Jimmie Dale Gilmore is in no rush to get into the studio or on the road
right now. Manager Mike Crowley says Gilmore is “just letting the
holidays pass” before thinking about touring in February, a stint that includes
a Valentine’s show at the Texas Union Ballroom. That doesn’t mean the singer’s
keeping silent, however. Gilmore has just landed his second role on the silver
screen with a part in the Coen Brothers‘ next flick, Big
Lebowski. No information at this time about who his co-stars will be
(although isn’t John Turturro required to be in all their
films?), but if you hear Gilmore mentioned in the same breath as Robert
DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman, that might just mean he’s gotten another
part, alongside those two thespians in a movie called Wag the Dog. Says
Crowley of JDG’s acting career; “The music business sucks so bad now, it’s good
to have these other options to fall back on.”
Toni! Tiny! Tune!
Toni Price is also “moving very quietly” on her upcoming album forAntone’s/Discovery Records, says Discovery’s Cary Baker, though Price
has no plans to break into the movie biz. The local diva will be recording a
live album in January in the town of Alpine, Texas (trust me, it’s a big
college town — well, at least they have a college). Baker describes the
album-to-be as having “a bit of an acoustic touch, but not totally unplugged,”
and says tentative plans call for it to be issued in late spring or early
summer. Actually, he admits that’s just a guess, and that the producer and band
selection have yet to be decided. Apparently, they’re sure about wanting to do
it in Alpine, though.
As long as we’re on the subject, the next big day in the Discovery/Antone’s
pact is coming up in just a couple of weeks. January 14 marks the release of
three new albums from the label(s) as well as the first wave of Discovery’s
reissues from the Antone’s back catalog. In stores on that day will be
Snooky Pryor‘s Mind Your Own Business, Miss Lavelle
White‘s It Haven’t Been Easy, and Boozoo Chavis‘ Hey Do
Right! (all new), along with the reissues of Doyle Bramhall‘s
Bird Nest on the Ground, Sue Foley‘s Without a Warning, Steve James‘ Two Track Mind, Teddy Morgan & the
Sevilles‘ Ridin’ in Style, Matt “Guitar” Watson‘s Way Down
South, and Kim Wilson‘s That’s Life. Further reissues will
continue through April at the rate of six or seven a month.
Post-Christmas Candye Kane
The season is always merry with Candye Kane — or at least this one is.Kane has just finished recording with her band in San Diego and is headed for
Austin right after the New Year to finish the tracks for her third Antone’s
album. Along for the ride is the singer’s right-hand woman and piano-pounder,
Sue Palmer, and Toni Price, who’ll be adding vocals to the mix of an
album Kane hopes will compare more to her first for the label, Home Cookin’.
Look for a few local appearances from the big, uh, big-hearted (yeah, that’s it) beltin’ beauty.
Train Comin’ ‘Round the Bend
Wayne “The Train” Hancock is chugging right along these days andwill be around the homefront more the next couple of months after heavy
touring. At a recent gig at Nashville’s Exit Inn, Pete Anderson of
Dwight Yoakam‘s band showed up and stayed not only the whole set, but
for two hours after, talking to Hancock. On New Year’s, Hancock and his band
will be broadcast live on Garrison Keillor‘s NPR radio show, A
Prairie Home Companion, in Dallas (last year, the nod went to John
Prine). Meanwhile, as Thunderstorms and Neon Signs continues to
sell, Hancock is talking to labels such as Rounder, Hightone, and Sugar Hill
about making an album for one of them next year.
One Strings, the Other Doesn’t
Ian Moore has been cutting demos with the Groove Line Horns, thefour young brasses (Raul Vallejo, Carlos Sosa, Fernando Castillo, and
Steve Ramos) who’ve been causing a stir backing up the Ugly
Americans, Atlantic Soul Revue, and others. Between his work with the Horns
and his String Thang (featuring the Will Taylor String Section),
some have been wondering if he’s tired of his old band. “He’s still very much
with them,” says manager Jan Mirkin, adding that the regular band will
be getting to work on new material for Capricorn. Don’t look for the home
video, Bootleg ’96, to be coming from Moore’s label, however; Mirkin
says the only way you can currently get the 85-minute video — featuring four
otherwise unavailable songs (including Bob Marley‘s “No Woman, No Cry”)
— is through her. Just call 472-1818.
