The Third Fret Fan Website

The show on my porch was a beautiful thing. i was so happy that so many people came out and made it such a happy and hard-rocking experience. The Deep Six were awesome and their attitudes totally added to the spirit of the evening. Quick story...my mom had a long conversation with Ryan and told me about it later. It seems like when The Deep Six heard about the idea of the show, how it was a high school band breaking up prior to moving away to college, they figured that it would be a kegger or something of the like. When they walked in and saw out coolers filled with soda and water, and then conversed with us and realized why we were here (the music), they were happily surprised. i was warmed that i could show some of the people that i look up to and respect in my music community that the spirit hasn't left the kiddies. Anyway, i really loved The Deep Six's set, and (if i can still remember) their D-Plan cover. And Third Fret's last show was as perfect as it could have been--them rocking out with friends in my house. I'm sad and happy at the same time. Thanks to everyone for respecting my house and each other, and for making the show such a great experience. Thanks especially to my mom, my cousin christopher, and all others who helped to make the show happen.

So, um...Third Fret seems to play some of its best shows in the Goldman basement. And the shows keep getting better and better. The Third Fret BBQ was sweet. If you saw me afterwards, shirt soaked through with sweat, you'd know. Just a great vibe with lots of friends and rocking out. i needed that. So the set was pretty much as expected, with mostly new stuff (all the stuff from the demo and the mp3 site, as well as two new songs, Business as Usual and a song about the E R Door...has Sam actually been reading Ian MacKaye's lyrics like i've been bugging him?...). CCR was covered once again, and Third Fret revisited Routine with an interesting new softer twist on the first chorus. The coda of the planned set was Another War with its awesome built-to ending, and then, Abbey Road style, right into a slow, loud, grungy version of Her Majesty's a Pretty Nice Girl. Totally out of the blue and perfect.
Inevitably, we talked the guys into a lengthy "encore," which consisted of an amazingly tight version of Punk Radio (considering Third Fret probably hasn't practiced it in a long time) and three very crowd involved covers, Blueprint, I Come from the Water, and Where's My Mind. i'm not going to be able to describe the awesomeness, so i'll just leave it there. Thanks to Sam, Chris, and Julian for the show and all you people for showing up and making it rock.

The demo recording session was pretty cool. Third Fret recorded 6 new(ish) songs, called Red Glow, Another War, Honking at Pedestrians, Descent, Modern Man, and Below the Din. I had heard Red Glow and Honking at Pedestrians before (and many of y'all have as well, if you've been at recent shows), and already knew their radicality. Another War has a very interesting slowed down ending after some serious outwardly rocking in the beginning (and Third Fret plays it differently at shows--quite awesome). Below the Din just grooves at the beginning, has an awesome bass solo, and goes crazy by and by. Descent is kindof chill in its craziness... and I still haven't heard the recording of Modern Man. The lyrics are not nearly as trite as they have been...all my ribbing has brought some results. All in all, Third Fret has gone in a new direction song-writing-wise, and it is quite good. Whatever drove Sam to write at such a pace should be commended.
As for the recording, the studio was a pretty cool little place in the engineer, Jack's, basement, with a very decent mic/acoustic situation and a nice 24 track digital board. Quality was sweet, and the energy was back from plode and cows--albiet with a bit more talent. (Sam and i have been discussing stuff and stuff, and believe that what drew me, and possibly others, to cows and plode was the raw energy that Third Fret exudes when they perform live. When one records an album track-at-a-time, as The Vault was, one inevitably loses energy. At this studio, Third Fret could keep the energy without sacrificing quality. Quite crucial.
Third Fret is currently trying to pass this demo around to get gigs. It rocks hard, so i would think people would want them. i, however, own no club.

Third Fret was:

Sam Goldman: Vocals, Guitar
Chris Kallmyer: Bass, Vocals (this changed based on performance at peace festival)
Julian Goldman: Drums, Vocals

Their music? It grew into a much more fugazi/most secret method/faraquet influenced thing over time, but i'll leave the original description below for posterity:

Well, i'd call it something of a punk/grunge rock type thing. The band recently classified it as Weezer on fire meets STP. This was revised to Weezer on fire kicks the living s*** out of G**d Ch*rlo*te. Why the stars? well, if i am going to have to censor s***, then i sure as hell am going to censor G**d Ch*rlo*te. i mean, if you had a band, would you rather be called s*** or G**d Ch*rlo*te? i thought so. And, less importantly, how can s*** live?

Some Interesting History

Recordings

All the lyrics, tracklisting, and album art is here.

The Cows Labor Union of America, an 8 song EP recorded on a 4 track analog machine, was their first release.

