Things didn’t look too rosy for the troubled “Home of the Blues,” following
rumors of their closure by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) last
week and the locked doors on the venue for days afterwards. TABC officer David
Ball says that it was the comptroller’s office, not his, that was interested in
the club over a tax matter, but noted that if the Antone’s was in money
trouble, it wouldn’t be helped by the fact that the club’s liquor sales permit
was set to expire on December 18. Susan Antone says that the comptroller’s
office notified her that she needed to post a $15,000 bond to keep her liquor
license, though she says “I don’t know why — I don’t owe them anything.”
Suspension of the liquor license was announced to the club on Wednesday,
December 11, along with a
72-hour deadline, which was not met. Antone says
that the bands scheduled for that Saturday were given the choice of performing
in a liquor-free club or calling it an early night, and they chose the latter.
The club stayed dark through Tuesday, so while Antone was out gathering funds,
word was getting around and calls started piling up from concerned patrons,
bands, and even The New York Times. Meanwhile, one expects, blues
junkies were taking second looks at growing hotspots like Catfish Station and
the Victory Grill. Having found her home and office flooded with missives of
worry and well-wishing, Antone wants to make it clear that her bond has been
posted, she’s paid her annual permit fees, and the club should be back to its
usual schedule by the time you read this.
81/2 Choices
“I would be every bit as surprised as Kris McKay would to hear that she wasthe new singer for 81/2 Souvenirs,” exclaims Continental Records
honcho Jack Hazard. Regarding rumors that the shoo-in is on McKay’s foot for
the job, Jack hazards that “She’s going to be doing some things with us, but
there’s absolutely no firm decision as far as a permanent replacement for
Juliana [Sheffield].” Sheffield and the Souvs remain on good terms, with the
departing chanteuse agreeing to play some large dates in the early part of next
year, which the band had committed to while they search for a replacement.
Those dates include Saturday’s gig, which at press time could be anywhere;
Hazard says it was moved from Antone’s to the Continental Club pending the
former’s re-opening, while Susan Antone says her club has not received any
notice of this change.
Hazard adds that the band has talked with approximately eight or more
(81/2?) other candidates, including several from out of town.
Meanwhile, I worry about McKay. It’s not that her life will be over if she
doesn’t get this gig, it’s just that the dedication to her in the new
Austin-does-Prince covers collection, Do Me Baby, reads “love and all
possible blessings 2 Kris McKay, may U live 2 see the dawn.” Live to see the
dawn? For the record, McKay is in fine health, and says Do Me creator John Riedie is “a freak.”
You’re All Talk
Well, KUTZ-FM answered the question of what kind of music they’d be playing inthe future — try none! The former Z-ROCK station has taken a look at
Howard Stern’s ratings and on December 30 becomes KJFK-FM — all talk. The
station will be carrying a number of syndicated chatters as well as some
locally based ones. Former 101X deejay Rob Jacks (the other half of the “Gibby
& Robbie” team) hopes the station will find a time slot for him to do a
“personality show,” with his buddy Exene Cervenka contributing a segment called
“Dirt.” Exene’s involvement would naturally mean phone-ins from all her pals as
well, like Debbie Harry and all the others I generally list when I mention Rob
and Exene in this column. KUTZ General Manager Mark Kiester says that, “We’re
still putting the pieces together — and there’s a lot of pieces, believe me.”
Among those pieces, however, Kiester says it’s a fairly safe bet you’ll find
the voice of Rob “Leatherface #4” Jacks in there somewhere.
Silver and Spoon
Well, the legal battles between current members of Spoon and former bassistAndy Maguire has ended, with the only winners being — as predicted — the
lawyers. Meanwhile, the band has broken off relations with yet another bassist, so Hunter Darby has been filling in since receiving a call from
Knoxville asking if he’d be ready to perform with the band when they returned
to town later that week. Asked if he were considering Darby as a permanent
bassist (if there is such a thing), Spoon man Britt Daniel replied, “I just
couldn’t do that, at least until the Wannabes break up” — adding quickly and
sincerely, “and I really hope they don’t.”
Sean and Off
It was odd enough to discover that Sean McCarthy was out of the UglyAmericans, but now it appears that he’s gotten the boot from the Atlantic Soul
Review, as well. A check-in to Steamboat last Monday night confirmed the rumors
that McCarthy has been kicked out of his own band, as he was absent from
the lineup and the remainder of the group is now performing under the
abbreviated moniker, the Atlantics. For his part, McCarthy says he’s no longer
working with that crew due to personal differences, and as far as his future
plans, he says only that “I have some tricks up my sleeve” for 1997.
