Lo Faber Band

Lo Faber is ecstatic -- again. For years, the singer/guitarist was happy fronting God Street Wine, a now-defunct East Coast jam band that played three H.O.R.D.E. tours in the mid-'90s with neo-hippie heavyweights Phish, Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic and the Spin Doctors. Faber also did the major-label thing, recording for music-biz biggies Geffen and Mercury. But the only part of the corporate gig he really enjoyed was leaving it all behind. "I'm totally independent now," says the thirtysomething rocker from his home in upstate New York. "I find the whole game of pursuing radio play and trying to come up with that kind of song very boring. So now there's no label thing going on; there's not even a band -- it's just me, and now I can be the total control freak that I've always wanted."His first solo freak-out is Henry's House, an ambitious double-CD rock opera. Combining a grand musical vision and Faber's self-described "eccentric" sense of humor, Henry's House (only available at www.lofaber.com) is a toe-tapping hodgepodge of classic-rock influences -- Bowie, Zappa, Genesis -- laced with quirky, high-octane bluegrass and acid-drenched vaudeville theatrics. Faber is so pleased with the results that he's taking the show on the road; the live lineup includes some former GSW bandmates; friends from another upstate New York jamband, the Ominous Seapods; and an opera singer. "We're doing Henry's House tunes, we're doing a lot of my God Street Wine tunes, we're playing some Dylan covers and we're doing some of Seapods stuff, too," Faber notes. "At this point, I look forward to playing live and touring because I've been off the road for two years. I'm really excited about it!"