Band members appear, left to right, in “The Family Tree” as follows:
Charles Blackburn, Tom Cole, Jimmy Dickerson, Steve Esthimer, and Spence Foscue
News
About the Band…
When Cousins Marry has been making music in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina since 1981. We began as a rock and blues cover band, playing for parties, weddings (no kidding!), political rallies, and assorted Saint Mary’s School events. Many talented musicians (second cousins) have made guest appearances and jammed with us.
Then, one day, we suddenly evolved. The creative juices had been simmering beneath the surface for years, until they finally boiled over in a frothy torrent of original songs that have become the mainstay of our live performances. The first 13 are featured on our debut CD, Shotgun Wedding.
The band consists of Steve Esthimer (guitar, cornet, vocals), Spence Foscue (drums, vocals), Tom Cole (trombone, harmonica, keyboards, vocals), and Jimmy Dickerson (bass, vocals, guitar), all of the Chapel Hill area, and Charles Blackburn (guitar, vocals) of Raleigh. See the Band Bios page for more about us. We’re available for parties and events within driving distance of Chapel Hill. Contact us at whencousinsmarry@gmail.com or at 919-610-9518.
About Shotgun Wedding…
Our first CD was released independently by Dizzy Possum Records in December 2007. Each Cousin wrote and sang at least one tune, but all 13 songs were collaborative creations, produced by the band as a whole. It makes for an indescribable wedding of styles, ranging from rock to country, blues and beyond. This is what happens…when cousins marry.
Shotgun Wedding was recorded, mixed, and mastered by John Plymale at Overdub Lane in Durham. Through the years, Overdub Lane’s many clients have included the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Southern Culture on the Skids, The dBs, Etta Baker, Tift Merritt, and John Hartford. Shotgun Wedding has a run time of 56 minutes and features the following tunes:
1. Shotgun Wedding (3:44) S. Foscue. Love legalized by parental edict, to a calypso beat.
2. S.O.S. (4:02) S. Esthimer. A New Orleans warning to mindless sources of aggravation.
3. Cruise Control (4:31) T. Cole. The cure for life in the fast lane.
4. Night to Remember (5:10) S. Foscue. Concerning self-inflicted memory lapses.
5. I Don’t Wear Gucci Suits (5:10) S. Esthimer. A song about (alas!) personal habits.
6. Just Like New York City (4:36) J. Dickerson. A psychedelic slice of urban impressionism.
7. One More Night (4:34) C. Blackburn. Bluesy love call, with shameless begging.
8. Friendly Fire (3:56) S. Foscue. Lost innocence in N.C. tobacco fields and Vietnam.
9. Another Level (3:43) T. Cole. The aftermath of a rash attempt at intimacy.
10. Rock ’n’ Rye (4:28) S. Esthimer. Celebration of a time-tested childhood remedy.
11. Bad Side Of Your Love (4:07) S. Foscue. A soulful tribute to gut-wrenching paranoia.
12. Swing That Possum (3:23) S. Esthimer. A daring backyard wildlife rescue.
13. Quiero Mas Dinero (I Want More Money) (4:36) T. Cole. A lively Tex-Mex lament.
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We’re at The City Tap in Pittsboro on October 24
There being no outstanding warrants against us in Chatham County at this time, we look forward to playing a fully electrified gig at The City Tap in Pittsboro, N.C., from 8–10 p.m. on Friday, October 24, 2008. It’s a great new place that just opened this summer. Tasty sandwiches and a good selection of beers and wines. Dancing is not only encouraged, it may be mandatory. The City Tap is at 89 Hillsboro Street (919-545-0562, or info@thecitytap.com). Their hours are Sunday–Thursday 4 p.m–11 p.m., and Friday–Saturday 4 p.m.–12 p.m. Check out the woman with purple hair on their Website. Got to be related to us somehow!
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The Cousins Performed at The Regulator in Durham
We played a few acoustic versions of tunes from our Shotgun Wedding CD at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham on August 8 as part of a program celebrating the anthology Making Notes: Music of the Carolinas (Novello Festival Press, Charlotte, 2008). The book includes an article by Cousin Charles Blackburn on jazz and pop legend Nina Simone. The readers were Grant Britt, who wrote about Southern Culture on the Skids (SCOTS) for the book, and David Childers, whose essay explores the redemptive power of music. The book’s editor, Ann Wicker, also talked about it. Vital Trivia: Many years ago, Cousin Charles and SCOTS front man Rick Miller were nextdoor neighbors in Henderson, N.C.
