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January 2010
Live blogging the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards
It’s almost 7 p.m. Central Standard Time, Sunday January 31, which means it’s time for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards — quite possibly the least respected major awards show — which are airing tonight on CBS.
Of course, the lion’s share of the Grammys have already been awarded, in a pre-telecast ceremony. You can view all the nominees and winners at the Grammys’ official site — if the pre-telecast is any indication, the page will be updated in real time as the awards are announced. So far, Beyonce leads with four awards — best R&B song, best R&B contemporary album, best R&B female vocal and best traditional R&B performance — followed by the Black Eyed Peas in second place with three awards, including best pop vocal album. Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Maxwell, Jay-Z, Eminem and the Kings of Leon have all won two awards.
Of course, the major news of the night — at least in my eyes — is that Neil Young has won the first Grammy of his career … for art direction on a boxed or special limited edition package. That’s the kind of tragedy that’s so extreme it circles back to being funny again, but at least Neil Young is no longer the Susan Lucci of the Grammys … or, since he’s been recording even longer than she acted in “All My Children,” Lucci should perhaps be referred to as the Neil Young of the Daytime Emmys.
Also, Phoenix won best alternative album for “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” and if Phoenix doesn’t put a smile on your face. I feel kind of bad for you.
I’ll be live-blogging throughout the ceremony, pontificating on the winners, losers, spectacle and the various outfits of Lady Gaga. You can stay up-to-date by refreshing the page, and please pop into the comments and share your own thoughts … as well as any suggestions you may have for a Grammy Awards drinking game.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
- Photos: 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony
- Photos: 2010 Grammy Awards red carpet
7 p.m.: And the show kicks off as it must, with a high-concept steampunk Lady Gaga appearance, performing “Poker Face.” Say what you will about Gaga, but the woman is savvy — she understands pop spectacle in a way that borders on Bowieian. Of course, that I admire her makes her no easier to stomach.
7:03 p.m.: The addition of an ashen-faced Elton John on piano just made this performance about 500 percent more camp, which didn’t seem possible. Gaga looks genuinely pretty excited to play dueling pianos with him, though.
7:10 p.m.: This is just about the limpest Stephen Colbert monologue ever. Jay-Z does not look amused, at least until Colbert busts out the iPad.
7:12 p.m.: Beyonce stays in the lead with a win for song of the year for “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” Somewhere, far, far away from the Grammys, one hopes, Kanye West is vindicated.
7:18 p.m.: Although I’m cynical about the entire concept of a Green Day Broadway musical — that ranks only slightly below “Bono writes a musical about Spider-Man” (Google it) in the ranks of goofy ideas — that was actually pretty decent. Also, I like that the Grammys are making it really easy for those DVRing the show or flipping to other channels by telling you exactly how many minutes are left before various segments. Thanks, Grammys!
7:25 p.m.: Taylor Swift’s third win of the night, but almost certainly not her last. Unsurprisingly, Swift is totally gracious and polite.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
7:30 p.m.: It says a lot about Gaga that Beyonce, performing “If I Were A Boy” stands absolutely no chance at out-crazying her — despite a reasonably bizarre police state-themed presentation that reminds me of “Demolition Man” (I have seen entirely too many bad movies). She has the better song, though. And a very, very generous dress.
7:32 p.m.: Beyonce busts out Alanis Morisette’s “You Oughta Know.” It’s substantially more awesome than the original. I am impressed that half an hour into the ceremony they’ve given out a grand total of two awards. To be fair to the Grammys, that’s probably smart. Everybody cares more about the performances anyway.
7:39 p.m.: Seal comes out on stage to “Kiss From A Rose.” Is it 1997? He gives a shoutout to lifetime achievement award winner Leonard Cohen, who is not there, sadly.
7:42 p.m.: Pink performs “Glitter In The Air” … in the air. With some highly suggestively placed glitter on her body. This is the most literal Grammy performance ever.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
7:44 p.m.: I wonder if there’s some sort of Pink splash zone in the first few rows of the Grammy audience, kind of like the ones they have at Sea World.
7:46 p.m.: Seemingly as if they were trying to frustrate me as much as possible, the Grammy for best new artist goes to the Zac Brown Band, who have been together for almost a decade. Best new artist is always a somewhat elusive category, but the Grammys have aimed for maximum absurdity with this one. Although maybe I’m just smarting because I predicted MGMT.
7:51 p.m.: A thought occurred to me during the commercial break: having Miranda Lambert sing the praises of the decidedly stripped down Loretta Lynn right after Pink’s Cirque Du Soleil-tastic performance is an interesting study in contrasts.
7:54 p.m.: I have no idea where the Black Eyed Peas came from. It looked like Fergie was launched from some sort of Fergie silo underneath the stage floor.
7:56 p.m.: The theme of this performance seems to be “the future as we imagined it in 1987.” Regrettably, the Flight of the Conchords are not among the robots appearing on stage.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
7:57 p.m.: My thoughts on the Black Eyed Peas: “I used to be ‘with it!’ Then they changed what ‘it’ was! Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it,’ and what’s ‘it’ is weird and scary to me!” Of course, not a lot of people would describe the Black Eyed Peas as tremendously hip, but somebody’s buying those millions of records.
8:06 p.m.: After several spectacle overdoses, Lady Antebellum are practically refreshingly spare. Also, it totally looked for a bit like their vocalists were about to make out.
8:10 p.m.: Stephen Colbert wins best comedy album for the brilliant “A Colbert Christmas.” The music starts to play him off almost immediately. His speech is simple and sweet, but the real fun should come tomorrow, when he acknowledges the win on “The Colbert Report.” Appropriately, there’s a commercial featuring speed skating after his win (Colbert is helping sponsor U.S. speed skating in the Vancouver Olympics).
8:18 p.m.: Kings of Leon win record of the year for “Use Somebody” and make two references to alcohol. They are immediately followed by Robert Downey Jr., which is kind of hilarious. Without any cynicism, it’s nice to see the Kings of Leon take home this award. “Use Somebody” is a bona fide rock anthem. I’m happy with this.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
8:21 p.m.: Just to recap: yes, that was Jamie Foxx, T-Pain, George Clinton and Slash, among others. It sounded about as bizarre as you’d expect. I’m not quite sure what sort of thing I just witnessed, but … I liked it? I think? Maybe?
8:25 p.m.: Kei$ha and Justin Bieber appear together. This is an appropriate pairing, because I’m not quite sure why either one of them is famous. Also, Bieber accidentally refers to Beyonce when he’s supposed to be referring to Bon Jovi, but that’s fair. If I were 15 Beyonce would be pretty much all I’d be able to think about, too.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
8:31 p.m.: The Grammy announcers refer to Katy Perry as a “rock ‘n roll legend.” Well, okay, to be fair they were talking about Alice Cooper, but that being the case they probably should have said Cooper’s name first. Perry is wearing the most conservative dress ever.
8:32 p.m.: Every time Alice Cooper opens his mouth all I can hear is his dialogue from “Wayne’s World.” “Well, I’m a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.”
8:33 p.m.: Green Day wins the award for best rock album, which shouldn’t even be dignified with a response.
8:34 p.m.: Chris O’Donnell presents an award. CBS is being really, really aggressive about having actors from its shows present awards tonight.
8:36 p.m.: The Zac Brown Band are performing with piano legend Leon Russell, which is cool to see. It’s a highly patriotic set performed without even the slightest tinge of irony, which is either sincere, shrewd, pandering or some combination of all of the above. I’m inclined to view it as no more or less gag-worthy than nearly every other performance we’ve seen so far, just for different reasons.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
8:47 p.m.: Stevie Nicks performs with Taylor Swift. At this point I’ve seen so many cornball things in this ceremony that I don’t even know how to react to this, and there’s still over an hour left. There is a nice jam band quality to the instrumentation here, but hearing Nicks and Swift’s voices back to back does no favors for Swift.
8:51 p.m.: Like Willie Nelson or Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie has looked basically the same for about 20 years. He introduces the Michael Jackson tribute and plugs “This Is It” on DVD, which is really classless. My TV tells me it’s time to put on my 3D glasses. I don’t have any, so I settle for watching the screen cross-eyed, like I’m trying to solve a Magic Eye puzzle.
8:53 p.m.: I have no idea if this looks cool in 3D (what say you, Internet?), but if you don’t have the glasses, it just kind of gives you a headache.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
8:56 p.m.: I’m going to completely turn off all snark for this, mainly just because it’s kind of uncomfortable to watch. Having Jackson’s children on-stage just comes off as kind of exploitative, and immediately following the performance with an advertisement for “This Is It” is a little gross. The Grammys had to do something in tribute to Jackson, of course, but I think from the selection of artists (Celine Dion?) through to the song (something off “HIStory?”) through to the entire tone (wanton self-indulgence) this was pretty ill-conceived.
9:10 p.m.: I pray to the gods of rock that Bon Jovi will, at least, vaguely rock this awards show that is in such desperate need of rocking. They do not answer.
9:11 p.m.: Letting the audience pick Bon Jovi’s next song reminds me of the MTV2 show “Control Freak.” Hey, everybody, remember “Control Freak?” Good times. Good times.
9:15 p.m.: Mos Def seems pretty out of it. Network television needs more Mos Def, and NBC just got five extra hours of prime time. Give Mos Def a talk show, NBC!
9:18 p.m.: “Run This Town” wins best rap/sung collaboration. It’s hard to argue with that. Jay-Z makes sure the audience knows what footwear Beyonce’s nephew is wearing, clearly preparing him for a life of rap superstardom. Jay-Z also, surprisingly, has an astonishingly Urkel-esque laugh. (Note: I originally said the boy was Jay Z’s son — thanks to commenter Angela J for the correction.)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
9:23 p.m.: Wyclef Jean brings the Haiti shoutout, introducing a duet from Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli. Again, cynicism aside, if you haven’t yet given to Haiti and are in a place to do so, please do. As for the performance … well, Blige and Bocelli can sing. Let there be no debate over that.
9:35 p.m.: If there’s anything the audience at home wants to watch, it’s a few minutes about how awesome the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences is.
9:39 p.m.: To all of you kids downloading music at home: your mother and I are very disappointed in you.
9:41 p.m.: A very haggard-looking Adam Sandler introduces the Dave Matthews Band, which is pretty appropriate, because that dude you roomed with sophomore year of college totally loved both Adam Sandler and the Dave Matthews Band.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
9:45 p.m.: I’m not a huge Dave Matthews fan, but those who are ought to be pretty happy with this, really. The band sounds pretty solid, and the love is clearly there on the stage.
9:47 p.m.: Beyonce wins female pop vocal performance for “Halo.” Ricky Martin wanders onto stage to present the award from wherever it is that Ricky Martin’s been hanging out for the last 10 years or so. Beyonce’s on a clean sweep tonight. She’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” of recording artists. There’s apparently still at least half an hour left in this thing. That’s the kind of revelation I can’t greet with words, only noises.
9:57 p.m.: Maxwell is here to sex you up. “BLACKsummers’night” is one of those rare albums that manages to please pretty much everybody, and this performance demonstrates why: it’s straight-up, no-frills neo soul that sounds relatively timeless.
10 p.m.: The “In Memoriam” segment is, as always, pretty sad to watch. It includes a shot of Austin’s own Stephen Bruton. After the montage, “Crazy Heart” star Jeff Bridges shows up to intro a tribute to Les Paul, in a nice bit of synchronicity.
10:02 p.m.: I don’t know what Lady Gaga is wearing, but I feel bad for whoever is sitting behind her.
10:12 p.m.: Quentin Tarantino takes the stage to announce Clark Terry’s lifetime achievement award. Tarantino looks vaguely like Kim Jong Il, with his oversized sunglasses. He introduces Drake alongside Eminem and Lil Wayne. To me, Drake will always be the kid from “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
10:15 p.m.: Lil Wayne’s pants are on the ground. He’s not wearing a hat, but if he were I think we can safely assume it’d be turned sideways.
10:18 p.m.: I’m not sure if the audio cutting out is to avoid an FCC violation or if it’s just a technical problem, but I couldn’t hear very large chunks of that. With a team-up like that, either one could be possible.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
10:24 p.m.: Mercifully, it’s the final award of the night — album of the year. Taylor Swift pulls the upset — I think? — with “Fearless.” Swift thanks her dad and brother, who are “freaking out in the living room.” I have no idea why they’re not there with her. Life as a celebrity is complicated. She gives a speech very similar to her first of the evening, and although she’s acting as shocked as she possibly can, it feels kind of canned.
And with that, three and a half very lengthy hours — even more if you were watching the pre-telecast — draw to a close. The evening wasn’t completely devoid of redemptive moments, but did drive home both how tedious and how out of touch the Grammy Awards can be. Musical performances tended to lean towards spectacle over quality, and the gulf between critical consensus and award winners was about as acute as it’s ever been. With the emphasis on social networking so high this year, it’s clear that the awards are desperate to remain relevant — but it’ll probably take more than “vote for which Bon Jovi song you want to hear” to pull that off.
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Steve Earle wins Grammy Award for “Townes”
In a development that that can only be viewed as oddly fortuitous and apropos following yesterday’s eruption of protest over the University of Texas’ plans to close the Cactus Cafe, former Austinite Steve Earle tonight won the Grammy Award for best contemporary folk album for 2009’s “Townes.”
The tribute album consisted of covers of songs by the late Townes Van Zandt and included guest appearances from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Earle’s wife Allison Moorer and son Justin Townes Earle. Its win, in some sense, highlights the importance of the Cactus Cafe — both Van Zandt and Earle were regular Cactus performers.
The Grammy win is Earle’s third, all of which were in the category of best contemporary folk album — he also won the award in 2005 for “The Revolution Starts Now” and in 2008 for “Washington Square Serenade.” Earle beat out Austin’s own Shawn Colvin, who was nominated for her album “Live,” for the award.
Less fortunate were Ray Benson, Willie Nelson and Asleep At the Wheel, whose “Willie and the Wheel” lost out in the newly created best Americana album category to Levon Helm, for “Electric Dirt.” Benson — who’s taken home nine Grammys in previous years — expressed no sour grapes after the loss.
“It’s funny. I talked to Larry Campbell, who produced the Levon Helm record, yesterday, and he said ‘If we don’t win, you’d better.’ But Levon’s a great musician, so it went to a good guy,” Benson said by phone from the Grammy Awards pre-telecast in Los Angeles. “Now we’re going to go watch the show and hang out backstage and meet people and drop names.”
Other Central Texas artists missing out on Grammy Awards this evening included Conspirare, who lost out for classical crossover album to Yo-Yo Ma, Dierks Bentley and Patty Griffin for country collaboration with vocals, Sarah Jarosz for country instrumental performance and Ruthie Foster for best contemporary blues album.
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Cactus Cafe to close in August
Events calendar: Upcoming performances at Cactus Cafe
Photos: Cactus Cafe through the years
From the archives: Embracing the Cactus: For 25 years, audiences at this intimate venue have been all ears for the like of Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett and Townes Van Zandt, 01.29.04
In a move that has stunned Austin’s music scene, University of Texas officials announced plans to shutter the popular Cactus Cafe, the landmark campus venue where Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith and others spawned their careers.
UT officials also have decided to nix their decades-long program of informal classes, in which, for a nominal fee, thousands of area residents have learned a variety of skills and subjects, from golf to sewing to languages.
The Cactus Cafe and the classes will cease operations in August, officials said.
The announcement comes amid efforts to save cash and use money more effectively for students enrolled in regular UT classes, officials said Saturday.
“These programs have been going on, reasonably speaking, about 30 years, more or less,” said Andy Smith, executive director of the University Unions, which runs the informal classes and the Texas Union, home of the Cactus Cafe. “There are people in the community (who have enjoyed both), and to those people, this will be like any other thing that stops happening in Austin. That’s regretful.”
Austin singer and songwriter Sara Hickman was upset Saturday night to hear that the Cactus Cafe will close.
“I don’t know how anybody in their right mind would want to take away that treasure,” she said. “It’s a national monument. It’s a part of Texas. And it’s part of this world of sharing our gifts and our talents.”
In a town known for music venues, the Cactus Cafe is often singled out because it’s a true listening room where a hushed audience — it holds about 150 chairs — can hear singer-songwriters from Austin and around the world.
The cuts will save about $122,000 a year, Smith said. The programs had an operating cost of about $1.3 million, he said. UT officials said the Cactus Cafe and informal classes generally draw people who are not full-time students; about 10,000 people attended informal classes last year.
In recent years, both programs have required additional money from the university’s budget, even though they were intended to be self-sufficient, said Juan Gonzalez, vice president of student affairs. “They haven’t been for a number of years,” he said.
Smith said, “If they would have been making a profit, we wouldn’t have done away with them, because they would have been contributors for us.”
Attempts to reach Griff Luneburg, the Cactus Cafe’s manager, were unsuccessful.
UT officials said they will offer other positions to full-time staffers affected by the closures at their current salaries.
The decision was made Friday after a meeting of a board consisting mostly of students that oversees the Texas Union. Gonzalez said the decision “was painful.”
“We examined it very closely, and while the students understand the loss, they also understand there are higher priorities, and to direct services to students, I think, is the higher calling,” he said.
The move comes amid a plan by UT to cut 5 percent, or $29 million, from the state-funded portion of its two-year budget. This month, Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus instructed state agencies, including higher education institutions, to submit budget reduction plans by Feb. 15.
The prospect of budget cutting has come at a difficult time for the university.
Its overall budget, including legislative appropriations, federal research grants, tuition, gifts and other items, rose 2.8 percent, to $2.1 billion, for the fiscal year that began Sept. 1. But after covering higher health insurance charges, increased student financial aid and other costs, UT had just $6.7 million more than the previous fiscal year for academic purposes.
In recent months, UT President William Powers Jr. has overseen an effort to free up millions of dollars to retain and recruit top faculty members. Some staff members have been dismissed, and more layoffs could be in the works.
The Texas Union has a budget of about $4.5 million, Smith said. That money is used to provide programs for students that include an annual film festival, concerts and events for diverse communities.
On Saturday night, word that the Cactus Cafe, which opened in 1979, will close tore through Austin’s music community.
Other musicians who have performed there include Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, the Dixie Chicks and the legendary Townes Van Zandt, who appeared more than 100 times, Luneburg once said.
Country music singer and songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard said the announcement “is some of the most depressing news I’ve heard in a while. The Cactus really helped validate me and many more people as a songwriter.”
“It’s unthinkable,” said David Garza, whose career also started there. “I’m in shock. I can’t imagine Austin without the Cactus.”
EARLIER:
The Cactus Cafe, Austin’s beloved, world-renowned listening room for more than three decades, which has spawned the careers of Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, David Garza, Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves, Butch Hancock and many, many more, is being closed in August, according to an announcement on the University of Texas Web site.
The action, which also will phase out the Informal Classes program, took place at the Texas Union Board of Directors’ first meeting of the spring semester, according to the announcement.
“It’s unthinkable,” said Garza, pictured. “I’m in shock. I can’t imagine Austin without the Cactus. Now I know how everybody felt when we lost the Armadillo and Liberty Lunch.”
Ray Wylie Hubbard was also stunned at the news, which tore through the Austin music community Saturday afternoon. “This is some of the most depressing news I’ve heard in a while,” he said. “The Cactus really helped validate me and many more people as a songwriter. No other university in the world can match an on-campus live music venue like the cozy Cactus.”
“The decision to close the Cactus Cafe and the Informal Classes program was made to minimize the impact of budgetary reductions on students and to protect student core services,” the statement read. “President William Powers Jr. recently asked all university departments to prepare plans that prioritize reductions.” The release said Cactus and Informal Classes employees would be reassigned. It’s impossible to think of Cactus manager Griff Luneburg, who’s been in charge there for 27 years, in any other job.
“I don’t’ know how anybody in their right mind would want to take away that treasure,” said Sara Hickman. “It’s a national monument. It really is. It’s a part of Texas. And it’s part of this world of sharing our gifts and our talents.”
Singer songwriter Ryan Bingham, an odds-on favorite to win the Oscar for best original song for his theme to “Crazy Heart,” was among many artists discovered at the Cactus and signed to a record deal after opening for Joe Ely.
UT’s statement also said that “both the Cactus Cafe and Informal Classes were largely used by non-students, and in recent years both programs required significant subsidies to remain in operation.”
“Although popular with some audiences, these programs are no longer profitable and do not fit within the core student mission of the Texas Union and Student Affairs,” said William Andrew Smith Jr., executive director of University Unions.
