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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
T-Bird and the Breaks kick off monthly 7-inch single series
To the dyed-in-the-wool vinyl fans who haunt Cheapo Discs at late hours of the night and comb through the bins at Antone’s Records, take note: T-Bird and the Breaks have got your back.
The groovy, bass line-loving local soul players recently re-released debut album “Learn About It” on record, and are continuing their vinyl fixation with a monthly series of 7-inch singles. The inaugural 45 RPM, “Monkey Wrench,” with “Nightshade Mary” on the B-side, came out this month. The series is planned to run for six months, though Tim Crane, also known as T-Bird, says it might last longer if interest is high enough. The vinyl releases will be available for $5 a pop at shows, local record stores and online. The songs also will be available for digital download.
“We just got so much new material we could be putting out, and to sit around for like two years and then drop another album seems like too long. We just released an album in January and it already feels like forever,” Crane says. “We’re always working on new stuff. I’m sitting on a pile of songs right now. I just want to be putting out new music all the time. New stuff keeps it fresh.”
The singles also afford the band the opportunity to release live cuts and cover versions that wouldn’t make sense on a longer album, Crane says. Then there’s the bonus of releasing new material on vinyl, a format Crane has a clear affection for.
“That’s how I came up, you know, digging into bins and finding something that I’d never even heard of and sure wasn’t released on CD,” Crane says. “And in terms of a physical product wax is where it’s at. A lot of kids don’t understand that, but the record is kind of like the Cadillac of the listening process.”
Take a listen to the first two songs below. T-Bird and the Breaks depart for a brief tour Thursday (Nov. 19) but will return to Austin Nov. 26 for a show at Momo’s.
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DVR alert! Pearl Jam on ‘ACL’ Saturday
Pearl Jam’s “Austin City Limits” taping, reviewed live here by Austin 360’s Chad Swiatecki, hits the small screen Saturday at 7 p.m. on KLRU. It’s the last program of 2009 for “ACL.”
Renowned local string ensemble Will Taylor and Strings Attached joined the legendary rock band on stage for two songs — “The End” and “Just Breathe” — as well as a brief improvisational jam. Taylor says Pearl Jam reached out to him via e-mail about a week and half before the taping, sending along sheet music in PDF form.
“It came completely out of the blue. I frankly was not real familiar with Pearl Jam other than that they were a very famous rock band that had been around about 20 years and had a lot of longevity,” says Taylor. “But I recognized it was a great opportunity. All these years of living in Austin and contributing to the music here and I’d never been on any ACL program. When I was backstage talking to (“Austin City Limits” producer) Terry Lickona he was like ‘So how many times is this for you?’ And I was like ‘Actually, this is the first time.’”
Taylor and company also joined Pearl Jam backstage for a slightly less intense undertaking — a few rounds of ping pong. The band famously carts a ping pong table around on tour as a way of blowing off stress. The entire experience, Taylor says, was slightly intimidating but went off without a hitch.
“It was thrilling and terrifying, even with all these years — for myself, over 25 years — of playing on various stages all over the world. Getting to play on Austin City Limits was a bit terrifying,” Taylor says. “The idea that millions of people are going to be watching it. But it was great.”
Check out “Just Breathe,” featuring Will Taylor and Strings Attached, below, and when you’re done be sure to surf on over to the official Austin City Limits Web site, where you can watch a time-lapse video of the entire taping. Keep your eyes peeled and you just might spot our own Chad Swiatecki.
Rounding out the 35th season are these shows:
January 9- Allen Toussaint
January 16- K’ Naan / Mos Def
January 23- The Avett Brothers / Heartless Bastards
January 30- Steve Earle / Kris Kristofferson
February 6- Esperanza Spalding / Madeleine Peyroux
February 13- Them Crooked Vultures
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Idol Jason Castro headlines Domain tree-lighting ceremony
Another year, another Idol.
This time it’s Jason Castro who will perform at the Lighting of the Macy’s Great Tree at the Domain. (For those who don’t breathlessly follow “American Idol,” Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks had the honor last year.)
Castro, the dreadlocked Aggie who kept everyone guessing during the show’s seventh season, didn’t win, but he came pretty darn close. A Top 4 finish and a diverse fan base — part swooning girls, part maroon bloods, part fans of anything but bubblegum pop — helped the North Texan snag a deal with Atlantic Records. His first album is due to hit shelves Jan. 26, but folks who just can’t wait till then can listen to a single, “Let’s Just Fall in Love Again,” right now at jasoncastromusic.com.
“There will be all the stuff you would expect,” Castro promises when asked about the self-titled album. “Some intimate acoustics … stuff with a guitar.”