Plode, an 8 song 1 rant EP recorded on the same 4 track analog (albeit with a slightly better mix), is their second release.

Ass Concerto in D Minor, a 3 song demo recorded on the beautiful Boss BR-8 Digital Recording Studio. This was only sold (to my knowledge) at the first Third Fret filled Musicfest.

The Vault was the first full length. It was recorded with the assistance of Fil and i. We both helped scream, and i held a box to make the bass bassier and helped mixing by saying, "yeah, that mix sounds pretty good." Download it and some other stuff here.

Building an Empire was the second and final full length. Part of it was the demo recording session discussed above, and the other part was recorded at the Goldman residence in the weeks leading up to the last show. It's sweet. Download it here.

Past Gigs

Well, i'm an ass, and i missed quite a few Third Fret shows, including one with the Capitol City Dusters at the Maid that, i'm told, rocked so hard, it knocked out Kevin Collins. i dunno--i was drugged up and in the hospital after having surgery on my shattered left radius. While i'm feeling sorry for myself, once again, for missing that show, i'll tell you about some past shows...

The anti-war show on the mall...ROCKED. Parking...sucked. Planning of the show...sucked. The poets usurping the mic when they could have talked after the bands...sucked. The guy with the sign saying "Honk if hippies suck"...sucked(although he did provide us with a funny moment). But once Third Fret finally took the stage (and the mix was provided with bass halfway through the first song), it was all good. It was worth hanging around doing nothing for three hours, and it was worth missing most of West Side Story. Third Fret rocked hard and loud across the mall for a good 15 minutes, and the people loved it.
Something really cool in particular: a guy who said he was Lyle Preslar(Minor Threat's guitarist)'s brother came up to me halfway through the set and said, "I love this stuff." Hot diggity damn.
Anyway, Third Fret played a bunch of new stuff, including (as i recall) Red Glow, Descent, Honking at Peds, Another War (obviously), and two i hadn't heard before. They also awesomely covered Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son. Perfect for the venue, and quite well done. Chris, indeed, has more of a voice than i ever give him credit for. Well, that made my weekend. Thanks to all who showed up and to Tommy Long for his kick pedal, ride, and crash.

Kewl EP Party: Well, we recorded this one, so i have proof that it kicked arse. The atmosphere was pretty sweet--lots of friends, green christmas-tree lights, and not one but two seperate Third Fret performances. They started out with two oldies but goodies, and then launched into the EP, the premise of the evening: the eight songs that are new since The Vault, all packed into a 19 minute burst of tight, hard ferocity. Quite impressive, and i feel pretty crappy that the minidisc skipped on the last two tracks. Then, quite necessarily, they took a break.
The second set was completely unplanned, and was wonderful in a completely different way. Between covers of Blueprint (god, what a sweet way to open), I Come From The Water, Hey Jude, Where's My Mind, and Take Five, Third Fret mixed requested Third Fret songs. And i wasn't the only one to request them. Well damn. you give control. my sweetness. yeah.

SGR Spectacular: Well, due to the fact that i was busy getting my ass handed to me in ice hockey, all i saw was the hardcore band (whose name escapes me), third fret, and that awful reggae/ska band...The hardcore band was pretty cool...except for Arman telling me to try to stop people from moshing. What is hardcore without moshing? Good energy anyway. Third Fret came on and played a tight little 10 min set, capped off with an awesome jazz-type cover that appeared to be written for much softer instruments (dave brubeck's take five). TF started it slow, rocked it hard a little, and then brought it back to its roots. (i'm silly, ain't i?) And the stupid band sucked. I am biased. Oh well.

The Electric Maid: What a perfect place for a show. MACSD was...well...wow. Quite good. The Wallet Inspectors were loud, and somewhat crazy, but i think that they needed to play more weezer and living end covers like they did when Sam, Julian and i (among others) saw them at UMD. And Third Fret brought the house down. The pixies cover sticks out in my mind as being especially wonderful and loved by the packed house, but the entire set was pretty damn good. My favorite part would have to be when, as I Know was starting up in its soft manner, i warned various people around me that we were about to start moshing. They looked at me kinda funny, but just then the second half of the song destroyed the first half, and chaos reigned. Ah, chaos. An amazing, uplifting show.

The Kahler Hall show totally rocked! Third Fret kicked some serious ass, Sam didn't forget (any obvious) lyrics, the mix was just about perfect (mike, you rock), and the crowd actually sang along to slammin' west! Some damn good moshing--thanks to all you crazy guys who were going crazy with me. According to people (and not just me), this was the best Third Fret show to date.

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Last updated 9/21/03