Eric’s Trip
Portraying the role of Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar has a way of bringing out the rock god in even the humblest of backup musicians.
Over the past two decades, guitarist and banjo wiz Eric Mardis has carved out a niche as one of Kansas’ most esteemed sidemen with his contributions to Split Lip Rayfield, Satan’s Jeweled Crown, the Hearers, Floyd the Barber, the Kirk Rundstrom Band, the Ants and Contortion Horse. But his frontman maneuvers reached divine new heights last summer as the lead singer and guitarist of the local ensemble re-creating Superstar at the Wakarusa Festival.
Now, just like the original Jesus (Ian Gillan of Deep Purple), Mardis wants to do his own thing.
“Ghost Runner on First” by the Eric Mardis Group:
“It’ll be fun to work in some of those big ’70s organ flavors that I like,” Mardis says of his new outfit, which recently added keyboardist Ted Kritikos. “It jumps genres a lot. The heavy rock thing is there, there’s the fast-picking country thing and some jazziness. I’ve kind of developed this taste for bands that are pretty diverse.”
The reformation of the Eric Mardis Group comes on the heels of the devastating loss of friend and collaborator Kirk Rundstrom to cancer. Mardis played guitar and pedal steel on Rundstrom’s final solo album, Imperfect Spirals, accompanying the battling musician to a New York studio to mix the record just a week before his death.
“It was a reaffirmation of our brotherhood, basically,” Mardis says. “It’s hard to say goodbye to someone that’s basically family.”
Mardis says he has just barely begun to cope with the loss, taking some solace in his weekly jazz gigs with Floyd the Barber Thursday nights at Pachamama’s. In addition to building a friendship, Mardis and Rundstrom teamed with mandolinist Wayne Gottstine and bassist Jeff Eaton to build the mini-empire that was Split Lip Rayfield. The touring unit was a fan favorite, allowing Mardis to raise his family on a musician’s salary.
“I’m obviously not making what I was with Split Lip by playing jazz gigs once a week,” says Mardis, who recently picked up a job at Mass Street Music in Lawrence. “If I have to get a real job, thank God it’s this one.”
The gig introduced Mardis to co-worker Jason Jones, who plays guitar in the gestating group, which also includes bassist Chris Shaw and Floyd the Barber cohorts Ryan Johnson (drums) and Dan Pem (saxophone). After only half a dozen practices, the quick-study sextet will hit the Replay Lounge with two hours of original material.
“It feels completely different than most of the things I’ve done,” Mardis says. “I think people will like it. And if they don’t … in three minutes, it’ll be different, so stick it out.”
