Castleneck video from Cliff Wagner
Cliff Wagner & The Old #7 had quite a run as contestants on the Next Great American Band program, which aired on Fox TV in 2007. They made it a good ways into the finals, as voted by the television audience, playing their quirky brand of rock-inflected bluegrass music.
Cliff and the boys released a new CD, Hobo’s Lullabye, in 2008, and have now produced a music video for one of the tracks. Castleneck tells the story of man who went over to the dark side and lived a life of crime, only to eventually meet his end by his own hand.
The video was a total inside job, filmed by Old #7 bass player Lucas Cheadle. Cliff built the sets, with Old #7 drummer Steve Mugalian, mandolinist Devitt Feeley, guitarist Craig Ferguson – plus friends and family members – making up the cast.
Cliff relates how they almost made the news during the shoot…
“A cop from the L.A. bomb squad drove past Steve’s house while we were filming the murder scene. He thought it was real and called it in wondering how the press got there before the cops.
Then he walked over to us realizing what was going on. We all had a good (but nervous) laugh about it.
Before he walked away he shook my hand hard and said, ‘you know I could really mess with you right now, don’t you?’
I said ‘yup,’ then he smiled, got in his SUV and drove away.”
You can watch the video on the official band web site, and see the grisly tale of Castleneck, named for his first jailhouse tattoo.
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When the Fox TV show Next Great American Band was airing in late 2007, we covered the show each week. Right from the first episode, there were two bluegrass/acoustic acts in the running for this American Idol-style competition, and Casey Henry provided us with updates on how they fared in the audience...
This report comes from Casey Henry, a banjo player and writer living in Nashville, TN. She performed the past few years with her brother, Chris, in The Two Stringers, now disbanded.
The new FOX television American Idol spin-off The Next Great American Band airs Friday nights at 8 p.m./7 p.m. central....
This report comes from Casey Henry, a banjo player and writer living in Nashville, TN. She performed the past few years with her brother, Chris, in The Two Stringers, now disbanded.
Bluegrass got the boot last night when Cliff Wagner and the Old #7 got voted off Next Great American Band. The Clark...
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Cliff Wagner & Old #7 are making quality music videos on a par with the very best! Great new songs, and interesting and funny videos! Check out their original video “Old Fire,” made in his back yard a few years ago. Lucas Cheadle is a very talented film maker, and Cliff…well, he’s a carpenter with much experience building sets in New York City and California.
He also picks the banjer! Good job!
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