IntrigueThursday, October 25, 2012 ThePlainsman.com Intrigue

B5

READY, SET, DEBATE!Auburn Republicans’

President Charlie Smith

Auburn Democrats’ President Jacob Dean

Auburn-native band returns to Waverly in NovemberGray GillWrIter

In 1998, Jamie Barrier and a few friends strode into the Pine Hill Cemetery on Arm-strong Street with instru-ments in hand.

When they emerged a few hours later, they had creat-ed what would come to be described as “ghost coun-try.” This was the first official band practice of The Pine Hill Haints.

Jeremy Henderson of The War Eagle Reader, who was the band’s official drummer from 2002–03, elaborated on what exactly “ghost country” is.

“It's meant as more of an at-titude than a sound, the idea being that they're channel-ing the sound and spirit of a pre-strip mall South or some-thing,” Henderson said. “But of course, you call them a jug band, but there's no jug. It's not really bluegrass. Not re-ally folk, at least the folk peo-ple probably think of when they think of folk. Not techni-cally rockabilly. So stylistically speaking, I guess ‘ghost coun-try’ works as a descriptor as well as anything.”

Jamie, who has lead guitar and vocal duties, cites such in-fluences as Howlin’ Wolf, Bud-

dy Holly and Johnny Cash.He and his friends, who

lived in an old house togeth-er on Burton Street, had a few more practices, fine tuning their sound and writing songs. They started getting gigs and opening for more popular bands.

Before long, the band made the transition to headlining at bars and more popular ven-ues.

“Things really kind of took off for them in town around 2000,” Henderson said. “I’m pretty sure Jamie credits that to 'O Brother Where Art Thou.'”

things have progressed even more for the band since the early 2000s. Shortly after graduating, the Haints relo-cated to north Alabama. Apart from playing shows and going on tour, they spent some time recording albums as well.

2011 marked the release of the Haints’ latest album, “Wel-come to the Midnight Opry.” It is their third album released with K records.

“We’ve been traveling all over the South the past few months playing shows,” Jamie said. “A lot in north Alabama, but we actually just got back from traveling overseas.”

Now, they are coming back

to the area where it all start-ed. Friday, Nov. 2, the Haints will be gracing the Standard Deluxe stage in Waverly with their ghost style.

Along with Jamie, expect to see wife, Kat, on washboard or mandolin, Matt Bakula on washtub bass, Ben rhyne on snare, Joey Barrier on ban-jo and Jon Lucas on accordi-on. They have been known to use less conventional instru-

ments, such as garbage cans or pickle buckets from Sub-way.

This will be the band’s first time playing at the outdoor venue, and the members said they are looking forward to being back in the Auburn area. It was at Auburn that Jamie met Kat; he also recalls the in-fluence the tight-knit commu-nity had on the band in its first years.

“When you’re in Auburn, af-ter one night, you’re friends with people for life,” Jamie said. “everyone’s real roman-tic. Where I am now, you got-ta know someone for 20 years before they’re cool with you.”

Perhaps after their one night in Waverly next month, Jamie and the gang will have a few more friends and a few more fans.

“every show is different"

Jamie said. "We never play the same set. It’ll be fun. Our songs typically aren’t too deep or moody. It’s more carefree stuff, like a guy saying ‘hey, I think you’re pretty, and I want to hold your hand.’"

It all sounds fitting for a night under the stars and strands of lights on a crisp fall night in Waverly.

"And there’s dancing … a lot of dancing,” Henderson said.

Courtesy of jeremy henderson

the Pine hill haints played in 2005 at standard deluxe with Brian Conner on bucket, mike Posey on accordion, jeremy henderson on snare, Kat Barrier on washboard and mandolin and jamie Barrier on lead guitar.

Nathan SimoneONLINe eDItOr

(Editor’s note: Although the interviews were debate-style, it was not a formal, live debate.)

Jacob Dean is a junior in history and politi-cal science, and Charlie Smith is a senior in in-dustrial and systems engineering.

1) What do you believe are the most impor-tant issues in this election?

CS: “I would say, for college students in par-ticular, jobs are the main deal. I read an arti-cle on CNN.com the other day that said that 85 percent of college students that graduated last May are moving back in with their parents, so for college students jobs has to be the num-ber-one issue, if that article is correct. For the USA public in general, there’s 23 million citi-zens who are part-time workers, unemployed or looking for a job. That has to be the number-one concern for everybody.”

JD: “I think one of the most important is-sues that is going to be impacted by this elec-tion is taxes. It’s been largely ignored, but the fact is that we have what some people refer to as “taxmageddon” that’s going to be occurring at the end of this year. I believe that whole is-sue will be determined by who is elected pres-ident. If Gov. romney is elected president, the

wealthy will continue to receive enormous tax breaks at the detriment of the rest of the peo-ple. If President Obama is re-elected, middle-income tax cuts will be renewed, and we’re go-ing to finally see the wealthy in America pay their fair share.”

