11

1

J

ust a year and a, half ago, the
members of the Ann Arbor band
Wig were anxiously awaiting the
release of their first major label
album — when they weren't busy
delivering food baskets for the Horn
of Plenty, a gift shop in Birming-
ham owned by Art Schurgin, the
father of Wig guitarist Rob
Schurgin.
A former concert promot:
er — he put on shows by
Elvis Presley and the Bea-
tles — the senior Schurgin
was sympathetic to his
son's career goals, if not
Wig's driving, textured
brand of rock.
Fortunately, since the
release of Deliverance in
late 1994, the Wig mem-
bers have been deliver-
ing only music, not
baskets. "We're full-time
musicians now," says
Rob Schurgin, 28. "What
we're able to make con-
tinues to pay us for what
we're doing."
That's not to imply that
Deliverance put Schurgin and
his bandmates — singer Clark
S. Nova; bassist Fran Falls and
drummer John Burke — on Easy
Street. The album sold less than
40,000 copies, which Schurgin ac-
knowledges was "a flop, in the eyes of
the record company."
But that didn't stop the go-ahead for

5

WIG band
members Clark
Nova, Rob
Schurgin, John Burke
and Fran Falls will
perform at St. Andrew's Hall.

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Skating show featur-
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Sat., 8 p.m.

another album for Island Records,
which went through a reorganization
when Deliverance was released, ham-
pering Its promotion.
And it didn't alter the band mem-
bers' feelings for the album. *
"I'm proud of the record," Schurgin
says. "It's just an imprint in time, like
a photo album. You do it; it represents
a certain time, a certain day, and all
you can do is accept it and love it. And
move on."
Wig — which formed during the late
'80s and switched singers in 1992 —
recently finished recording its next al-
bum, which is due out in May. Schur-
gin describes the record,. titled
Wireland, as "more colorful" than De-
liverance.
"It's just more spacious," he says of
the album, which was recorded in stu-
dios in Detroit and Chicago. "I think
it's more sophisticated. Some of the
songs are really hard and tough, with
a lot of angst, bUt there are some oth-
er songs that just float and sort of hyp-
notize you."

Gary Graff

0 Wig performs with Forehead
Stew, Walk on Water, Shift, Robert
Bradley, Wytchyker, Five Horse
Johnson and Morsel on Saturday,
Feb. 10, at St. Andrews Hall, 431 E.
Congress, downtown Detroit. I)oors
open at 9 p.m. 18 & over. $6. For tick: _
ets, call (810) 645-6666. Call (313)
961-MELT.

