Elk Attack: A New Callaboration

[iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ErTE68GbX34" height="315px" width="420px"]By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)Jackson Hole, Wyo. - A band’s chemistry is of mathematical intricacies. Ebbs and flows that evolve over time.  So when, right out of the gate, a group of musicians concoct a sound that would fit squarely in the undercurrent of artistic indie-folk/pop/rock bands (ala Seattle’s The Head and The Heart or Denver’s The Lumineers), it’s a pleasure to learn that the seed was planted—and now quickly maturing—here in Jackson.Meet Elk Attack: Bo Elledge (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Dustin Nichols-Schmolze (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Gabrielle Jackson Kouchacji (vocals, violin), John Wayne Harris, Jr. (drums), and Adam Woolley (bass).I was invited to hang with the band in its living room-vibed practice space, located in the basement of St. John’s Episcopal Church. A ping-pong and a foosball table surround the cozy staging area as Elk Attack casually progresses through a batch of original songs that will be featured on the band’s forthcoming, debut EP. The poetic tunes possess beauty, restraint, three-part vocal harmonies, and yes, attack.The roots of the project began a couple of years ago as Kouchacji and Schmolze started performing at the Jackson Hole Hootenanny as a duo. This past summer they met Elledge, who had just moved to town and had some songs in his back pocket. In fact, that pocket produced low-fi Garageband recordings that caught the attention of The Boston Phoenix, which named Elledge’s solo project (bocat.bandcamp.com) in its 50 States/50 Best New Bands of 2011 coverage. That recognition inspired Elledge to find like-minded players, and give the songs more of an ensemble treatment.“The three of us started preparing songs for the Hoot,” Schmolze said. “We did covers at first, and then Bo introduced his songs to me, and I had a lot of songs that I had been writing, too. I guess the way that it worked is that we would combine our songs together. He would come up with a progression and lyrics, and I would come up with a good bridge, or a hook, or a vamp to add to it.”During the last off-season, the trio secured Harris and his housemate Woolley to hold down the rhythm section. Elk Attack became a collaborative of two North Carolinians, a ‘Bama native, a Georgian, and even an outcast northerner from Massachusetts. As the band sat around chatting about the music they grew up on as well as contemporary influences, props were given to Wilco, My Morning Jacket and M. Ward to The Beatles, and even to the jazz-funk artists like Soulive and Snarky Puppy. It was evident that, while most of the band had previous experience with collaborating, Elk Attack is a movement into new territory for everyone.Woolley perhaps summed up the vibe best when he said, “Just being in this band has been a big influence on me. These guys are so talented and this is my first real band, so I’m just taking it all in stride.” I looked over at Elledge, and his shirt coincidentally read, “First Time Ever.”When fishing for a definitive answer on how the band got its name, Elledge only warned: “An Elk is a peaceful animal, but it can getcha.”Elk Attack’s debut performance with the current band configuration, 10 p.m., Monday, Feb. 13, at Eleanor’s. The EP will be released in late February. To hear three downloadable demo tracks, visit ElkAttack.BandCamp.com.  tags: jackson hole show music musician live band singer songwriter nightlife concerts wyoming center arts photographer planet teton venues screen door porch boondocks guitar cd reviews