K.D. Possum & The Flying Fox Bluegrass
/
Acoustic
Based in: Malaysia
Formed : 1977
Members:
Rob Stuebing, John Davis, M. Eeel (Antares), Lightnin' Fooch, Nashville Slim (Lat), Shamala, Ping
Label: Magick River
Official Website:
Coming Soon!
AMP Address:
amp.channelv.com/kdpossum
If you like K.D. Possum & The Flying Fox you may also want to check out these other AMP artists: wolfling Matt Ellis shshank
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Latest News
And now for some Malaysian hillbilly music... (Sun, 1 Jul.)
Hi Friends! I’ve created an AMP account for Akar Umbi - featuring songs by the late great Temuan ceremonial singer, Minah Angong. That's right, we have our very own hillbillies from the foothills of the Titiwangsa Range!
And if you’re curious about my post-K.D. Possum musical evolution, give THIS a listen :-)
noo if had my shear he2x yess i like the sound and that dirty cwolity recordin sound old my frend !!! you guys wht brot us wher we are now !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! peace and rispeck ..thot love to remixx them trax man.
Is K.D. Possum & The Flying really a "local" band?
Yes and no. You see, there were these Peace Corps volunteers - Robert Stuebing and John Davis - who decided to stay on in Malaysia after their contract was up. Rob owned a couple of guitars, a dobro, an autoharp, and a huge collection of hillbilly ditties from the Appalachian Mountains where he spent his childhood. John had recently purchased a banjo (don't ask why!) and was religiously practising his 3-finger technique. Rob knew Fooch (a sweet-faced local boy who was already writing his own songs and who played the guitar reasonably well) and encouraged him to acquire a mandolin. Fooch knew M.E. ("M. Eeel" aka Kit Leee who subsequently morphed into the Abominable Jungleman known as Antares) and insisted I come over and jam with the nice friendly Gringos. All I could play at the time was the blues harp, so I brought that along - and, well, we had a great time! Soon, it transpired that Shamala, Fooch's spouse (at the time) had a beautiful country-style voice to go with her Dolly Parton figure; and Rob's girlfriend Ping (now Mrs Stuebing), who worked in a library, had aspirations to become a singer too. Anyway, we roped in the K.D. Possum auxiliary consisting, initially, of a crazy guy named Jinx who rode around on a huge bicycle with a fiddle strapped across his back. After our second gig Jinx joined the Hare Krishnas and became Chandradas (the last time I saw him he was dealing in used elephants). Another friend, Mohd. Nor Khalid, who became the illustrious Lat - and later was made a Latok (for his sterling contribution to country music, no doubt) - was persuaded to join us on bass, which he played adroitly on his rhythm guitar. Lat visited Johnny Cash's studio in Nashville, Tennessee, came home in a pair of Texan boots, and was promptly dubbed "Nashville Slim." Over the years we had ace guitarists like Willy Chin join us on stage and - once, just once - we even had Andre the Amphibian come up and tell a few jokes, which kinda fell flat 'cos nobody here understands Gallic humor. In short, K.D.Possum & The Flying Fox was truly a fusion of local and international talents! :-)
Why such a strange name for the band?
Rob, who's actually a biologist, had this thing about marsupials ((critters that carry their young around in a pouch) - and the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is the only marsupial found in North America; and what's more, it has a bifurcated penis (that's what "didelphis" means, Rob explained). Okay, so the band was to be named after a hillbilly-type marsupial with a bifurcated willy... but we wanted to establish that we were going to play bluegrass with a dash of chilli sauce, so that's how the flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus, a local fruitbat) was added. Another version of this myth has it that our attempt to introduce hillbilly music to Petaling Jaya audiences was akin to "takin' a flyin' fuck at a rollin' doughnut." We figured it would be rather rude to bill ourselves as "Opossum & The Flying Fucks" ... so that's how we became KDP & TFF.
What instruments were featured at your gigs?
Well, here's the approximate line-up (minus the occasional guest artist):
ROB STUEBING - guitar, dobro, lead vocals
JOHN DAVIS - banjo, occasional vocals
LIGHTNIN' FOOCH - guitar, mandolin,
vocals
SHAMALA DEVI - vocals, tambourine
PING - autoharp, vocals
M. EEEL (ANTARES) - harp, percussion,
autoharp, vocals
NASHVILLE SLIM (LAT) - guitar/bass,
low-key crooning
Bio
K.D. Possum & The Flying Fox started out around 1976 when a bunch of friends got together and - just for the heck of it - decided to play some bluegrass.
Our first gig was at the Lincoln Cultural Center (those days it wasn’t like going through airport security just to catch a concert). The audience had a great time and so did we. Ambitiously, we began staging huge concerts at the PJ Civic Center (tickets were RM5 and RM3, plus 30 sen for a homemade program) and by 1979 our first album was released on cassette. It received warm reviews and soon sold out.
Our last big gig at the Old Town Hall was a benefit for the Malaysian Nature Society and it was called Out of the Woods. We recorded the whole show and later produced Malaysia’s very first live album! Shortly after that the band broke up.
Recently, Antares managed to get the first K.D. Possum & The Flying Fox album digitized. It still sounded pretty good for a buncha amateurs :-) So I figured we ought to rescue the second album from analog obscurity and bring homegrown bluegrass back to life. Watch out, folks... K.D. Possum & The Flying Fox are (almost) ready to ride again!
