Wino Wednesday: Spirit Caravan, “Elusive Truth”
Well of course it was going to be Spirit Caravan for Wino Wednesday this week. In light of the announcement last Friday that the trio of Scott “Wino” Weinrich (guitar/vocals), Dave Sherman (bass/vocals) and Gary Isom (drums) will reform to headline the 2014 London and Berlin Desertfests, there was really no other way to go. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a couple US dates. I’ll travel if I need to to catch them on the East Coast, I’ll do it, but golly, a Boston show sure would be nice. Or a full-scale North American tour with new material in tow. That’d be nice too. Either way, really.
At this point, it’s not at all known how it’s going to shake out. April’s a long way away and a lot could happen between now and then. Maybe the whole thing falls apart. I hope not, but it’s been a long time since Spirit Caravan last played together. Maybe they decide it’s not worth pursuing and pull out of the fests. What will also be intriguing is to see how or if Spirit Caravan getting going again has an effect on The Obsessed‘s own reunion run. That Wino-fronted trio has been playing shows here and there over the last year-plus. Will they keep on as well? That would make Saint Vitus, The Obsessed and Spirit Caravan all active at the same time. Wino‘s never come off as a guy inclined to sit still for long, but wow.
Nothing to do but wait and see what happens. In any case, the reintroduction of Spirit Caravan is excellent news and I’m happy to celebrate it with the title-track from the band’s 2001 sophomore outing, Elusive Truth. Though the 2003 compilation The Last Embrace was clearly intended to be the band’s swansong, Elusive Truth was their final full-length, and the eponymous cut from it shows that parts of the album had a little more doom to them than the higher-spirits vibes that permeated Spirit Caravan‘s now-classic 1999 debut, Jug Fulla Sun. It would’ve been interesting to hear where a third Spirit Caravan record wound up sonically. Maybe we’ll get the chance to find out.
Enjoy “Elusive Truth” and have a great Wino Wednesday:
