Mad Tea Party plays in “Night Terrors” Sat, April 9th at the Star Bar in Atlanta

Rock and Roll duo, The Mad Tea Party, who is described by No Depression as “punkabilly” and as “digs up the bones of classic ‘60s garage rock” in heading to Atlanta this Saturday, April 9th!  They are joining a wild line-up for “Night Terrors” that includes Pinche Gringo, The Clap,  Mermaids, and more at the Star Bar.

Sarah Morgan did a wonderful writeup for the Atlanta Jam Band Examiner; read some of it here and follow the link for the full article:

The government may be shutting down but the music continues with Mad Tea Party at Star Bar. While their name may resemble the other tea party, this Asheville duo leaves politics at the door. Jason Krekel is too busy playing drums, guitar and singing simultaneously, and Ami Worthen’s hands are better served playing electric ukulele than making picket signs.

. . .   . . .   . . .

Making the trek from North Carolina to Georgia is not something the band does often, however Krekel is hoping to play Atlanta more than their staple twice a year.

“We’re more like weekend warriors,” Krekel said discussing Mad Tea Party’s tour schedule. “We probably average two to three weekends a month and every now and then we do a weeklong tour. The game has changed a lot out there on the road for small bands. It’s just not quite as worth it to go out and beat the highway like I did when I was younger. There are a lot more bands touring and lot less people listening. The recession has hit.”

There infrequency in Atlanta makes the opportunity to see them on Saturday too much to pass up. Where else are you going to hear punk ukulele? Exactly.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.examiner.com/jam-bands-in-atlanta/mad-tea-party-at-star-bar-saturday

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Krekprints Action Monster Prints

…So the Mad Tea Party is just cranking out the fun new videos!

Not only is Jason Krekel in the Mad Tea Party and a one man band on the fiddle, vocals, guitar, foot percussion; but he also helps to run the HandCranked Letterpress.

Krekel is offering a special on Monster Prints on his Etsy site (www.krekprints.com). Here’s a video of them being made…

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Mad Tea Party’s “Hey Teabaggers, Leave Our Party Alone!”

NEW video by Asheville, NC band, The Mad Tea Party, “Hey Teabaggers, Leave Our Party Alone!”

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Archive: Mad Tea Party releases new ghoulish album

Here’s some excerpts from a great interview with the Mad Tea Party about their new Halloween EP- Rock n Roll Ghoul

The Blue Banner: www.thebluebanner.net

By Anne Louise Bouchard – Staff Writer

Mad Tea Party, a musical duo from Asheville, got its name from the children’s book “Alice in Wonderland.”

“I was thinking about being Alice in Wonderland. Becoming a musician is a lot like jumping down the rabbit hole. It’s a leap of faith and a new world. It’s sort of surreal. You are really big and then small, really confident then insecure,” said Ami Worthen, singer and ukulele player for Mad Tea Party.

Worthen said Mad Tea Party’s name is whimsical and fun.

“Ultimately, it’s about having fun,” she said.

… … …

The songs on the band’s new album Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul are all Halloween-related. “It’s our second Halloween release. The first was The Zombie Boogie. We love Halloween. It’s fun to play with that theme,” she said.

The idea for their album came from Krekel.

“Jason had this image in his mind of someone in the business who metaphorically eats the flesh of the artist,” Worthen said.

The new album’s artwork features the Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul devouring a human arm.

Worthen said their music as a mix of garage rock, rockabilly, and ’50s and ’60s rock.

“Southern Cultures on the Skids are really similar to us,” she said.

She also said that to an extent they are like The White Stripes. King Khan & BBQ Show has also had a big influence on the band, Worthen said.

Worthen said they want people to have a good time when they listen to their music.

“We want to give people a sense of abandonment, a sense of joyfulness and passion,” she said.

She said their live shows are really high energy.

“Our music is really driving. It’s a lot about rocking out,” she said.

Worthen said the audience affects their live shows. “It’s a partnership between band and audience,” she said.

“An engaged audience is going to make us play better,” she said. Worthen also said a good sound system really makes the show. “If the sound is bad, we have trouble connecting with the audience.”

Worthen said she believes their duo provides a unique experience that listeners may not expect.

“Our society as a whole doesn’t place as much value on live performance or on handmade art. We have a homogenized tendency. We shop at the same store, eat at the same place, listen to the same radio. In any given town in the U.S., you can eat and shop at the same place as the other town,” Worthen said.

