You're not expecting anything on this particular Wednesday
afternoon other than a reprieve from your workaday malaise. Before you even
round the corner the aroma hits you, a piquant mélange of meditative incense,
savory barbecue, delectable kettle corn, pungent pony dung, and a veritable
cornucopia of fresh herbs, fruits, vegetables, fish, and flowers. A faint waft
of music accompanies it, fading in and out as it tends to at a distance, giving
progressively more clues as to its true sound as you draw closer. You stroll
the quaint gauntlet of vendors, wading through the phalanx of fascinating faces
as you become increasingly excited about the music taking shape in your ears.
Soon you'll have a visual to accompany the amazing sounds that are coalescing
like magic as you anxiously approach.
Suddenly
you find yourself standing in front of the band, taking the full brunt of their
convivial brilliance. You're agog at the synergistic, poly-ethnic groove they
create, their well-employed individual and collective virtuosity, their
genre-hopping élan, their three and four-part vocal harmonies, their ease with
the all-ages crowd cutting a mean rug in front of them, and their memorable,
heartwarming, sometimes whimsical mix of originals and covers. In your
resuscitated spirit you have a vague awareness that this scenario will
eventually take on life altering proportions, a catalytic epiphany that will
reverberate far into the now eagerly awaiting future.
It's the
summer of 2004, the place is the Ocean Beach Farmer's Market, your name is Anne
Tropeano, and you've just seen Tapwater for the first time.
Introductions
Anne took over management of Tapwater almost eight months
after that fateful Wednesday in 2004. She describes such kismet in terms of
what Italians call the "Thunderbolt," and her passion for and subsequent hard
work on behalf of Tapwater have been inspiring to the band and audiences in
turn. At the live shows, the majority of which are booked by her, she's easy to
spot and most likely the first of the entourage you'll meet; tawny, svelte,
raven-haired, sparkly-eyed, and probably smiling, you can usually find her
dancing wantonly amidst the crowds (if she's not passing the email list or
handing out coconut chunks from a tray or lollipops from a small pail, that
is). She makes the face-to-face connection with Tapwater's audiences, gets you
out of your shell, draws you in, seals the deal.
Ravi Laird
(guitar, vocals, percussion, songwriting/arranging) is Tapwater's gruff, jolly
guru/spiritual leader, coming off very much like a Gen X Jerry Garcia or Wavy
Gravy. His life has been all about music from the get-go (what with both
parents having been professional musicians), and Ravi recalls improvising vocal
harmonies with them and younger brother Paavo around age five. Viola was Ravi's
main axe in grade school before switching focus back to vocals at Grossmont
High School, joining the choir and barbershop ensembles, wherein he learned the
rudiments of music theory (and threw down against the Vienna Boys Choir), and
was lead tenor respectively. Of course, the guitar was never far away, and
after music major and recording studies at college, he found himself immersed
in a dual life, producing music festivals with Keeth Mahoogan Productions and
working on film sets to support whatever band endeavor he was involved in at
the time. Ravi is as likely to rip out a guitar solo as Steve Moore, and
sometimes they do killer dual leads like the Allman Brothers.
Steve Moore
(vocals, guitar, banjo, percussion, sampler, songwriting/arranging) remembers
his grandfather and sister playing piano when he was a child and had started
guitar by age 11, branching out to other instruments over time. Steve is
Tapwater's "band monkey," or the member most likely to be playing more than one
instrument over the course of a gig, often while singing lead (which he fell
into by default roughly 10 years ago), and often within a single song. He's the
guy who is usually taking instruments to their limits, is infinitely curious
about music in general, and loves to jam with other people merely for his own
edification and enjoyment. His early influences are vast in scope and quantity
and include the Police, Slayer, Weather Report, the Meters, and the Grateful
Dead, among myriad others. Steve's been in many bands since 15 and although
Tapwater is his main focus, he likes to spread his excess musicality by sitting
in with other groups on different instruments.
Wes Elliott
(electric and upright basses, vocals, songwriting) is the gentle,
self-proclaimed tree-hugging hippie of the bunch. From his general appearance
and demeanor you can easily picture him working in a white-collar yuppie day
job scenario, although he's probably the one who would least enjoy it. Wes
found his way to the bass via the cello, which he started learning at age 10.
By 15 he'd found his four-string axe of rebellion and the groups that would
inspire him in adolescent iconoclasm, including Pink Floyd, the Dead, Phish,
Dave Matthews Band, and some grunge. As time went along he also began writing
things on guitar, and picked up some mature Afro-Cuban influences in the form
of Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Cachao, and Poncho Sanchez. Wes brings
impeccable intonation to his upright, which any bassist will tell you is no
small feat (uprights are not precision-fretted like electrics), and if Tapwater
were a barbershop quartet (which they basically could be and occasionally are!)
he would probably be the guy singing the low notes (although he can sing the
high ones too).