Update: Juan Gonzalez, vice president of student affairs, said the decision to shutter the Cactus Cafe was “painful.”
“It was examined very closely,” he said. “Everyone acknowledges the significant history, the list of fabulous artists who have played in the Cactus.”
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Hendrix on 80-year-old Kennedy- “I adore his love of music…”
Kerrville Folk Festival founder Rod Kennedy’s 80th birthday is being celebrated with a three-hour “guitar pull” at the Paramount Theatre Tuesday, featuring such “Kerrvert” faves as Robert Earl Keen, Marcia Ball and the Flatlanders. Also on the bill is Terri Hendrix, who sent us this recollection.
“The first time I met Rod would have been around 1998. My dear friend Paul Barker, booked me at his house concert in Austin. It was Paul’s hope that since Rod was going to show up, that he would see me play and then book me at the Kerrville Folk Festival. I remember meeting Rod, and finding him a little grouchy. Later, I found out he had a massive heart attack (Kennedy didn’t know for two days). Soon after, I played the festival and we have been very close since, often joking about the first time we met. I adore his love of music and his depth of knowledge in the field of all things folk and beyond. He’s like Clifford Antone was, in the fact that he truly listens to who and what is happening on stage from the absolute beginner to the seasoned pro.”
- Terri Hendrix
What are your favorite memories of the legendary promoter and the festival he created in 1972? We’ll post them online.
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Alpha Rev looking for extras for video
In these tough economic times, we could all stand to scrounge up some extra cash on the side, and if you can combine that fiscal desperateness with your love of music, all the better. For Austin music aficionados looking to do just that, here’s an opportunity coming up that’s better, at least, than donating plasma.
There’s an open casting call on right now for the next video from Austin alternative rock band Alpha Rev, set to film Feb. 8 and 9. The band has an album out on April 20 (4/20, as some of our astute/juvenile Twitter readers pointed out) on Disney record label Hollywood Records. You can get an idea of how much promotional power Hollywood is throwing behind Alpha Rev from the video’s credentials — it’s directed by Mark Pellington, who directed 2002’s “The Mothman Prophecies” and has also directed music videos for Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, U2 and the Foo Fighters, among others.
They’re looking for a variety of ethnicities and ages, including two children to play front man Casey McPherson at ages 6 and 13. More details on how to apply are available at the link. The gig pays $100 for approximately four hours of work.
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Benefit for Haiti at the Mohawk on Feb. 3
The Mohawk joins the ever-expanding ranks of Austin venues hosting a benefit for Haiti relief with a show Wednesday, Feb. 3. $7 at the door starting at 9 p.m. will get you into a show headlined by noise pop one-man band Daniel Francis Doyle, with support from Candi and the Strangers, Zorch and Samantha Garrett and the Businessman DJs.
The inside show will raise money for Care International, which focuses its efforts on assisting women, pregnant women, young girls and children affected in Haiti.
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Review: Fiery Furnaces at the Parish
Living up to their reputation, the Fiery Furnaces filled their short-ish set Thursday night at the Parish with dramatic tempo changes and classic rock guitar riffs. Lead vocalist Eleanor Friedberger was inspiring with her consistent energy, maintaining a non-stop rock presence that drove the music throughout. Brother Matthew mainly focused his energy on the guitar, fluctuating between haphazard noise and full blown 70’s arena rock. This habit of key changes and explosive outbursts distinguishes the band’s live show.
That said, the performance was good but not great. There was a balance to the show that seemed to reflect the band’s latest releases — some of their most restrained work — but they were never quite as loose as they seem capable of being. New songs, including the bouncy “Charmaine Champagne” and “Keep Me In the Dark” stretched out nicely live. The set ended after a fast 50 minutes.
Part of the charm of “I’m Going Away” is the soulful piano that gives the album its laid-back feel. There was no piano or keys with band; instead, the new material was reinvented strictly as guitar rock. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. At times it worked, but some of the new tunes, including the bluesy “Drive to Dallas,” suffered from keys’ absence. The encore mini-set picked up again with Eleanor taking a turn on the drums as well as “Single Again, “Japanese Slippers” and the super-catchy “Here Comes the Summer,” which closed an evening that felt like it wrapped up a little early.
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Escovedo signs with Fantasy
Alejandro Escovedo’s next album will come out on Fantasy Records, the former home of fellow Bay Area guys Creedence Clearwater Revival. Escovedo’s currently up in Kentucky making the record with producer Tony Visconti, who also helmed A.E.’s “Real Animal.” The record should be out by May or June, following an appearance at SXSW, of course.
Escovedo’s new labelmate Macy Gray will also appear at SXSW, the label’s publicist Joel Amsterdam says.
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Ray Benson to perform on Grammy Awards pre-telecast
Among the many local musicians who could walk home with a Grammy Award on Sunday, none stand as tall — literally or figuratively — as country music legend Ray Benson, whose Asleep at the Wheel was nominated, alongside with Willie Nelson, for best Americana album for “Willie and the Wheel.”
Benson will perform a bluegrass version of “I’m Sittin’ on Top of the World,” from the album, at the Los Angeles Convention Center on the Grammy Awards pre-telecast ceremony Sunday, Jan. 31. The pre-telecast, at which Grammy Awards in 99 categories will be awarded in advance of Sunday night’s television broadcast, will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. CST and will be streamed on the Awards’ official Web site. Benson will be joined by country instrumentalist Alison Brown, singer/songwriter Michael Martin Murphey, singer and fiddle player Gabe Witcher and Grammy winners Jim Lauderdale and Bryan Sutton.
This isn’t Benson’s first rodeo — Asleep at the Wheel has won nine Grammies since its 1970 inception — but he’s cynical about his chances this time around.
“I’d say we’re a long shot, to be honest with you. It’s a new category, it’s the first year of the category and it’s got quite a disparate group going there, from Wilco to Willie,” says Benson. “So whatever sort of voting patterns might have existed before don’t exist anymore. We don’t even know who’s going to vote in it, since it’s brand new. At any rate, we’re just real happy we got into something.”
Even if the band doesn’t luck out and walk home with a trophy on Sunday, at least there’s always a good time to be had, says Benson.
“We’ll have a good time, walk the red carpet, go to the parties and have fun,” says Benson. “Besides, it’ll be fun to stare at Lady Gaga and all that.”
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360 weekend picks: Hot fiddles, dreamy flipflopgaze and a late-late dance party
(Pictured: Yo La Tengo)
FRIDAY
Girls, the Magic Kids at the Parish. San Francisco duo Girls has a great name to Google, unless you want to find quick info on the flipflopgaze band. With catchy, dreamy songs that sound like Elvis Costello and the Beach Boys paying tribute to Dinosaur Jr., Chris Owens and Chet ‘JR’ White are onto something that might make them as big as MGMT. $14 214 E. Sixth St. — Michael Corcoran
Also recommended:
- Yo La Tengo and Times New Viking at Antone’s | The longevity of Yo La Tengo
- Asylum Street Spankers at the Cactus
- Pong at Red 7
- Dex Romweber, Exene Cervenka at Emo’s
SATURDAY
Sneak View No. 1 with White White Lights and the Sour Notes at the Independent. Zebra Militia and Exponential Records clearly know how to throw a proper East Side party. In addition to video art and a late-night dance party that goes until 4 a.m. (BYOB after 2), they have two of the finest and fiercest up-and-coming local bands, with a dose of do-it-yourself glam from White White Lights and sterling, prolific pop rockers the Sour Notes. With Busby, NickNack and Mexicans With Guns. 9 p.m. $6. 501 Interstate 35. austinindependent.com — Patrick Caldwell
Also recommended:
- Moonlight Towers at the Mohawk
- ATX DIY-Fest at the Broken Neck
- Foot Patrol at Antone’s
- Eyes Burn Electric at the Parish
- Todd Snider at the Cactus Cafe
- the Travelin’ McCourys at the One World Theatre
SUNDAY
Warren Hood and the Hoodlums at Momo’s. Neck and neck with Dennis Ludiker, who replaced him in the South Austin Jug Band, as the best damn fiddler in town, the Berklee-trained Hood is a marvel of musicianship. And his great band includes Johnny Gimble’s granddaughter Emily on piano and vocals. This is the kind of weekly event that keeps Austin Austin. $7 9:30 p.m. 618 W. Sixth St. momosclub.com. — M.C.
Also recommended:
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Austin helps Haiti to tune of $75,000
The tally from Sunday’s “Help Austin Help Haiti” benefit at the Austin Music Hall is expected to hit $75,000 the event’s publicist Lance Cowan reported Wednesday.
The all-day concert, which came together quickly and was hurt by NFL conference championships, drew nearly 2,700. The Joe Ely Band, the Gourds, Bob Schneider, the Flatlanders (with Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock), Kinky Friedman, Reckless Kelly, Patricia Vonne, Band of Heathens, Charlie Sexton Robert Earl Keen, , Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Shawn Colvin, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Asleep At The Wheel and Guy Forsyth all performed at the concert.
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Get the most out of SXSW
The Austin Music Foundation will host a panel discussion with South By Southwest creative director Brent Grulke and others Tuesday at La Zona Rosa to discuss ways to milk SXSW for everything it’s worth.
Like an unsanctioned SXSW day party, it’s FREE. But you don’t need a laminate for this one, which is open to the public. Starts at 7 p.m.
Other panelists include Randy Miller of Rainmaker Artists (Bob Schneider, Blue October, Bowling For Soup), Casey Monahan from the Texas Music Office and Momo’s owner Paul Oveisi, who’s also with the Austin Music Commission.
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Anvil’s second shot at stardom
Steve “Lips” Kudlow of Anvil performs at Emo’s Monday night, Jan. 25.
Photo by Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
When Canadian heavy metal heroes Anvil swung through Austin Monday night, Jan. 25, to rock the crowd at Emo’s, American-Statesman photographer Jay Janner was along for the ride. Janner was granted access to the band during their sound check, their green room down time and during the show itself.
He’s put together a photo essay that in many ways captures Monday’s show better than words ever could, with some sterling shots of the facial contortions of lead singer and guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner. If you couldn’t make it out to the show, or if you just want to relive the memories, check it out.
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Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard tackle Kerouac at Antone’s tonight
Jay Farrar elegantly retraces Jack Kerouac’s physical and spiritual decay on “One Fast Move or I’m Gone.” The Son Volt singer-songwriter’s new project, a soundtrack adaptation of the Beat writer’s 1962 novel “Big Sur,” employs Death Cab for Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard to brighten dark passages.
“This is a really fulfilling (collaboration) for both Ben and I,” Farrar says. “There’s a more spontaneous, less self-conscious aspect to doing this than our regular gigs.” The duo supports the collection tonight at Antone’s.
American-Statesman: You wrote the songs for ‘One Fast Move’ in less than a week?
Jay Farrar: I started out with the idea of just writing a few for the documentary and got caught up in the spirit of working, in a weird way, with Jack Kerouac, who is someone I’ve held in a high regard. There’s an element of a kid being unleashed in a candy store.
So, you weren’t necessarily trying to emulate Kerouac’s style by writing quickly and spontaneously?
To a certain degree, I’ve always identified with Kerouac’s method of writing, which is just getting your first thoughts out there. Ultimately, it’s more of a stream-of-consciousness style. But more than anything, it was about getting caught up in the spirit of the writing itself.
Did you follow the chronology of the book when writing?
No, I almost worked backward. I started at the end of the book with the poem (“Sea: Sounds of the Pacific Ocean at Big Sur”). Most of the sea-based themes - like in “Low Life Kingdom,” “Breathe Our Iodine,” “The Void” - come from that initial writing session. Then I just kept going and delved into the text itself. That’s when songs like “California Zephyr” and “San Francisco” started popping up.
When you discovered Kerouac in your teens, were you more drawn to the writing style or subject matter?
It was both the style and the message. In a book like “On the Road,” you go out and experience life and write about those experiences. That was sort of like laying out a template for a musician.
Was it more compelling to adapt ‘Big Sur,’ as opposed to a more familiar book like ‘On the Road’?
I think “Big Sur” was more conducive to put to music, because, contrary to popular perception, Jack indulged in singing folk-type songs. That gave me the go-ahead to take on this project. I’d always associated him and his writing style with jazz. Also, (it helped) that I didn’t read “Big Sur” until later in life. I think reading it at much the same age as Kerouac was when writing the book allowed it to resonate perhaps in an even more intense way.
Many believe fame was Kerouac’s undoing. Is ‘Big Sur’ his cautionary tale?
Ultimately, yeah, “Big Sur” is a cautionary tale. He originally went there to dry out, both physically and in terms of getting away from being the celebrity Jack Kerouac. But I think it only lasted about four days. Then he started bringing the party and the people and the booze to the cabin. Probably the most amazing thing is that he was able to chronicle his descent into alcoholism. He was living life and meeting new people and falling in love on the one hand, but he was aware that he was dying.
Photo of Jay Farrar, left, and Ben Gibbard, right, by Autumn de Wilde.
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Roky, Abra added to Will Sexton benefit concert
An amazing lineup just got better. Roky Erickson, who has known Will Sexton since Will was about five years old, and former Poi Dog Pondering singer Abra Moore have been added to the Feb. 15 show at Antone’s to raise money for Sexton, who is unable to work after suffering a stroke in December.
Tickets to the show, which starts at 7 p.m. and goes until 2 a.m. are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Businesses that would like to donate goods or services to the silent and live auction should contact Trish Wagner at Chickrock Entertainment (chickrock@gmail.com 512-627-2397).
The lineup so far:
Roky Erickson
Abra Moore
Terry Allen
Eliza & Tony Gilkyson
Patty Griffin
Victoria Williams
Jimmy Lafave
Bill Carter and the Blame (with Charlie Sexton & Denny Freeman)
Kurt Neumann, Ryan Bowman and Bukka Allen of the Bodeans
Stephen Doster
Charlie Faye .
Although Will is unable to remember most of his songs, he’s expected to play guitar here and there.
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It’s “The Truth”: Aldean scores third consecutive number one hit
Georgia’s rockin’ country star Jason Aldean will come to Cedar Park Center Thursday with Billboard’s number one country song. “The Truth” landed at the top spot today, following the number one successes of “She’s Country” and “Big Green Tractor.”
“I know I sound like a broken record lately, but I’ve been working to have a year like we just had since I was 14 years old,” Aldean said in a press release. “We had such a killer time on the road opening this leg of the tour and it means so much to see all of the fans singing every word of ‘The Truth’ along with us.”
Just who is this Jason Aldean? Read our recent profile.
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Kevin Fowler signs with Disney Music Group
Country rocker Kevin Fowler has signed a record deal with Nashville’s Lyric Street Records, which will release his next album in the spring. An artist with a loyal cult audience, Fowler has sold more than 350,000 records on his own. He’s also a big draw on the Texas/ Oklahoma/ Louisiana circuit.
Part of the Disney Music Group, Lyric Street is also home to Rascal Flatts and Love and Theft. The latter group features Brian Bandas of Cedar Park.
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“Transference” debuts at number four on the Billboard charts
It’s Wednesday, which means only one thing: the Apple tablet announcement is going down.
Well, that and Billboard’s weekly sales announcement is out, and it holds good news for Spoon. Their seventh full-length album “Transference” debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, with sales of around 53,000 copies. It’s Spoon’s highest charting debut and best sales week yet — 2007’s “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” debuted and peaked at No. 10 with 46,000 units sold.
Elsewhere in the chart, the “Hope For Haiti” benefit album unsurprisingly debuts at No. 1 with brisk sales of 171,000, while Susan Boyle and Lady Gaga are at No. 3 and 3 with “I Dreamed A Dream” and “The Fame,” respectively. Last week’s No. 1, Vampire Weekend’s “Contra,” slips to No. 6.
In other Spoon news, the band covered the Damned’s “Love Song” for “Sweetheart 2010,” the latest in Starbucks’ line of compilations of covers of … well, love songs for Valentine’s Day. You can find it in your friendly neighborhood Starbucks or pick up the album (or just the Spoon song, if you’re feeling discriminating) on iTunes. The compilation also boasts a version of Daniel Johnston’s classic “True Love Will Find You in the End” by Hey Marseilles.
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Black Joe Lewis goes marching with Dave Matthews
Further testifying to the broad, cross-demographic appeal of the band, soul sensations Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears (the Onion AV Club Austin’s local band of 2009, naturally) will be opening for the Dave Matthews Band for a string of dates this summer, according to the band’s MySpace.
Currently on tour with Cedric Burnside and Lightin’ Malcom, Lewis and company will support Matthews and company for five dates, kicking off with an Aug. 14 show in Wichita, Kan. The Honeybears will then rejoin with the Dave Matthews Band for four shows in September, including two Texas dates — one at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands and one at the Superpages.com Center in Dallas.
Lewis isn’t the only soul-themed opener Matthews has tapped for support in 2010 — other dates include Raphael Saadiq, and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. The shows should be a nice bit of exposure for Lewis — Pollstar recently named Matthews the highest grossing touring artist of last decade, with a cool gross of almost $530 million. That’s a lot of eyeballs and a lot of ears.
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March means Megadeth at Stubb’s
Multi-platinum metal maestros Megadeth — and one of the “big four” alongside Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax — will bring their trademark thrash to Stubb’s on March 26, just a week after the close of South by Southwest. The ever-fluctuating band will perform seminal album “Rust In Peace” in its entirety, to mark the 20th anniversary of the record’s release — although with a different lineup than the one featured on the record.
Bay-area thrashers Testament will open, performing their own classic album, “The Legacy” in its entirety. Exodus will also play. Tickets go on sale Saturday.
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Austin music continues to rally for Haiti
After the resounding success of Sunday’s Help Austin Help Haiti benefit at the Austin Music Hall, local venues and musicians continue to step up to the plate to do their part to help out.
Tonight, you can catch magnificent jazz chanteuse Kat Edmonson at Vino Vino, alongside several other great local notables — including Ray Benson, jazz musician Ephraim Owens and Bruce Robison, for their Stand With Haiti benefit. The show runs from 7 to 10 p.m. and also includes University of Texas professors Jacqueline Toribio and Barbara Bullock discussing their experiences in Haiti and the organization Partners in Health, the event’s beneficiary. Vino Vino will donate 50 percent of all retail sales all day to the organization.
Friday night, Stubb’s will host a fundraiser benefiting the World Food Programme. DJ Manny, el John Selector, DJ Chicken George and Manolo Black of the Peligrosa All-Stars will spin. The event runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with a $10 suggested donation.
On Saturday, Reggae 4 Haiti will raise money at Ruta Maya. The event runs from 2 to 8 p.m. and includes a silent auction, with a $5 suggested donation at the door. The lineup includes DJ Jah Ray, Crucial Mystic, Herby Augustin and Friends, Root Dimension, Irie Jane and Cuban Jamaican Drumming. Sunday will see the Hope for Haiti fundraiser at Antone’s, starting at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15. Currently slated to perform are Del Castillo, Carolyn Wonderland, Johnny Goudie with Susanna Choffel, Nina Sighn, Kathy Valentine, Savanna Welch, Love at War and Paul Renna.
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Jarosz makes the Dean’s List
Not many Grammy nominees can claim to have made the Dean’s List at a prestigious school as the New England Conservatory, but Wimberley freshman Sarah Jarosz can, as the first semester grades have been posted.
Nominated for the Grammy in the best country instrumental category, 18-year-old Jarosz has been juggling her music/ scholastic careers since she was 12. The listeners of Boston radio station WUMB recently voted her the best new artist of 2009.
- Previous coverage: 17-year-old troubadour graduates to the big time
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Spoon brings out a crowd at Waterloo Records
If there’s any way to describe Spoon’s afternoon performance in the parking lot of Waterloo Records on Monday, it’d probably have to be “victory lap.”
After all, the days when the quasi-local quartet (“It’s been two months since I’ve been to Portland,” said Daniel in a rare moment of stage banter, referring to his current town of residence. “I’ve been hanging around here too much.”) had anything at all to prove to anybody are long behind them. So Monday’s hour-plus set unfolded with a loose, unhurried, self-assured confidence as the band road-tested six songs from “Transference” and a smattering of older hits and, in grand Spoon tradition, made the entire performance look rather effortless.
It was a show light on transcendent moments, admittedly, but the band’s low-key, seemingly effortless playing paired nicely with the mellow audience at Waterloo Records, where the crowd was sizable but not unwieldy — in fact, props are due to Waterloo for managing things so well.
