The Colin Sphinctor Band

The first time I saw the Colin Sphinctor Band was in 1975 at the Festival of the Little Hills, in Saint Charles, MO. The band was playing on a flatbed truck next to a dumpster. The drummer was a guy in professional wrestling leotards who billed himself as “The Purple Demon” The unassuming man with the straw hat with the green plastic built-in visor was at the microphone playing guitar and harmonica in a loose “are-these-guys-serious” manner. Songs being played included such originals as “God Drives A Volvo” and “I Don’t Want To Be A Nazi Anymore”.

Well, in 30+ years the band has come a long way. These days the flatbed truck is almost 20 feet away from the dumpster!

And who’d’ve guessed…I’d be a Sphinctor!

While today’s Colin Sphinctor Band is different in regards of personnel, the spirit of a Sphinctor shines through in each performance. Jim Findlay (the aforementioned green-visorly-hatted harmonicanarian) is still the front-man, and one of the two chief songwriters. (John Garbo is the other. He now runs the slideshow during performances). The rest of the band is Serapis with the delightful addition of Goeff Seitz on fiddle.

The band plays about once or twice a year – the last few years have been at The Focal Point, in the artsy Maplewood, MO. The Focal Point is adjacent to the Maya Café, a delightfully unique restaurant owned by Sphinctor Jay Schoeber.

The performance last Saturday night was a lot of fun. The house was filled to capacity, and as usual, everyone left with a smile on their face. The show can best be described as “serious silliness”. While we are working hard to make sure every goes (nearly) as planned, we all realize that the total experience is the fun. Yell at the band between songs. We don’t care, we’ll yell back.

There is some nice music going on between the lines. We all enjoy playing together, and the folks always seem to have a good time. Next time, you should be there.