Now, how many bands would find it a drawback having hot-shot drummer
(and this
year's Austin Music Awards winner in the skin-beating category)
Barry
"Frosty" Smith bringing up their backbeat? Well, for a while there,
it
looked like the
Chris Duarte Band might have fit that category.
Things
were touch-and-go leading up to the band's Japanese tour when a 1989
"minor
little brush with the law, as we like to call it," reared its ugly
head, and
threatened to bar Frosty's entry into the Land of the Rising Sun,
according to
Duarte manager
Cleve Hattersley. Japan's customs laws make those
of,
say, Canada look "like kindergarten," says Hattersley, but discussion
has
finally resulted in Frosty's legal ability to cross over to Japan's
shores in
time for the string of huge shows the band has set up there for the
17th
through the 29th of May. "Every guitar magazine" on the islands has
already
been running Duarte features in anticipation, adds Hattersley. After
that trip,
it's back to the U.S.A. for a mostly East Coast tour with
Ted
Nugent and
Bad Company starting on June 7. Though the group don't
necessarily agree
with the Nuge's politics, they say his friendship is already earning
them
pluses; on a recent VH-1 interview, when the Wango Tango man was asked
what
contemporary bluesman he liked, he launched into a long praise session
about
Duarte. If your passport has expired, you can see Chris and company at
the SoCo
Music Festival this Saturday. For more on that particular event, read
on, won't
you?
Southern Discomfort
The SoCo music festival (named after Southern Comfort, that Dr.
Peppery liquor
that's sponsoring the event) has angered some Sixth Street merchants
who
successfully petitioned to get the SoCo show this Saturday restricted
to a
two-block area of the street. First and foremost of their complaints is
the
charging of admission ($5) into that area, effectively crippling,
rather than
helping, revenue for local businesses.
Rev. Horton Heat and the
Chris
Duarte Band are the main acts, with SoCo contest winners
Rhythm
Child, 7
Stones, Black Pearl, and
Thunderfoot also performing. SoCo's
Eric
Schnabel, in Chicago, says he hadn't heard about the problems, and
points
out that much of the money goes to the East Sixth Street Community
Association,
a group comprised of some area residents and businesses. Steamboat's
Danny
Crooks (not an ESSCA member) finds this ironic: "Most of the time
they're
protesting the music," he observes, but he can't help but notice that
on the
three days or so a year when the money goes into their pockets, they
block off
the streets for it. He finds the SoCo Fest to be particularly wanting,
and
can't imagine a big crowd paying to see the festival; even though most
of the
bands involved play at his club, he refers to the contest winners as
"not
ready" popularity-wise for such an event. "[SoCo] could've put the
whole show
in Fat Tuesday's," he says, "and left Sixth Street open."
Window Duressing
A truckload of fratboys decided that their Friday evening wasn't
interesting
enough, and allegedly chucked a couple of large rocks through the front
plate-glass windows of the Electric Lounge in total disregard of the
fact that
there were people on the other side of said windows. Luckily, no one
was
injured. The Bronco's licence plate number was traced (and doesn't it
seem like
the Bronco is the vehicle of choice of today's criminal?), but
apparently no
charges have yet been filed in the case. Oh well, I'm sure that the
[name of
fraternity deleted pending further investigation] House has plenty of
nice big
windows.
A Tale of the Huns (and
Other Punk Proverbs)
First, it was the
Big Boys'
The Fat Elvis and
The
Skinny
Elvis. Then, Dejadisc got the urge to re-release the
Live at
Raul's
compilation with the
Standing Waves, the Skunks, Terminal Mind,
the
Next, and the
Explosives plus bonus tracks with
Roky
Erickson.
Now, we hear there's a
Huns CD in the works, featuring music
from
the band who put Austin punk on the map (they were busted on stage at
the club
in 1978 for obscenity), but only released one single, "Busy Kids"/"I'm
Glad
He's Dead." And floating in the nethersphere out there are yet two more
punk/new wave reissue projects, one a compilation of past singles and
the other
a collection of studio tracks.
Stoned in Austin
Rolling Stone's SXSW coverage finally sees print with the May
4 issue
(
Tom Petty cover). That's not too bad a delay; look how long it
took
them to discover
Elvis Costello. As expected,
Hamell on
Trial (in
the worst photo I've seen - he looks like William Frawley auditioning
for the
role of Col. Kurtz) and
Alejandro Escovedo get the most Austin
ink, next
to a bit about what a nice guy
Willie Nelson is (this is
supposed to be
a
surprise?)
Ticketed Off
Hopefully, the big
Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute at the Austin
Music Hall
will come off with fewer hitches than the ticket sales did. Several
people have
called the
Chronicle to complain about what they felt was an
unfair and
disorganized handling of ticket sales to the event. Besides the
expected long
wait and cattle round-up atmosphere attending the line at such a
guaranteed
quick sell-out show, people who had been standing in line for hours
suddenly
found themselves faced with a new predicament; seemingly without
warning, the
tickets became part of a "package deal," and were only available if one
also
bought a ticket to the May 4
Jimmie Vaughan show as well.
