Clashabama 5

“What’s your name, little boy?” Alabama 3 frontman Larry Love asked the grinning, balding gentleman who wandered on stage at La Zone Rosa last night.

“Michael,” sheepishly replied Mick Jones (formerly of The Clash, now of SXSWers Carbon/Silicon), right before laying down the electric guitar lines for Woke Up this Morning (aka the theme from The Sopranos.

Kinda makes sense: Alabama 3 (there’s actually four of them) are a bunch of displaced Scots and Londoners who suffused house music with country, and The Clash adopted the Jamaican rude boy rhythms they heard in London dancehalls and added it to nascent punk. Jones and the 3 have even done some dates together in the UK. But seriously. Mick! Jones! The only sound you could hear before he started playing was jaws hitting the floor.

This article appears in March 14 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.