Benefit show for WHFR-FM
With Cetan Clawson Revolution,
Universal Temple of Divine Power and Charlie Don't Surf
9 p.m. Fri.
Lager House
1254 Michigan,
Detroit
313-961-4668
$5
The Lowdown: Detroit's rock scene is blue-collar. Always has been, always will be. And Universal Temple of Divine Power -- despite the peculiar name that brings to mind a sandal-wearing, granola-eating new-age cult in California -- is about as blue-collar as it gets.
The band was born on a Ford Motor Co. assembly line in Ypsilanti, where Chuck Burns and Elliott Moses, who share guitar and vocal duties for UTDP, both work. "We'd go out to the parking lot on our lunch break and listen to Humble Pie, the Allman Brothers, North Mississippi All-Stars, ZZ Top," says Burns. "We kept saying it would be cool to play together, and things finally came together to where we could do it."
Burns, 46, is the veteran of the group. In addition to UTDP, he handles guitar and vocal duties for Speedball ("an attempt to cross the Smithereens and Motorhead") and was the drummer for Seduce, arguably Detroit's premier hair metal band until it disbanded in the late '80s. Seduce reunited for a show in 2003 and now plays once or twice a year. Burns also played in the now-defunct Skeemin' No-Goods.
The other band members are in their mid-30s. Moses and drummer Chris Andrews were formerly in the Kingsnakes. Moses also played in Black Planet, a rap-rock band that for a short time was produced by the Bass brothers, who also produce Eminem. Art McCauley plays bass and is Moses' brother-in-law.
Together for just shy of two years, the band released its first CD, "Hand of God," last fall. On Saturday, UTDP plays the Lager House in a benefit for WHFR-FM (89.3), the Henry Ford Community College radio station that's known for its support of Detroit music.
Blues Stew: Burns says that McCauley, the bassist, is into Miles Davis, while Andrews enjoys prog rock -- Can, Pink Floyd, King Crimson. "And Elliott's always been a fan of black music, stuff like Sister Rosetta Tharpe and '60s R&B guys -- Sam and Dave, Otis Redding. And I'm into everything, a lot of metal, lot of punk." Throw it all together, and the result is a high-horsepower brand of bluesy, gospel-tinged rock. "The sound we're going for," says Moses, "is like Humble Pie or Free -- a white rock band with a lot of soul."
The Name: Moses: "On westbound I-94 in Detroit, at the top of the Lonyo exit, there's this little shack of a church. It looks like an elongated outhouse. I'm not even sure it's still there. But it was called Universal Temple of Divine Power. We just thought that was kind of a cool name for that tiny old church ... and a cool name for a band."
Not Faking It: Burns has been around the Detroit rock scene for a long time and is pleased to see a number of bands getting back to the high-octane blues rock that blasted onto American stages in the '70s. "It seems like there's this growing little scene in Detroit, with bands like the Muggs, the Hotness, Battling Siki, Rattlesnake Shake -- some young bands playing really good, old-time blues rock. And our band, we're not faking it -- we've been listening to this stuff since we were kids. We feel really good about the music we're making. It's an amalgamation of everything we've ever listened to. It's even better when people dig it."