If you haven't caught them yet, Nick Lutsko's new song and accompanying video are worth the listen and watch. You can see the video for "Sideshow" and hear a short interview with him as part of our weekly Music Wednesdays show here or on the Chattanooga Times Free Press Facebook page.
Lutsko and Strung Like a Horse are two of this area's more promising acts with a chance to break out and become more than local favorites. Both are slated to have new records out around the same time in the fall. I learned many years ago that trying to attach an exact date to an album release is a fool's errand. So many things can happen to delay the release, but keep an ear out for both.
Anyway, Lutsko said during our talk that the video was shot in the Pigeon Forge area at a farm with Justin Cipriani, a high school friend of his, directing. Cipriani also works with AC Entertainment doing video production work with festivals like Bonnaroo, Moon River and Forecastle.
He also directed Lutsko's two previous videos, "Grinning Like a Barricuda."
The former was shot in the singer's parents' garage with the help of friends, who helped make the puppets and sets. The latter was done in his backyard, again with the help of friends and family.
"At the time it seemed like one of the biggest things I'd ever done," Lutsko said of "Predator."
With each, both he and Cipriani were advancing their skills and furthering their careers, Lutsko said. You see that in "Sideshow," with bigger and better production and storytelling.
"We wanted to go all out and invest some money, get the right location and the right crew," Lutsko said.
Bandmates Adam Brown played drums and mixed and mastered the song. Jon Elliot played sax and arranged the horns, while Lutsko's brother Jacob played xylophone, and Eric Parham starred and played bass and vocals. The Cattywampus Puppet Council cat house out of Knoxville donated big puppet heads.
Lutsko said the song is about "willful ignorance" and is "about people who are oblivious to the damage they are doing. That can be about what you put into your body to the relationships you have to government and politics. It's a really vague, big thing."
Some will interpret that as finger-pointing against whatever side you choose, but it is really about "our willingness to tolerate it."
"The line 'I'm sick of sitting at the sideshow,' like I could sit here all day and not do anything, but what are you really doing about it?"
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.