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September 2008
‘FNL’ on ACL
So we’re kicking ourselves for not thinking of this idea: Whitney Pastorek of Entertainment Weekly asked cast members from “Friday Night Lights” to review sets at last weekend’s ACL Fest. Check them out.
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ACL takeover- Full Service
Check out Full Service, playing on the grass near Jack In the Box during ACL. The Austin band has specialized in “takeovers” since they shadowed 311 and Snoop Dogg this summer.
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ACL aftershow review: Conor Oberst, M. Ward and Jenny Lewis
M. Ward took the stage first to start off Conor Oberst’s aftershow at La Zona Rosa around 10 p.m Sunday, without the high-powered band that accompanied him during his Friday set at the festival. Ward is just as good solo as he is with his band, however, as the big sound of his finger-picking style compensates for the lack of umph. He played a few repeats from his Friday set, including, “Sad, Sad Song” and “Chinese Translation,” before bringing out Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who appeared at the festival on Sunday. Rawlings and Ward traded licks and Welch sang backup on Ward’s “Fuel For Fire,” a mellow cover of “It Hurts Me Too” and Ward’s “One Life Away” to finish the set.
Lewis came out second. Her performance on Friday in the WaMu tent was good, but inside La Zona Rosa the show was bigger and better. Lewis and her band played mostly the same set as they did at the festival, starting off with “Jack Killed Mom” and “Rise Up With Fists.” Lewis’ chemistry with the rest of the band is one of her strong suits, as when she trades verses with guitarist Jonathan Rice on songs such as “Carpetbaggers.” The onstage collaboration of Ward’s set continued when Gillian Welch and David Rawlings made their second appearance of the evening to sing with the band on “Acid Tongue,” and later when Ward joined the band on “Pretty Bird.”
The crowd seemed fairly worn out by the time Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band came on after midnight, and Oberst joked that he “only thought he was going to die like three times” over the weekend. The set was more varied than Saturday night’s at the festival, with three different members of the band providing lead vocals at different points. In addition to songs off Oberst’s recently released self-titled album, such as “Moab,” “Get-Well-Cards” and “NYC-Gone, Gone,” the band offered up a bluesy cover of “Corrina, Corrina” with Jenny Lewis guitarist Blake Mills joining them on stage, as well as a fun cover of Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome,” which they also did on Saturday.
After finishing the set with “I Don’t Want To Die (In The Hospital),” Oberst returned to the stage with M. Ward for “Lenders in the Temple,” Ward’s “O’brien/o’brien’s Nocturne,” and “Smoke Without Fire” and a couple others before bringing out, you guessed it, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. It was nearly 2 a.m. by the time the four closed with a cover of Lucinda Williams’ “Sharp Cutting Wings (Song to a Poet).”
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ACL aftershow review: The Black Keys
The ACL fest was in no hurry to die Sunday night, with hardly a place to stand in the yard at Stubb’s for the popular aftershow by the Black Keys.
After an opening Black Angels set that featured a two-song guest spot by Roky Erickson, concertgoers might have hoped for a bit of ACL synchronicity in which fest performer and “Attack & Release” producer Danger Mouse would make an appearance; he didn’t, though his Gnarls Barkley bandmate Cee-Lo Green was up in the VIP balcony for the whole show.
Instead, the band from Akron stuck to the basics: Heavy, loud garage blues in which singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach stalked one square of the stage while drummer Patrick Carney pounded away beside him on a kit decorated with a fake tiger-skin rug. Barely interacting with the crowd and allowing for little of “Attack & Release’s” sonic space (a cover of Captain Beefheart’s “I’m Glad” was among the few calm moments), the two-man group churned through a vigorous but slightly monotonous set.
Highlights included the new song “Strange Days” and older ones like “Everywhere I Go,” but the crowd seemed equally pleased by everything, bringing them back after an hour-long set for a short encore that included “Psychotic Girl.”
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: The Kills
Here’s a little tip: Texas, even in the fall, is pretty hot.
No great revelation I know, but it’s one London duo the Kills were unaware of heading into their early afternoon set Sunday and they weren’t shy about sharing their discomfort with the still-appreciative crowd.
Dressed in black (hello?) singer/guitarist Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince (guitar/vocals) started the day off with the tantalizing slink of “U.R.A. Fever,” from the band’s latest album, “Midnight Boom.”
Started in 2002 as a menacing garage blooz/doom pop outfit backed by a well-stocked sampler, the Kills have added glints of sunshine into their studio output in the years since. But in the Lonestar sun that good cheer was gone Sunday, with the duo’s guitars tangling like serpents against the clatter and bang on the sampler.
“We’ve never played a show in the sun before,” Mosshart said early on. “This was a terrible idea,” Hince lamented later.
Clearly this is music not made for sunlight, but at least all that angst and discomfort got manifested into the music and helped songs that are really pretty rudimentary gain a more dangerous edge.
“The bottoms of my feet are burning. So are the tops,” Mosshart laughingly shared after the relative calm of “Sour Cherry” as the sun warmed to somewhere in the mid 80s.
It was fun to humor them this time, but what would they have done in the hot dustbowl of ACL 2005? Stay in the smoky clubs, you two.
But thanks for trying.
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ACL review: Against Me!
Was that too soon?
Sorry, let’s move on.
Point is Against Me! found themselves at the front of the pack creatively after last year’s across-the-board winner “New Wave.” For their next trick, they’re trying to link up their earlier, less-nuanced output with fans inducted in the wake of the band’s newfound success.
It looks like they’re two for two based on their performance Sunday afternoon, blasting through anthems new and old without losing the sizable crowd one bit.
It was interesting to note throughout that even though many of the songs on “New Wave” such as “Stop!” or the title cut contain production touches and embellishments not found on many punk records, they stood just as strong when played stripped down, fast and loud like the older material, including “Cliche Guevara.”
Energetic and workmanlike the entire way — drummer Warren Oakes is in the running for the honor of most outwardly happy musician anywhere — that energy easily bled into the songs and let them shine.
The sweetest moment came when Tegan Quin of folk duo Tegan and Sara (also playing the festival) appeared on stage to accompany lead singer Tom Gabel on the swaying ballad “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart.” The song, which features Quin on record as well, is one of the prettiest passages in the band’s catalog. Does that mean soon we’ll hear Against Me! blending folk-pop into its musical mix. Crazy as it sounds, at this point if they try it I wouldn’t bet against them.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Band of Horses
There are about a dozen things to nitpick with Band of Horses and the Seattle band’s set Sunday night.
Their songs routinely go on for about a minute too long and then the band doesn’t really know how to end them; most songs are generally one or two choruses and a verses repeated over and over; main cog Ben Bridwell (guitar/vocals) isn’t what you would call a strong singer and bass player Rob Hampton sounded like mud for roughly half the set.
You get the idea.
But here’s the thing, in spite of all that it’s pretty much impossible to not fall in love with this band and its more melodic if less experimental take on My Morning Jacket’s indie-roots rock. For all the missteps there were enough strengths — Bridwell’s raw emotion and honesty, the ability to pack three guitars into pop-like songs without sounding overstuffed — that the band’s after-dark set was a winner from the first notes of “The First Song,” from 2006’s “Everything All The Time.”
Loud, majestic and austere for pretty much the entire 60 minutes, Bridwell and his five-piece band played for the heavens and came within a few stars of reaching them on roaring gems like “The Great Salt Lake” and the celebratory (of course) “Weed Party,” among others.
Even if, as noted above, Bridwell’s voice isn’t technically sound, he’s got the strange ability to sound multi-tracked live and create thrilling harmonies that (to these ears) far surpass the supposed greatness of the pretty but lightweight Fleet Foxes.
It was all on display when the first notes of the almost-hit “The Funeral” teetered out of the speakers and Bridwell and company hammered it home for nearly six minutes. Afterward, Bridwell marveled at his place on stage and simply told the crowd, “I love you, you look beautiful!” and repeated a sentiment he shared after nearly every song.
For the vast majority of the thousands assembled, the feeling was mutual.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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ACL review: Foo Fighters
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ACL review: Shooter Jennings
Shooter Jennings was 10 minutes late for his show in the WaMu tent Sunday evening. And when he finally did show up, the shaggy-haired, free-spirited son of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter took the stage as loudspeakers played the Darth Vadar march music from “Star Wars.”
I had the feeling, right then, that something strange was bound to happen.
But no: Jennings and his band went straight to work, churning out a string of hard-driving, high-testosterone, country-ROCK songs — “Steady at the Wheel,” “Slow Train,” “This Ol’ Wheel” — that touched on themes of alienation and a quest for freedom and the dream of going home. Newbies like me were reminded, very quickly, that the 29-year-old Jennings and his guitar-driven band share more of a musical kinship with Lynyrd Skynyrd (or the old Black Sabbath) than his father Waylon. And that’s quite all right. “The Wolf,” his third CD, reflects the spirit of a man whose committed to making music his own way.
Halfway through the show, Jennings sought to soften the mood a bit as the stage hands brought out an electronic keyboard — an instrument that didn’t seem to be working very well, it turns out. Jennings gave it a try for a couple of tunes. Then, following “Higher,” the stage hands returned to fix it. Shooter shooed them away. “I’m trying to get through one more song with this son of a … ,” he said, clearly frustrated.
Launching into a new song, Jennings played only a few notes before exclaiming, “What the hell is wrong with this thing?” Then he stood up at center stage, lifted the keyboard from its stand and threw it down to the floor. “Change of plan,” he said dryly.
Let the record show that Jennings promptly strapped on his Gibson guitar and ripped off an inspired rendition of “Daddy’s Farm” and eventually closed the show with a high-energy cover of the Arc Angels’ “Living in a Dream.”
Photo: Jack Plunkett ASSOCIATED PRESS
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ACL review: Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Review
Recovering alcoholic Mike Farris has come home to God — and along the way, this one-time bad boy of the 1990s independent rock scene has developed an unabashed love for “black church music.” Hallelujah, Brother Farris. Hallelujah.
No doubt about it: Farris’ hand-clapping, foot-stomping, raise-the-roof Gospel-and-Soul set in the WaMu tent Sunday afternoon was an ACL Festival highlight. Imagine a blue-eyed soul singer and a Stax-style horn section at a tent revival, and you get the idea. Farris and his 10-piece band had the crowd in his hand from the moment he launched into Thomas A. Dorsey’s Gospel classic “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and held them through a 10-song set that drew almost entirely from his acclaimed album, “Salvation In Lights.”
It was a lot of fun, especially when nationally renowned gospel singers Ann and Regina McCrary got revved up and jumped into the mix. But make no mistake: Farris’ musical intent is quite sophisticated. He’ll take a classic gospel tune like “Can’t No Grave Hold My Body Down” and splash it oh so tastefully with soul and blues colors. At the same time, he’ll write original songs — such as “I’m Gonna Get There,” which closed the set — that mix gospel and soul, and the theme of salvation, in a way that makes them seem of the same family as those gospel standards. Easy to conceptualize, but very hard to pull off.
Farris received an extended standing ovation midway through his set for his stirring cover of Sam Cooke’s “Change is Gonna Come” — and man, did he earn it. Farris delivered the song as testimony, backed by the suggestion of a church organ, bringing to it a rare physical force as he clenched his fist and shouted out with conviction, yes, yes, a change is gonna come. He went the opposite way with “Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep,” slowing it down a bit, giving it some reflective accents, and inviting a horn section solo (featuring Austin’s John Mills, Tony Campisi and Michael Mordecai) that suggested a New Orleans funeral march.
“The beauty of these old songs is that at the point of despair, (they connect) to our need to believe in a better day,” Farris said before a delicate cover of “Trouble in This World.” “That’s why songs like this are as relevant today as they were 150 years ago.”
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Kevin Fowler
I always thought the answer to the old question about what the dog would do when he finally caught the bus could be summed up in two words: “Kevin Fowler.”
Fowler may not be the most well known figure in country-rock, though he rules in that insular sub-genre that dubs itself “Texas Music.” But he inspires fan loyalty to a cult-like degree, he conducts his career according to his own road map and, most importantly from a fan perspective, he gives every appearance of having more fun than any 19 or 20 given barrels of monkeys.
Fowler came to his pre-eminence by a circuitous route. The Amarillo native first came to the attention of Austin audiences as a long-haired, head-banging member of the metal band Dangerous Toys. Now he has a buzzcut and a cowboy hat, but Fowler still knows how to wring a Les Paul dry (as evidenced by his dead-on rendition of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion”). The crowd in front of the Austin Ventures stage on Sunday night responded accordingly.
More to the point, he is a clever and incisive writer who can craft a lyric with wicked acuity (“Beer, Bait and Ammo” and “Lord Loves the Drinkin’ Man,” to cite but two examples). He may be content to play the Bubba to the hilt (if he had bellowed, “Can I get a hell yeah?!” one more time, I was ready to put out a bounty on him), but he has a savvy appreciation for how far his persona can carry him. He gives the impression of being able to recreate himself at any time and still make valid and engaging music in the process.
In the meantime, he’s found a groove that works. As the old joke goes, the more you drink, the better he sounds. What Elsie the Cow is to milk, Fowler is to Jim Beam and Crown Royal, as songs like “Lord Loves the Drinkin’ Man,” “Triple Crown” (“…a double ain’t enough when I’m feeling this down”), “Loose, Loud and Crazy” and “Ain’t Drinking Anymore” (“…but I ain’t drinking any less”) all attest.
Fowler has never met a honky-tonk he didn’t like (outdoor festivals included) and Sunday night at the Austin Ventures stage, it was clear the feeling was mutual.
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ACL review: Neko Case
A surprisingly small crowd was on hand to see sometime New Pornographer Neko Case at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on the AMD Stage. Case and her band have been touring on her successful 2006 release “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” for two and a half years, and this was their last show of the tour. According to her Web site, she has a new album coming in 2009, and she played a few new songs at ACL.
The lack of interest in her performance may have been because Case’s music is fairly mellow, especially for a festival setting. This isn’t the Racontuers, or even the New Pornographers. Regardless, her voice is beautiful and it was on display in crowd-pleasers off “Fox Confessor” such as “Margaret vs. Pauline,” “Hold On, Hold On” and “Maybe Sparrow.” The new material was mostly in the same vain as “Fox Confessor,” abstract country tunes that allow her vocals to shine.
Other highlights included “I Wish I Was The Moon” from her self-titled 2002 release and an emotional cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Don’t Forget Me,” which she said will appear on the new album. Case also offered up some amusing banter to the crowd, and closed the set with the romping “John Saw That Number,” also from “Fox Confessor.”
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Okkervil River
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ACL review: The Belleville Outfit
The Belleville Outfit, one of Austin’s premier acoustic bands, raised a lot of smiles from the BMI Stage on Sunday afternoon with a cheerful and sophisticated set grounded in gypsy jazz, finely crafted vocal harmonies and a dozen different flavors of swing. Hey, who said it was hot out here? Once the Belleville sextet hit the stage, the musical spirit was nothing but cool and breezy.
The Belleville Outfit is fronted by songwriters Phoebe Hunt (violin and vocals) and Rob Teter (guitar and vocals), but it’s clear that they are a band of equals who are terrific listeners. The audience picked up on it, too, cheering the solos not so much as the band’s deft tempo changes and their keen sense of time. When pianist Connor Forsyth locks in with Hunt’s violin on “Caroline” or guitarist Marshall Hood locks in with her on “Wandrin,” it’s musical beauty of the highest order.
Sensing that their 6-month-old debut album might not seem brand new to many Austinites in the crowd, the Belleville Outfit took advantage of their first ACL gig to debut seven new songs. They opened the show with Teter’s “Let Me Go,” a swinging, crooner’s blues that sounded as if it could have been written by one of the band’s great inspirations, the late Walter Hyatt. A few minutes later, Hunt trotted out “Time to Stand,” a deep and delicate tune of reflection that showed off the band’s affinity for both Appalachian and bayou imagery. On “Nothing’s Too good for My Baby,” Hunt summoned the spirit of Anita O’Day. Special guest Warren Hood (Marshall’s cousin, and son of the late Champ Hood) joined the band on the last two tunes of the set, “Sunday Morning I’m Always Missing You” and “Oh Babe.”
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Heartless Bastards/White Denim
It would be hard to find two Austin-based, indie-identified bands with more different ways of looking at the way you write, arrange and execute rock music than these two acts, who played back-to-back at the Austin Ventures stage Sunday evening, Heartless Bastards at 5:15 and White Denim at 6:30.
Lead Bastard Erika Wennestrom recently moved here from Ohio, rebooting her band in the process and recording a new recor dwith producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Trail of Dead).
While the early comparisons to PJ Harvey seem unfortunate if inevitable, fans seem to have settled into the idea that she won’t be the American PJ we deserve. If anything, her voice is more in the ragged Joplin tradition than Harvey’s artsy howl. The band’s songs are blocky affairs, garage rock in theory but not really in practice. This isn’t spirit of ’66, Beatle boot revivalism, but ruggedly simple rock that didn’t seem to mind that its songs never quite distinguished themselves from one another.
Of course, White Denim’s didn’t either, but they went the other direction entirely. Packed with guitarist James Petralli’s triumphant, quick-change riffs the Austin trio produced high energy grooves that that dissolved into rhythmic vamps, reminding one of nothing so much as a stripped down Mars Volta, such was its complexity and detail. Joshua Block is a mesmerizing drummer, a hard hitting, hard swinging master of the frantic slam and the deft change-up.
You would have had a tough time finding a band that looked happier to be on stage (Petralli’s grin is worthy of a toothpaste ad) or a band that exploded out of the gate so forcefully. I could have watched them stretch those high velocity explorations for another 45 minutes.
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Scene report: Thoughts on fest
A few quick thoughts on the fest in general:
- Favorite acts: David Byrne, Hot Chip, Erykah Badu, Sharon Jones, Spiritualized, Band of Horses
- Favorite set from an Austin band: White Denim
- Sorry I missed: N.E.R.D., Jamie Lidell and The Mars Volta
- Not worth the time: Stars
- Favorite peripheral ACL event: The dance party the Daily Juice on Barton Springs pulled off Saturday night (and apparently Sunday, as well) with people dancing on the roof and in the streets en masse to the music of DJ Richard Gear before police very politely pulled the plug at 11 p.m.
- Most annoying time: High school kids shoving their way out of Band of Horses set to get a spot for Foo Fighters
- Best food court yet
- Unfortunate: No Mexican beer for the crowd. Heineken, Bud Light and whatever else they had didn’t seem to be strong enough options.
- Best weather of any fest. That alone makes it probably my favorite fest yet.
- Great idea by organizers to let people fill recycling bags in exchange for swag. The park was super clean, all things considered.
- No major calamities, see: fire, last-minute pull-outs
- Yes, there was some dust, but it was nothing like the year of the dust storm. Look, it’s a park: There is dirt and some withered grass. There will be some dust.
- With the exception of one or two sets, the sound bleeding was kept to a minimum. I didn’t really have any set ruined by bleeding.
- Maybe it was just me: The bass at the Dell stage was way overdone, and muddled the sound a bit from certain vantage points.
- Obvious alert: Appreciation for the sound and the sets is largely dependent on where you stand. Further back in front of a speaker is better than a little closer and to the side.
- Cool that there were stations to refill your water bottle. Even if it’s just 92 degrees, you gotta stay hydrated.
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Scene report: Neko Case
After a somewhat boring set from Montreal-based Stars, the festival kicked it up a notch with Against Me! providing some punk-rock energy to a slow early afternoon. As Silversun Pickups took the stage at one end of the field determined to bring some raw energy to the day, alt-country chantuese Neko Case brought more raw emotion and beauty than energy.
I was curious as to whether her atmospheric vocals would hold up on the massive stage in front of thousands under the hot sun, but she and her band were up to the task.
Case played songs spanning her critically acclaimed solo career. Her beautiful vocals, while not inspiring the audience to dance — or really move at all — seemed like the perfect antidote for a crowd that looked like it needed a respite from an exhausting weekend. And there’s probably no more soothing a voice to rush over you like a cool breeze on a languid summer day.
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Scene report: Out-of-towners
One of the best parts of ACL Fest is the far-flung crowds it draws. On Sunday, a few out-of-towners took a moment to talk about their festival experiences.
Olga Martinez of Poland flew in with a group of friends to see Beck, Foo Fighters and Slightly Stoopid, but they’ve enjoyed other aspects of Austin as well.
“Barton Springs, the river, was really fun,” Martinez said before heading off in search of more music.
Lauren Perkins of Houston drove to Austin to catch Mars Volta, Tegan and Sara and the Kills, but she’s enjoyed more than just the music.
“The pedicab ride was really fun,” she said. “We liked our driver. He was the best part.”
Heather Walker recently moved to Austin from Los Angeles.
“I don’t really consider myself a native yet,” she said. “I’m here for The Kills and Tegan and Sara.”
Walker’s friend, Jacqueline Garrett of Columbus, Ohio, came to ACL Fest to see Erykah Badu and Beck, but has also been getting a taste of the larger Austin culture.
“We went to Sixth Street last night, but we’re going to try South Congress tonight,” she said. “I’m not a big fan of all those jello shots and all that bumping and grinding.”
For Liz Lambert and Matt Harp of New Orleans, it’s all about the music.
“Conor Oberst was really good,” Lambert said.
“We also enjoyed Beck,” Harp said. “It’s really been all about the festival.”
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ACL review: Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch forgot to put goop on her hair. It was a fact that caused her much chagrin as she stood on the breezy expanse of the AMD stage. “I didn’t want to eat my hair while I was trying to sing,” she explained.
Actually, the wind-tousled look suited Welch, who — though she was born in Manhattan and grew up in L.A. — always looks like she just stepped out of a Depression-era Dorothea Lange photograph (and whose music sounds as though she were providing the soundtrack for James Agee’s “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”).
Welch and her longtime partner, David Rawlings, delivered an unplugged set that mixed material from her four albums with songs from a forthcoming project. And the performances were fine; it was the venue that rankled.
This marks the third time this weekend that this listener has seen a small-bore acoustic act presented in the cavernous expanse of one of the festival’s main stages. Performances that should breath intimacy and beckon listeners closer are swallowed up by the brobdingnagian scale of the stage. Surely, one of the smaller stages would be more appropriate for Welch’s understated musical portraits.
And so much for that. Welch and Rawlings have such an intuitive and finely honed sense of the sound and (more important) the feel of classic American acoustic music that more than once a song this listener thought must have come from a Library of Congress field recording (like “Sweet Tooth”) turned out to be a Welch/Rawlings original.
Other songs, like ”Knuckleball Catcher” and “The Way We Will Be” (two more new ones) had a more contemporary feel without seeming trendy, but Welch classics like “Orphan Girl” and “Red Clay Halo” retain a timeless sound.
Certainly, from the fans’ point of view, the big treat of the set came when Alison Krauss (enjoying a busman’s holiday after her show with Robert Plant last night) joined Welch and Rawlings for a reprise of “Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby,” the song they recorded for “O Brother, Where Art Thou” (Rawlings got to sing Emmylou Harris’ part). As moments of pure, unadulterated musical magic go, it was hard to top.
Photo: Erich Schlegel FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Scene report: medical tent numbers
Friday at ACL, 114 people were treated at the medical tent, while 197 were treated Saturday. Three were transported to the hospital Friday, with 13, including two suspected drug overdoses, getting an ambulance ride Saturday.
The numbers may seem high, but they’re down from previous years, according South West Emergency Action Team (S.W.E.A.T.) supervisor Tannifer Ayres. “People are doing a better job of keeping themselves hydrated,” she said.
Heat-related causes accounted for 28 percent of those treated Saturday, followed by 26 percent for lacerations and 19 percent for asthma/respiratory problems. Only 7 percent - 13 fans- were seen for eye irritations due to dust.
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ACL review: AA Bondy
When Alabama’s AA Bondy took the Dell Stage with nothing more than an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder and a harmonica fastened to his neck, the booming echoes of drumsets from other stages threatened to drown out his expertly finger-picked licks.
Bondy moved confidently through his Dylanesque folk tunes nonetheless, keeping the crowd’s chatter to a minimum and their response enthusiastic.
“I kind of feel like I should be out there among you,” he said a few songs in.
But he had no reason to worry about the performance lacking intimacy. The audience was transfixed by the Southwestern crunch of his slightly distorted acoustic riffs and the graceful imperfection of his crackling melodies.
The music was punctuated by his haunting revivalist poetics. Over the dreary drag of the minor chords in “Rapture (Sweet Rapture)” Bondy sang about trees swinging like hanging men, while in the upbeat romp “Vice Rag” he asked Jesus to take his sinner’s hand after singing that he’d drink dry an ocean full of whiskey.
Though Bondy has only released one album, 2007’s “American Hearts,” he played a surprisingly small number of cuts from it. The rest of the set was made up of equally impressive unreleased numbers. In one, he picked out a sunny, gospel-like progression while singing, “Dress well/Get pretty/You got to die.”
