WHY LIE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS.Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer It's rare these days that for the price of a beer, you can check out, and maybe even break down and dance, to a band with the pedigree pedigree Record of ancestry or purity of breed. Pedigrees of domesticated animals are maintained by governmental or private record associations or breed organizations in many countries. of Why Lie. The Valley-based trio is an unusually tight, hard-rocking unit that's been drawing steadily for the past several months at the decades-old, utilitarian Sherman Oaks barroom called the Barrel. Until a few days ago, Why Lie was known as the Burke Wallace Group, named for the trio's guitarist, singer and founder, a dependable player and recognizable face on the local music scene for years. But the group - which also includes ex-David Bowie bassist Tony Sales Tony Sales is a rock and roll bass guitarist who, with his brother Hunt Sales, has played with Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop and Tin Machine. Career Son of 1950s/60s television comedian Soupy Sales, Tony Sales grew up in Detroit with his brother Hunt. and stop-on-a-dime drummer Jeff Urdank - decided to embrace democracy and dispense with the appearance of ego. The result: Why Lie. No question mark. What hasn't changed is the group's friendly, good-hearted music, which takes in an operatic op·er·at·ic adj. Of, related to, or typical of the opera: an operatic aria. [From opera1. surf medley med·ley n. pl. med·leys 1. An often jumbled assortment; a mixture: "That night he dreamed he was traveling in a foreign country, only it seemed to be a medley of all the countries he'd ever been to and touching on the "Peter Gunn Peter Gunn was an American private eye television series which aired on the NBC and later ABC television networks from 1958 to 1961. The show's creator (and also writer and director on occasion) was Blake Edwards. A total of 114 thirty-minute episodes were produced. " theme and "Misirlou," convincing Albert King-style blues, the Meters' classic "Cissy cissy Noun pl -sies Adjective same as sissy Adj. 1. cissy - having unsuitable feminine qualities effeminate, emasculate, sissified, sissy, sissyish, epicene Strut" and the downright down·right adj. 1. Thoroughgoing; unequivocal: a downright lie. 2. Forthright; candid. adv. Thoroughly; absolutely. best version of "Folsom Prison Blues" available in the 818 area code. And originals. "We play what sounds good to us," the lanky lank·y adj. lank·i·er, lank·i·est Tall, thin, and ungainly. See Synonyms at lean2. lank  i·ly adv. ,
tousled-haired Wallace said in a slightly Southern accent A southern accent, in general, is an accent characteristic of the southern part of any country or region. With reference to the English language, the term usually refers to either of:
Why Lie's Wallace, Sales and Urdank are not only lucky to be able to play what they want, but to have a regular place to play the stuff. The trio appears at the Barrel on Saturday, and normally every other Saturday. Another memorable moment from a recent gig was a version of Dave Brubeck's instrumental "Take Five" that managed to draw a few folks onto the tiny dance floor. "There's no pretense about the place, which makes it a down-home atmosphere for our music," Urdank said. "There's no VIP room, no velvet rope. It's a comfortable, straightforward room where people can come in, hang out, relax and play pool if they want. We're set up in a corner, and I'm under the dart board, and somehow, we're getting a really good sound there. I love playing with these guys." What's refreshing about this lean, accomplished trio is the range of experience, both musical and otherwise, on display. Along with decades on the rock and blues circuit up and down the West Coast, Wallace - who was once signed to Frank Zappa's label - knows how to charm an audience with off-the-wall quips that draw laughs from the Barrel's jukebox A storage device for multiple sets of CD-ROMs, DVDs, tape cartridges or disk modules. Using carousels, robot arms and other methods, a jukebox physically moves the storage medium from its assigned location to an optical or magnetic station for reading and writing. jury at the pool table. "It's perfect for us," said Sales, who, with his drummer brother Hunt, recorded with Iggy Pop, and cut three albums and toured the world as a member of Bowie's art-metal outfit Tin Machine in the '90s. "We've all paid our dues. We don't want to get in a van and go up and down the state playing one-nighters. We've all done that. But we love playing music, and this is a situation that's working out for us." Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 fred.shuster@dailynews.com WHY LIE Where: The Barrel, 4545 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks. When: 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Cover: None. (818) 501-9202. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The members of Why Lie - drummer Jeff Urdank, left, singer-guitarist Burke Wallace and bassist Tony Sales - play what they want during their regular gigs at the Barrel in Sherman Oaks. Sam Undank |
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