FourFour members of Murfreesboro music
group Juan Prophet Organization sit gathered around a table at a local coffeehouse,
sipping frothy, caffeine-laden beverages, sharing chocolate covered coffee
beans and enjoying each other's company.
Siblings Kris and Grayson White, Josh Foreman
and Jeff Holt are more than just members of the same band; they are also friends.
All hail from the storm-ravaged areas of Louisiana, and Kris, Grayson, and
Josh have been buddies since the seventh grade.
Today the friends, along with band mates
Matt Crisafi and David Jellema, make up Juan Prophet Organization, one of
the most prolific and established bands
in the Murfreesboro music scene.
The band plans to celebrate the future and
its history Saturday with the release of its third CD, "The Carrot and
the Stick." A CD release party will kick off at 10pm at Wall Street.
"We're going to play two-and-a-half
sets," says Josh of the impending show, as he munches on a chocolate-covered
coffee bean. "The first set will be a set of songs from past albums.
The next set will be the entire new album, and the third set will be our future
stuff."
However, band members say attendees at the
show will be treated to more than great music.
"We're going to have interpretative
dancers," says Kris. "We built risers for them and everything. We
have a comedian, Troy Blackwood, to entertain between sets.
"And we want to encourage everyone to
come out in costume," adds Grayson.
Costumes are implements the band holds in
high regard. Members feel dressing up adds a festive atmosphere to their shows.
"We try and do something aesthetically
different every time," says Grayson. "It seems fitting for us to
be on stage in costume."
"We really enjoy being theatrical,"
adds Josh. "It lets the audience know we aren't tring to half do anything.
We used to carry a bubble machine, and we used to carry a fog machine."
"I hate the bubble machine," injects
Kris.
With instrumentation that includes clarinet,
cornet, accordion, violin, piano, and glockenspiel, in addition to more traditional
rock band instruments including guitar, bass, keyboard and drums, the Juan
Prophet Organization has much more going for it than an original live show.
"We're a little out of the ordinary,"
explains Grayson.
"We're jazz- and klezmer-influenced,
spin-out rock with a touch of classical," fills in her brother. (Klezmer
is a Jewish style of music)
"We've never been ones to limit ourselves,'
adds Josh. "We like to keep it fresh."
JPO's "The Carrot and the Stick"
reflects the band's distaste of boundaries. The CD features vast instrumentation
and a combination of genres that run from Celtic-influenced to reminiscent
of New Orleans street music.
Band members say it took more than two years
to assemble the record and it wouldn't have been possible at all without the
generosity of area recording studios and their engineers.
"We used 30 minutes of studio time here
and there when people had openings," recalls Jeff. "We recorded
it at various houses in this town and a few studios that we can't mention.
We had it mastered at Georgetown."
"The production and recording is a big
step up," adds Grayson.
"It sounds better than the other CDs,"
continues Jeff. "The packaging is nice."
"We put more time and money into this
one," finishes Josh.
When it comes to favorite songs from "The
Carrot and the Stick," most members say they couldn't possibly pick one.
They just hope Saturday night's crowd at Wall Street likes them all.
"Maybe we will even break out the bubble
machine (for this show)," concedes Kris.