Acoustic Catfish appeals to vino crowd
Pennell, Gobetz rock out on winery stage downtown Indianapolis.
By Manny Casillas
Editorial Assistant
It was a good afternoon for wine and music as local band Acoustic Catfish jammed out at the Easley Winery downtown on College Avenue Saturday Sept. 27th.
Comprised of guitarist Rob Gobetz, associate professor of the communication , singer and multi-instrumentalist Jim Pennell, Chair and associate professor of the social sciences and bassist Monika Mueller, played a three-part set made up of thrilling covers of artist ranging from Bob Dylan and Neil Young to the lesser known Jayhawks.
The band has been playing together for five years now, and often appears at many local establishments, such as the Wheeler Arts Center.
The band began when Gobetz put out an e-mail seeking a bass player. Pennell eventually responded and the two formed a performing duo. After completing a cd, the pair noticed that a third sound could be used.
“When we got the cd finished…I often put a third vocal on, or put bass on all of the songs, and we thought we’re going to need a third person,” Pennell said.
Soon after the duo placed an ad in the Nuvo, and it was immediately answered by Mueller, now their bassist.
“We thought she fit the bill because she could sing high harmonies and do the best part,” said Pennell.
Under a white tent in the winery’s parking lot, the band churned out one solid tune after another. Mueller sat in a chair the entire time due to an injury sustained during a supposed ‘moose-hunting’ incident.
Pennell strummed away on his mandolin, infusing each song with whimsical humor. Whenever it went into a song that was a bit sad, Gobetz took the singing duties, and did it marvelously.
The show was part of Easley Winery’s ‘Groovin’ In The Garden’ series, which was giving it’s final show that afternoon. In fact, the band has quite a history of playing winerys, including the Chateau Thompson in Nashville, Ind.
“[Early on] we actually got a winery gig down in Nashville at the tasting room,” Pennell explained.
The winery itself is a posh, but friendly establishment that offers free tours and affordable sampling.
Food isn’t served directly by the winery but food can be delivered there from places like Baxbeaux Pizza.
The staff is superbly helpful in recommending wines for tasting. Keep in mind however, that one must be of age to visit the winery.
The atmosphere was fun and light-hearted, sampled.
As the band played, people can be seen arriving at the winery and leaving with bottles or boxes of wine.
“We’re used to bigger crowds, but the vibe was terrific, and the audience did become more responsive with each song,” Gobetz said.
Those words especially rang true when they whipped out a rendition of Van Morrison’s ‘Brown-Eyed Girl’, which got folks to sing along.
Among the songs the band dished out were versions of Eric Clapton tender ‘Promises, Bob Dylan’s ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ and The Everly Brothers’ ‘Bye Bye Love’.
They even hit upon some Chicago blues with a rousing working of Muddy Waters’ classic ‘Got My Mojo Working.’
The band did not seem adverse to sampling any artist or song, since they ended the first set with the haunting Neil Young hit ‘Rockin’ In The Free World.’
The band will be playing next at the Apple Festival at Mallow Run Winery in Bargersville, Ind.