Tim Jones
(vocals, keyboards, accordion) grew up in Indio, summered in Solana Beach, and
moved to San Diego full time in 2004. Tim's keyboard chops were honed by
formative years of classical study, a stint at Musician's Institute in L.A.,
and through the emulation of influences like the Doors, Muddy Waters, Allman
Brothers, the Dead, and, later on, Phish. His groove came out as a teen tasting
his first live band experiences in Chocolate Phis (Piss intentionally
misspelled), and the professional restaurant gig that had him doing covers five
nights a week. Tim is one of those scant keyboardists who can play a groove and
not have it sound "white" (read square or cheesy) and has the kind of chops and
feel that would do Dr. John proud. He's been at vocals just as long as keys, if
not longer; he used to do talent shows as a youngster, and sang in
Disney-oriented musicals (like Mary Poppins and Peter Pan) as part of a group
called the Incredible Comedy Kids. Tim's the reserved one in the band until you
get to know him better, mainly to keep his big heart safe until you gain his
trust.
History
Steve Moore was at the heart of the earliest incarnation of
Tapwater, A Little Moore Ware, which was an amalgamation of the three members'
last names (with Brad Little and Eric Ware). They performed at the first Keeth
Mahoogan Spring Jubilee festival that Ravi produced in 1994 (a mainstay in the
set called Spring Jubilee came out of that experience).
Many
members and band names came and went, and by 2003 Ravi and Wes had joined and
they'd decided on Tapwater. They were pleased with the name's implied ubiquity
(since tap water can be found virtually anywhere) and with the name in place,
Ravi's aforementioned brother Paavo came in on keys. Anne had become manager by
this time and she brought in her brother Mark Tropeano to take over on drums.
Sometime in
2005, Crystal Rose Tay came on board as assistant manager and boosted the
collective energy with her combustible spirit, clutch stage-tech/roadie
assistance, and boundless enthusiasm for the group and their music (you could
usually see her gracefully, ebulliently flailing about on the dance floor with
Anne when not needed by the group).
Hemming-and-hawing
ambivalence over dismissing Paavo humorously delayed Tim Jones's entry into the
band (Tapwater had, after all, placed that keyboardist wanted ad in the
Reader), but once the commitment was made it was obvious that the permanent
keyboardist had been found.
In 2006, frustrated
with San Diego's chronically distracted populace and general lack of enthusiasm
for their genre, Tapwater embarked on their first U.S. tour, covering both
coasts and a few interior states in a recently acquired Winnebago. Anne had the
band going above and beyond on the road, busking as much as they could between
the club shows on their "official" itinerary. That was when what they call
"Traveling Tapwater" developed, the highly mobile all-acoustic format that
allows them to set up, perform, and tear down like guerrilla gypsies (in case
the law–or anyone else disapproving–takes umbrage). The promising reception of
both live formats while on tour reinvigorated the group and made it
emphatically evident that Tapwater was a live band destined for the road.
After the
2006 tour, Crystal Rose was let go (you can still see her dancing ebulliently
at local shows), and Mark Tropeano was dismissed on the eve of a months-long
2007 tour, which raised a dilemma: how were they going to swing it without the
rhythmic presence that is so crucial to their sound? With insufficient time to
break in a new drummer before hitting the road, they turned to "Traveling
Tapwater" for the solution: they would do the tour on acoustic instruments,
with each member incorporating a strong rhythmic element into their playing
whenever possible. After an initial adjustment period, this modified approach
came through with flying colors. It also did something positive to their group
dynamic, both on and off-stage; it unified them as a tighter entertaining unit
by fostering their onstage banter, presence and enthusiasm, thereby increasing
their success on the road.
Present
Tapwater just recorded and released their third album, Dirt
Road Rendezvous (reviewed this issue), a priceless souvenir of this recent
"Traveling Tapwater" period. They came off the road early this winter with more
than they bargained for: The impetus to cut this momentous live record in 13
hours, and, during the Northern California leg of the tour, they had met the dual
rhythm section of Simon (drums, percussion) and Rudy (percussion), who as of
this writing have just arrived in San Diego to begin their new lives in
Tapwater. The band will be hard at work integrating the new recruits and
redefining their sound once again, getting Simon and Rudy up to speed via local
shows until around May when they hit the road for their summer/fall U.S. tour.
Destiny
Tapwater just wants to be able to do what they
love—comfortably and sustainably touring the world—for a living, while simultaneously
making a positive difference in the communities they visit. In Anne's own
words, Tapwater sees themselves "as part band, part business, part
nonprofit...Because our sound is so diverse, we attract people of all ages and
backgrounds. Our goal is to harness this ability to build and empower a kind,
motivated community to make a big difference in our country. We donate free
shows to groups who we think really need it; we have played women's shelters,
convalescent homes, and nonprofits for the mentally and physically
challenged...Our vision is for Tapwater to be a premier community resource,
just like what comes out of your sink. We aim to connect every household
together, lift up their spirits, and work to create the world that we all know
is possible."