Shifts in Tone: Popular local roots act continues quest to rock

May 13, 2024 11:06 am • Last Updated: May 13, 2024 11:06 am

By Rick Koster
Day Arts/Features writer

The Toneshifters (Skylar MacKay)

“I’d love it if we could record at Abbey Road Studios. You know, the Beatles,” said Chris MacKay, percussionist/vocalist/songwriter for New London’s fine roots outfit the ToneShifters. “Or Capricorn in Macon, Georgia, which is associated with so many great southern rock and soul artists.”

Why, of course, Chris!

And while you’re compiling a dream list of immortal recording studios, why don’t you throw in Sun Studios in Memphis and Muscle Shoals Sound in Sheffield, Alabama?

Oh, wait.

The ToneShifters HAVE recorded at Sun and Muscle Shoals!

Last year, the band, whose ability to distill rockabilly, early rock, soul, Cajun and gospel is special, went to Muscle Shoals and in 10 high-intensity hours llaid down tracks for their most recent album, “Alabama Moon.”

In 2020, just before COVID shut most of the country down, the ToneShifters traveled to Sun Studios — where Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins formally gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll — and in one all-night session taped a four-song EP called "Sun Set — Live! Raw! Vintage!"

The ToneShifters will perform material from “Sun Set,” “Alabama Moon” and more tonight at Milestone in Mystic. In addition, the show introduces the band’s new guitarist/vocalist, Tom “The Suit” Forst.

“I don’t think we ever had the idea of doing a bucket list of great recording studios,” MacKay said earlier this week in a phone interview. “But going to Sun was sort of a sudden idea when we were in Memphis on one of our annual trips down there.” Chris and his wife Sue MacKay, the band’s accordionist/vocalist, regarded a visit to Sun as a pilgrimage, and were pleasantly surprised to learn Sun is, in addition to a museum and gift shop, still open for recording during evening hours.

A sense of ongoing homage

Given the history of the place and the ToneShifters’ collective reverence for the archival music behind their own sound, they consulted the rest of the band — which also includes bassist/vocalist Ben Perry and drummer Tim Zeppiere — booked the studio a year in advance and then knocked the live EP out in one energized session.

“After we’d done Sun, life went on. But it was now in the back of our minds. We could do something like that again,” MacKay laughed.

The musicians discussed possibilities like Capricorn as well as Criteria in Miami — Abbey Road is probably a less practical goal given the ’shifters’ parttime, labor-of-love, we-have-day-jobs status — but Muscle Shoals was the favorite and financially possible choice.

“Sun was cool for its history and connection to the dawn of rock,” MacKay said, “but Muscle Shoals means a little more to us because of the Allmans connection. Plus, from my perspective as a singer, it has an association with Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones is really special.”

Might as well make it a vacation

MacKay described the experience as a sort of working vacation — and said the studio and personnel at Muscle Shoals were everything they’d hoped for. The memorabilia, instruments and general vibe gave the ToneShifters the same sort of emotional lift as Sun — a slight bit of adrenalized pressure balanced by a huge dollop of excitement for the surroundings and legacy.

“You know, we’re all older now,” MacKay said. “We’re never going to have tour buses and label support and all those things. But we’ve figured out how to make the most out of these experiences. We rented a really nice Airbnb on the Tennessee River, and we built in a few days to relax, hit some barbecue places and just had a great time. And we made the record.”

As with every ToneShifters recording, “Alabama Moon” has the band’s distinctive genetics anchored around MacKay’s forceful, raw voice. The musicians are exceedingly locked in with a sort of bubbling energy that swings even within the tighter constraints of studio sessions and overdubs. Sue MacKay’s accordion adds a strong bayou aesthetic, and the master-cylinder dynamics of Zeppieri and Perry’s rhythm section have an almost Motown sense of bubbling counterpoint.

