Jeff Calder – Rad/ATL

On Thurs., Dec. 4, David J Haskins of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets fame joins Kevn Kinney of Drivin’ N Cryin,’ and the Hot Place for an evening of songs, spoken words, and sonic revelry at Electron Garden Studios.

For one night only, each act brings their signature wavelenghth of Southern-gothic glow and post-punk introspection to the intimate confines of Electron Gardens in Avondale Estates’ Rail Arts District.

Lisa King of the Hot Place sets the night in motion reading selections from her book of poetry, Dark Queens and Their Quarry: Boneshadows of Motherskin. Framed by hand percussion and the crackling intimacy of her voice, King will read poems that drift between dream logic and ancestral hauntings, dovetailed by an atmospheric backdrop created by sound artist Penny Courtney.

From there, bass player and vocalist King leads the Hot Place—a trio filled out by guitarists Jeff Calder (the Swimming Pool Q’s) and Mike Lynn—delving into a set pulling equally from the shimmering noir-indie pop of the group’s debut LP, The Language of Birds, and the crystalline tension of their 2023 self-titled LP. They’ll slip in a few freshly minted numbers as well as a cover or two—songs that glide between post-punk minimalism and melodic spells sharpened by years of collaboration and collective experience.

Drivin’ N Cryin’ frontman Kevn Kinney follows with a solo set that delivers the kind of stripped down and intimate performance that’s become his signature each time he steps outside the band’s rock ‘n’ roll roar. Kevn’s solo sets take shape like opening a notebook that’s filled with decades of road stories—funny, bruised, wandering, mystical, and deeply human.

Capping the evening, David J, founding bass player of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets, threads poetry, storytelling, and songs from across his vast catalog into a singular performance.

Each number floats like a lantern through a library of obsessions: goth punk standards, solo deep cuts, and hymns of romance and ruin. And yes—expect a few beloved Bauhaus and Love and Rockets classics to work their way into the set as well.

$50. 7 p.m. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

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Returning with their first new offering since 2019, the Hot Place’s latest single, “Hell, Highwater, or Sunlight” is a supernatural blues number steeped in the dark and folkloric imagery of a metaphorical wild hunt.

The song features David J of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets playing harmonica, illustrating an abstract tale that’s a bit spookier than any of the Hot Place’s previous releases. “Hell, Highwater, or Sunlight” was, however, unveiled on Halloween night, just in time for Samhain to kick off November’s enchanted witching season.

Singer and bass player Lisa King wrote the lyrics for the song in the midst of a sudden and tumultuous thunderstorm that swept over the city on a night before David J was playing a show at Little Tree Art Studios in June of 2017. King recalls the evening: “I was at Leon’s Full Service in Decatur, and the trees were hitting the window in a really spooky way, like skeletons. The moon was out, clouds were moving by fast in the sky. I started writing lyrics to this blues song we had, and I imagined being in the woods.”

David J at Electron Gardens Studio. Photo by Lisa King.

Guitarists Mike Lynn and Jeff Calder flesh out the spectral sound that expands upon the Hot Place’s shadowy psychedelia and spare, alternative rock stylings with the mystical essence of mythology and metaphor. King’s lyrical mysticism drives the eerie folk ballad like a storm swell over Calder’s atmospheric mandolin and Robert Schmid’s drums.

As the story goes, David heard the song at Lisa’s house the night before playing the gig at Little Tree Arts Studios, and immediately envisioned the song’s harmonica part.

“I love this track, dripping in swampy mojo vibes, full of the night, storms, and yearning ghosts,” David says.

The following afternoon, his harmonica was recorded in a single take at Electron Gardens Studio.

“There’s a call and response between the vocal and David’s harmonica,” King says. “In a way, they become the two characters in the song’s narrative.”

“Hell, Highwater, or Sunlight” is set to appear on an upcoming 10-song LP that’s being partially mixed by Ed Stasium, who has worked with everyone from the Ramones, the Pretenders, Talking Heads, and Mick Jagger to Atlanta’s new wave luminaries the Swimming Pool Q’s.

Stasium mixed three of the album’s songs. The other seven, including “Hell, Highwater, or Sunlight” were mixed by Steven Morrison of Madlife Stage and Studio.

The album was trapped in limbo for more than a year-and-a-half, as no one could get into a studio to finish Schmid’s drum parts during the COVID-19 lockdown. Ultimately, the group wrapped up the single at West End Sound with Tom Tapley (Mastodon, West End Motel, Blackberry Smoke).

The title of the new album remains to be determined, but it’ set to arrive in 2022 via King’s self-run label No Big Wheel Records.

The Hot Place: Mike Lynn (from left), Lisa King, and Jeff Calder. Photo by Frank French.

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Tag: Jeff Calder

David J, Kevn Kinney, and the Hot Place play Electron Gardens on Thursday, December 4

The Hot Place featuring David J: ‘Hell, Highwater, or Sunlight’