Grand Theater - Texas Music Magazine

EXTRA
June ‘10
Wonderland, Ruthie Foster, Shannon McNally
and Theresa Andersson. It is the first project
for Houston-based Rampant Entertainment.
Executive producer Anthony Cutrona anticipates that many PBS affiliates, especially
those near military installations, will begin
broadcasting the film by summer’s end.
Austin’s Saxon Pub gets Kinky
for its 20th anniversary
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The Old 97’s performed new tunes at a secret show at the Sons of
Hermann in Dallas on April 17. (Photo: Cindy Royal)
Old 97’s take to the studio for
eighth album
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since
the last Old 97’s release, Blame It On Gravity.
The Dallas quintet began work on their eighth
studio album in April, enlisting the help of producer Salim Nourallah (who also produced
lead singer Rhett Miller’s last self-titled solo
CD). Breaking recording up into two sessions,
they started pre-production at the legendary
Sons of Hermann Hall in Dallas’ Deep Ellum,
culminating with a “secret show” on April 17,
billing themselves as the Roamin’ Hitchhikers.
They completed recording at the vintage
Texas Treefort Studio in the picturesque setting of the Austin Hill Country. “It was really
helpful to hear the band play the new songs
in a live setting before taking them into the
studio,” says Nourallah. “They’re going to be
playing these songs live for years to come so
it made sense to hear them that way first.”
Miller penned the majority of the songs while
on tour in Europe last year with Steve Earle,
and that experience looms large on what
could end up a sprawling 16-20 song collection. “I grew up surrounded by Texas music
and loving country music and Texas rock ’n‘
roll, like Buddy Holly,” Miller said. “Then I
became this Anglophile. So, there I was in
England, writing these songs that are pretty
country-ish. I think this record is the marriage
of those two influences.” Look for the new
release, tentatively titled The Grand Theater,
in October.
The Saxon Pub, Austin’s longtime hotbed for
roots-rockers, honky-tonkers and singersongwriters, will be celebrating 20 years in
business this June. The highest-profile celebration will be headlined by a man who’s all of
the above and then some: Kinky Friedman.
The musician/humorist/author/politician will
be kicking off his upcoming tour with one last
stop in Texas — June 10 at the Saxon — before
EXTRA
PUBLISHER/
EDITOR
CONTRIBUTORS
CAITLIN WITTLIF
CHELSEY BLACKMON
LY N N E M A R G O L I S
ETHAN MESSICK
C I N D Y R O YA L
WILLIAM MICHAEL SMITH
Tribute to troops airs on PBS
The award-winning concert film, Texas
Burning: A Lone Star Tribute To Our Troops,
has aired for the first time on PBS affiliates in
Houston, Killeen, and San Antonio. Hosted by
Austin musicians Patricia Vonne and Sam
Baker, the film captures a 2007 concert at the
Charline McCombs Empire Theater in San
Antonio only a few days before the dedication
of a new facility for wounded troops at
Brooke Army Medical Center. The film, which
won Best Music Video in the Shows/Specials
category at the 2007 Houston WorldFest
International Film Festival, also features blues
guitar giant Sherman Robertson, Carolyn
S T E WA R T R A M S E R
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ART DIRECTOR
T O R Q U I L S C O T T- D E WA R
www.txmusic.com
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hitting Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles
and other points west. The West Coast tour,
his first in nearly two decades, will feature
Kinky performing his off-kilter country classics with members of the original Texas
Jewboys band as well as special guests
including “psycho-billy” rocker Mojo Nixon
and legendary composer Van Dyke Parks.