Our Ears Are Burning
Here’s some comments about Austin acts culled from the pages of variousnewsweeklies around the country: “Take a New Orleans brass band, stir in a
little Miles Davis and maybe a little Prince Buster, add vocals
that refer to Cab Calloway and Tom Waits alike, and you get
something like the King Valentine Octet” (Tuscon Weekly)…
“[Eric] Johnson is quite the perfectionist when it comes to
recordings, but live, he takes on a less tense persona. Which lends to the fact
that he didn’t really play tons of his recorded material on the evening, rather
preferring new material to cut his chops on, or some covers that would prove to
be some of his finest moments… Johnson is one of the most important
guitarists that will take us into the next century” (Northeast Ohio
Scene)…
“The finest young honky-tonk prospect to come down the highway
since Dwight Yoakam, trucker’s friend Dale Watson knocks out
rousing roadhouse rockers and glass-emptying weepers with the swaggering soul
of a tattooed Johnny Horton” (Toronto Now).
Mixed Notes
Merry Christmas and a flappy blue ear, as Jimmy Raycroft of theDishes used to say. Here’s your mixed notes for the holidays: Been
wondering what Dale Watson was up to? Well, as of January 18, he’s about
to get started on his next album. Watson’s manager Mike Crowley says that
“Dale’s got a bunch of new songs, and now he’s ready to start recording ’em”…
I’m probably not the only one who thought that the Motards going to
Japan was nothing more than an elaborate hoax. It’s something that everybody’s
heard about, but no one can really prove exists — you know, like the space
program, crop circles, and adult diapers. Brent Comiskey at
Thora-Zine was kind enough to provide photographic evidence, however.
Yep, there’s the Motards, and there’s the Japanese kids. Case closed…
South By Southwest has just handed me the first of many press releases to come,
this one with the names of the “First Batch of Confirmed Panelists,” and with
names like Bill Bentley, manager Tim Collins (remember that whole
Aerosmith thang — are they/aren’t they clean?), Sub Pop producing
legend Jack Endino, remaining Heads: Chris Frantz, Tina
Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison, as well as Robin Holcomb, they
may actually get some of those smokers and cell-phone users in off the
balconies. And remember the mantra about all SXSW info: Everything is “subject
to change”…
First you got your Shoulders back, and now you can’t get
away from these guys; look for Run Devil Run, a new outfit featuring
Chris Black and Todd Kassens from the aforementioned Shoulders,
plus a couple of other familiar faces…
This one comes from Wammo after
seeing the printed version of a piece he wrote for Billboard: “So, what
do you writers do to keep from getting edited?” The answer, Grasshopper (as
Hunter Darby also recently learned), is that there is no
answer…
Swing Night moves to the Continental Club on Thursdays starting
January 2. The dance classes, formerly held at the Split Rail, will be led by
“Best of Austin” winner Matt “The Cat” Jones, who has also announced
classes for the Lindy Hop at the Black Cat on Mondays, starting December 30…
Is another Go-Gos reunion around the corner? Former Austinite
Kathy Valentine‘s current band the Delphines now includes another
ex-Go-Go, Gina Schock. That act has added several songs to a previously
released EP and now has a (half) new album out…
Reprise Records’ Bill Bentley
sent along a tape of the new dance remix of “A Little Bit Is Better Than Nada,”
wherein the Texas Tornados end up in territory somewhere between
“Jellybean” Benitez and Giorgio Moroder. The mix even includes
singer Doug Sahm shamelessly exhorting the listener to “Git-git-git, Git
Daown!” Appropriately enough, Bentley’s note accompanying the tape read simply
“I wasn’t shitting y’all”…
Daddy Longhead “has a new drummer — or at
least we don’t have our old one,” says Longhead daddy Jeff Pinkus. The
current (and possibly permanent) drummer with the group now is Pain
Teens veteran Frank Garymartin…
Another Quote of the Week: Jim Ellinger, describing the change from ACTV (Austin Community
Television) to ACAC (Austin Community Access Center): “You know the sound the
Martians make in Mars Attacks? That’s our new name!”
— Contributors: Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret Moser
This article appears in December 27 • 1996 and December 27 • 1996 (Cover).