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Friday, November 9, 2007
The Steps play London
LONDON — Austin’s teenage rockers the Steps were just three days away from flying to England to promote their first single, “Outlaw.” On their MySpace page they told fans: “We can’t wait to enjoy the cold weather and meet girls with accents … Wish us luck.”
But little did they know, trouble was brewing.
The jet lag had kicked in as the four-piece band lined up a week ago in the arrivals hall at London’s Gatwick airport. But as they showed their passports to the customs officers, they learned something was wrong. Their U.K. record label hadn’t applied for work permits, and the four Steps — cousins Will and Sam Thompson, Stephen Ross and drummer Z Lynch — together with their manager, Kevin Wommack, and producer, Frenchie Smith, were carted off to a detention room for questioning.
Seven weary hours passed before they were allowed to leave. But even then it wasn’t clear whether they would be able to remain in Britain.
“They gave us chicken sandwiches,” Will Thompson says three nights later at London’s Shunt Lounge, site of the band’s second of five U.K. performances last week. “But they tasted pretty bad. In fact they were awful.”
Forget that the jet-lagged group had been detained for seven hours. Forget that they had their mug shots and fingerprints taken. It’s no wonder Britain has such a poor reputation for food among its American cousins when customs give detainees dodgy chicken sandwiches. But at least they can laugh about it now.
“We were so bored,” Will says, “but we knew we were going to get out. It was just going to take a lot of time.”
In the end, Wommack saved the day. “I hired the right people in the middle of the night,” he says, nonchalantly.
It’s a good job, too, as there had been a buzz building in London around the arrival of the Steps for a few weeks. The city’s hip Artrocker magazine said they were “pretty rocking for a bunch of teenagers … I bet their folks have got one hell of a record collection.” Tom Artrocker (the magazine’s founders don’t use their own surnames) said, “we reviewed the single in the November issue, and we’re planning another piece on them in January.”
And then there’s their record label. If you excuse the work permits mix-up, Young and Lost Club Records is one of the coolest indie labels in London. Started by 22-year-old school friends Nadia Dahlawi and Sara Jade, it soon attracted the attention of major label offshoot Vertigo, which subsequently bankrolled Young and Lost, presumably with the proviso that it would get first refusal on any bands Dahlawi and Jade discovered.
The Steps played at Madame Jojo’s club in Soho to a packed audience of scenesters and industry movers and shakers one night. There were fewer people at the next show, but that’s possibly because even Londoners haven’t yet cottoned on to the Shunt Lounge. Situated in the vast, cavernous arches adjacent to London Bridge underground station, it is probably the coolest venue in the city. Not many Londoners know it yet.
Either way, the Steps are having the time of their lives. They thrash through an eight-song set that includes “Outlaw” and catchy MySpace favorite “Belle.” The swagger and talent onstage straddles generations. The Steps echo the Ramones, the Faces and the Stones, and Thompson’s raspy vocals belie his age. As the American-Statesman’s Joe Gross has said, “Jimmy Page would probably approve.”
And luckily for the Steps, there were “girls with accents” in the audience, too. “They’re kind of more reserved than they are in Austin,” Z Lynch says with a laugh. But then Smith, their producer, pipes up: “You guys all have girlfriends, right, so you’re not interested in that.”
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Talking with Dweezil about Zappa Plays Zappa
Dweezil Zappa is on the road with “Zappa Plays Zappa,” his way to keep the musical legacy of his father, Frank Zappa, alive. He’ll play Tuesday in Austin (details here). We talked with Zappa about what Austin means to him, his expectations for the Austin show and his experiences playing his father’s music:
American-Statesman: Have you been to Austin?
Zappa: I’ve actually been to Austin several times for several different reasons. I recorded music with Eric Johnson at one point; I’ve been down there to play golf. It’s a great city to visit.
Did anything about Austin stand out to you?
The feel that Austin has to it is like no other. The food, the little river scene; I actually dated a girl whose family owned a boat on the river, and anyone who has had the privilege of going out there is lucky.
What are your expectations about playing ‘Zappa Plays Zappa’ in Austin? I know you guys didn’t play here last year.
Yeah, last year we played Dallas and Houston, and I think the real difference about Austin is that Frank has folklore-related times in Austin. His album “Bongo Furry” was actually recorded in Austin and makes references to the Guacamole Queen. It is also where the term “Good night Austin, wherever you are” was born.
What has been your favorite venue to play and why?
To me, the crowd is the aspect of the show that is always most memorable. One venue we played up in Montreal, the Metropolis, is the most memorable venue I’ve played. The place is set up so the entire crowd can see the stage and for some reason, the sound in there is amplified so that it sounds like twice as many people, and the place seems twice as big.
How difficult has it been to adjust your playing style to suit the needs of Frank’s music?
