Cargo Records

• FOCUS ON: Slim Cessnas Auto Club

• Official Website >>
• Label: Alternative Tentacles >>
• Genre: Country

Glorious Entertainer !

Slim Cessna- Singing, guitar, banjo and yodelling
The Reverend Dwight Pentacost- The Jesus and Mary doubleneck guitar and electric banjo, vocals,
Munly- Several instruments, including banjo, some vocals and yodelling
Ordy- drums.
Danny Pants- bass
Rumley- pedal steel, keyboards, etc.

My name is Slim Cessna and I am a country/western singer. I also like to fancy myself an entertainer. I believe that I am a glorious entertainer, and performing in a country/western band has always been my ambition.

My band, SLIM CESSNAS AUTO CLUB, formed over a few beers in my Denver, CO basement in 1993 (I think). Since then, weve had some very good times with a revolving ensemble. The current line-up, the bulk of it together since 1998, features Jay Munly, who has also released some fine solo albums.

In 2001 we re-located the band from Colorado to Massachusetts which unfortunately messed with the line-up again. But these things happen with bands.

Playing music with these fellows has been the best time of my life. We are great friends, and we share a common goal- to make music, notes, and words that do nothing short of amaze us. We have no rules to follow. We have no structure. We can take songs places that other songs havent been before. Somehow, though, I believe we are still very much a country band. Unfortunately, the people who like traditional country music tend to get pissed off when I try, on occasion, to sing like Barry Manilow.

As far as the religious aspect of my lyrics, I have some issues, I suppose, having grown up the son of a Baptist preacher. I have no idea if the bible is true or not, but Jesus and Satan have become like family. Its easier to sing about them just to clear my head.

In the early years, we played every weekend, sometimes twice. Im sure anyone in Denver would tell you that they grew quite sick of us at that time. Initially, only five people would attend our shows. However, after a few years, they started to bring friends. The local press christened our fans "Cessnuts". We stopped performing every weekend, and suddenly things began to happen for SLIM CESSNAS AUTO CLUB.

We released our self-titled debut record in 1995 (which Alternative Tentacles re-released in 2002), and our second album, "American Country Music Changed Her Life" (1998), is a live recording from Denvers Bluebird Theater. Robert Ferbrache has engineered all of our releases, and I believe that is why they are so wonderful. Bob is also a cranky bastard.

Over the years, we have opened for Johnny Cash, Kristin Hersh, Cracker, Cake, and local buddies 16 Horsepower, among many others. In 1998, a club in Paris flew us over to perform nightly for two weeks. "Always Say Please and Thank You" was released in September 2000 on Alternative Tentacles Records. It contains thirteen songs soaked in country, hillbilly, and rock & roll, sprinkled with banjo, fiddle, pedal-steel guitar, keyboard, bass, harmonium, auto harp, accordion, and a dash of yodeling. We released "The Bloudy Tenent, Truth & Peace" in fall of 2004 on Alternative Tentacles.

A few years ago, Jello Biafra gave me a good and accurate description of The Auto Club: "The country band that plays the bar at the end of the world." I like that one a lot and I think it sums things up perfectly.

-- Slim