And Conan’s musical guest for
tonight is…
With his controversial
newsmaking departure from the
Tonight Show
still fresh in
national memory,
Conan
O’Brien made
even more headlines by booking
the cross-counJimmie Vaughan surprised Conan O’Brien
try
“Legally
fans at the comedian’s performance in
Dallas. Vaughan will release his first album Prohibited From
in nine years this summer. (Photo courtesy
Being Funny on
Jimmie Vaughan)
TV” tour, appearing in person for the millions who’d decried
his ouster. Sticking at least somewhat to the
talk-show format for most of the performances, O’Brien invited prominent regional musical guests to share in his spotlight: in May,
Texas beneficiaries included veteran rocker
Charlie Sexton in Austin (at the Austin Music
Hall) and premier bluesman Jimmie Vaughan
in Dallas (on the SMU campus). Even in
Eugene, Ore., the show had a bit of Lone Star
flavor: indie rock heroes Spoon joined
Conan’s party on April 12, the first night of the
perpetually sold-out tour.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 BY TEXAS MUSIC, L.L.C.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
R E P R O D U C T I O N I N W H O L E O R PA R T I S P R O H I B I T E D .
Ragweed to take a break
Fewer bands tour harder than Cross Canadian
Ragweed, long among the kings of the TexasOklahoma country-rock circuit. So it was sur-
prising to many when the band announced on
May 19 that it was going to wind down its
schedule later this year, with only 20 gigs left
on the books until the band goes on an indefinite hiatus. The band cited a shared desire for
some rest and time with family; drummer
Randy Ragsdale expressed the need to spend
more time with his autistic 10-year old son,
and the other band members agreed that
they weren’t a band without co-founder
Ragsdale. Their final scheduled date (for now)
is Chicago on October 24, and the last Texas
date is Ziegfest in Yorktown on October 16.
James still Texas’ Idol
Fort Worth’s Casey James, 27, took it all the
way to third place in the 2010 American Idol
competition. James, who USA Today called
“the best guitar player the show has seen,”
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was eliminated after his performance of
John Mayer’s “Daughters” in the Judge’s
Choice round. Born in Cool, Texas, James
overcame several health obstacles to reach
the Idol stage; he suffered from a life-threatening reaction to whooping cough vaccine
as an infant and, following a motorcycle accident at 21, had been told that he would not
be able to play guitar again. James was the
oldest contestant to ever reach the final 24.
KNBT Americana Jam packs
Gruene Hall
New Braunfels radio station KNBT earned its
status as one of the world’s leading
Americana stations by broadcasting topnotch roots-rock and alt-country music across
the Hill Country; for 14 years running, they’ve
also presented it live at the venerable Gruene
Hall at their annual Americana
Jam. This year’s May 16 jam was
as talent-packed as usual, with
headlining slots from Robert
Earl Keen and Wade Bowen, as
well as a song-swap featuring
genre heavyweights Cody
Canada, Charlie Robison and
Chris Knight. The show, with proceeds benefiting the New Life
Children’s Center in nearby
Canyon Lake, also featured
young talents like the Band of
Heathens and the Trishas alongside veteran performers including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Houston
Marchman, and Reckless Kelly
brothers Willy & Cody Braun.
Familiar
Faces
In what will certainly prove to
be one of the
most significant
band reunions
of 2010, Austin
keyboardist Ian
M c L a g a n
informed fans
via Facebook on
May 25 that legendary English Ian McLagan and Ronnie Wood reunite this
rock
group summer as Faces. (Photo: Lynne Margolis)
Faces will perform August 13 at the Vintage at
Goodwood Festival in West Sussex, England.
Of the living members of the original lineup,
only vocalist Rod Stewart will not be onstage
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with McLagan, Ronnie Wood and Kenney
Jones. Stewart will be replaced by Simply Red
vocalist Mick Hucknall, who performed a oneoff charity gig last year with the band at
London’s Royal Albert Hall. Former Sex Pistols
bassist Glen Matlock rounds out the lineup for
the Goodwood show, filling in for the late
Ronnie Lane. No further dates have been
announced, but Wood and Jones appeared on
BBC the day after McLagan’s announcement
and were very positive about the band reuniting. After a six-year run that included the hit
“Stay With Me” and saw Faces become one of
the top grossing touring acts in rock, the band
broke up in 1975 when Lane quit as Stewart’s
solo career took off. Ronnie Wood began playing his first gigs with the Rolling Stones at the
same time.