David
Deaton at Star Tickets points out, however, that from the
beginning, there
were a certain number of single tickets and a certain number of package
tickets
available, and while "phone sales were strong" on the package tix,
single
tickets were much more in demand by those in line, and when those ran
out, says
Deaton, it became a case of "either buy a package or don't go." Those
still
disgruntled may want to lay a modicum of their grief on one local
journalist
who, I'm told, broke the story of the big show after being told about
it off
the record. You can see why a bit of paranoia followed regarding
potential
sales for the May 4 Jimmie V. show, to be held only a week before
the
bigger event.
Mixed Notes
No, the Ritz isn't closing, but once again it has ceased to exist
as a live
music venue (though this Friday's final
Mr. Groper show is still
a go,
and a scheduled Trance Showcase may still happen). General manager
Wendy
Wanner says that the area is already "saturated" with live music
and that
"I was doing better as a pool hall." She adds that people hadn't caught
on to
the fact that the club was doing shows again and that she may try it
again in
six months...
Greg Hetson of
Bad Religion has finished
producing
that
Jungle Nuns project I told you about. The group, which
features
Milktrout, House in Orbit, and
Auschwitz 46 members (and
doesn't
every band have someone from Auschwitz 46 in it these days?) is
shopping the
recording as we speak... Remember last week's mention of
Kate Moss
and
Johnny Depp at the Continental Club? Well, if you're curious
what else
Don Depp Demarco and the diminutive dame were up to, I'm told that Miss
Moss
had never been on an Easter egg hunt before, so Depp,
Gibby
Haynes, and
Bill Carter were up all the night before bunny day decorating
and hiding
eggs. Now
there's something to find outside your window when you
hear a
bump in the night... In the Equal Time for All
Buttholes
Department:
Have I mentioned that
Paul Leary has hopped out to Arizona to
produce
another
Meat Puppets album? He produced their last, if you
recall, and
considered it less of a job than a chance to make his favorite band
sound
exactly the way he'd always wanted them to...
Paul Minor
revealed that
he's wearing a Freudian slip and announced that his new act, Paul
Minor's
Super-Ego, featuring
Jon Sanchez of the
Flying
Saucers,
Jeff Johnston of the
Orange Mothers, and
Bryan
Bowden of
Sixteen Deluxe will be debuting as part of one of those darn
Sunday
night Hole in the Wall jam things. Speaking of weekly musical events,
last
week's Homegroan Live at Liberty Lunch was the last. Those involved
just
finally got sick of it. And speaking of Jeffs and Saucers,
Jeff
Hoskins
is the latest Saucer to leave the fleet, and though you may not
recognize him
without the warpaint and blacklights, that's
Lyman Hardy of
Ed
Hall who'll be filling in on drums at the Saucers' in-store at
Waterloo
Records (Friday at 5pm) and CD release party at the Electric Lounge
this
Saturday. Other in-stores this week include
Charlie Robison at
MusicMania (also Friday 5pm),
Jeff Buckley at Tower Records at
2pm
Saturday, and the
Austin Lounge Lizards at Waterloo next
Thursday (5/4)
at 5pm... Well, there was no Tom Petty appearance at Antone's last
week, but
his drummer and keyboard player showed and joined in onstage with
Stephen
Bruton, whose new Dos/Antone's album is due momentarily. Look for
Bruton
with bassist
Chris Maresch and drummer
Brannen Temple to
take
over
Sue Foley's Tuesday slot at Antone's during May... Just had
the new
Harry Nilsson tribute album
For the Love of Harry dropped
in my
lap, and you can hear the old fence-straddler himself,
Joe Ely,
covering
Harry's "Joy." Also on the disc, such eclectic choices as
Fred
Schneider,
Adrian Belew, and the potentially horrifying team
of
Ringo Starr and
Stevie Nicks...
Betty Elders has a
new one
out entitled
Crayon. That's on Flying Fish Records...
Kirt
Kempter's first CD on Illinois-based Zanman Records,
Strange
Things,
gets national release next month, but you can get a jump on it by
attending his
release party at the Capitol City Playhouse this Saturday...
John
Cougar
Rabinowitz has a tape release at Chicago House this Friday... You
laid-back
jazz types need to get your demo submitted to the Clarksville Jazz
Festival
before May 9. Send your submission for General, World Music, Jazz
Vocalist,
Composer Showcase or New Jazz Artist/Ensemble (mark the category
clearly) along
with $5 to 109 E. 10th St./BSMT, Austin, TX 78701. The Fest runs June
10-11...
Covenant's show at Paradox tonight (Thursday) is an AIDS
benefit,
and a chance for you to "dress ultra-modern" and appear in the
band's
first video...
Snoopy and
Annie Melvin's new band
Liberty
School ("The Melvins" was already taken) pays a visit from Arizona
this
Thursday (Emo's) and Friday (Hole in the Wall.) Remember, they claim
that any
alleged dissing of Austin by the band is the result of fabrication on
the part
of an Arizona journalist, so don't go breaking any windows.
