The Capstan Shafts

A week or so ago, I ran into Nick from Angioplasty Media. He quickly said to me, "Hey have you heard of...hold on...[he starts staring at the side of his hand like he's reading something that he had to, just had to!, write down immediately because it was important and his hand was the only available thing]...The Capstan Shafts?"

"Nope. Never heard of them. Who are they?"

That led me to his post on Angioplasty Media and a resulting love affair with The Capstan Shafts lo-fi pop goodness.

Here's the band's story...hailing from the home of the Puking Pig Fountain (Lyndonville, VT), The Capstan Shafts is a one-man band (Dean Wells) that has released 17 albums/EPs since 2004 and has never played a single show. Oh, this story is getting good! 17 friggin' albums?!?! In three years?!?! Never stepped on a stage?!?! Well, look at it this way, I now have 23 songs from him and the total time for those songs is 28 minutes and 39 seconds. He's quick.

Hmmm, let's run through this...prolific band...lo-fi...catchy as hell...a hint of a British accent...hailing from a small blue-collar town...odd song titles. Yeh, the GBV comparisons are inevitable. However, the comparisons also exist in the quality of the songs.

There's also a bit of a mystery surrounding Dean Wells also. He doesn't appear on the artwork of his records and he's never played live before. So, fans have no idea what the guy looks like or much else about him.

That's going to change very soon though because he's scheduled to play CMJ at Arlene's Grocery in NYC on Oct 20. Plus, as a warm-up for that show, he's playing his first show ever at the Stannard Church in Stannard, VT next Saturday, Oct 6. If you're wondering where Stannard is, it's about 40 minutes northwest of Montpelier. If you are heading north on Route 16 between Hardwick and Glover, you'll see a small sign that points to the right and says "Stannard 3 Miles". In other words, it's in the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately, my wife will be out of town next weekend and I'll have kid duties. However, I may have to track down a babysitter for this one. It may be the equivalent of catching Robbert Pollard et al circa 1993...or perhaps Wells will be horrible live. Who knows? But, at the very least, it'll be interesting.

Check out the post on Angioplasty Media to find out how to download a free EP from The Capstan Shafts.

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