From last Lucky Pierre show at the Knitting Factory Tribeca outpost

Latin One

From final Lucky Pierre show at the Knitting Factory Tribeca outpost

Made Out Of Clay

From Lucky Pierre's last show at the Tribeca outpost of the Knitting Factory 

Ginsing High (Live) 1

Heart of an Angel

Interlude

Jazz Is Childbirth

Long And Lonely Ride

Nouveau Riche

Novocaine

NYCD Blues

From Lucky Pierre's second album, "Mutiny on my Bounty." 

The Old Fashioned

From Lucky Pierre's first album, "Soundtrack to a Life of Crime." 

Time Machine

Two Legs For Legs

Lucky Pierre was a band whose music has been best described as a mix between punk rock, jazz, and country all played by people who had no idea how to play any of those genres. The band was part of the surprisingly fertile Connecticut College music scene of the early '90s — a scene that would later go on to produce the pride of New London, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. 

Lucky Pierre arose from the ashes of Mavis, a band with a decidedly heavier sound, in 1993. Formed by guitarist and vocalist, Luke Cavagnac, guitarist Andrew Wagner, bass player, Aaron Novik,  and drummer, Benny (the Bayman) Erickson, Mavis had hit a decent stride and was playing some good gigs until Novik moved to Mexico and Bayman graduated leaving Cavagnac and Wagner to pick up the pieces. 

Thankfully Connecticut College was swarming with musicians and the two guitarists quickly fell in with drummer, Jay Sitton, and bass player, Kevin Stafford. Stafford, a "properly" trained bassist from Texas brought a refinement to the new group and Sitton brought a mix of talent on numerous instruments. Cavagnac and Wagner dropped the distortion pedals (for the most part) and Lucky Pierre was born. 

The band quickly began writing and before long they were playing out all over the northeast and recording their first album, "Soundtrack to a Life of Crime," with fellow Connecticut College student, John Gray, at his home studio in Waterford, Connecticut. 

With the first album out the band gained momentum, playing many shows in New York City and Cavagnac's hometown, Northhampton, Massachusetts as well as plenty in New London, Connecticut, the band's home-base. 

As the 1994 school year opened Mavis bass player Novik, returned from Mexico. Lucky Pierre's new sound intrigued the intrepid musician Novik and the band searched for some way to get him in the band. Though Stafford had settled in at bass, Novik was more than amenable to trying out new instruments and the band began rehearsing with him on saxophone. Though he had never played the instrument before that didn't stop him and Lucky Pierre's sound continued to evolve. 

With Novik back in the band, many possibilities opened up as both he and Sitton were multi-instrumentalists. New songs featured the two switching between drums and keyboards and throwing in saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and even some banjo here and there. With Stafford's upright bass sound holding down the structure and Cavagnac and Wagner's guitar interplay setting an eery mood for Cavagnac's vocals, things were clicking along nicely and a second album was planned. 

The Connecticut-based crew hooked up with John Lyon's California-based Reality Control? Records and recorded "Mutiny on My Bounty," their second full length album in Santa Barbara (Goleta actually) during a California tour. With the new rich sound the band picked up more momentum and with the help of sometime manager, Mahmood Shaikh, toured all over the country and flirted with a few "major" labels. 

The end of the 1995 academic year posed the first challenge to the band as Cavagnac and Wagner graduated, with Wagner departing the east coast for his home-state of California and Cavagnac heading back to Northhampton. Novik, Stafford, and Sitton remained in New London to finish their studies. Despite the scattered natures of its members, Lucky Pierre continued to write, play, tour, and record throughout the next year. Unbeknownst to the band they would play their final show as a full band that year at the late, great Manhattan Knitting Factory. That show would feature the band playing a number of songs that were never officially recorded and turned out to be some of their best.  

Lucky Pierre

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