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Gourds still the best
I had simply forgotten what an incredible band the Gourds are. And now they come with dancing sorority girls.
Last week, in my enthusiasm for the new South Austin Jug Band album and lineup, I wrote that they could have surpassed the Gourds as the best band in Austin. After seeing the Gourds at Shady Grove tonight, I’d have to say it’s not really close. The Gourds were on fire in front of the biggest, wildest audience I’ve ever seen at KGSR’s Unplugged at the Grove series. SAJB heavily impressed me; the Gourds blew me away. And Shady Grove isn’t the most rockin’ venue.
What really put this show over the top was the encore, which featured a pair of newer covers. (The Gourds’ cover songs always slay.) “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?” had the amazingly instinctive Jimmy Smith veering from the trademark Waylon bassline, and “The Teacher” by Jethro Tull contained a rad five second guitar solo from Kevin Russell. You had to be there.
Somewhere along the way, the Gourds have been found by college kids, who were stacking chairs to give themselves more room to dance. It’s great that these youngsters are discovering this totally organic, totally cool music instead of listening to junk like Arctic Monkeys. And it’s great for the Gourds to keep recycling their audience when old guys like me don’t get around much anymore.
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Comments
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By sharil
April 11, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this
amen! the gourds rock!
By Clem Brown
April 11, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this
See the GOURDS perform tomorrow for FREE! THE GOURDS will take the stage at 9pm Saturday night, April 12, 2008 during the sixth annual Americana Music Fest Saturday April 12, 2008 held in a beautiful park just south of downtown Nacogdoches, TX. Festival hours are Noon - 10:30 P.M. Here’s the lineup: Shades of Blue; Camino Real; Jill Hobbs; The Evergreens; Bonneville County Pine Box; Randy Brown; Jim Bush; Colby Miller; David Olney with Sergio Webb; Gordon McLeod; The Gourds
By d3gourds
April 11, 2008 8:58 PM | Link to this
gimme gourds or gimme death!
By tomski
April 11, 2008 11:10 PM | Link to this
Drats. The secret’s out. A dozen or so years later and the Gourds are still the best band in Austin. If not the planet.
By tom tristan
April 12, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this
I am going to presume that the gourds are rubbish, judging by your description of the band with the most intelligent lyrics and complex music in the world as junk. Listen to the arctic monkeys or the last shadow puppets and you will be pleasantly surprised.
By SpandTex Pants
April 27, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
Michael, Please see my comment Re: the Gourds attached to your SAJB article. While the South Austin Jug Band is certainly great, it is good to see that you have come off the ledge to relize that the “heyday” of the Gourds is only beginning.
By SpandTex Pants
April 27, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this
Good to see, Michael, that you have seen the light.