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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Chris Gaffney 1950- 2008
Chris Gaffney and the Hacienda Brothers with songwriting legend Dan “Do Right Woman” Penn
Norteno-flavored roots rocker Chris Gaffney of the Arizona-based Hacienda Brothers succumbed to liver cancer Thursday, friends say. According to an obit on the Continental Club’s online newsletter, “Gaff” suffered a fall at home Wednesday night and died in his sleep after being admitted to Orange County Hospital.
A benefit for the singer/guitarist/accordionist is still on for May 25 at the Oaks, near Manor. “Rosie Flores called from L.A. and told me the sad news,” says Oaks booker and close Gaffney friend Steve Dean, whose venue hosted several Hacienda Brothers shows. Appearing at the benefit, whose proceeds will now go to funeral expenses, will be Dave Insley, Ted Roddy, the Iguanas, Two Hoots and a Holler and more. Call 278-8788 for more info.
Gaffney, who also played accordion and guitar in Dave Alvin’s band, recorded 2003’s “Loser’s Paradise” with an all-star Austin band and always maintained an affinity for the music made in this town. No word yet on funeral arrangements.
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Rolling Stone names Stubb’s best club, Waterloo third best store
Rolling Stone has released their Best of Rock 2008 list, chronicling the “125+ People, Places & Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe.”
Austin is represented twice on the list. Stubb’s BBQ was in the top slot for Best Rock Club and Waterloo Records for came in third, behind iconic Bay Area giant Amoeba and Chicago hipster soul outpost Dusty Groove for Best Record Store.
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Weekend Picks: Classic blues, complex metal and a whole lot of reggae
Update: Cat Power show postponed
A note from C3 Presents: The Cat Power concert scheduled for Sunday April 20, 2008 at Stubb’s has been postponed due to damaged vocal chords. Please stay tuned to www.stubbsaustin.com for more information on reschedule date. All tickets for the April 20th show will be honored for the new date.
Friday: Buddy Guy at Stubb’s. A bluesman’s bluesman. His 2001 album ‘Sweet Tea,’ his tribute to North Mississippi blues-drone, is one of the great hunks of 21st century 12-bar grit. With the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. $25 in advance, $27 at the door. — Joe Gross
Friday: Nick Lowe at Antone’s. All but founding the pre-punk everyman British genre pub rock is the least of his accomplishments as a songwriter and producer. His amazing debut ‘Jesus of Cool’ was recently given a deluxe CD reissue, so you probably won’t have to request ‘Sound of Breaking Glass.’ With Ron Sexsmith. $22. — J.G.
Friday-Saturday: Negativland at the Alamo Ritz. For two nights, this pioneering sound collage outfit will perform its weekly radio broadcast ‘Over the Edge’ live onstage. Since 1981, ‘Over the Edge’ has blended music, found sounds, found dialogue, scripts, personalities, and sound effects in a surreal, funny, wickedly smart program. According to the band, ‘It’s All in Your Head’ is ‘a two-hour-long, action-packed look at monotheism, the supernatural God concept and the all-important role played by the human brain in our beliefs.’ This is the band’s first Austin show in eight years. Both shows jump off at 9:30 p.m. $16. — J.G.
Friday-Saturday: The Austin Reggae Festival pre-show and after-show at Flamingo Cantina. Luciano headlines Friday, Culture featuring Kenyatta Hill headlines Saturday. This will be Culture’s first Austin gig since frontman Joseph Hill passed away while on tour in Germany in 2006; Kenyatta is his son. The brilliantly named local sound system Proper Villain opens the Friday night show; Dr. Dubbist opens Saturday. Doors at 9 p.m. $15. — J.G.
Friday-Sunday: Old Settler’s Music Festival. Springtime and songs under the sun and stars go together even better than banjos and brisket. You can get all of it, right down to the Salt Lick barbecue, at the Old Settler’s Festival this weekend. For the 21st year, the Fest of Reasonable Proportions is serving up music as diverse as Belleville Outfit, Eliza Gilkyson, Betty LaVette and Delbert McClinton (Friday) to the Jones Family Singers, Ralph Stanley, Marty Stuart and New Monsoon (Saturday). More than two dozen acts will play during the fest that also includes campground performances Thursday and Sunday. The grassy setting under the trees along Onion Creek in Driftwood is perfect for kids, neo-hippies and the lawn-chair set. 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday. oldsettlersmusicfest.org. — Ed Crowell
Saturday-Sunday: Austin Reggae Festival at Auditorium Shores. This year’s acts include Culture, Jahroots, Mau Mau Chaplains, Qwiksand, Lionhead, Don Chani, Tribal Nation. Music from noon to 10 p.m. both days. Arts, crafts and exotic foods. Also, many, many snoods. $10 plus two cans of food per day. Children younger than 12 free with adult.
