Approaching bluegrass music with tongues firmly planted in cheeks, the Los Angeles, California duo of Charles Etienne and Chris Bell bring the folk rock as The Alpine Camp. In the same way G. Love & Special Sauce slice and dice genres, The Alpine Camp come correct with booze, in-jokes and solid musical licks on their debut EP, Sixpack.
Charles and Chris, consummate marketers they are, agreed to trade an “Official Sixpack Survival Guide” in exchange for answering our 8 Questions. Their respective senses of humor shine through in their responses which follow:
BFoN: Favorite instrument
Charles: Any beat up slightly out of tune upright piano
Chris: Typically an acoustic guitar, but depending on how inebriated I am, I don’t mind getting weird on a super repetitive bass line ever once in a while. If I’m camping, it’s the harmonica (easy to carry).
BFoN: Favorite book
Charles: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Chris: Admittedly I don’t read a lot. Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh.
BFoN: Musical influences
Charles: Irakere, Chucho Valdes, Michel Camilo, Steve Gadd
Chris: My list is really long, but Phish really introduced me to a lot of bluegrass, and bands like Little Feat and so forth.
BFoN: Favorite album of 2013
Charles: Border-Free – Chucho Valdes
Chris: This is Cabinet – Set II by Cabinet
BFoN: Star Wars or Star Trek
Charles: Yes, please. I’ll take Wrath of Khan and Empire.
Chris: Star Wars. No explanation needed.
BFoN: Which member of the band is most like a Spinal Tap character
Charles: Chris
Chris: Charles
BFoN: First album you purchased
Charles: Cake – Prolonging the Magic
Chris: The Spin Doctors – Pocket Full of Kryptonite
BFoN: Origin of your band’s name
Charles: Unknown
Chris: We camp a lot and the trail camps would have names like “Bear Canyon Alpine Camp” or “Little Jimmy Trail Camp”. I thought naming the band The Alpine Camp was kinda cool and plus it starts with an “A” so maybe that would put us at the top of some lists at least alphabetically…
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The Alpine Camp will be playing a show on 7 November in Long Beach, California. Details and tickets can be found here.
As thanks to Charles and Chris, I urge you to stream/download their Sixpack EP and watch the video sendup for “Parents” below.
