Monica Topping 
For the Times-Standard (originally published May 29, 2009)

Scott H. Biram jokes that he has metal in nearly every limb in his body and the bonus of x-ray vision and a view of the future (“I think we’re going to have to get gas in about 20 minutes.”). He’s only half-kidding.

Biram doesn’t particularly want to talk about the 2003 him-versus-semi truck accident that left most of the bones in his body broken and part of his intestine removed. What matters is that he lived through it and has moved forward with intensity unmatched by anyone else calling themselves a one-man band. Biram comes across as one part angry at what the world has handed him and one part glad to be alive.

Biram is back on the road in support of his seventh solo album, “Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever,” which came out last week on Bloodshot Records. This is his first time back on tour since he stepped out of his van in March, on the last day of his French tour, and tried to catch a plastic bag that was blowing out the door. The way he says it, his body fell one direction and his left foot stayed against the curb, causing a compound fracture, “like Joe Theismann” experienced in the 1980s.

“Every limb in my body does [have metal in it], except for my left arm,” says Biram. “I have a rod through the center of my femur in my right leg, a rod through the center of my whatever it is, tibia, fibia, whatever the big one is on the lower left leg; I have a plate in my left knee with six screws, I have a plate in my right arm with six screws and I have a big scar in my stomach from where they took a foot-and-a-half of my intestine out.”

At this point, Biram is back up and hobbling around without the help of crutches or other assistance, since the March break. The incident led to a cancellation of some touring throughout Canada, the Midwest and the East Coast, but that has all been re-scheduled now. Biram doesn’t sit still easily and even in the forced downtime, he played a couple of shows in his hometown, near Austin, Texas. He adds that during the last show he played before he left on tour, a mosh pit broke out when he threw down a one-man cover of some Metallica. As long as he avoids the mosh pits, hopefully Biram can continue to heal.

One thing about Biram is that aside from his very clear blues influence, he also likes to mix in a little bit of country and a little bit of punk rock, as well. Biram’s live-show is straight-ahead, cranked to 11, raw energy, but his new album is a bit more melancholy. The opening track is 37 seconds of a phone message Biram left for a friend back in 2003, while he was doped up on morphine, in a military hospital after his accident.

“After about a week-and-a-half of being on morphine and being in Intensive Care and being next to this other guy that was dying, and people in fatigues all around me,” says Biram, “the morphine hit me and I thought I was locked in a feed store behind enemy lines and I tried to escape and they tied me down. I got one of my hands loose and I called my friend and left that message. I just needed to put it somewhere.”

“I feel like the new album’s a little bit melancholy, like the songs are actually depressing to listen to,” he continues, “but I think the general feel of the songwriting and the tone of the lyrics is just a kind of melancholy feel and the title of the record, ‘Something’s Wrong,’ obviously… and I thought that was a really good lead in to all of that.”

The album’s songs start slow and build up to the faster-paced and more in-your-face tracks that are more indicative of Biram’s live show. He played all of the instruments on the album with the exception of two songs—“I Feel So Good” and “Hard Time”—on which the Black Diamond Heavies and the Heavies’ John Wesley Myers played with Biram.

“The rest of the keyboards on there are all me,” says Biram. “A recording project is a lot different than the live stuff. I’m just trying to get the best sound out there on a record and also maybe showcase my abilities on different instruments.”

Biram plays this Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the HSU Depot at 9 p.m. Tickets are $5 general and free for HSU students. 

Some photos from Biram's last Humboldt County show:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.