Saturday: Prince Paul at the Mohawk. This Handsome Boy Modeling School alum and early hip-hop innovator (he produced tracks on De La Soul’s landmark “3 Feet High and Rising”) murdered a set at the Parish last year when Scion brought him into town alongside Pete Rock. He took the audience on a historical hip-hop journey starting at the NYC origins and moving forward through time and space with a crowd-pleasing, body-rocking extravaganza. Killeen’s finest, Crew 54 opens. $10. — Deborah Sengupta Stith
Saturday: Dillinger Escape Plan at Emo’s. Some of the most complicated metal being made. Just don’t ask them rude questions such as, ‘Hey, guys, don’t your songs sound a whole lot like really fast versions of songs by the amazing near-forgotten punk band Dazzling Killmen? Huh? Huh? Don’t they?’ With the Bled. $13. — J.G.
Saturday: Panic at the Disco at Stubb’s. They seem to be MTV darlings now, which explains why this show is sold out. — J.G.
Sunday: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at La Zona Rosa. The former Pavement front dude’s newest album is the zenith of his guitar explorations. Expect solos. Many, many solos, most of then pretty gorgeous. With the Joggers. $15, $18 day of show. — J.G.
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Review: Shelby Lynne at Antone’s
Probably because it was Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien’s birthday, the vibe around Shelby Lynne’s set was odd Wednesday at Antone’s. The crowd had an ample representation of overzealous fans, who held Lynne’s hand and didn’t want to let go and engaged her in conversation to a distracting degree at times. Then there was the ample woman outside who flashed one of the doormen. I think we’re Keeping Austin Weird enough, people.
Lynne herself seemed a little shaky at the outset, plowing into the songbook of O’Brien — better known as Dusty Springfield — and her album-length mash note to the late, beloved ‘60s British soul singer, “Just a Little Lovin.’” Wearing a Waterloo Records T-shirt and jeans rather than a cocktail dress, Lynne looked a little frazzled or road-weary or something on the title track, but she and her four-piece band managed to establish the tone for the evening — celebratory in a polite, piano-bar kind of way.
On albums such as “Dusty in Memphis” and “A Girl Called Dusty,” the arrangements (strings, horns, kitchen sink) could be as poofy as Springfield’s Marge Simpson-worthy beehive. Lynne and producer Phil Ramone’s take on the tunes — recorded on terribly retro 2-inch tape — is more like someone whispering vulnerable somethings in your ear.
An excess of reverence for the material could have made this homage feel like it was cut in a mausoleum, but Lynne’s default is sassy and devil-may-care, which somehow made her runs through “Anyone Who Had a Heart, “Breakfast in Bed” and “Willie and Laura Mae Jones” all the more convincing. First packaged, unhappily, as a Nashville belter, Lynne has also explored pop and R&B. But as “Willie and Laura Mae” convincingly demonstrated Wednesday, she’s most comfortable where Springfield excelled — the nexus of country and soul. “Your Lies,” the lead-off track to 2000’s “I Am Shelby Lynne,” sounded for all the world like a Springfield tune. She’s needed to make this record her whole career.
In a live setting, however, all the chardonnay and candlelight the record exudes could get a little monotonous, so now and then Lynne strapped on a Telecaster and rocked it up a bit with some of her own material, more so as the set closed in on two hours. Standouts: “Johnny Met June” (which might have been called “When Cash Met Carter”) and “Where I’m From.”
The woman has been burned so many times it’s a wonder she’s still at it, but Lynne’s talents as a singer and songwriter are as formidable as ever, her ambition undented. Wednesday’s show was, strange to say, quietly audacious. But if I’d known it was Dusty’s birthday — and it really was — I’d have baked a cake.
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Wash Hamilton 1946- 2008
The sad news from Houston is that Wash Hamilton, who’s played bass for Ponty Bone and the Squeezetones for 15 years, passed away Wednesday after a battle with prostate cancer. After he was diagnosed last year, Hamilton fictionalized his ordeal in this blog.
Wash began playing bass professionally at 14 with Gulf Coast R&B band Rhett Acoin and the Coins. His proficiency was not limited to blues and zydeco, as Hamilton could easily move from Mexican cumbias to honky tonk.
No word yet on funeral or memorial services.
