Trumans Remains Undefeated

Back home in France after a West Coast tour, Trumans Water's Kevin Branstetter chuckles about a blurb anticipating the band's Casbah appearance last month. In an August 30 item, CityBeat's Scoop Stevens noted that "...the gloriously weird '90s band Truman's Water is getting back together to play at the Casbah on Sept. 5."

"Yeah, 'reunion...getting back together' -- pretty ridiculous," says the singer-guitarist, who lives with his French wife outside of Paris. "It's, like, does anybody bother doing research, getting on the Internet, seeing that we've done 15 albums -- that we never stopped? We haven't toured in America much for a while, though, so...pretty cool they'd even remember us, even if they put that cursed apostrophe in our name."

Though Trumans Water began in San Diego in the early '90s and gigged regularly in local venues before migrating to Portland in 1995, their following here was always tiny, often members of other S.D. bands they played with: Heavy Vegetable, Powerdresser, Three Mile Pilot.

"I don't think we were ever nominated for a San Diego Music Award," muses Branstetter. "And we just never thought we'd win anyway, didn't care. It was enough that we had other great bands that liked us, and then others from outside S.D. that told us we were awesome; people like Beck, Boredoms, Sonic Youth, Stereolab -- even [Led Zeppelin bassist] John Paul Jones."

Pending TW plans include a live album they recorded in Norway last fall, then an album of new studio material they recently recorded in Oakland. Branstetter says Asthmatic Kitty (Sufjan Stevens's label) is interested in rereleasing their first three albums. The four-piece lineup includes Kevin's SDSU graduate brother Kirk on guitar, Mt. Helix's Mike Coumatos on bass, and former Uncle Joe's Big Ol' Driver/aMiniature/Last of the Juanitas drummer Johnny Schier.

"Our show in San Diego this last time was cool," says Branstetter. "Not that many people as always, just like back when we'd play to 10 people at the Casbah, go off to England and play the Reading Festival for 5000, then come back to the same 10 people."