Judging from the strength of such songs, Bondy’s next album will be just as good or better than “American Hearts.”
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet
OK, here’s the deal: One of the great bluegrass maestros of the age teams up with a young woman who sings Chinese folk songs — in Chinese. They hook up with an A-list cello player and fiddlers, and set out to play string band music that mixes Appalachian melodies with Eastern pentatonic scales. Are you with me so far?
If all that sounds off-putting or intimidating, rest assured that in the hands of Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet, it is anything but. Washburn, along with banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck, cellist Ben Sollee and fiddler Casey Driessen, provided a beguiling start to a musical Sunday as they wove their peculiar multicultural tapestry on the AT&T Stage.
Washburn fell in love with China and its people during a journey to the People’s Republic in 1996, so much so she learned to speak the language and decipher the folk songs of Sichuan and other provinces. Moreover, she began to link Chinese folk music traditions to those of her own country.
Thus, the Sparrow Quartet, a group that can go from the delicate calligraphy brushstokes of a subtle Eastern melody to a full-on bluegrass breakdown at the drop of a fingerpick.
Washburn’s set began with a stately overture that segued into her own “A Fuller Wine,” followed by a hot jazz turn on Blind Willie Johnson’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” which yielded to a Chinese tune that allowed Fleck to pop the clutch and blaze away.
If that kind of eclectic versatility sounds daunting to the average listener, onstage it came across as anything but. The four musicians shared an easy rapport both among themselves and with the audience. “This song is called ‘Kangding Qingge’,” said Washburn, introducing yet another Chinese tune, “but we like to call it ‘Old Timey Dance Party.” At another point, a Kazakh folk melody transformed itself into an vintage rave-up called “Banjo-Pickin’ Girl” that Washburn made her own (“I’m goin’ to North Carolina and from there off to China,” she sang). And an austere, classical sounding string quartet instrumental resolved itself into a formal reading of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” which in turn gave way to a fiery duel of solos between Fleck and Driessen.
It was all…well, it was fun. And fascinating. And a journey in and of itself. For a few minutes, the ACL festival felt truly worldwide.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Scene report: VIP action up
Last week Charlie Walker of C3 said the demand for VIP amenities is the fastest growing aspect of ACL. “Some people don’t care about the higher price point,” Walker said. “They just don’t want to be hassled. Hundreds paid $850 for such services as massages, spa treatments, gourmet organic food and free drinks, all in the shade of the VIP Grove. There’s also access to an Internet lounge and clean restrooms. With four VIP wristbands, you also get coveted parking.
After this year’s pleasant weather and when the new dust-busting irrigation system is put in at Zilker (C3 has pledged $2.5 million to the project, among other park improvements), the VIP section may lose much of its allure.
That would be a good problem to have.
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ACL review: Swell Season aftershow at the Paramount
When I interviewed her last year, singer/pianist and “Once” co-star Marketa Irglova claimed that a touring musician’s life was not for her, and that she’d return to a quieter one when movie promotion was finished. But an Oscar (for best original song) can change things, and the shy singer was a committed performer this Saturday at the Paramount — even offering new songs, occasionally taking the stage by herself, and trying to cope with shouted comments from a concertgoer who wanted to call her his girlfriend.
Co-star and Swell Season bandmate Glen Hansard was more comfortable with the crowd’s boisterous love, clearly relishing stateside success after years of trying to break through with his longtime band the Frames. (He did some Frames material, like “Fitzcarraldo” and “What Happens When the Heart Just Stops,” here.) Starting the show like the busker he played in the film — by himself with no mike or guitar amp, playing the song that sets “Once” in motion — he was the evening’s engine, frequently delivering cloudbursts of vocal emotion that would make Coldplay’s Chris Martin hide in a corner.
As if to prove they were more than a one-hit act, they played their Oscar song “Falling Slowly” up front, then kept listeners rapt through a two-hour set that stretched well beyond the movie’s soundtrack, even including one of the best Daniel Johnston covers (“Life in Vain”) this side of Kathy McCarty. All signs (including the presence of a fleshed-out band backing the two stars) suggested this could be the start, not the culmination, of a fruitful career.
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Meet the Ice Cream Man
Matt Allen, aka The Ice Cream Man, hands out ice cream on Sunday at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Photo by Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Not many folks backstage at ACL Fest know Matt Allen by name, but that’s OK with him. “Hey, Ice Cream Man,” a woman Saturday night after Beck’s set called out. “Do you have any Bomb Pops left?” He digs one out of the cooler and hands it to her free of charge. “You’re the best, Ice Cream Man,” she said.
Matt Allen is popular with the ladies. And the artists. And the crew. And the cops. Especially the cops. “Policemen love ice cream,” he said. So it’s not just donuts.
Allen will give away more than 3,000 pieces of ice cream before ACL Fest is over. At SXSW he gave out 11,000. He’ll be backstage at more than a dozen festivals — big and small — all over the country. He was backstage at the MTV video music awards, where Rhiannon and Chris Brown were just two of his customers.
How does he do it? Iowa company Bluebunny donates all the ice cream. It’s good promotion for them. But Allen has to stay with friends on the road because hotels aren’t feasible. Asked if he’s an ice cream freak, Long Beach, Calif., native Allen answered “I’m an adventure freak. That’s what this is, man, going all over the country, meeting so many people.”
The adventure started four years ago at Ashland, Ore., where Allen originally sold his frozen delectables. But at the All Tomorrow’s Parties fest in late 2004, Allen picked up a sponsor with an Oregon ice cream company and realized it’s a lot more fun to just give it away.
If he runs out, as he did Saturday at 5:30 p.m., he hits the local Bluebunny distributor, in Austin that’s Yumi, and they replentish the stock.
“We’ve had our share of celebrities,” Allen said. “We get a lot of their kids. Sam Beam from Iron & Wine brought his kids by and they loved it. At Lollapalooza, Jeff Tweedy’s kids acted like they had kidnapped him in exchange for more ice cream. Ice cream makes people happy.” Because it melts, Allen’s product can’t be hoarded, which makes it perfect for backstage, where bag-stuffing freeloaders roam.
Allen said it’s not the big names, but the behind-the-scenes workers that he’s there for. “They’re the people that make the festival happen. They work real hard and when I see them walk away with a big smile, it makes my day.”
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ACL review: Beck
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ACL Review: Les Freres Guisse
Les Freres Guisse - the three Guisse Brothers of Senegal - presented us with a most sublime musical gift Saturday afternoon in the WaMu tent. It was a gift of gentleness. A gift of harmony. A gift of hope. In music and in message, the brothers’ set of West African music was breezy and reflective, a welcome respite in world filled with so much tension and crisis. No surprise, of course, that the title of Les Freres’ breakout record, “Yakaar”, is a Peulh expression meaning “live in hope.”
The Guisse Brothers’ music is an enchanting blend of sparkling bright guitar sand subtle vocal harmonies set against a percussive aura that uses as its foundation a hard bass beat that often feels like a heart pulse. It’s not a big band, just the three brothers. And while the music is delightfully rhythmic, Les Freres Guisse is not a dance band, either. The brothers like to say that they aspire to touch their audience’s humanity in their shows, not just make their feet dance.
Les Freres Guisse filled its 45-minute set with six songs, including a gentle a capella number, a breezy Sahelian blues, and a curtain-closing celebration of Nelson Mandela. “We don’t like war. We don’t like power,” guitarist Djiby Guisse said to the crowd in introducing “C.C. Le Feu” - a tune (sung in African dialect) that speaks on behalf of “the innocents”, the victims of war in Sarajevo, in Rwanda, in Soweto. At the end, the brothers switched into English and sang “No War in Our World.” The audience, attuned throughout to the spirit of lyrics sung in a language that is foreign to them, eagerly joined in on the chorus.
Aliou Guissse, who handles percussion for the band, drew gasps from the audience while soloing during “C.C. Le Feu.” He’d been playing a leket - a globe-shaped hand-drum - and at one point, he struck it with his fist so hard that the instrument cracked open like a broken egg. There was a slight pause; the transcendant spirit seemed to break. Aliou shrugged his shoulders. Then he revealed a spare leket, raised it above his head, and put it back into play in his percussion stand. Les Freres Guisse love allegory and metaphor - and in this spontaneous moment, harmony and hope reigned supreme.
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ACL review: Iron and Wine
Iron and Wine’s performance two years ago at the 2006 Austin City Limits festival was a memorable one, distinctively more rock-and-roll than the quiet Southern Gothic feel of the albums. Since then singer/songwriter/guitarist Sam Beam has released “The Shepherd’s Dog,” a recording which, while it holds on to a lot of the charm of his earlier work, moves in a more jammy, psychedelic direction. That evolution was on display during tonight’s set, as the band only stopped playing a handful of times, otherwise segueing from song to song a la The Grateful Dead.
When Beam toured on “The Shepherd’s Dog” in 2007, he stuck mostly to the new material, to mixed reviews. In was a bit of a relief tonight that he returned to some of his best work, including songs such as “Woman King” and “Bird Stealing Bread.” There was a somewhat jazzy feel to the tunes, and the band layered the songs with a lot of percussion as well as a little bit of accordion. The ambient feel didn’t please everyone, as someone nearby commented, “more iron, less wine.”
Beam finished up the set with emotional versions of “Cinder and Smoke” and “Trapeze Singer,” which left the crowd begging for more.
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ACL review: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
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ACL review: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
It’s hard to imagine a more understated opening for a more rabidly anticipated performance: the musicians, stock-still, silhouetted against the proscenium backdrop; the two headliners, emerging simultaneously from opposite wings of the stage, making their way to the pair of microphones waiting under the hot, white spotlight.
That sense of economy and understated elegance permeated the entirety of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ headline set Saturday night. The improbable pair — leather-lunged Brit superstar meets demure bluegrass songbird — has been touring behind their duet album, ‘Raising Sand.’
Now, it’s easy to imagine in some precincts that Plant would be the 500-lb. gorilla on the bill, with Alison Who? lending a little distaff charm to the ticket. But at ACL, Krauss’ musical credentials (if not her rock star charisma) easily put her on a par with her more famous duet-mate.
It was a carefully-crafted performance, built upon the foundation of a crackerjack band under the direction of T-Bone Burnett. And though Burnett laid back, his musicians, especially guitarist Buddy Miller and Stuart Duncan, tore the joint up.
The set mixed material from the album, some traditional mountain music and a handful of Led Zeppelin classics chopped, channeled and stripped down to their roots. “Black Dog,” for instance, started out in as an almost unrecognizable, hallucinatory arrangement, and you could sense the excitement ripple through the crowd as the familiar melody finally asserted itself.
It must have represented a dream come true for Plant — his Led Zeppelin tunes reimagined as part of the timeless fabric of the folk and traditional music he grew up loving in England.
Though she’s a fiddle virtuoso, Krauss hardly availed herself of the instrument during the show. But she sang like a bird, her crystalline tones providing a silvery counterpoint to Plant’s weathered blues moan. For his part, Plant kept the rock-god histrionics tamped down. It wasn’t until the ninth song of the set, “Black Country Woman,” that he finally let his powerhouse, cock-of-the-walk yowl off its leash.
Other highlights included an extended workout on “In the Mood” (no, not the Glen Miller classic) that saw Krauss dropping a chorus of the folk classic “Matty Grove” into the mix, a dreamy, druggy take on Benny Spellman’s “Fortune Teller,” a luminously beautiful Krauss vocal solo on “Through the Morning, Through the Night,” with Plant taking a back seat to echo her vocals, and the bouncy, upbeat rockabilly set-closer, a cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Gone, Gone, Gone.”
“(John) Fogerty was a concert; this was a show,” enthused one spectator, summing it all up.
Photo: Erich Schlegel FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst took the stage on Saturday evening as himself, having shed his “Bright Eyes” identity in August with the release of a self-titled album. Dressed in a suit, his look was more like Jeff Tweedy and less like the cult-leader Colonel Sanders impression he offered up during his spring 2007 stop at UT’s Bass Concert Hall.
The Mystic Valley Band’s seasoned country rock sound complemented Oberst’s new material perfectly, especially on songs like “Get-Well-Cards,” where Oberst bends his voice like Bob Dylan as he sings “right there, that’s the postman sleeping in the sand.” He has been likened to Dylan before, but with the new band, especially Nate Walcott’s blasting keyboards and organ, the comparison is especially apt. All Oberst needed was a white fedora with a feather.
Oberst’s songs are typically dark, but the new material seems to be lacking the underlying sense of hope that exists on albums like “I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning.” He conveyed a feeling of resignation about the state of the world as he belted out emotional verions of songs such as “Souled Out!” and “I Don’t Want To Die (In the Hospital).”
Oberst’s cover of Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” was an unexpected highlight, and it had the crowd moving their feet. The band stuck pretty closely to the original, with Simon’s retrospective lyrics a good match for Oberst’s sentimentality.
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ACL review: Nachito Herrera
Nachito Herrera and his orchestra staged one heck of a Cuban dance party in the WaMu tent Saturday afternoon. He started with son - and along the way, I believe, there was also some mambo, some chachacha, some pilone and a joyful little Cuban hokey-pokey experience introduced as Baile Azucar, the Sugar Dance. I’m no expert on Caribbean dance rhythms, so there was a lot more that went over my head. Suffice to say that the key word of this set was glee, unmitigated glee. Herrera had the audience on its feet from the very first note of “Descarga de Hoy” - and most in the crowd stayed on their feet until it was time to say goodnight.
Herrera is a Cuban-born maestro, a bandleader and pianist, classically trained, known to many Americans for his participation in Jesus Alemany’s band !Cubanismo!. He reminded the Austin audience, in fact, that he’d been here before, six years ago, when Cubanismo played La Zona Rosa. Like Cubanismo, Herrera’s new band is a revue-style ensemble rich with trumpets, trombone, saxophone and percussion, 11 pieces in all. But Herrera is clearly the star of the show.
Herrera, a big butter bean of a man, leads his band like a corner man at a prize fight - rising from his seat behind the keyboards, jabbing at the air, shaking his fist, exorting and commanding joy. And when it’s time to solo, Herrera plays with a kind of muscular grace. The keyboards sometimes shake beneath his powerful hands. His first big solo featured flourishes of Gershwin over mambo dance rhythms, his right hand flashing. Later, he introduced Bird-like be-bop phrasing in the middle of a chachacha number. His solos consistently referenced a world beyond Cuba, while at the same time his sense of rhythm touched the very soul of Havana.
Havana trumpet master Adalbert Lara stepped forward to solo at one point in the program - and the mood was so bright, so full of glee, that the trombone player set down his instrument and snapped a photo of the renowned “Trompetica.” Then he shot a photo of the audience in full dance mode. It was that kind of show.
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ACL review: MGMT
When New York-based psych-rock outfit MGMT took the stage for their 5:30 set on the AT&T Blue Room stage, the crowd was already packed in all the way back to the bar across the way. Like the higher-profile Vampire Weekend, who played Friday, the duo formed while attending a northeastern liberal arts university and are touring on a well-recieved album, “Oracular Spectacular,” which was released earlier this year.
Lead singer and guitarist Andrew Vanwyngarden and keyboardist Ben Goldwasser added a three member band for their tour; it was a good move, as the live versions of the songs are bigger and more suited for a festival audience. This was by far one of the most excited crowds of the weekend so far, with people singing along to every song, and even crowd surfing when the band jumped into “Time to Pretend.”
At times Vanwyngarden seemed to be channeling Jack White as the band took somewhat restrained songs from the album and turned them into epic rockers, complete with Hendrix-esque guitar solos. “Electric Feel” had the entire crowd pumping their fists, and “Weekend Wars” sounded vaguley similar to something off a Yes or ELO record. On “Kids,” Goldwasser came out from behind the keyboard to sing side by side with Vanwyngarden. The two looked a little awkward dancing without their instruments, but it didn’t matter to the audience, who were loving every minute.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Drive-By Truckers
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ACL review: Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and the True Loves
Eli “Paperboy” Reed clearly adores the icons of American soul: Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, James Brown. He loves them so much, in fact, that he seems to channel their spirits when he takes the stage and starts to sing. Never mind that he’s 24, from Massachusetts, too young to have known the masters in their prime. Close your eyes on a song like “Stake Your Claim” and you can almost trick yourself into believing that you’re listening to Wilson Pickett, circa 1969.
Reed ‘s rambunctious, horn-filled 21st century revival of classic American soul had a a lot of fans dancing in front of their seats in the WaMu Tent Saturday afternoon. But for the most part, the audience mood was one of respectful consideration as Reed and his crackerjack seven-piece band (the True Loves) skated their way through the hottest cuts from their promising debut album “Roll With You.” The set was happy, fun, grounded in love … but Reed didn’t drive the tent people into musical ecstacy, at least not in the way Cuban piano maestro Nachito Hererra did three hours later.
Reed, who came to soul through his father’s record collection, writes and arranges his own music - the kind of tunes Pickett or Redding might have written 40 years ago. There’s a strong Stax influence. Muscle Shoals, too. Reed’s voice - with its capacity for soul screams and howls and good-time power - serves him well on so many of the uptempo numbers that dominated his set. But the high point may have come on “It’s Easier,” a Sam Cooke-style ballad that showed off his penchant for tenderness. Reed is, after all, a wholesome presence on stage, all rosy cheeks and brylcream.
As the set wore on, I found myself wishing I could see Reed’s set in a smoky road house. There was a little too much light, a little too much distraction in the brightness of the tent. Reed did his part well - but the magic of the music might have worked better at “the midnight hour.”
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Scene reports: Mo’ Murray, autograph lines
An undisclosed number of fence-jumpers made it up-and-over during Manu Chao’s set Friday. C3 had a security guard standing on a chair, overlooking the lowest section of fence Saturday.
John Fogerty had a jovial, back-slapping conversation with billionaire blues fanatic John Paul DeJoria after his set. Private party in the offing?
Spiritualized singer Jason Pierce was wearing a Roky Erickson t-shirt onstage.
Bill Murray was back on the cart, driving himself to see Conor Oberst.
Long, long lines to get MGMT’s autographs after group’s set Saturday at the AT&T Blue Room stage. But a Waterloo Records employee said it wasn’t the longest line of the first two days. That would be for Daniel Johnston Friday. D.J. was signing the commemorative poster he designed.
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Scene report: Day 2
Fleet Foxes, filling in for Ingrid Michaelson, took the stage early at 12:30, one heck of a rough time for such a buzzy band. But the beautifully harmonizing players of fabulist pop got Saturday off to a strong with a wonderful and relatively crowded set.
Bavu Blakes had everyone’s attention (including Mayor Will Wynn, who was in attendance), when he came out in an Obama mask and then put out an energetic set of originals and covers.
Band of Heathens outdid many of his their fellow BMI stage peers with an impressive crowd. I didn’t get a chance to see Man Man, but friends say they totally killed. I was over at the AT&T Blue Room stage at the time, surrounded by a ton of kids for Brazilian electro-pop outfit CSS, whose female lead had the audience swaying their hands in unison and bouncing to the band’s energetic beats.
Local act Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears were a nice ‘local boys done good story’ and played to an appreciative, if not much of a dancing, crowd, mixing retro soul and R&B.
Then it was over to Erykah Badu, the pregnant earth goddess soul sister supreme, who had the crowd eating out of her hand, as she played a healthy mix of old and new tunes and found time to mix in some political messaging in which she rep’d Barack Obama and went on to say that the country doesn’t just need a new president, but a whole new system. The fans responded with hearty approval.
Spritualized kicked things up a notch with their raucous beauty, reminding me of Oasis and the Stones. I imagine these lads made themselves a few new fans and will sell a few more records after this weekend.
John Fogerty, at whose presence some young people had scoffed when seeing the lineup, was a gigantic draw at the AMD stage, and he benefited from some leftover MGMT fans. Oddly, the usually garrulous Fogerty said he only had an hour so he wouldn’t do much talking, so it was on with the hits, and a few new tunes, which met with great singing along from fans of all ages.
Just came from Iron & Wine, who seem to be having some issues with their bass, or at least it sounds that way to me. The booming bass distortion seems more appropriate for gangta rap than singer-songwriter material, and some of the band’s ambient jamming tended to lose me. Nevertheless, still beautiful harmonizing from the talented songwriter Sam Beam and his sister Sarah.
By the time I headed over to the media area, a good number of people were splitting to find space for Beck and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. The park is just a gigantic mess of people. It is like being in deep sea. We are at the peakest of peak hours.
Time to check out the absurd scientologist (Beck) and the living legend (Plant).
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ACL review: John Fogerty
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ACL review: City and Colour
At first glance, everything about Toronto’s City and Colour screams mediocrity. It’s the sensitive singer/songwriter act led by the guitarist of a screamo band, and his latest album is a borderline pretentious allusion to a Bukowski novel.
In other words, it’s something you’d guess you’ve heard before.
But take one listen to the honey-sweet vocals of Dallas Green on this year’s “Bring Me Your Love,” and you’ll be reminded that stereotypes rarely capture the whole story.
Green’s performance at ACL Fest took City and Colour’s music to an even higher level. Backed by a full band, Green traded the reverberated acoustic guitar on his albums for an electric guitar, with gritty distortion. Beside forming a nice contrast with his smooth tenor croon, the crunch of the electric added a southern blues tone to the music. The drums and bass in songs like “Sleeping Sickness” also created an extra dynamic dimension.
The highlight was the vocals, but surprisingly, Green didn’t carry the show on his own. The band started “As Much As I Ever Could” with a few measures of flawless four-part a capella harmony. On other songs, Green and the bassist played tag-team with the melodies, and their deliveries were equally solid.
Whether audience members were fans or not, their expectations for City and Colour were surely exceeded.
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ACL video: Electric Touch interview
Our Deborah Sengupta-Stith talks with Electric Touch before their performance Saturday at the Austin City Limits Music Festival:
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ACL review: Man Man
When a band’s members play under pseudonyms like Honus Honus and Critter Cat, they’re bound to be bizarre.
And bizarre Philadelphia’s Man Man was, not just musically, but in every aspect. Their faces striped with red and white war paint, the five-piece took the stage dressed in short white shorts and t-shirts and proceeded to spastically bang out a series of cartoonishly sinister tunes with trumpets, xylophones and a drumset splashed with fluorescent paint, among other instruments.
But the band didn’t rely completely on antics. Honus’s rough-edged voice cut with an intensity similar to that of Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, and the effortless manner in which the band stormed through the complicated time signatures and transitions in their songs proved their talent.
But Man Man will not appeal to everyone. The goofy falsetto filler that screeched over the organ whistles in many songs sounded like something straight out of a Tiny Toons Halloween episode, and it was often hard to discern any actual words in the verses between the jibberish.
The main problem with a band built around so many eccentricities is that the act is hard to sustain. After you’ve tapped out rhythms on a plaster makeup of your guitarist’s head, where can you go? Man Man actually took it down a notch and eased into a love song more melodic than anything they’d played all set, but then ran out of steam and left the stage 10 minutes early.
Man Man’s live show is certainly a spectacle, but it’s easier to stomach in smaller doses than this 50-minute performance.
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ACL review: Bavu Blakes
When Austin mayor Will Wynn introduced hometown hip-hop hero Bavu Blakes as his friend to the scattered audience in front of the Austin Ventures stage, the response was fairly lethargic.
But a few songs after Blakes removed the Obama mask he’d taken the stage with, the crowd was into it. As listeners steadily arrived and the space in front of the stage became more and more limited, Blakes got the crowd waving their hands and responding to his calls in unison with phrases like “Black gold!”
The audience had good reason to be excited. Whether Blakes’ backup band, the Extra Plairs, were churning out soulful R&B grooves or booming bass lines under Blakes’ rapid-fire rhymes, they were on.
Once Blakes gained momentum, he didn’t let it drop. Both his music and witty banter between songs kept the audience engaged.
“Like I said, I’m not much of a singer, but unfortunately R.E.M. couldn’t make it today,” he said before playing a segment of the chorus from “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” to start his next song.
When Blakes left the stage, the crowd was still cheering.
“I’ve never seen him before, but I’m glad I did,” said one listener. “It was definitely worth coming over from the Fratellis.”
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL scene report: Austin Kiddie Limits
I took my son to Austin Kiddie Limits for the first time, and we saw more of his friends in our two hours there than I’ve seen of mine in two days of the festival. It was THE place to be if you’re 2 to 3, apparently.
If you’re thinking of a bringing a child (they’re free if they’re 10 or younger), take him/her/them directly to the Kiddie Limits, an oasis of kid-friendly music and activities - it felt like another world back there, in the shade no less.
Saturday’s music, played in 30 minute sets, included Jambo, Uncle Rock, mr. Ray, Buck Howdy with BB and the Jimmies, most of whom are playing again Sunday. As soon as a music set finished, the pint-sized crowd was directed toward a smaller facing stage, where “dance lessons” took place. Austin’s B Boy City and B Girl City dancers wowed the toddlers and other youngsters with their break-dancing; the Lannaya Dance & Drum Ensemble entranced with West African rhythms and movement.
