Black Eyed Susan

Black Eyed Susan formed, broke up, reformed, broke up and reformed again between 1991 and 1996. Originally, in its first incarnation, BES wanted to be an actual self-promoting band like any other, but in their second and third incarnations, BES evolved into self-depracating communist pinkos who refused to take money for shows. They lived only off the proceeds from tip jars but made enough to buy new band equipment and lots of beer. They lived by the credo set out on the Seargent Pepper's album: "You're such a lovely audience, we'd like to take you home with us", and they frequently did so with late-night gallon-of-wine binges back at Dan Edwards' hovel where the Pixies and My Bloody Valentine played late into the night and the cops made regular house calls asking Dan to turn it down and 'My God, how can you live this way?' They made an attempt to play punk music on folk instruments which occasionally got them labelled as hippy-dippy, earthy-crunchy tree-huggers. John McBride did not play a trap-set, but sat on the floor with about 150 percussion instruments. Aaron Poochigian played bass, Dan Edwards played a hollow-body electric guitar and Adam Kaul who also sang played acoustic. Becca Rice played accordion and sang, and Chad Baldner played fiddle. Aaron, Becca and Adam wrote the tunes, but they also covered the Violent Femmes, U2, The Cars, and The GoGos. By some strange feat of physics, they could fit all of their band equipment in Adam's Geo Metro.

Members

• Becca Rice
• John McBride
• Adam Kaul
• Aaron Poochigian
• Dan Edwards
• Chad Baldner

Highlights

Opened up for Lois, The Drovers, The Blue Up, and Medeski, Martin & Wood (all as a result of Jade Nielsen's master planning)

Shows

Frequent Flyer of The Frisky Goat coffee shop in Fargo, The Coffee Club in Moorhead, occasional ventures into Ralph's Corner Bar, gigs at Moorhead State University, Concordia College, Zandbroz Variety, Fargo band festivals, and irregular excursions to Grand Forks and The Purple Onion in the Twin Cities.

Strangest shows:

• The Tibetan Monks: Opening up for throat-chanting Tibetan Monks at an outdoor spiritual festival somewhere in the deep woods of Minnesota. One of the monks in his saffron robes, played croquette while BES played their set.

• The Dog Show: In a totally separate incident out in the Minnesota lake country, BES was asked to play for a party out at someone's lake cabin. Of course, there was nowhere to set up except on the porch overlooking a steep wooded ravine that led down to the lake. As soon at the band started their set someone yelled "scavenger hunt!" and the audience scattered into the woods. Four dogs, one of them in heat, remained, so the band played for a half-hour or so to fornicating canines before giving up. If a band plays in the woods, and there's no one around the hear them... ?

Discography

• V/A "Bob" Meat Records
• Many bootlegs are floating around.

Related Bands

• Freemasons
• Solaris
• Burning Afternoon
• Bulliten Board of the Atomic Scientists
• [[Category:Fargo]