2) If you could rate the last four years on a scale of 1–10, how would you rate them and why?

CS: “I think that’s a little subjective, but I think it would have to be on the lower end of the scale, either a two or three, because we’ve had 43 months of more than 8 percent unem-ployment. The latest polls have shown 7.8 per-cent unemployment without California re-porting, so it is still likely over 8 percent. That’s over three years of over 8 percent unemploy-ment. That many citizens on welfare and with-out work — that’s not very good. Obama killed Osama bin Laden. That’s good. He also end-ed a couple of wars, and those are some of his promises, but he also had a lot of promises that he didn’t fulfill that he had at the onset of his presidency. If you rate a president on what he promises at the beginning of his presidency and he doesn’t fulfill those promises, then you can’t rate it too highly.”

JD: “The last four years have been extreme-ly hard on this country for several reasons: we

were in two wars, one of which we’re out of and the other which we’re planning to get out of, we’ve had unemployment as a result of the recklessness that occurred on Wall Street dur-ing President Bush’s two terms in the White House, and we’ve had a financial collapse on a worldwide scale. I think in the face of such ad-versity, President Obama has done a great job strengthening the economy by doing things that we know work, such as building our roads, investing in our children with education and investing in clean energy. With that in mind, I think people will see that President Obama is the right person to lead us for the next four years. I don’t think you can necessarily rate something such as the last four years; there are a lot of things that go into being president, and I don’t believe a rating paints the whole pic-ture.”

3) Why do you believe Gov. romney or Pres.ident Obama is best suited to lead the country for the next four years?

CS: “If we continue with the ongoing theme of jobs, romney has spent 25 years in the pri-vate sector. His main role as leading Bain Cap-ital as a company that turns other companies around, and he’s best suited to turn the econ-omy around because he’s already had experi-ence in this kind of job. He’s turned around all

kinds of companies such as Sports Authority, Burger King and Staples. If we’re trying to turn the economy around and get it growing, he’s best suited for it.”

JD: “Well, there’s no better prerequisite to being elected president than having previously been president. He knows what it takes to lead this country, not the ins-and-outs of the finan-cial markets, but diplomacy as well. Gov. rom-ney couldn’t even go to the Olympics without creating a firestorm in London.

President Obama knows that war should be the last recourse for disagreement and he’s been steady and firm with our enemies, approachable to our allies, and I believe he’s brought America back to where it should be as a world-class country. America suffered dur-ing the Bush administration. We were seen as a country that tortured people and didn’t stand up for the values that we had always espoused. President Obama has brought us back to be number one in the world.”

4) Why do you believe college students should support Gov. romney or Pres. Obama?

» See debate, B6

vs.

Student leaders face off on some of the most important topics of the upcoming election

Intrigue B6 The Auburn Plainsman Thursday, October 25, 2012

Since 1972, the tiny town of Loachapoka has gathered more

than 15,000 people each fall for the Syrup Sopping Festival. Folks from around the country travel for this

one-day event for the finest-tasting cane syrup in the South. The syrup

is sopped manually through a sugar cane-splitting machine while a horse

circles around the machine for power. All photos by Rebecca Croomes / PHOTO EDITOR

A horse travels around the sugarcane splitter to release the juice.

Maurice Cook has been painting for more than 40 years.Sugarcane juice is boiled down to make cane syrup.

Sugarcane needs to be fed into the sugarcane splitting machine in order to release the juice.

Debate» From B5

CS: “See my answer to question one.”

JD: “That’s probably the easiest question I could an-swer.

President Obama, by look-ing at his record, clearly speaks on behalf of college students all the time. He ad-vocated for the renewal of the reduction of interest rates on student loans, more access to higher education at a cheap-er rate and more GI education grants. Gov. Romney told col-lege students to go ask their parents for a loan and to shop around for a college.

President Obama really un-derstands what it’s like to be in the position of having to fi-nance college through loans. Only recently did he pay off his student loans.

I think the important thing to remember is that President Obama is where he is today because he received a world-class education at a universi-ty in America that not many people get the opportunity to

attend. Had it not been for the great education he received and the strong willingness of his mother to make sure edu-cation was his top priority, we don’t know where he’d be.

He was a person of low means, had a single parent, raised mostly by his grandpar-ents and education turned his life around.”

5) The media has described the vice presidential debate as “heated.” Do you think the de-bate swayed undecided voters to either side?

