Cavour is a real live human person. Cavour is also a new band from Reno, Nevada, who
released their debut demo recordings in January 2024 via a four-song, self-titled,
vinyl-only 10” record. The songs are also available to hear at the usual streaming music sites.
The primary songwriter of Cavour (the U.S.-based rock and roll band) is one Cavour Claypool,
who grew up on the far north end of the midwestern United States and eventually found
himself living along the northern shores of picturesque Lake Tahoe for a spell before
setting up camp in nearby Reno, Nevada. As a songwriter, he was “discovered” on a porch
(so the legend goes) by a local ear doctor and Reno music scene veteran named Tim Blake.
Upon hearing Cavour’s songs for the first time, Dr. Blake insisted that Cavour should
have custom-fitted earplugs, and that a record be made of the songs post-haste. On
Blake’s own dime. And so, it came to pass. As to whether Cavour’s sound is any good,
we propose that a literal ear doctor would know at least as well as anyone else.
At the first handful of live Cavour shows around northern Nevada, people repeatedly said “it reminds me of country music, except I like it.” Cavour likes old country music, but does not really make country music, and doesn’t particularly aspire to. The audience perception of the band as "country" or even "rootsy" may stem from the fact that live sets have included trippy cover versions of Roger Miller or Doug Sahm tunes, but in fact Cavour’s music steals from many genres and the band itself would argue that not all of its cards are on the table yet.
The band’s sound does include both stand-up and electric bass, impressively played by one Miles Kiechler, whose musical CV includes time playing with former Phil Spector protégé Darlene
Love. Cavour himself prefers his vintage nylon-string slot-head Martin acoustic, most of the time. Instrumentation is rounded out by Jim Bowers (guitars, keys, etc.) who in pre-pandemic years had spent time with L.A. based bands Radar Brothers and Jimbo Pap, both of whom toured around the U.S. (Internationally, in the case of the former). Jim also hosts a radio show at KNVC 95.1 FM, an open-format community radio station based in Carson City, Nevada. His show can be heard at 7pm Pacific time on Fridays at knvc.org.
After the mastering process had been completed for the debut EP that is currently available, the band recruited Anthony Edwards for its live shows, a skilled backup vocalist, percussionist, and harmonica player.
Cavour does not currently have a traditional drummer, but hopes to eventually attract a great one, however much lipstick and smoky eye it takes.
The band is currently fully independent (unsigned) and have assembled a wealth of
additional provocative original songs for a debut full-length LP. They are currently
exploring a variety of traditional recording studios while continuing to record their own demo versions for fun.
Cavour currently maintains no social media presence of any kind, due to the prevailing tendency of industry types to use "follower numbers" as the primary metric of the worth of artists, and the relative newness of the band as an entity (kind of a bad match, that.) Rather than put the cart before the horse, as it were, the band is working to create connection with other humans via the time-honored and conventional method of playing excellent live shows.
See you there!