Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992                   TAG: 9203120032
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By JOE TENNIS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

FINGER'S A FENCE-STRADDLING BAND

So, it should come as no surprise that Hicks' North Carolina-based band, Finger, sings about the struggles and frustrations of America's working class.

"We appeal to people who have day jobs and want to forget working," said Hicks, 27.

"There's not many college students. . . . It's more the working-class set. . . . We're from Raleigh, as opposed to Chapel Hill. It's not a big college town."

Still, the guitarist added, don't call Finger a working man's band. "We don't have sleeveless T-shirts."

Finger will play at Buddy's in Blacksburg on Thursday at 10 p.m. The cover is $3 (over 21) and $4 (under 21).

Hicks describes the band's music as loud and melodic. "We try to hit a groove. . . . A lot of people dance, but I wouldn't call it dance music."

Together for 1 1/2 years, the band's influences range from The Rolling Stones to Bob Dylan, The Replacements, Thin Lizzy and Neil Young.

Finger plays a few covers from the New York Dolls, Neil Young and the Rolling Stones.

The guys also play originals. For example, guitarist Brad Rice, 25, a graphic artist, says his guitar-heavy, "white boy's blues" song "Everything" is about "a relationship kind of thing . . . dealing with paranoia about a girlfriend messing around."

Rice wrote the song about a friend's mental upset. And, no, the girlfriend wasn't running around on the guy, Rice said, then joked: "But I was looking at her a lot."

Finger's "earthy" originals deal with day-to-day life such as working and love, Rice said. "We're really not political. We're not waving any flags. . . . Nobody's like a lyrical Einstein in this band."

The band also includes drummer John Howie, 23, a record store clerk, and bassist Jon Singletary, 19, an audio-visual technician.

Finger's steady schedule of performances throughout North Carolina and the Southeast has honed the dirty, nasty-sounding guitar sound into a powerful and original attack. The band has built a strong regional following by sharing the stage with such acts as Das Damen, Dinosaur Jr., Run Westy Run, Nirvana, Thin White Rope and the Buck Pets.

"A lot of our stuff is kinda like that Stones thing, kind of a high-volume thing," Rice said.

Another one of his originals, "Ship Full of Holes," also is about self-doubt in a relationship.

Rice says: "I feel like I've been in a rut lately about writing these kind of songs. . . . It's hard to write a happy song. . . . It's a lot easier to write when you're down and feeling bad."

Later this month, Finger will enter a recording studio to lay down some more of its grungy guitar sound. Eventually, the band wants to make it big - but, Hicks said, they're not going to sell out along the way.

"We tend to do our own thing regardless of what's happening around us," said Hicks.

"We're kinda outside looking in. . . . We kind of straddle the fence between what's mainstream and what's alternative."