Beyond the stage area, the kids could attend music workshops, coloring stations and hip-hop lessons. HEB handed out free ice cream to the tots (sorry, parents) and Pink Salon was on hand to turn their hair green or pink.
With more bearable temperatures this year, the festival seems more kid-friendly. If you bring a stroller, give yourself extra time to navigate the perimeter of the park. Stop by Tag A Kid to give emergency contact information - you’ll get a corresponding wristband for your child (although you might try the ankle, where they’re less likely to rip it off during a dancing frenzy). Be warned though: When the helpful staffer told my son to look for women in red T-shirts if he lost his Mommy, he burst into horrified tears. Luckily, they were the only tears of the day.
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ACL review: Spiritualized
If the slow-rising dust of Zilker Park at sunset suited any act, it was Spiritualized, that rare band that sounded exactly the same whether you were pushed up front or sitting on the ground four football fields away. They built intensity slowly through the set.
With guitarist/ singer Jason Pierce and the other guitarist (who was not Peter Kember- oops) set up at opposite ends of the stage, facing each other, the British band perfected a dreamy squall that they broke up with bits of Brit pop, gospel (they opened with “Amazing Grace,” sung by soulful backups Wendi Rose and Claudia Smith) and an occasional burst of thunder.
The band has such a devoted following that you can be sure several diehards bought $80 tickets just to see them, but with so much going on, the set was mainly for fans. I certainly wasn’t converted, though there were moments of transcendent beauty, such as on the closer “Come Together,” which built to a brilliant explosion of sound.
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ACL video: Bavu Blakes interview
Our Deborah Sengupta-Stith interviews Bavu Blakes after his performance Saturday at the Austin City Limits Music Festival:
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ACL scene report: We Go To Eleven; the long road to Austin
We Go To Eleven got a solid-gold introduction before their set at the BMI Stage at 12:40 today. The band was brought onstage by C3 partner and ACL producer Charles Attal.
Probably it had something to do with the fact that WGTE’s drummer, 13-year old Sled Allen is Attal’s nephew; his sister, Jennifer, is married to visual artist Bale Allen.
Backstage, Attal mingled with his parents, Charles “Lucky” and Katherine Attal, as well as Sled’s grandparents—musician and artist Terry Allen and playwright/actress Jo Harvey Allen. The Allen’s spent part of their ACL sojourn catching up with another family friend, David Byrne, who performed at the Paramount Theatre on Thursday and at ACL on Friday.
Since the Austin City Limits Festival’s beginnings, it has been an article of faith that the festival could never co-exist with a U.T. football home game. Now, thanks to Hurricane Ike, Saturday saw the festival going full-steam ahead while the Longhorns hosted the Arkansas Razorbacks across town.
C3 Presents partner and ACL producer Charles Attal was asked if, in fact, the town could handle both events, might C3 be more flexible in picking a weekend to host the festival?
Nope, he said. “It’s all about hotel rooms. There are people staying in San Antonio and Waco and Bastrop this weekend. Luckily, the festival opens early and the game is in the middle of the day. But we still don’t want to have to house performers in San Antonio.”
Looks like the perfect-storm pairing of ACL and Longhorn football is a one-time convergence.
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ACL review: We Go to Eleven
You know you’re getting too old for this racket when the cumulative ages of the band member’s don’t add up to the age of the dinosaur sent out to review them.
In the case of Austin’s own We Go To Eleven, only one of the three bandmembers is marginally old enough to drive, which, at least anecdotally, made them the youngest band to play not only ACL, but also Lollapolooza.
A power trio who make detours into blues, metal and pop, We Go To Eleven seem almost eerily accomplished when their youth is taken into account. But they come by it naturally, apparently. Brothers Zac (guitar, vocal) and Jake (bass) Hartwell began playing at nine and seven, respectively; Drummer Sled Allen is the grandson of West Texas musician Terry Allen, and the nephew of keyboardist Bukka Allen.
Though the band is newly minted, their musical growth was evident, as demonstrated in “Insomnia,” one of the first songs they wrote, a straight-ahead rocker that hits all the standard metal tropes, and “No Angels Cried,” a more recent tune that switched tone and mood in a sophisticated fashion. “We tried to push ourselves as much as we could musically and lyrically,” said Zac of the piece.
“Tears of Anger” and “Living It Up Out West” demonstrated similar versatility, perhaps not surprising, given that the group lists both Joe Ely and Bootsy Collins among their musical influences on the band’s My Space page. Given that WGTE writes all their own material, it will be interesting to see how far they can push the power trio format.
If there is one critique of the band—and it’s a common one among young acts—it is their self-absorption onstage; they tend to disappear inside the music rather than use the songs to project themselves out into the audience. Time and experience are both cures for that condition, and We Go To Eleven will have lots of time and experience ahead of them.
Photo: Erich Schlegel FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL scene report: Black Joe Lewis
In another fest story of “local boys done good,” young Black Joe Lewis and his Honeybears took the stage at 4 p.m. on the Austin Ventures venue, naturally. The crew of college-aged boys, and the 20-something Lewis seemed excited to be playing their first-ever ACL Fest, even if it was in the heat of the day.
Lewis was dressed, as is his wont, in all black, while his bandmates were decked out in white dress shirts, some with ties. Lewis may not count his band off the way James Brown does, but he is nonetheless a consummate leader, as his guys seem to feed off and supplement his energy. The Honeybears are a lovable lot, but they don’t quite have the chops to pull off the vintage R&B/soul sound for which they are familiar. Maybe it is just their age, but there is some cognitive dissonance in watching young cats play the music that a generation of older musicians first brought onto the scene in the 50s and 60s.
That is not to begrudge the band. They have tons of energy, a joy in their playing, both individually and collectively. Between their collective soul clapping, the call and response between Lewis and the rest of the band, and the sometimes-synchronized dance moves, there is no doubting their passion for the music.
That passion is best translated in the incredible singing voice of Lewis, who, while too young to get away singing about some woman who may have done him wrong — at this age he only has to deal with women throwing themselves at him — still pulls off the soulful swagger and commitment of a much older artist.
The afternoon set had people bobbing and nodding more than breaking loose into a full-on dance scene, but it was obvious from their whooping and clapping that the large audience enjoyed what the young local turks brought to the set.
The band has rocketed to quite a bit of local acclaim over the past year or so, and this will undoubtedly not be their last show at Zilker Park. I look forward to continuing to watch the young band mature.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Lee Boys
Boy howdy, do the Lee Boys know their core fanbase.
Until Galactic plays, their set at the WaMu/FDIC/ JP Morgan Chase tent was the place to be if you were a jam band fan. Plenty of peasant dresses, Camel back packs, and a middle-aged, mustache-sporting white guy in a Haile Selassie T-shirt. Perfect.
The Lee Boys are a mutant sacred steel band in the vein of Robert Randolph, gospel guys raised in the church who turned their faith’s passion for epic sets into something with a little more funk.
Jam band fans adore their fondness for stretching out, which they’re so used to from long church services it seems more like a habit than a sop to fans, even if their music does sound more secular than sacred.
Pedal steel player Rosevelt Collier is the clearly the band’s centerpiece, his scorching leads and detailed, frantic runs making Hendrix comparisons pretty much inevitable. Alvin Lee’s rhythm guitar is a fluid parter, while Alvin Cordy, Jr.’s seven-string bass (speaking of jam bands!) and Earl Walker’s drums push and pull the music.
It was tough to isolate songs; the band seems most comfortable with grooves that spiral and double back on themselves, the singing acting more as place holding than message. (Maybe that was just due to the unforgivingly stuffy WaMu tent, which feels like an oven even when the heat is well below 100.)
Even if the words remained obscure, it was time to praise the Lord and pass the hacky sack.
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ACL review: Fleet Foxes
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ACL review: Black & White Years
It’s gotta be tough to run a stage at ACL, with so many acts to get on and off, but the Austin Ventures stage manager went a bit overboard Saturday ordering the plug to be pulled on Austin’s brilliant Black & White Years during the band’s final song, “Zeroes and Ones.” B&W had gone exactly 35 seconds past their scheduled 12:30 p.m. ending time when Mr. Stage Manager started frantically making cutthroat signs and ordered the sound cut. Someone forgot to take their chill pill.
The rude overreaction marred an otherwise splendid set by the quartet with the angular guitar riffs and herky jerky new wave-isms. Winning the crowd over right away with “Life Debt,” whose bleak lyrics were disguised by pure dance energy, the band bored only slightly with “Smoke and Mirrors.” An outdoor fest is no place for artsy excursions.
The final four numbers- “Hysterical Sickness,” “My Broken Hand,” “Power To Change” and about 3/4 of “Zeroes and Ones” - established Scott Butler and company as a fresh force on the scene and a safe bet to go national. Looks like they picked up quite a few new fans, though none in the festival staging business.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL scene report: Bill Murray at the fest
C3’s Charles Attal picked the right day to wear his Bushwoods Country Club t-shirt. The tee is modeled after the shirt Bill Murray wore as the groundskeeper in “Caddyshack.” It was given to Attal as a joke because he’s been the defacto groundskeeper at Zilker this week, making sure the fields are watered at night.
Well, Bill Murray himself showed up backstage at ACL. “We gave him an all access badge and keys to a golf cart,” says C3’s Charlie Jones, who later saw Murray at the monitor board during Mars Volta’s set Friday. Murray was in town for Fantastic Fest.
Also seen on the scene was Elijah Wood from “Lord of the Rings.”
Daniel Johnston is rumored to be a special guest at the Swell Season’s taping at “Austin City Limits.”
Dust, what dust? Jones said C3 received “zero” complaints about dust Friday. C3 has been rigorously watering fields for weeks, he said. Also, unlike the dust bowl of ‘05, the grass was left long.
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Manu Chao: paella for 40
It was the ultimate ACL afterparty Friday night (and early Saturday morning) when Spanish/ French reggae act Manu Chao brought a little bit of Spain to the backstage area after headlining.
Chao’s people had sent C3’s caterer a list of ingredients for paella, then after the set the band’s soundman cooked a paella that lucky C3 staffers were raving about Saturday morning. The band also passed instruments around and played Spanish folk songs until past 2 a.m.
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ACL: How much Drive-By Truckers is too much?
For my money, the two best bands in America right now are the Hold Steady and the Drive-By Truckers. They’re doing some dates together these days, and my wiseacre colleague Joe Gross has suggested that if I were to see both bands on the same stage, my head would likely explode.
Fortunately for my still undetonated cranium, the Hold Steady isn’t with the Truckers on this swing into town for the Austin City Limits Music Festival, but the Truckers are tacking on an Emo’s appearance and then a surprise, last-minute taping of the “ACL” TV show. And this gave me the opportunity to see one of my two favorite bands three times over two days. Yes, I know. I need help. But the band often and not entirely inaccurately described as Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Nirvana write great big, brooding songs that seriously rock and break your heart at the same time. I took guitarist-singer-songwriter Jason Isbell’s departure a couple of years back like my dog had died; he took some of the band’s best songs with him but the creative core of the band, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, remains intact. And Isbell’s departure brought founding member John Neff, one heck of a pedal steel player and guitarist, back on board.
Friday 3 p.m.: So this is what happened: About a week before her scheduled taping, Erykah Badu canceled her scheduled taping of an “ACL” episode on the UT campus. As the show’s executive producer, Terry Lickona, put it Friday afternoon just before the show, “We were disappointed Erykah canceled but glad we had these guys on standby to help out.” I groveled my way into tickets. (April Burchman, you’re a great human being.)
“I used to watch this as a kid so it’s great to be here,” Hood told the crowd at the beginning. The set, which lasted about an hour and 10 minutes, and started out a little on the quiet side (this is, after all, for public television) with Cooley’s “Perfect Timing,” from the newest record, “Bigger Than Creation’s Dark,” and Hood’s “Heathens.” Bassist Shonna Tucker got a spotlight for her “I’m Sorry Huston,” her first foray into songwriting with the band. And they also threw in “18 Wheels of Love,” the latter a song from 1998’s “Gangstabilly” that Hood wrote to commemorate his mother’s marriage — in Dollywood.
“This has been one of the greatest times of my life,” Hood said as things were winding down. It sure sounded like he meant it.
With one of three shows in the bag, next up was:
Friday 10:30 p.m.: The show with the Truckers and Shooter Jennings at Emo’s was way sold out, and it was hotter in the club than it had been at Zilker Park earlier in the day. And let me just say that after you experience the state-of-the-art sound in ACL’s studio, not to mention great sight lines and no drunks sloshing beer on you, a club show requires something of an attitude adjustment — and for the band, too. In contrast to the taping, it was an all-electric set, opening with the doomed howl of “Sink Hole.”
Let me just say: At this point in their career, these guys have a lot of songs. Maybe three or at most four repeated from the afternoon taping. Instead, the crowd got “Women Without Whiskey” (sort of Cooley’s Souther rock version of “Leaving Las Vegas”), Hood’s “The Night G.G. Allin Came to Town,” “Hell, No, I Ain’t Happy” and “Lookout Mountain,” yet another of the band’s explorations of debt and suicidal (or sometimes murderous) tendencies.
Oh, and they closed with Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” because nothing can follow that, and earlier covered Van Halen’s (!) “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love.” Having seen DBT twice in one day, I could die a happy man, except they haven’t done “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac,” which leads us to:
Saturday 2:30 p.m.: Stay tuned for an update.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL aftershow: Gnarls Barkely at Stubb’s
The stage wardrobe was more conventional than the “Star Wars”- and “Clockwork Orange”-inspired garb they’ve sported before — just tan sport coats for the bandleaders and waiter-like outfits for their colleagues — which put Gnarls Barkley in line with the packed crowd, many of whom (women especially) were primped enough that they couldn’t have been spillover from the day’s ACL shows.
Performing in advance of their Sunday showcase, the band tore energetically through songs from their two albums, making even their Violent Femmes cover “Gone Daddy Gone” sound uncontrived. While their supporting musicians flailed and jumped around, Danger Mouse (a.k.a. Brian Burton) hid behind shades and worked quietly at his vintage organ. Vocalist Cee-Lo Green made up for DM’s calmness, milking drama even out of the act of wiping sweat from his bald scalp.
The show began with “The Odd Couple” opener “Charity Case,” and was highlighted by “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster),” where lyrics were fused into long polysyllabic strings, and “Suicide,” whose emotionally intense delivery had Green’s body spasming along with the guitar and drums. Claiming “my throat’s not so good tonight” (a complaint belied by his robust performance), Green let the crowd do much of the singing on their hit song “Crazy,” which came near the end of the set, but he was back in full voice for an encore including “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” and “Smiley Faces.”
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ACL review: Gogol Bordello
That’s not to say it’s not fun. In fact, in the right dosage the unlikely hybrid preferred by lead man Eugene Hutz and company — immigrant folk and klezmer filtered through both punk rock and a weird jump blues — is pretty thrilling and almost impossible to not dance along to. And things are just as overloaded on the visual end, with players dressed in an array of ethnic garbs exaggerated to the point where the whole spectacle looks like a Benetton commercial on acid.
So there’s a lot to take in and try to process. Maybe it’s best to not think about it too much. I mean, it’s OK to just mindlessly sing along to catchy tunes like “Start Wearing Purple” or “Think Locally, (Expletive) Globally,” right?
That’ll have to do for now. Because the alternative is to realize I spent 60 minutes Friday night watching the “Saturday Night Live” Wild and Crazy Guys sketch dressed up like a rock show. And worse, I kinda liked it.
Photo: Erich Schlegel FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Yeasayer
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ACL review: Del Tha Funky Homosapien
As musical cliches go, rappers claiming they’re all about “real hip-hop” is the one that sounds the loudest alarms. It’s the kind of thing Talib Kweli has said repeatedly for the 10-plus years he’s been preaching crowds to sleep; a signifier that you’re usually in for lots of back-in-the-day speechifying absent that pesky notion called fun.
So there was some worry when Oakland, Calif., rapper Del Tha Funky Homosapien was introduced early Friday afternoon, by members of Hieroglyphics and Souls of Mischief, as being about “real hip-hop.” Thankfully, Del knows that the purest essence of the music is entertainment and he didn’t let the entertainment value lag much if at all during his hour in the sun.
The crowd of a few hundred — indie wunderkinds Vampire Weekend were on an adjacent stage — did all the requisite “hey”ing and “ho”ing when prompted, but the crowd antics weren’t really necessary since Del was pretty much spectacular while twisting words on the mic. Mixing in cuts from his new album “11th Hour,” he especially shined on cuts like “Dr. Bombay” and “Mistadobalina,” which is probably the closest thing he’s had to a hit outside his guest work with Gorillaz.
Back to the “real hip-hop” thing for a second. About 35 minutes in Del took a moment to quiz the crowd about their knowledge of old-school funk, imploring them to search beyond milemarkers like Parliament and James Brown. What saved the history lesson from robbing the show of its considerable momentum? The fact that it was immediately followed by head-nodding funk beats and rhymes by an MC who knows how to not take himself too seriously.
Photo: Erich Schlegel FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL scene reports: Byrne doesn’t burn gas
One of Friday’s biggest acts, David Byrne, could be the fest’s “green it like you mean it” spokesman. Forget the limo, Byrne rode his bike to Zilker Park, wearing a Chi Chi Rodriguez hat and his white stage outfit.
Austin’s Black & White Years play a “Rock the Vote” party tonight at 10 p.m. at the American Legion Hall, which has been taken over by Blender magazine and renamed the Music Lounge Mansion. It’s at 2201 Veterans Drive, just off Lake Austin Boulevard. By day, the “mansion” serves as a “gifting suite” for festival acts and the cast of “Friday Night Lights.” Hopefully, the kid who plays Tim Riggins will show up for a free haircut. There are free goodies, spa services and tattoos.
Someone at C3 can’t spell. All the signs for field access were spelled “Feild Access.”
Let us know if you hear a song dedicated to the late, great Paul Newman today.
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ACL review: Ryan Bingham
Who knew that plains poet Ryan Bingham rocked so ferociously? Perhaps inspired by the biggest crowd for the BMI stage all day Friday, Bingham put a metal slide on his pinky and let ‘er rip on the last two songs of his set, including KGSR fave “Bread and Water.” As a former bullrider, Bingham knows a bit about adrenaline and his slide work seemed to express the thrill of an eight second ride.
The standout of the set came earlier, with “Southside of Heaven,” the calm before the storm. With his voice set between whisper and growl, Bingham sang about feeling lost in an aimless place where “a breeze is just a change of pace.” His fine band, the Dead Horses, shaded the sentiments with care and then at the song’s end came the sweet release. Newly resolved, the singer headed down those byways and highways where he now calls home.
It was a powerful moment and the crowd reacted by pumping their arms over their heads. Next year look for Bingham on one of the bigger stages.
A sometime Austinite, Bingham plays Wednesday at Threadgill’s South.
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Beat 104.9 goes off the air … for good
Local hip-hop station The Beat 104.9 is now just a memory to Central Texans.
At 5:30 p.m. today, the station signed off and its predecessor, Digital 104.9, returned.
Border Media Partners acquired The Beat’s format and Univision Radio bought the 104.3 FM frequency from Entercom, owner of Mix 94.7 and Majic 95.5, in February of last year. Univision’s La Que Buena can now be found at 104.3 on the FM dial.
The sale spurred BMP to make a series of moves, placing The Beat on its 104.9 frequency; moving Digital, the Spanish-language contemporary pop station that had been broadcasting there, to 92.5 FM; and shuffling La Lupe, a Mexican oldies station that had been parked on the 92.5 frequency, to 1560 AM.
Tonight, The Beat’s Web site has already been set to redirect to GoHispano.com, a Web site affiliated with Digital 92.5.
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ACL review: Alejandro Escovedo
For as long as I have watched Alejandro Escovedo perform (and it’s been long enough for a Savings Bond to mature), I am always put in mind of that Robert Frost poem where he talks about how “work is play for mortal stakes.”
That is always how Escovedo’s work has come across to me. It’s music for grownups, infused with loss, but never quite bereft of hope, informed at every moment that it (and he) are playing for keeps. That sense of gravitas—and accompanying sentiments of fun and joy—was present from the moment that Escovedo stepped on stage for his inaugural ACL performance.
ACL visitors from out of town don’t necessarily have to know that Escovedo’s life has been shaped by cathartic and life-altering circumstances. But surely, listening to him launch headfirst into the joyous choruses of “Always A Friend,” they must have gleaned some sense that here is a man who has been there and back. There is a wonderful sense of abandon and unfettered celebration in singing “Every once in a while, honey, let your love show/Every once in a while, honey, let your love go.” There is a liberation in those lines that has to be merited, and Escovedo has earned every syllable.
The set, per se, was a sampler of his new album, “Real Animal,” as well as a hopscotch survey of his life and times and influences (heads up, Iggy Pop). “Chelsea Hotel ’78,” with its nihilistic echoes, butted up against the sunny “People We’re Only Gonna Live So Long” (Escovedo was still walking on air from having performed the latter at the Democratic National Convention), which had a shotgun wedding with the churning, paranoid “Everybody Loves Me,” which eventually yielded to the top-down unfettered rock of “Castanets.”
Escovedo, characteristically, seemed enamored of every note he played, of every musician who shared the stage, of (as that movie queen memorably phrased it) “all those wonderful people out there in the dark.” The feeling was contagious. Listening to his set was, as always, like diving into a renewing well capable of quenching every weary thirst.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Jenny Lewis
A good chunk of the crowd that was on hand for M. Ward’s fantastic set on the WaMu stage hung around to see Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis perform. Like Ward, Lewis brought out a five-person band, and also like Ward, was a highlight of day one at ACL. Lewis’s solo work is in some ways an experiment in mixing genres, from rock to country to rhythm and blues. All of these forms were on display as she made her way through the set, captivating the audience the entire time.
Lewis played a selection of songs from 2006’s “Rabbit Fur Coat” and her most recent album “Acid Tongue,” which was released earlier this week. She started off on the piano with “Jack Killed Mom,” evoking Dusty Springfield and trading lyrics with her guitarist, and then grabbed the guitar for “Rise Up With Fists.”
Lewis’s bassist Jonathan Wilson stood out on several songs, including “Bad Man’s World” off the recent album, which she dedicated to John McCain. A friend pointed out that Wilson, who looked to be wearing a George Harrison t-shirt, switched back and forth between a Rickenbacker and a Hoffner violin bass, Paul McCartney’s weapons of choice.
The band closed with the driving country-rocker “See Fernando,” also a new one, with Lewis climbing up on to the piano bench and clapping along with the crowd, who were focused on her every move.
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ACL review: Mates of State
The quirky pop tunes of husband-and-wife duo Mates of State have always sounded full, even with just the two members. Kori Gardner’s electronic organ pumps out so many diverse sounds over Jason Hammel’s pounding drum beats, and the two belt out such meticulously layered melodies that both their live shows and studio recordings create the illusion of at least a four-piece band.
But at the ACL Fest the duo took their live sound a step further for many songs by adding a three-piece string ensemble to the mix. The violin and two cellos soared over the doo-wop piano rolls of “Like U Crazy,” while in “You Are Free” they melded with the organ to create an epic sound.
Aside from a couple of shaky moments, the vocal delivery of both Gardner and Hammel was impeccable as always. On many numbers, their voices blended in harmony so well that it was hard to tell which member was singing what.
Equally as impressive was their seamless flow between the shifting rhythms in many of the songs. Fan favorite “Ha Ha” in particular changed drum beats at least three times, but the shifts always sounded natural. Whether they’re playing as a two-piece or more, Mates of State always seem to make it work.
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ACL scene report: Friday night quotes
What people were saying as they left day one of the festival around 6 p.m.:
“I’m going to a presidential debate party later, but I won’t be missing any music for it. My favorite act was Gogol Bordello. We’re going to eat now.” - Rene Francis of Austin
“Awesome music. Really awesome.” - Maggie Koerner of Shreveport, La.
“It was hot, but really good. Showering is the number one priority right now, then we’ll probably walk around downtown. We ate at Kenichi last night. We really enjoyed it.” - Sarah Sour of Shreveport
“It was good. We saw Vampire Weekend, Heidi Griffith and Jenny Lewis. Vampire weekend was definitely our favorite.” - Drew Miller of Austin
“The presidential debate is actually going on in our state right now, but we’ll probably just go eat and come back.” - Andy Baker of Jackson, Miss.
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ACL review: M. Ward
M. Ward and his band played to a super-packed tent, running through 2006’s “Post-War” album. Ward is an entertainer—after a solo acoustic number he brought out a band of five, which included two drummers (and two drum sets), and offered up rocking versions of “Right in the Head,” “Chinese Translation” and “Requiem,” among others.
The only low points came during a few of the lower-key songs, when chatter from the crowd drowned out the band a bit. After a cover of a John Fahey song (Ward produced a Fahey tribute album a few years back and is clearly influenced by Fahey’s fingerpicking), the band pleased the crowd with the loungy and delightful “Rollercoaster” and “Magic Trick,” the lyrics of which he changed so the song was in the first person.
