When Full Circle plays the Moscow Farmer’s Market, they like to spread an array of shakers and percussion toys out on the square and invite kids to join in. The vibrations from their self-titled CD crackle with this inviting musical approach. Featuring some fine lyrics, percussion, harmonica, guitar and the occasional brass spice, this album will exhort you to “clap your hands, stomp your feet, come on, let’s see what we can do.” You can find this album and many others in the newly arranged CD section at the Co-op, located near the vitamins, which, like music, are good for your health.
Justin Bonner and Daryle Faircloth first jammed together at a New Year’s Eve party in 1995, and continue to play music every weekend. Joined on the album by bassist and trumpet player Jake Weaver, Justin on percussion and harmonica and Daryle on electric and slide guitar offer 13 songs laced with philosophy and positive feelings. The band is anachronistic. The members, like the tunes on the album, represent several generations unstuck in time. The youngest member of the circle, Jake, just started college, while Justin and Daryle are products of the beginning and end of the baby boom, respectively. The instrumentals transport the listener to the 70s, but the lyrics cover timeless themes of love, the earth, and the power of music.
Justin and Daryle kindly invited me to visit them at their A-St. Studio, where the album was recorded and mixed by Eric J. Cegnar. The two-story studio is a converted garage with a foam-padded, rug-strewn recording room on the first floor, and a low-ceiling acoustic fun room on the second floor, complete with vibration-activated flashing colored lights. The two-year process of recording the album took place on the first floor, and the on-going back and forth of jamming, writing lyrics, spinning new songs, and revisiting old ones, plays out on the second floor. Justin’s absence is noted, but the hub of the circle is well-oiled and spins freely.
Justin is the lyricist, while Daryle modestly describes himself as “just a guitar player.”
The first track on the CD seems to deal with the struggle between human potential and one’s comfort zone. “You’ll never beat out with a stick what is Born into the Bone.” But another tune reminds the listener that “in your heart, you know, You Can Fly.” Daryle says he wrote “Can’t Take It,” a working person’s lament, in about 15 minutes at the end of a suboptimal work day. “Old Fashion Love,” is a relentless harmonica-crazed proclamation of love, old-fashioned not in a porch-swing kind of way, but in a summer- of-love kind of way. The beautiful “Makin’ Music With You,” is a sweet ballad with fine vocal harmonies. “You’ll be feeling a joy in your heart swelling like an ocean, the moment that you surrender to that sweet emotion.” Listening carefully to these tunes feels like being part of the band. Just remember, “…it’s not likely that you’ll become famous real soon, just making music will do.”
I was treated to a live version of “Turtle,” a paean to primal passion for the planet. Picture yourself around a campfire while Justin sings “If I take care of her, she’s gonna take good care of me, if I do her wrong, I’ll take you all down with me, on the back of a turtle in the middle of the sea.” The band indulges in some playful effects on this one, from shakers to scratch. Even in person, these two guys sound like three or more people, with Justin playing harmonica, bongos and singing at the same time, and Daryle covering guitar and vocals.
I love their swirling portrait of Moscow’s Farmer’s Market. “It’s nice to run into you, and it’s good to see you smile… it don’t cost a thing to dance.” It makes me smile to learn that as a youth Justin played drums for the Boise-based band the Mystics, whose posters promised the first ten girls would be admitted free.
There won’t be any charge for sampling Full Circle at the Farmer’s Market on September 13, nor is there any cost to sit in the comfy chair by the Co-op CD display and give these tunes a listen. You may feel the urge to “let the music move your feet around. You got the rest of the evening to spread a little joy around.”
The Co-op Listener is written by Jeanne McHale, who is solely responsible for its content, which is intended for entertainment purposes only. Side effects of listening to and playing music include a range of unpredictable emotional and physical consequences.
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