By Roger Barrett

Fayetteville’s own Friday Maybe Saturday — Chad Chamberlain, Charley Gilbow, Nate Garrett, Jedidiah Brandon — wrote a song called ‘Fuck’ Mountain so your band doesn’t have to. The band’s laid back approach to progressive metal is fun for a crowd, unless you are in a band and are left wondering how they can so effortlessly channel Fall of Troy and Mars Volta.

You also have to realize members of FMS are in the rough and tumble Auger, and formerly were in Queen Beast and several other bands you wish you were in.

Friday Maybe Saturday somehow skates the fine line between prog rock and metal, making catchy songs that are often heavy and anthemic. They have graduated from the Don Caballero school of song title, with Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick, and Unbuckle My Swash, to name a few.

I can’t recommend seeing FMS live enough. Most definitely catch them at Rogue on July 17.

I asked the band some questions and here’s what they said …

Q: I have a hard time describing FMS, how do you?

A: A flock of seagulls hovering over a meadow wondering where in god’s name the ocean went. They’re probably drunk seagulls if we really want the metaphor to work. Truth is its rock n’ roll and whatever definition one has for that term we probably encompass to some degree. Heavy? Often. Fast? Usually. Loud? Always. Alcohol and drug inspired? Most definitely.

Genre labels end up restricting both the listener as much as the musicians who are caste into them and avoidance of such limitations seems advantageous for future growth. It’s cool being able to play shows with all varieties of music and always managing to seem to fit somehow.

Q: A lot of bands playing technical music tend to lose track of the song, when you can essentially do anything, how do you know when enough is enough?

A: There are several factors that can go into deciding when a song is completed such as what the overall point of the song is including both stylistically and tonally. But the main consideration we have is whether we’re recording or playing live. How we “write” a song is almost never how we play it live other then a few exceptions. It depends on how much time we’re allowed on stage and what kind of environment the other bands and/or crowd have created.

It’s liberating to know that the way we practice affords us the comfort of just feeding off each other and feeling songs out if we want to extend or shorten them. Such a luxury is usually only seen with crappy three-chord jam bands.

Q: Catchy or heavy?

A: Yes.

Q: What are you working on lately? Will there be a record?

A: We just finished the actual recording of an album and now the fun part where someone else takes your shit and then makes it sound like you know what the hell you’re doing. Hopefully all the mixing and mastering will be completed within a month.

Q: Talk about your many other bands and projects?

A: A lot of the bands in this area are just cross-eyed inbred versions of each other and we are definitely no exception. Some of the bands we have played in and in a lot of cases continue to play with include: Queen Beast, The Sinking South, Auger, The Arrowhead Project, Space Madness, Pile of Dead Women and for shits and giggles we’ll include Pisser. Jason Rice from Auger and The Arrowhead Project did our recording and our pal Fuzzy-who along with other great bands also played with Space Madness-is doing the Mastering.

Q: When’s the next FMS show?

A: We’ll play at Rogue on July 17 because we love that place and think their support of the local heavier stuff is great, seeing as how no one else has the balls for it. We’ll also be playing The Boom Boom Room on July 31. After that we’re going to be on tour for a big chunk of August and September but at this point are still unsure if we’re going to be playing Fayetteville or not.

Listen to Friday Maybe Saturday at www.myspace.com/fridaymaybesaturday or check out www.nwametal.com for more show dates.

Instruments: Vocals, guitar, percussion, shofar.

Day jobs: Musician, songwriter, homeschool teacher, organic gardener.

First performance: One of my first performances was at Arsaga’s on Township in 1996. The place was full of people and I felt so blessed to have so many friends and family come out, though I was very nervous. The music helped me open up and the whole night was so blessed!

How long have you been performing?: I really started performing locally on a regular basis in 2000. In 2004-05 I toured with reggae MessenJah Luciano. Our first headline tour came in 2006-07. Some of my favorite venues are Fox Theater in Boulder, Colo.; Belly Up in Aspen; Janus Landing in Tampa; and of course George’s Majestic Lounge is always a joy! All the good people in Northwest Arkansas show us so much love!

Favorite performance: Every time I get to play is a blessing. There are many shows that stick out. One last year that was lots of fun was to play the Ravina Fest in Chicago with Michael Franti and G Love. The venue was over 100 years old and the people were so full of love for music you could just feel it.

Type of music: Music from the heart and soul.

Originals or covers: We play a Bob Dylan cover “Slow Train.” As for my original songs and music, the best ones are the ones I am working on or about to work on that I do not know yet. I strive to make every song count.

Influences: The Almighty YAH, His Word and His Creation is a constant influence. Musical influences are Bob Marley, Luciano, Earl “Chinna” Smith, Bob Dylan and Ben Harper.

Accomplishments: I have been blessed by the Almighty with many opportunities. To record in Kingston, Jamaica, with many of the best musicians in Reggae, to tour nationally and internationally. To get a major record deal with Universal on the first CD “Gone are the Days” 2007. Still more than all this, the happiness and health of my family, my wife of 12 years Kristy and our children Cypress, Rebekah and Chavah.

What kind of crowd do you draw?: All types. There is a wide range of people who come out, and that’s what I love. I like diversity. The best thing is that whoever comes out and whatever the background, the music unites us all.

Albums: “Gone Are The Days” (2007), Lions of Israel/Ume, “Teach your Children Restore Humanity” Ep (2008), Ume, “Soulution” Ep (2009), Lions of Israel,Inc.

Backstage ritual: Clear the mind, read from the Psalms or the prophets and pray.

Plans: There is an old teaching that says a “Man may have many plans in his mind, but The Lord (Yahweh) directs his steps.” My plan is to let the Most High lead the way.