He closed with a cover of Austinite Daniel Johnston’s “To Go Home,” which appears on “Post-War” as well. Part of the joy in watching Ward perform is that he appears to really love making music—he went over his allotted time, and probably would have kept playing if he didn’t have to cede the stage to Jenny Lewis.
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ACL review: Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels
With the Wallflowers’ breakthrough album, 1996’s “Bringing Down the Horse,” Jakob Dylan proved himself a solid songwriter, showing that there was more to him as a musician than just his father’s famous last name. Now with five Wallflowers releases under his belt, Dylan has dropped the roots rock for a stripped-down folk sound on his debut solo album “Seeing Things.”
Dylan’s new act translated perfectly to ACL’s AT&T stage on Friday afternoon. Dylan and his bandmates, the Gold Mountain Rebels, took the stage dressed in black suits, white shirts and shades, then breezed through an hour’s worth of softly floating folk tunes and hard-driving blues rock numbers.
There was some trouble with the mix at the start of the set and the band’s harmonies wavered slightly for the first few songs, but they found their stride with “Here Comes Now.” In the song, soft snare strokes and egg shakers created an atmosphere of understated percussion to underlie Dylan’s twinkling, finger-picked guitar lines.
The next song, “Three Marlenas,” was a pleasant surprise for longtime Wallflowers fans. The track from “Bringing Down the Horse” had audience members singing along and clapping.
The highlight of the show, however, was “Will It Grow,” a cut off Dylan’s solo album lush with imagery and smooth-flowing guitar solos. “Jet black starlit midnight rolls/I am down in the valley where I let go,” Dylan lamented with his rich voice as clean guitar lines danced in the background.
This was Dylan’s first ACL performance, but fans will surely be eager to welcome him back.
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ACL review: David Byrne
“One fine daaaaay,” David Byrne sang from the AT&T stage Friday evening at Zilker Park and boy howdy was it. Dusk is always a fun time at ACL - the setting sun takes the edge off the day’s heat, and soft light fills the sky. “Then before my eyes- Is standing still/I beheld it there- a city on a hill,” he sang. There it was, right behind him, Austin at magic hour.
Playing his second set in two days, Byrne and his band of white-clad musicians, dancers and back-up singers cranked out a roiling set of Talking Heads hits and material from his new collaboration with Brian Eno, “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today.” As with his show Thursday night at the Paramount Theatre (and every show on this tour), Byrne drew on previous collaborations with Eno such as “Once in a Lifetime” and “Houses in Motion,” making it a theme for the tour.
Some elements worked better on the Paramount stage and some worked better at Zilker. The dancers, who already looked under rehearsed (unless it was supposed to look a little “off”) at the Paramount were completely swallowed up by the massive AT&T stage. But Byrne’s guitar was audible throughout the Zilker set, something you couldn’t say about the Paramount and its somewhat wonky acoustics. Like the Paramount set, the newer material blended seamlessly with older hits, though when the band hit “Once in a Lifetime,” with its angelic synth-drone, crisp poly-rhythms and Zen-like lyrics, really is one of the pop highlights of the past 30 years.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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‘Love Hurts,’ Jenny? Really?
A rule of ACL Fest should be that every act should do a cover. I mean, we love your new stuff, but out in the fields we want to hear familiarity now and then.
I wasn’t sure what to think about Jenny Lewis’ set Friday at the WaMu stage. The overflow crowd, perhaps the biggest in WaMu hist, was digging every move the high-heeled Lewis was throwing out. But I kept wondering, are these songs really great, or is this a case of style winning big?
Then, she and her shaggy guitar player, sent the rest of the band off the stage to do “Love Hurts.” This could be the laziest cover ever at ACL, akin to if David Byrne did “I Shot the Sherrif.”
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ACL scene report
If there are going to be major problems at the ACL Festival this year, they haven’t reared themselves yet. Unlike last year, when a fire erupted just a few hours into the first day, the festival’s kickoff has been smooth and, well, festive. Perhaps seeking escape from the week’s relentless financial and political roller coasters, festival-goers were ready for a good time.
By 2 p.m. the grounds were already packed as people rushed out of work to make the most of near-perfect festival weather. Breezes whipped through the crowd just at the right time during exuberant sets by What Made Milwaukee Famous, Vampire Weekend, Jamie Lidell and Gogol Bordello.
Food lines have moved quickly so far, with people packing the picnic tables and filling up the nearby WaMu Stage (aka the “FDIC Stage”), the only one at the festival covered by a tent. In fact, it was the hottest place at the festival late Friday afternoon as a swell of people crammed into the tent for Portland, Ore., troubador M. Ward and stayed for Jenny Lewis, lead singer of Rilo Kiley. No one seemed to let the financial troubles afflicting the stage’s sponsor, Washington Mutual, affect their mood.
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ACL review: Delta Spirit
The onset of fall is simply a rhetorical conceit in this neck of the woods. So the music of Delta Spirit, as the sun began its seemingly imperceptible descent behind the Austin Ventures stage, was entirely in keeping with the climate—a parting shot of summery indie pop and country-inflected rock.
No strangers to Austin (they took a moment to plug their upcoming Thanksgiving gig at Emo’s), the San Diego-based quintet had a bigger canvas to paint on than their customary local club gigs afford. Changing between instruments as the songs demanded, the group set up a rolling thunder of guitars, two-fisted keyboards and floor toms that alternated with more nuanced pop and confessional songwriting.
One common denominator in the musical checkerboard were the forceful vocals of frontman Matthew Vasquez (particularly as vocalists often represent the Achilles heel of even the most high-flying indie groups.) Multi-instrumentalist Kelly Winrich and drummer Brandon Young also stood out during this particular set.
Delta Spirit has drawn comparisons to Drive-By Truckers and the Waterboys (Reckless Kelly might represent the local template). But their multi-instrumental versatility, strong vocals and infectious presentation, at least to these eyes and ears, set them apart.
Songs like “Streetwalker” and “People Turn Around” painted a dour lyrical picture juxtaposed against exuberant melodies, while “Trashcan” (which, like the previous titles, derives from their sole 2007 release), with its irresistible, percussive piano line, was clearly a crowd favorite.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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ACL review: Vampire Weekend
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ACL review: Jamie Lidell
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ACL review: Sunny Sweeney
One big way in which ACL Fest is different than all the other festivals is the way mainstream country intercuts with hip indie rock bands. Even the sons of legendary promoter Louis Messina would have a hard time making it to Coachella or Bonnaroo if they had a steel guitar.
Although Austin’s Sunny Sweeney has the semi-tough demeanor of a tender biker chick, her music is aimed at Mass-ville appeal. Her self-depracating “Next Big Nothing” had the crowd of about 750 in front of the BMI stage bobbing like a rebuttal. A swipe at Lucinda Williams’ “Can’t Let Go,” meanwhile, had folks dancing. “This is Texas,” the Longview native said. “Might as well dance.”
A couple of missteps kept the set from hitting its stride. “Band of Gold,” although Sweeney’s best vocal performance of the night, was sappy, as was the new “It’s a Sweet Dance.” Even worse, “Contrary & Western,” with lines like “If you don’t like Merle, I believe/ You might end up on the fightin’ side of me” was the sort of pandering that didn’t belong in the groove fields.
At the end, Sweeney totally nailed it on “If I Could,” with its rapidfire lyrics setting up a fluid Telecaster run by Charlie Rich’s grandson Cole Lee. The Sweeney set in one word: refreshing.
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ACL review: Rodney Crowell
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ACL makes a ‘Love Connection’
First celeb sighting of ACL Fest was the first person onstage. Chuck Woolery, who was the original host of “Wheel of Fortune” (right you were, Mrs. Scheibal) and brought us back “in two and two” on “Love Connection,” introduced Friday’s first act, Ben Cyllus on the BMI stage.
Woolery lives in nearby Marble Falls. His connection to Cyllus is not known, but the two were off to the American Legion Hall off Lake Austin Boulevard, which has turned into a pamper palace for ACL artists.
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ACL review: Jones Family Singers
Here’s the scene at the WaMu stage, which is known as “the gospel tent” when Bay City’s Jones Family Singers are onstage: Led by the volcanic Alexis Jones-Roberts, whose voice could dust an abandoned house, the group has about 100 audience members doing a simple synchronized dance. When the five Jones sisters vamp ten steps to the right on “I Am,” the crowd follows them. Then it’s ten paces to the left, with the crowd aping their slinky movements.
It’s still Friday morning, just past 11:30. It’s on, peoples!
What seemed like boneheaded booking, putting the ACL show-stealers on so early Friday, may turn out to be a tradition. The JFS had the tent at least half-filled and most of the folks were on their feet throughout.
The material is getting a little too secular- Roberts’ rewording of “Saving All My Love For You” was a vocal showoff, but didn’t hold up the intensity. And a short “Wind Beneath My Wings,” for a couple in the audience’s 25th anniversary, fell totally flat. Still don’t like “Shout” as the set-closer, but when this wonderfully joyful band kicks out a rock groove, it’s just plain irresistable.
I vote for having the JFS open every ACL, right after the “Star Wars” theme. This family group just puts everyone in a great mood with their choreography and electric smiles.
Photo: Erich Schlegel FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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Three day passes: $150
And on the seventh year, the unbearable heat rested. But everything else seems business as usual the first morning of ACL.
The secondary market for passes and tickets to ACL Fest is pretty brisk. One fella had a handful of three-day passes he was unloading for $150 each, though some were asking $180 and more. The top price of $170 has been sold out for a month.
Shady Grove is charging $25 for parking, while Chuy’s, closer to the fest gate, is charging $20 a car. Weird, since they’re both owned by the same company.
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Review: David Byrne at the Paramount
No matter what he’s playing, writing, composing, programming or singing, David Byrne always lets you know he’s thinking things through.
Thursday night at the Paramount Theatre, in what that proved a fantastic kick-off to the Austin City Limits Music Festival weekend, Byrne and everyone in his band came on stage wearing all white - white trousers, white shirts of varying styles. Three backup dancers (and three backup singers) added motion and form to the sharply funky songs, drawn entirely from the music Byrne made with producer Brian Eno on such rock touchstones as “Remain in Light” and “Fear of Music” and the new Byrne/Eno collaboration “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today.” The deft five-piece band breathed new life into old material and sold the heck out of the new stuff, cranking out stripped down versions of decades-old crowd pleasers such as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Crosseyed and Painless,” the gorgeous “Heaven” and “I Zimbra.”
Though Eno was not present, his keyboard parts couldn’t have been written by anyone but him, their cloudy drone distinctive as a finger print. Byrne, all of 56 and playing all the guitar parts himself, sometimes joined the dancers’ routines. He also hasn’t lost of a note of his singular voice - it was faintly startling how good he sounded. And it was smart to blend the new material with the old. Set opener “Strange Overtones,” “One Fine Day” and “My big Nurse” fit seamlessly in with the songs everyone knew.
While simple politeness kept folks (on the floor, at least) in their seats though most of the set, it’s physically impossible not to move to Byrne’s music, yet be moved by the almost Zen sense of wonder that runs though his lyrics, an admixture that legions of imitators have failed to capture. By the time a woman in crowd yelled, “I want to dance,” more to her fellow fans than the band, the dam willfully burst and fans spilled into the aisle for “Crosseyed and Painless,” remaining there for the rest of the set. Thank goodness.
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Did someone say Foo?
Welcome to the first day of the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival. Get ready to watch music and stay hydrated, possibly not in that order.
This year’s fest is two weeks later than last year (there’s been talk of an October start date for 2009), and Austin is holding its collective breath that not only will the three-digit temps of years past be avoided but that most of the festival will take place with the mercury held to lower than 90 degrees. We’ll see.
The Foo Fighters are this year’s Sunday headliner, a slot for which ‘07 headliner Bob Dylan was utterly inappropriate. To wit, he did not, you know, rock, which seems the least a band should be expected to do when closing out a big festival. Even people without much interest in the Foos should check them out simply to say they were there: Word has it a long hiatus is in the works for this band that has managed to be around not just three times longer than head Foo Dave Grohl was in Nirvana, but nearly twice as long as Nirvana was a band at all (Nirvana 1987-1994, Foo Fighters 1995 -present). This is very weird for thirtysomethings in the crowd to deal with, so don’t be surprised if you see members of this ACL Fest target demographic mumbling to themselves during the weekend. (If you see one, just offer him or her a drink and a shady spot; they’ll be fine when they remember how old Robert Plant is.)
Speaking of the man with the golden voice, Saturday night, Plant and musical partner Alison Krauss, — the duo whose “Raising Sand” has been one of the sleeper hits of the past few years — is up against Beck, who has been around even longer than the Foo Fighters. Roky Erickson, one of music’s greatest comebacks, is playing at more or less the same time.
Is there an aesthetic theme this year? Not an overarching one — that’s not really how ACL Fest rolls. But there are two smaller trends to note.
ACL Fest is packed with indie rock this year. From the harmonies of the Fleet Foxes to the guitar histrionics of Band of Horses, from the Brazilian funk of CSS to the acoustic songwriting of M. Ward, from the somewhat less acoustic songwriting of Austin’s Okkervil River to the kitchen-sink dance rock of Austin’s own White Demin, indie rock acts are on nearly ever stage.
And some mention must be made of the accidental influence of Talking Heads. The funky New Wave legends are an influence on today’s hispters the way Gang of Four and Wire were an influence on yesterday’s. Yeasayer and Vampire Weekend have clearly heard more than a few of Talking Heads’ funkier outings. Antibalas plays actual Afrobeat, no matter that they hail from Brooklyn. MGMT have been known to cover “This Must Be the Place” while Hot Chip’s pop oddness seems impossible to conceive of without albums such as “Remain in Light.” And of course, there’s former head Head David Byrne himself, playing a set that is slated to include plenty of the Heads material that the band produced through a collaboration with brilliant producer Brian Eno.
So keep a drink in your hand, folks, and walk toward the music, whichever kind you choose. You have three days of this — pace yourself. See you out there.
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Live shots: David Byrne at the Paramount
(Photos by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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ACL Fest road closures
From the City of Austin:
The Austin City Limits Music Festival will take place this weekend, Sept. 26-28, in Zilker Park. Heavy traffic is expected in and around the park grounds and event attendees are encouraged to take free shuttles to help ease congestion.
This annual festival will host more than 120 bands on eight stages over the three-day period. Approximately 50,000 to 60,000 visitors are expected at the event each day to enjoy festivities.
Road Closures for ACL
Several roadways will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 26 through midnight Sept. 28.
- Barton Springs Road from Robert E. Lee Road to Rollingwood Drive and from Stratford Drive to Nature Center Drive
- Stratford Drive from Nature Center Drive to Barton Springs Road
- West Fourth Street from Nueces Street to Guadalupe Street
- San Antonio Street from West Third Street to West Fifth Street
Transportation to ACL
- Capital Metro will be providing free non-stop shuttle service from Republic Square Park to Zilker Park through the duration of the ACL Festival. (The shuttle is near the 2nd Street Retail District.)
- Shuttles will run from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Bike racks will be available at both entrances of the event for bicyclists. Bicyclists should bring a bike lock
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Join Joe Gross for a live chat at 2 p.m. Thursday and win an ACL pass
It’s ACL time, so it’s time to chat about all things ACL with Statesman pop critic Joe Gross.
Join him for a discussion of what he will be checking out, what you will be checking out and more! Also, we’ll be giving away one 3-day ACL pass and a backstage pass to the Austin Ventures stage courtesy of YELLOWPAGES.COM Mobile for the iPhone.
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Astrologer predicts ACL
Nylon magazine asked astrologer Aurora Tower to read between the stars and give a feel of what to expect at this year’s fest. Read her predictions here.
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Jones Family Singers on KUT at 2 p.m.
If you can’t make it out to Shady Grove tonight, when the Jones Family Singers open for Alejandro Escovedo, you can hear the fabulous gospel group live from Studio 1A today at 2:00 p.m. The show will be hosted by Jay Trachtenberg.
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Envy party with Erykah Badu back on
It was on, it was off and now apparently it is a go at Speakeasy.
Tickets available here.
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Manu Chao brings crowd to its feet at ACL taping
“This is the highlight of this year’s festival, as far as I’m concerned,” “Austin City Limits” television producer Terry Lickona declared upon introducing Manu Chao at ACL’s Studio A on the UT Campus Tuesday night. The studio audience roared in agreement.
The Spanish-French singer’s U.S. performances are rare, and his American television appearances even rarer. Everyone in the room for the intimate taping seemed to recognize it was a special evening and the entire audience was on its feet well before Manu Chao took the stage. And we remained standing, dancing for the bulk of the show.
For the most part the multi-lingual Chao performed in Spanish with a set that covered a good portion of his most recent album “La Radiolina” mixed with a handful of older tracks. The performance was an exhilarating journey as the defiantly political artist sang with raw heart that transcended any language barrier. It was also an exercise in audio whiplash as the pace of the show vacillated between easy skank and breakneck, moshable ska.
As Manu Chao came to the end of his set the crowd cheered until he returned for an encore. When he left the stage a second time he was called back once more and he came back a second time not to play but instead to shake hands, exchange hugs and generally return a little love to his fans.
Overall, it was a moving evening and a testament to the efforts of ACL (both the television show and the music festival) to continue to diversify their lineups.
Manu Chao performs Thursday night at Stubb’s BBQ. The show is sold out. He headlines ACL Fest Friday night performing on the AT&T stage at 8:30 p.m. The Manu Chao episode of “Austin City Limits” will air early next year.
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Eli Young debuts in top 10
The Austin-managed Eli Young Band come into ACL Fest, Friday at 6:30 p.m., on a high. landing at #5 on the Billboard country albums chart with “Jet Black & Jealous.” The Denton band, which grew out of James Young and Mike Eli’s acoustic duo, is managed by George Couri. Couri recently split from C3 Presents’ artist management division to form Triple 8 Management, taking Eli Young, Jack Ingram and Kevin Fowler with him. C3 continues to manage such acts as Robert Earl Keen, Blues Traveler, Thievery Corporation and more.
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ACL to show Presidential debate
ACL Fest will be showing the debate between Sen. Barak Obama and Sen. John McCain in the T&T Digital Oasis tent and on screens at the Rock Island hideaway.
They will also show the UT-Arkansas game in both places Saturday.
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Hootie goes country
Darius Rucker’s debut country album “Learn To Live” has debuted atop Billboard’s country albums” chart, with sales of 60,414. Leadoff single “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” has also hit #1.
Rucker is only the third African American to top the country singles charts, following Ray Charles and Charley Pride. Charles’ last country #1 was with his ‘Seven Spanish Angels’ duet with Willie Nelson in March 1985. Pride, a Country Music Hall of Famer, had more than two dozen No. 1 hits.
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Welcome Gemma Rose Corbin-Attal
With this kid’s bloodlines, she’ll be booking the Wiggles by kindergarten. Award-winning talent bookers Amy Corbin and Charles Attal of C3 Presents are the proud parents of a baby daughter, born Sept. 17.
No photos here; the happy couple apparently signed an exclusive baby pix deal with Pollstar.
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Review: Pinback at the Mohawk
Take one listen to the clockwork precision on any of Pinback’s angularly constructed indie rock albums, and it’s immediately clear that the driving forces behind the band, Rob Crow and Zach Smith, never let a beat or note fall by the wayside.
Pinback proved that their live show is no exception when they played to a tightly packed crowd on Saturday night at the outdoor stage of the Mohawk. On both upbeat numbers like the hard-driving “From Nothing to Nowhere” and more subdued ones like the melancholy “Blood’s on Fire,” the clean chords of Crow’s guitar slid and stuttered in perfect time with Smith’s bass lines, while the drums pounded out tight rhythms. For the majority of the show, Smith strummed chords on the bass, which added depth and texture to the set.
Stripped of the many vocal layers present on the band’s studio albums, Crow’s vocals in particular floated atop the mix with surprising clarity. He dashed the verses of the classic “Penelope” with graceful shouts and touches of vibrato, which showcased his vocal control.
Unfortunately, a few minor setbacks on the technical side made for a tedious wait between many songs. The band even stopped in the middle of the last song in their four-song encore, only to pick up a minute later.
A new keyboardist joined Pinback for this performance because their usual keyboardist, Terrin Durfey, is again battling cancer. Posters that featured the album artwork of their latest effort, “Autumn of the Seraphs,” were available at the merch table in exchange for donations to the Durfey family. Additional donations can be made here.
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Review: Ani DiFranco at Stubb’s
With a new baby in her life and a new album on the way, it’s a wonder that Ani DiFranco has time to prepare for the demands of live performance. But judging by her show Sunday at Stubb’s, musical endeavors simply come easily for the singer/songwriter.
DiFranco’s backing band, which consisted of a drummer, stand-up bassist and xylophonist, perfectly complemented the frantic dissonant sounds of her guitar and the rapid staccato rhythms of her vocals. This chemistry was apparent early with the performance of “Here for Now,” which featured a xylophone solo over energetic tango percussion.
DiFranco’s set offered an eclectic glimpse of her catalogue. She performed songs from classic albums such as “Little Plastic Castle” and even reached back to her second release, 1991’s “Not So Soft,” for the song “Anticipate.”
More than any other album, however, DiFranco played from her forthcoming “Red Letter Year,” which drops on Sept. 30. Some, like the title track, which twisted the innocence of a cliché nursery rhyme with the harshness of a drug reference, showed that she is still a master of lyricism. Others, like “Smiling Underneath,” were simply cliché. But because her vocal delivery was so clear and her band’s performance so tight, the audience never grew bored or agitated when these new, unfamiliar numbers showed up in the set.
In fact, one of the highlights of the show was “Way Tight,” a lullaby off the new album with a jazzy, unpredictable chord progression that danced up and down the fret board. For this song, DiFranco’s band left the stage to let the rich, soothing melodies of the song shine.
Luckily for fans, the new album was available for purchase. If the show was any indication, they won’t be disappointed with the new material.
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Rock Hall nominations are in: Stevie Ray snubbed
Jeff Beck, Chic, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Metallica, Run-D.M.C., the Stooges, War and Bobby Womack are this year’s nominees for induction into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. Ballots will be sent to more than 500 voters, who will select artists to be inducted April 4 in Cleveland.
The list omits Stevie Ray Vaughan in his first year of eligibility. “Texas Flood” came out in 1983 and to be eligible an act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years prior to the year of nomination.
The five nominated acts most likely to get in are Beck, Metallica, Run-DMC, Wanda Jackson and the Stooges. All deserving. Still, it’s an outrage that Vaughan is not on that list. There hasn’t been a more influential guitarist in the past 25 years, except perhaps Eddie Van Halen.
But I guess Jann Wenner, who lords over the nomination process, is not an SRV fan.
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ACL on the side: Aftershows and related events happening over ACL weekend
Not going to the Austin City Limits Music Festival? Looking for something to do after the lights go off at Zilker Park? There are a whole host of official and unofficial afterparties going on all weekend long.
- Melanie Spencer runs down side parties and VIP events
- Know of a good ACL side event? Tell us about it.
- Full ACL Fest coverage on Austin360.com
THURSDAY, SEPT. 25
An evening with Manu Chao at Stubb’s BBQ (801 Red River St.)
Doors 7p.m., show 8 p.m.
Sold out
David Byrne at The Paramount Theatre (713 Congress Ave.)
Doors at 7:30 p.m., Show 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $50, $55 (plus svc fees)
Paste Magazine’s ACL kick-off at Emo’s
Music on indoor and outdoor stages featuring White Ghost Shivers, Mates of State, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Bobby Bare Jr., Dan Dyer and Thomas Function.
Doors at 9 p.m., show at 9:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public
ACL Afterhours at the Beauty Bar
Outside: Bleach Online issue release/Art Disaster 7 with The Lemurs, Brownout, White White Light, Till We’re Blue or Destroy and more
Inside: Mars Volta pre-party with DJ Nobody
Makers Mark hosted bar
Doors at 9 p.m.
Americana Songwriter Showcase at The Amsterdam (121 West 8th St. & Colorado St.)
Featuring Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus, Kim Deschamps, Jodi Adair, AJ Downing, George Carver, Kent Mayhew, Guest musicians welcome.
8 p.m., no cover
FRIDAY, SEPT. 26
G. Love & Special Sauce at La Zona Rosa (612 West Fourth St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., Show at 11 p.m.
Tickets: $25 adv/ $27 dos
Gnarls Barkley and CSS at Stubb’s BBQ
Doors 8 p.m., show 9 p.m.
Tickets: $27 adv/ $30 dos
Jamie Lidell w/ Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears at The Parish (214 E. Sixth St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., show at 11 p.m.
Tickets: $20
Drive By Truckers w/ Shooter Jennings at Emo’s (603 Red River St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., Show at 10:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20 adv/ $22 dos
Heartless Bastards w/ Dead Confederate & Wax Fang at Emo’s (Indoors, 603 Red River St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., Show at 10:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15 adv/ $17 dos
Car Stereo Wars at Emo’s Lounge
Doors at 10 p.m., show 11 p.m.