The band kicked things off with “I Saw The Light,” a welcome opportunity for all involved to cut loose on the song’s lengthy instrumental jam. Other cuts from “Transference” sounded as peppy and enjoyable live as they do on record — “Got Nuffin” has been in circulation for a while, but less familiar songs like “The Mystery Zone” and “Nobody Gets Me But You” seemed every bit as polished. First encore song “Is Love Forever?” with its driving energy, was a particular highlight.
Plenty of bones were thrown to the band’s long-time fans, though, with the other half of the set taken up by highlights from “Girls Can Tell,” “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” and “Kill The Moonlight.” (If you’re a fan of “Gimme Fiction,” well, too bad.) Britt Daniel belted out past gems with gusto and even gave a shoutout to “Me And The Bean” writer John Clayton of the Sidehackers.
By the time the band departed after a punchy three-song encore a throng of fans had happily queued up for the customary Waterloo autograph line. It was a lengthy, single-file assemblage of Spoon buffs reaching around the parking lot. After a show like that, it was easy to understand why aficionados of the band were willing to brave the increasingly cold hours of the early evening. And, of course, it was all for free. All in all, not a bad deal.
Set list
“I Saw The Light”
“The Mystery Zone”
“Got Nuffin’”
“Don’t Make Me A Target”
“Me And The Bean”
“Written In Reverse”
“Black Like Me”
“Someone Something”
“Nobody Gets Me But You”
“Rhythm And Soul”
“Don’t You Evah”
Encore
“Is Love Forever?”
“You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”
“Jonathan Fisk”
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Video: Spoon at Waterloo
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CD review: Various artists ‘Casual Victim Pile’
Various artists
‘Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010’
(Matador)
Grade: A
With “Casual Victim Pile” so dominated by the furious sounds of rock ‘n’ roll — from Follow That Bird’s righteous, Joan Jett-evoking “The Ghosts That Wake You” to the closing midtempo New Wave shuffle of Lost Controls’ “Entirely Wired For Sound” — it might come as a surprise that the best word to describe it would be “love.”
Of course, it’s a sappy way to sum up a record so decidedly unsappy, so loaded with kicks and thrashes and even a one-minute, four-second song — “Nazis On Film” by the Teeners — that’s one of the best bits of driving gutter punk that will ever assault your eardrums. But Matador Records co-owner Gerard Cosloy’s highly personal snapshot of the Red River scene circa 2009 is an obvious labor of love from the first track to the last, carefully curated and misfire-free.
Whether on the low-key jangle of Harlem’s catchy “Beautiful and Very Smart” or the psychedelic drawl of Elvis’ “Mommy’s Little Soldiers,” “Casual Victim Pile” manages to feel cohesive without ever limiting itself, bounding across 19 tracks of headbang-worthy rock.
Even if it is just a glorified mixtape — albeit a mixtape from Matador Records that we hope will bring needed exposure to a bushel of great Austin bands — it’s just about the most lovingly assembled collection of fiendishly addictive tunes you’re likely to find anywhere. Way to make the Beerland faithful proud, Matador.
Read more about ‘Casual Victim Pile’ in Sunday’s Life & Arts section. Bands featured on the release will play three nights — Feb. 4-6 — at Beerland to celebrate the record.
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CD review: Patty Griffin ‘Downtown Church’
Patty Griffin
‘Downtown Church’
(Credential)
Grade: B+
Before she became the undisputed Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin was a mediocre gospel singer. Really. A magnificent voice always, but Aretha lacked the purity of purpose possessed by such less talented, but better Christian blues singers as Sallie Martin, Dorothy Love Coates and Bessie Griffin.
Patty Griffin is an amazingly athletic singer and her fans will love her attempt to get next to God on “Downtown Church,” recorded at a Presbyterian one in Nashville. But there’s no growl in the gal. Praising a higher power who can’t get the electricity turned back on takes an innate quiver or twist that, like Lady Soul, Griffin just doesn’t have. Don’t know why she thought she could bring something fresh to “If I Had My Way” and “Wade In the Water.” When the Staple Singers did those songs in the ’60s, they were done. Produced by Buddy Miller as if he has too many albums and loves them all, “Downtown Church” is often divinely stirring but lacks a deep spiritual core.
And when the Lark of Hyde Park throws in “Virgen de Guadalupe,” it comes off as the most awkward border crossing since Vallejo tried to pass as Rock en Español.
Griffin’s seventh studio album works better when she covers country gospel, such as Hank Williams’ “House of Gold” and “We Shall All Be Reunited” by Doc Watson, and adds hue with gentle new originals “Little Fire” and “Coming Home To Me.” But what really makes the record is a solemn, yet soaring, version of “All Creatures of Our God and King,” written in 1225 by St. Francis of Assisi. A hymn made for her, it’s like being in church and the top of a mountain at the same time.
Listen, I’m a snob of black gospel music, so it was predetermined that I wouldn’t accept this. I was going to list all the gospel records you should buy instead of “Downtown Church.” But over a few listens, I was converted.
But if you pick this up, you also have to get “Freedom Highway” by the Staple Singers. Patty wants you to.
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Charlie Mars kicks off Unplugged at the Grove
Mississippi-raised SMU graduate Charlie Mars (who’s dating “Weeds” star Mary-Louise Parker) will get this season of KGSR’s “Unplugged at the Grove” started April 15 at the Shady Grove. Also playing the popular free series will be Betty Soo, Bruce Robison, Band of Heathens, Warren Hood, James McMurtry, Carolyn Wonderland and more.
Although KGSR has put more pop and new wave music on its playlist since moving to 93.3 on the FM dial, the “Unplugged” acts seem to be a holdover from the Jody era. Besides, such new KGSR faves as Goo Goo Dolls, Weezer and Stone Temple Pilots are out of “Unplugged” booker Marsha Milam’s price range.
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Blue October returns to Austin in May
When Blue October singer Justin Furstenfeld suffered a mental breakdown in October of last year, the Texas platinum-selling alternative rock band was forced to cancel the entirety of its “Pick Up the Phone” tour — that is, aside, from two sold-out, rain-drenched nights at Stubb’s. Furstenfeld put on a passionate show for the band’s loyal fans, many of whom traveled far for their only chance to catch Blue October live.
Furstenfeld will reprise that evening under far happier circumstances Saturday, May 8, as the band closes out its rescheduled “Pick Up the Phone” tour — kicking off April 7 in Atlanta, Ga., after a springtime jaunt through Germany — at Stubb’s. Pre-sale tickets, $35, are available now.
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Rodeo lineup is set
The Eli Young Band will kick off musical entertainment at the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, which also features a rare Austin appearance from country legend Charley Pride.
The unfortunately named Lady Antebellum, whose “Need You Now” CD comes out tomorrow, are another highlight at the Travis County Expo Center. Their March 17 show is on the opening day of SXSW music, so you have to wonder if Scarlett and the O’Haras will participate in any promotional activities.
Tickets range from $15- $37, but that includes the rodeo. Here’s the schedule:
March 13 Eli Young Band
March 14 Joe Nichols
March 15 Gary Allan
March 16 Jordin Sparks
March 17 Lady Antebellum
March 18 Boys Like Girls
March 19 Randy Rogers Band
March 20 Wade Bowen
March 21 Charley Pride
March 22 Neal McCoy
March 23 Doobie Brothers
March 24 Billy Currington
March 25 Shinedown
March 26 Steve Wariner
March 27 Kevin Fowler
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Charlie Sexton backs JT on “Hallelujah” at Haiti benefit
Perhaps the most impressive performance at Friday night’s Hope For Haiti telethon was when Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris (the son of country/ pop singer Gary Morris) did a haunting cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Those two have come a long way since they were on “The Mickey Mouse Club” together.
The song was the most-downloaded from the telethon, which raised $58 million, with more coming from corporations.
He’s only featured on the screen for a few seconds, but that’s Charlie Sexton on guitar. Sexton and Timberlake co-produced Morris’s “When Everything Breaks Open” in Austin last year. The trio also performed together on the Ellen Degeneres show last week.
Morris will play SXSW in March.
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More from Sunday’s Help Austin Help Haiti concert
(Kelly West AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
The marathon “Help Austin Help Haiti” benefit on Sunday at the Austin Music Hall began with Asleep At the Wheel’s lilting version of Townes Van Zandt’s “If I Needed You” and drew toward a close almost 10 hours later with Charlie Sexton romping through a muscular version of the Beatles’ “Help.”
In between, the cream of Austin’s Americana/singer-songwriter community came together, as it has so often in the past, for those in need. Although no exact figures were available Monday morning, the concert and accompanying silent auction seemed certain to have raised many tens of thousands of dollars for Haitian earthquake relief.
The event came together with breathtaking rapidity. Visiting with Tim O’Connor and Doug Moyes of Direct Events, who manage the Music Hall, on an unrelated matter a week and a half ago, Joe Ely asked offhandedly if anyone was planning a local effort to aid Haitian earthquake victims. “You are,” the pair told Ely in essence, and basically tossed him the keys to the building.
With lots of behind-the-scenes sweat and tenacity, Ely and his cohorts assembled a cast of musicians that also included Shawn Colvin, Bob Schneider, the Gourds, Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, the Flatlanders, Robert Earl Keen, Marcia Ball (filling in for an ailing Billy Joe Shaver), Band of Heathens, Patricia Vonne, Reckless Kelly, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Guy Forsyth, Band of Heathens and Paula Nelson.
Many of the participants were parents themselves and the televised images of children wandering lost through the wreckage of Port Au Prince weighed on them.
“The big thing was being a dad,” said Bob Schneider, discussing his participation as his son, Luc hovered nearby. “All those people will have a hard time looking after the kids in all the devastation.”
“No matter how big this town gets or how much it changes, it’s still a music town and this is how we grieve and celebrate,” said Kelly Willis as her own kids romped around her dressing room.
Husband Bruce Robison added, “I’m proud to be part of this. It’s wonderful to try to help, and to find people that give you a way to help.” “Musicians are like family,” said Shawn Colvin, “and when someone like Joe makes this happen, how can you say no?”
Inevitably, with such a cast, musical highlights were plentiful. The Flatlanders (Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock), augmented by guitarist David Holt and steel maestro Lloyd Maines, lit up the room with a scorching version of Gilmore’s “Midnight Train.”
Colvin did a meltingly lovely solo take on the Lefty Frizzell/Merle Haggard hit “That’s the Way Love Goes.” Marcia Ball, sitting in with Ely and band, rocked the 88s on Ely’s keyboard anthem “Fingernails.” The Gourds mashed up an epic rendition of “Gin and Juice” with samples of Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” and Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” Ely dug deep into his song bag for a moving acoustic version of “Dig All Night.” Robert Earl Keen put an anthemic spin on Townes Van Zandt’s “Flying Shoes.” Robison and Willis sat in on one another’s sets between backstage babysitting duties.
“You feel helpless looking at the TV,” said Ely during the course of the evening. “But then I thought about Willie Nelson doing the benefit for the tsunami victims and Clifford Antone putting together a fundraiser after Hurricane Katrina … And I thought, it’s my turn.”
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The new Backyard begins to take shape
Late one night in early 2008, parking lot attendants from a nearby shopping center towed the car of Lana Nelson, daughter of Willie Nelson, as she attended a show at Bee Cave music venue the Backyard. For Tim O’Connor, owner of the legendary venue as well as owner and president of music booking agency Direct Events, that was the final sign that the Backyard’s original location — once isolated and serene but now surrounded by suburban shopping centers and an attendant crisis in parking — had grown untenable.
“That was the last straw for me,” recalls O’Connor. “At some point trying to deliver the right environment for both the musicians and the fans, both of which deserve the highest regard and treatment … if you can’t do that you step into a zone where all that matters is greed, and I couldn’t do that.”
With that realization, he closed the venue after an October 2008 show featuring longtime Backyard favorite Willie Nelson, with plans to relocate. More than a year later, the new venue, located on Bee Cave Parkway off Highway 620, less than half a mile from the original, is finally beginning to take shape, with plans to open in the spring and host Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic.
For those wondering just why it’s taken so long, O’Connor says the grim economic forecast of the last 18 months played a central role.
“It killed us. It’s been arduous,” says O’Connor. “Every financial scenario that we put together we had to wad up and throw in the trash can and start over. We had to persevere. It’s been real tough.”
After scouting locations as far afield as Round Rock, he eventually settled on a hillside patch of 38 acres just west of 620. Much work remains to be done on the new location — construction on the stage, VIP area and many other key facilities has yet to begin. But the artist’s area — comprised primarily of buildings shipped over from the original Backyard — is beginning to take shape.
The new Backyard will ultimately include 2500 spaces for on-site parking, with the ability to accommodate as many as 7,500 concertgoers, who will be able to access the venue both from Highway 620 and Texas 71. Plans are also under way to include a South Austin-inspired trailer food court. Direct Events has worked with the City of Bee Cave to keep disruptions from the venue to a minimum, and anticipates that, because the stage faces a hillside, sound issues should be kept to a minimum.
But it’s the venue’s green features that O’Connor, a longtime resident of Austin and clear fan of the Hill Country, is most proud of. The new venue will be pavement-free, featuring grass pavers, and sports retention ponds and other environmentally friendly measures. The construction crew is even moving two 75-year-old trees currently in the line of needed roads to other locations on the property to avoid cutting them down.
For O’Connor, who was deeply invested in the original Backyard — which opened its doors in 1993 and hosted shows from Willie Nelson to David Bowie — the new venue is a point of pride that, while exciting on its own terms, is no attempt to replace the original.
“It’s a lot like the place you were born, the home you were born in. At some point you get a new home and you move in and you look forward to those memories you’ll build,” says O’Connor. “But you never forget your backyard that you played in and grew up in and threw your first baseball.”
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Does T-Bone Burnett deserve half of Ryan Bingham’s song?
Musician Ryan Bingham read the script of “Crazy Heart” at the behest of director Scott Cooper and wrote the Bruce Springsteen-sounding song “The Weary Kind,” wisely including lyrics about a crazy heart. Then he played it for Cooper and music supervisor T-Bone Burnett. “Right off the bat, T-Bone looked at me and said, ‘That’s the song we want to use’” for the movie’s theme, Bingham recently told New York magazine.
With Burnett eventually listed as the song’s co-writer, New York asked Bingham what T-Bone added to it. “That line at the end of the song — ‘You are the man who ruined the world — he came up with that,” Bingham said. “I can’t really remember all the little things he did. But that was the main thing, he helped on that last verse. I pretty much just had a couple of verses and the chorus, and we added a little more to it.”
For such tweaking, does Burnett deserve to own 50 per cent of a song that could win the Oscar and potentially earn half a million dollars? “Absolutely,” says Austin song publisher Brandi Warden. “Song doctoring is very important in making a good song a great one.”When Bingham sought Burnett’s help in finishing the song, he made him his partner on it. “That’s just understood in the business of professional songwriting,” says Warden, 41.
That rare Austin-based song-pitcher, Warden opened her Moonkiss Music publishing company in 2002 to publish songs by her husband Monte Warden. She has since added other writers to her stable and placed songs on albums by George Strait, Blue October and Travis Tritt.
Although some co-writers divvy up songs like a pie chart, according to how much each writer contributed, Warden says it’s much more common to split them 50- 50 without discussion. “Harlan Howard used to say ‘sometimes you get the coffee and sometimes they get the coffee’,” says Warden, whose father Phil Thomas wrote several hit country songs, including “Baby Your Baby” for Strait and “Colorado Koolaid” and “Me and the IRS” for Johnny Paycheck. Brandi’s grandparents, Gladys and Don Scaife also penned hits, often with a third co-writer.
“‘Write a word, get a third,’” Warden says, reciting a family adage. “Without every person in the room’s creative input, it wouldn’t be the same song. It wouldn’t have the same energy.”
Brandi Warden will be among the panelists at next weekend’s (Jan. 29- 31) 6th Annual Austin Songwriters Group Conference held at the Wyndham Hotel in South Austin.
Here’s more on the conference, which will feature a performance and keynote address from singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell.
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Afghanistan tour, documentary among Jesse Dayton’s many projects
Already juggling more projects than anyone not named “Seacrest,” Austin honky tonker Jesse Dayton has added one more biggie to his to-do list: a week-long USO tour in Afghanistan.
The exact date of departure for Dayton and his band is still getting hammered out but he does know it’ll happen before the end of April and will put him in front of a whole lot of U.S. soldiers trying to keep the peace and fight terrorism in the long-embattled country.
“All the details are getting finalized, but it’s happening some time in the next two months,” Dayton said Friday. “It’s being run through a promoter who set up a (diplomatic) tour of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam that we did a few years ago and we’re really excited to get this chance to go over there and play for the troops.”
Adding to the degree of difficulty in scheduling the Afghanistan trip is Dayton’s increasingly packed calendar, which includes three trips to New Orleans in the coming months to film scenes for “Zombex,” a horror movie he wrote and is set to star musicians such as punk legend Mike Ness and hardcore rapper Scarface.
Also in March, Dayton hopes to use the South By Southwest Film Festival as an occasion to host several showings of his new documentary “The Adventures of Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures,” which looks at the rise of his titular, Rob Zombie-endorsed rockabilly alter ego.
“There’s lots of concert footage and we take people backstage to see how a honky tonk guy like me wound up on this crazy heavy metal tour with Rob Zombie,” Dayton said. “We’re just going to get the doc out there for people to enjoy since I’m so busy setting things up with my movie and going to New Orleans for that.”
Through it all Dayton wants to make as many of his Thursday dates at the Broken Spoke as possible, and get started on “Ghost Soldiers,” the second Captain Clegg record, to satisfy the pent-up demand spawned by the character’s appearance in two recent Zombie movies.
“People are so into it, it’d be silly to not get something new out there for them,” Dayton said. “We’re having fun with this, trying to create something that’s as fun and different as possible.”
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The lineup for Sunday’s Help Austin Help Haiti concert
The benefit Sunday at Austin Music Hall is scheduled to go from 2 p.m. to midnight (doors at 1 p.m.). Here’s the set schedule (subject to change):
2 p.m. to 2:20 p.m.: Asleep At The Wheel
2:35 - 2:55: Patricia Vonne
3:10 - 3:30: Guy Forsyth
3:45 - 4:05: Paula Nelson
4:20 - 4:40: Band of Heathens
4:55 - 5:15: Bob Schneider
5:30 - 5:50: The Flatlanders
6:05 - 6:25: Shawn Colvin
6:40 - 7: Bruce Robison
7:15 - 7:35: Kelly Wills
7:50 - 8:10: Ray Wylie Hubbard
8:25 - 8:45: The Gourds
9 - 9:20: Reckless Kelly
9:35 - 9:55: The Joe Ely Band
10:10 - 10:30: Billy Joe Shaver
10:45 - 11:05: Robert Earl Keen
11:20 - 11:35: Charlie Sexton
11:50 - 12: Closing Remarks / Thank You
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Balmorhea debut new song, announce tour details
Austin’s own sweeping instrumental group Balmorhea have released a new song, “Bowsprit,” off their forthcoming album “Constellations,” which sees release on Western Vinyl on Feb. 23. They’ve also announced a round of North American tour dates that will kick off with a Feb. 19 performance at the Central Presbyterian Church — which will also serve as their homecoming venue when they return to Austin for South By Southwest. They’ll play the atmospheric room on March 17, opening night of the music festival, which you may remember as both the time and the place that hosted one of SXSW’s most stacked bills (St. Vincent, M. Ward, Department of Eagles and Camera Obscura) last year.
Take a listen to “Bowsprit” below, and check after the jump for the band’s full tour itinerary.
- Listen: ‘Bowspirit’ by Balmorhea
Balmorhea 2010 North American Tour Dates
02.19 • Central Presbyterian Church with Damien Jurado (Austin, TX)
02.26 • Firebird (St. Louis, MO)
02.27 • Russian Recording (Bloomington, IN)
02.28 • Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH)
03.02 • First Unitarian Church (Philadelphia, PA)
03.03 • Le Poisson Rouge (New York, NY)
03.04 • TT The Bears (Boston, MA)
03.05 • La Sala Rosa (Montreal, Canada)
03.06 • El Mocambo (Toronto, Canada)
03.09 • The Pike Room (Detroit, MI)
03.10 • Lincoln Theater (Chicago, IL)
03.11 • The Triple Door (Seattle, WA)
03.12 • Biltmore (Vancouver, BC Canada)
03.14 • Doug Fir (Portland, OR)
03.15 • Bottom Of The Hill (San Francisco, CA)
03.17 • SXSW - Central Presbyterian Church (Austin, TX)
03.19 • SXSW- Western Vinyl Showcase (Austin, TX)
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Lilith Fair adds Austin date
Hat tip to the Onion A.V. Club Austin for picking up on this one — Lilith Fair, the traveling festival and showcase for female musical talent that returns this summer, has just added Austin to its 2010 roster of cities. The influential, high-grossing, Sarah McLachlan-founded festival folded after 1999, having raised millions for charity, with a return announcement made by Nettwerk CEO and Lilith Fair co-founder Terry McBride in April of last year.