Perkins parties at
Antone’s
Pianist Pinetop Perkins, one of
the last direct connections to the
earliest Delta blues originators,
will celebrate his 97th birthday
and the release of his new album
Joined at the Hip with a July 1
performance at Antone’s in
Austin. A longtime sideman,
Perkins played with Muddy
Waters for over a decade and
didn’t begin his solo recording
career until 1988 with After
Hours. In the late ’40s Perkins, a
member of the Blues Hall of
Fame as well as the holder of a
Grammy Lifetime Achievement
Award, played with the legendary Sonny Boy Williamson on
the historic KFFA King Biscuit
Time, one of the longest continuously running radio programs in
the world.
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calendar
JUNE
5
New 93Q Presents: Battle of the Bands
Sam Houston Race Park
Houston
www.theshowgrounds.com
Accordion Kings & Queens Festival
Miller Outdoor Theatre
Houston
www.milleroutdoortheater.com
5-6
Free Press Summer Fest
Eleanor Tinsley Park
Keep Austin Weird
Festival & 5K
Houston
June 26, Downtown,Austin
9
www.freepresssummerfest.com
Blues on the Green
After all these years, Austin Texas Tornados
remains unashamedly one of Zilker Park
the weirdest cities in the world. Austin
And every year, it celebrates its www.kgsr.com/other/blues
oddity with the Keep Austin 10-12
Weird Fest and 5K, unofficially Sake of the Song Festival
known as “the slowest 5K you’ll Whitewater Amphitheater
ever run.” It’s hard to focus on New Braunfels
speed when you’re running past www.dicksonproductions.com
people dressed as movie char- 10-13
acters, Austin landmarks, ani- CMA Music Festival
mals, minerals, and everything Various venues
in between. Live music will also Nashville
be a part of the festivities, with www.cmafest.com
performances by the Paul
Green School of Rock Kids Band
and local rockers White Denim.
Online registration for the run is
$25, which includes a T-shirt
and festival pass.
June 26, 2 - 10 p.m., Downtown,
Austin. For more info, visit
www.keepaustinweird5k.com.
10-13
ROT Biker Rally
Travis County Expo Center
Austin
www.rotrally.com
19
Girls Rock Camp Showcase 1
The Griffin School
Austin
www.girlsrockcampaustin.com
Blues On the Hill
McKelvey Park
Harlingen
www.visitharlingentexas.com
23
Blues on the Green
Carolyn Wonderland
Zilker Park
Austin
www.kgsr.com/other/blues
JULY
2-4
Que Fest
Elgin B. Robertson Park
Rowlett
www.rowlettexchangeclub.org
3
Stockyards Stampede
North Forty Field
Fort Worth
www.stockyardsstampede.com
9
Live On the Beach
Carlos ’n’ Charlies
Austin
www.CnCAustin.com
31
Girls Rock Camp Showcase 2
The Griffin School
Fort Worth’s Black Tie Dynasty are reuniting
Austin
to rock at the Que Fest on July 3, where they’ll
open for Joan Jett. (Photo courtesy Black Tie www.girlsrockcampaustin.org
Dynasty)
Spring 2010 Issue
available on newsstands now
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Jamie Wilson
Dirty Blonde Hair
myspace.com/jamiegriffinwilson
There are two schools of
thought on Jamie Wilson:
either you’ve never heard of her or you think
she’s one of the finest songwriters of her day,
of any gender (or genre). And even if the name
doesn’t jump out at you, you may have caught
her in her previous band (the criminally overlooked Gougers) or her new group — the
Trishas, currently working up a well-deserved
buzz on the fringes of the Texas/Red Dirt
scene. One could see this short-but-sweet EP
as a bridge between the two projects, with collaborators from both bands among the backing
cast here, but it hardly needs context to be
appreciated. Wilson’s vocal timbre finds that
sweet spot between the ethereal tone of
Emmylou Harris and the warmer twang of
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Patty Loveless, and as a lyricist she’s equally
capable of conveying a heartbreaking sense of
compassion (“Dusty Shoes”) or a downright
unsettling melancholy (the title track). In a nifty
reverse of alt-country martyr (and obvious
influence) Gram Parsons’ approach, it often
seems that the lyrics actually ground the songs
here, with Wilson and her band of roots-rock
pros pulling off adventurous sonics that send
her folkie sentiments surging to the stratosphere. “Produced By All Of Us With Love” is
stamped on the back of the CD’s plain brown
packaging, and many a listener will doubtlessly
second that emotion. ETHAN MESSICK
Indian Jewelry
Totaled
We Are Free
Houston-based psychedelic rock
band Indian Jewelry's Totaled is
a bleak look at the future. Each
track leaves listeners submerged
in an industrial wasteland with no
hope for escape. Droning soundscapes haunt the album, creating
an uneasy aesthetic enhanced by
heavily distorted vocals. Opener
“Oceans” is the most enjoyable
tune, conforming to a more traditional song structure the rest of
the album generally rejects.