Tickets: $8 adv/ $10 dos
Rolling Stone presents The Cool Kids, Voxtrot and Belaire at the Mohawk
Doors at 8 p.m.
RSVP here
Afrobonics 1: The Melting Pot at the Whisky Bar
DJs Chicken George, Aquaman Chill with horns and percussion from the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Doors at 10 p.m.
(Full disclosure: DJ Aquaman Chill is married to Music Source contributor Deborah Sengupta Stith)
ACL Afterhours at the Beauty Bar
Inside: Prince Klassen, Bird Peterson
Outside: AUX, Ume, The Steps, Always Already
Doors at 9 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 27
Mike Farris gospel brunch at Stubb’s BBQ
Doors at 11 a.m., Brunch at 11:30 a.m.
Call 512-480-8341 to make reservations and purchase tickets.
Tickets: $30, $40
Butthole Surfers w/ The Kills at Stubb’s BBQ (outdoors)
Doors 7 p.m., Show 8 p.m.
Tickets: $30 adv/ $33 dos
Mugison at Stubb’s BBQ (indoors)
Doors 11:30pm, show midnight
Tickets: $15
Band of Horses with James McMurtry at The Parish
Doors at 10:30 p.m.
Sold out
The Swell Season w/ Bill Callahan at The Paramount Theatre (713 Congress Ave.)
Doors at 7:30 p.m., Show at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $35, $42.50
Okkervil River w/ Man Man & Crooked Fingers at Emo’s (Outdoors, 603 Red River St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., show 10:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15 adv/ $17 dos
Jose Gonzalez w/ Neva Dinova & McCarthy Trenching at Emo’s (Indoors, 603 Red River St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., show 10:30 p.m.
Tickets: $18 adv/ $20 dos
Car Stereo Wars at Emo’s Lounge
Doors at 10 p.m., show 11 p.m.
Tickets: $8 adv/ $10 dos
Jakob Dylan and The Gold Mountain Rebels w/ Back Door Slam at Antone’s (213 West 5th St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., Show at 10:30 p.m.
Tickets: $23 adv, $25 dos
Ocote Soul Sounds (featuring members of Grupo Fantasma and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra), Buscando El Monte, DJ Chorizo Funk at The Compound (1300 E 4th St.)
Doors at 9 p.m., show at 10 p.m.
$10, $5 if you arrive on a bike.
Austin Music + Entertainment unofficial ACL afterparty
Featuring Lemurs, Loxsly and Red Leaves Scoot Inn
Doors at 8 p.m.
ACL Afterhours at the Beauty Bar
Outside: Scorpion Child, Grand Ole Party, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead (original lineup)
Inside: DJ Mel, Smalltown Pete
Doors at 9 p.m.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 28
The Black Keys w/ The Black Angels & Jessica Lea Mayfield at Stubb’s BBQ
Doors at 7 p.m., Show at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $25 adv/ $25 dos
Gospel Brunch with the Shields of Faith at Stubb’s BBQ
Call 512-480-8341 to make reservations and purchase tickets.
Seatings at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis and M. Ward at La Zona Rosa
Doors at 9 p.m., Show at 10 p.m.
TIckets: $30
Papalactic Aftablasta at the Parish
Featuring Galactic’s Stanton Moore and Rob Mecurio, Papa Mali, Ivan and Cyril Neville.
Tickets $20 adv
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ACL sells out Saturday
All tickets to Saturday’s ACL Fest lineup- including Beck, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and John Fogerty- have sold out and, according to booker Charles Attal, Friday and Sunday are close to reaching capacity.
The mild weather lately has no doubt helped. Forecasts put the high temps in the high 80s/ low 90s in the coming week.
VIP passes, at $850 for three days, are still available.
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AMA Notes #5
NASHVILLE. What’s the best thing I’ve seen this week? Folks keep asking me that this morning, as I contemplate whether or not it’ll be worth walking down to the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater, where they’re screening the “Meet Glen Campbell” documentary, with the star of the film on hand. Since this prgram is also open to anyone who buys museum tickets, it should be an overflow crowd. Think I’ll pass and wait out my 4:45 p.m. flight until they kick me out of Panera, where I’ve been using the free wi-fi because the hotel is charging $13 a day to go online.
Let me talk about price gouging for a second. Why do hotels overcharge for everything, like $5 for a bottle of Fuji water in the room and $14 for a cheeseburger and fries from room service? They’re supposed to be in the hospitality business, but then they take advantage of their “captive” clientele.
I was all revved up for Cross Canadian Ragweed last night, having become a fan of the band’s explosive live shows, but the acoustics of Cannery Row muddied up everything. It didn’t help that Jeremy Plato’s bass was making my jeans tremble. It was way too loud. When publicist Heather Bohn saw me and whisked me to the side of the stage to watch, the set sounded much better. The monitor mix was much better than what the crowd was getting.
Right before CC Ragweed (still can’t call them CCR), at the adjoining Mercy Lounge, I happened upon Paul Thorn, the former boxer (he fought Roberto Duran in the ’80s) who packs a roundhouse wallop with his soulful brand of rock. I only caught the last song and the encore, but I’m sold on this son of a Pentecostal preacher, who fired up the packed crowd. The best thing I saw at AMA was the Levon Helm “Ramble at the Ryman” on the opening night, but Thorn was a close second. I intend to be there the next time the Tupelo, Miss. native plays Austin.
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Carlene Carter’s second act
NASHVILLE. The irreverent wild child, who once did cartwheels in a mini-skirt at the end of shows, has pulled herself up from the depths of heroin addiction to reclaim her place in country music’s First Family. In a jubilantly-received set at the Country Music Hall of Fame museum store Friday, Carlene Carter proved that older and heavier is better than dead.
“All I ever wanted was to be a Carter girl,” she said introducing “Me and the Wildwood Rose,” the nostalgic number that received a full minute of applause when it was over. Even with the new “Stronger” album to push, the singer spent most of her 40 minutes on the tiny stage, backed by two guitar players, going back to those simple days as the granddaughter of Maybelle Carter and the daughter of June Carter Cash. Much of the oldish crowd of around 200 was there because of the Carter name and Carlene played up to them with an exaggerated drawl and corny asides about divorce, getting old and how Mother Maybelle drove like a bat out of hell. With a little refinement, this act could play at Branson.
Still, the show was a stirring return that was not short on emotion. Opening with the old number “Sweet Meant to Be,” 52-year-old Carter immediately showed that the voice is as strong, as buoyant as ever. “Break My Little Heart In Two” was the best of the new songs, though “Judgement Day,” written about losing longtime companion Howie Epstein to a drug overdose, proved most dramatic. “True love never dies,” Carter sang in a voice that threatened to break, “it just walks away.”
Because of her spunk and slinky good looks, you sometimes forgot just what a good songwriter Carter was, but when she sang “It Takes One To Know Me,” which she wrote at age 17, the talent was unmistakable. Yes, this act could excite the tour bus crowds, but it could also make magic at the Cactus Café.
The set was supposed to end with the rocker “Every Little Thing,” which harked back to her early ‘90s heyday, but at the behest of a nephew, Carter picked the Carter Family classic “Wildwood Flower” on her under-amplified guitar. At one point she forgot a verse, but the audience sang it for her until she was back on track. It was much more warmth than you’d expect in a souvenir shop, but Carlene Carter’s still got a bunch of it left to generate.
Thank God for that.
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Erykah Badu cancels Austin City Limits TV shoot, replaced with Drive-By Truckers
Erykah Badu has canceled her “Austin City Limits” TV show taping scheduled for Sept. 26, but she is still playing the festival in Zilker Park, ACL booker Terry Lickona said Friday.
“She said the band is not quite ready to tape a show for national television,” Lickona said. “We don’t really know what the details are.”
The Drive-By Truckers will be taking her slot that day, though the exact time of the taping is up in the air, Lickona added. “They’ve been on my list for some time themselves.”
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Notes from AMA #4: Westies representin’
NASHVILLE. “Thanks for coming out,” musician Tim O’Brien said Friday afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater. “We would be doing this anyway, but it’s much better with an audience.
West Virginia was in the house at a tribute concert to 1920s fiddler Blind Alfred Reed. From the opening three-part harmonies of Westies O’Brien, Kathy Mattea and Todd Burge on “There’ll Be No Distinction There” until Connie Smith’s show-stopping “Please Don’t Let Her Die,” the 90-minute program was a marvel of musicianship. The mid-show addition of drummer Kenny Malone, bassist Wayne Moss, Russ Hicks on steel and McCoy on harmonica and piano made for a virtual reunion of Barefoot Jerry, the southern rock pioneers.
The show was put together to help promote the Blind Alfred Reed tribute album “Always Lift Him Up,” featuring many of the performers. Paw Paw, West Virginia native Ray Benson is also on the album, doing “Black & Blue Blues.”
- “What is Texas Music?” Texas State University professor Gary Hartman opened Friday’s “Lone Star Legacy: The Role of Texas In Shaping Americana Music” panel with that broad question, then opened things up with a thumbnail history of Texas music. The question was then answered musically by songwriters Radney Foster from Del Rio, Rosie Flores of San Antonio, Bruce Robison from Bandera and New Braunfels resident Cody Canada, who’s originally from Oklahoma.
“Childhood Memories” by Flores was especially poignant, while Robison brought the garage rock on solo acoustic with “It Came From San Antonio,” the tale of Doug Sahm’s quintet trying to pass as British.
There’s another big difference between panels at the Americana confab vs. SXSW: much more live music. And the Texas quartet represented well.
- Best t-shirt: “Keep Lubbock Flat” using the same font as the “Keep Austin Weird” tees.
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Tonight at Emo’s: David Berman and Silver Jews
(Silver Jews with James Jackson Toth play tonight at Emo’s. Charles Potts Magic Windmill Band play Emo’s outside. $12 advance, $14 at the door. Doors at 9 p.m., show at 10. 603 Red River St. 477-3667, emosaustin.com.) (Photo of David Berman of Silver Jews by Stefano Giovannini.)
David Berman had good reason to believe he was unrealized potential personified. “Until age 38,” the Silver Jews frontman says by way of e-mail, “I thought I was doomed as a writer because I slept in and took naps.”
That was three years ago, around the time Berman woke up from a serious substance-abuse problem and released “Tanglewood Numbers.” The album, his fifth in 11 years, was a career breakthrough and finally granted the veteran indie rocker props on par with Stephen Malkmus, an original Silver Jew who went on to form Pavement.
Berman’s redemption song continues to be fleshed out with the recent release of “Tanglewood” followup “Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea.” Like David Carr’s frank drug-recovery memoir “The Night of the Gun,” it excavates a dark past in order to build a bright future. And it does so by drawing from a host of influences. As part of the media materials, Berman, who is also a cartoonist, sketched an indecipherable chart comprising sources of inspiration that include presidential campaign songs, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” and the Pet Shop Boys.
“It was all part of an attempt of mine to encourage critics to make connections,” Berman writes, “to put such an amount of information about the composition and recording that unique responses would result. Silver Jews: encouraging exegesis since 1993.” And so here is one critic’s interpretation of some of the songs. “What Is Not But Could Be If” is the equivalent of another foot forward in the 12-step program, wherein Berman’s baritone constructs a bridge between failure and success, risk and reward. On the country-cool cut “Suffering Jukebox,” featuring Berman’s wife Cassie on “Laurel Canyon” backing vocals, a “sad machine” shouldering other peoples’ problems is a metaphor for Berman in his former state of misery. Meanwhile, “Candy Jail” says that once you’re an addict, you’re always an addict, as Berman trades in his gluttonous drug habit for an equally perilous addiction to jelly beans and cookie dough.
“There’s a lot of food on the album,” Berman writes. “Maybe some couple will have a dinner where only food from the lyrics are served.”
Berman will recite his quirky, wordy confessionals Friday at Emo’s. Prior to “Tanglewood,” touring had always been out of the question. But a string of 47 consecutive sold-out shows in support of that album showed Berman what he’d been missing. Still, life on the road in the age of sobriety is forever paved with temptation. Has the close proximity to a little taste of his bygone junkie days ever been too hard to handle? Has the nightmare of relapse ever been a concern?
“A kid in Pittsburgh whispered, ‘Got some H, looking for some C,’ into my ear, and I just laughed,” Berman writes.
Translation: apparently not.
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Notes from AMA #3: Genesis of ‘Jesus’
NASHVILLE. Hayes Carll is touring in England so he couldn’t be on hand for his mildly surprising win as Song of the Year at Thursday’s American Music Awards at the Ryman, but “She Left Me For Jesus” co-writer Brian Keane was there to “thank God” at the podium.
Cormer Austinite Keane, who moved to Nashville with girlfriend Rachel Loy about nine months ago, detailed the inspiration for “Jesus” after the show. He had been seeing Loy, who still plays bass for 54 Seconds, for a few months when she decided she wanted to live a more Christian life. “She left me for Jesus,” Keane said. “It was an easy song to write.” Keane wrote the chorus of the hilariously sacriligeous song, but couldn’t finish it, so he brought it to Carll. The two kicked around ideas one day and Carll wrote down all the good ones. “I said, ‘OK, now we gotta make it rhyme,’” Keane recalled, “but then I looked on the paper and Hayes had already done that, as he was writing the ideas down.” A true collaboration, in other words.
One of the musical highlights of the awards show was when Joe Ely, who’s like Bono in this crowd, joined rising star Ryan Bingham on “South Side of Heaven.” Bingham, who is not to be missed at ACL, is a former bullrider who’s been called “the Tom Waits of West Texas” for his raspy delivery and pinpoint lyricism. He’s the guy you’ve heard on KGSR and asked, “wow, who is that?”
It’s admirable to see just how much younger bluegrass players come out and support each other. Thursday night at the Station Inn, a legendary picker’s palace, the audience was full of players- including members of Austin’s Belleville Outfit (who’ve just signed to powerhouse Nashville agent Bobby Cudd) - to cheer on Crooked Still. The Boston band’s ingenue looks belied a wild streak, that especially came out on a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Oxford Blues.”
Nashville has its own Erik Hokkanen in Casey Driessen, an incredibly instinctive violinist whose jazz trio set at the Station Inn Thursday floored everyone, including Tommy “Ramone” Erdeyli, the last surviving original member of the punk pioneers. In recent years, Erdeyli has switched to bluegrass, playing mandolin, banjo and singing in Uncle Monk. Driessen is also a member of Abigail Washburn’s Sparrow Quartet.
Will ACL Fest offer personal port-o-johns next year, or was Charlie Walker of C3 joking? Bet on door number two, as Walker was just trying to inject some life into Thursday’s touring and festivals panel. “The demand for VIP ammenities is going up faster than anything else,” Walker said.
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Weekend Picks: Local convergence, Indian groove, ethereal pop and more
FRIDAY
ATX Converge at the Mohawk. This is billed as a meeting of the minds for the creative class. We see it as simply a killer local bill. With White Denim, Belaire, Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears and FreshMillions. Free with RSVP at atxconverge.com/rsvp. — Joe Gross
Also recommended: Bluerunners at Saxon Pub; Charlie Robison at Midnight Rodeo; the Golden Boys, Faceless Werewolves at the Hole in the Wall; Will T. Massey at Threadgill’s North
SATURDAY
The New Year at Emo’s. Matt and Bubba Kadane’s earlier band Bedhead invented sitting on the floor at rock shows. The New Year, which includes Peter Schmidt of Funland, will have the crowd on its feet, but they won’t exactly be stomping to the slightly poppier brand of ethereal found on the new self-titled CD, produced by Steve Albini for Touch and Go. With A Weather Beautiful and Supermachines. 9 p.m. $10. — Michael Corcoran
Planet Rock Party at the Whisky Bar. Romeo Navarro and crew throw down in celebration of the DVD release of B-Boy flick “Inside the Circle.” The theme, as always, is Pumas vs. Adidas. Free before 10 p.m., $5 after. —-Deborah Sengupta Stith
DJ Rekha at Stubb’s. I never know if I should be a little offended by the persistent tendency to link Indian music to stoner music, but so be it. The Dark Star Orchestra afterparty is hosted by DJ Rekha, from New York City who drops a funky mix of Bhangra, hip-hop and Bollywood disco that appeals to Desi and trance dancer alike. $8-$10, free with your DSO wristband. —-D.S.S.
Also recommended: American Graveyard at Scoot Inn; Car Stereo (Wars) at Beauty Bar; Pinback at Mohawk; Dark Star Orchestra at Stubb’s; Consider the Source at Red 7; Hal Ketchum at Gruene Hall.
SUNDAY
Ani DiFranco at Stubb’s. DiFranco’s latest is ‘Red Letter Year,’ and lo-and-behold, she sounds happy. Maybe being a mom helps. With Jeff Klein. $32-$34. Doors at 7 p.m.
Also recommended: Dertybird at the Hole in the Wall; Durden Family at Threadgill’s South (11 a.m.)
(Pictured: Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Notes from AMA #2: Sarah signs
Seventeen-year-old mandolin player and singer Sarah Jarosz has been signed to Sugar Hill Records, who’s label boss Gary Paczosa, is coming to to Sarah’s home town of Wimberley next week to produce her new record. Best known for his work with Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton and the Dixie Chicks, Paczosa says he hasn’t been as excited to be working as a project as he is with the Jazosz project. The old-timey youngster will co-produce at the Blue Rock Studio, which Paczosa calls “my favorite studio in the world right now.”
Paczosa has also signed the Greencards, whose next record is being produced by Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin’s “Flaming Red.”)
During a panel on festivals and touring, C3 Presents’ Charlie Walker broke up the room when asked how ACL Fest determines which Austin acts to book. “It seems that most of ours are related to people at the office,” he joked. I know Charles Attal’s nephew Sledd is in We Go To 11. Any other instances of nepotism? I mean, besides Electric Touch.
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Notes from AMA Conference #1
NASHVILLE. There was only one daytime party on Thursday, the official start of the Americana Music Association conference (which should bill itself as “SXSW without the crowds”), so I ended up going to more panels on one day than I have at SXSW in the past ten years. This is a one-ring circus, with only 60 showcase slots for three nights (compared to 2,000 at SXSW), so I ended up at the “Freedom Sings” presentation, a scripted, multi-media, musical journey towards understanding the First Ammendment. Sounds brutal, but it was anything but. After 90 minutes of (occasionally windy) narration by veteran newsman Gene Policinski, interspersed with songs and medleys sung by Bill Lloyd, Jonell Mosser, Don Henry and others, the audience of about 100 leapt to its feet without a thought.
“Freedom Sings,” which grew up of sessions at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville nine years ago, has never been to SXSW. But since South By’s panelist coordinator Andy Flynn is up here scouting, maybe we’ll see “Freedom Sings” in Austin in March. It’s truly powerful.
- That one daytime party was co-hosted by Justice Records, whose band nelo played last. Seating near the front at the Second Fiddle club were Bob Roux of Live Nation and producer Steve Fischell, who seemed to be getting into the band’s melodic vibe. Two new songs, “The Note” and “Breakthrough” especially played to singer Reid Umstattd’s fluid phrasing. Even in search of an identity, nelo was a fresh breath after all the bad country and rock heard up and down Broadway. Lotsa potential there.
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Update: Envy party with Erykah Badu canceled
We don’t have details, but we’ve heard from Paul Levatino, director of marketing for Erykah Badu, that the Envy Magazine party has been canceled. Badu is still playing the festival.
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Pandora mixes ACL artists in radio stream
Our friends over at the Music Genome Project have created an ACL-centered radio station on Pandora. The station mixes an ever-changing stream of artists who are playing at ACL Fest 2008. You can find the station at the bottom right corner of Pandora’s festival page.
Thanks to Music Source reader Lynn for the tip.
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The live chat with Joe Gross has ended
Hey, folks, we’re having difficulty with our live chat software today, so we had to cut this week’s chat a little short. Come back next week, when we hope to have a special ACL Fest-related guest.
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Live Chat With Statesman pop critic Joe Gross at 2 p.m. TODAY
Today’s topics:
If this weather holds out, will even scoffers declared this upcoming ACL Festival the best ever?
Is this ACL the last time anyone will see the Foo Fighters play live?
Why does the new Metallica album sound so awful?
What bands are we seeing this weekend? Or are we saving our strength for the big push next weekend?
Does anyone have any coffee?
Log in at 2 p.m.
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Band of Horses to play ACL after-party that will benefit HAAM
The show is sponsored by Blurt, a new online music magazine from the folks behind Harp magazine, and features Band of Horses, James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards.
Tickets will be $18 in advance, $21 at the door and are available through Frontgate Tickets.
Part of the night’s proceeds will go to the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, which provides affordable healthcare to Austin’s musicians.
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Live review: Levon Helm at the Ryman
NASHVILLE. What a way to kick off a music conference that one attendee called “South By Southwest without the emo.” The ninth annual Americana Music Association conference and festival hosted the Levon Helm Band’s infamous “Midnight Ramble” blowout Wednesday night at the Mother Church of country music and such surprise guests as Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt, Steve Earle and Delbert McClinton showed up to vocalize with the legendary singer drummer. The great band, lead by guitarist Larry Campbell (ex-Dylan) and elevated by sensational keyboardist Brian Williams, was augmented by Buddy Miller and Sam Bush, two of Nashville’s highest regarded players, for much of the night.
It was “The Last Waltz” without Canadians.
The 68-year-old Helm is in the midst of an incredible comeback from throat cancer: “Dirt Farmer,” his first solo album in 25 years just won a Grammy and is up for “Album of the Year” at tonight’s AMA Awards show. The audience was clearly in love with Helm, whose voice was strong early on with “Ophelia” from the Band days and new song “Got Me a Woman.” Every number received a standing ovation, and not just because the Ryman pews flattened fannies that begged to stretch back out. But about 2/3 into the two and a half hour show, Helm’s vocals started getting raspier, which actually made “Anna Lee,” with beautiful harmonies from daughter Amy Helm and Teresa Williams, more poignant. But the raggedness was uncomfortable on “Rag Mama Rag.”
Luckily, the show had all those guests. Plant and Krauss were the biggest surprise, doing Leadbelly’s “In the Pines” early in the show. Where that superstar duo seemed to have a limo with the motor running at the stage door, Sheryl Crow was there to soak in the fun, even staying onstage for perfunctory backup singing after duetting with Helm on “Evangeline” and doing a terrific “No Depression,” by the Carter Family. She stuck around for the stage-filled audience singalongs of “The Weight” and “Forever Young.” Another crowd fave was 80-year-old bluesman Little Sammy Davis, who’s a regular at the Midnight Ramble, which Helm holds occasionally in his barn near Woodstock, N.Y.
On leaving the show, everyone seemed to be talking about what they’d just witnessed, but one gentleman put it best when he said, “That’s the closest I’m ever gonna get to seeing the Band.”
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Danny Young tribute set for Music Hall
The lineup has not yet been announced, but an October 19 date has been set for “Keep Austin Young: Celebrating the Life of Danny Roy Young” at the Austin Music Hall. Author Joe Nick Patoski will MC the event. A beloved figure in Austin, Young recently died of a heart attack at age 67.
The concert is a benefit to retire the Texicalli Grille debt. Donations may be sent to the Danny Roy Young Memorial Fund, c/o Prosperity Bank, P.O. Box 2167, Austin, TX 78768. Ticket information will be announced soon.
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JB and Sandy renew contract for 5 more years
Radio hosts JB Hager and Sandy McIlree announced a five-year extension of their contract today. The two host the “JB and Sandy in the Morning” show on MIX 94.7 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. The show has been on the air almost 13 years and also can be heard on their web site.
“The radio business can be tough, but this was the easiest decision and negotiation of our career,” co-host Sandy McIlree said in the announcement of the contract extension. “We are excited to spend five more years in the greatest city in America and do it with a company that has made us feel welcome since day one.”
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Review: Ratatat at Stubb’s
In a city where fans of indie rock generally meet live music with little more than approving head nods, it can be hard for bands to get crowds to actually dance.
But the instrumental outfit Ratatat did just that Monday night at Stubb’s. Usually a duo, guitarist Mike Stroud and multi-instrumentalist Evan Mast were joined by a keyboardist for 15 rounds of searing prog riffs backed by face-shaking hip-hop beats that had the sold-out crowd waving their hands, jumping and moving without shame to the music.
In Ratatat fashion, the entertainment didn’t come solely from the sounds produced by the band. The visual sequences projected on a screen behind the band were genuinely bizarre — one showed Buddhist monks with iridescent blocks of light shielding their eyes while they clutched ropes between their praying hands and Hebraic texts scrolled on the walls around them.
But from the set-opener to the encore it was clear that the images were carefully chosen and flawlessly synced. The tropical sounding “Brulee” was backed by flowing waves, while more aggressive numbers featured explosions typical of action movies. In every case, the movement on the screen punctuated the hard-hitting moments in the songs.
