Low Society / Members
Sturgis Nikides
Banjo Player Blues Band Guitarist Session Musician SongwriterUnless you’re a big fan of John Cale’s solo work, you’re probably unfamiliar with Sturgis Nikides. Sturgis was Cale’s guitar player through the 1980s, and has a long, colorful history as a professional musician. Simply put, it’s easy to call him a time-honored vet and indisputable master of the steel guitar, but his first full length solo album stretches his talents to the limit, and allows him to reveal much more than knockout playing. Nikides’ Man of Steel goes beyond your average blues rock, evoking indigent American toughness on so many levels it recalls everything from to John Huston. This is blues on a transcendental level, and to be honest, I think it gives Ry Cooder a run for his money. Nikides plays that fucking thing, that hard steel slide guitar, in a way that doesn’t ask of the listener anything more than their ears and their time. It is not necessary to be an expert on the blues, nor to even be keen on blues music in general, to appreciate the full range of what’s going on here. This music grabs the listener with an instrumental articulation of melancholy that transcends the blues genre while remaining essentially true to it…it is classic yet contemporary, and technologically bolstered without sounding clean. It seems, like all the greatest guitar playing, at once effortless and impossible. For those who are aware of Nikides’ music, these observations are anything but new. However, his confident voice and richly visual lyrics are indeed a revelation. Songs such as “She Got a Gun” and “Room 204”, the album’s best tracks, shimmer with emotional truth of the highest order, that which comes from real bruises and hard earned street experience. The guy pours his damn heart out with fearless intimacy. Man of Steel is brought down by a tired old Rolling Stones cover, but despite it being unnecessary, Nikides’ earnest handling makes it sound fresher than it should. Man of Steel is more than a blues record, it’s a vivid blend of elements all finely honed by the artist throughout his life, and as such, remains one of the true standout efforts of this or any year. This is that kind of music you hear as if it were part of a film you can’t remember seeing, assuming a widescreen scope in certain spots, and the claustrophobia of personal obsession in others. Man of Steel thrives on the dirty and lowdown aspects of life, but not without a sense of redemption. Nikides allows you to tap into a main circuit of hard life, of roads that don’t seem to end. It’s an astonishingly ambitious one-man show that announces Nikides as more then a mere axeman. I hope there’s a follow-up. – GENE GREGORITS, Sex & Guts Magazine Aug,2004
Mandy Lemons
Percussionist VocalistMandy Lemons sings the blues with an astonishing powerhouse voice which mixes original southern fried soul and northern attitude. She hails from one of the blues ‘capitals’ of the world, Houston Texas, home of the late great Lightnin’ Hopkins. Her mother exposed her to Billie Holiday at an early age, which made a lasting impression. You will be astonished to hear so much power coming out of such a small figure, and you can clearly hear the influences of Koko Taylor, Etta James, Bessie Smith, and of course Janis Joplin. Her performances are visually and emotionally dramatic, approaching legendary status. Hans Werksman of the music blog ‘Here Comes The Flood’ says "seriously lacking in stage fright, Miss Lemons is able to scare the shit out of Joss Stone". Mandy "escaped" Houston in 2003 and headed to New York City. Five years later fate intervened and a mutual friend introduced her to Sturgis. They immediately began writing and recording and played their first show together in 2008. Among their hundreds (and counting) of shows, notable Low Society appearances include the 30th International Blues Challenge in Jan 2014, Mississippi's Juke Joint Festival for four consecutive years (2011/2012/2013/2014), the BluesAlive Festival 2012 in Sumperk & Zlin, Czech Republic and Chorzow Poland, and NYC's Howl Festival for three consecutive years (2009/2010/2011).
