Friday night, September 2, 2016, the Radiators’ singer/songwriter and keyboardist Ed Volker will appear at Chickie Wah Wah with his latest ensemble, dubbed the Do-Rad-Choppers. The band features two of his longtime collaborators in the Radiators—bassist Reggie Scanlan and guitarist Camile Baudoin. The other members of the band include longtime collaborators Joe Cabral on saxophone and percussionist Michael Skinkus.
Since disbanding the Radiators, Volker has assembled numerous bands to perform his latest original compositions, a wide range of covers as well as songs from the deep well of the Radiators. His latest ensemble, the Do-Rad-Choppers, is a vehicle to deconstruct and reinvent, i.e. “chop up,” many of the tunes he wrote as the principal songwriter of the Radiators.
As the leader of the Radiators, Volker composed thousands of songs, many of which found their way into the repertoire of one of the most prolific bands in the world. Some of the songs were performed hundreds of times, others were played sporadically and a handful only appeared on the band’s set lists a few times. Hardcore Fishheads, as fans of the Radiators are known, can even name a small number of original songs that were only played a single time.
Ed Volker’s prolific post-Radiators run of new songs and recordings continues with the recent release of Look Glass Trick, which was released under the moniker of his alter ego Zeke Fishhead. The new album features eleven new tunes and a new level of production expertise for his series of self-made albums.