The music alone would have made Ratatat’s performance memorable. The harmonized notes of Stroud’s solos glided through each number with grace and a sense of metal melody, while the thundering bass of the backing samples pulsed with an energy that is hard to match on a home stereo. On fan favorites like “Wildcat” and “Seventeen Years,” many audience members were too busy dancing to watch the displays anyway.
Mixing and matching musical genres and live performance techniques is disastrous for many bands, but Ratatat does it well.
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Hayes Carll “devastated” by Ike damage
Hayes Carll, who spent four years honing his songwriting in the bars of Crystal Beach, is currently in England where, manager Mike Crowley says, “he’s devastated about the complete destruction of Crystal Beach.” Crowley says Carll is writing something that he’ll post soon on his web site. We’ll publish it here when it’s available.
“It’s all gone,” Crowley says of the working class town on Galveston Bay’s Bolivar Peninsula. “I’ve seen the footage and it looks like a tornado hit. It’s just concrete slabs.”
Carll hosts the Stingaree Music Festival on Crystal Beach each April. His Highway 87 label is named after the road that takes you to the seaside town, “where the cops all know your number and the bars all know your name.” Carll’s three albums are inhabited by the roughhewn characters, the shrimpers and oil workers and beach bums he met while playing at places like Bob’s, which are no longer there.
Now, virtually all that’s left of Crystal Beach are those songs.
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Guitars & Saxes reschedules
This Sunday’s Guitars & Saxes shows at the One World Theater have been moved to October 23. “Because of the devastation of Hurricane Ike, Guitars & Saxes will be unable to complete the Houston/Austin part of their tour,” said a press release from the venue.
The shows on Oct. 23 will be at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Those unable to attend the new date can either exchange their tickets for another show or receive a refund. Refunds and exchanges can be made by calling the One World Theatre box office at 512.32.WORLD (512.329.6753).
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ACL to move to early October in 2009?
So here’s the UT football schedule for 2009:
9/5 Louisiana-Monroe
9/12 at Wyoming
9/19 Central Florida
9/26 UTEP
10/10 Colorado
10/17 Oklahoma
(Dallas)
10/24 at Missouri
10/31 at Oklahoma State
11/7 Texas Tech
11/14 at Baylor
11/21 Kansas
11/26 at Texas A&M
You’ll notice that UT is away Sept. 12 and there’s no game at all Oct. 3. Sept. 12 is usually awfully hot in Austin. How about moving ACL Fest to Oct. 3?
C3 Presents principal Charles Attal said it’s a distinct possibility. “Nothing is set in stone yet, but because of the football schedule, we are looking at that weekend,” he said Tuesday.
Imagine there’s no sweating, it’s easy if you try. Imagine all the people, standing in a breeze.
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R.I.P MTV’s ‘TRL’
From the Associated Press:
Time to start the countdown clock on MTV’s countdown era: “Total Request Live” will soon leave the air after 10 years.
Dave Sirulnick, executive producer of “TRL,” said Monday that the music video countdown show will conclude in a two-hour special on a Saturday afternoon in November. He stressed that the show wasn’t ending for good, but felt now was the right time to give it a break after an unprecedented run on the cable music channel.
“TRL” debuted in September 1998 and became the splashy center of the teen pop music scene with Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and other acts. From its heydey until 2008, it’s been a destination for musicians, movie stars and celebrities promoting their new music, movies and other projects.
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Interview with Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby
Meet Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, who played Emo’s Saturday night and released a new record on Monday. In the late ‘70s Eric Goulden, one of the original artists on the pioneer U.K. punk/new wave label Stiff Records, got noticed for a self-deprecating, offbeat working-class sense of humor and heart-on-sleeve vocals on singles like “Whole Wide World,” “Take the Cash” and “Walking on the Surface of the Moon.” Rigby, a native of Pittsburgh and erstwhile New Yorker, is the onetime mod housewife who’s developed a loyal following through steady touring in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland behind a series of critically raved-about albums showcasing her dry wit and hard-won wisdom in songs about the myriad aspects of relationships, the struggle to remain relevant when you’re over 30 (or 40), dead-end jobs and the occasional fashion tip. These two veterans of the indie-music wars have had their share of ups and downs, and both blend cynicism with romanticism (or, if you prefer, they’re both romantics blessed with a healthy sense of realism and an ability to laugh at the absurdity of life).
Rigby and Goulden first met at a club in northern England in 2001, connected for keeps three years later at a gig in New Jersey, moved to a small village in northwest France early last year and, last April, got married. Over about a year, they recorded and produced a self-titled album at home, by themselves, that - to complete the circle - was released Monday on a resurrected Stiff Records (under new ownership these days). You’d do well to pick up a copy of “Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby,” because in tandem they’ve created a hybrid of their distinctive styles, plus a third dimension owing to a creative rebirth fired by both parties being fans of each other’s work, and delighting in the firing of mutual sparks and throwing random chords at the wall to see what sticks.
There are more hits and misses on the CD, whose eclectic tone includes bits suggesting everyone from the Beach Boys and Bangles to early ‘70s Britrock, Robyn Hitchcock and neo-psychedelia. And, in a first for at least Rigby, the music is as important as the lyrics; she layers harmonies to dazzling effect. That, plus Goulden’s expert hand with electronics and sampling, results in a dense yet fluid ambiance that keeps listeners engaged and guessing. It’s not far off the best work either artist has produced.
“You have to find something to get you going, or get you excited (to) keep doing this,” says Rigby, on the phone from the road somewhere in the vicinity of Modesto, Calif. “I think that working with Eric gave me that new enthusiasm, having someone to kind of pull for. I definitely felt, toward the end of my last record, that I’d just gotten a certain aspect of songwriting down and I wished I could - not start over again, but find a different way to express myself that wasn’t so focused on the lyrics, because those will come anyway.
“I definitely like to let Eric move things along. The way I’ve made records in the past has been pretty linear: setting out a period of time, getting songs, putting down basic tracks and putting things on top. He really did sound like a painter in the studio.”
Goulden needs no warm-up or prompting to get going, either on stage or on the phone with a complete stranger; he starts our conversation with hilarious, profane riffs on the questionable behavior of people he encountered in a bar the other night as well as some guy in the audience who called for a song Amy once wrote about her ex-husband (“Doesn’t he see me here, standing next to her?!”).
Do they get a sense of how many in the audience are Eric people or Amy people? “I guess there’s an overlap, maybe a lot more than you would think,” Rigby says. “Sometimes it’s like they’re meeting the new boyfriend or something and they’re kind of like, ‘huh,’ or vice versa, like I’m the new girlfriend and they might not be disposed to liking me. But they’ll come around, I think, as we play together.”
Is the double act a one-off event, or do they plan to pursue new projects, musically, as a couple?
“I feel like we’re a band,” Rigby says. “I feel like it took us a record to even get going. As we were doing it, we were figuring out how we worked together.” They’ve already started work on another album, she adds.
For these newlyweds, touring together is a license to enjoy each other’s company while making a living. “I love being with Amy,” Goulden says. “I suppose (one reason) I stopped touring with bands was economic. The other thing is, you’re hanging out with people that, apart from playing music, you’re not into the same things at all. You just get to the point where you want to obliterate yourself. I enjoyed the solo touring more, but it’s very lonely.” Now, he adds, “the touring is fun, we can do things together.”
Like a working vacation?
“My whole life’s been a working vacation, really. I always think, how much longer am I going to get away with this?”
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Review: John Hiatt and Joan Osborne at Austin Music Hall
With values volleying going on at the political nets again this election, an upright son of the Midwest stood tall at the Austin Music Hall Sunday night. John Hiatt, who introduced his new love songs in praise of Mrs. Hiatt and 22 years of marriage, reminded that rock ‘n’ roll can still work as good, clean fun.
Too bad Hiatt doesn’t write soaring anthems or either presidential campaign could play his music. I have no idea which candidate he’s supporting, but his “Have a Little Faith in Me” from 1987 seems appropriate in this economy with its start about “when the road gets dark.”
What Hiatt does best is take a simple emotion and wrap his considerable lung power and driving beat into a full-on assault, which he did Sunday on “Perfectly Good Guitar,” his scolding of any musician who trashes an instrument on stage. There’s no doubt, as the six-string-loving Hiatt sang on “Riding With the King,” that he’s “gonna play that thing until the day I die.” (That Hiatt blues belter gave B.B. King and Eric Clapton a title song for their Grammy-winning collaboration.)
Watching the lanky, clearly enunciating Hiatt on stage is a treat compared to more staid singer-songwriters. Grinning, mouth open wide enough to see his tongue darting in and out, kicking out a leg, he literally throws himself into songs.
Side strings work by Doug Lancio, who has long played for Patty Griffin, added more depth as Lancio switched to a new axe for almost every number. The crowd was on their feet for the solo and windup of “Slow Turning.”
Hiatt acknowledged the pain Ike has inflicted on Galveston and Houston residents, and he noted the Austin show’s move from the outdoor Backyard was a wise precaution. Then he offered “Crossing Muddy Waters,” his own tragic ballad of a family’s loss to a swollen river.
Not on this set list was the gushy “Same Old Man,” the title of his new CD. That’s just as well since Hiatt never seems the same old anything and acts like he’s still a kid with a new guitar and a lot to prove.
Nearly as many songs Sunday came from opener Joan Osborne, whose sultry stances and vocal range were worlds apart from Hiatt (or at least the distance from her New York base to his Nashville home).
“Hallelujah in the City,” the first track from her just-out “Little Wild One” album, put the audience on notice: She can be hell and heavenly. Osborne’s straightforward narrator declares herself unfaithful and returning to a relationship with redemption in mind. Then the ever-escalating hallelujahs begins with no need for a choir.
Of course the crowd wanted and got “One of Us,” Osborne’s musings about whether God might be walking around among us. But do they remember that song came on the same major-label debut that contained “Let’s Just Get Naked”?
Osborne, towering over her band members in heels and a summery black-on-white dress, can vamp it up with the best blues divas. The sly smile goes away, however, when she cranks up her pipes for a finish that’s all business.
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CD review: Will T. Massey’s ‘Wayward Lady’
Will T. Massey
‘Wayward Lady’
(Self-released)
It’s been a year of remarkable comebacks, with Roky Erickson emerging from decades of mental illness and Alejandro Escovedo bouncing back from near death. The story of San Angelo native Will T. Massey, signed to MCA at age 21 and hailed a West Texas Bruce Springsteen, is an equally amazing tale of a musician pulling himself out of a deep and dark place. After his self-titled 1991 debut and a move to Seattle, Massey started losing his mind. An involuntary admission to a mental facility turned him to the streets when he got out. For 13 years his illness — schizophrenia — went undiagnosed. “Whatever happened to Will T. Massey?” was a question that would come up every once in awhile.
But three years ago, after a move back to Austin, he found a doctor he trusted, who prescribed the medication that helped get Massey’s mind right.
“Wayward Lady” (released last week) is an album about coming out of a long, bad dream to find a country gone wrong. “You’re a wicked woman, but I love you,” Massey sings on the title track. “You Work For Me,” is his defiant message to President Bush, who’s portrayed in brutally unkind terms throughout the album. “Peace Train,” meanwhile, tells the story of a woman saying goodbye to her baby as she’s shipped off to Iraq. Based on the experience of Massey’s stepsister, the song, quite lovely, ends on a hopeful note.
The album ends with “American Seance,” in which the deadpan Massey wonders “America, are you in the room? It’s a seance, you died too soon.”
It’s all a little heavy-handed, this album of dour protest songs by an artist who’s 10 times more songwriter than singer. But Massey’s gift as a tuneful, evocative storyteller has undoubtedly returned. Help him celebrate the release of this album Friday at Threadgill’s North.
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CD review: Redd Volkaert’s ‘Reddhead’
Redd Volkaert
‘Reddhead’
(Telehog)
The list of Austin treasures includes Barton Springs Pool, breakfast tacos and Redd Volkaert, all of which one can experience on a Saturday afternoon, when Volkaert puts on a guitar clinic at the Continental Club. Many a budding axeman has traded in his Telecaster for a bass or keyboards after witnessing Merle Haggard’s former lead guitarist play with such dexterity, such tone, such soul. This town was truly blessed when Volkaert and his encyclopedia of hot licks moved here from Nashville in 2000.
The point of his new “Reddhead,” which hits stores Tuesday, might be to show that Volkaert is more than just a guitar player. He writes or co-writes seven of the 14 tracks and his rich, deep voice is featured in the mix, but ultimately the CD comes off as an instrumental album with vocals. Whether he’s exploring western swing on Bob Wills’ “End of the Line” or blues with “Call the Pound” or his caustic relationship ditties (co-written by Laura Durham) such as “Is Anything Alright,” “We Need to Talk” and “Just Because I Don’t Care,” the lyrics seem to serve as spacers between all the spectacular picking. In every genre he tackles, Volkaert can hold his own with anyone.
Those wary of claims that Volkaert is the best guitarist in town should listen to his cover of “The Letter” by the Boxtops. The song is about a man hungry to get home after receiving a love letter and in Volkaert’s solo of frantic percolation you can hear all the determination of movement in the protagonist’s mind. Volkaert isn’t a ripper, he’s a gripper. When he follows that cover with a jazzy country take on Buddy Emmons’ “Raisin’ the Dickens’,” there’s no denying that we’re hearing a master at work.
As a singer, Volkaert is functional, if not a little flat at times. His voice neither astonishes nor gets in the way. But when he ends this CD, his first in four years when you don’t count the recent Heybale release, with a cover of Hag’s “I’ll Break Out Tonight,” the lifelong sideman steps to the front with a flourish. After seven years backing Haggard, the vocal nuances have sunk in. There’s no substitute for seeing Volkaert live, at his Saturday afternoon gig or Sunday nights with Heybale. But if you’re looking for some music to play on the way to the gig, or at home on nights you can’t go out, “Reddhead” will serve you right.
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Arc Angels reunion at Antone’s
An Antone’s schedule shows a reunion of Charlie, Doyle II, Tommy and Whipper for Dec. 5 & 6.
Closer to now, the club has a special all-female show Friday, with Carolyn Wonderland, Lou Ann Barton, the Bluebonnets and BettySoo.
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Musicmania Top 10 for the week ending Sept. 14
Young Jeezy, ‘Recession’ (Def Jam)
Slim Thug, ‘Back By Blockular Demand’ (Koch)
ABN, ‘It Is What It Is’ (Rap-A-Lot)
ABN, ‘It Is What It Is Screwed & Chopped’ (Rap-A-Lot)
Game, “LAX’ (Geffen)
Big Pokey, ‘Evacuation Notice’ (Koch)
Ice Cube, ‘Raw Footage’ (Lench Mob)
Trae, ’ Against Everything’ (Oarfin)
Metallica, ‘Death Magnetic’ (Warner Bros)
Marvin Sease, ‘Who’s Got The Power’ (Malaco)
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Autograph signings at ACL
The Waterloo Records tent at ACL will host the following signings:
Friday:
12:00pm Vampire Weekend
1:45pm Rodney Crowell
2:00pm Christopher Denny
2:45pm What Made Milwaukee Famous
3:00pm Mates of State
3:30pm Hot Chip
4:00pm Eli Young Band
5:00pm Donovan Frankenreiter
5:00pm Delta Spirit
5:00pm Jamie Lidell
6:00pm Louis XIV
6:00pm Patty Griffin
7:30pm Ryan Bingham
Saturday:
12:00pm Daniel Johnston
1:00pm Black and White Years
1:00pm Langhorne Slim
2:00pm The Old 97s
3:00pm MGMT
3:00pm The Fratellis
3:30pm Spiritualized
4:00pm Mason Jennings
4:00pm The Drive-By Truckers
4:00pm Back Door Slam
4:45pm American Bang
5:00pm Yonder Mountain String Band
6:15pm Electric Touch
Sunday:
1:00pm AA Bondy
1:30pm Buck Howdy & BB
1:45pm Abigail Washburn
2:00pm Okkervil River
3:00pm The Heartless Bastards
3:15pm The Kills
3:30pm Blues Traveller
4:00pm Mike Farris
4:00pm Flyleaf
4:00pm Nicole Atkins
5:00pm South Austin Jug Band
5:15pm Kevin Fowler
5:30pm Colour Revolt
6:00pm Xavier Rudd
6:00pm Neko Case
6:00pm Against Me!
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Win a pair of ACL passes - your final chance
UPDATE: Another week, three new words. We’ve dropped this week’s code words into our 10 most recent A-List galleries. Even if you entered last week you are eligible to enter again with the new code words. This is your last chance to enter.
Our ACL scavenger hunt is back … and one lucky winner will walk away with a pair of three-day passes to the festival.
The contest runs for three weeks, beginning Monday, Sept. 1, and continuing through Sunday, Sept. 21. Each week, look through the 10 most recent A-List photo galleries at austin360.com/alist to find the three hidden code words. Once you’ve got them all, shoot an e-mail to austin360contests@statesman.com.
You can enter once each week, giving you three chances to win. We’ll announce our winner Monday, Sept. 22.
To get started, click here. Or, to read the complete contest rules, click here.
Good luck!
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CD review: ‘Acoustic Arabia’
Various artists
‘Acoustic Arabia’
(Putumayo)
Putumayo the record label arose as the sonic air-conditioning of an international clothing outlet of the same name.
Founder Dan Storper clearly has a good ear, as the imprint was launched in 1993 and since has released dozens of titles, including works by Miriam Makeba and Kermit Ruffins. But compilations highlighting a particular style, region or mood are Putumayo’s bread-and-butter.
Their newest, “Acoustic Arabia,” presents sounds from Morocco to Syria, Sudan to the Sinai peninsula. The 10 contemporary, mid-tempo tracks feature mostly Arabic lyrics and acoustic-based instrumentation, with variations in texture and tone.
Gamar Badawi’s opener “Jamal Porto” hits like a lost track from famed Nubian oudist, singer and world music icon Hamza El Din. Realized in a different language, Les Orientales’ “Alger, Alger” could easily be mistaken for a French cafe or fado number. “Ghir Enta” is a sleepy, silken Mediterranean soundtrack by Algerian chanteuse Souad Massi, while instrumental “Mada,” by Lebanese artists Charbel Rouhana and Hani Siblini, is propelled by a jazz-inflected, serpentine melody.
“Acoustic Arabia” is distinguished twice — by the prevalence of female musicians and the inclusion of an instrument not often associated with Arabic music, the piano. Algerian ivory tickler Maurice El Médioni, who blends North African melodies with boogie-woogie rhythms, is still kicking it in his 80s, with “Tu N’Aurais Jamais Dû” coming from his recent collaboration with Cuban percussionist Roberto Rodriguez.
A fitting bookend to “Acoustic Arabia” is the gracefully elegant “Wijjak Ma’ii.” Performed by Syrian-born Austin resident Zein Al-Jundi (who also wrote liner notes and assisted in track selection), the cut finds piano, hand percussion and violin supporting her honey-hued pipes in a performance seemingly plucked from a smoky Paris nightclub.
An added bonus: Putumayo will donate some proceeds to the nonsectarian and nonpolitical KRS Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children in the Middle East.
Recommended:“Wijjak Ma’ii,” “Tu N’Aurais Jamais Dû” “
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Kasey/ Shane cancel
The long sold-out show at the Cactus Cafe tonight featuring Kasey Chambers and her husband Shane Nicholson has been canceled. According to a message on the Cactus phone line, the show was scratched because Hurricane Ike interfered with the Australian couple’s travel plans.
Chambers and Nicholson performed last night in Santa Monica, Calif. Most flights to Austin from the West Coast were on time Saturday afternoon or delayed only slightly.
There was talk Thursday that the Austin show would be postponed along with other events on the University of Texas campus (like a certain football game), but that Cactus personnel were scrambling to get a waiver. $5,000 is a lot of money to refund. Cactus manager Griff Luneberg could not be reached Saturday afternoon.
The outgoing Cactus phone message said to check back in the next couple of days to see if the date will be rescheduled. Refunds are being offered at the point of purchase. Go here for possible updates.
Saturday’s show was to be one of only a handful of U.S. dates Chambers and Nicholson are performing to promote their “Rattlin’ Bones” collaboration, which hits stores Tuesday. The pair play New York City Tuesday and wrap up the mini-tour Thursday in Chicago.
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Unofficial ACL after party with the Cool Kids
- The A-List: The Cool Kids at Emo’s
In case you missed the Cool Kids when they were at Emo’s a couple weeks back, RollingStone.com is hosting a fly ACL after show on Friday night of the fest featuring the Kids alongside local indie pop heavies Voxtrot and Belaire. RSVP here.
(Photo by John Pesina FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Ketchum returns to Gruene Sept. 20
How’s this for kismet? Hal Ketchum was a guitar-playing carpenter from upstate New York who moved to Texas on a lark in the late ’70s. He bought a fixer-upper on the edge of New Braunfels and moved in on a Saturday. That night he heard music in the distance.
“I had come in from the San Antonio side and didn’t even know Gruene Hall existed,” Ketchum recalls in the bio that accompanies his new album “Father Time,” which comes out Tuesday. “I got in my truck and rolled the windows down and just followed this sound. I crossed the Guadalupe River and came up the hill and there was Gruene Hall on a Saturday night in all its glory, with Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel playing for 600 drunken stomps and their dates… It was like a movie.”
Gruene ended up being Ketchum’s songwriting school, as encouragement from the likes of Lyle Lovett and Butch Hancock got Ketchum thinking that maybe he could make a living at playing music. He went on to record such country hits as “Small Town Saturday Night,” “Past the Point of Rescue” and the great road song “Mama Knows the Highway.”
The new album, recorded live to two-track, with absolutely no overdubs, is a return to the simpler times. “No matter where I travel to, this place will forever be mine,” he sings on “Down Along the Guadalupe” about his years in Gruene. The only cover is Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl,” which Ketchum sings for his own Jersey girl, his wife Gina.
Ketchum comes home next Saturday for his Sixth Annual Gruene Reunion, with opening sets from Sarah Pierce, whose “Cowboy’s Daughter” is just out, and Elgin-raised soul man Malford Milligan. It should be a magical night. Go here for tickets.
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ACL Fest: Meet the bands - Sybris
Music Source: How do you plan to cope with Austin summer heat, will it cramp your onstage style?
Sybris: We’ve been practicing in all black on with sun lamps turned to 11 at a bikram yoga studio so I don’t believe we’ll have to worry about the heat. Plus it’s cool to die on stage, right?
What other bands are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
Unfortunately we’ll only be there Sunday so that narrows it down a bit. Definitely like to see Octupus Project, The Kills, Stars, Okkervil River, Colour Revolt, The Racontuers, Tegan and Sara, and Gnarls Barkley but there are some conflicts so…
What’s the last CD you paid full price for?
People still pay for music? The last music I bought was a vinyl comp “Red Wave - 4 Underground Bands from the USSR”. It’s from 1986 and I bought it because the album is covered with pictures of the bands in ‘Say Anything’ style duds with behind the red curtain hair styles. The music isn’t too bad though.
What’s the one thing you can’t live without on your tour bus/van?
Water and a sense of humor.
When you think of Texas music, who or what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
The Paper Chase, Explosions in the Sky and Whitman. Great bands.
Do you have a celebrity crush you’re willing to reveal?
I know I’ll get a lot of crap for this but I’ll say currently Jenna Fischer from “The Office.” Embarrassing.
What’s the one song you’ve always wanted to cover but never have?
Duran Duran’s “The Chauffeur” or Berlin’s “Riding on the Metro.”
What’s the one thing you want to make sure to do before leaving Austin?
Eat at Franny’s and go swimming at Barton’s Springs.
(Photo courtesy of myspace.com/sybris)
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ACL Fest: Meet the bands - Stars
Music Source: How do you plan to cope with Austin summer heat, will it cramp your onstage style?
Stars: I will refrigerate myself for several weeks before the show. I love the austin heat. It makes me feel thin.
What other bands are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
OKKERVIL RIVER!!!! Hot Chip, David Byrne, Tegan and Sara, ROKY ERICKSON!!!! SPIRITUALIZED!!!!!
What’s the last CD you paid full price for?
Captain- “This is hazelville.” I pay full price all the time!
What’s the one thing you can’t live without on your tour bus/van?
Weed.
When you think of Texas music, who or what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Weed.
Do you have a celebrity crush you’re willing to reveal?
Ben Gibbard.
What’s the one song you’ve always wanted to cover but never have?
“Video Killed the Radio Star”
What’s the one thing you want to make sure to do before leaving Austin?
Swim in Barton Springs with my friend Nick.
(Photo by Brian K. Diggs AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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ACL Fest: Meet the bands - Bavu Blakes
Music Source: How do you plan to cope with Austin summer heat, will it cramp your onstage style?
Bavu Blakes: Nope, I’ve been exercising and hydrating all summer. Let’s do this!