Indian Jewelry is most engaging
when they choose to break from
their muddied sound, throwing in
a few hooks without breaking
away from their unique style.
CHELSEY BLACKMON
Wild
Moccasins
Skin Collision
Past
wildmoccasins.bandcamp.com
Just in time for summer, Wild
Moccasins’ latest release, Skin
new releases
May 18 Javi Garcia & the
Cold Cold Ground
May 18 Willie Nelson
May 18 Sarah Jaffe
May 21 Wild Moccasins
June 1 Tift Merritt
June 1 Townes Van Zandt
June1 Lucky Tubb
June 1 Rosehill
June8 Pinetop Perkins
June 15 Shinyribs
June 22 Terri Hendrix
June 22 Chamillionaire
June 26The Mother Truckers
June 29Alejandro Escovedo
July 6 Jimmie Vaughan
Aug 17 Randy Rogers Band
Aug 24 Sleep Good
Aug 31 Sahara Smith
A Southern Horror
thecoldcoldground.com
Rarities Vol. 1
Suburban Nature
Skin Collision Past
See You on the Moon
Legend: The Very Best of
Townes Van Zandt
Hillbilly Fever
White Lines and Stars
Joined at the Hip
Well After Awhile
Cry Till You Laugh
Venom
Van Tour
Street Songs of Love
Blues, Ballads and Favorites
Burning the Day
skyclimber
Myth of the Heart
Great American Music
Kirtland
Collision Past, calls for an end to sadness and
sobriety. Each tune is filled with relentless bliss,
even when the band slows it down on tracks
like “Cake” and “Chapter Four.” Catchy choruses alternate between male and female vocals,
and their harmonies elate the senses. Skin
Collision Past hones the style of the group’s
previous EP that landed them a spot at last
year's Free Press Summer Fest in their hometown of Houston. Full of hooks, shimmers,
shouts and glee, Skin Collision Past leaves listeners feeling the infectious joy contained in
each track. CHELSEY BLACKMON
Jonathan Tyler & the
Northern Lights
Pardon Me
Atlantic
Some bands use a lot of synthesizers, and some bands
just are synthesizers, in another sense of the
word. Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights
didn’t need a lot of over-programmed keyboards to pull off Pardon Me, an inspired mish-
wildmoccasins.bandcamp.com
Fantasy
Snapper
myspace.com/luckytubb
Cypress Creek
Telarc International
myspace.com/shinyribs
Wilory
Universal Republic
themothertruckers.com
Concord
Shout! Factory
Mercury
Autobus
Playing In Traffic
mash of nearly everything that went platinum
in the 1990s. Their sophomore effort boasts
the sonics of a late-model Aerosmith album,
with nods to the Black Crowes (Crowe guitarist
Rich Robinson has a co-write), Lenny Kravitz,
and even Nirvana, via Tyler’s impassioned
vocals that sometimes cross over from a cocksure wail to a gravelly sob (especially on the
anthemic “Gypsy Woman“). Hell, the psychedelic interlude “Ladybird” even sounds vaguely like Boyz II Men until the fuzzy guitar wash
kicks in. Rock snobs might sniff at the album’s
more derivative moves, but really, what could
be more critic-proof than adrenalized bluesrock buffed to an arena-sized sheen by youngsters who are already opening for Kid Rock and
ZZ Top less than five years into their career? “I
don’t care if I’m wrong or right/I’m just looking
for a way to take her home tonight,” Tyler sings
on “Bright Energy”. Mission, one would imagine, accomplished. ETHAN MESSICK
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Q&A Sahara Smith
With delicate lyrical
prowess and a soulful,
angelic voice, Sahara
Smith is poised to make
a huge impact on the
world of music, and
she’s only 21 years old.