CS: “I wouldn’t say that there was as much of a change in the polls as some people think. I don’t think it swayed undecided voters either way.”

JD: “If there’s an undecid-ed voter in America, I’d like to meet that person. We’re so close to the election, I’d like to meet this undecided vot-er and pick their brain about what they’re confused about.

I think both campaigns would like to meet them as well. I think the first two pres-idential debates might have swayed voters on the fence,

but as far as the vice presiden-tial debate goes, I don’t be-lieve it swayed anybody.

Most people who watch the vice presidential debate al-ready know who they’re going to vote for; in fact, most peo-ple who watch the presiden-tial debates already know who they’re going to vote for. One of the main things that comes out debates is the spin off the debate that affects the next couple weeks.

Whoever wins the last de-bate is probably going to win the election, because they’ll be able to continue to spin off the last debate for the rest of the cycle.”

6) Some students have ex-pressed dissatisfaction at the two-party system that domi-nates American politics.

What are your thoughts on independent and third-par-ty candidates? Are there any in particular that you admire?

CS: “Yes, I like a lot of the things that the Libertarian Party stands for, such as not having as big of a role of gov-ernment and allowing the pri-

vate sector and free enter-prise to work.

I would agree that the two-party system can be very heated like we saw in the vice presidential debate, more at-tacks rather than focusing on the substance of answers, and I think the candidates from other parties have good things to say.

I watched a little bit of the Libertarian National Conven-tion with Ron Paul and Gary Johnson, and they had a lot of good things to say as well. You can see that the amount of attention and followers for them has increased in the past couple years.

With that kind of following, you have to give them a lot of attention, and I think in the years to come we’ll start to see more of them.

Since the Republican Party does have a lot of things that the Libertarian Party identi-fies with, I think in this elec-tion, as important as it is, I think that the Libertarians could definitely get in with the Republican Party and all of us unite and try to get things

done. Going back to what Ronald

Reagan said, You have to unite the Republican base.”

JD: “I think it’s admirable for anybody to stand up so strongly for what they believe that they wage an indepen-dent run for the White House. I think Ron Paul has become the most prominent third-party candidate these days.

As far as the longevity of the two-party system, I think we’ll see some kind of restruc-turing in the next couple of years. Many people have pre-dicted that the Republican Party has gone too far to the right.

The Democratic Party, and why I’m a member, is because it’s a big tent party. We have people who are pro-life, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and anti-gay marriage. We have a culmination of many different people from across the globe, basically, who come together and make up this party that I believe is more representa-tive of America than any oth-er party out there.

If you really want to effect

change right now, you need to join one of the two parties. The Democratic Party, to be honest, is the most receptive of any new ideas. The Repub-lican Party in recent years, es-pecially in the South, has be-come a rigid party with little flexibility and little room for new ideas.”

7) How will you celebrate if Gov. Romney is elected pres-ident?

CS: “Well, I ’m graduat-ing in December. I think that if Romney wins it’ll definite-ly be a time of celebration for me. I’ll probably go down to the Republican Headquarters in Auburn and celebrate with them, then go hang out with my friends somewhere and celebrate.”

8) How will you celebrate if President Obama is re-elected president?

JD: “I will probably be cel-ebrating with fellow College Democrats at an event some-where. (Laughs) The rest is for me to know and you to find out.”

Melody KitchensIntrIgue edItor

It’s been 10 years since the passing of Auburn alumnus Seth griffin’s moth-er, but the reminder of her presence on earth will live forever.

Anne Jones griffin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, and after four years of treatment, she passed away oct. 16, 2002.

As a way to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her passing tuesday, oct. 16, Seth recently published the journal she kept during those four years.

“not a moment or day goes by when I don’t think about her,” Seth said. “She is a constant presence in my life.”

The journal was passed down to Seth, and he said it contains remarkable en-tries of poems and drawings all telling of her battle through breast cancer.

“every year on the anniversary of her death, I will always take that opportuni-ty to tell new people that I have met over the year about her,” Seth said.

“I wanted to do everything that I had been doing, but on a broader scale with the journal, to make sure that everyone knew she’s still a huge part of my life.”

Seth published “From the Journal of Anne griffin” through Blurb.com and re-leased it on Facebook for his family and friends.

“I already had the pages scanned on my computer in case something ever happened to them, and putting the book together was really nothing I did,” Seth said. “She did all the work with her jour-nal.”

Seth also included a piece he had writ-ten two months after scattering Anne’s ashes off the coast of gulf Shores.

In his piece, titled “The Butterfly,” Seth recalls a trip to Auburn the Saturday after Anne’s passing.

“Auburn had been a sanctuary of sorts for Anne and me,” Seth wrote. “We al-ways knew that no matter what stress-es we were facing in our everyday lives, a visit to Auburn meant an escape. It’s like that first night back in your bed after a long travel.”