What About Bob?
Or more appropriately, what about Bob’s job? Since Bob Meyer has exited hisposition as Music Liaison of Austin, calls to that office have been met with
nothing but endless ringing — no message machine, no operator, just ringing.
While some might have thought this was just a symbolic gesture regarding the
city’s attitude toward the music community, Betty Baker at the Convention and
Visitors’ Bureau confirms that, in fact, the lights are on but nobody’s home.
While more than 200 applicants have applied for the post since the Bureau ran
an ad announcing the position’s availability, Baker says there’s been an
administrative decision to not make a decision until after a new Director has
been named for the Bureau itself. That will be sometime after the beginning of
next year. Meanwhile, we can only imagine who some of those 200 applicants must
be…
Zapped
Gotten a call from Dweezil Zappa lately? Well, don’t worry, he still mightgive you a ring. He’s only recently made an inquiry as to Jimmie Vaughan’s
availability for his big, several-year-spanning super-guitarist project that’s
in the works. Eric Johnson’s manager Joe Priesnitz says that his client already
did his part for the piece two years ago, with Zappa and company flying in with
the tapes, working with Johnson for about a day to get his part down, “and then
they were gone.” Priesnitz says Zappa described the project as one planned to
include “every guitarist of any renown” and recalls that Dweezil said he
expected it to take a number of years to complete. While other prominent axemen
in town who I queried (Ian Moore, for instance) said they hadn’t been asked,
they shouldn’t be offended; If it took this long just to chat up Jimmie
Vaughan, I’d say Dweezil is taking his sweet time on this one.
Unsweetened Chocolate
Chocolate Records’ Russ Smith says he’s particularly pleased with LaurieFreelove’s new record for the label because it’s “really honest to what
Laurie’s like when she performs live.” Songs From the Nineline, which
was recorded in concert, eschews Freelove’s usual big studio sound in favor of
the live feeling, and has already received a rave review in Billboard.
Unlike most local indie labels, Smith says that he “can’t complain” about how
business went this year, and is working on setting up tours for Freelove and
Chocolate Chunk artists Bongo Hate for the upcoming months. Coming up are
several more projects from Chocolate including a Bongo Hate 7-inch and a new
Govinda album. In addition, Matador is distributing the label’s Steve Fitch
album, My Album by Me by Steve Fitch. (If that name rings a bell, you
probably have a copy of A Texas Trip lost behind your turntable).
Free for Two
Paul Minor has been working on his Free for All Vol. 2 CD, and remindsbands who’ve played the weekly event that if they haven’t gotten tapes to him
for consideration, they’d better do so before Christmas. Minor says the disc
will run the gamut from four-track demos to live recordings at Hole in the
Wall, and he has verbal commitments from many local hotshots (or their side
projects), including
Wookie, Starfish, Damnations, Gourds, Sixteen Deluxe, Monte Warden, Beaver
Nelson, Bigfoot Chester, Pocket FishRmen, Drums & Tuba, Dismukes, Fastball
and more. Citing problems that led to certain bands having to withdraw from the
first volume, Minor adds that “Since I am not working with Hamstein or
any other corporate broth-spoilers, there are no strange publishing agreements
or voodoo music-biz contracts for the bands to worry about this time.” For more
info, check http://www.eyesoftime.com/superego
Where There’s Smoke…
I fell asleep Friday night to the sounds of sirens. Lots of sirens. I awokethe next morning to a car covered in soot, and an entire neighborhood full of
ground-hugging smoke. You know by now that a large housing complex behind the
Drag burned to the ground that morning. Well, those were nice, safe, shiny
condos that went up in flames, but it reminded me that I haven’t given my
annual reminder yet: All you musicians (and others) out there who live in old
houses with bad wiring and faulty gas-powered space heaters be careful.
Never forget that walking out of the house without making sure you didn’t
accidentally throw a shirt on the heater or let a fluffy chair butt up against
it could mean coming home to a big charred pile of nothing. There. Warning
over. Go back to your beer.
— Contributors: Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret Moser.
This article appears in December 20 • 1996 and December 20 • 1996 (Cover).