Custard Pie rocking with Led Zep again

Laura Blackley • take5 correspondent •

Asheville's favorite Led Zeppelin tribute act (and not your average wax museum tribute at that, proclaims its Web site) comes off hiatus for a show at the Grey Eagle this Friday.

The band took an extended break last fall after gathering considerable momentum locally and is back for just two dates this summer. Take5 caught up with bassist David Connor Jones recently.

Question: Custard Pie had a really great run for several years throughout the region. Are these reunion shows an indicator that you guys plan on touring again?

Answer: I don't think we'll start touring again. We never talked about the future (when we put Custard Pie together). We just thought that now's the time to get back together and do a couple of shows.

The funny thing about Custard Pie was that, when we started, back in 2004, we pretty much just did it on a lark. We never thought it would go as far as it did. We all just loved the music of Led Zeppelin — everyone (in the band) was good at doing their own thing, finding their own voice to fit each part. We went for it and thought that it would run its course in about six months or so, but it didn't. We just kept doing shows — about two shows a month (locally) for about three years — first at small clubs, then gradually larger ones.

We always had a good draw, and there were always new people (in the crowds).

Q: Has the personnel in Custard Pie changed?

A: No, the lineup is the same (Jones on bass, Jamie Stirling on drums, Aaron "Woody" Wood on guitar and Rhett Thurman McGahee on vocals). It really wouldn't be Custard Pie if the lineup changed.

Q: What's the most unique thing about Custard Pie?

A: We have Rhett McGahee as our vocalist — she sounds more like Robert Plant than any other tribute vocalist I've ever heard. She can sing anything, not just Zeppelin. She can do all kinds of different vocal styles, from that Elvis, bass-ey low that Plant used to do, all the way up to those high perfect-pitch screams.

Q: What do you hope that the audience takes from a Custard Pie show?

A: We just want them to have a really good time. We've had people come to our shows and say that they've not listened to Led Zeppelin for years, but they're going to go and put their albums on again. We've had others say they've never bought a Led Zeppelin album, but they're going to go buy (their recordings) because they didn't realize how good they were.

At the end of the day though, it's still all about Led Zeppelin. I love a lot of other rock 'n' roll bands, but they were the pinnacle.

Laura Blackley writes about music for Take5. E-mail her at laurablackleyband@yahoo.com.