwriting.
For Nelson, the songwriting is Cracker's biggest appeal. Many songs are written from the perspective of the unreliable narrator, the voice of a character who thinks he is telling the truth, his truth, but with biases and shortcomings that become apparent to the listener. What is written between the lines is as telling as what is said.
"The songs aren't just, 'I love her, she loves me,' " Nelson said. "A lot are about sorry-ass losers - 'He loves her but she doesn't love him.' Real-life people."