Both Seth and Anne graduated from Auburn — Anne in 1973 in education, and Seth in 2000 in visual arts.

“She always had a big love for Auburn more than anything,” Seth said. “once I heard about toomer’s being poisoned,

I took my daughter to Auburn to make sure she got to see the trees. I feel the closest to (Anne) in Auburn.”

Anne taught children with learning disabilities at Hueytown High School for most of her career, and she ended her ca-reer at Homewood Middle School teach-ing special education after a brief time at Lakeshore rehabilitation Hospital teach-ing those with head injuries.

“Her whole life was spent teaching those with disabilities and special needs,” Seth said. “She was extremely loving and caring, and she would much rather give than receive.”

Seth said Anne’s constant compas-sionate presence in his life molded who he is today.

“I don’t stress about anything any-more,” Seth said. “I don’t get worked up

about anything because having gone through what I did with my mom, things like deadlines for work aren’t life or death. The main thing is perspective.”

Seth said he hopes those who read Anne’s journal will see that same per-spective.

“over these 10 years, I’ve had friends who have lost loved ones and have gone through rough patches in their lives, too,” Seth said.

“(The journal) is a kind of inspiration for them to just see that even though you lose someone, they’re still in your life in some way.”

Proceeds from Anne’s journal will go toward the arbor at the Birmingham Bo-tanical garden in her memory. to pur-chase the journal, search “From the Jour-nal of Anne griffin” at Blurb.com.

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Caitlin WagenseilWriTer

Performing in front of a live audience at The Overall Com-pany Friday, Oct. 19 gave local band Teacup and the Monster another chance to do what it loves.

After releasing its first eP four months after forming, the band plans to move on to bigger and better things with more live shows and another eP in the works.

“Our first show as Teacup and the Monster was at the Gnu’s room, and we did an acoustic set,” said lead singer Jake Carnley. “There was a big turnout, and it really inspired us to keep moving forward with the project.

“Before we got there, we were getting text messages like ‘this place is packed out,’” Jake said. “it’s very special to me — getting to express our art. i try to leave everything on the stage, and leave knowing i accomplished what i came to

do.”Guitarist and senior at Au-

burn Tommy Kratzert said the first show it played was his fa-vorite.

“i was nervous, but no-body had heard us and just seeing all the support we got — i kind of just reveled in the privilege to play, because not a lot of people get to do that, and it’s such a cool opportu-nity to play in front of people,” he said.

Kratzert said the band’s sound continues to evolve.

“it’s gone from something very folky to something a little more alternative — the sound we’re going for right now feels like ryan Adams meets Pink Floyd,” Kratzert said.

Jake said the band has pro-gressed since its first eP “Love So Strong” was released. “We hit the ground running as a band — we put out an album right away and then we took three months off,” he said. “We all just dispersed and got

away, and when we got back the sound had just evolved.

“There’s more brought to the table, and i really feel like we assumed our responsibil-ity of the role that we play in Teacup and the Monster,” Jake said.

“There’s been a lot of time now for us to grow and de-velop a sound much different than the very first bit of art we created.”

The Auburn/Opelika mu-sic scene has grown in the past few years, and the band is growing with it.

“We’re playing a lot of lo-cal shows,” Jake said. “What we love about local music is you’re actually a part of it—it’s not something that’s so sepa-rated from the listener.”

The band is often asked where its name came from.

“A lot of what we get is who’s the teacup and who’s the mon-ster,” Jake said. “To be honest, i don’t know. i had a dream the summer before we got togeth-

er about a band called Tea-cup and the Monster; it was a weird rock ‘n’ roll, ‘80s hair band, and when it came time to name the project, it just kind of stuck out.”

As a senior at Auburn, Carnley looks forward to the band’s future and life after graduation.

“There’s an open road in front of us, and we just have to stay true to the art that we cre-ate,” he said.

Kratzert agrees. “i was playing the other day

and with the way we’re head-ing, for the first time, i’m ac-tually getting that we’re going to make it,” he said. “i’m con-fident in my abilities, in Jake’s abilities and in the band in general, and as long as we stay together i feel like you should be hearing a lot about us.”

Teacup and the Monster will release a second eP some-time next spring. its music is available on iTunes and Spo-tify.

‘Tea Cup and the Monster’ has big sound, humble startcourtesy of tea cup and the monster

tea cup and the monster consists of (from left) tommy Kratzert, Brian Keyser, Josh carnley, Jake carnley and morgan Bethea. after releasing its first ep four months after forming, another ep is in the works.

courtesy of tea cup and the monstertea cup and the monster practices for one of its many local shows.