The Bottle Rockets have a new bass player. And
what’s so special about that, you ask? Well, the newest
member of the critically acclaimed and fan-appreciated alt-country
group from Festus, Mo., is Keith Voegele of Springfield. Mr.
Voegele — or Stingray, as I like to call him — came our
way from St. Louis in 1994 to play bass for They Came in Droves. He
quickly became a fixture on the music scene, singing and playing
with the Love Hogs, Black Magic Johnson, the Moonlight Rhythm
Rangers, the Notorious Hired Hands, and Park. Last year his
full-time band, the Phonocaptors, appeared on a St. Louis-produced
Chuck Berry tribute CD (Brown Eyed
Handsome Man, Undertow Records) along
with the Bottle Rockets. The two groups used the same recording
engineer for their selections, and, on the engineer’s
recommendation, the Bottle Rockets contacted Jason Hutto of the
Phonocaptors, looking for a bass player.
“Jason said he knew I’d get the
gig if I auditioned and I shouldn’t pass it up,” says
Voegele of his former bandmate. “We had worked hard on the
Phonocaptors, but this was perfect for me.”
He quickly learned 13 Bottle Rocket tunes and
was offered the job immediately after the May 9 audition.
The Bottle Rockets, with founding member
Brian Henneman as the mainstay, have been around since 1992, when
they sailed into the music world in the wake of alt-country band
Uncle Tupelo. After years of ups and downs in show business, they
recently hired a new manager and agent and re-signed with their
former label, Bloodshot Records of Chicago.
Voegele’s first gig with his new group is
at the Pageant, back in his hometown of St. Louis, on the final night
of Twangfest, one of the most popular and respected Americana-music
festivals in the country. Then it’s off to Europe for shows in
England, Spain, Germany, and other exotic locales.
“Our last show of the tour, we play in
Amsterdam with Lucinda Williams,” says an elated Voegele.
“My wife, Heidi, is flying over for that show; then
we’re going to spend a week and a half as tourists.”
Finally Voegele and his fellow Bottle Rockets
will take off for an American tour in August and September and land
in the recording studio by October.
Good luck, Stingray. We’ll miss you,
and we wish you the very best.
Don’t forget to write.
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2005.