Details — namely exact dates and venues — remain to be announced, but the preliminary lineup looks impressive. Lilith Fair stalwarts like McLachlan herself are well-represented, as are many well-established veteran musicians like Heart, Loretta Lynn, the Indigo Girls and Emmylou Harris, as well as current adult-contemporary favorites like Sara Bareilles, Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae and Colbie Caillait. There’s also a healthy smattering of names clearly gunning for the youth and indie constituencies — including Metric, Cat Power, Janelle Monae, A Fine Frenzy, the Gossip, Tegan and Sara and Lights, among others. Seriously, this thing is just about one Sleater-Kinney reunion short of complete. If you want to be notified of further updates, you can sign up for the festival’s e-mail newsletter on their official Web site.
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Artists wristbands at SXSW just got more valuable
In the past few years of SXSW, participating musicians were allowed to attend the opening day of panels at the Austin Convention Center without a badge. This year, artist wristbands are good for all four days of panels.
The move is partly to beef up attendance at the panels, which have been losing numbers to all the free daytime parties. But panelist coordinator Andy Flynn says another consideration is because so many of the panels this year are focussed on helping artists adapt to a rapidly changing marketplace.
Acts playing SXSW are given a choice of $250 in pay or wristbands for each band member. Although a vast majority of the bands take the wristbands, that number should go even higher. SXSW music badges, which were previously the only way to attend all four days of panels, range from $595- $750 each, depending on how early they’re purchased,
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Will Sheff guests on new New Pornographers record
Today brought sterling news for fans of powerhouse pop collective the New Pornographers, with word that their fifth full-length album, “Together,” will see release May 4 on Matador Records. The album features the usual contributors from the band that earns that “supergroup” label more with each passing year —Carl Newman, Dan Bejar, John Collins, alt-country superstar Neko Case, Kurt Dahle, Kathryn Calder, Todd Fancey and Blaine Thurier.
But it will also feature horns from the Dap-Kings and appearances from Beirut’s Zach Condon and two former Texas residents who have since moved to Brooklyn — Okkervil River front man and former Austinite Will Sheff and Annie Clark, also known as St. Vincent.
Sheff, it increasingly appears, never sleeps — he co-wrote “Stuck” on Norah Jones’ 2009 album “The Fall,” and produced the new album from Roky Erickson, which sees release April 20.
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Help Austin Help Haiti at the Music Hall
A bright spot in the news around Haiti continues to be the outpouring of money, supplies and support after that country’s devastating earthquake on Jan. 12. The Austin community is no exception, from a special screening of Turk Pipkin’s documentary earlier this week to benefits at the Parish and Dominican Joe’s, and medical supplies collected at Antone’s, among other efforts. (The folks at Antone’s sent their first shipment out Thursday; they’ll continue to collect supplies during club hours for the next week or so; see antones.net for the list of what’s needed.)
Sunday we’ll see an all-star benefit concert, Help Austin Help Haiti at the Austin Music Hall, organized by musician Joe Ely. “When we saw how bad the situation there is, we felt like we needed to move fast,” Ely said in announcing the show.
He rallied a great group of musicians to perform, including the Flatlanders (with Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock), Robert Earl Keen, the Gourds, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, Jack Ingram, Shawn Colvin, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Asleep At The Wheel, Guy Forsyth. Bob Schneider, Kinky Friedman, Reckless Kelly, Patricia Vonne, Band of Heathens and Charlie Sexton.
Plus, we hear there might be some pretty special special guests. All proceeds from the show, including a silent auction, will go to two charities that are helping Haiti: Oxfam America (oxfamamerica.org) and Clintonbushhaitifund.org. Help Us Help Haiti kicks off at 2 p.m. Sunday (doors at 1 p.m.) at the Austin Music Hall, 208 Nueces St. Tickets are $28 in advance, $33 at the door. Information: (512) 495-9962. www.austinmusichall.com
And coming up Tuesday: Kat Edmonson and friends will perform at a Haiti benefit at Vino Vino, 4119 Guadalupe St. That event is 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Call 465-9282.
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360 weekend picks
(Pictured: Matthew and the Arrogant Sea)
FRIDAY
Matthew and the Arrogant Sea at the Parish. For all of Austin’s many musical splendors, there’s a slight twinge of jealousy at work every time a great artist — the Eli Young Band, Midlake, originally the Riverboat Gamblers — erupts out of the fertile Denton scene and we can’t claim them as our own. Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, masters of stripped-down minimalist folk, are just such an outfit, six strapping lads with a command of harmonies and a whimsical aesthetic. With Legs Against Arms and Danny Malone. 8 p.m. $8. 214 E. Sixth St. www.theparishaustin.com. — Patrick Caldwell
Also recommended:
- Stereo is a Lie at the Beauty Bar
- Scott Biram at the Continental Club
- Moth Fight at the Monarch Event Center
- the Happen-Ins at Scoot Inn
- the Scabs at Antone’s
- Jimmy LaFave at the Cactus Cafe
- Scary Kids Scaring Kids at Emo’s
SATURDAY
The Cribs at the Parish. Smiths alumnus Johnny Marr collects musical projects the way some people do stamps or coins — having served as a member of Modest Mouse, the The, Johnny Marr and the Healers, (briefly) the Pretenders and the Electronic, among others. He adds another notch to his bedpost with the Cribs, the English rock trio he turned into a quartet after joining up in 2008. Their anthemic, head-banging, fist-pumping blue collar stomp pairs well with Marr’s meaty guitar lines and should make for an evening of unabashed rock ‘n’ roll. With Adam Green and the Dead Trees. 8 p.m. $18. 214 E. Sixth St. www.theparishaustin.com. — P.C.
Also recommended:
- the Gary at Trailer Space Records
- Lonesome Heroes at the Ghost Room
- the Ugly Beats at Stubb’s
- Aesop Rock at the Mohawk
- Lou Ann Barton at the Continental Club
SUNDAY
Dickie Lee Erwin at Flipnotics. The former Killbilly banjo slayer has matured into a fine country songwriter, as evidenced by new album ‘Swan.’ Can’t quite shake the sideman’s voice, but such new tunes as ‘I Remember That’ and ‘Time Alone’ show great depth of spirit. With La Fenice. 8 p.m. Free. 1601 Barton Springs Road. http://flipnotics.com. — Michael Corcoran
Also recommended:
- Clay Nightingale at the Hole in the Wall
- Help Austin Help Haiti at the Austin Music Hall
- Warren Hood and the Hoodlums at Momo’s
- Jon Dee Graham at the Continental Club Gallery
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SXSW speculation: Badu? Chamillionaire?
(Erykah Badu at ACL Fest 2008. Photo by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Texans Erykah Badu and Chamillionaire both have new releases due out on March 16, the day before SXSW 2010 kicks off. I’m just sayin’…
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Will Sexton benefit Feb. 15 at Antone’s
Terry Allen, Patty Griffin, Eliza and Tony Gilkyson, Victoria Williams, Jimmy Lafave and Bill Carter & the Blame (featuring Charlie Sexton) are among the acts down to play a show at Antone’s to raise money for beloved Austin musician Will Sexton, who suffered a minor stroke last month. The money will go towards medical and living expenses as the 39-year-old Sexton recovers.
So far, more than $10,000 has been raised through Sexton’s Chip In account.
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Denton’s NX35 lineup announced
The preliminary lineup for the second annual NX35 Music Conferette in Denton — a mini-festival and conference immediately preceding South by Southwest on March 11 to March 14 — has been announced, and it’s a scorcher.
Major acts include hometown heroes (well, in Denton) Midlake and an appearance by the ever-enchanting Flaming Lips. Many Austin acts will be making the road trip north to play the festival just before SXSW, including the Laughing, the Rocketboys, the Black Angels, Quiet Company, Hotel Hotel, Moth Fight and more.
Tickets — $65 for all-access and $20 for a single-day — are on sale now.
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Tesla coil alert: Man or Astro-man? slated to play SXSW
Prolific surf rockers Man or Astro-Man?, on a long hiatus since 2001 with only occasional reunion shows, will reform this year — and play at the South by Southwest Music Festival, according to an e-mail from their publicist.
The original lineup of the influential instrumental guitar rockers — Starcrunch, Birdstuff, and Coco the Electronic Monkey Wizard or Brian Causey, Brian Teasly and Robert DelBueno if you’re feeling square — will first reform for a show in Birmingham, Ala., before bringing their science fiction-inspired mania to Austin for SXSW.
Also coming to town are stable hardcore band (Expletive) Up, whose full name we sadly can’t run, but you can view it in its entirety over on SXSW’s official Web site. They’ll headline a showcase the night of Saturday, March 20, at the Red 7, alongside Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis, Rival Schools, Titus Andronicus, Cold Cave and Katie Stelmanis.
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White Stripes concert film to make US debut at SXSW
Hit Fix reports that the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival will host the United States premiere of the White Stripes documentary “Under Great White Northern Lights.” The movie, directed by Emmett Malloy, tracks the band’s summer 2007 tour across Canada. It premiered, appropriately, at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, but the SXSW screening will mark its domestic debut. The timing is appropriate — the festival kicks off March 12, while the film will see release on DVD March 16, alongside vinyl and CD concert albums. If you love — really love — the White Stripes, you can also get the DVD and CD in a limited-edition box set, which also includes a DVD of the band’s 10th anniversary show in Nova Scotia, an exclusive seven-inch on colored vinyl, a silk-screened print and a hardcover photo book. It’s available for the low, low price of $229.
Jack and Meg White appeared briefly before audiences to discuss the film — and their shared love of Canada — in Toronto for the premiere. Here’s hoping the pair will do the same in Austin, and perhaps even play a show or two to commemorate the occasion.
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First Favre, now Fallon
The “Pants on the Ground” phenomenon, sparked by General Larry Platt’s appearance on “American Idol,” is really getting crazy. On the other hand, doesn’t this sound like the best Neil Young song in years?
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Alpha Rev’s long-awaited major label debut drops April 20
Alpha Rev, the sweeping alternative rock venture from former Endochine front man Casey McPherson, signed to Hollywood Records — the Disney label that also boasts Miley Cyrus, Breaking Benjamin, Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers on its talent roster — back in August 2008.
We’ll finally see the fruits of that seemingly odd partnership April 20, when the band’s “New Morning” is released. Its 11 tracks were recorded in February of last year at New York City’s Avatar Studios. It was produced by David Kahne, whose credits include the Strokes, Paul McCartney, Sublime and Regina Spektor.
If nothing else, Hollywood’s promotional power has helped the band land a significant placement on TV lately, with songs cropping up in “Melrose Place” and “NYC Prep.” Alpha Rev is also slated to appear on ABC Family dramedy “Greek” March 15.
The band will play four dates with Owl City in February but are slated to return to Austin for the South by Southwest Music Festival.
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Indie concert roundup: slew of spring shows announced
Wholly apart from the avalanche of precocious indie bands expected to deluge our fair city in March for South By Southwest 2010, four beloved indie bands have recently announced Austin dates for the spring.
First off is Austin’s own cinematic Shearwater. They release “The Golden Archipelago” Feb. 23, and will embark on a full U.S. tour in March (the band’s hitting Europe in February). That tour begins March 13 at Red 7 with a solo show from front man Jonathan Meiburg, supporting Xiu Xiu, and ends at the Parish May 7, nicely bookending matters. Surf over to the Matador blog for the full list of dates and a new MP3, “Black Eyes” from the forthcoming album.
Next up are Scottish pop darlings Camera Obscura — who’ve gigged in Austin pretty frequently over the last year, all things considered — who come to Emo’s April 9, with supporting acts still to be determined. Emo’s will also host dreamy shoegaze pop outfit Beach House later that month, April 22. Tickets for both are on-sale now.
Finally, indie vagabond Ted Leo and the Pharmacists will play the Parish March 31. Tickets, $15, go on sale Saturday.
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Live shots: Riverboat Gamblers at Red 7
(Photo by David Weaver FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
- The A-List: Riverboat Gamblers at Red 7
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Show preview: Jemina Pearl at Emo’s
That band sadly passed into the great punk rock graveyard in the sky in 2008, but Pearl, 22, rebounded with a move to Brooklyn and last year’s “Break It Up,” a self-assured solo debut, co-written with former Be Your Own Pet drummer John Eatherly. Released on Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label — Moore is a friend of Pearl’s and played alongside her on a 2008 episode of “Gossip Girl” — it drops Pearl’s sweet-and-sour howl and razor-sharp songwriting into the smooth pop production of an old-fashioned girl group record. Pearl, playing Emo’s tonight (with Arum Rae, 9 p.m. Jan. 19, 603 Red River St. $10), talked to the American-Statesman about her duet with Iggy Pop, the freedom of writing in a solo project and her take on the year in horror cinema.
American-Statesman: The album features a duet with Iggy Pop on ‘I Hate People.’ What was your reaction to getting Iggy Pop to sing on one of your albums?
Jemina Pearl: I was shocked and amazed. Thurston kind of helped hook it up. Him and (Sonic Youth guitarist) Kim (Gordon) have a relationship with Iggy Pop, and I guess Thurston kind of talked to him and sent him the song, and he was into it. He recorded it in Miami, so it was kind of bittersweet to not actually do it with him, but it was still awesome. I’ll take it any way I can get it.
Something I noticed in the reviews of ‘Break It Up’ was a whole lot of hand-wringing about you getting older — ‘How’s she going to stay punk rock as she grows up,’ etc. Does that ever feel weird for you, considering you’re 22?
Yeah, I think so. But, you know, it’s funny — I know when Joan Jett stopped being with the Runaways she was like 19 and everybody was “Oh, she’s too old now.” That’s just the way these things work. The music industry and the entertainment industry especially are just so focused on people being young. But I don’t stay too concerned with what everybody writes about me. I mean, people said that then, but Joan Jett still rocks now.
The songs on ‘Break It Up’ are a lot more autobiographical than the work you did with Be Your Own Pet — why were you more comfortable going in that direction on your solo ablum?
With Be Your Own Pet it was a group of four people, and three of them were dudes, so I never wanted to write really personal songs. I felt like we were trying to have a singular voice on each of our songs and do things as Be Your Own Pet and not ourselves. We wanted to express things as a group. So I’d have felt weird singing about, like, the woes of breaking up.
You’ve sung songs about murder and zombies, and you write a lot about horror movies on your personal blog (jeminapearl.blogspot.com). You’re clearly an aficionado of the genre. Did you see any horror movies in 2009 that you liked?
Gosh, last year was pretty dismal. Everything I saw that was new was kind of stupid. But I saw something called “House of the Devil,” which I thought was really close, stylistically, to the early slasher movies of the ’80s, and it had a really cool vibe. It was also set in that time period, and I think that’s always a good idea, because technology now has (expletive) up all the scariness. In 1980 there were no cell phones and you couldn’t see the number that was calling you. I could tell the director totally knew his references and stuff, and I liked that. I’m old-school. My VHS collection is more prized than my DVD collection.
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Haiti relief update: Antone’s, Vino Vino and Ruta Maya join in
Appreciation to Austin Powell of the Austin Chronicle for bringing this one to our attention: Antone’s, 213 W. Fifth St., is taking donations of medical supplies all day today, both from the general public and from any willing medical facilities in a position to give. Needs include bandages, splints, oral insulin and more — check the Web site for a full list.
Vino Vino will host a benefit a week from today, Tuesday, Jan. 26, with jazz singer Kat Edmonson performing. Fifty percent of the wine bar’s sales will be donated to Partners In Health. Ruta Maya will throw a reggae benefit for the Red Cross’ efforts in Haiti Saturday, Jan. 30, with Root Dimension Reggae headlining. Further performers are slated to be announced for both shows.
Meanwhile, Austinite Will Taylor will donate 100 percent of the profits from his iTunes sales this month to Stand With Haiti, while Paste Magazine’s “Songs for Haiti” campaign — in which Paste offers free downloads to those who donate to Haiti disaster relief — includes several locals among its more than 200 artists on offer, including the Rocketboys and Sarah Jarosz.
Know about any benefit shows or other local music-related efforts being mounted to raise money for those in need in Haiti? Let us know at musicsource@statesman.com, or pop into the comments.
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And the Coachella lineup is out …
Jay-Z, Muse, Gorillaz headline.
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Howard Stern- reporting from Brackenridge
Tattoo artist Shanghai Kate Hellenbrand came to Austin last week for the Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival Show at the Palmer Events Center. But just an hour after getting off the plane, Hellenbrand broke her leg in a fall near Barton Springs Road; she’s been in University Medical Center at Brackenridge ever since.
Tuesday morning her spirits were lifted with a call from Howard Stern’s news reporter Lisa G, who was unaware that Hellenbrand was laid up. “They read that I’d been named one of the top ten tattoo artists by AOL, so they were going to ask me about that,” said Hellenbrand, who has tattooed Stern, including his wedding band.
Instead, the interview centered on what led Hellenbrand to Brack.
The interview is expected to air tomorrow on Stern’s Sirius radio show.
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Lay your eyes on the starting lineup for Chaos in Tejas
Shout-out to Austin Sound for being the first to notice this one: we now have an initial lineup (and a poster) for Chaos in Tejas, the multi-day, multi-venue underground music festival that annually rocks Red River, courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan.
From May 27 to May 30, Emo’s, Mohawk, the Red 7 and Beerland will host a stacked lineup that includes everything from the on-again, off-again Australian punk rockers X to the quirky indie electronica of Quintron and Miss Pussycat. Peep all the currently announced playing acts after the jump. Information on tickets should be available soon, and the organizers keep a blog that’s likely to contain further updates.
If the festival keeps up the trend from Chaos in Tejas’ past, you can also expect some free shows on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge, running parallel to Lamar Boulevard, in the wee hours of the morning. Few pleasures in life are more distinct than catching an explosive punk show on the pedestrian bridge.
Acephalix
A-Frames
Arctic Flowers
Axeman
Bastard (Japan..one time reunion)
Bastard Noise (Wood, Connell and Nelson)
Bone Awl
Brilliant Colors
Crow (Japan)
Dead to Me
Deskonocidos
Fungi Girls
Gehenna
Grass Widow
the Hex Dispensers
Inquisition (columbia)
Iron Age
Iron Lung
Jeff the Brotherhood
Kim Phuc
Kyklooppein Sukupuutto (Finland)
La Urss (Spain)
Leatherface (England)
Mammoth Grinder
Masshysteri
The Marked Men (only show of 2010)
Mind Eraser
Morne
Mother of Mercy
Nerveskade
Ninja Gun
The Pist
Poison Idea
the Ponys
Psychedelic Horseshit
Rival Mob
Rorschach
Quintron and Miss Pussycat
Ratas Del Vaticano (Mexico)
Shanghai River
the Spits
Slang (Japan)
Subhumans (England)
Tim Kerr and Friends
Toxic Holocaust
Ty Segall
Underground Railroad to Candyland
Vaaska
Volahn
Walls
Wasted Time
Waste Management
Wild Thing
World Burns to Death
Woven Bones
X (Australia)
Yellow Tears
Young Offenders
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First round of performers for Help Austin Help Haiti announced
Following last week’s announcement that country veteran and Flatlander Joe Ely will host an all-star benefit for Haiti relief Sunday, Jan. 24, at the Austin Music Hall, the first batch of confirmed artists have been announced. They are: Asleep at the Wheel, Bruce Robison, the Flatlanders, the Gourds, Guy Forsyth, Jack Ingram, Joe Ely, Kelly Willis, Kinky Friedman, Paula Nelson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Reckless Kelly, Robert Earl Keen and Shawn Colvin. More artist confirmations — as well as the event’s beneficiary organization — will be announced this week.
Tickets, $28 advance and $33 at the door, are on sale now. The event will also include a silent auction. The Austin Music Hall hosted a similar benefit to assist victims of the South Asia tsunami in 2005.