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Live on D.G. Martin’s Show on WCHL in Chapel Hill
The Cousins brought live music back to talk radio July 10 on WCHL 1360-AM for “Who’s Talking with D.G. Martin.” In between playing some tunes, we told D.G. and his audience all about the band, our new CD, and marriage customs in the U.S. of A. Did you know it’s perfectly legal to marry your first cousin in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and other states Up Nawth? Of course, legality and inclination are two different things. We played Shotgun Wedding, S.O.S., Night to Remember, and Quiero Mas Dinero. The hour-long show can be downloaded as a podcast.
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We Get A Mention in UNC's Alumni Magazine
When Cousins Marry is highlighted in the classnotes section of the July-August 2008 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review. Four of us, Steve, Tom, Jimmy, and Charles, are all alumni of UNC-Chapel Hill. Spence has an even better UNC connection. He does double duty as the drummer for the jazz band Equinox, which features UNC’s new chancellor, Holden Thorp, on keyboards. Holden is among the fine local musicians who have sat in with us over the years.
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Saint Mary’s School Magazine Features The Cousins
The band was featured in the Spring 2008 issue of the Saint Mary’s School alumnae magazine. The article was mostly a faculty profile on Steve Esthimer, which is only fitting, since he has taught there for nearly 30 years. Since 1981, The Cousins have played at Saint Mary’s a couple of times a year for picnics and other events. It’s our longest-running venue. However, the article failed to mention that the back cover of our Shotgun Wedding CD features a photo of Dr. E in all his rock ’n’ roll glory. Can posters and T-shirts be far behind?
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The Cousins Headlined All-Star Durham Musical Revue
We headlined a seven-band extravaganza May 24 at the Broad Street Café in Durham. Our set list featured tunes from Shotgun Wedding. Other bands included: Blue Tailed Skinks, Down River, Mark Cool, Brian and Mary Lewis, and Art and Nancy Champagne. This is a great venue for bands. One of the better stages and sound systems in the area. Plus good food and drink.
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WCM at The Cave
The Cousins played that venerable Chapel Hill establishment The Cave on May 3. Our two-hour set (more or less) included all 13 original songs on Shotgun Wedding, plus such inimitable Cousins’classics as: I Got Chased By A Mennonite, True To The Blues, Vanished, The Only Place You’ll Find Sympathy (Is In The Dictionary), and Got My Eye On You. A highlight of the show was the world premiere of Charles Blackburn’s song (?) Chicken Finger, a discordant rant born out of the dark maw of chaos. Where else to debut it but The Cave?
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We Gave ’Em an Earfull at Peep Fest
Beware the Ides of Peeps! The Cousins were the featured performers March 15 for Peep Fest 2008, sponsored by Market Street Books in Southern Village south of Chapel Hill. The annual celebration of the seasonal marshmallow treats included poetry about Peeps, Peeps food, Peeps songs, and more.
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‘Shotgun Wedding’ CD Release Party Held in Chapel Hill
Thanks to everyone who turned out for our Shotgun Wedding CD release party on March 1, 2008, at the Community Church of Chapel Hill. Among the more memorable highlights was the crowd’s enthusiastic response when Cousin Tom Cole showered the dance floor with handfuls of play money during his signature tune, “Quiero Mas Dinero.” Thanks to all those who bought our CD! Ten percent of sales at the party benefited community radio station WCOM-103.5 FM in Carrboro. For those who couldn’t make it, we missed you. But you can catch us at one of our upcoming gigs. And, in the meantime, visit our Music Samples & Store page to find out how to buy the CD.
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Live on Melva Okun’s Show on WCOM
Melva Okun has blogged about our dysfunctional family, complete with photos! But our lawyers say we can’t sue, on account of she IMPROVED our image. The Cousins performed February 10 on Melva’s Sunday night musical show on Carrboro community radio station WCOM. We talked about our new CD, Shotgun Wedding, and played acoustic versions of a few tracks. Plus Melva spun several tunes from it. Check out her blog at Melva’s Musings on Jazz.
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WCM at St. Andrews College
When Cousins Marry played an acoustic set as part of the annual Sam Ragan Fine Arts Awards ceremony on January 24, 2008, at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg. Mercifully brief recitations of poetry and prose by band member Charles Blackburn were intermingled with tunes from The Cousins’ debut CD, Shotgun Wedding. Blackburn received the 2008 Sam Ragan Award for Literature in a ceremony that night on campus. Musician Barbara Geer and sculptor Thomas Sayre were also honored.
