A superfan is like an elevated groupie. It goes beyond wearing a vintage tour t-shirt to the current show. Superfans catch multiple shows on the tour, traveling in cars shoe-polished with inside jokes only fellow superfans will get (see gallery). They're known in the fan club. They frame their tour posters. They can tell you everything about every lineup, album, and bootleg. Some are lucky enough to meet their idols and get an autograph. Even fewer get the autograph on their body tattooed (see gallery). Superfans argue about who is a bigger fan. They show up early to shows to guarantee that coveted spot on the rail. I am a Nine Inch Nails superfan. I've seen them 13 times. I have autographs, bootlegs, guitar picks, a fan club member card, lithographs, etc. I've taken my mom, who listens to barbershop quartets, to see them. In fact, my mom probably knows more than the average person about the band. So last week, when I came upon a photo pass for the Dallas stop of the Lights in the Sky tour, she was the first person I called. I've been dreaming about shooting Nine Inch Nails since I was in middle school and first picked up a camera. The motivation grew stronger the first time I saw the band perform live: May 23, 2000, also the day I graduated from high school.

The jacket of Steam Heat’s 1975 album, Austin Funk, paints a brilliantly colored dance party at the famed Armadillo World Headquarters. Yellow lettering pops off an orange background and revelers groove to the beat sporting green butterfly-collar shirts, purple tube tops, and white fedoras. It wasn’t until after the album was released that the band discovered artist Micael Priest was color-blind. “Well, he could see color on acid,” chimes drummer Eddie Cantu, who played with the band from 1979-1984 after their Extreme Heat makeover. In a city where public schools didn’t fully desegregate until after 1970, Steam Heat was something of an anomaly; an integrated band playing funk in the land of cosmic cowboys. “We were the first band to draw mixed crowds to clubs on the Westside,” says vocalist Bruce Spelman after a recent South Austin rehearsal. “There were other integrated bands but they didn’t play on the Westside of Austin.” The band is tuning up for a reunion show Thursday at Threadgill’s World HQ, celebrating the reissue of Austin Funk on CD. They’ll be joined by fellow 1970s Fable mates Starcrost, 47 Times Its Own Weight, and Beto & the Fairlanes. “It’s gonna be like a big huge high school reunion,” laughs guitarist Mike Barnes. “We’ll need everyone to wear name tags.” Channeling influences from Little Feat to Tower of Power, Steam Heat cooked up a jazzy funk fusion that served as a soundtrack to many wild nights at the Soap Creek Saloon. “It was out in the country where anything goes,” Barnes marvels of the defunct hot spot off Bee Caves Road, where they held down a weekly residency. “You could smoke a joint out front with total impunity,” trombonist Phil Ritcherson laughs. “It was a bunch of white people who liked to drive through the mud.” Visit Margaret Moser's Girlie Action blog for more Steam Heat memories.

“It’s automatic when we talk with old friends, And conversation turns to girls we knew when, Their hair was long and soft, And the beach was the place to go” – The Beach Boys, “Do It Again” Inspired by a recent viewing of Somewhere in Time, I’m clutching a nearly disintegrated tab of acid to use in transporting myself back in time on Wednesday night. That was my musical epiphany as a teen, the life-altering Blind Faith-Delaney & Bonnie show in at the Convention Center Arena within San Antonio’s Hemisfair grounds, August 20, 1969. The World’s Fair was only a year in the past but it seemed like a lifetime then. Now, it seems like an eternity.

It’s the “King Conjure” name that doesn’t sit well with me, the diehard who loved “The Graceland Revue.” But I understand the Elvis Presley estate’s need to threaten respectful tributes like the annual one this weekend at the Continental Club. After all, unauthorized use of the King’s name might prevent Priscilla Presley from paying for the next injection of motor oil into her face or Lisa Marie from being able to stuff herself for her next kid. Ted Roddy doesn’t seem to lose any sleep over it. He just changed the name, dropped the sparkly jumpsuit with the 2001: A Space Odyssey entrance, and soldiered on, paying homage to Presley in his own way. “Suspicious Minds”? Check. “Polk Salad Annie”? Check. “In the Ghetto”? Check. Turning the pre-Army Elvis oeuvre over to Shaun Young & the New Blue Moon Boys was a stroke of genius gold. Young ably captures Big E’s sexy swagger with the thumping bass that defines songs like “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” It’s the right set to herald Roddy’s big entrance.