Of course, you don’t have to wait for the event to help contribute to efforts in Haiti — Google has a nice round-up of organizations assisting with disaster relief, and you can text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross (messaging fees may apply). South Congress coffee shop Dominican Joe is also hosting an all-day benefit featuring live music today, benefiting the Haiti efforts of Austin-based nonprofit Makarios. 20 percent of the shop’s revenues will be donated to Haiti relief, and Sweet Leaf Tea will be giving out free drinks in exchange for cash or supplies donations. The Hyde Park Bar & Grill and Texas Cuban will also be donating a portion of today’s revenue to Haiti relief.
Wednesday, Jan. 20 will also see a benefit show at Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto Street, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., benefiting the Salvation Army’s earthquake relief efforts. Jimmy Dale Gilmore, James McMurtry and Jenny Reynolds will perform. Minimum donation is $10, cash or check.
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Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival coming back to SXSW
The German Lauryn Hill, Nneka, plus touted indie rock band Kilians, are playing the second annual Reeperbahn Festival BBQ at SXSW on Saturday, March 20 from 2 to 5pm at the Texas Embassy (formerly Habana Calle, 709 East Sixth St.).
The Reeperbahn Festival, which takes place in 25 venues in Hamburg’s former red light district in September, is also co-hosting the Filter Party on the Friday of SXSW from 11am to 1pm at the Cedar Street Courtyard (208 West 4th Street).
The City of Hamburg, which got the idea for their fest from SXSW, spends over a million Euros annually to support its clubs and independent labels. (The most famous rock band of all time got their start in Hamburg, before the Reeperbahn was cleaned up, without a penny of government help. But, then, the Beatles were pretty good.)
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CD review: Spoon ‘Transference’
“Transference” might not be Spoon’s best album — and in Austin, where “What’s your favorite Spoon album?” is one of the first questions we ask potential romantic partners, it’s natural to try and place the record in the band’s hierarchy. But it speaks to their almost insolent consistency that it’s even in the conversation. Seventh full-length
“Transference” is a winding, shifting soundscape, accessible to the bushels of fans the band picked up after “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” yet with just enough jagged edges to stay fresh.
“Before Destruction” gets the action appropriately under way with a wall of synthesizers and Britt Daniel’s voice at the back of the mix before temporarily stripping away the flourishes, leaving Daniel’s voice naked and alone with an acoustic guitar. It’s a great change in an album full of them — witness also the slow burn of “I Saw The Light,” which erupts into an instrumental jam with a toe-tapping, LCD Soundsystem-esque drum beat. There’s nothing here as immediately fetching as “The Underdog” or “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” but “Transference” offers deeper pleasures, from spare piano ballad “Goodnight Laura” to the swaggering spaciness of “Who Makes Your Money?”
Which isn’t to make “Transference” sound at all impenetrable . “Is Love Forever?” charges ahead with a driving guitar line — alongside head-bang-worthy previously released rocker “Got Nuffin,” “Transference” sports two of the band’s best straight-up rock songs since “Sister Jack.” Uniting all those disparate threads, as always, is Daniel’s coy voice, with lyrics pairing intellect and heart-on-your-sleeve earnestness — nowhere more so than on closer “Nobody Gets Me But You,” a groovier finale than last album’s “Black Like Me” but with a similar sense of thoughtful introspection.
“Nobody gets what I’m saying,” sings Daniel. “Those that know/Those that knew me/Those that look through me/Do they get me?”
Maybe not. But as long as Spoon keeps crafting albums like this, it’s OK if the process of just how remains something of a mystery zone.
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Where’s Ryan? Bingham’s “Weary Kind” wins Golden Globe
T-Bone Burnett barely wrote any of “The Weary Kind,” which former Austinite Ryan Bingham brought to him for the “Crazy Heart” soundtrack. And yet Sunday night, Burnett was alone on the podium to accept the Golden Globe for best original song. Bingham apparently chose the wrong time for a bathroom break.
“Where’s Ryan Bingham?” Burnett asked. “Maybe he’s up in the air.” (The George Clooney character in “Up In the Air” is named Ryan Bingham.)
James Cameron-lookalike Burnett left the podium rather abruptly. Unfortunately, he was the only one all night.
Here’s some background on Bingham.
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CD review: ‘Crazy Heart’ Soundtrack
“Crazy Heart” Soundrack
Jeff Bridges and others
New West
Grade: B
If this was just a Jeff Bridges record, you’d think he was an OK singer, but don’t go all Billy Bob Thornton on us. Keep your hobbies to yourself.
As a Bad Blake album, however, this is a cool collection of songs from a 40-year career that would be called fictitious if Bridges didn’t seem to become the washed-up, boozed-up drifting cowboy singer. Imagine Kris Kristofferson if he’d never made it or Billy Joe Shaver if he did and you have an idea of Bridges’ Blake — a South Texas poet/songster who can say a lot with a little. “Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin,’ … for a little while” he sings over a two-step beat on one of the film’s sad and witty tunes.
Music supervisors Stephen Bruton and T Bone Burnett were challenged with writing new songs that sound like they were hits in the ‘70s and ‘80s, so the pair can be commended for the way such tunes as “Hold On You,” “I Don’t Know” and “Fallin’ and Flyin’” sound like they could’ve been minor hits for Don Williams.
Irish actor Colin Farrell, who plays a former Blake protege who sells out to superstardom, does a quite passable job on “Gone, Gone, Gone” (he must’ve studied George Strait for weeks) and Ryan Bingham swoops in at the end to almost steal the album with the Springsteenish “The Weary Kind.”
The soundtrack’s “source cues” — random tracks that show the protagonist’s influences — include numbers from Buck Owens, Lightnin’ Hopkins, the Louvin Brothers and Townes Van Zandt to keep the story moving along.
That’s the advantage this album has over most: it’s part of a well-told story. Music has a hard time making a first impression, but when you’ve got all the context that “Crazy Heart” provides, the tunes pick up power.
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Willie Nelson signs with Rounder
Rounder Records announced today that it has signed Willie Nelson to a recording contract and will release his T-Bone Burnett-produced “Country Music” album April 13. 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the Cambridge, Mass.- based roots music label, so expect a huge presence at South by Southwest this year.
Here’s the track listing:
“Man With The Blues” (first song Willie ever wrote).
“Seaman’s Blues”
“Dark As A Dungeon”
“Gotta Walk Alone”
“Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down”
“My Baby’s Gone”
“Freight Train Boogie”
“Satisfied Mind”
“You Done Me Wrong”
“Pistol Packin’ Mama”
“Ocean Of Diamonds”
“Drinking Champagne”
“I Am A Pilgrim”
“House of Gold”
“Nobody’s Fault But Mine”
Last week, Burnett told Austin Music Source that the record has been mistakenly referred to as Willie’s bluegrass departure. “It’s pre-bluegrass,” Burnett says, with much of the material written in the 1920s and 1930s, before the heyday of Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs.
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Austin musicians plan concert for Haiti relief
Not a lot of details yet. What we know: Joe Ely is working on rounding up musicians and the show will be Jan. 24 at Austin Music Hall. From a news release:
“We still have a lot of pieces to put together,” Ely said. “When we saw how bad the situation there is, we felt like we needed to move fast.” Further details - including ticket prices, showtimes and charitable partner - will be made available early next week.
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Van Morrison cancels January shows, including Jan. 23 at Bass
From a news release that just landed in our inboxes:
VAN MORRISON CANCELS UPCOMING BASS CONCERT HALL SHOW TICKET REFUNDS AT ORIGINAL POINT OF PURCHASE
Mr. Morrison has reluctantly had to cancel his January shows owing to severe exhaustion. This includes the show scheduled for Saturday, January 23 at Bass Concert Hall at The University of Texas at Austin. Tickets purchased will be refunded at the original point of purchase.
Customers that purchased tickets online or by phone may contact Texas Box Office at 512-477-6060 to arrange refunds. Canceled shows have a two-year window to obtain a refund.
Please contact Texas Box Office for further questions regarding refunds.
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Portugal. The Man to headline two nights at the Parish
Ceaselessly sunny pop quartet Portugal. The Man — probably the second-most famous group of people to hail from Wasilla, Alaska, in recent memory — will headline a two-night stand at the Parish on March 5 and 6, just before the crush of South by Southwest.
The band will be supporting the release of “American Ghetto,” their upcoming album, currently expected to drop sometime in the spring of this year. It’s the follow-up to last year’s “The Satanic Satanist,” possibly the cheekiest, most amusing title for an indie rock record since Yo La Tengo’s “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your (Expletive).”
Tickets, $12.50-$20, will go on sale tomorrow, Jan. 16. Port O’Brien and the Dig will open.
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Dixie Chicks side project will debut at SXSW
The Dixie Chicks side project Court Yard Hounds, featuring guitarist and banjo player Emily Robison and fiddler Martie Maguire, will make its live debut at the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival, reported Rolling Stone earlier today.
The two sisters have recorded an album together that they plan to release in May. With lead singer Natalie Maines on indefinite hiatus, Robison will sing lead vocals on the new album, which Rolling Stone says was recorded mostly in Austin.
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Review: Fat Man and Little Boy at the Whip In
(Fat Man and Little Boy perform Thursday at The Whip In. Photo by Laura Skelding AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
“We’re gonna play without a mic,” announced Little Boy at the onset of Thursday night’s gig. “Normally we can place blame on a (bad) sound system … .”
“Or a bad sound man,” added his counterpart, Fat Man.
A mic might not have been a bad idea for Fat Man and Little Boy, otherwise known as the Atomic Duo, purveyors of “struggle” music for our modern day Depression. The setting was Whip In, a convenience store off the I-35 frontage road in South Austin, where the din of chatter and clanging of silverware born of the dozen or so diners communing over scrumptious Indian food and on-tap craft beers in the store’s refurbished eating area made for sometimes indiscernible lyrics.
But Fat Man and Little Boy were oblivious. They were too wrapped up in their self-deprecating banter and knock-knock shtick, and in making sense of live renditions of the mountain, swing, bluegrass, Dust Bowl, and Tin Pan Alley songs on their self-titled album. The album came out in November but because Fat Man had a torn rotator cuff then, the Atomic Duo’s just now celebrating its release, with a January residency at Whip In among other Texas dates.
Vocals were split fairly evenly between Fat Man (Mark Rubin, Austin’s resident advocate of old-time music, most notably with the trio Bad Livers) and Little Boy (Silas Lowe, an East Coast transplant equally enamored with Old, Weird America). Traditional and original songs were buoyed by ersatz country voices and the high lonesome sounds of mandolin, banjo and resonator guitar, and occasionally were assisted by vocalist Jenn Miori, fiddler Wayne “Chojo” Jacques, and harmonica player Sean Tracey.
“Texas City” spoke of the 1947 explosion of ammonium nitrate aboard the French vessel SS Grandcamp, which killed hundreds of people in the port town. “Turpentine Farm” was about “sadomasochistic animal husbandry.” And “Rope Stretchin’ Blues” affirmed the notion of an eye for an eye, wherein the song’s protagonist busts a home intruder’s head with a club.
Fat Man and Little Boy excelled at turning heartache into humor, with a vibe on par with White Ghost Shivers and the Gourds. For one departing customer, the lack of a mic was no big deal.
“You sounded great,” she told the duo.
“If you stick around,” Fat Man said, “we can fix that.”
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Bobby Charles 1938- 2010
Cajun singer-songwriter Bobby Charles, who wrote “Walking To New Orleans” for his idol Fats Domino, died Thursday after collapsing at his home in Abbeville, La. A soulful singer, Charles defined the swamp pop genre with such songs as “See You Later Alligator” (recorded by Bill Haley and the Comets) and “(I Don’t Know Why I Love You) But I Do,” which was recorded by Clarence “Frogman” Henry. No white performer has ever sounded blacker.
Born Robert Charles Guidry in southern Louisiana, the Bob Dylan favorite was uncomfortable in the spotlight and rarely performed in recent decades. Citing health reasons, Charles opted out of his scheduled comeback show at the 2007 New Orleans Jazzfest and was replaced by such artists as Austin’s Marcia Ball performing his songs.
Charles and Dr. John had recently completed the album “Timeless.”
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360 weekend picks
(Pictured: Haunting Oboe Music. Photo by Sandy Carson)Haunting Oboe Music at the Hole in the Wall. ‘After about 5 years of being Haunting Oboe Music, we will stop being Haunting Oboe Music,’ read last week’s low-key MySpace-posted missive from the Austin quintet with one of the city’s most misleading names. They were never very haunting — and never played an oboe — but they were too busy crafting fascinating experimental rock for anybody to care. Well, that and recording one EP a month during 2008, one of the more insane undertakings of any local band over the last few years. With Obsolete Machines, Salesman and the Monarchs. 9 p.m. $3. 2538 Guadalupe St. holeinthewallaustin.com.
Also recommended:
- The Dirty Hearts at Trophy’s
- This Will Destroy You and Lymbyc System at Emo’s
- Ray Wylie Hubbard at Antone’s
- the Belleville Outfit at Momo’s
SATURDAY
Goodie Mob at Emo’s. Cee-Lo Green and the rest of this Atlanta rap scene-popularizing legendary quartet went and crushed all our hopes back in October, when their first ATX reunion show was pushed back until January. Since then, it’s been an agonizing wait to see the group that released one of the definitive ’90s hip-hop albums — Dirty South masterpiece ‘Soul Food’ — live in person. That wait comes to an end as Austin’s long-suffering rap fans (haven’t they endured enough?) get to witness a soulful, thoughtful set from the best Atlanta hip-hop group that isn’t named Outkast. With Zeale and Phranchyze. 9 p.m. $35. 603 Red River St. emosaustin.com.
Also recommended:
- Riverboat Gamblers at Red 7
- Bright Light Social Hour at the Beauty Bar
- Monahans at the Ghost Room
- Gary Clark Jr. at Antone’s
SUNDAY
Las Crafty Foxes Trailer Park Pot Luck with Black Panda and the No No No Hopes at Beerland. Black Panda, the No No No Hopes, the Ape-(Expletives), Will Work for Food and the Get Action DJs stick it to stereotypes with this sure-to-be-entertaining benefit for the Capital Area Food Bank. A dish or canned food donation will get you in to see some of Austin’s best punk and garage acts. Everybody wins! 7 p.m. 711 Red River St. beerlandtexas.com.
Also recommended:
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Gamblers’ guitarist ready to rock again
There’s a tattoo on the inside of Ian MacDougall’s left wrist. Simple black traditional lettering, nothing fancy, just four letters: G.F.F.G.
Gamblers forever, forever Gamblers.
About a week after fracturing the same wrist in an Oct. 18 bike-vehicle traffic wreck that also broke an ankle and hip socket and fractured his skull and facial bones, the Riverboat Gamblers’ co-guitarist was fashioning the mangled paw into something resembling a guitar chord position, to see whether he’d have to pursue a new vocation.
“I had this cast on my arm, and it went basically to the tips of my fingers at first, since I had fractured my wrist,” MacDougall, clearly on the mend but not all the way back yet, said over coffee recently.
“As soon as they put on a hard cast where I could move my fingers I asked them, ‘Can I please have some freedom with my fingers?’ I totally had to work them out one by one because they hadn’t moved, so when I went home I tried it with a guitar and could make a chord sound. I thought, ‘I could totally play a show right now.”
That isn’t exactly what happened next. But fans of the Austin punk band saw MacDougall, 24, back onstage sooner than most ever thought they would, still in a cast and on crutches but managing a guitar and joining a cast of former bandmates filling in for him and closing out the Gamblers’ set at Fun Fun Fun Fest in early November. It was a day those in and around the band talk of reverently, since MacDougall’s ability to continue as a musician had been cast into doubt with the accident.
“It was all rainy that day, and I went into that show with a bad attitude, and I didn’t want to be there since Ian can’t play,” singer Mike Wiebe said of the day that was marked by a steady rain. “It was weird with people filling in and the conditions of the day, and the condition of the band had me thinking we should maybe cancel. I was in a total bad mood but Ian showed up and it wound up being a party. By that point it wouldn’t have mattered if no one was there, since at the end it was a bunch of friends hanging around on stage.”
There won’t be that same cloud of uncertainty Saturday when the band plays its first proper show in Austin with MacDougall as a planned part of the lineup. In fact, the show is marking a return to action for the band after a busy but often scatter-shot 2009 that saw it criss-crossing the globe in support of its latest album, “Underneath the Owl.”
Wiebe starts to explain that the band already had planned on a two-month break in the fall that grew to four-plus months after MacDougall’s accident.
And MacDougall agrees, saying the unplanned time off might help the band and its new booking agent put together a more coherent plan for the band going forward. And, of course, it’ll let him continue with physical therapy and treatment for occasional vertigo and a balky hip he’s still adjusting to.
“I think that’s beneficial for us to put some ducks in a row for this coming year and figure it out,” he said. “Of course it sucks I had to focus on me getting my stuff together during this time, but that’ll be OK.
“Looking back, 2009 was a really dense year for us, even though it didn’t seem like it at the time. I hope we’re working as hard this year but feel like there’s something coming from it. Not that there was nothing from it, but it did seem like we’re spinning wheels. I’d like to see a step of some kind for us. Nothing huge, but something realistic.”
The Riverboat Gamblers perform with Ume, Shapes Have Fangs, the Altars Saturday at Red 7, 611 E. Seventh St. Doors at 9 p.m. $10. red7austin.com
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Nick Curran diagnosed with cancer
Austin guitar great Nick Curran, who used to play with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, but has a new album with the Lowlifes coming Feb. 16, has been diagnosed with cancer of the tongue, his publicist said Wednesday.
Curran will postpone his tour to undergo treatment the next two months.
In a statement, Curran said, “I think it’s one of those life things that happens which reminds you not to take life for granted and help you become the best person you can. I’ve already changed a lot in a good way and I really think this is gonna turn out to be a positive thing. This ain’t what’s gonna do me in…”
The 32-year-old Maine native made his reputation playing guitar for Dallas-based rockabilly great Ronnie Dawson 13 years ago. The versatile Curran, who has landed four songs on HBO’s “True Blood,” is also a member of Austin punk band the Flash Boys.
We wish him a full recovery.
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Jay Reatard found dead in Memphis home
Pop-punk rocker Jay Reatard, born Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., who played Emo’s last month, was found dead in his home at the age of 29 in Memphis, Tenn. this morning, reports the Commercial Appeal. The death has also been confirmed by a statement posted on the board of Goner Records, the Memphis label and record store that released several of Reatard’s recordings. Reatard was currently signed to Matador Records.
“It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our good friend Jay Reatard. Jay died in his sleep last night,” reads the statement. “We will pass along information about funeral arrangements when they are made public.”
The Commercial Appeal also reports that Memphis police have opened an investigation into Reatard’s death.
Update: The Matador Records blog has posted the following statement: “We are devastated by the death of Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., aka Jay Reatard. Jay was as full of life as anyone we’ve ever met, and responsible for so many memorable moments as a person and artist. We’re honored to have known and worked with him, and we will miss him terribly.”
Pitchfork has two videos of Reatard up by way of tribute. We recommend you watch them. It’s tremendously sad news.
Update 2: Via Pitchfork, the Memphis Fox affiliate is reporting that Reatard’s death is being investigated as a homicide. Crime Stoppers of Memphis and Shelby County are requesting information from anyone who may know anything about the case.
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Spoon Watch! Britt and company play the Tonight Show Jan. 19
With the release of “Transference” a mere week away — album streaming now on NPR, with shows scheduled for Stubb’s in March and Waterloo Records Jan. 25 — Spoon news is flying as fast and furious these days as Britt Daniel’s many changes of beard .
To that docket you can add a performance on the Tonight Show on the album’s release date, Tuesday, Jan. 19 — presumably with Conan O’Brien as the host, although these days, who knows? Perhaps Britt Daniel can console O’Brien backstage after the show — the band knows a thing or two about getting kicked to the curb by a corporate overlord ( in their case, that would be Elektra Records after the release of sophomore LP “A Series of Sneaks”).
Update: A hat tip as always to the Austinist, which points out that Spoon will also be performing before a live audience at the KGSR Music Lounge at noon Jan. 26. A cut from their last performance on the station, Britt Daniel’s acoustic take on “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” closer “Black Like Me,” appeared on KGSR’s “Broadcasts, Vol. 17” last year. You can register online for a spot at being in that audience, or listen to the station all next week at 8:20 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 4:20 p.m., when they’ll be giving away seats.
