Jack Lavin left the Powder Blues to create more devilish sounds with the Checkered Demons

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON SEPT. 16, 1983

By Steve Newton

There were a number of reasons for his leaving the Powder Blues, says bassist Jack Lavin, younger brother of that group’s lead vocalist/guitarist Tom Lavin.

“For one thing,” he says, “touring was very hard on me. And there was the fact that I had written a lot of songs that just did not fall into the format of the Powder Blues. I felt that after the last album [Party Line] it seemed to be coming very pop. But not pop in the demonic sense; it was becoming sweet pop–things like “Sooner or Later”–and it was very hard tor me to perform them with any true feeling because that is not the music that I formed the Powder Blues with in mind. And I want to get back to something that means more to me.”

While he admits that the Powder Blues were “a magnificent vehicle” for a lot of his songs, Lavin feels much more at home musically with his new outfit, the Checkered Demons. Comprised of original PB drummer Brady Gustafson, guitarist Tim Hearsey, keyboardist Mike Kalanj, and 22-year-old Montreal singer Tassi Dias, the group plays easily danceable, semi-sweet but not sugar-coated blues.

There were some poppy moments during the band’s set last week at Mephisto’s on Davie, but it’s obvious–when one hears Kalanj and Hearsey soloing madly over Lavin and Gustafson’s rhythm–that the blues is the heart of the matter. And when raven-haried Dias starts to shake, her presence is not easily lost on the males in the crowd.

“Tassi has been sitting in on my stages over the past seven years,” says Lavin during a break in the lobby of the Miramar Hotel. “And I thought to myself, ‘Who could really add the sparkle?’ I figured I could use her talents more effectively in my trip–featuring her heavily as the dynamo ball-of-fire vocalist to pull the show together.

“Also, after years and years of playing wth all-male horn bands and from going to David Bowie concerts, I see that music is becoming more of a total assault on the senses-and you’ve got to give something for everybody. All the women in the audience love it because there’s lots of men onstage to look at. But for the men in the audience there’s usually nothing. And I thought I’d give them something real nice [chuckles].”

So Lavin’s Checkered Demons are not only a pleasure for the ears–they’re fun to watch as well. Although the bad is only eight weeks old, they’ve tightened up quick, and the subtle onstage antics between Lavin and Dias add a humorous touch to the good-timing sounds.

But there’s nothing demonic about the group, and the only things checkered are Lavin’s Fender bass and the button he wears on hs lapel. So what’s with the name?

“My favourite comic character of all time was the Checkered Demon,” explains Lavin. “from the comic series out of Ripoff Press. And when I was down in San Francisco we used to sit around and read these filthy, semi-pornographic comic books. The Checkered Demon sort of looks like a cross between a pig and a Martian, and he wears checkered pants and motorcycle boots and walks around with a spanner in his hand saying all these wild one-liners and goosing ladies and stuff like that.

“Number one, I thought–the Checkered Demons! If they ever played in California anywhere they’d generate a whole lot of hub-bub, and the right kind of audience–that pot-smoking, party-hearty kind of people that I want to play for. Number two, checks and stripes and polka dots and everthimg are becoming very popular right now, and if people are wearing checkers they can relate to a band called the Checkered Demons.”

Blues fashion may be a step behind the new music and rockabilly looks pervading local clubs, but the odd “Blues Brother”–wearing baggy black, shades, and fedora–can be seen around town. And according to Lavin, who looks quite the bluesman himself, there are a fair number of players too.

“There’s quite a pleasing amount of blues happenings,” he says, “although I really miss seeing the true blues giants–the innovators and the people who made the music. Thank God for clubs like the Ankor and the Commodore that occasionally bring them in.”

Lavin has played with his share of the “giants”, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, and Mike Bloomfield are just a few of them. And do you think he checked out the legendary Willie Dixon when he was in town two weeks ago?

“You betcha,” Lavin declares, “I spoke with him. He was just dynamite. He had Carey Bell on harp–one of my all-time favourites.

“Willie Dixon would have to be the very first guy I’d mention as an influence. The cuts that took my heart right away were some of the early Muddy Waters and Little Walter stuff that he played on.”

Lavin recalls the time–after a long night of playing and an even longer airplane flight–when he and brother Tom took the opportunity to jam with two of their favourites.

“One evening, after a Commodore Halloween, we decided to that we were going to San Francisco. When we got there it was 14 hours later and we both had a pair of the splittingest headaches you could imagine.

“But we heard some music and it was Mike Bloomfield and Mark Naftalin–just the two of them. And they had no bass or drums, but there was stuff on the stage, so we jumped up there and sat in.

And Barry Melton [from Country Joe and the Fish] was at another club club down the street! So this was our cup of tea–we like just going from club to club and playing.”

While Lavin believes the blues scene in Vancouer to be a a healthy one, he doesn’t think it compares to the one in Toronto. And he suspects that musicians in the east may take a different approach to their trade than those on the West Coast.

“For one thing,” he points out, “Toronto has a lot of very successful blues bands. There’s Cameo, Hound Dog, King Biscuit Boy, Dutch Mason, and of course Downchild. And there’s a number of lesser bands.

“But the players over there–while there’s more clubs to play in–also seem hungrier. They have that Eastern/American attitude like ‘I eat music’. Here we have a little milder climate, and I think that has something to do with the fact that we don’t have these very aggressive, very powerful blues bands happening.”

But what about all the rain we get here? Isn’t that enough to bring out the blues in budding musicians?

“That’s interesting,” responds Lavin with a hearty laugh, “though when you consider that the blues evolved in the Mississippi Delta–where it’s pretty nice and warm all the time…

“I think that Vancouver, the Pacific Northwest in general, has traditonally been very partial to Black music. From the sixties–where you couldn’t play unless you played soul music or R&B–right up until this day it has been passed through a couple of generations and permeated our society.”

And that’s all right with Jack Lavin. Because you know the CARAS Award-winning bassist means it when he says, in a joyful tone: “I love the blues.”

Jack Lavin’s Checkered Demons will be performing at Darby D. Dawes on Friday and Saturday (September 30 and 31).

To read over 100 of my interviews with local Vancouver musicians since 1983, go here.