She said things that are different are looked at with skepticism.

“There is a barrier to being an independent,” she said.

… … …

Worthen said what makes them different is their instrumentation. “Jason is a one-man band.

He plays the drums with his feet and his guitar,” she said. Worthen herself plays the electric ukulele.

Worthen said their band is not for everyone and appeals to a niche of people. “We are for a person who is an independent thinker and wants to discover something off the beaten path,” she said.

Worthen said she thinks it is important to be authentic. “At the end of the day, looking back, what’s the most important? You had a million fans and you were not making the music you believe, or you had a thousand fans and you made the music you wanted to?” she said. “Authenticity is the most satisfying.”

READ THE FULL POST: http://www.thebluebanner.net/arts-features/mad-tea-party-releases-new-ghoulish-album-1.1717282

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Mad Tea Party’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul Video!

Title track off of the new EP, Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul, by Mad Tea Party (Krekel & Ami), produced by Greg Cartwright.

Thanks to the Asheville Zombies!

http://www.themadteaparty.com

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Mad Tea Party Releases Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul THIS Friday at Stella Blue in Asheville

Mad Tea Party released Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul a 4-song EP that is also available on 7″ vinyl this month! It was produced by Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound, Oblivions). Visit their Bandcamp page to hear, find out more out the recording, see the great art by Gus Cutty, and to order the record (or just buy the downloads).  Start off the season with some new spooky songs!

Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul has already gotten a few great reviews. Read them in the Mountain Xpress, on the Sanuk D blog, and Bootleg Mag.

The Mad Tea’s big hometown show is on Friday, October 15th at Stella Blue in Asheville. They’re opening for Mark Sultan and Dr. Filth will be spinning vinyl between acts.

Photo by Michael Traister http://www.traisterphoto.com

You can also catch The Mad Tea Party on 98.1 The River in the 5:00 hour today 10/13!

They will also be in Bruisin’ Ales from 5-7pm tomorrow 10/14 (Thursday) selling records!

Stay up to the minute with The Mad Tea Party on their website, facebook, and  twitter.

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Ukuleles aren’t just for luaus anymore!!! The Mad Tea Party headlines Hub City Ukefest 9/24!

Ukuleles aren’t just for luaus anymore!!! The Mad Tea Party headlines Hub City Ukefest 9/24! Read more about it in this great interview with Matt Wake from the Greenville Metromix! Also find out more about their NEW Halloween EP, “ROCK-N-ROLL GHOUL” at this previous post.

In October, the band will release its “Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul” four-song Halloween EP via seven-inch vinyl and digital download. The set includes detours into doo-wop and psychedelia. (Credit: Jonathan Welch)

Ukuleles aren’t just for luaus anymore

Hub City Ukefest boasts three bands, instrument-maker

By Matt Wake, Metromix

The ukulele Ami Worthen plays in Asheville indie duo Mad Tea Party is hot-rodded, both visually and sonically.  Berkley, Calif., luthier Peter Hurney built Worthen a uke with a black-with-flames paintjob (a la ’50s dragster) and she plugs the axe into a guitar amp. And distortion pedal.

“I’m really into the ukulele as a rhythm instrument and the percussive sound of it,” Worthen, 29, says. “The way I play it is almost like a snare drum. That’s the thing I really dig about it: Its ability to provide an exciting groove.”
She first heard the ukulele on an old-time album from Brad Leftwich and Linda Higginbotham. Worthen took up the instrument about five years ago.

On Sept. 24 Mad Tea Party—which includes guitarist/drummer Jason Krekel and draws from influences including Bo Diddley—will headline the Hub City Ukefest. The show also features Greenville’s Lil’ Junior, who cover Ry Cooder and Velvet Underground tracks, and Spartanburg combo Snidely Sidewinder & The Unrepentant Uke Boys.

…

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://greenville.metromix.com/music/article/ukuleles-aren-t-just/2192390/content

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Just in time for Halloween: Mad Tea Party releases ROCK N ROLL GHOUL

Click the album art to get downloads and the vinyl~

Just in time for Halloween:
Mad Tea Party’s  ROCK N ROLL GHOUL

EP Release events:

Oct 2nd ~ The Pour House ~ Raleigh, NC
Oct 15th ~ Stella Blue (opening for Mark Sultan) ~ Asheville, NC
Oct 16th ~ The Double Door Inn~ Charlotte, NC

Asheville’s rock ‘n’ roll duo Mad Tea Party celebrate their favorite holiday again this year with ROCK N ROLL GHOUL, a follow-up to 2009’s ZOMBIE BOOGIE. With garage-rock icon Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound, Oblivions) at the production helm, this year’s monster offering promises to make you howl at the moon.