Goals: To finish, mix, master, and release the new CD, “Kingdom Road” and to tour.

New Projects: Started recording the new CD in Fayetteville at Crisp Studios with my band, then took it to Kingston to finish. Right now we’re ready to mix. We will be playing a lot of new material on this tour.

If you could open for anyone, who would it be?: I would like to open for many of the great songwriters of our time, the classics like Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan. It would be great to hit the road with Michael Franti, Ben Harper and Rebelution to name a few.

Last CD purchased: Congo “Heart of the Congo’s” and Midnite “What Makes a King?”

Most played song/s on your iPod?: Don’t have an iPod.

Website: josephisrael.com

Upcoming shows: Gulley Park free concert on July 8. George’s on July 11.

Free Weekly Staff

Strange Heroes, a dance-music staple in NWA from 2001 to 2005, is mounting a comeback with a flurry of recent gigs on Dickson Street, a nomination for NAMA party band of the year, a slot on opening night for this year’s Bikes, Blues & BBQ, and a new CD chock full of contributions from other area musicians … including one ghost.

George’s Majestic Lounge is hosting the CD release party from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday.

The spirit of the smooth-playing, hard-living, voluble Michael Lee Sloate haunts the tracks of Strange Heroes new, third CD, Between the Musk and the Moon. Michael Lee, as most knew Sloate, died in 2008 at age 55 of liver cancer.

Strange Heroes’ Guy Ames said Sloate’s songwriting genius was the genius that helped Strange Heroes bag the NAMA “CD of the Year” in 2004 for their CD Paths and Patterns. Ames said Sloate’s song were “too good, too compelling to not play” on the new CD.

Six of the 18 cuts on the new CD are Michael Lee tunes, so, even from the grave, Sloate continues to be a major voice in the band’s style and sound, which has always been eclectic but thanks in big part to Michael Lee, almost always dance-inducing, Ames said.

This third release by Strange Heroes is even more eclectic than the earlier CDs, and this from a band which, two years in a row, won the NAMA for “Best None of the Above,” the category for bands that defied categorization.

The title cut on Between the Musk and the Moon breaks into reggae choruses; the opening cut is funktastic; the final cut is heavy, boom-boom-boom, strip-tease-rhythm blues; “Hollywood Night” could be an AC/DC song; and “Walking in Daylight” features the Heroes’ Bruce Allen on electric sitar. Yep, sitar. The CD is strong with Strange Heroes’ signature tight three-part harmony from Allen, Ames and Lanier throughout the CD.

All but one (Tim Carnes, formerly of Ultra Suede) of the current Strange Heroes (Bruce Allen, Ames, Kirk Lanier, Carnes, and Jamie Ulick) lineup played with Sloate in at least one of several NWA bands, including Walter Ego and The Michael Lee Band.

One of Sloate’s songs, “Across the Grand Marais,” (on the first CD and a song about south Arkansas where Sloate was from) has become a Strange Heroes signature piece.

Michael Lee’s songs on this new CD range in style from beatnik-swing (“End of the Line,” which features the perfect-fit horn work of Opal Fly and Steve Carruthers), ’60s soul (“Meet Me”), hard-driving Southern rock (“Hollywood Night”), the ‘60s-slow-dancing “Cool Night,” to the enigmatic retro-bossa-nova-country-lounge song “Satin and Lace” about a prostitute’s simple acceptance of her job’s exigencies.

Sloate’s songs often allude to a hard life in the rural and small-town South, a life that Sloate, who suffered from chronic pain from a construction accident. knew well.

Sloate’s song “Blame It on the Band” is a rock-swing number, a genre Strange Heroes mine regularly for their dance music.

Like “End of the Line,” many of Sloate’s songs are lyrically complex and vocally challenging. Bassist Kirk Lanier does all the lead vocals to Sloate’s songs as a “labor of love.”

Ames, a talented song-writer himself, calls “End of the Line” a “masterpiece of lyrical jive.” It’s a smooth, swinging, fast-talking homage to some earlier, hipper time:

“Well, he was standing on the corner of the question just waiting on that downtown bus.

Easing his mind ’round the need for alleviation of the situation causing the fuss.

And he could see more than two destinations all floating around in his mind.

But there was too little time for investigation no searching for that reason and rhyme.”

Like almost all of Sloate’s songs on this CD, the vocabulary and melodic feel often harken back to the ’50s and ’60s, giving the songs a decidedly retro and classic feel.

The guest horn work of Opal Fly and Steve “Hot Buttered” Carruthers on several cuts is another highlight of Between the Musk and the Moon. Ames’ “Family Tree” and Allen’s monster funk piece “Follow Me” (which opens the CD with a funky bang) realize their full musical potential with Fly’s and Carruther’s contributions.

“Opal and Steve gave ‘Family Tree’ exactly the ’30s feel I wanted and could always hear in my head,” Ames said.

Other guests are: harmonica player Mark McGee (formerly of Strange Heroes and now with Snake Eyes and the Bug Band); the flautist Michael Allen (no relation to Bruce); violinist Ryan Cockerham (Kahula Gypsy Band, etc.). On the Ames-penned “Guantanamo,” Cockerham’s plaintive violin evokes the grief of a Guantanamo prisoner, while Allen’s growling, screaming guitar captures the rage of a man unjustly imprisoned.

“Guantanamo” is our only ‘political’ song on this CD,” Ames said, which is noteworthy because the Heroes’ second CD was almost all political and since, as Ames said, “People have tried to pigeon-hole us as a ‘political’ band, whatever that is.”

This CD was two to three years in the making. Allen and Ulick did most of the mixing in Ulick’s studio. The final mastering was done by Kelly Mulhollan of Still on the Hill at his Termite Tracks Studio.