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Say goodbye to the Pillow Queens tomorrow night
As if news of the dissolution of Brothers and Sisters and Haunting Oboe Music wasn’t heart wrenching enough for the Red River faithful, now comes word that tomorrow night will see the final show from Austin quartet the Pillow Queens, an energized, spastic rock ‘n’ roll band that combined a keen ear for pop hooks with the loose proto-punk appeal of Television.
Co-front man Will Slack’s gruff vocals made an ideal pairing with the goes-down-easy croon of Duncan Malashock. The band released an excellent album in 2008’s “Kookoolegit,” 12 songs of pure summertime-suitable fun. They’ll play their final show at 7 p.m. Thursday at punk record store — and emerging place to see some of the city’s best garage rock bands for the low, low price of free — Trailer Space Records, 1401 Rosewood Ave.
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CD review: Ringo Starr ‘Y Not’
‘Y Not’
(Hip-O)
Grade: D+
Yet, y? (Ahem.)
Chugging, Beatles-ish pop rock is Ringo Starr’s stock in trade (since he helped invent the stuff), so no one will hold it against him if “Y Not” sticks to what he knows best.
Opener “Fill In the Blanks” answers the musical question, “What’s Starr’s brother-in-law Joe Walsh been up to?” Paul McCartney drops by to add a lovely bass line to “Peace Dream” (“Last night I had a peace dream/ you know how real dreams can be”) and vocals to “Walk With You,” which Starr wrote with Van Dyke Parks. Richard Marx contributes the extremely Marxist “Mystery of the Night,” while mega-platinum songwriter Glen Ballard contributes the title track.
A half-grade deducted for the album closer, a break-up song (?) co-written with Joss Stone called “Who’s Your Daddy” (no, really) which contains the line, sung by Stone, “You give me chicken wings/But baby, I want diamond rings/ what’s up wit’ cho’ mind, are you insane?”
Y, Ringo? Y?!?!?!?!
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CD review: Freedy Johnson ‘Rain on the City’
‘Rain on the City’
(Bar/None)
Grade: B
“Rain on the City” is singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston’s first release of original material in eight years, and it is a strong enough outing to let fans and critics know that he’s still out there, making music. Though the album, a blue, sparsely produced collection, isn’t particularly ground-breaking as far as its sound or song writing is concerned, there is something very appealing about Johnston’s silky-yet-nasally voice as well as the layers of mood that envelop the music. The title track is the strongest testament to Johnston’s talent, a gloomy, minor key ode to loneliness. Similarly, “The Devil Raises His Own,” a dark groove that recalls early ’70s soul, allows Johnston to show off his range.
The album falls short in a few places, such as the gratuitous country track “Livin’ Too Close to the Rio Grande,” but its slip-ups are rare enough that the whole doesn’t suffer much.
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CD review: Katharine McPhee ‘Unbroken’
‘Unbroken’
(Verve)
Grade: C
If one gleans anything from “Unbroken,” Katharine McPhee’s sophomore album, it would be this: Girl is sad.
We can only speculate why — channeling the angst from her struggles with eating disorders? Being dropped by previous label RCA Records? Things with husband Nick Cokas not working out well? Recently watched “The Notebook”? The lyrics are a bit too obtuse to say for sure, but “Unbroken,” from the wistful lament of “Had It All” to the sweetly melancholic “Surrender,” chooses heartbreak as its central theme. McPhee and a cadre of co-writers return time and again to images of loss and regret, giving “Unbroken” an unexpectedly tragic tinge. When she closes the album out with a cover of Melanie’s novelty hit “Brand New Key,” the ray of sunshine is practically a relief.
Of course, “Unbroken” doesn’t concern itself only with darkness — McPhee’s no Leonard Cohen — and the sound is vintage shiny happy adult contemporary, all soaring crescendos and headbop-worthy piano lines. It’s enough to make you wish McPhee, a talented vocalist and stage presence, would be as confessional and intimate with her choice of instrumentation as her choice of lyrics.
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CD review: Vampire Weekend ‘Contra’
‘Contra’
(XL)
Grade: B
The bolt-from-the-blue brilliance of Vampire Weekend’s first album rested largely on how successfully it fused everything stereotypical upper-class white people like — with four dapper Ivy League-educated gentlemen crooning about images of Cape Cod summers and infatuations with Louis Vuitton-adorned girls — with the habit-forming beats of African popular music. That mixture gave the band the catchiest and most resonant multicultural white guy pop this side of Paul Simon’s “Graceland.”
That formula sticks around for sophomore album “Contra,” but with added textures and layers of depth, from the M.I.A. samples on “Diplomat’s Son” — at six minutes, “War and Peace” by Vampire Weekend standards — to the billowy auto-tune of “California English” to the blaring trumpets on “Run.” Lead singer Ezra Koenig takes on added vulnerability on “Taxi Cab” and album closer and pseudo title track “I Think Ur A Contra,” which sounds more dreamlike and ethereal than even the debut’s slowest moments. The result is an album that, at 36 minutes, is concise but not immediate, the definition of a grower that takes time to reveal its mysteries. It lacks the slam-bang fun of their self-titled debut — lead single “Cousins,” with its frenetic punk rock energy and surf guitar rolls, is the closest thing to last album’s instantly affecting “A-Punk” — but expands Vampire Weekend’s toolbox. If the debut album was the perfect party record, “Contra,” with its increasingly epic scope and references piled on top of references — the ever-clever Koenig’s even titled the album in direct contrast to the Clash’s “Sandinista!” — is better suited for a long road trip, to be immediately queued up and played again after its first listen.
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Deer Tick and Dr. Dog hit up Emo’s in May
Providence, Rhode Island-based grunge folk outfit Deer Tick — led the impeccably gruff-voiced John McCauley — and psychedelic pop rockers Dr. Dog will swing through Austin to rock Emo’s May 1, in a pleasant reprise of last year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival, which both bands played. Deer Tick is currently prepping a yet-to-be-titled full-length album for release in the first half of this year, and recently released a split 7-inch vinyl with the Shivers on Austin’s own Natrix Natrix Records. Dr. Dog’s sixth studio album, “Shame, Shame” drops on April 6.
If May 1 is just too long for you to wait, take heart: Deer Tick is also one of the many bands currently slated to play the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival.
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Roky Erickson teams up with Okkervil River for new album
Photo by Jay Janner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Former 13th Floor Elevators front man and psychedelic rock legend — not to mention author of one of the most amazing resurrection stories in Austin music history — Roky Erickson will team up with folk rockers Okkervil River for his first new album in 14 years, “True Love Cast Out All Evil.” The album drops April 20 on Anti Records
Okkervil River serves as backing band for the album, which was also produced by front man Will Sheff. It contains songs written throughout Erickson’s decades-long career, including during lengthy stints in mental institutions and protracted treatments of electroconvulsive therapy. Whether during SXSW or later in the spring, expect a triumphant hometown show to tie in with the release of this record.
“I feel truly lucky that I got to produce this record. When we started out, I was given sixty unreleased songs to choose from,” says Sheff in a press release. “There were songs written during business setbacks including the Elevators’ painful breakup, songs written by Roky while he was incarcerated at Rusk, and a great deal of songs that reminded me of the sense of optimism and romanticism that I think sustained Roky through his worst years and ultimately reunited him, a few years ago, with his son Jegar and his first wife Dana. Because we started with so many songs to choose from, the quality of the material we ended up with was exhilarating.
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2 Chicks making new music?
From The Associated Press:
Two members of the Dixie Chicks — minus lead singer Natalie Maines — are preparing to release a new album this year. According to CMT.com, sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison are working on a project to be released on Columbia Records. However, Lloyd Maines, Natalie’s father, tells CMT.com that the three girls are “definitely still an entity.” He says the sisters are “cutting some demos” and that Natalie recorded “a little something with them” about a year ago. The Associated Press’ attempts to contact their publicist and Columbia Records were unsuccessful. The Dixie Chicks suffered a backlash from fans and country radio over comments Natalie Maines made about President George W. Bush in 2003. The Chicks released their last album in 2006, called “Taking the Long Way.” The group has won 13 Grammys and was named the CMA entertainer of the year in 2000.
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Old Settler’s Festival announces partial lineup
The Old Settler’s Music Festival, the annual four-day place to go for all things roots music, has released a partial lineup for this year’s festival, which will take place at the Salt Lick Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch off Farm Road 1826, south of Austin, from Thursday, April 15, to Sunday, April 18.
The festival, in its 23rd year, will include appearances from Joe Ely, Patty Griffin and Mindy Smith, among others. Tickets — currently available in both camping and non-camping varieties — are available now online. If there’s a better way to put Tax Day behind you, I’d like to see it.
Thursday, April 15
Brave Combo
The Infamous Stringdusters
Bearfoot
Friday, April 16
Joe Ely
Blue Highway
Mindy Smith
Alison Brown with Joe Craven, The Infamous Stringdusters
Bearfoot
Saturday, April 17
Patty Griffin
7 Walkers featuring Bill Kreutzmann and Papa Mali
Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
The Travelin’ McCourys
Fred Eaglesmith
Buddy Miller
Peter Rowan
The Lee Boys
The Band of Heathens
Radney Foster
Solas
The Special Consensus
The Wronglers
Elizabeth Cook
Ruby Jane
Sarah Mueller
Sunday, April 18
The Gourds
Fred Eaglesmith
Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
The Special Consensus.
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Interview: Ray Wylie Hubbard
After cosmic cowboy country pioneer Ray Wylie Hubbard put the finishing touches on 2006’s greasy, gritty “Snake Farm,” a dirty-sounding but keenly intelligent journey into the backwaters of Hubbard’s imagination, the Oklahoma native and New Braunfels resident took the next logical step. He made a movie.
That meant a lengthy wait between “Snake Farm” and Hubbard’s appropriately lengthily titled 14th full album, “A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is no C),” which hits stores today. But then, it’s one heck of a movie. Need proof? It prominently features a gun-toting dwarf. “It’s a real dark, weird movie,” laughs Hubbard, 63, over the phone, speaking from the pristine powder of the MusicFest in at Colorado’s Steamboat resort. “It’s not ‘Transformers,’ that’s for sure.”
Hubbard found himself sucked into conversations with Tiller Russell, who directed two videos for “Snake Farm” and shared Hubbard’s enthusiasm for the dusty, edgy westerns of John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. For three years, Hubbard immersed himself in the project, penning the screenplay to “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride,” a story of love, vengeance and the acrid smell of gunpowder.
Russell directed the low-budget indie, lensed in Canada and starring “True Blood” vampire Lizzy Caplan, Dwight Yoakam and Kris Kristofferson. Plans are under way to release the film digitally early this year. For Hubbard, who forged a career of solo albums spotlighting intense, deeply imaginative characters, screenwriting was a natural — but invigorating — fit.
“I’ve had other people record my songs, and that’s great, it’s such a cool thing,” Hubbard says.
“But to see Kristofferson or Caplan say one of your lines, that you wrote, that’s a ‘Heck yeah!’ moment. That was really quite thrilling.”
For Hubbard, whose life defines long, strange and windy, a grim western is just another brick in the wall. He was born in Soper, Okla. — a town nearly wiped off the map by a tornado in “either 1954 or 1956” while Hubbard huddled for shelter in the cellar. His grandmother’s observation that heaven “pours down rain and lightning bolts” forms the centerpiece of the new album’s title track.
He went on to build a prolific career, rising to revered pioneer status in the progressive country movement in the ’70s, when he also penned the famous Jerry Jeff Walker anthem “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother.” But his career and his life stalled out in the ’80s as he struggled with alcohol addiction. His salvation came in the wise words of another legendary Texan.
“When I was younger I led a pretty rowdy life and it got really bad. In November 1987 Stevie Ray Vaughan and another couple of fellows came and talked to me,” recalls Hubbard. “And he was the first guy I had seen that had gotten sober but still had an edge. I was terrified that if I got sober I wouldn’t be able to still write and play music. That gave me hope.”
Hubbard kicked the bottle and emerged a fiercely inventive, raw singer and songwriter with a string of dark storybook solo albums in the ’90s and ’00s. “A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)” continues the trend. Rife with full, well-developed characters — the substance abuser in “Opium” and the intoxicated songwriter of “Drunken Poet’s Dream,” co-written with rising Americana star Hayes Carll — it also boasts contributions from an impressive array of musicians. Singing group the Trishas bring a splash of old-school gospel choir theatrics to “Whoop and Hollar.” The Gourds’ Kevin Russell sings and strums the mandolin on the thundering, Edgar Allan Poe-inspired title track. Seth James and Gurf Morlix also pitch in.
But talking to Hubbard, one gets the impression the most important contribution comes from someone a little closer to his own heart — 16-year-old son Lucas, who plays guitar on two songs. Like any teenager, Lucas’ interest comes and goes, but the slightest mention of his son’s fingerwork turns Hubbard into a proud parent. And Lucas’ contributions lend the album the feel of a family affair, a joyful celebration that plumbs dark depths but ultimately comes up triumphant.
“It kind of comes where he’ll go in spurts, where he’s really into guitar and then he’s really into Halo and then he’s really into building a Mustang. He’s all over the map,” Hubbard says with a laugh. “But I like the way he plays. Hanging around and learning from the guys I play with, such great guitar players that play the song rather than the lick, he’s really taking after them.”
Hubbard plays a free in-store at Waterloo Records, 600 N. Lamar Blvd., at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and a CD release show Friday at Antone’s (8 p.m. $15, 213 W. Fifth St. antones.net).
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Video for “The Weary Kind” by Ryan Bingham
Ryan Bingham has come a long way since he and drummer Matt Smith lived in a travel trailer with no heat on Doug Moreland’s property in Manchaca in 2006. This video incorporates scenes from the film “Crazy Heart,” for which “Weary Kind” is the theme.
Bingham and song-tweaker T-Bone Burnett are up for a Golden Globe this Sunday for Best Original Song, with an Oscar nomination expected to follow.
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SXSW brings nearly $100 million to Austin in 2009
From left to right: Mayor Lee Leffingwell, SXSW’s Mike Shea, Greyhill Advisors’ Been Loftsgaarden and Mayor Pro Tem and Place 2 City Council Member Mike Martinez.
Just shy of $100 million.
That’s the comprehensive economic impact of the 2009 South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Conferences and Festivals on the City of Austin, according to an impact analysis sponsored by the festival and released by consulting firm Greyhill Advisors. The report — viewable online — was presented at a press conference this morning by Greyhill’s Ben Loftsgaarden, Mayor Lee Leffingwell, SXSW’s Mike Shea and Mayor Pro Tem and Place 2 City Council Member Mike Martinez.
In 2009, according to the report, SXSW was directly and indirectly responsible for injecting approximately $99 million into the Austin economy — with $20 million as a result of the year-round expenditures from SXSW and its sponsors, and $78.8 million in expenditures from the festival’s roughly 210,000 attendees. That number only includes the economic impact of officially sanctioned events — meaning it doesn’t factor in the considerable number of day parties and other unofficial events that take place throughout the festival that have become, for many, the primary attraction.
That’s a slight dip from 2008 — when the festival brought $103 million to the Austin economy — indicating that, despite a 30 percent jump in attendance for 2009, most spent less money during last year’s economic doldrums. Greyhill estimated that 90 percent of that $78 million in attendance expenditures were dollars from outside Austin.
“Last year alone South By Southwest directly or indirectly contributed almost $100 million to Austin’s economy. That’s a lot of barbecue,” said Leffingwell. “It’s also a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of rental cars, a lot of T-shirts and a lot of snow globes. All of those expenditures translate into sales tax dollars that help Austin taxpayers.”
Leffingwell also emphasized the festival’s impact in terms of its value in establishing Austin as a “a global creative action center,” a point also stressed by Martinez.
“We won’t go without hiccups,” said Martinez, addressing the traffic and sound concerns generated by the festival and comparing its positive impact on Austin to the Bowl Championship Series National Championship on Pasadena, Calif. “But one week out of the year, we are on the world stage.”
2009’s economic impact analysis also sought to quantify the value to Austin’s image of that one week of international prominence. In an attempt to put a price tag on the buzz generated for the city by the event, Greyhill worked with the festival to track broadcast, print and online coverage of SXSW. They eventually estimated the fiscal impact of SXSW’s media coverage at $21.4 million.
“I don’t want to say calculating that is arbitrary, but there is some art to it,” said Loftsgaarden. “It’s not just complete science. But it does try to capture the fact that this conference is being mentioned nationally and internationally and with it Austin is able to kind of ride the coat strings of South by Southwest and get favorable mentions in media. A lot of other regions pay big bucks to try to get that sort of coverage.”
The 2009 impact analysis is the third consecutive study to assess the festival’s economic impact to the city. The 2010 South by Southwest Film, Music and Interactive Conferences and Festivals kick off March 12 and run through March 21.
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Spoon will play March 17 at Stubb’s, streaming new album now
Can’t wait one more week to hear the hotly anticipated new Spoon album “Transference”? Fortunately, NPR has your back, as they’re streaming the album in its entirety online in the week leading up to its release Tuesday, Jan. 19. NPR and South by Southwest also announced today that the band will headline Stubb’s on the opening night of SXSW (March 17). The performance kicks off the band’s U.S. tour in support of the album and will be streamed online on NPR’s Web site and simulcast on KUT 90.5. The concert will be anchored by Bob Boilen, host and creator of “All Songs Considered,” NPR blogger and former Sleater-Kinney guitarist and vocalist Carrie Brownstein and David Brown, host of Texas Music Matters on KUT
“Transference” is Spoon’s seventh studio full-length, and, as NPR notes, their first entirely self-produced effort — which, considering drummer Jim Eno’s production bona fides (he’s a former semiconductor chip designer and noted producer who’s worked with Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, among others) is a little overdue.
We’ll have a full review next week, but the first impression: it’s a spiky, interesting work that’s a little less obliquely pop than “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,” loaded with intriguing uses of the studio and resplendent with vaguely prog delights. It’s also a surprisingly groovy record even by Spoon standards. If you’ve got a case of the Mondays and need a pleasant pick-me-up, it should do nicely.
Update: The band will also play an in-store at Waterloo Records Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 4 p.m. To accommodate the sure-to-be-considerable crowds, the performance will be held in the store’s parking lot — but we still recommend arriving very early.
Update 2: Spoon’s announced the remainder of its Spring 2010 North American tour dates — check out the complete list below the jump.
17-Mar Stubbs Austin, TX
18-Mar Republic New Orleans, LA
19-Mar Workplay Soundstage Birmingham, AL
20-Mar Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
22-Mar 9:30 Club Washington, DC
23-Mar 9:30 Club Washington, DC
24-Mar The National Richmond, VA
26-Mar Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
27-Mar House of Blues Boston, MA, USA
29-Mar Sound Academy Toronto, ON
30-Mar Royal Oak Music TheatreRoyal Oak, MI
1-Apr Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL
2-Apr First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
3-Apr First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
5-Apr Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
6-Apr Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
7-Apr In the Venue Salt Lake City, UT
9-Apr Moore Theatre Seattle, WA
10-Apr Moore Theatre Seattle, WA
11-Apr Orpheum Theatre Vancouver, BC
13-Apr Fox Theater Oakland, CA
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Marcia Ball to be inducted into Gulf Coast Hall of Fame
Born in Orange, TX and raised a few miles over the border in Vinton, LA, singer/ pianist Marcia Ball has long personified the relationship between her two home states that has nurtured the soulful Gulf Coast Sound. So it’s fitting- and long overdue- that Ms. Marcia waltz through that genre’s Hall of Fame. Ball and her band will headline festivities in Port Arthur on Jan. 23 at the Bowers Civic Center (3401 Cultural Center Drive).
Floyd Soileau, owner of Jin Records, will also be inducted.
Also appearing at the event will be Jivin’ Gene, who had a big hit with “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” plus a tribute to native daughter Janis Joplin by Susan Pierce and Ultra Suede. Tickets are $22 in advance or $24 at the door.
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Southern Living names Gruene Hall the best dance hall in Texas
Southern Living, the lifestyle magazine that’s a staple of suburban coffee tables across the land, has named New Braunfels’ Gruene Hall the best dance hall in Texas in its current issue.
The mention is part of the magazine’s “Best of the South” feature, which saw more than 41,000 readers vote on some of their favorite travel destinations across the South. Built in 1878 and revitalized in 1975 by current owner Pat Molak and Mary Jane Nalley, it’s the oldest continually operating dance hall in Texas. Name a giant in Texas country over the last three decades, and they’ve probably played the stage at Gruene Hall — including Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks, Merle Haggard and Jack Ingram.
