Carnivorous Grass through the years

Paul Solecki asked Jim Kelly to perform a couple of songs with him at the Frontier Trail Junior High Talent Show, and the duo had their first gig on May 18, 1993. Paul played guitar and they both sang. They had been writing and recording songs together for several months at that stage, and they continued as a duo for the next year playing small gigs in basements, backyards, and parks around Olathe, Kansas. Both guys played guitars and Paul played mandolin on a few songs each gig, and singing weird little songs in harmony was their trademark. Paul and Jim would record countless tapes around this time, and spend lots of nights listening to old Beatles records in Paul's room and using them for inspiration. For about two or three gigs in 1994 they were joined by Patrick Danko on bass and the band got their first taste of "going electric." Pat soon left the band, presumably because he was an amazingly expert bass player and Paul and Jim only knew three chords. He would later reunite with Paul in The Vetivers.

The next stage of the band started when Jim became primarily a bass player and Paul switched to electric guitar (somewhere around this time they fashioned their own microphone stands out of wire coathangers). In 1995 the band was booked to play the Flag Day celebrations in Olathe and were horrified to discover that they were sharing the bill with Pat Buchanan! As it turns out, Buchanan's supporters were equally horrified to hear Paul and Jim playing, and the American Legion soldiers decided to come on stage during their set to remove the flags! One elderly man accidentally (?) poked Jim with a flagpole, he'll show you where if you ask.

For the band's Christmas gig in 1995, Ryan Griffin and Jeff Mitchell became Carnivorous Brass, a trumpet/percussion section to accompany Paul and Jim. This was supposed to be a one-off event but they had so much fun together they officially joined the band, and for the next gig Carnivorous Grass got their first drummer, Dave Perdaris. They were officially a full band!

For the next year the lineup stayed the same and Carnivorous Grass recorded a live album and began work on a studio CD which they never finished. They did, however, go to the Kansas Cosmosphere for the photo shoot of them on the moon for the cover, maybe we'll find those photos someday. At the end of 1996 Dave Perdaris left the band and for the penultimate Carnivorous Grass concert, in Jim's basement for old time's sake, Kid Niko drummer Dylan Clark played with the band. Ben Champion joined as full time drummer after that but his first show with the band was also their final gig, at the Nouvelle Tasty Shop in Lawrence, Kansas in January 2007.

Jeff Mitchell seemed to vanish of the face of the earth but Paul, Jim, Ryan, and Ben continued to practice for a few months before Paul and Ben left the band to form The Vetivers on May 18, 1997, exactly four years after Paul and Jim's first gig.

Paul moved to Ireland and Jim to New York, but they remain friends and see each other every now and then. On May 18, 2008, they reunited for their 15th Anniversary Spectacular and recorded a few new versions of the old songs. Paul last saw Jim in September 2009 but they didn't get a chance to perform because Jim was too busy getting married.

We'll see you on May 18, 2013!