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When Cousins Marry Releases ‘Shotgun Wedding’ CD
CHAPEL HILL, NC (December 2007)–Perennial local party band When Cousins Marry has released their debut CD, Shotgun Wedding, featuring 13 original songs that range from rock to country, blues and beyond.
It can be purchased through the band’s Website as well as at the followoing local independent bookstores: Market Street Books in Chapel Hill, The Regulator Bookshop in Durham and Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh. Free music samples, band bios, lyrics, and more are available at whencousinsmarry.com.
WCM consists of Steve Esthimer (guitar, cornet, vocals), Spence Foscue (drums, vocals), Tom Cole (trombone, harmonica, keyboards, vocals) and Jimmy Dickerson (bass, vocals, guitar), all of the Chapel Hill area, and Charles Blackburn (guitar, vocals) of Raleigh.
When Cousins Marry began around 1981 as a rock and blues cover band, playing for parties, weddings (no kidding!), political rallies and assorted Saint Mary’s School events. Over the years, many talented local musicians (second cousins) have made guest appearances and jammed with the band.
And all the while the creative juices were simmering, until they finally boiled over in a frothy torrent of original songs that have become a mainstay of the band’s live performances. The first 13 are featured on Shotgun Wedding, which was recorded, mixed, and mastered by John Plymale at Overdub Lane in Durham.
Each Cousin wrote and sang at least one tune for the CD, but all 13 songs were collaborative creations, produced by the band as a whole. It makes for an indescribable wedding of styles. This is what happens…when cousins marry.
The title track, Shotgun Wedding (3:44), tells the classic story—to a crazy calypso beat—of love legalized under duress by parental edict. S.O.S. (4:02) is a New Orleans warning to sundry mindless sources of aggravation, issued by our long-suffering hero from his new home “around the bend.” (It was always in walking distance…)
And if your sorry excuse for a life is on the verge of hurtling full-speed off the freeway, put it on Cruise Control (4:31) and fuggidaboutit. In the confessional Night to Remember (5:10), our protagonist grapples with self-inflicted memory lapses of the alcoholic kind and deeply regrets his many offenses. Not that he recalls any.
The hauntingly beautiful I Don’t Wear Gucci Suits (5:10) will delight those who actually listen to the lyrics. Yes, it’s a song about underwear. More particularly, whether it’s clean enough to employ. (A new twist to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle?)
Just Like New York City (4:36) is a rocking, psychedelic ’60s slice of urban impressionism that probably won’t go over too big with the Big Apple Chamber of Commerce. But everybody else will dig it. One More Night (4:34) is your typical bluesy boy-meets-girl-meets-backseat tale. That is, until primitive bass and drums turn it into a down-on-my-knees, begging-you-please love call.
Return with us to the freaky days of yesteryear with Friendly Fire (3:56), a powerful story of lost youth and innocence in the tobacco fields of N.C. and on the 44battlefields of Vietnam. Another Level (3:43) is about how relationships can wither and die out of boredom, neglect or, as in this case, a rash attempt at intimacy.
Rock ’n’ Rye (4:28) celebrates the salubrious effects of that time-tested childhood remedy for whatever ails you: a little rock candy mixed with rye whiskey. Bad Side Of Your Love (4:07) is a soulful tribute to the gut-wrenching paranoia that seizes all of us when we’re in the merciless grip of a “meaningful” relationship.
Swing That Possum (3:23) is the saga of a backyard wildlife rescue that’s sure to energize aerobics classes from Newark to Nome. (No animals were harmed in the making of this song.) And, best of all, Quiero Mas Dinero—I Want More Money (4:36) is a lively Tex-Mex lament about the inherent inequities of supply-side economics. Available for campaign use by big-spending politicians—for a nominal fee.
Cousins FUQ (Frequently Unasked Questions)
Who came up with the band’s name?
Our drummer, Spence Foscue. It’s a long story. Wait for the Hollywood version. Suffice it to say that the band is an object lesson in the perils of consanguinity.
Are any of the band members actually related?
In spirit only. As far as we know…
How long has the band been together?
Since 1981. WCM grew out of jam sessions in Durham held in Steve’s basement on Huron Street and, later, in his garage on Hope Valley Road. Many of our original tunes got their start in his converted horse barn in what was once the country out in the wilds of Chatham County. Spence, Steve, and Charles are founding members. Tom came on board nearly twenty years ago. And Jimmy is a relative newcomer (or newly discovered relative?). Been with us since 2005.
Have the Cousins ever been on tour?
We’re currently on our Eve of Destruction World Tour, which began July 6, 1991 in Chapel Hill. So far, we haven’t made it out of North Carolina.