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Crawling with Kings and the Regulars return for reunion shows
When Crawling with Kings frontman Brian Dyer packed his bags and vacated Austin for the far away environs of Chicago in summer 2007, he left behind a promising indie rock outfit that melded the simultaneously earnest and coy lyricism of the Replacements with an upbeat pop sensibility. It was melancholic rock delivered with the gusto of glam that produced two underrated albums.
Sunday night the promising and catchy sextet return for a Free Week show at Club De Ville, with support from David Dondero, Zookeeper and Danny Malone. They’ll hand out CDs of their last full-length, “Regarding Your Request For Closure,” to those in attendance. The show starts at 9 p.m. and is free for those over 21, $5 for those younger.
Also pulling back together for a special gig are the Regulars, the ever-dependable, ever-amiable roots-rock septet that held down the Saxon Pub’s Friday happy hour residency for five years, ending in September of last year. Though they played other venues occasionally, the Regulars — averse to pursuing lofty career moves or intense local notoriety — lived mainly to play the Saxon, a bar they held so much affection for that they sang about it on “You Turn My Light On.” The show, free, kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Friday (Jan. 15).
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Willie finishes album with T-Bone Burnett
The as-yet-untitled album. recorded live in Nashville in four days, with a string section, Buddy Miller on guitar and Mickey Raphael on harmonica, includes “The Man With the Blues,” which Burnett says is the first song Willie ever wrote. Other tracks include covers of “Dark As a Dungeon” by Merle Travis and “You Done Me Wrong” by Ray Price. “Willie really nailed it,” says Burnett. “It’s just a really beautiful record.”
There’s no release date yet.
Meanwhile, Alanis Morissette was a surprise guest at Willie’s New Year’s Eve show in Maui, duetting on “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.” Morissette recorded the song, switching genders, for her upcoming album.
Above right: Burnett backstage after receiving the Frederick Loewe award for film composing at the Palm Springs Film Festival Awards Gala in Palm Springs, Calif. on Tuesday, Jan. 5. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
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SXSW stealthily adds bands to lineup
Hat tip to our friends over at the Austinist for noticing that the South by Southwest Music Festival has stealthily added quite a few bands to its already announced list of showcasing artists.
SXSW launched a new event schedule tool yesterday including film, interactive and music events. At the moment, it covers most events happening between Friday, March 12 (the start dates for the film and interactive festivals) and Wednesday, March 17 (the first day of the music portion). That means a slew (and “a slew” is the scientific term for a flood of new SXSW info) of Wednesday’s performing bands are now available for your viewing pleasure, though venues and times remain to be announced.
There are some interesting, major acts sprinkled in that list, including Solange Knowles, the XX (who may be playing a Houston Press day party alongside Big Pink), We Were Promised Jetpacks, locals Brazos, Neon Indian and Brownout, Alberta Cross, Denton’s Midlake (who have a new album out Feb. 2), Toro Y Moi, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, legendary early punk rock band Zolar X and Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now!, a new side project from ineffably charming Art Brut front man Eddie Argos.
Keep your eyes peeled to this space for further information. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are sparse right now — containing international showcases from Spain, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales (we can only hope for an appearance by Cardiff-based indie pop outfit Los Campesinos!), among others — but more announcements should arrive shortly.
What are your thoughts on the lineup? Stoked to see Zolar X reprise their alien glam act? Pop into the comments and let us know what you think.
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Reminisce with reunited Soulhat
Photo by Todd V. Wolfson
Twenty years ago, Soulhat’s slack barroom anthems took flight on Sixth Street. The Austin quintet’s ‘Live at the Black Cat Lounge,’ a major-label precursor featuring tide-shifting atmospherics and elastic soloing, neatly bottled its projection and promise. “The ‘Black Cat’ record is a unique peek back in time,” lead singer Kevin McKinney says. “I think you can still smell (the venue) when you listen to the music!” The defunct outfit regroups Saturday at Antone’s to celebrate the 1991 album’s recently expanded Dualtone Records reissue.
American-Statesman: Was the opening track (‘Find the Time’)’s long intro planned?
Kevin McKinney: The intro was a more like primitive sound check, if you will. It sets the tone to make sure everyone’s comfortable. I started writing songs in 1989 in college, and ‘Find the Time’ was one of the first that I felt pretty good about. It’s a song about trying to remember to enjoy life.
At the end of it, you say, ‘It’s just like any other night, ain’t no different.’ Is this disc an accurate snapshot of early Soulhat?
Absolutely. I think that was a little sarcasm because I was trying to remind myself to treat it like any other night. We knew we were recording, and that changes your (playing). You tense up. Also, like you say, there wasn’t anything different from any other Black Cat show. Just like everything else, I try to have a dual meaning (laughs).
How does the album hold up today?
For a long time, it was hard to listen to because (we were) so young. But enough time has passed so I can look at it for what it is: a really cool time capsule. It was recorded very live, totally fearless. You press the button, and it is what it is (laughs).
Was it technically challenging to re-release a live recording from 1991?
The master tapes were stored on Betamax, so the first problem was finding a Betamax machine to transfer it. It was cool to listen to the whole two evenings. Maybe we’ll put out another disc because there’s a bunch of great stuff that we didn’t put on originally.
What made the Black Cat so unique?
It just seemed like the kind of place where all sorts of different people would go. It was like a scene. You could go there and expect to see certain people, and it was free of any pretension. It was very primitive: four walls and a stage. Not even a telephone. There probably wasn’t even a roof on it at times. Look at (the album cover): there’s a hole in the roof, and the fan’s about to fall off. They had dollar Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Cheap beer brings people in, but what about your music kept them?
Well, it definitely had an infectious groove that you could bop along to. I think that’s important. We had a looseness about us that was maybe endearing. It was just an honest band playing groovy music.
Do you feel nostalgic for that time?
Oh, of course. Personally, I was 18 or 19 years old doing things I never expected. We were great friends, and it was just a magical time. It’s important to note that you could drink beer on the street then. I can’t tell you what changed in the musical landscape, but there was just a (freer) thing going on back then.
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75th birthday tributes fit for a king
ASSOCIATED PRESS
- Photos: Remembering Elvis Presley
Which is too bad because it’s a comforting thought to imagine Presley holed up in peaceful seclusion on a tropical island somewhere. The Mississippi-born crooner, actor, dancer, rockabilly pioneer, pop-culture icon and undisputed “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” certainly deserved the rest, especially after a legendary ’70s comeback that led to what remains the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history.
Austin, of course, knows a legendary musician when it sees one, and a host of tribute events across town will pay tribute to the King. At the Continental Club, 1315 S. Congress Ave. - precisely the kind of old-fashioned looking haunt where you could imagine bumping into Presley back in the day - Ted Roddy and the King Conjure Orchestra will host an annual “Tribute to the King.” Roddy created the show back in 1986 and has hosted it twice a year, in January and August, ever since. The 13-piece orchestra recreates classic moments from Elvis’ ’70s Vegas show starting at 11 p.m. (doors are at 10:30). The band nails it year in and year out, making it a premier choice for local Presleymaniacs. Shaun Young’s New Blue Moon Boys will kick off the evening with an early show at 7 p.m. (doors are at 6:30). Tickets are $22.
Just down the road, Ruta Maya, 3601 S. Congress Ave., is celebrating the King in grand style, with performances from the Cola Sisters, Adrian and the Sickness, Darling New Neighbords, the Rusticators and Melissa Bryan. Naturally, costume and dance contests are planned, and hairstylists will give away free Elvis pompadours like they’re going out of style, which, of course, they never will. The event starts at 8 p.m., and there’s a $5 cover.
If you’re feeling a little less ambitious - or need to stay home to properly mourn - Turner Classic Movies will run Elvis Presley films all day, kicking off with “Harum Scarum” at 6:15 a.m. and closing out with “Jailhouse Rock” at midnight. A full schedule is available at tcm.com.
And if you can bide your time a little longer, renowned Elvis artist Donny Edwards - featured in this month’s Texas Monthly - will perform his uncanny imitation act Saturday, Jan. 23., at New Braunfels’ Brauntex Performing Arts Theater, 290 W. San Antonio St. Texas’ own Edwards - his hometown is Lake Jackson - is only one of three impersonators to work and perform for Elvis Presley Enterprises. He performs more than 200 shows around the world a year. Tickets, $25-$35, are available at the box office or by calling 830-627-0808.
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Free Week keeps hump day grooving
Ahead of the forecast apocalyptic blast of biting cold arctic winds, Wednesday night was surprisingly balmy for a January evening as Free Week celebrated its hump night in grand style. All participating venues save Stubb’s hosted shows, with the Parish kicking off its Free Week shenanigans and Encore, a new club occupying one-half of the former Spiro’s, joining the fray.
If there’s any risk in having as many as nine venues participating in Free Week, it’s the chance of spreading crowds too thin — even on the best of Wednesday nights there’s only so many live music fans venturing onto Red River to explore, let alone in the dead of January, with multiple stages competing for their attention. If a talented local band plays to an audience of three, that might negate the traditional argument — exposure and merchandise sales — in favor of playing Free Week shows, which don’t pay artists.
Fortunately, crowds were rock-solid and most bands played to at least appreciable, if not epic, audiences. The Mohawk hosted packed shows in its inside room, where What Made Milwaukee Famous’ Michael Kingcaid watched as (Expletive) Carwash (hint: the expletive rhymes with “kitty”) brought scream-laden, two-man punk to “about 10 times the people we usually play for.” Lead singer Joe P mixed angrily shouted vocals with humorous lyrics (“I’m too pretty to pee on”) and climbed onto the Mohawk’s banister to deliver the duo’s final song. Just next door, inside the cramped confines of Club De Ville, underrated Sound and the Jury contestants Mobley played alongside a multimedia extravaganza including two old-fashioned TVs, four blinding backlights and two multicolored stage lights. The only thing more striking than the light show was the band’s imminently danceable rock, hooky and energetic like all the best “Dear Science”-era TV on the Radio grooves. Lead singer and songwriter Anthony Watkins has a jerky, quick-stepping dance style that makes the live show that much more fun to observe.
Meanwhile, the Parish dived into the Free Week pool, taking advantage of the opportunity to spotlight its recently refurbished digs.
The club ran a little bit earlier than many of the other participating venues, with headliner Wine and Revolution taking the stage around 11 p.m. The five dapper-looking gentleman play loose, spare, animated rock that evokes the New York cool of the Strokes and the garage pleasures of early Kinks, and looked all the more impressive backed by the Parish’s effects (“We’re so used to playing Beerland. Beerland does not have fog machines.”). The coonskin-cap wearing horn player added just a little dash of Ennio Morricone for zest.
There were also decent crowds at Austin’s tight jeans capital, the Beauty Bar, where Stereo Is a Lie got at least two folks dancing — not too shabby for that demographic — and at Red 7, where the Midgetman played their humor-infused, straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll with abandon … with a six-pack of Lone Star on-stage. Yes, they’re that kind of band.
But it’s at Free Week progenitor Emo’s where crowds were at their thickest and most visibly excited. Inside, a winning line-up of old-fashioned punk bands attracted more leather, studs, tattoos and mohawks than you could count — including a frankly astonishing pink, seemingly three-foot-high hairdo that had to be seen to be believed. Outside, recent Fun Fun Fun Fest players the Laughing led the audience through an impressive set of garage glam heavy on songs from their recent, highly addictive “Fever.”
And then, of course, there was the final show — at least, for a while — from Brothers and Sisters. Though the early morning audience began to thin out as the set wore on, the band’s many devoted fans stuck around and clearly had a good time as the band launched into their sunny country rock. Brother Will Courtney and sister Lily Courtney looked as if they fell through a wrinkle in time back in the ’70s, and they sound like it, too, with a style that would slot comfortably alongside Fleetwood Mac on long road trips. Audience members danced — real, honest to God, non-hipster dancing, with twirls and everything — during “You’re Gone” (a massive radio hit in a parallel, more just universe). Encore “Sunday Living” closed things out on an appropriately bittersweet note.
So, the early January madness is now half-over. Everybody hanging in there?
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Lone Star State Jam announces lineup
While the big, splashy music news from the local alternative weekly is that Moby Grape recorded a great album in the Bay Area 42 years and four months ago, the Austin country scene has a new annual event to trumpet.
Jason Boland & the Stragglers, Aaron Watson, Stoney LaRue, Casey Donahew Band and more will be on hand for the Lone Star Sate Jam April 24 at Waterloo Park.
Another headliner will be announced March 14. Hmmm. That’s the day after the Eli Young Band play the Star of Texas Rodeo at the Expo Center.
The country fest is now in its third year at Waterloo Park.
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360 weekend picks: Reggae legends, scrappy rockers, free jazz
(Pictured: Bright Light Social Hour. Photo by Larry Kolvoord AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
FRIDAY
The Wailers at Antone’s. The Wailers have come a long way from the legendary band that recorded the hits with which so many fraternity brothers are so deeply familiar. Former front man Bob Marley is no longer with us, of course, and drummer Carlie Barrett died in 1987. But the band’s heart and soul - and one of the world’s grooviest bassists - Aston `Family Man’ Barrett remains, and today alongside vocalist Elan Atias he leads the venerable roots rock reggae outfit. They continue to tour and never fail to put on celebratory, optimistically inclined shows heavy on the afrobeat. Chances of a contact high are favorable. With Will Johnson. 8 p.m. $22. 213 W. Fifth St. www.antones.net.
Also recommended:
- Candi and the Strangers at Club de Ville
- the Laughing at the Mohawk
- the Lower Class Brats at Red 7
- Jesse Woods at Stubb’s
- Literature at the Natrix Natrix House
- Ume and Follow That Bird! at Emo’s
- L.A.X. at the Parish
- Mobley at the Ghost Room
SATURDAY
Bright Light Social Hour at the Parish. The four scrappy rockers of the Bright Light Social Hour came, then saw, then conquered the stage at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, fending off challenges from hundreds of bands from around the world for the opportunity. In retrospect, that they galloped over other entrants in Dell’s annual Sound and the Jury battle of the bands is no surprise - melding deep-funk grooves with touches of psychedelia and clever, occasionally Spanish, lyricism, few in Austin can command a live crowd better. With the Frontier Brothers, MoTel Aviv, Dertybird and DJ Billy Q. 8 p.m. Free. 214 E. Sixth St. www.theparishaustin.com.
Also recommended:
- Missions and T-Bird and the Breaks at the Mohawk
- Scrappy Jud Newcomb at the Whip-In
- Leatherbag at Stubb’s
- Jesse Dayton at the Continental Club
- Glover Gill and Tosca String Quartet at Esquina Tango
- Bang Bang Theodores at Beerland
- Paper Shapes at Red 7
- the Laughing at Beauty Bar
- Horse + Donkey at the Hole in the Wall
- Soulhat at Antone’s
SUNDAY
Church of the Friendly Ghost at the Salvage Vanguard Theater. Constantly experimental, free jazz enthused, endlessly creative community organization Church of the Friendly Ghost doesn’t generally put on traditional shows. But their outside-the-box approach to performance art always mean you get something interesting for your suggested donation. Sunday night is no exception, as the Austin Cobra Group assembles an ensemble of players for an experiment in semi-improvisational playing. Meanwhile, Alex Keller’s bass piece ‘Eustress’ is guaranteed to end with Keller destroying his guitar - in fact, he’ll be wearing safety gear. Far out. 8:30 p.m. $5. 2803 Manor Road. www.salvagevanguard.org.
Also recommended:
- Jon Dee Graham and Eliza Gilkyson at the Continental Club Gallery
- Dale Watson at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon
- A Giant Dog at Emo’s
- Warren Hood and the Hoodlums at Momo’s
- Cruddy at the Parlor
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Pearl Jam’s kingdom for a Tweet
Want a free download of Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe,” recorded live at last year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival? It can be yours for just a small token of social networking — specifically, a Tweet.
Hit up Pearl Jam’s Web site and you’ll be prompted to connect to your Twitter account, where you’ll post the following message: “Tweet for a free @PearlJam iTunes download of “Just Breathe” live at Austin City Limits. http://justbreathe.pearljam.com #pearljam”
Next you’ll receive a code for an iTunes download of the song, and voila, you’re done! A free memento of Pearl Jam’s anthemic live set at ACL, and all you had to do was rent out your Twitter account. Some may find the enterprise of giving over their Twitter account to plug Pearl Jam dubious, but the whole thing is relatively innocuous given that Twitter is essentially built on a foundation of free plugs (Austin Music Source, of course, would know nothing about this).
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Wonk alert: Nielsen SoundScan releases 2009 music sales numbers
Are you the type of person whose eyes glaze over at the first mention of percentage changes, sales numbers or industry trends? This, then, is perhaps not the post for you — but if you treasure information on all those fascinating bits of math that make the music world tick, read on.
Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music in the United States, has released its numbers for 2009, and the results are … interesting.
The good news for number-crunchers is that overall music sales — including albums, singles, music videos and digital tracks — are up over last year, with a total of 1.545 billion sales, to last year’s 1.513, a year-over-year change of 2.1 percent.
Sounds pretty good, right? The Los Angeles Times certainly seems to think so, with a story headlined “Overall music sales hit an all-time high in 2009.”
But the full picture is more complicated. Overall album sales — vinyl, CDs and digital albums — are down 12.7 percent, a double-digit loss, despite a rise in digital album sales of 16.1 percent last year. Total album sales fell from 428 million in 2008 to 374 million last year. What that means in reality is that while digital sales of albums are increasing, they’re not doing it fast enough to keep pace with the ever-plummeting sales of CDs, long the industry’s dominant format. It’s probably telling that Nielsen doesn’t release sales figures for CDs alone — it’s quite possible that number would be a bit too depressing to fathom.
Interestingly, the vinyl resurgence continues slowly and inconspicuously, as sales of vinyl LPs rose from 1.88 million in 2008 to 2.5 million in 2009 — a 33 percent increase. Vinyl sales remain a very small slice of the music sales pie in comparison to digital and CD sales, but it certainly looks like they’ve crafted a dependable niche. More vinyl albums were purchased in 2009 than in any other year since Nielsen started tracking them in 1991.
Digital track sales, meanwhile, continued to grow healthily, with sales of 1.16 billion last year — a growth of 8.3 percent over 2008’s 1.07 billion. Overall digital sales account for 40 percent of all music sales, up from 32 percent in 2008.
Some other quick and dirty points of interest:
-The year’s best-selling album was Taylor Swift’s “Fearless,” with 3,217,000 units sold. Number two? Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed A Dream,” at 3,104,000 units. Also in the top 10: Lady Gaga, Andrea Bocelli, Hannah Montana, Jay-Z and the Kings of Leon.
-The year’s best-selling artist was unsurprisingly (and justly, really) Michael Jackson, with 8,286,000 units sold, ahead of Taylor Swift’s 4,643,000. The ever-dependable Beatles, with this year’s reissues of their original albums, were in third place.
-The Black Eyed Peas landed the top two spots on 2009’s list of the best-selling digital songs, with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling.” Lady Gaga also pulled off a twofer, with “Poker Face” and “Just Dance” on the list.
-The top-selling vinyl albums and artists lists are fascinating pieces of work that look like they came from a different planet altogether — there’s no Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga here. Instead, Animal Collective, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, Bon Iver, Pearl Jam, the Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear all landed spots.
Thoughts of your own? Furious/elated at the success of Taylor Swift? Stick around this far and just want to pat yourself on the back for doing so? Drop into the comments and let us know your thoughts.
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Say goodbye to Brothers and Sisters (for now)
Headlining the outdoor stage at Emo’s for Free Week last night, Brothers and Sisters front man and lead singer Will Courtney reiterated that the lovably rollicking country rock outfit are calling it quits — at least, for now.
Courtney moves back to the wilds of Los Angeles next week — returning to the city he fled for Austin several years ago with sister Lily. The two formed Brothers and Sisters in 2005, an often sprawling Big Star-by-way-of-the Jayhawks, ’70s album-oriented rock radio-inspired Southern treat. They gigged with …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead — and that band’s vocalist, Conrad Keely, was temporarily the eighth member of the band —landed a song on “The O.C.” and flirted with larger success with 2008’s “Fortunately,” an alternately serene and rocking delight that was one of that year’s most invigorating local albums.
Although the band plans to play again, Courtney’s changing geographic circumstances meant that Wednesday’s performance is certain to be the band’s last for a while, a fact surely appreciated by the many loyal fans who sang, danced and clapped along at Emo’s.
