The Ginger Hustlers find their muse alive and well in Eugene.

Byline: Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

The Ginger Hustlers have called Eugene home since 2003, but they don't think of themselves as a local band.

Gina Kontur, Thom Witherow and Veigh moved to Eugene from Erie, Pa., to be closer to the strong support they had received from Jerry Joseph, a Portland-based songwriter who has penned songs for Widespread Panic and fronted the Jackmormons.

Witherow said that his only hesitation in moving away from the dreary, post-industrial, post-Sept. 11 surroundings in the East was that he might lose his muse. Maybe he would come to Eugene and just want to Hula-Hoop and plant flowers rather than come up with politically charged rock songs that conjure images of doom and corruption.

But Witherow has found that he's just as inspired on the West Coast. He has written dozens of songs that haven't made it onto either of the Ginger Hustlers' studio recordings, including the latest, "Nursery Rhymes for the Apocalypse," the band's first full-length project.

`What I realized is that it's more than just the world itself is demanding artists in any medium and any arena to really work and share and try to counterbalance some of the unfortunate energies," he said. "The artists I know have been really prolific, feeling this need.

`That's what this album is really about."

The Ginger Hustlers started out as Witherow's acoustic project. But one Pennsylvania day, Veigh's uncle put a bass in Kontur's hands and taught her a part while Witherow took a cigarette break.

Although she'd never played bass before, Kontur caught on fast; Witherow could sense her passion and excitement. Similarly, Veigh had never played electronic keyboards, but she had a background as a piano player.

The women believed in his music and wanted to learn it. Since that day, the band has continued to add layers to its rock sound.

Still, Witherow had to tattoo a reminder on his wrist, a symbol that translates to "a patient heart will be your virtue," in order to keep his anxious nature at bay while Veigh and Contur learned their instruments.

"It reminds me that with these bandmates, their heart and the vision is there," he said.

Tension is at center of work

The band started its current recording project in January 2006. It had finished the tracking by April, but by October the trio scrapped some of those tracks and began recording new ones.

Overall, Witherow summed up the album as being about tension and release. As a band critical of right-wing policies, and most notably the war in Iraq, our culture is now in a phase of mounting tension, from their artistic point of view.

Witherow hopes that things are changing. He sees evidence of Christian movements going back to the teachings of the Bible and eschewing the divisive politics propagated by some members of the religious right.

On "Nursery Rhymes," Witherow's and Veigh's contrasting vocals shape the lyric-driven songs, several of which deal with religion. On the first track, "Wagon Train," Veigh's voice is the steam rising around Witherow's tombstone after a desert rain.

David Jacobs-Strain provides the steel guitar on "Cap Gun Sniper," one of the more straight-forward tunes on the album. Other tracks, such as "Theodore Shackley Is Dead," demonstrate Witherow's trademark cryptic storytelling.

Witherow said the song deals with double-speaking government officials who can convince the public to support policies that are against their best interests. That message is coded in lines from nursery rhymes, such as "ashes to ashes," from the fanciful children's rhyme about the plague: "Ring Around the Rosie."

"We tried to capture that contradiction," Witherow said. "We're not saying we know what's going on. We're saying we don't think (the government) is telling us the truth."

Witherow said he wants his art to make people think critically about the government and to work harder to find accurate information, rather than getting all their news from soundbites.

"In my writing there is some righteous indignation, because I've seen it so often where people want to have this moral high ground - we want to call it a Christian nation, but by what Christian standard are you judging it by?" Witherow said. "Take a look at helping the poor, the infirm, widows, you know, orphans, that kind of thing.'

Joseph's shout-outs pay off

Witherow said he thinks part of why his band is better-received in other parts of the country than in Eugene is that Joseph often gives them shout-outs during his shows if he knows multiple tapers are in the audience. Those bootleggers post the shows online and music fanatics, including Widespread Panic fans, follow up with what they hear on those recordings.

The band's 2004 EP, "Pulse," more than paid for itself, Witherow said, and the Ginger Hustlers are hoping this one can do the same. He said if the price of gas weren't so high, they would be touring throughout the Rocky Mountains and in the Athens, Ga., area, where the EP sold particularly well.

CONCERT PREVIEW

Ginger Hustlers

What: CD release party for "Nursery Rhymes for the Apocalypse"

With: Basin and Range and special guests

When: 10 p.m. Saturday

Where: Latitude 21, 21 W. Sixth Ave.

Admission: $5

Also: Ginger Hustlers play an in-store concert at CD World, 3215 W. 11th Ave., at 3 p.m. Saturday

On the Web: Hear music and find a link to the band Web site at www.register guard.com/ticketfiles

You can call Serena Markstrom at 338-2371 or e-mail her at [e-mail].