What other bands are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
Gnarls Barkley, John Fogerty, White Denim and Katy Perry (she’s a surprise guest in my set!)
What’s the last CD you paid full price for?
Choklate, “Choklate”.
What’s the one thing you can’t live without on your tour bus/van?
Cocaine and strippers, mainly.
When you think of Texas music, who or what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Me… then UGK and Willie.
Do you have a celebrity crush you’re willing to reveal?
Keri Hilson.
What’s the one song you’ve always wanted to cover but never have?
Bon Jovi, “Dead or Alive”.
What’s the one thing everyone should do before leaving Austin?
Slap a celebrity and YouTube it.
(Photo by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Weekend picks: Rootsy hipsters, country rockers and hardworking pimps
FRIDAY
Cross Canadian Ragweed at Nutty Brown Cafe. After years in the red dirt trenches, Cross Canadian’s busting out, with their latest, ‘Mission California,’ reaching the Top 30 of the Billboard album sales chart. The country rock band regularly plays to festival crowds of 10,000 and more, so this show at the Nutty Brown (which can fit a couple thousand) will be relatively intimate. $20. 7:30 p.m. — Michael Corcoran
Also recommended: Mogwai at Stubb’s; Gourds at Threadgill’s; Moonlight Towers and Superego All-Stars at the Hole In the Wall; the Golden Boys, the Black, the Persimmons, DJ Gerard Cosloy at the Scoot Inn; King Yellowman and the Sagittarius Band at Flamingo Cantina
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Xemumba ‘08: Un Romance Con La Musica Latino at the Mohawk. Just what it says in the title — there’s something for everyone who loves Latin music. Seu Jacinto, Ballet folklorico, Cienfuegos and many more on Friday. Crying Monkeys, Ballet Folklorico, El Tule and many more on Saturday. Doors at 5 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday. $20 per day or $30 for both days; $100 VIP tickets available. — Joe Gross
SATURDAY
Dr. Dog at the Parish. Music that threads the needle between hipster indie rock, honey harmonied pop just like Los Angeles used to make and rootsy rock. With Delta Spirit and Seth Kauffman. 8 p.m. $12. — J.G.
Also recommended: Wreckless Eric, Amy Rigby, Nic Armstrong at Emo’s Lounge; Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson at Cactus (sold out); Grimy Styles, Ohn at Flamingo Cantina
SUNDAY
Three 6 Mafia at Emo’s. Has their moment passed? This Memphis group became world-famous after winning an Academy Award for best song for ‘It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp’ from the ‘Hustle & Flow’ soundtrack. Though their new album harks back to their spare, gritty roots, it lacks the weird thrills of hits such as ‘Stay Fly.’ 7 p.m. $19. —J.G.
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Grupo Fantasma show moved one week
Because of the hurricane, the Grupo Fantasma show scheduled for Sunday night at Antone’s has been moved back a week, to Sept. 21. (It’s a benefit for the Texas Democratic Party.) Tickets will be honored.
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Lost Bayou Ramblers shows at Continental Club, Waterloo in-store canceled
From the band:
“Due to weather and road conditions resulting from Hurricane Ike the Lost Bayou Ramblers shows this weekend (scheduled for Friday and Saturday night) at the Continental Club and the Waterloo In-store performance Friday afternoon in Austin, TX have been canceled.
“We appreciate all that was done to promote this show and sincerely apologize for this cancellation. We are working with both venues to find a future date - we will let you know once these shows have been rescheduled.
“Thanks, et Merci,
“Lost Bayou Ramblers”
From Waterloo: Mario Matteoli with the full band will now perform a double in-store beginning at 5 p.m. Friday.
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Three 6 Mafia move to Emo’s
Due to weather concerns, the Three 6 Mafia show Sunday has moved from Stubb’s outdoor stage to Emo’s.
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Live Chat With Statesman pop critic Joe Gross at 2 p.m. today
No guest this week, but feel free to pepper him with questions about such topics as:
Ike-related cancellations (or lack thereof)
ACL
The latest round of Replacements reissues
Record shopping in Portland, Maine.
This week’s top albums in Austin and beyond.
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Full list of CMA nominees
Entertainer of the Year
- Kenny Chesney
- Brad Paisley
- George Strait
- Sugarland
- Keith Urban
Female Vocalist of the Year
- Alison Krauss
- Miranda Lambert
- Martina McBride
- Taylor Swift
- Carrie Underwood
Male Vocalist of the Year
- Kenny Chesney
- Alan Jackson
- Brad Paisley
- George Strait
- Keith Urban
New Artist of the Year
- Jason Aldean
- Rodney Atkins
- Lady Antebellum
- James Otto
- Kellie Pickler
Vocal Group of the Year
- Eagles
- Emerson Drive
- Lady Antebellum
- Little Big Town
- Rascal Flatts
Vocal Duo of the Year
- Big & Rich
- Brooks & Dunn
- Montgomery Gentry
- Sugarland
- The Wreckers
Single of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Producer)- “Don’t Blink” - Kenny Chesney
Produced by Buddy Cannon and Kenny Chesney
BNA Records -
“Gunpowder & Lead” - Miranda Lambert
Produced by Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke
Columbia Records -
“I Saw God Today” - George Strait
Produced by Tony Brown and George Strait
MCA Nashville -
“Stay” - Sugarland
Produced by Byron Gallimore, Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles
Mercury Nashville -
“You’re Gonna Miss This” - Trace Adkins
Produced by Frank Rogers
Capitol Records Nashville
Album of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Producer)- “Carnival Ride” - Carrie Underwood
Produced by Mark Bright
19 Records Limited/Arista Nashville -
“Cowboy Town” - Brooks & Dunn
Produced by Tony Brown, Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks
Arista Nashville -
“Good Time” - Alan Jackson
Produced by Keith Stegall
Arista Nashville -
“Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates” - Kenny Chesney
Produced by Cannon and Kenny Chesney
BNA Records -
“Troubadour” - George Strait
Produced by Tony Brown and George Strait
MCA Nashville
Song of the Year
(Award goes to Songwriter and Primary Publisher)- “Good Time” - Alan Jackson
EMI-April Music/Tri-Angels Music - “I Saw God Today” - Rodney Clawson/Monty Criswell/Wade Kirby Big Red Toe/Extremely Loud Music/Steel Wheels Music/Blind Mule Music
-
“Letter To Me” - Brad Paisley
EMI-April Music/New Sea Gayle Music - “Stay” - Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles Publishing - “You’re Gonna Miss This” - Ashley Gorley/Lee Thomas Miller
EMI Blackwood Music/New Songs of Sea Gayle/Noah’s Little Boat Music/Songs of Combustion Music
Musical Event of the Year
(Award to each Artist)- Josh Turner featuring Trisha Yearwood - “Another Try”
MCA Nashville -
Reba McEntire and Kenny Chesney - “Every Other Weekend”
MCA Nashville -
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - “Gone, Gone, Gone”
Rounder Records -
Sugarland featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen - “Life In A Northern Town”
Mercury Nashville -
Kenny Chesney (duet with George Strait) - “Shiftwork”
BNA Records
Music Video of the Year
(Award goes to Artist and Director)- “Don’t Blink” - Kenny Chesney
Directed by Shaun Silva -
“Good Time” - Alan Jackson
Directed by Trey Fanjoy - “Stay” - Sugarland
Directed by Shaun Silva - “Waitin’ On A Woman” - Brad Paisley
Directed by Jim Shea - “You’re Gonna Miss This” - Trace Adkins
Directed by Peter Zavadil
Musician of the Year
- Jerry Douglas - Dobro
- Paul Franklin - Steel Guitar
- Dann Huff - Guitar Brent
- Mason - Guitar
- Mac McAnally - Guitar
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Radio Room opening pushed to spring
Transmission Entertainment’s new Radio Room venue at 508 E. 6th St. (formerly Bourbon Rocks) had hoped to be open in time to host Of Montreal on Nov. 13, but that show has been moved to Fiesta Gardens (2101 Bergman Ave,) for the same date.
With T.E.’s Fun Fun Fun Fest on the horizon for Nov. 8 and 9, the gang has got plenty to do besides rush open a club, so co-owner Michael Terrazos (Club DeVille) says, “we’re looking at an early spring opening.” Imagine the 1,000-capacity Room, Radio will be up and running by the second weekend in March.
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KASE, Pickett garner CMA nominations
Austin country radio station KASE (FM 98.1) and KASE announcer Bob Pickett were named finalists Wednesday in the large market radio station and broadcaster of the year categories, respectively, for the 2008 Country Music Association awards.
The winners of the broadcasting division will be notified in mid-October and introduced at “The 42nd Annual CMA Awards,” to be held Wednesday, Nov. 12 in Nashville. The show will be broadcast live on ABC.
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John Hiatt show moved to Austin Music Hall
Because of Hurricane Ike, the John Hiatt/Joan Osborne show scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday at the Backyard has been moved to Austin Music Hall. Tickets will be honored at the new location.
Tickets are $28 in advance and $30 day of show and are still available at GetTix.net outlets. Call (866) 443-8849 or to go www.thebackyard.net.
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Save the “Texas State Musician” honor!
Who will succeed Shelley King as the Texas State Musician? The Texas Commission of the Arts has a call out for nominations for the honor, which has been a time-consuming, weightless gesture in its five-year existence. A creation of Senate Bill 1043, the position is voted on by a panel at TCA, which forwards its recommendation to the state legislature.
By the looks of the four honorees before Ms. King- Dale Watson (2007), Billy Joe Shaver (2006), Johnny Gimble (2005) and Ray Benson (2004) - the judges seem to be the members of Asleep At the Wheel.
For such a musically diverse state as Texas, why are all the artists, with the exception of maiden honoree, concert pianist James Dick (2003), country musicians aligned with Austin?
It’s up to us, true Texas music fans, to make this “honor” mean more, in terms of merit, than a nomination for the Best Tejano Album Grammy. Let’s send in some real suggestions, like Scarface from the Geto Boys. Bradley Jordan is a true innovator in hip-hop, helping to put Houston on the rap map.
Another great choice would be Little Joe Hernandez, the great Chicano soul singer from Temple. A classier man in all of Texas music, there is not.
It’s a dumb idea to single out one musician like a poet laureate, but as long as S.B. 1043 has alotted the resources, we should make sure that the citation starts meaning more, by nominating the most deserving. Based on the track record, this looks to be Elizabeth McQueen’s year; I have nothing against this fine singer-songwriter, but the official “Texas State Musician” should be a giant, an innovator.
Detailed information and the online nomination form are available on the TCA website
Deadline for receipt of nominations is October 5th.
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ACL passes on sale for $135!
Wednesday is Students Day for ACL Fest, with three day passes going on sale at reduced rates from 10am to 2pm at two locations: WaMu Financial Center at 24th and Guadalupe Streets and WaMu Financial Center at Hancock Center - 41st and Red River. $170 passes, which have been sold out for a few weeks, will cost $135 for those with a valid student ID.
Sales are cash only, with a limit of two per person. The allotment could sell out before 2 pm.
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CD review: LL Cool J ‘Exit 13’
LL Cool J “Exit 13”
(Def Jam)
LL Cool J named his new album “Exit 13” because it’s his 13th, and final, album on Def Jam. It follows in the footsteps of 2000’s “G.O.A.T.” (as in the Greatest of All Time) and 2002’s “Ten” (his 10th album). At this point, the most interesting thing about LL Cool J is his career.
Within rap his longevity is unprecedented: His career has spanned 23 years and several generations of rappers. When he released “Radio” in 1985, mainstream rap was still in its infancy. He complains “when I walk into a room, young boys look at me strange / as if I am a relic from some long-forgotten game.”
Some of it is stylistic. He brags more about his mike skills than his money, and when he makes club songs, he compliments women rather than demeaning them.
Some of it is technical. He sticks to the simplistic rhyme schemes of early rap and rarely varies his flow.
Indeed, the entire album has a retro feel. His collaborations with 1980s-era producers like DJ Scratch (“Rocking with the G.O.A.T.”) and Marley Marl (“You Better Watch Me”) could have been released in the 1980s.
But what set him apart all these years was charisma and song-writing. And though “Exit 13” proves he can still command a mike and rock a crowd, it’s the rare LL Cool J album without a genuine hit track.
And with no big tracks, all that’s left is a remarkably backward-looking album. He spends a great deal of time defending his rap legacy: reminding us of past success (“Launched the greatest label in the history of rap / For 23 years I carried it on my back”) and making outlandish claims of greatness (“I am the undisputed King of all Hip-Hop / Everything after is my legacy, like it or not”).
But the more he makes mediocre albums like “Exit 13” defending his legacy, the more his legacy will need defending.
Recommended tracks: ‘American Girl,’ ‘Baby’ (Rock Remix)
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Upcoming ACL tapings: Foo, Badu, Manu & Duffy
Calling the 34th season of “Austin City Limits” the best one yet, producer Terry Lickona announced Tuesday a furious taping schedule during ACL Fest, including Erykah Badu, Manu Chao, Gnarls Barkley, Swell Season and the Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl and company will tape the day after their headlining set Sunday Sept. 28.
Down the road, Duffy and Nick Lowe will tape episodes in October. The ACL hotline number is 475-9077.
The 34th season kicks off on PBS Oct. 4 with R.E.M., who recorded an episode during SXSW.
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Zilker Park soccer fields (aka the ACL fest site) to close for improvements for six months in 2009
Thanks in large part to a $2.5 million donation from C3 Presents, producers of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, the 42 acres of Zilker Park known as the soccer fields will be closed for about six months in 2009 while it is leveled, an irrigation sprinkler system installed and the park re-sodded, the Austin Parks Foundation announced today. This year’s festival is Sept. 26-28 at the park.
Although acting Parks and Recreation Department director Stuart Strong said most of the primary work would be done between January and March of 2009, the new grass will need a few months in the spring to take root.
“We’re going to put up the fence for the Trail of Lights and leave it up while the work is being done,” Strong said. “Immediately after the Trail of Lights is over, we’ll begin work.”
This money is over and above the 8.25 percent of ticket sales per year C3 donates to the Austin Parks Foundation every year, which breaks down to about one dollar per ticket.
Parks Foundation executive director Charlie McCabe said the leveling, irrigation and resodding project was already in the works, but it was planned to extend over a number of years.
“C3 proposed that the Parks Department do all of this work at once using Parks Department money and C3 will pay it back over a period of years,” Parks Foundation executive director. “This compressed the improvement cycle from a period of years to a period of months.”
In 2006, Austin-based C3 Presents signed a five-year contract with the City of Chicago to produce Lollapalooza in Grant Park, a deal which called for for C3 to donate $1 million a year to the Chicago Parkways Foundation.
Strong said that plans are in the works to provide new spaces for the events that take place at Zilker during the first half of the year.
(Photo by Larry Kolvoord AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Sonic Youth signs to Matador
As was long suspected by Austin Music Source, iconic American rock band/Stubb’s fans Sonic Youth has signed to Matador Records following the end of their contract with Geffen/Universal, where the band has been since 1990.
SY guitarist/tall guy Thurston Moore almost let the cat out of the bag a few weeks ago when he mentioned that the band was in talks with some of the bigger indies about where SY would go next. Only a few names made any sense: Sub Pop, Matador, Barsuk (if only to find out what Ben Gibbard was really like, Drag City if they were feeling especially Grateful Deadish, Touch and Go if they wanted to share a tour bus with Shellac or something.
But Matador was always the most logical fit. Label co-owner/Austinite Gerard Cosloy used to run Homestead Records, which released such early SY epics as “Bad Moon Rising” before SY departed for the then-hipper climes of SST Records, then Enigma, then Geffen.
Congrats to everyone all around. Between these fifty-somethings and Mission of Burma on the roster, there’s a joke in there somewhere about Matador as the American Sanctuary Records, but I’m not going to make it.
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El Flaco reunion Oct. 4
When I moved back to town in 1995, El Flaco looked like the band that could break out. They were kind of a Tex-Mex version on Red Hot Chili Peppers. Well, like so many other promising Austin bands, they never made it. But they’re getting back together to play a show at the Scoot Inn Oct. 4 that benefits the Handsome Joel Foundation.
Special guests include Foot Foot and Pocket FishRmen. It’s only $5 at the door.
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CD review: Okkervil River rolling
While recording “The Stage Names,” which Harp magazine named the best album of 2007, Austin-based Okkervil River was moved by a simple mantra: Be generous. Give the fans more of everything. The lyrics were the easy part, as prolific frontman Will Sheff has become something of an Oscar Wilde of the Pitchfork set, but the band would also give their fans more instrumentation, more musical ideas, more styles to latch on to.
The generosity continues with “The Stand Ins,” in stores today, which is built on songs written for “The Stage Names.” The original plan was to record a double disc, but humility prevailed.
“It just seemed too much,” Sheff says from Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lives when not touring or visiting his bandmates in Austin. He has nine more phone interviews after mine, so the time limit is 10 minutes, and Sheff, 32, spends most of it talking about just how crucial the upcoming presidential election is. But he does eventually address the double CD idea and how the more ridiculous it seemed, the more it appealed to him. Half of the 16 songs Sheff brought to the band and producer Brian Beattie in late 2006 seemed to be about the other half; why not put them together? “But eventually we decided it was better to concentrate on two short sets than to put out this big, bloated thing,” Sheff says.
Unlike the 1991 “Use Your Illusion” project — two single discs released the same day by Guns N’ Roses — Okkervil put a year between “Stage Names” and “Stand Ins.” But spiritually they’re a double CD, with both discs loosely themed on the effects of fame achieved and denied.
If you place the album cover of the new one under last year’s, the drawings fit together. Also, the credits and “thanks to” pages are almost identical. Both CD booklets isolate snippets of “Okkervil River,” the book by Russian writer Tatyana Tolstaya that gave the band its unwieldy name 10 years ago.
But where “Stage Names” was an instant delight, shattering the “lit rock” tag with big guitar riffs and a touch of mascara, “The Stand Ins” is a more difficult record. After the joyful opener “Lost Coastlines,” featuring a duet with Sheff and recently departed Jonathan (Shearwater) Meiburg, it seemed somewhat dense and dreary on first listen.
The albums you love the most, that stand up over time: Doesn’t it seem that those are the records you didn’t like much on the first couple of listens? I’m thinking about Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” and “Get Happy!” by Elvis Costello and the Attractions and everything by the Velvet Underground. We want to be entertained, not challenged, but hang in there and you just may have a friend for life.
So although I was initially disappointed by “The Stand Ins,” I wasn’t too worried that Austin’s gift to the indie rock world had shoved out a dud. Out of respect for “The Stage Names” and 2005’s “Black Sheep Boy,” the album that put this River on the map, I played “Stand Ins” about every two or three days. I quickly came around on “Starry Stairs,” the companion to last year’s “Savannah Smiles,” told from the point of view of the suicidal porn star Shannon “Savannah” Wilsey. And sly rocker “Pop Lie” soon proved to be this year’s “Our Life Is a Movie or Maybe.” But most of the other songs sounded too long. Of the painfully slow “Blue Tulip,” I wrote in a notepad that it was “a cattleguard for further listening.”
Then one morning I woke up with a melody on my mind, one I knew was from a record I’d been listening to, but which one? It sounded vaguely like a Will Sheff song, so I put on “Stand Ins” and found the unshakeable ditty was “On Tour With Zykos,” a song I hadn’t thought much of before. After “Zykos” played, I listened to the whole album, and I know it’s a cliche, but I “got” it. The complicated succession of musical tones all made sense, as if Sheff (like Robert Pollard from Guided By Voices) possesses this magical gift to pull melodies out of his pockets like candies for begging children.
“The kids all waited to meet the man in bright green who had dreamed up the dream that they wrecked their hearts upon,” Sheff sings in “Pop Lie,” continuing, “He’s the liar who lied in his pop songs, and you’re lying when you’re singing along.” The song is clearly not autobiographical.
Has any other Austin band created such an extremely high level of recorded music in such a short time?
No.
“The Stage Names” and “The Stand Ins,” tributaries that meet at a larger body, are the local scene’s “Exile On Main Street” (another classic I didn’t like much at first). There’s just so much in those records. Be generous, indeed.
As “The Stage Names” ended with “John Allyn Smith Sails,” a last look at life from a bridge through the eyes of poet John Berryman, “The Stand Ins” closes with another tragically misunderstood figure whose promise turns to depression and then death. “Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel 1979” is based on little-known ’70s rocker Jobriath (real name Campbell). The year 1979 was the midpoint between when Jobriath was dropped by Elektra after dismal LP sales and when he succumbed to AIDS.
“Bruce Wayne Campbell” is the most difficult song on a difficult album, a weary tale of a sad, proud man who never had everything he was told he’d get, yet still felt as if he lost it all.
Sheff’s voice breaks under the weight. The air becomes uncomfortable. But as the song goes on, there’s something happening musically; a line of sweet nostalgia inspires a happy rhythm. A string section, stray horns, galloping drums and carnival steel guitars converge in a gorgeous blast of dignity. It’s not “Sloop John B,” but it’s all right.
That’s something good about splitting a double CD: two endings.
ACL Fest: Okkervil River will play the fest, Sunday, 5:30 p.m., AT&T Blue Room stage.
(Photo by Steve Gullick JAGJAGUWAR)
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5 ways to get your ACL groove on
The Austin City Limits Music Festival can seem overwhelmingly when you’re staring at the schedule. Here are five ways to make sense of the offerings, depending on how you want to have fun.
All the Big Names
Do you want to see you saw the most famous acts at ACL? Be warned: They’re often playing at the same time.
- 1. David Byrne (Friday, 6:30 p.m., AT&T stage)
- Photos: The rest
Make It Mellow
Singer-songwriters are a staple of the Austin vibe.
- 1. Sunny Sweeny (Friday, 2:30 p.m., BMI stage)
- Photos: The rest
All She Wants To Do is Dance
“Funky” is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about ACL (unless you mean the smell of 65,000 people after three says in the sun) but here are five acts that will make you shake it like a salt shaker.
- 1. N.E.R.D. (Friday, 6:30 p.m., AMD stage)
- Photos: The rest
ATX in the House
All Austin bands all, the time.
- 1. Asleep at the Wheel (Friday, 12:30 p.m., AMD stage)
- Photos: The rest
Gimmie Indie Rock!
What the kids who love KVRX and the Mohawk will be watching.
- 1.Yeasayer (Friday, 1:30 p.m., Dell stage)
- Photos: The rest
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Danny Young tribute not happening Thursday
We just heard word from Dianne Scott of the Continental:
“Sorry everyone but we have just found out that the Friends of Danny Roy Young show on Thursday 9/11 is NOT going to happen. We are currently working on a replacement show & will let you know ASAP when that is confirmed. I appreciate your patience with this ever-changing listing.”
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And then- Boom!- Caliendo postpones
Try to zone out cackling newscasters
John Madden can rest easier this week, as his chief tormentor, impersonator Frank Caliendo, has postponed the last leg of his tour, including Thursday at the Paramount Theatre.
“Weather concerns” is the official reason, as Caliendo had scheduled dates in Louisiana and Florida as Hurricane Ike looms. “He just decided to postpone the rest of the dates he had,” said someone at the Paramount box office, who declined to give her name. “We’ll have a makeup date in 09,” she said. Sept. 11 tickets will be good for the new date.
For those who don’t want to wait, the Paramount is offering refunds at the point of purchase until Nov. 1.
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Review: Squeeze at La Zona Rosa
At La Zona Rosa Friday night, new wave hitmakers Squeeze had no comeback record to promote. Instead, they stuck with oldie-goodie types, pleasing a full house that, minus one or two faux-blokes who tried proving their British sensibility by yelling “Oi! Oi! Oi!,” was attentive if not over-effusive.
Fastball set the stage with new songs (from an album they intend to release next year) and crowd-pleasers “The Way” and “Out of My Head.” The headliners arrived with a “Strong in Reason” that sounded substantially friendlier than the original recording but, like most others here, was still pretty close. Standing before a video screen offering footage that was sometimes obvious (vintage percolator ads to accompany “Black Coffee in Bed”), sometimes clever (a slide show of difficult duos like Abbott & Costello and Sonny & Cher for “If I Didn’t Love You”) but most often a repetitive distraction from the band, they focused on their earliest albums with exceptions like the later U.S. hit “Hourglass.”
Aside from coaching the crowd good-naturedly on the proper way to sing along with “Coffee” — those trying it at home should repeat the “last four syllables” of each line — singer Glenn Tilbrook hardly spoke between songs but was in beautiful voice during them, his high notes demonstrating none of the 30-plus years since the group’s start.
Returned partner Chris Difford was a touch less lively, with a perfunctory backup vocal on “Tempted,” but shone on some of his own songs and in the killer double-barrel tune “Take Me I’m Yours.”
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Opinion: “Sarahcuda” and other candidates should need permission for stump songs
Incidental background music?
