Carnival of Soul

As a teenager growing up in the ’80s, Jim Troglen made the sort of zigzagging mixtapes where Ratt might follow Kajagoogoo.

“They fit right together,” Troglen says now. “To me they do.”

Un-lemming musical instincts are one of the enduring things about Troglen.

He was known as Johnny Blade when he slayed on outlaw guitar with ’90s Alabama sleaze-rockers The Autumn Lords.

These days, the Huntsville native goes by Woa Hahne Bla’de when singing and guitaring with The Ladies of …, an awkwardly named but potent collective of Southeastern musicians.

The Ladies of …’s extensive ranks include regional rock heroes, like Mary My Hope/Pleasure Club singer/guitarist James Hall and Brother Cane bassist/guitarist Roman Glick. Others in the mix include drummer Jack Massey and guitarist Mark Patrick, from almost-famous ’90s Tuscaloosa band The Storm Orphans. The Ladies of …’s touring lineup is comprised of Hall, Bla’de, Massey, Patrick, vocalist Jaz Jillette and bassist James Wahl.

Since forming around 2015, The Ladies of … have released a barrage of slinky, night-crawling music. Their latest batch is on exquisitely titled EP “If You Take Out the Middle Man, You Take Out Yourself.” The eight-song set traverses “Diamond Dogs” glam (“Text U Back”), drum-machine get-down (“Surrounded”), new wave (“Neon Rendevous” [the misspelling is intentional]) and metallic punk “(“Chains”).

“We’ve got more music than we know what to do with,” Troglen says.

When Ladies of … performed at Huntsville’s SideTracks Music Hall in 2018, the show was impressively swinging for an outfit with members scattered across Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville and beyond. And more R&B tinged than I was expecting.

Last year, world-class guitarist and Alabama native Damon Johnson (Brother Cane, Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy, etc.) described Troglen to me as a “rock poet.” Johnson’s onto something there. In conversation Troglen is simultaneously focused and far-out. In addition to co-writing much of Johnson’s strong debut solo album “Memoirs of an Uprising,” his songs have also been recorded by the likes of ’80s Sunset Strip band Bang Tango.

My first experience with Troglen was watching him sling his fake Les Paul around a gig at Huntsville’s Tip Top Café back in the early ’90s. Onstage that night, he oozed dangerous charisma. The kind of vibe that makes a young music fan think, “I want to do that.”

Troglen’s name may not ring a bell with casual music fans, but in regional underground-rock circles, he’s a known and well-liked figure. And a good hang.

On a recent afternoon, I caught up with Troglen at Angel’s Island, a tropical themed coffeeshop located in the shadows of a South Parkway overpass. The 1987 Grissom High grad was seated by a window. He’s was wearing a bandana, black windbreaker, camo shorts and Nikes. Below are edited excerpts from our conversation.

Jim, the musicians in The Ladies of … have been in a lot of bands. How is being in a band at this stage of your life different than when people are younger?

Maturing. And valuing the opportunity.

Does it mean more now to get to play music like this?

It means a lot more. How we’re doing it, everybody still cares. And the caring part is all the logistics that go into getting there. We’re internally grateful we can still do it and we’re going to be attentive to the process. And there are no commercial expectations.

It’s a “making good music” expectation only.

Yes.

When a band makes a record that’s all over the place musically it often sounds forced. The Ladies Of … does that in a way that feels cohesive. How do you all pull that off?

That’s because of Jeff Tomei (a producer/engineer whose other credits include Matchbox Twenty and Smashing Pumpkins). Sonically it helps out because it doesn’t sound mismatched. We don’t have a lot of demands, like, “I have to play this guitar and this amp this way.” A lot of what goes on is in the moment. “Jeff, I need it to sound like a Ron Wood guitar in 1974,” and he’ll go, “OK,” and make it sound that way.

How long have you been aware of James Hall?

I had heard of Mary My Hope and bought a record called “Monster Is Bigger Than Man,” and it had a song on it called “It’s About Time” and it blew me away. Then, I was trying to see them (live), but before the internet you had to figure out how to get an Atlanta or Nashville paper and I was in Birmingham or something. And then I saw Mary My Hope with a new lead singer. OK. Sometime after that James came from New Orleans through Birmingham.

Was this when he was doing Pleasure Club?

This was when he was just James Hall. This would’ve been in ’92. And he played an off night at The Nick. And that (show) blew me away. Then a little while later I was in The Autumn Lords and booking this club, and his manager called and said they were on their way to record in Nashville to record an album called, “My Love, Sex And Spirit,” which was released on (Indigo Girls singer/songwriter) Amy Ray’s Daemon Records label. That was when the Indigo Girls were a big deal. He came through and he had the flu, like really sick, and there was hardly anybody there because it was like a Tuesday. IT was cool to see him have the flu like that, be on his death bed, rock out and then got to Nashville to record the album that propelled him to Geffen (Records).

In the early ’90s, when many bands were chasing the grunge trend, The Autumn Lords never did.