Castro held auditions in Los Angeles earlier this year, putting together a band in just a matter of days. Look for them to tag along when he hits the road next year.
Also likely to be aboard the tour bus? Castro’s new fiancee. He popped the question to girlfriend Mandy Mayhall at a tailgate party before the Oklahoma-Kansas State football game in Norman, Okla., on Halloween.
“I’ve been with her a while now. She’s my girl,” he says before clamming up.
But before things get hectic — the album, the tour … a wedding — Castro plans to spend time right here in the Lone Star State with family and friends during the holidays.
“I just want to be home,” he says. “I’ve been so busy.”
Christmas at the Castro household has always been a big deal, and he’s ready to get the merriment started. This year, he insists, will be no different than any other.
“I’ve got a pretty big family, and we stay up all night and open presents at midnight. There’s lots of good food, too.”
And, of course, tons of tunes, both live and recorded.
“I just want to play my music. I’ve been obsessed with music since I was little.”
Saturday’s events at The Domain
Holiday festival, noon to 5:30 p.m.
Pre-show warm-up with ‘The Bobby Bones Show,’ 5:30 p.m.
Lighting of the Macy’s Great Tree, 6 p.m.
Post-show holiday party, 6:45 p.m.
11410 Century Oaks Terrace
795-4230, thedomaininaustin.com
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Review: The Avett Brothers at ‘Austin City Limits’
If you weren’t one of the fortunate ones who attended the Monday night taping of the Avett Brothers for the 35th season of “Austin City Limits,” catch up with our pal Matthew Odam’s account.
He says the brothers and their bandmates seemed a little nervous, but nonetheless rocked the historic studios (Lance Armstrong tweeted that it was the best taping he’s seen).
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Review: Rufus Wainwright at Paramount Theatre
Patrick Meredith FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Tuesday night, a well-heeled crowd gathered at the Paramount to see the final performance of a two-night engagement by the man Elton John has called “the greatest songwriter on the planet.” Strangely (and perhaps a bit out of character) Rufus Wainwright took the stage with very little fanfare and, after a polite hello to the crowd, launched right into a soaring version of “Grey Gardens.” The timbre of his rich voice matched the baby grand piano perfectly and filled up every inch of the theater, yielding only to the applause that followed.
Wainwright wasted no time engaging the crowd, riffing on the recent cold front. “When I got here it was 80 degrees,” he complained mockingly. “I was going to go swimming at … that water thing.” The man knows how to work a room and had almost as much shtick as he did music.
Tuesday’s show was a strange mix of the mediocre and the sublime, though. After flubbing the intro to a mostly lack-luster version of “Leaving for Paris No. 2,” Wainwright played a nearly flawless version of “Beauty Mark” that was full of all the resplendent theatrics he is famous for. “Sanssouci,” a wistful daydream about an imaginary getaway on par with Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou,” was marred only by a slightly out-of-tune guitar. Even so, Wainwright’s rich baritone held everything together beautifully. His guitar playing was a bit rudimentary and no one seemed to mind that he occasionally couldn’t find the right chord. Instead of glossing over these mistakes Wainwright used the occasion instead to draw the crowd in with a wry smile and knowing wink. Like I said, the man knows how to work a room.
Wainwright’s songs can be vain and self-indulgent at times, but Tuesday’s show proved that vanity is one of his greatest assets. To keep an entire theater breathless and listening in rapt admiration for 90 minutes, you have to be in love with the sound of your own voice. On “The Art Teacher” and “Peach Trees” he explored every nuance of the melodies, stretching phrases to their breaking point for dramatic effect, often allowing his voice to trail off into nothingness at the end.
Wainwright also previewed several songs from an upcoming album of solo piano and voice during the show. He announced to the crowd that the piano parts were very difficult and asked them to please excuse any mistakes as he was “in the practice stage.” He was being facetious, of course, and played them remarkably well although the new songs were a bit like cigarettes and chocolate milk, to borrow one of Wainwright’s own metaphors. The overtly showy piano arrangement, which echoed 19th Century Romanticism, wrestled with the facile vocal melody of “Give Me What I Want,” at times obscuring the lyrics. Wainwright was at his best when he let the naturally evocative quality of his voice tell the story as on “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” and “Going to a Town,” which brought the house down. For Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” during the encore, Wainwright brought out his opener, Joan as Police Woman, for a duet that featured some lovely harmonizing.
The audience wasn’t there last night for an exhibition of virtuoso musicianship, though. They were there for the gilded voice, the poetry, and the wit - all of which Rufus Wainwright had in spades.
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