Whoops. Earlier this month, Ryan Sambol of the Strange Boys told OTR the band wouldn’t be using the tracks produced by Jay Reatard for its upcoming debut LP for In the Red Recordings, but no one thought to clue in Reatard. After getting clued in, the Memphis-based punk refused to take the stage after the Strange Boys Aug. 4 in Dallas. Apparently things got pretty ugly. You can read the promoter’s account of the evening here, while Reatard and others have responded on the message boards of Brooklyn Vegan. "It was just a misunderstanding,” says Sambol, adding with a hint of irony that the Reatard-produced “Nothing” may work its way onto the album. Before embarking on a West Coast run, the Boys appear on KVRX’s Local Live this Sunday, followed by an in-store at Trailer Space Records on Aug. 24.

This week, Hacienda’s Abraham Villanueva expounded on the significance of the Band’s 1969 eponymous album as an influence on his own quartet. Next month, Hacienda releases its official debut, Loud Is the Night (Alive Natural Sound Records), which unloads slinky, Sixties garage pop embellished by soulful harmonies between the three Villanueva brothers (Abraham, Jaime, and Rene) and cousin Dante Schwebel. To expand the sound, Hacienda traveled to Akron, Ohio to record with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who became a fan after the group opened for the Keys and Dr. Dog at La Zona Rosa back in 2006. Auerbach also brought in members of Dr. Dog to contribute extra vocals to the sessions. Villanueva gave us an idea of how the recording went down as they prepare for the album’s release and a tour next month with Dr. Dog.

Since they’re almost constantly on the road, you might have missed that the Hot Club of Cowtown is back. A couple of Saturdays ago, the trio, who claimed not to remember when they last played Austin on a weekend, managed two barn-burning sets at Threadgill’s. The big news, though, is they’ll be releasing a disc of career highlights next week. The Best of the Hot Club of Cowtown is the first title to come out of the acquisition of Hightone Records by Shout! Factory. While there will always be some nitpicking about song selection and omissions, the 20 tracks are a fancy overview of their cowboy jazz, fiddle tunes, and sentimental ballads, especially if you missed them the first time around. Catch Elana, Whit, and Jake at the Continental Club on Aug. 27 for a happy hour release party.

The reunited Butthole Surfers finally confirmed a local engagement. The catch? It’s an official afterparty for the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival at Stubb’s on Saturday, Sept. 27, with the Kills. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially for those who don’t plan on attending the festival, but it’s not exactly an ideal setting for the legendary noise-rock troupe, and it’s going to conflict with Saturday’s headliners, Beck and Plant & Krauss. Frankly, OTR’s just glad it’s happening, and without assistance from the Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars. There’s plenty more to get excited about, including gigs from Manu Chao and Conor Oberst. See the full list after the jump. All tickets go on sale Saturday, 10am, through Front Gate Tickets.

Take away the Shaft soundtrack and all of his solo albums and Isaac Hayes’ contribution to soul music would still be monumental. In collaboration with David Porter, Hayes penned and composed more than 200 songs for Stax Records. I love Sam & Dave, but that duo would be nothing without Hayes & Porter, who wrote mega-hits “Hold On, I'm Coming,” “Soul Man,” “I Thank You,” and a healthy portion of the pair’s entire catalog. For such a prolific songwriter, many of Hayes’ best-known songs are not his own. Only one of the four extended tracks on his 1969 masterpiece, Hot Buttered Soul, is an original and 1971’s Black Moses is dominated by covers as well. But anyone who's listened to these albums knows Hayes never really covered songs. He transformed them. On “Walk On By,” Hayes freaks a pleasant three minute pop tune into an epic 12-minute opus. At the 5:12 mark, the crescendoing strings all but snap before the intoxicating wah-wah kicks in. He didn't just sound different, he was different. In an era when either the processed 'do of JB or the Black Power afro of Angela Davis was en vogue, he rocked pink tights and a shiny bald head. There's a reason his performance was the grand finale for the epic 1972 Wattstax concert at the L.A. Coliseum. The liner notes from the soundtrack express it best: “Isaac appeared as planned. And when Isaac arrives, the whole world knows it. Two Harley Davidsons rumbled through the main tunnel with lights flashing and sirens going full blast. People stood in the aisles screaming 'Black Moses' as he emerged in Academy Award splendor: a gold chain vest, shiny bald head, metallic orange pants with black and white fringed cuffs. Flamboyant, cool, haughty, and, without a doubt, the true Black sex-symbol-idol of the century." Rest in peace, Ike!