Fri. Oct. 12

 “I’m 57, I live out on Cape Cod, and I don’t know what’s going on in the real world,” says singer-songwriter Chandler Travis. Which sort of explains
“Tarnation & Alastair Sim,” the new 48-track (!) disc by the Chandler Travis Philharmonic, its first in five years. Is this sprawling mix of pop, psychedelia, jazz and more Travis’s “Sandinista!”? He laughs and says, “It’s more akin to the Grateful Dead’s ‘Anthem of the Sun,’ the album that’s a mash-up of a bunch of stuff. There are only ten or twelve real songs – most of these are little segue-ways and patches. One track is silent, and one is mostly silent, except for a fart and a ringing phone.” The ringing phone comes after a long silent stretch. “It’s done completely to irritate,” says Travis. “What’s wrong about that?”
      Travis – a longtime fixture on the scene, who doubles as the Incredible Casuals front-man – decided on “Tarnation” not to worry himself about public perception. “This is the album,” he says, “where we did everything wrong. It’s giving myself the longest leash in the world and running with it. I’m just having fun. I think musicians work best when they’re not trying to second-guess the marketplace. You don’t want to put people off – usually – but this time we’re thrown down the gauntlet. This one’s a challenge and I hope it’s a fun one. I love when people put out something sprawling. I worry when people get pretentious. This is playful, rather than pretentious.” You’ll see Travis – he’ll be the bearded guy in the pajamas and bathrobe – and his eight mates in the Philharmonic on stage at the Lizard Lounge Friday Oct. 12. (Note: A version of this item ran in the Boston Phoenix May 17 edition.)  Adding punch to the bill: John Powhida International Airport and Amy Fairchild. Gets going around 9, cover $10. Oh, this week we asked Travis to give us his thoughts on the state of the current Philharmonic. Please hit "read more"

Chandler Travis' update on the Philharmonic:
"The Chandler Travis Philharmonic has not played in the Boston area since the last time they played in the Boston area, an absence heartily endorsed by 8 out of 5 mental doctors and the American Council on Plummeting, all of whom are furiously trying to develop an appropriate vaccine. In the interim, Chandler has been fine-tuning his next solo album, "Chandler Travis Eats a Horse", which, with any luck, we hope will not be available, ever, anytime, at local outlets and fisheries.Rarely has the local seen scene anyone go so far so fast, nor been this grateful they weren't still here!This wacky, devil-may-care coven of quite old people will be tuning up for their Lizard performance with a show at Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction in New York City the night before (Thursday, October 11th), an experience the club is not expected to survive by more than a few days. Their repertoire at the Lizard will be made up almost entirely of mambos, frolics, and Morris dances, with an occasional ox-like grrrnntt. Rob Conery of the Cape Cod Chronicle raves that the Philharmonic "...sounds like you've duct-taped blown 1985 Walkman speakers to your head and had a drunken rhinoceros push you on a rope swing," and we know you'll agree!"