Mad Tea Party provides their usual palate of shimmering vocal harmonies over Jason Krekel’s one-man-band juke joint guitar/percussion and Ami Worthen’s electric ukulele. Of course, ROCK N ROLL GHOUL also includes some sonic surprises.

The EP offers up 4 spooky selections for your rockin’ Halloween party. “Possessed,” a 60s-tinged psychedelic number, features Worthen’s wicked vocals and a demonic guitar solo from Mr. Cartwright. The furious screamer “Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghoul” expounds upon the theme of flesh-eating music critics while drivin’ rocker “Dr. Phibes” is an ode to the popular Vincent Price villain. The duo close with the Hollywood Flames’ song “Frankenstein’s Den” with Cartwright on drum kit and Caroline Pond (Snake Oil Medicine Show) joining Worthen on doo-wop vocals.

ROCK N ROLL GHOUL is available as a 7” vinyl record and as digital downloads. The EC horror comics inspired art for the record was hand drawn by San Francisco artist Gus Cutty.

Start off the season with some new spooky songs! If you pre-order the vinyl record before October 1, they will also give you a limited edition hand-carved Dr. Phibes poster by Mad Tea Party’s own Jason Krekel!

The Mad Tea Party on the Web

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The Mad Tea Party Embarks on a Kentucky Run May 27-29

Mad Tea Party ~ Ami Worthen & Jason Krekel

Kentucky run May 27-29, 2010

WFPK  Studio Session at 4pm on Thurs, May 27th , Louisville

Cosmic Charlie’s on Thurs, May 27th, Lexington

Kentucky Coffeetree Café on Fri, May 28th, Frankfort

Vernon Club:  Bobby Watson’s annual “Dance or Die” Party on Saturday, May 29th in Louisville opening for the Tim Krekel Orchestra. Jason Krekel will also be performing with the TKO.

Photo by Lydia See

Mad Tea Party brews up rock ‘n’ roll, garage-pop and honky tonk to create a fresh and intoxicating sound. “It’s B-52s meets Buddy Holly with a lot more thump.” Musical conspirators Ami Worthen and Jason Krekel serve up an exciting live show to music lovers thirsty for upbeat, original refreshment. Delicious harmonies glide over electrified ukulele, juke-joint guitar, scratchy fiddle and pulsing foot percussion. Catchy songs are steeped in raw rockabilly with shreds of doo wop and devilish blues. Drink deep – Mad Tea Party concocts a musical recipe that will make you boogie.

The Mad Tea Party “Invitation to the Blues” live @ Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC 2.27.2010

The Tim Krekel Orchestra: Led by the late & great Tim Krekel

The Mad Tea Party on the Web

Click here to read Ami’s Blog- Ukulele Rockstar.

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Mad Tea Party brings the Party back to the Tea Party!

This post by Jason Sanford with the AVL Citizen Times and Ashvegas Blog rocks! I was actually an “extra” in this Tea Party moment…

ASHVEGAS: Local tea party is not Mad Tea Party

Jason Sandford • April 23, 2010 Asheville Citizen Times

The Asheville Tea Party is a grassroots movement of regular people on a mission to take back their government. Call them citizen crusaders. They’re mad as hell, and they’re not gonna take it.

But don’t call them The Mad Tea Party. That would be the name of Ami Worthen and Jason Krekel’s popular Asheville band. They’re known for their ukulele-powered rockabilly.

The musicians have been on the local scene a good bit longer than the folks with the political agenda. Yet it seems that some folks are getting the two mixed up.

“We started getting e-mails from people thinking we were affiliated with the movement” when it first took off last year, Worthen says. It’s not the first time the band has had its name confused. There’s a Disneyland ride by the same name. It features a giant tea cup that spins riders around in dizzying style. “What can you do but laugh?”

So the band decided to have a little fun. During the Asheville Tea Party’s protest on Tax Day last week, Worthen and Krekel showed up with their instruments, a cameraman and a few extras, including a dancer in a bunny costume. It was a classic Asheville “when worlds collide” moment.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100423/NEWS/304230031 THERE IS ALSO A GREAT VIDEO POSTED: http://www.citizen-times.com/section/videonetwork?bctid=78372290001

Photo by Aja Bach

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