It’s the same old (purloined) song. Another act is appalled that their music has been used to promote a candidate whose political views are not representative of the songwriters.’ When vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin joined John McCain onstage at the Republican National Convention last week to the sound of “Barracuda” by Heart, the sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson condemned the usage and had their song’s publisher send out a “cease and desist” request. A request, mind you, not an order.
Using First Ammendment protection, candidates do not need permission to play certain songs at rallies, but need only pay the same sort of licensing fees to BMI and ASCAP that radio stations or sports stadiums pay to play recordings in public. The campaign needs to get written approval from the writer and publisher only if a song is used in a commercial or a documentary.
That’s not right. When, say, Susan Castle of KGSR plays “Gimme Some (Money)” by Grupo Fantasma, she’s not checking the mailbox the next day looking for cash. It’s just a song on the radio. But when the Alaska governor plays “Barracuda” behind her, she’s using the song to establish an image of a fierce fighter. How is it that the Rolling Stones get millions from Microsoft to use “Start Me Up” to sell computers, yet the Heart sisters receive only token payment when their song is used to sell a vice-presidential candidate?
Here’s a story in the Indianapolis Business Journal that goes into greater detail on the legal gray area between campaigns and the songs they play.
Tom Scholz of Boston put it best when, angered by Republican candidate Mike Huckabee’s use of “More Than a Feeling,” he fired off an angry letter to the campaign, writing “by using my song, and my band’s name Boston, you have taken something of mine and used it to promote ideas to which I am opposed. In other words, I think I’ve been ripped off, dude!”
Current copywright law needs updating because, let’s face it, televised campaign rallies are commercials. Paying a licensing fee of a couple thousand dollars does not compensate artists who feel their work is being used, not only without permission, but with complete disregard to its message. (Remember Ronald Reagan’s missappropriation of “Born In the USA”?)
And let’s not just put this on the GOP; Barack Obama’s unauthorized use of “Only In America” by Brooks & Dunn- a Bush campaign song of four years ago - is equally guilty. Though in that case the song didn’t pump up the crowd, but, rather, deflated the enthusiasm somewhat.
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Escovedo to make “Tonight Show” debut
Alejandro Escovedo has wasted no time getting back in the swing of things after a monthlong break. He’ll be appearing Thursday night on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Meanwhile, KGSR has added “Sister Lost Soul” to its playlist, so expect to hear that song about 15 times a day.
No word yet on if or when he’ll make up the canceled date on Letterman.
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Kasey & Shane ‘Rattlin’ through town
Lucky are those who got tickets to the Sept. 13 Cactus show by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, the captivating couple from Down Under, doing a mini-tour of the States to promote their new “Rattlin’ Bones” CD. It could be one of the most magical nights ever at the cozy listening room known for its share of magical nights.
Chambers, who was 23 when her debut “The Captain” was released in 1999, is now a mother of two who has rarely toured the States in recent years. She met Nicholson, who made his U.S. debut at SXSW in 2003, when she sang background vocals on his “It’s a Movie” album, produced by her brother Nash Chambers. “Rattlin’ Bones” (video above) is the first song the couple, who have a baby son named Arlo, wrote together.
Although the show quickly sold out, you’ll be able to hear Kasey & Shane play live on KUT the day of the show, possibly during “Folkways.”
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ACL Fest: Meet the bands - Nakia and his Southern Cousins
Music Source: How do you plan to cope with Austin summer heat, will it cramp your onstage style?
Nakia: Well, to be honest with you I sweat a lot on stage. Hot or cold. Inside or outside. Rain or shine…I’ll be sweating. So not much else to do but what I always do…Drink LOTS of water!
What other bands are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
In no particular order: Beck, Elizabeth Wills, David Byrne, Iron & Wine, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, and more than I can probably name right now.
What’s the last CD you paid full price for?
You mean actual CD? From Waterloo? Not iTunes? Hmmm… “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” by Joe Cocker - Amazing record.
What’s the one thing you can’t live without on your tour bus/van?
That’s simple… Radio.
When you think of Texas music, who or what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Not trying to sound too nostalgic here, but probably the “Austin City Limits” series on PBS. I grew up watching that in Alabama and so in my mind - as a kid - that was Texas music.
Do you have a celebrity crush you’re willing to reveal?
You’re naughty! I am SUCH A FANBOY and have WAY TOO MANY to name, but I wouldn’t dare spill my guts to you!
What’s the one song you’ve always wanted to cover but never have?
“Baby I’m A Star” by Prince. That song is filled with so much raw energy and emotion and it just really moves me.
What’s the one thing everyone should do before leaving Austin?
You mean besides see Nakia & His Southern Cousins live? (We play with the South Austin Jug Band at Momo’s the Thursday before ACL.) Oh… Well… I usually always take out-of-towners straight to Threadgill’s and throw down on some hot, fresh rolls. Seriously? Have you had those? They are like crack made of yeast and flour doughy goodness. Oh I need a fix now!
(Photo by Amanda Klauss)
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Weekend Picks: Aggie rockers, Latin soul and 80s pop
Friday: Squeeze, Fastball at La Zona Rosa. Glenn Tilbrook is still one of the greatest pop singers of our time, and when Chris Difford tags along, he gets to call himself Squeeze. Oh, to hear ‘Another Nail in My Heart’ live one more time. And Austin’s Fastball is no slouch when it comes to serving the Beatles in ‘The Way’ of modern rock. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8. — Michael Corcoran
Friday: Hump! Afro-Latin Soul edition at Plush. DJs Resinthol and Paco add a little Latin flava to their weekly Friday night classic funk, soul and boogie party. Renowned jazz trumpet player Ephraim Owens will sit in on the set and Tigre Liu will play MC for the evening. Free before 11 p.m., $5 after. —-Deborah Sengupta Stith
Friday: Roger Creager at Midnight Rodeo.This Aggie from Corpus is getting great reviews for his new ‘Here It Is’ CD, co-produced by Radney Foster and Lloyd Maines. Creager has instincts to rock, but Maines’ steel guitar pulls it back to the country. 10 p.m. — M.C.
Friday-Saturday: The Hip-Hop Theater Explosion at the Vortex. Although I’m not 100 percent sold on the concept of a “hip-hop variety show” in a theater setting, the lineup of performers on the bill for the fourth incarnation of “interdisciplinary theater/performance poet,” Zell Miller’s production is excellent. Included on the bill are Eastside rap godfather Nook, profound up-and-comers Public Offenders, SaulPaul, DJ S.T.A.T.I.K. and a mess of other dancers, poets and artists. $10-$30 —-D.S.S.
Saturday: The Lemurs EP release at the Mohawk. As our colleague Brandon Cobb remarked, “The Lemurs channel the spirit of eighties New Wave giants like the Cure and New Order and give that synth-rock sound a much needed indie facelift.” Belaire, Low Line Caller and Pink Nasty will also perform and the $12 ticket price includes a copy of the new EP. —-D.S.S.
Saturday: Bett Butler at Eddie V’s. As made clear on ‘When Love Has Left the Room’ from the new ‘Myths & Fables’ CD, this San Antonio singer/pianist is a true artist, if not a great singer. Her forte is creating rich story songs fluttering over a South American/South Philly soundscape we have to call jazz because the right word hasn’t been invented. Butler’s not-so-typical Chamber Jazz Trio (with Joel Dilley on bass and Cecil Carter on trumpet) will bring a whole new vibe to Eddie V’s. 8 p.m.-midnight. — M.C.
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Live chat with Michael Corcoran today at 2 p.m.
Do I sometimes review shows I don’t attend? This is a charge I’ve been hearing for years, most recently from an irate posting from Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, after I blasted the choice of “Only In America” as Barack Obama’s acceptance speech outro music:
“Corcoran….aren’t you the guy who used to critique Brooks and Dunn shows for some Dallas paper. We found out later that you weren’t even there!” it starts off. I’m sure this is the real Ronnie D because of other details in the posting that only the true shriller would know.
Anyway, now’s your chance to have at me, to wonder if we were at the same show, to ask what sort of credentials I have to review music, to ask what a 52-year-old man could possibly be doing at a punk or hip hop show. And did I really sit at home watching “thirtysomething” while Loggins & Oates were doing “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”?
Now’s your chance to pin me down, exactly 33 1/3 years after I published my first record review. Let’s mix it up like the old days.
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Jon Dee gets flavor, favors
Jo’s Coffee (1300 S. Congress) is hosting a benefit for Jon Dee Graham this Sunday from 12:30- 3:00pm. There Amy’s Ice Cream unveils the new Jon Dee Honey Graham ice cream, perhaps the only dessert to contain nicotine (just kidding).
Live music will be by Tina Rose and the Jo’s Band and Sweet Leaf Tea will be selling lemonade, with all the proceeds going towards Graham’s massive medical bills after a serious car accident July 25 on I-35.
Jon Dee CDs and the new DVD “Swept Away” will also be available.
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Review and live shots: GZA at Emo’s
Rapper GZA of the WuTang Clan was in the house for Emo’s 16th birthday celebration last night. Check out live shots from the show.
- Photos: GZA at Emo’s
Orson Welles had it easy. Shackled as he was throughout his career by his early greatness, and inability to replicate it, at least he didn’t have to trot around the globe doing stage renditions of “Citizen Kane” every time he needed to score a buck.
Which brings us to Wu-Tang Clan shining light GZA/Genius, who should just have the phrase “performing ‘Liquid Swords’” legally added to his name at this point since he’s been operating under the shadow of his monstrously revered debut album for the better part of a decade.
It was there on the bill for Wednesday’s show at Emo’s, attracting a mix of hardcore hip-hop heads who were either hip to GZA’s precise lyrical dexterity from the beginning or latched on as “Sword“‘s reputation blossomed through the years while his able followups have foundered.
That’s what the jam-packed crowd came for though, and they were happy from the moment the Long Island MC stepped onto the stage — outfitted simply in a black GZA T-shirt and backward ball cap — and laced into the razor-sharp lyrics of classics like “Duel of the Iron Mic” and “Swordsmen.” It was obvious GZA hasn’t lost any skill or enthusiasm for this material and on Wednesday seemed much more engaged than during a particularly lackluster “Liquid Swords” Revue in March at Stubb’s during SXSW.
The downfall of the revue approach, though, is that it caters to the past and that the few cuts from “Beneath The Surface” or the new “Pro Tools” scattered in the 85 minutes got a merely polite reception when they deserve much better.
The ravenous cheers were, of course, reserved for classics like a verse from deceased Wu-Tanger Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” or the mere mention of “Clan In Da Front,” his standout track from Wu-Tang’s artform-changing debut.
By that point it was clear that for GZA and his fanbase “Clan” and “Liquid Swords” have become their answer answer to Welles and Charles Foster Kane’s “rosebud”; an escape to an earlier, simpler time that gains luster through the fog of years.
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LP review: Terrence Howard
Terrence Howard
“Shine Through It” (Columbia)
Would this be a record worth buying if Terrence Howard wasn’t a well-known actor, the Billy Dee Williams of his time? That’s the $15.98 question. Turns out that Howard, so brilliant in “Hustle & Flow,” is the anti-Bruce Willis. Hide your head in shame, Scarlett Johansson; this is no vanity project, but a work that overflows with self-expression.
Untrained and unbridled, Howard sings the moonlight outta this one and with a Columbia Records recording budget to work with, produces a grandiose backdrop of strings and fluglehorns.
“Shine Through It” sounds like the child Nina Simone and Quincy Jones gave up for adoption. The rapid-fire recalling of “Mr. Johnson’s Lawn” is the closest Howard gets to hip=hop, but then, he doesn’t really align his music with any genre, though if pressed, jazz-soul would be in the ballpark.
If there’s an obvious criticism it’s that this album is a bit overwrought, with each number a soul-drenched workout. Howard goes through a wide range of emotions, usually starting each song with a James Taylor-derived lilt, but then letting the music overtake him until all the fury flies out.
A ditty or two would’ve been nice, but instead co-producer Howard (with Miles Mosley) creates space by putting the salsa-favored big band instrumental “Spanish Love Affair” at the midpoint of all the drama. The palate-cleanser leads into two of the highlights, “Plenty” and “I Remember When,” which, along with the title track, are most primed for radio.
But lyrically, Howard is more into obtuse personal poetry than creating hit songs. His words make better sense when they’re playing off the everpresent saxophones and violins.
Impressive as most of the album is, the outlandishly dense closer “War” tips the hand that, regardless of Oscar nominations, Howard is in the same cluster as other debut artists. A bit more simplification would’ve served this project better.
“All I ever wanted to be is a little bit more like me,” Howard sings on the arms-out title track. He’s getting there.
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Praise for Slipknot’s ‘All Hope is Gone’
When Slipknot emerged in the late ’90s they were pretty much considered a freak show by the mainstream masses (all weird masks and black coveralls) but they have, seemingly against all odds, become an arena band, with Grammys and platinum albums to their name.
This recent album, the band’s fourth studio release and co-produced with Dave Fortman of Evanescence fame, is a furious percussive assault on the psyche that not only beats you into blubbering submission but cleverly incorporates not inconsiderable melodic nous. Tracks like ‘Sulfur,’ ‘Gehenna’ and ‘Butcher’s Hook’ all predictably suffer from atypical metal-induced slop-lyricism, but it’s really the way the band’s musical ideas are presented that is the real surprise. On “All Hope Is Gone” there is a genuine attempt at presenting real song structure and melody while keeping their audience happy with the standard metal “sturm und drang” of down-tuned, bruising guitar work, speedball drumming, and phlegm-laden vocals.
Of course Slipknot could, and should, be viewed as slide-ruled metal product, all dark imagery and teen-angst/satanic lyrics, but beneath the ridiculous image there lurks a suffocating heart of darkness that makes ‘All Hope Is Gone,’ a claustrophobic and liberating experience. Akin to being locked up with nine serial killers who haven’t fed for awhile, but would probably let you call your mom before devouring you, the album is a blood-letting of almost ritual proportions, and just for that reason alone it should be recognized as one of the best metal albums of this year. Surprisingly good.
Recommended: ‘Vendetta’ and ‘Butcher’s Hook’
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Tejano radio is back in Austin
Such Tejano acts as
The move comes six months after Encino Broadcasting, headed by Jose Jaime Garcia Jr., bought back three AM stations- KOKE, KTXZ and KELG- Garcia’s former company, Dynamic Radio Broadcasting, had sold to Border Media Partners in August 2004. Garcia said he paid about $5.5 million for the stations. BMP paid Garcia $19 million for four AM and one FM station in 2004, but the most valued property was KKLB, now called KXXS, (FM 92.5), with a high-rated Spanish hits format.
“Our main goal was to be a low cost provider, making advertising accessible to mom and pop businesses,” said Garcia, the son of local Spanish language broadcasting pioneer Jose Jaime Garcia. Sr., who passed away in 1986. “But we got so many phone calls from people who wanted to hear Tejano music on the radio again, we decided to go that way.” He also credits former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos and Tejano Music Coalition with helping convincing him that Tejano was still a popular genre in Austin. The new format is called Para la Gente or “For the People.” Within the next two weeks KTXZ will be simulcast on 95.1 FM.
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Chamillionaire in-store at Musicmania
Houston heavyweight Chamillionaire will be dropping by Musicmania on Friday, September 5 at 4 p.m. He’ll be promoting his latest release ‘Mixtape Messiah 4’ and signing autographs.
(Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Big State Festival not happening in ‘08
Apparently, C3 Presents couldn’t get Rodeohead. In a brief email from publicists Fresh & Clean, C3 has finally announced that they’re throwing in the towel on this year’s Big State Festival, the country music event which had been planned for the Dallas suburb of Frisco. C3’s Charlie Walker cited “a lack of top tier talent” as the reason the fest isn’t happening this year. I’d say a lack of available top tier talent is a problem with the country music industry as a whole.
Last year’s inaugural Big State, which hoped to be a country music answer to C3’s popular Austin City Limits Music Festival, took place over a weekend in College Station, with a cast of high-paid headliners, including Tim McGraw, Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson. Walkup ticket sales to the two-day event were no doubt hindered by depression following Texas A&M’s drubbing at the hands of Texas Tech in Lubbock on the first day. Nothing kills a buzz like 35-7.
Earlier this year, C3 bailed on plans to produce a big festival in Vineland, New Jersey when a competing fest snagged Radiohead as headliner. C3 has given up entirely on Vineland, but it’s not known whether Big State will return next year.
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ACL Fest: Meet the bands - South Austin Jug Band
We sent out questions via e-mail to all the acts playing ACL this year (Robert Plant, perhaps your answers are stuck in our spam filter). Here, James Hyland of South Austin Jug Band shares his thoughts:
Music Source: How do you plan to cope with Austin summer heat, will it cramp your onstage style?
James Hyland: Tour the Northwest… it feels GREAT!
What other bands are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
Beck.
What’s the last CD you paid full price for?
Lyle Lovett, “The Road to Ensenada”
When you think of Texas music, who or what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Willie Nelson
What’s the one thing you can’t live without on your tour bus/van?
Can you say “ganja” online?
Do you have a celebrity crush you’re willing to reveal?
Randy Marsh and Sally Bretton
What’s the one song you’ve always wanted to cover but never have?
“Hot for Teacher”
What’s the one thing everyone should do before leaving Austin?
Spend a night with the South Austin Jug Band.
Before ACL on Sept. 28, South Austin Jug Band is scheduled to play Sept. 12 at the Parish.
(Photo by Tammy Perez FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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ACL Fest: Meet the bands - Elizabeth Wills
Music Source: How do you plan to cope with Austin summer heat, will it cramp your onstage style?
Elizabeth Wills: I will have plenty o’ h2o on hand. It won’t cramp our style at all. I grew up in texas and I am no heat sissy. And it doesn’t hurt that we are playing in the morning.
What other bands are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
Neko Case, Patty Griffin, Allison Krauss, David Byrne and pretty much anyone else i can get to in time to see. The line up is stellar.. as usual!
What’s the last CD you paid full price for?
Joni Mitchell’s latest, ‘Shine.’
What’s the one thing you can’t live without on your tour bus/van?
My feather pillow. It fits in a tiny bag and I can even take it with me when I fly!
When you think of Texas music, who or what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Amazing songwriting and Willie Nelson.
Do you have a celebrity crush you’re willing to reveal?
Yes, willing, but not able.
What’s the one song you’ve always wanted to cover but never have?
Anything by Annie Lennox.
What’s the one thing you want to make sure to do before leaving Austin?
Turn off the stove.
(Photo courtesy of myspace.com/elizabethwillsmusic.)
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ACL Fest: Meet the bands - Nicole Atkins
Music Source: How do you plan to cope with Austin summer heat, will it cramp your onstage style?
Nicole Atkins: I’m trying to wear less taffeta onstage. trying to find a good summer dress with some armpit ventilation.
What other bands are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?
I’m playing on Sunday so I’m looking forward to seeing Neko Case, the Raconteurs, and Band of Horses. I wish I was gonna be there on the first day for David Byrne. Shucks!
What’s the last CD you paid full price for?
The Parlor Mob “And You Were a Crow,” the best rock ‘n’ roll cd that’s come out from a band that’s my age.
What’s the one thing you can’t live without on your tour bus/van?
Headphones and a good book. A pillow too!
When you think of Texas music, who or what is the first thing that comes to your mind?
Cotton Mather!!!!
Do you have a celebrity crush you’re willing to reveal?
I was really into Jack Nicholson during his “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest” days.
What’s the one song you’ve always wanted to cover but never have?
“Echoes” from Pink Floyd.
What’s the one thing you want to make sure to do before leaving Austin?
See a thousand faces and rock them all! Ha ha!
(Photo by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Redd Volkaert on Jerry Reed
“This is such sad news,” Austin’s Telecaster master Redd Volkaert said Tuesday, in response to the news that Jerry Reed had passed away at age 71 in Nashville. “His playing was so funky, so jacked up, yet so articulate,” Volkaert said of Reed, who became better known as an actor (“Smokey and the Bandit,” “The Waterboy”) than a guitar picker later in his career. “Nobody played like Jerry Reed,” said Volkaert, who would watch Reed’s appearances on “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” with a guitar in his lap. “You couldn’t really learn his stuff. He was like Django Reinhardt, with all those intricate patterns.”
Volkaert, whose new record “Reddhead” comes out Sept. 16, says he picked up the Fender Telecaster as a kid to emulate the Bakersfield guitars of Don Rich (Buck Owens) and Roy Nichols (Merle Haggard). Then later he heard what Reed could do with a Telecaster and it blew him away. “He was Chet Atkins on fire.” Reed’s snappy, chicken-pickin’ style on “Amos Moses” in 1971 still influences country rock guitarists. “Everybody wanted that sound,” Volkaert said.
Reminded that Atkins, considered the greatest fingerpicker in country music history, used to say that Reed was better, Volkaert said, “Even the greats have their heroes.”
Asked if he had a favorite Reed piece, Volkaert mentioned “Lightnin’ Rod,” which Reed played on a classical guitar. Check it out.
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“Guitar Man” Jerry Reed 1937- 2008
I can’t forget the first time I heard “Amos Moses” on the radio in late 1970. Tony Joe White (“Polk Salad Annie”), Dusty Springfield (“Son of a Preacher Man”), Bobbie Gentry (“Ode To Billy Joe”) and Creedence had pioneered the “rural contemporary” sub-genre, bringing the deep down south to the top of the pop charts, but nothing prepared me for that chompin,’ searin’ bayou riff rock that sprung from the guitar and vocals of Jerry Reed. After I picked myself off the floor, I went to the BX at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho, and let out a squeal when I found “Amos Moses.” It was my favorite record for a long time.
Reed, who was, sadly, better known as a character actor in Burt Reynolds movies, died Monday of complications from emphysema. He was 71. Most folks don’t realize Reed was a sensational guitar picker before he started having hits with “Amos Moses,” “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft),”and “The Bird.” But the legendary Chet Atkins had always said that Reed was the better fingerpicker.
He also wrote “Guitar Man,” which became a hit for Elvis Presley in 1967. When Presley’s producer couldn’t get the right guitar sound for the sessions, he brought in Reed, who proved to be the only one who could nail that part.
Reed is survived by his wife of 49 years and two daughters.
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An introduction to the blues, Austin style
“A Brief History of the Blues” (Universal)
Charlie Sexton and Tonio K were given the easiest job imaginable when Universal Records tapped the longtime friends to compile a CD that, conceptually, could best explain blues music to extraterrestrials (disguised as Tarrytown housewives?). Universal was no doubt looking for a gateway drug to their blues vaults and what the exec-producers gave them was a collection that aficionados would scoff at as too obvious, when that’s exactly the point.
All the great touchstones of the genre are here, from Bessie Smith’s stroll with Louis Armstrong’s horn on 1925’s “St. Louis Blues” and Robert Johnson’s dusty “Walkin’ Blues,” through the Muddy (“I’m Ready”) and Wolf (“The Red Rooster”) glory years and the barroom soul of “All Your Love (I Miss Loving) by Otis Rush and “Wang Dang Doodle” by Koko Taylor. Of course, “My Babe” by Little Walter and John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” are here.
A pair of new productions by Sexton, including Doyle Bramhall II dueting with Erykah Badu on an “Oh, Death” that sounds like it’s from Tom Waits’ “Swordfish Trombones” period, help keep the air from getting musty. This is that rare blues CD without a single throwaway track.
In addition to the co-stewardship of Sexton, this collection has strong Austin ties. The cover portrait of Little Walter is a Suzie Millions painting Tonio K (“Life In the Foodchain”) bought at Yard Dog on South Congress Avenue. And the producers sought input from Mike Buck of Antone’s Record Shop while putting together an album that gets to the core of the blues canon.
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CD review: Young Jeezy ‘The Recession’
Young Jeezy
‘The Recession’ (Def Jam)
The introduction of Young Jeezy’s new album “The Recession” features newscasters talking about gas prices and the economy. The album ends with a song about Barack Obama (“My President”) featuring Nas. Otherwise, it’s basically indistinguishable from his first two albums.
He still raps about crack dealing as self-actualization (“I can show you how to make a mil right now”). He sticks to the same dark, epic orchestrations of his previous hits (“Soul Survivor”). And he faithfully uses his trademark flow - raspy, slow and ad-lib heavy - throughout.
The rare track that varies at all from this formula, like the soul-sampling “Circulate,” stands out as a result. “The Recession” is an 18-track album that seems to contain less than half-a-dozen distinct songs.
But specialization has its benefits. He only makes one type of song, but he makes that song very well, and the customer can count on that same level of quality every time. So if you like the ubiquitous lead single “Put On” you’ll like “The Recession.”
The chorus to his Obama song sums up his philosophy pretty well: “My president is black, my Lambo is blue / And I’ll be (expletive) if my rims ain’t too / My money’s light green, and my Jordan’s light grey/ And they love to see white, now how much you trying to pay.”
He sees the prospect of a black president as inspirational, not to change society, but to make more money. It’s the album’s underlying theme: Times may be bad, but the bills still have to be paid. He may not know Obama’s message very well, but he sure knows America’s.
Recommended: “My President”, “Put On”
