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Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Austin’s Schmillion advances to finals in nationwide battle of the bands
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you may recall that rising all-girl Austin rock quintet Schmillion made it to the semifinals in SchoolJam USA, a nationwide battle of teen bands, back in November.
Well, good news: SchoolJam announced on Dec. 5 that Schmillion made it to the finals, based on online voting. They’ll join nine other bands in Anaheim on January 15 to compete for the grand prize (which includes playing at the SchoolJam world finals in January and $5000 for their school music programs) in a live battle of the bands. Austin’s Electric Society also made it to the semifinals but sadly didn’t make the cut for the finals. As finalists, the girls have already won money for new gear and their school music programs; the members of Schmillion attend the McCallum Fine Arts Academy, the Liberal Arts and Science Academy and the Griffin School.
Their next gig is a rock-solid local bill at Emo’s on Dec. 17 that also features Follow That Bird, Ume and Ringo Deathstarr — it’s a veritable showcase for Austin women that rock, like, really hard — so congratulate them in person.
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Austin Psychfest 4 coming to East Side Drive In
The Black Angels and Reverberation Appreciation Society will host Austin Psychfest 4 at the East Side Drive In from April 29- May 1 it was announced today.
The initial lineup release includes Spectrum (Rugby, UK), Black Moth Super Rainbow (Chicago, IL), Atlas Sound (Atlanta, GA), Prefuse 73 (Atlanta, GA), Crystal Stilts (Brooklyn, NY), Sleepy Sun (San Francisco, CA), Crocodiles (San Diego, CA), Black Ryder - (Sydney, Australia), Tobacco - (Chicago, IL) and several more.
The Black Angels will also play, of course. More acts will be announced Jan. 13, when discounted, early bird tix will go on sale.
A DVD of Psychfest 3 is now available here, with shipping starting Dec. 13. Bands in the film, directed by Oswald James, include The Raveonettes, The Black Angels, Silver Apples, Warpaint, Spindrift, The Warlocks, Pink Mountaintops, Headdress, Ringo Deathstarr and more.
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New tracks from Carrie Rodriguez, Hot Club of Cowtown and Candi and the Strangers
If you’re in need of a Hump Day pick-me-up, hopefully this will do.
This afternoon we’ve got opportunities to preview three tracks off three separate upcoming local releases, which might provide you with that last bit of pep you need to chug through tomorrow and Friday.
First up is “Fire Alarm,” off “We Still Love Our Country,” the forthcoming collaborative album between Austin’s Carrie Rodriguez and Americana kindred spirit Ben Kyle, who hails from Minneapolis. The album melds originals with covers ranging from Townes Van Zandt to John Prine; it’s due out February 1 on Ninth Street Opus.
Next up is Hot Club of Cowtown's "The Devil Ain't Lazy," off the trio's "What Makes Bob Holler," also due out on February 1, on Proper American. As the title suggest, the album is a 14-song tribute to the King of Western Swing, Bob Wills.
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Austin treasure Ernie Mae Miller dies
Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Blues/ pop piano great Ernie Mae Miller, the granddaughter of Anderson High namesake L.C. Anderson, passed away at home at 2:47 a.m. Wednesday, surrounded by family and friends, after a long illness. She was 83.
During World War II, the East Austin native played saxophone in the Prairie View Co-eds, the black, all-girl swing band that toured nationally and played Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater.
After attending Huston- Tillotson College in the late ’40s, Miller switched to piano and started playing the old Dinty Moore restaurant/ bar on West Sixth Street. It was at the New Orleans club at 11th and Red River Streets in the ’50s that Miller established herself as perhaps the premiere East Austin musician. She recorded a live album “At the New Orleans,” which displayed a range from Billie Holiday-styled vocals to swinging Dixieland. One of the songs from that album, “”Little Girl Blue.” was later covered by Janis Joplin, who lived in Austin during Miller’s heyday.
Long before Joplin sang at Threadgill’s, Austin’s reputation as a music town was forged by the L.C. Anderson High School marching band, where Miller learned her musical chops from legendary band leader B.L. Joyce. Under Joyce’s directorship, the Yellow Jacket band won the black high school state championship seven times from 1940-1953. Miller played tenor sax for the first three championship bands.
“If we got second place it was a big disappointment,” Miller told the American-Statesman in 2004. “We just sounded better than the other bands. When they called our name as the winner, we were like, ‘Of course!’ “
Miller stayed busy through the years, playing many of Austin’s finer hotel lounges and restaurants. Her latest gig was playing at T.G.I. Fridays at the Radisson Hotel, which she gave up at age 80. But her residencies at such long-gone clubs as the Flamingo Lounge, the Jade Room and the Commodore Perry Hotel reserve for her an important place in Austin music history.
Miller is survived by five sons. Funeral details at King Tears Mortuary are pending.