When grunge hit, I resented it. Because I was just watching all those hair band guys merge right into that. And it backfired because a lot of people were confused by it. “You’re not a hair band why do you look like a hair band?” New York Dolls, Lords of the New Church, that’s the stuff we were aligning with. It would be like if right now we went out and started wearing big baggie jeans and turntables like Limp Bizkit. Nobody’s doing that.

Your guitar in Ladies of … is funkier than what you did with Autumn Lords. You seem to be relishing playing this way.

Because I played guitar like that before for so long. I was a one-man guitar thing in knucklehead bands. And there’s nothing wrong with knucklehead bands and I love knucklehead bands. Knucklehead bands are The Ramones, The Stooges, Motley Crue, you know. I mean Led Zeppelin was a knucklehead bands except when they said, “We can’t be too knuckleheaded.” But when you do that, you’re stuck in that. Like with the Autumn Lords we couldn’t have a piano player or a drum machine or multiple vocalists, because we had to follow the Van Halen formula. And that’s cool. I love all that. But that’s why a lot of those bands if they step out too far from that they lose their base. So now being we’re boundless, with this stuff that’s a lot of appeal for me.

Which Autumn Lords song you think best captures that band’s essence?

A song called “Lie in the Living Daylights,” which is a song about being in a band and trying to figure out why you’re in a band. Kind of like that Bob Seger “Turn the Page” song – not sonically, that’s a really mellow song, and this was more groove and kind of dirty. But thematically it’s the same thing.

To me, back then you had a bit of a Keith Richards vibe onstage.

Wow, that’ s a high compliment. Even though he’s not my favorite Rolling Stone, Mick (Jagger) is.

Really? I never would’ve guessed that. Why Mick over Keith?

Because in ’81 (on tour with The Stones), Mick wore yellow football pants. That’s the whole reason. Keith’s still been cool, where Mick for a while was wearing pink golf shirts. And I think that Mick was more flexible and like how he’d be in movies and things like that. Plus, the economy of the band, the actual infrastructure, he’s responsible for that. I went and saw them in Jacksonville a few weeks ago, it was my wife’s first (Stones) show, it’s still as stupid as ever. When I say stupid, the stadium was sold-out, there were cops everywhere and there was money flowing. And to be able to pull all that off and have it believable … The Rolling Stones are my favorite band, not because of the music, it’s their longevity. You can’t deny it. They won. U2 will never catch up with them. But it’s the football pants. That’s where it started.

The Storm Orphans were another popular touring Alabama rock band around the same time as Autumn Lords. Now their guitarist, Mark Patrick, is in The Ladies of … What do you like about Mark’s guitar playing?

Everything. Because he had zero heavy-metal in him. None he is pure, Southern boogie, country influences as a guitar player. And he’s super devoted to the song and not the guitar. A lot of what I’m doing on guitar is percussive and moving it. A lot of what James does is crazy. And Mark’s coloring in. He has to do all the supporting actor parts. He’s changing sounds for every song.

I liked the songs you worked on for Damon Johnson’s solo album. Why do you think you and Damon are a good fit musically?

He’s very focused. A lot of people say, “We should collaborate.” He says, “We are collaborating.” He’s very perceptive. And very smart with how he can take something and hone it. Like, he doesn’t come armed with a guitar – he tries to take it all in and find out what fits for him. And he’s a heavy dude. He’s not a party-rock guy at all.

Previously, you and Damon worked together in (short-lived band) The Motorbelly. That album has an interesting sound, metallic yet Southern. How did that come together?

Brother Cane had just ended, which was super serious. The Autumn Lords had just ended, which was not. But we had this body of work. There was a song on there called “Black Cloud” that was a Brother Cane song that was never realized. He had a song with Marti (Frederiksen, Aerosmith and Brother Cane collaborator) called “Tumblin’ Down” – that song later turned into a Black Star Riders song. There were other songs I’d written for the Autumn Lords. There was another song Bang Tango ended up doing later on.

How in the world did Bang Tango end up recording some of your songs?

A drummer that played with them used to be in a band called BlackBone (a Memphis metal combo and predecessor of modern-rock hit-makers Saliva). I knew him, and Bang Tango were going to make a record and he said, “I know this guy that’s a good writer.” I think they did three songs: “Pistol Whipped in the Bible Belt,” which was also the title of the album,” D— in the System” and “Boom Box Séance.”

Who’s a well-known artist you’d love to record one of your songs or cowrite with?

It would be cool to have Annie Lennox sing a song. She’s got a cool combination of tone and character. Then to collaborate … Somebody I look and act like, Kasabian or Cage The Elephant or Artic Monkeys. Someone I don’t look like, Robyn or Bjork.

In a live context, the mix of a female and male vocals in The Ladies of … is a nice texture for a rock band. It’s differentiates from typical guitar stuff. Like having a keyboardist

I know what you mean, because it’s tough to be a be in a rock band. We want to be a rock and roll band.

I think you all have the “roll” too.

I pray to God we do.

The Ladies of … play a free show 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at The Camp, 5909 University Drive in Huntsville. The opening act is local group Hunnivega. On Sept. 21, the band will be at Birmingham’s The Nick, address 2514 10th Ave. S. Showtime is 10 p.m. Admission is $10. Support acts include People Years and Lola Montez. More info: theladiesof.com.