Chris MacKay, typically the main composer, provided four of the album’s six tunes. He typically writes vocal or guitar melodies first, then applies elements from one genre or another as it seems to fit. “Then I let the band do what they do because they’re so consistently great at instinctively playing the right thing,” he said.

The album launches with “Gotta Believe,” which is the finest song Foghat never wrote, and the title track is a soulful ballad with an outta-nowhere bridge that delights as much as it surprises. And “Fun in the Sun,” a pun-titled raver about Sun Sound inspiration, has a driving, harmony-lacquered refrain and a giddy vow of “Ready or not / here we come!”

Thinking of Jack

For local fans, though, it’s hard to ignore the emotional grativas of “Daddy Jack,” which, yes, is a lovely tribute to New London’s late, beloved restaurateur/music impresario Jack Chaplin.

“I wrote that song literally the day Jack passed,” MacKay said. He paused. “I still get choked up thinking about losing him. He didn’t just help musicians, he helped humans. If you needed help, he was there for you. And you know what? That stuff wasn’t done with a sense of duty. Helping people made Jack happy. Think about that!”

The other two songs on ‘Alabama Moon’ were penned by outgoing guitarist Tim Stawartz. “Cool Like That” is a streamrolling rocker custom-made to open or close a set, and the roadhouse shuffle “Cryin’ Time” rings all those drunken lament bells.

MacKay said, “Tim left us on excellent terms. ‘Cryin’ Time’ is about a bad relationship and ‘Cool Like That’ is about a happy relationship. In fact, he moved down south to live with the girl he wrote the song about. That’s pretty great.”

The new guy

The addition of Forst was significant because the ToneShifters lineup had been steady since the inception, and losing Stawartz was a big deal.

“We’re very much a family in so many ways,” MacKay. “We’ve been through so much together, and, as you get older, being in a band gets tougher. You have to have the spirit and want to keep going — so finding the right guy to replace Tim was huge.”

MacKay said they used social media to look for a new guitarist and Forst subsequently reached out. MacKay had seen Forst play and was aware of a rich and interesting history.

For one, Forst is 73 and has only been playing professionally for 15 years. That’s because he and his wife were committed to putting their children through college. Forst worked as a successful corporate media executive who kept his passion for music in the “hobby” category.

“The day my wife and I wrote that last tuition check, I became a full-time musician,” Forst said. Known principally for a blues-rock style that echoes artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Joe Walsh, Forst has released the album “World of Broken Hearts,” toured the U.S. and China, and has been inducted into the New York and Connecticut Blues Halls of Fame.

“As soon as I saw and heard (the ToneShifters),” Forst said, “I was immediately impressed. Chris has an amazing voice and the original material is of such high quality. Great rhythm section.

“The thing is, at my age, I’m pretty demanding. And I was delighted that these are fun, very professional people. Musically, they’re like listening to old AM radio — stylistically, they’re all over the place. I love that. The only thing I was concerned about was that Tim is such a world class player that I’ve really had to up my game and learn stuff I haven’t normally done. But I love the challenge.” He laughed. “I just hope they don’t fire me after the first gig!”

“That will NOT happen,” MacKay said. “Tom is a fantastic player with a great sense of humor and he took on the challenge. Of course it’ll be different; he’s his own musician. But he’s blended in really well and I think it’s given us new energy.”

Meanwhile, if it’s true the ToneShifters don’t anticipate late-breaking fortune that would send them off on arena tours and world travel, there is a growing awareness of the band.

Aldora Britain Records, a U.K. label that markets unsigned bands from all over the world through an ongoing succession of compilation albums, contacted the ToneShifters a few years back. The label has subsequently released six of the band’s tunes on four of their releases and, as a direct result, a number of podcast interviews and other social media features have taken place.

“At first, I thought it was some kind of vanity thing and they’d want us to pay to be part of it,” MacKay said. “Not gonna happen. But they’re real and are committed to getting overlooked music out there. The reaction has been frankly great. It’s pretty cool when these little things happen and it’s just one more thing to spur you on and keep you motivated.”