The young singer-songwriter releases her
debut full-length album
Photo: John Pattillo
Myth of the Heart in
August, and it’s already been blessed by
heavyweight producer T Bone Burnett — he
oversaw the project, and calls Smith “the
best young artist I have heard in many
years.” Smith is about to depart on a tour
with Mason Jennings. To hear some of her
songs, go to
www.myspace.com/saharasmithmusic.
How did you end up connecting with T Bone
Burnett?
Well, my managers and I were discussing producers [for Myth of the Heart] and asking, in a
perfect world, who would be producing my
album? We all kind of said T Bone, but it was a
long shot. He contacted me through my
MySpace page and asked to meet him, and
said he wanted to oversee the project.
The bulk of the project was done with
Emile Kelman. He was the producer, but our
initial demos that we did were done at
Burnett’s home studio. He gave us a lot of tips,
especially with singing on different songs; just
giving me pointers on how to relax my voice
and make it sound a little easier, and it really
helped a lot.
How was the collaboration with Emile
Kelman?
We both had very strong opinions on how the
record should sound and we didn’t always
agree, we kind of butted heads sometimes.
Ultimately, we came out with something that I
think we both really loved, so that was great.
Once you were in the studio, what was the
process like for recording songs?
It was a very layered process. We started out
in the studio with me, Jay Bellerose on drums,
Chris Bruce on guitar and Paul Bryan on bass,
and we played everything live. We recorded
the first layer of the album that way. Emile
called some of T Bone’s guys to come in and
he had Dennis Crouch come in and do some
bass lines on some songs, and Mark Ribot on
guitar on some songs. It was more laying a
base for all of the songs with the four guys,
and then coming in on top of that and exploring each song. There were some amazing
parts that we didn’t end up using because they
didn’t fit the mood of the songs.
What is your songwriting process like? Do
you find the words come first, or the
melody? Or does it come together?
It normally comes together. Sometimes the
rhythm of a series of words will determine a
melody. I think probably most of the time it
comes as a melody. I write very much based
on syllables; like certain words, when you
speak them, certain syllables in those words
are stressed and I always think about making
the music fit that — I wouldn’t want to sing anything that wouldn’t sound natural to say.
You write poetry as well. Do you find that
the process for that is different from songwriting?
Definitely; I think songwriting is a lot easier
than writing poetry, honestly. Songwriting has
an inherent structure. With poetry, there’s
nothing you can’t do. So when you write a
poem, there’s that risk — this could be wrong!
Do you think you might ever release a book
of poetry?
Leonard Cohen came out with Dear Heather,
and his sketches are in there and I love it, so I’d
love to try and do something like that.
How did you end up on a tour with Mason
Jennings?
I signed with High Road Touring, and they had
a bunch of ideas about people I could open for
and festivals I should do. The Mason Jennings
tour seemed like a good fit; it’s soft and mellow
and those are the shows I really love to do.
There is a lot of Texas imagery in your
music — would you consider Texas an influence?
Definitely. Growing up in Wimberley, we’d have
bluegrass jams, and that was when I’d start
singing in front of people – I’d play my songs
for them. Part of what I do will always be rooted in that. I think it was very important for the
Who would be your dream act to go on tour sound that I’ve created.
with?
When I was 13 it was my fantasy to play with Do you think you’ll ever uproot and move
Paul Simon, and that’s still a big one. So now, somewhere different?
dream tour would be with Tom Waits or I think Texas is my home. When I fly back into
Leonard Cohen or Paul Simon.
Austin, the Austin-Bergstrom airport — that
big cloth butterfly thing, and the smell of barYou mention those songwriters a lot as becue — I just feel home. Absolutely home.
influences; what are your other influences? CAITLIN WITTLIF
The song “Mermaid” is based on a dream I had
about a T. S. Eliot poem, The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock. It’s really hard to pinpoint specific influences because everything I read or
listen to influences me. My most recently written song is influenced by astrophysics, which
sounds a lot dorkier than it is!