THE EXTRAORDINAIRES > Sessions

The Extraordinaires do something I can’t imagine many other bands with punk mentalities doing.

The Extraordinaires do something I can’t imagine many other bands with punk mentalities doing. Before they go out on the road for a tour, everybody in the band—guitarist/singer Jay Purdy, bassist/singer Matt Gibson, lead guitarist/singer Justin Wolf, and drummer Peter Hurd—hole up in the Philly offices of their label Punk Rock Payroll and hand-make the silk-screen cloth-covered, hard-bound “books” that have accompanied each of their releases, 2006’s Ribbons of War and Short Stories, and, most recently Electric and Benevolent. Purdy, the group’s principal songwriter, tells us Electric and Benevolent centers its lens on “electricity and immigration” in early American history. Come to think of it, with their Zappa-like arrangements and ornate storytelling, The Extraordinaires aren’t really very punk at all. But they are sure D.I.Y. as all hell.

When they arrive at our office in Nashville on an asphalt-cooking-hot day in June, their van has just barely made it to town, almost breaking down about 30 miles outside the city. After a week of tour, a few shows, zero showers, and zero A/C in the van, their beards are already the sizes of shipwrecked sailors’. In fact, Ribbons of War even recounts the tale of a sailing vessel and crew whose captain falls for an Amelia Earhart-type female pilot in an entertainingly ambiguous period setting. In the captain’s opening remarks to the maritime rock opera, Purdy could just as easily be referring to a bunch of dudes on tour when he sings “You may have noticed one small trend—all the members that I mentioned are men/And though I love this crew it’s a lonely situation every night…”

Not surprisingly, The Extraordinaires put on somewhat of a spectacle of a performance too—with their fish-painted guitars, interactive vocal harmonies and dynamic playing—and have notched to their belt two tours in support of Man Man and two appearances at Barcelona’s Primavera festival. In the office session at American Songwriter, they wipe the sweat off their brows, bust out the fish nylon-string, and borrow an acoustic guitar and bass amp to play a stripped-down set. It includes song requests from Ribbons and Short Stories, one song off the new album, and one new song written and sung by bassist Matt Gibson, and the band run through them before boarding the ship again for the next destination of Summer Tour ‘09.

The Extraordinaires live recording session at American Songwriter was engineered by Steve Martin.

The Extraordinaires performances from our office were captured by videographer Shawn Kornhauser.

The Extraordinaires – Consummation of Lights from Kornman on Vimeo.

The Extraordinaires-Seeds of Jealousy from Kornman on Vimeo.