Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: The Verge

The New Fuse plays Chicago's Double Door in January at the CD release party for their independently released album "In the Now." The band will play at Friends & Co. tonight .

Wanna go?

Who: The New Fuse

When: 9 p.m. tonight

Where: Friends & Co. 509 Van Buren Ave.



When Shane Davies left Eastern in 2000, the Charleston Police Department knew him well.

Local neighbors called frequently to complain about Davies practicing with one of his several bands.

He and Brent Kimbrough, another former Eastern student, return to Charleston with their current band, The New Fuse, to play a show at 9 p .m. tonight at Friends & Co., 509 Van Buren Ave.

"I hope we don't have any outstanding noise violations against us," Davies said.

The duo's Chicago-based band formed in 2004 and released their first album, a four-song piece called "In the Now," last January.

Davies said he has fond memories of Eastern.

He started playing music in Charleston and often attended the now-defunct Stu's, which is now known as Club 217, for their Phish and Grateful Dead music night.

On the weekends, his bands played wherever they could, often at parties. Eventually, he played at Mac's Uptowner with a band called Trickle Down.

"It was the first show I ever did," Davies said. "I was a mix of both nervous and excited."

This will not be the band's first show in Charleston. In 2006, they played Santana covers at Friends & Co.

Since then, Davies said the band has developed their sound, playing mostly their own original music, mixing in a choice cover, depending on the crowd.

"We've had our sound called jam-rock-reggae-funk, which I think is pretty accurate," Davies said.

Keyboardist Kevin Yanong and saxophonist Rodney "Hot Rod" Brown were added to the lineup of Davies on bass, Chris Morrows on drums and Kimbrough on guitar shortly after 2004.

In the time between Davies' graduation and playing with the band, he has not stopped learning.

"I'm still learning every day, that's the beauty of music," Davies said.

Davies' continual learning is a by-product of being self-taught on bass. He first learned how to play drums in high school, after discovering his brother's drum kit in the basement. He added bass to his repertoire when one of the bands he was in at Eastern requested it, saying it was a smooth transition.

After working to polish their sound, the band put together "In the Now," a four-track album released independently.

To support their record, The New Fuse has played several shows in the area. They have played the Canopy Club in Champaign, as well as Flatlanders in Chicago.

"I'm influenced by a lot of jam bands and improvisations, as you can hear in our shows," Davies said.

College crowds are a great way to expand the band's audience, he added.

"It's always a strategy to get the school market, and the easiest way is to be on campuses," Davies said.

Davies would like to play at the House of Blues in Chicago. He counts the most important thing about a venue as the crowd.

"For us, we don't want to play places that the crowd isn't coming in for the band," Davies said.

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