Q & A with Casey McDonough of the Flat Five and NRBQ
For years, the Flat Five has been one of Chicago’s best-kept musical secrets. A vocal group with roots in jazz, country, and sunny ’60s pop, they’ve performed only a few shows a year at cozy local venues like the Hideout, SPACE, and the Old Town School of Folk Music — leaving the five members (Alex Hall, drums and vocals; Kelly Hogan, vocals; Scott Ligon, guitar, piano, and vocals; Nora O’Connor, guitar and vocals; Casey McDonough, bass and vocals) free to pursue their many other musical projects.
This fall, they’ve much busier than usual recording their first CD (a tribute to Scott’s brother, singer/songwriter Chris Ligon), and wrapping up a month-long residency at the Hideout. In between rehearsals and recording, I was able to talk a bit with Casey McDonough, who also serves as NRBQ’s bassist, about the Flat Five’s origins, some of their side projects, and what they have in store for the coming months.
REBEAT: How did the Flat Five come about?
CASEY MCDONOUGH: The band got started when Kelly and Scott started singing together. They had a pretty instant rapport, and before long, Kelly invited Nora to sing with them. Nora and Kelly had already sung quite a bit with each other. A little while later, Scott brought me on board. We had been playing together in the Western Elstons. Alex Hall came in on drums after Gerald Dowd.
How do you choose and arrange songs? How do you know a song is good Flat Five material, and how do you put it together — especially considering that you’re all rarely in the same place?
Usually something just clicks with one of us about a song, or you just get a feeling that we could/should do this. Scott is very good at figuring out parts and getting the right stack of voices. We’re all pretty instinctual about how music goes in general, and certainly with each other, we’ve sung together so much and in so many different combinations that we all have a pretty good idea what needs to be done!
(The Western Elstons, featuring Flat Five members Alex Hall, Scott Ligon, and Casey McDonough, perform “Twilight Time” at Chicago’s Friendly Tap.)
The Flat Five is just one of many musical projects you’re all involved in. Tell us about what you do outside of this configuration.
Alex is in a couple of great bands, the Fat Babies and the Modern Sounds. He’s also a very in-demand studio engineer. Kelly of course is in the Neko Case band and harmonizes with too many to list here. Nora has toured recently with Iron and Wine and also harmonizes with too many to list here. And she’s been playing with her own band as well. Scott and I are both in NRBQ. Our latest album, Brass Tacks, came out a few months ago. When we’re not on the road, we play in the Western Elstons and the Letter 4. Alex is in both those groups too!
How did you and Scott end up joining the new NRBQ lineup? What’s it like being new members of a band with such a long history and devoted fan base?
The short version is that Scott had been an admirer of NRBQ for a long time and had opened for them in groups of his own. The Flat Five opened a show for founder/pianist/composer Terry Adams. Terry invited Scott to work with him, and after a few years and four albums, Scott suggested I join when they needed a new bass player. It’s incredible getting to play all this music with Terry. The band has such a phenomenal array of songs to chose from. There have been some great writers in the band, and it’s a privilege to perform these songs with Terry. The fans have been welcoming and encouraging. Brass Tacks has been very well-received, [with] the new songs becoming instant favorites!
(NRBQ, featuring Casey and Scott, perform “Yeh Yeh” at the Hamilton in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.)
Chicago used to count itself lucky if we got just one or two Flat Five shows a year, and this month we’re being treated to a show a week. Can you talk a little about the Hideout residency, and what you have planned for the shows?
Our first show was heavy in newer songs (for us) and some older favorites. Week two saw us in unplugged mode on the floor. Very intimate! The third show featured the incredible and unheralded Beach Boys album Friends. We were joined by Dennis Leise in trombone, Max Crawford on trumpet, and the fantastic Paul Mertens on sax and chromatic harmonica. A thrill! Our last show will feature Chris Ligon playing songs of his, and Heather McAdams will show some film reels as well.
(The Flat Five, featuring Nora O’Connor on lead vocals, perform “Little Bird” from Friends during their Hideout residency last month.)
We’re also finally getting a Flat Five record, featuring covers of songs by Chris Ligon. With all the musicians and genres you cover, what about these songs made you decide to record them? What’s the recording process been like for the new record?We all love Chris’ songs, and Scott actually grew up on them. His songs exist in their own world; there’s really nothing to compare them to. They have a beauty about them, a sweetness, and Chris’ humor is in some of them too. This is a great opportunity for getting people to hear these songs. The sessions have gone very well. We work pretty quickly, we’ve all been very pleased with the early results.
(The Flat Five perform “The Camping Song” by Chris Ligon at SPACE in 2013.)
What’s one song you would love to perform with the band, but haven’t yet, for whatever reason?
I can never decide what I’d like to sing in the future!
