A
cliché becomes a cliché because it has some measure of
immeasurable truth. Rock music is big. It is larger than life. Therefore,
a rock cliché is borne out of something greater than your garden-variety
recurring instance. Hangman's Daughter is a rock cliché. They
moved to LA and lived in their van. In LA, they played all the clubs
you play, and received critical acclaim. In LA, they hooked up with
an eccentric benefactor who helped move the band along. Love has been
lost, and love has been gained. Bass players have come and bass players
have gone, but Sherrie Phillips, Chris Isola, and Matt Isola have endured
the rock cliché. Three years ago, they found their bass player,
Steven Winter. Hangman's Daughter had found it's sound.With all the
pieces in place, they picked up their rock cliché and moved it
to a country music town !?
In Nashville,
the band has flourished. They met producer Scott Rouse, who is one of
those mad-scientist genius types who can listen to something and intuitively
tell you what it needs. He listened to Hangman's Daughter's music and
worked with them recording, arranging, shaping, and fattening it. The
result is something that reminds one of No Doubt, Aerosmith, and at
times a little Stones for good measure. Sherrie Phillips prowls the
stage with a rock prowess that also reminds one of Steven Tyler, Mick
Jagger, and some Janis Joplin thrown in. Her live performance has cojones.
Her vocal ability, use of wide range, and brilliant phrasing take already
great songs to a heightened place. A place where Hangman's Daughter
now lives. A year ago this would be where the bio would say the band
is poised for success, but that just isn't true anymore.
Hangman's Daughter
is going after success and attaining it. Releasing an album (Whips and
Daisy Chains), featured songs in feature films (Pretty Little Things
in Filmstar's "Getting Hal", October 2001), an impending domestic
tour (September '01-December '01), and increasing international prospects
are keeping the band on their toes. They are living the rock cliché.
The saga continues. The van is still around. Now it faithfully hits
the road. Where the beds once were, are now shiny amps, guitars, and
drums from endorsers betting that the band's success will help sell
more gear. Where the portable solar camping shower once was stored,
they now store the boxes of new CD's and swag that the band is betting
will help them continue to live the cliché. Major success is
on the horizon, but for now the band is enjoying the packed 400 seaters
knowing that something bigger is their destiny, but also knowing that
someday they will miss the van, the fans close enough to grab Sherrie's
feet onstage, and seeing the fans hair blown back on the first chord
of "The P.I.G.", and the tears in their eyes on the closing
notes of "Oblivious". True they will miss that, but they will
surely enjoy the culmination of the cliché: rock stardom.
1
The Nashville
Scene; Nashville; June 20, 2001
2
The City Paper, Nashville; June 18, 2001
