Back in the early 1990s the major music labels were snatching up rock bands from the great Northwest like a flannel sale at Value Village.
Some of those bands were good, some were great but the majority were half-assed monkey boys trying to get a piece of the pie.
Then there was this band, this one special band that released the best album of 1994 and one of the best of the entire decade. They were a four piece of Seattle luminares simply called Satchel.
The band was fronted by Shawn Smith, who is also known for his work in Pigeonhead alongside Steve Fisk. Smith also played a part in the Afghan Whigs amongst his spectacular solo work. He was joined by drummer Regan Hagar who earned his name early on the band Malfunkshun, which was fronted by Seattle legend Andrew Wood with his brother Kevin.
Satchel originally formed nine months before Smith and Hagar was working on a one-off side project with Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard entitled Brad. They released their critically acclaimed debut entitled Shame in 1992 and Gossard returned to his regular gig in Pearl Jam.
With heavy influences from 1970s rock and soul groups and Smith’s love for Prince, the duo brought in John Hoag on gutiar and Cory Kane on bass to record their monumental (but drastically overlooked) debut EDC being issued in 1994 on Epic/Sony Records.
The band carried on despite poor record sales to release their 1996 second effort The Family, which was co-produced by old buddy Stone Gossard.
Satchel had released two ridiculously beautiful albums and toured relentlessly, but didn’t gain any headway when it came to mainstream success.
Meanwhile the first Brad album was a bigger success than anyone had ever thought and Gossard wanted to reform the band to do a second album. Smith and Hagar accepted, but Meanwhile Hoag left Satchel a couple months before the second Brad CD. Brad had nothing to do with his departure.
In 1997, Brad’s second album Interiors was released and they had a successful supporting tour. The Satchel/Brad connection carried on when original Brad bassist Jeremy Toback couldn’t tour, the guys brought in new Satchel bassist Mike Berg to handle the duties.
With Hoag gone, Smith, Hagar and Berg now working with the Gossard side project Brad, the future for Satchel didn’t look good and the band never released another album…until.
Now nearly 15 years later, Satchel are back together and have been working on a new album for the past few months entitled Heartache & Honey, with their first single aproprietly called “The Return of...” released on their website in late December.
The new album features three of the original members - Smith (vocals, piano, bass); Hoag (guitar, bass); and Hagar (drums, bass) Additional bass duties were handled by a revolving door of friends of the trio including Jeff Fielder, Lonnie Marshall, and original bassist Mike Berg.
The band also announced via their website they have booked their first live show in more than a decade. On Thursday, February 18 Satchel will return to the stage at the Crocodile
The Seattle show will featuring opening acts With Friends like These and Stuck on a Bus (featuring the kids from the Seattle School of Rock). The Crocodile is located at 2200 2nd Avenue, Seattle. Tickets $12 advanced and $15 at the door with showtime starting at 8 p.m.
http://www.satchelpartnership.com/