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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > March > 14 > Entry
SXSW Review: Syd Straw
Syd Straw deserves her own television show. It would probably have to run very, very, very late at night, but she made me laugh so hard at Bourbon Rocks Thursday that I had to wipe tears from my eyes.
Straw, of course, is a singer, not a comedian. Fans of the Golden Palominos will remember her stellar contributions to that illustrious band, which also featured some guys named Michael Stipe and Matthew Sweet. She has also sung with a long list of greats, including Rickie Lee Jones, Van Dyke Parks, Leo Kottke, Marc Ribot and Dave Alvin. Her voice is uncommonly bracing, like the first northerly wind that tells you autumn is at last around the corner. However, Straw has only managed to release two albums of her own, both cult favorites, the most recent some dozen years ago.
But although Straw’s long-anticipated third album, “Pink Velour,” is apparently still waiting in the wings for a label or backers of some kind, she showed no particular inclination to promote it, other than to joke it was her first “in 200 years,” and proffer a fine new song that, she said, was “like a new-born baby, and should be treated tenderly, and probably changed.”
Straw brought a terrific guitar-mandolin army that included Austinites Gurf Morlix (on electric) and Rich Brotherton (on mandolin), both of whom seemed to be having a capital time. But when a fan called out “Great band!” she replied “I don’t deserve them! One day I will grow into them.”
The bizarre clamor of Sixth Street and the unsuitability of a venue that let so much of that leak in led Straw to spend as much time hilariously marveling at the madness as actually singing. It probably didn’t help that she had been introduced with wild enthusiasm by none other than Beatle Bob, which prompted her to muse “I think we should do nine or ten really slow ballads now” as a response.
Straw riffed on the silly name “Bourbon Rocks,” and ruminated that “Sound checks are highly overrated,” and really, rehearsals are overrated, too. She proclaimed that the band was only doing songs they hadn’t rehearsed, “Because as Dad used to say, ‘It’s good enough for who it’s for.” Somewhat flummoxed, nonetheless, she expressed a desire that someone bring her a fancy, expensive cocktail, and when not one, but two, materialized, she exclaimed “They’re stacked up like planes on the runway! This might not be so bad….”
Straw introduced one feisty song as having “the parenthetical title ‘Don’t date arrogant European avant-garde jazz record producers.’“ She played a fan request for her old song “CBGB’s,” but only after a lengthy comedic detour, and only with some prompting on the chords from guitarist Francis X. She also sang a ballad by Austin’s Jo Carol Pierce, holding a spiral notebook to remind herself of the lyrics. She later produced another, smaller notebook in search of something or other, only to announce “Juan invites you to the hairy-tongued horror of a kiss,” which she explained was the best graffiti she’d ever seen, inscribed on a bridge over the Cuyahoga River in Ohio.
It was probably one of the most disjointed SXSW sets ever, but most of the crowd seemed to richly enjoy the rare spectacle of an artist simply reacting to the SXSW experience, which Straw summarized as “All about rubbing elbows in hell.”
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By Longtime Syd fan
March 14, 2008 5:40 PM | Link to this
The glorious Ms. Straw is a joy to experience, on a big stage in front of thousands or on a small stage in front of dozens. Will somebody PLEASE back that album so all her once and future fans could finally rejoice?! She has some great clips on YouTube—“Papa Was a Rodeo” is not to be missed.
By Chris Kearin
March 14, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this
Sounds like a gas! Wish I could have been there, but reading this was the next best thing.
By joly
March 15, 2008 1:38 PM | Link to this
As I understand it - a limited release of Pink Velour is imminent on Syd’s own label - ‘Earnester Records’ - it’s a serious label!. It’s at the pressing plant right now. I’d recommend keeping an eye on http://sydstraw.com for news.
By syd straw
March 18, 2008 9:35 AM | Link to this
this review is so fun, i almost feel like i was there—-hold on—-i was there come to think of it—-and we had a ball—-a gal doesnt get to play with the likes of gurf morlix and rich brotherton and don piper and francis x every damn day—-but i wish that i could——-thanks, everyone—-syd