Brothers and Sisters aren’t the only act using Free Week as an opportunity to take a (near) final bow — Haunting Oboe Music, a guitar-driven, scream-laden experimental rock outfit that’s neither haunting nor features oboes, will be playing its two of its last shows this week, tonight at Emo’s and Saturday night at the Club De Ville. Ian Hunt, David Shackelford, and Nick Whitfield are already working on putting together a new band including members of the late, lamented local indietronica band Clap! Clap! The band’s last proper show is Friday, Jan. 15 at the Hole in the Wall.
Update: This entry has been edited to note that Haunting Oboe Music’s final show is not during Free Week.
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New Internet radio station focuses on R&B
Power 92 JAMZ will play newer R&B music, with “a few sprinklings of hip-hop in the mix,” according to a press release. We’re not exactly sure what the ‘92’ means, except that they promise to play 92 minutes of uninterrupted music. The station, owned by Austin-based Progressive Innovations LLC, plans to target Austin, San Antonio, Killeen and Waco. We tuned in for a few minutes and heard songs by Aalliyah, Mariah Carey and Faith Evans. Access the stream at power92texas.com.
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Tejano legend Oscar Martinez to sit in with Lonely Knights
Larry Lange will have a very special guest when the Moose Lodge hosts the record release party for “San Antonio Serenade” by Lange and His Lonely Knights: 75-year-old Corpus Christi bandleader and songwriter Oscar Martinez. As the trumpet player in Isidro Lopez’ band in 1954, Martinez was there at the start of what would be called Tejano music, when Lopez put words to Mexican polka instrumentals.
Martinez is best known for writing “El Tejano Enamorado,” which has been recorded by more than 30 artists since 1965. He has rarely played Austin in recent years.
Also on the bill are the Nortons, Mariachi Corbetas and Joanna Ramirez.
The FREE show is Sunday Jan. 17, 2- 7 p.m., at the Moose Lodge (2103 E.M. Franklin Avenue, 926- 0043).
Oscar Martinez Dec. 31, 2009 in Corpus
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Travelin’ McCourys hit up One World Theatre
The Travelin’ McCourys, a spin-off of the long-running, Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band the Del McCoury band, will perform two shows at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 at the One World Theatre.
The band pairs Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Rob McCoury on banjo, Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartram on bass with various special guests on guitar. In other words, it’s the complete current lineup of the Del McCoury band aside from guitarist and vocalist Del himself.
Ticket, $12-$95, are available here.
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Everyone loves Free Week
David Weaver FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
- A-List photos: Free Week 2010, night 5
We bumped into Spoon frontman Britt Daniel checking in on the action down at Emo’s last night.
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Givers and Vampire Weekend on their way back to Austin
It’s been a good couple of days for fans of hooky, infectious Afrobeat-inspired pop bands made up exclusively of white people, as news dropped that both Vampire Weekend and Louisiana’s Givers are on their way back to Austin.
Vampire Weekend — clad as ever in nonthreatening Ivy League chic — swung by Letterman last night for a giddy performance of “Cousins,” the lead single off sophomore album “Contra,” which drops next week. Check out the video above, and keep your eyes on this space for a review of the album next Tuesday. And if you’d like to hear “Contra” for yourself without paying a dime, you don’t even have to steal it — WOXY and the Austinist will have a listening party for it at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Scoot Inn.
They’ll play Stubb’s April 10 — the same night Yeasayer experimentally rocks the Parish, making us glad that that show is a two-night stand. Tickets, $25, will be available Friday.
On the more up-and-coming tip, Lafayette’s Givers, five balls of fire that whip bubbly synths, whimsical instrumentation and peppy vocals into a habit-forming cocktail that’s guaranteed to receive a glowing Pitchfork write-up any day now, will play Emo’s Friday, Feb. 26. The band played the Parish just last month (a show recommended by Austin 360) and opened for the similarly versatile Dirty Projectors in October. Tickets, $8, go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.
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New Texas Sapphires on the way
It’s been nearly four years since Billy Brent Malkus and former Sincola singer Rebecca Lucille Cannon teamed as the Texas Sapphires and released the deliciously rompish country album “Valley So Steep.” But the pair are readying the release of followup “As He Wanders” early next month.
The Sapphires will play a Waterloo instore at 5 p.m. on Feb. 3, then headline at the Continental Club the next night. Opening at the CC will be a new Momo’s-bred supergroup starring Suzanna Choffel, Warren Hood, Dan Dyer and others called the Coveters. Sounds like a great Thursday night.
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You want a free Cheap Trick show? You’ve got a free Cheap Trick show.
We’ll skip the (very tempting) opportunity to “cleverly” re-word lyrics to “I Want You To Want Me” and “Dream Police” and skip straight to the point: Cheap Trick will be headlining the BMI stage at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake for the South By Southwest Music Festival in March.
The band will play a free and open-to-the-public show show Friday, March 19. The concert will start at 6 p.m. and feature another, “Hey, remember when?” band in the form of the BoDeans, who have a new album out in April, although it’s a pretty safe bet they’ll still play “Closer To Free.”
The Auditorium Shores stage features free concerts during SXSW every year — keep your eyes on this space for further announcements.
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“Crazy Heart” score ineligible for Academy Awards
Those hoping for Oscar gold for the late Stephen Bruton and T. Bone Burnett’s acclaimed score for the Jeff Bridges-starring “Crazy Heart” will be disappointed to hear Fox Searchlight has opted out of submitting the film’s original country western compositions for consideration. The Wrap reports that the score would have run afoul of Academy regulations forbidding works by multiple composers. A similar rule resulted in the ineligibility of the scores for “Where the Wild Things Are” (by Yeah Yeah Yeahs front woman Karen O and Carter Burwell) and “Funny People” (by Michael Andrews and Jason Schwartzman).
The news comes as a disappointment, particularly as a posthumous Oscar would have been a nice nod to Bruton, a well-known movie fan who especially would have appreciated an Academy Award nomination. “Crazy Heart” is still eligible for the best original song category, though — which means former Austinite Ryan Bingham’s Golden Globe-nominated “The Weary Kind” still has a shot.
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Willie Mitchell: 1928 - 2010
Willie Mitchell, a record producer and musician who worked with Al Green and dozens of others, has died. He was 81.
Mitchell is best known for his production, co-writing and arranging of Al Green’s mind-blowing run of albums in the early ’70s, from “Al Green Gets Next to You” (1971) through “Al Green Explores Your Mind” (1974). (The timid should start with the no-kidding-totally-perfect “Al Green’s Greatest Hits.”)
Mitchell’s style with Green — sweetening and polishing hard Memphis R&B, urging the singer to develop his singular voice — proved amazingly popular.
On Hi Records, the Memphis label Mitchell was a part of, Green became an stone-cold superstar, moving millions of singles and albums across the 1970s.
They parted ways in 1977, reunited briefly in the Eighties. Green and Mitchell cut the surprisingly strong “I Can’t Stop” in 2003.
Mitchell was born and raised in Ashland, Miss. A Memphis boulevard was named in his honor in 2004.He received a Trustees Award from the Grammy Foundation in 2008.
(This article incorporates material from the Associated Press.)
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Jason Aldean coming to Cedar Park Jan. 28
Platinum-selling country artist Jason Aldean, plus guest Luke Bryan, will be coming to Cedar Park Center Jan. 28. Tickets, which range from $34.75- $24.75, are available here.
The Georgia-raised Aldean’s number one hits include “Big Green Tractor” and “She’s Country” from the album “Wide Open.”
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HAAM announces new chairman
The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians today announced that Tim Taylor, a partner at Jackson Walker LLP, is the new chairman of the board of directors. Taylor is a three-time chair of the HAAM Benefit Day Committee, which raised $164,000 for the organization last year.
Outgoing board chairman Richard Topfer will remain on the board, which welcomes new members Chris Adams of Maxell Locke & Ritter, Madge Vasquez and Earl Maxwell, both of St. David’s Foundation, and Howard Yancy of Zydeco Development.
HAAM also announced that Jennifer Stowe has been named assistant director of services.
The 2010 HAAM Benefit Day will be September 21.
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Casual Victim Pile release show announced
If the blistering barrage of up-and-coming rock and roll that is Free Week isn’t enough to sate your appetite for catching awesome local bands on the cheap, WOXY, Matador Records and the Austinist have just the ticket for you.
Matador Records’ compilation of Austin acts “Casual Victim Pile” — an anagram of “Live Music Capital” that might actually sum up the local scene more adequately than the grand pronouncement it parodies — drops on vinyl and CD later this month. They’ll be celebrating its release with three nights featuring many of the comp’s performers at Beerland, which has quietly — okay, more like very loudly — become the epicenter of the garage and punk rock scene so lovingly captured by the exciting project.
The celebration goes down Feb. 4-6, with a five dollar cover for each night. Performers include Follow That Bird!, Dikes Of Holland, Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers, Distant Seconds, The Persimmons, Woven Bones, The Young, Wild America, Flesh Lights, Elvis, The No No No Hopes, Harlem, Golden Boys, Bad Sports, Love Collector, Stuffies and Lost Controls — everybody on the comp save for Tre Orsi, who will be out of town, and the Teeners, who sadly have broken up.
Check out the tentative line-up below the jump.
Thursday Feb. 4
Follow That Bird!
Dikes Of Holland
Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers
Distant Seconds
The Persimmons
Friday Feb. 5
Woven Bones
The Young
Wild America
Flesh Lights
Elvis
The No No No Hopes
Saturday Feb. 6
Harlem
Golden Boys
Bad Sports
Love Collector
Stuffies
Lost Controls
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More notes on Free Week
— The winner for oddest set on Saturday was easily Musclz, a single guy who stood on stage and let’s-call-it vocalized to electronic, vaguely Germanic/Miami techno beats. Several gals dressed in cardboard robot costumes danced not unlike robots in front of the stage. There weren’t that many people there for his set and I can’t be the only one who greeted him with a large “huh.” Check out his music.
— Nobody embodied the spirit of Free Week more than Alison Goodman, drummer for garage-punk acts Cruddy and Serious Tracers. She played a set with Cruddy at Red 7, then literally walked out the door and hoofed it to Emo’s, where she got on stage and played a set with Serious Tracers, who were already set up. (Not sure which drum kit she was borrowing.) Both sets were a blast, and it made me want to see a daisy chain band show, where each band has to contain at least one member of another band. Everyone would be very tired by the end of the night.
— Dikes of Holland, who played inside Red 7, need two well-recorded songs and the attention of an influential blog before they are bigger than proverbial curly fries. Which is to say if they lived in New York, they would probably be famous already. (Note to Dikes: Do not move to New York.)
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Free Week: cold air and hangovers
David Weaver FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
- A-List photos: Free Week 2010, night 2
With New Year’s Eve and its accompanying hangover behind them, Austin’s budget-conscious scenesters rallied on Saturday night, as crowds, venues and lineups all filled out. Music fans weighed cost savings and bitter chill and decided claiming the former was worth toughing through the latter as Riverboat Gamblers spinoff Ghost Knife — so new they don’t even yet have a MySpace — packed the inside room at Emo’s.
Just as impressive was an earlier set from Big Black-meets-Sonic Youth post-punk rockers Manikin, with guitarist Alfonso Rabago’s echo-loaded vocals jumpstarting a crowd already high on the gregarious garage of Serious Tracers. Outside, the spirited sludge rock of Woven Bones rang out over a sizable crowd. Even more popped in to catch certifiable buzz act and recent Matador Records signees Harlem — three guys who never fail to look giddy even at the most unfriendly hours and temperatures of the night.
Further down Red River, Stubb’s and Beerland joined the fray, with the former boasting an electric set from Black Bone Child and the latter hosting endlessly dependable rockabilly circus the Flametrick Subs. At the Mohawk, a substantial crowd crammed into the inside room to catch In Dudero, the Nirvana tribute act with members of the Sword and Those Peabodys — proof positive that, for all of Free Week’s great original acts, sometimes you just want to chug a beer and hear “Rape Me.”
Whether it was the biting cold or just the natural fallout of a hectic holiday weekend, crowds thinned out Sunday night. But those daring enough to stick around were clearly in it to win it — take, for instance, the swirling crowds at Emo’s inside during country rockers Crooks. It’s not often you see copious two-stepping on the floor of Emo’s, but the country western dance was an appropriate indulgence for a band with such a fetching honky tonk sound that you can practically hear the pedal steel — even though there isn’t one. It was something of a country-influenced night at the inside room of Emo’s, with a charming set from Frank Smith (note: the band doesn’t actually contain anyone named Frank Smith) and even a few tunes on the more acoustic, old-fashioned tip from What Made Milwaukee Famous front man Michael Kingcaid, who played a stripped-down show of solo material.
Outside, indie pop maestros Quiet Company put on their Sunday best for an appropriately joyous set containing a furious cover of the Pixies’ “Monkey Gone To Heaven.” Front man Taylor Muse praised the crowd’s persistence — “Some of us musicians have to get up at 6 a.m. for work, too” — and rewarded their loyalty with a closing rendition of the band’s crescendo-laden “On Modern Men” that pulled friends and acquaintances on-stage for a soaring sing-along. The perpetually underrated Corto Maltese fared just as well, toggling between Rush-esque guitar heroics and intellectual rock in the Radiohead style. Proggy electropoppers Many Birthdays — who, to go by their apparent youth, haven’t celebrated all that many birthdays — played the first of what will be a couple of Free Week shows with aplomb. Over at the Beauty Bar, One Hundred Flowers provided quiet, acoustic experimental pop perfectly suited for a more buttoned-down evening of relaxation and cocktails. Even on a quiet Sunday evening distinguished by its harsh chill, Red River looked surprisingly popping — and you were guaranteed to overhear substantially more conversations about Pitchfork than you would on most Sunday nights. Truly, the party has begun. Three nights down, seven to go.
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Asleep at the Wheel has big plans for 40th
Ray Benson’ Asleep at the Wheel will be celebrating its 40th anniversary with a three night stand at the Long Center Sept. 17- 19. Benson says he’s still working out the program, but that one night will be a staging of “A Ride With Bob,” the Bob Wills musical bio he co-wrote with screenwriter Anne Rapp.
“A Ride With Bob” comes to Kerrville Jan. 15- 17 at the Cailoux Theater. Call 830-895-9393 for more info.
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Review: Chuck Prophet at the Continental Club
Chuck Prophet likes to wax sarcastic in between songs. His first wisecrack during a monster Saturday set at the Continental Club — the second of back-to-back nights — was a riff on virtual reality.
“Go home tonight and check your Friendster page,” Prophet said. (Don’t you mean Facebook?) “How many friends do you need? How many people would actually pick you up at the airport? Now, get rid of the rest.”
Then the San Francisco slacker and his four-piece band, including wife Steffie Finch on keyboards and backing vocals, laid into a cover of Alejandro Escovedo’s “Always A Friend,” which Prophet co-wrote, along with the majority of Escovedo’s triumphant “Real Animal” album.
Prophet is perhaps better known for his collaborations with other musicians, including Austin’s Kelly Willis, than he is for the nine solo albums he’s put out. But “Soap and Water,” from 2007, yielded an appearance on David Letterman, and this year’s “Let Freedom Ring,” a 25th anniversary update of the American Dream proffered by Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” has garnered critical acclaim.
Prophet played heavy doses of both albums Saturday, in a dynamite display of workmanlike rock. Prophet stabbed his trusty Fender Squier like a hoodlum in a knifefight, as he grunted and winced through his character-driven songs, vacillating between a traditional mic and one that made his voice sound like it was amplified through a blowhorn.
“Steve, who I guess is head of security here,” Prophet said, presumably referring to Continental owner Steve Wertheimer, “says there’s been a lot of bootlegging lately. I’d only ask, because this is how we make our living,” Prophet continued, feigning seriousness, “that you film this one. Because no one likes new songs.”
That disclaimer about identity theft was followed by “Hot Talk,” a song about a shady impersonator, with Dire Straits undertones. Meanwhile, “Doubter Out of Jesus (All Over You),” about a treacherous vamp, conveyed double-meaning when Finch repeatedly sang the outro at Prophet, “You could make a doubter out of Jesus.”
But for my money I’ll take the opener, “Sonny Liston’s Blues,” wherein Prophet echoed the words of the boxer in the lead up to his memorable bout with Muhammad Ali. Prophet sang them as if to dupe you into thinking he wasn’t the smart aleck he seemed: “I’m a man of few words, baby/ I think by now you’ve heard ‘em all.”
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On the first Night of Free Week…..
(Photo by David Weaver FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN
- A-List photos: Free Week 2010 kickoff on Red River Street
Jan. 1 was the first night of Cheapska—, I mean, Free Week on Red River St.
The crowds at clubs such as Emo’s and Red 7 reminded everyone present that if there’s one thing that Austinites move more than live music, it’s live music they don’t have to pay for. (Not completely sure how they expect the musicians to make a living the other 51 weeks a year, but we can get into that some other time).
Amateur Drinkers Hou— Sorry, Free Week usually focuses on local bands, as there are very few touring acts on the road the first week of January. There were exceptions here and there. After a pleasingly blistering set by Naw Dude at Red 7, Power Trip, who hail from Denton, hammered the crowd with vintage-sounding two-guitar crossover thrashola. Many patrons were caught in a mosh, but not unwillingly. No sign of Hated Surge, as leader Alex Hughes is sick (he’s also a guitarist in Iron Age and he wasn’t there for that band’s set either.)
There was hip-hop inside at Red 7 (that area is usually a DJ-only bar with no cove) with crews such as Kill City and Mutual Trust rhyming in front of a smaller crowd. It was a nice contrast and one that Red 7 might think about now and then as regular, live hip-hop has all but vanished from the live music district of the Live Music Capital.
Over at a seriously packed Emo’s, the Hi-Tones delivered some solid garage rock, while Shapes Have Fangs twanged away like the missing Link (Wray) between rockabilly and early British R&B. The Ugly Beats’ organ-driven garage rock topped the night off.
Rembmer to pace yourselves, people. Who’s ready for round two?
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Weekend music picks
(Pictured: Pinetop Perkins, Photo by Larry Kolvoord AMERICAN-STATESMAN)Friday
Pinetop Perkins and Lou Ann Barton at Antone’s. The term ‘living legend’ doesn’t quite suffice to describe Perkins, the 96-year-old blues pianist who gigs with all the consistency and fire of a man eight decades his junior. Living icon? Living hero? Living pioneer? At any rate, the key phrase is ‘living,’ and fortunately for us, too, because Perkins still plays and croons Delta blues with a fervor that astounds and a freshness that amazes. He’ll be joined by sultry singer, frequent Vaughan brothers cohort and all-around class act Lou Ann Barton. $12. 7 p.m. 213 W. Fifth St. www.antones.net.
Also recommended:
- Chuck Prophet at the Continental Club
- 13th Victim at Beerland
- Nic Walker at the Scoot Inn
Saturday
Chuck Prophet at the Continental Club. Most rock ‘n’ roll musicians use kicking the crack cocaine habit as an excuse to slow down a bit, but Chuck Prophet is pointedly not among them. Prophet ditched his decade-plus addiction in the late ’90s — one that had hounded him through a career with seminal country rock outfit Green on Red — and emerged even more fiercely prolific, with a string of impressive solo albums. Last year he co-wrote Alejandro Escovedo’s ‘Real Animal.’ If Prophet’s 2009 album ‘Let Freedom Ring,’ his most political and incendiary yet, is any sign, the experience left him all the more inspired. With Frank Smith. 10 p.m. $15. 1315 S. Congress Ave. www.continentalclub.com.
Also recommended:
- Dan Dyer at Central Market North
- Marcia Ball and Bob Schneider at Antone’s
- Co-Pilot at the Scoot Inn
- Jeremy Nail at Momo’s
Sunday
Follow That Bird! at Trailer Space Records. Their name evokes ‘Sesame Street,’ but their sound — surging guitar licks, driving drums and the impassioned warble of singer Lauren Green — is a jagged and explosive rock ‘n’ roll that recalls all the best parts of riot grrl. It’s perhaps the closest thing the world will ever produce to the second coming of Sleater-Kinney. More importantly, they’re one of the sharpest and strongest bands coming out of Austin today. In up-and-coming punk rock record store Trailer Space, they might have their perfect venue. With Magic Jewels, Nighty Night, Literature. 7 p.m. Free. 1401 Rosewood Ave. trailerspacerecords.com.
Also recommended:
- Jon Dee Graham at the Continental Club Gallery
- Southpaw Jones at the Whip In
- McLemore Ave. at Ruta Maya