His music is very sophisticated. He played things on the guitar that were never meant to be played, and I had to sit down for two years to learn his style of playing. I had to make drastic changes in my stylistic approach to accommodate to his playing, especially in the technical sense. I have been playing guitar for 26 years now, and I think that learning his music is something most guitarists would give up on because they are so set in their way of playing. I would play one passage for six or seven hours a day, a passage that would only last a second during a song, and my wife would go crazy hearing me play the same passage over and over and over and over.
Whatever happened to the Hendrix guitar you restored?
I actually have it sitting in a corner in my home.
Do you ever play it?
I do, but not that frequently. I’ve actually considered selling it a few times. It’s a very valuable guitar, and I just know some lunatic with dot-com money would love to have it at the center of their home or studio.
How do you think the younger generation has accepted your father’s music, and in turn, your performance of his music?
I do not think that the younger generation, ages 14-25, has a great deal of exposure to Frank’s music. That is what I am trying to target and expose to a generation unfamiliar with his music. Frank has a quote, from the early ’80s, “Music has become wallpaper for your lifestyle.” Many people live their lives according to the music they listen to, especially younger kids. They are more content with watching their music or getting it for free, which takes away from the artistic integrity and merit of music. Kids these days are used to one-hit wonders, bands that if they have the right tattoos, bounce around and know how to play a 2-4 are becoming radio sensations. Radio music is too formulaic; it doesn’t take chances. And with Frank’s music, I am trying to show a generation of kids music that no one ever thought was possible.
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Review: Booker T. and the M.G.s with Eddie Floyd and William Bell
The crowd Thursday night at the Palmer Events Center seemed to be evenly split. Half of the room was out to support Clifford Antone’s Help Clifford Help Kids charity by bidding on items such as a $3,000 gift certificate to Ralph Lauren, which fetched a whopping $12,000. The other half of the room seemed to be there to see the legendary Stax rhythm section Booker T. and the M.G.s perform some classic soul.
When Motown was the slick, jazz-inspired sound of the inner-city in the ’60s, Stax was its counterpoint as the gritty, blues-based sound of the rural South. As Stax’s house band backing up Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and Wilson Pickett just to name a few, Booker T. and his “Memphis Groove” were the epicenter of this sound.
The band, comprised of keyboard player Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn and drummer Steve Potts, emerged from the wings at Palmer Auditorium with little fanfare and jumped right into their set while most of the room was still fighting the concession lines. The band warmed up the crowd with the bouncy, Calypso-inspired “Soul Limbo” and turned “Summertime” into a slow blues before rolling into a funky version of “Hang ‘em High.”
It was the funky organ riff of “Green Onions,” that really drew the crowd in. Jones and company turned their signature song into a clinic on locking down a groove and keeping it in the pocket.
Stax artist William Bell joined the band on stage for “Private Number” and his 1961 hit “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” which turned into a passionate sing-a-long. The girl next to me was singing so out of tune that by the chorus she was actually hitting a nice harmony.
It was the Albert King classic “Born Under A Bad Sign,” which Bell co-wrote with Jones, that produced the biggest surprise of the evening when Jimmy Vaughan emerged to trade some greasy blues licks with Cropper. Vaughan unplugged afterward, not to return, unfortunately.
Eddie Floyd also joined the band and brought down the house with “Knock On Wood.” At 72, Floyd proved he can still move like he did back in 1966 when he pulled one lucky woman from the crowd on stage for a little bump and grind during the instrumental break. They should have raffled that off.
By the end of the evening, the philanthropic faithful and soul music junkies alike had coalesced into one funky congregation of clapping and swaying bodies singing along with Bell and Floyd to Otis Redding’s “Dock Of The Bay.” A small, but enthusiastic crowd stayed huddled around for the band’s short encore unwilling, to let loose of the band responsible for some of the most indelible soul music ever recorded.
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Salgado wins Latin Grammy for ‘En Vivo’
San Antonio musician Michael Salgado picked up a Latin Grammy Thursday night in the best norteno album category for his CD “‘En Vivo.”
No other central Texans won awards. Los Palominos nabbed the best Tejano album Latin Grammy for their CD “Evoluciones.” they hail from Uvalde.
Check out the full story here.
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Valentine’s Austin band
Native Austinite, Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s has put together a new group with a local all-star line-up of Tony Scalzo on guitar, Rachel Loy on bass and Johnny Goudie on keyboards. All four sing lead on occasion and there promises to be a lot of instrument swapping amongst these four (former and current) bassists.
Kathy Valentine and the Impossibles bow Thursday at the Continental Club as part of a great bill that includes Nick Curran’s new “Howlin’ Wolf Meets the Clash” project Deguello and the always hot Chili Cold Blood.
Scalzo’s Fastball plays the Continental Club the next three Wednesdays at 10 p.m., filling in for Jon Dee Graham. Wonder what they’ve been up to.
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