By Jeff Brown
Senior Staff Writer
The Student Programming Board's Union Unplugged Series continued Tuesday with the Arkansas-based band Ho-Hum. In talking to the band and hearing them live, one can easily assimilate that they are not only extremely laid back, but also extremely funny.
In a pre-concert interview, the band openly discussed their musical roots, naming everyone from Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello as influences.
"The band's been together for almost four years, and we've played all over this country as well as Canada and England," said Lenny Brian, lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the band.
Ho-Hum is well known throughout the South as a strong lyrical band, playing shows at Memphis in May as well as shows with other local talent such as the Kudzu Kings.
"Most of our songs don't last over four minutes. We're just not a jam band like some of the other new bands," said drummer Dave Hoffpauir.
Indeed, their show at the Union contained songs of short duration that were filled with significant lyrical content.
Guitarist Kevin Kerby and bassist Rod Brian make up the rest of the band, which seems to be on the verge of "hitting it big."
Joe Walker of the SPB said that the ability to get bands of Ho-Hum's magnitude is very important. Walker also said that the future of Union Unplugged will include Tuesdays where small, local bands will play followed by Thursdays, featuring larger acts.
The members of Ho-Hum seemed to enjoy the event, even alluding to the fact that nerves were creeping in before the show. Ho-Hum went a different direction with their show, putting on a show that was a little less "unplugged" than most of the previous shows.
The electric guitars went well, however, and the show, which wasn't very long due to the long setup time that the band required, seemed to impress all who attended.
It is impressive to see the SPB booking large bands, and students seem to be attending the shows more and more.
With continued student support, and the SPB's continued efforts to bring quality bands on campus, the Union Unplugged Series could well become a major weekly event.