Artist description The Vetivers are the finest jangle-pop trio in the world!

Music Style Jangle-pop with occasional absurd silliness

Musical Influences all the best music from all over the world

Similar Artists Teenage Fanclub, REM, The Beatles, Neil Young, They Might Be Giants, Chris Isaak, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Bob Dylan

Artist History The Vetivers were formed by Paul Solecki and Ben Champion on May 18, 1997. Paul and Ben were members of the band Carnivorous Grass, but being discouraged by the fact that they were the only two that showed up for practice, they took all their equipment over to Paul's house and decided to form a new band. They worked with each other for a few weeks and came up with such songs as "Sunrise" and "Caldecott and Newberry." Soon, they found a bass player in Pat "Orlick" Danko, and the band was complete. They played their first concert in a friend's basement in June. Soon after that, Paul came up with the name The Vetivers. The word vetiver was in one of his favorite songs, "Find the River" by R.E.M., and everyone agreed that it sounded like a good name for the band, though they didn't exactly know what it meant. Over the next year, The Vetivers wrote many songs and recorded a five-song tape, The Vetivers In Stereo. It contained "Outer Space," "Caldecott and Newberry," "Sideways Heart Attack," "Million Mile Sky," and "Up and Expecting." They made their public debut at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. Soon after the tape was released, Paul wanted to add a keyboard player to the band. However, he couldn't find a keyboard player and ended up inviting Jimmy March to sit in with the band for a practice. Jimmy worked at the music store where Paul bought his guitar equipment. Jimmy brought his guitar and played a few original songs for the band and everyone became fast friends. The Vetivers were now a four-piece band, but rarely saw each other since they lived very far apart from each other. Ben lived in Manhattan, Pat in Topeka, Paul in Lawrence, and Jimmy in Kansas City. Despite the geographical difficulties, the band managed to see each other on a somewhat regular basis and started to make regular appearances at a movie theater in Olathe. They also had a big concert at a hot air balloon festival in Kansas City. Soon, it was time to record a CD. The Vetivers had built up quite a collection of songs and began work in February of 1999 on their first CD. The band recorded 10 songs by Paul, 4 by Jimmy, and even a song by Pat that turned out to be one of the best on the CD. Recording took several months and saving up to mass-produce it took several more, and by the end of the year it was ready. The Vetivers released Lights on December 5. However, soon after the release of the CD, the band would receive some bad news. Pat Danko, an amazing bass player and emerging songwriter, quit the band in January of 2000 due to his busy schedule. Though the other three guys were shocked and dismayed by the news, they knew who they would turn to. Jim Kelly, who played bass for Carnivorous Grass with Paul and Ben, joined the band just hours after the resignation of Pat. The new lineup made its debut on April 5, 2000, at Adrian's Cafe in Overland Park. The next year would be a slow one for the band, and Jim would appear in only two more concerts with The Vetivers, the last being on October 13, 2000. To make up for the lack of public appearances, the band was very busy writing songs and rehearsing for their second CD. In April 2001, both Jim Kelly and Jimmy March left the band. Paul and Ben needed a bass player, but they decided to choose a good friend rather than a good bass player. Clyde Kim had never even touched a bass when he accepted the position in the band. He and Paul worked together on an almost daily basis, and less than three weeks after he started learning the instrument, Clyde made his public debut with Paul and Ben. The Vetivers were a three-piece band again, and they took advantage of that by recording their second CD, "Twelve O'Clock in all the World." Clyde Kim left the band the day it was released, and Paul and Ben are keeping up the good work although they are now separated by half of North America and the Atlantic Ocean!

Group Members Paul Solecki Ben Champion Clyde Kim

Instruments guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, piano, mandolin, accordion, harmonica, kazoo, cajon, tamborine, wood block, fiddle, red pepper, orange juice

Albums Lights, Twelve O'Clock in all the World

Additional Info assorted rare mp3s available at www.vetivers.com

Location Olathe, KS - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).