Anyone who saw Buick MacKane‘s show at Stubb’s a couple weekends
ago (opening for the Bad Livers), knew it was bassist Dave Fairchild’s last gig. They knew
this because Alejandro Escovedo announced it at the beginning of the show,
and kept complaining about it throughout the set (though, by the end of the gig,
when the band was doing Oasis‘ “Supersonic,” he was all smiles).
Still, he was obviously unhappy about Fairchild’s leaving. “I’m pissed
off,” says Escovedo. “We waited nine years for this, the band is getting good
reviews. And David decided he’s rather stay here. We always thought Glenn
[Benavides] would flake out on us.” For his part, Fairchild says the band needs to
tour behind The Pawnshop Years, and with his job, he just isn’t able to do
so. “The more [touring] we did, the more I realized I wasn’t up to it,”
he says. “I felt like I was holding the operation back.” Escovedo
says Andrew Duplantis will be filling in on the band’s week-long, West Coast
jaunt with Son Volt, which arrives at the Austin Music Hall in a couple of
weeks. And you’ll never guess who Escovedo really wants for the band.
“Javier,” he says. Javier? Not brother and fellow True Believer Javier?
“Maybe Javier. He’s learning songs now to see how it goes. He wants in bad.”
Apparently, he’s not kidding. Escovedo says the band tours Europe in the fall and since
these are good markets for him as a solo artist, the band should go over well, too
— provided they have a bassist. So there’s Europe and… “Canada. They love us in
Canada.” Why Canada? “Who knows. Dumb luck.”
Label Spinning
Cary Baker, the man who played the knight in shining armor in the
fairy tale wedding of Antone’s and Discovery Records, says he’s one of three execs
at the label to be dismissed on June 20 as part of a restructuring. For all intents
and purposes, he says, Discovery has been swallowed up into Seymour
Stein’s Sire Records label; the press release for local saxophonist Ron Brown‘s new
From My Eyes Only already makes reference to “Sire (formerly Discovery)
Records.” What does this spell for the Antone’s label, and folks like Toni
Price, who just released her new one on Antone’s/Discovery? Boss lady Christie
Warren doesn’t seem too worried. She says that the local blues label will be
renegotiating their contract (“actually a better contract,” she says) with Stein
when he comes to Austin in mid-July. Don’t expect any lightning changes in the
meantime, as Stein is known to take his time in such dealings. Baker, meanwhile, has
started his own publicity firm, the Baker Media Group, working to promote artists
through the web and more traditional means. He can be contacted at 818/501-0056.
Playing Softball
Hollywood Records picked up the big end of the moron stick again last week
when they pulled all copies of the brand new album from the Insane Clown Posse
off store shelves around the country. The quick disappearance of the album, which
features guests Alice Cooper and Slash, songs about necrophilia, and
well, insane clowns, came on the heels of parent company Disney’s little problem with
Baptists. After being branded as “pro-gay” by a coalition of Church Lady
types, the corporation apparently didn’t feel they needed to be associated with
corpse-humpers as well. The end result is that Hollywood is now stuck in the middle as a
label known for a lack of hits and a rep for abandoning its artists. Miles
Zuniga, whose Fastball records for Hollywood, concurs that, “I think the
label’s getting screwed over by the parent company.” When asked if he’s thinking
of recording a song called “Insane Gay Baptist Clown Posse,” his eyes
lit up. “I wish we could do something like that!”
Perhaps they might as well. After all, USA Today referred to the
Austin popsters as “Los Angeles punkers” in their feature on the
repopularization of punk (er, I mean pop) songwriter Burt Bacharach. USA Today describes the new Lounge-a-palooza album, featuring Fastball’s rendition of
Bacharach’s “This Guy’s In Love With You,” as the “olive in the
lounge revival martini.” (Brit fans of Fastball won’t have to check out
Lounge-a-palooza for “This Guy,” though; word has it that the song will be included
as a bonus track on the yet-to-be released UK version of the band’s first album.)
As far as a second album, the band hopes to start recording sometime this summer —
if Hollywood is around that long — and afterwards, there’s talk of adding Jon
Sanchez to the band. “Who knows what will happen between now and then,”
says Zuniga of the Superego guitarist, adding that he’s had his eye on the Sanchez
for awhile. “Why do you think I spend all my time at the Free For All?”
he winks.
One Last Train to Clarksville
While DiverseArts’ Harold McMillan admits that this year’s
Clarksville Jazz Festival didn’t put a “significant dent” into the debts
incurred in previous years, he sees nothing but positives regarding the other aspects of
the Fest. “I thought this was the best we’ve done at getting folks
out,” he says, noting “decent to excellent” crowds at the club-based shows
and a near-sellout at the State Theatre for the big Roy Hargrove show.
McMillan’s focus for next year is to get local businesses to increase their support of
events like this one, which he says are “good for the community and good for
[the businesses’] bottom line.”
Kenny? Gee…
Here, I think, is a fine way to end June is Jazz Month. The following, an
excerpt that unfortunately didn’t make it into print, is from Andy Langer‘s
recent Chronicle interview with Kenny G: “First time I played in
Austin, I played the Armadillo. I loved that place. I remember it was a big warehouse
— a huge space that smelled like beer. I remember it as a casual atmosphere
where people were into music. They were always interested in hearing us play, so there was
a great vibe. When I think of Austin, the Armadillo is the first thing that pops into
my mind from the old days.” Reminiscences by Armadillo old-timers/regulars
to Kenny’s performances there vary widely. Renowned poster artist Michael Priest
says, “I don’t remember him playing,” while Threadgill’s owner Eddie
Wilson counters sincerely with, “I don’t recall him playing.”
Mixed Notes
As the Damnations get ready to leave town on a two-month vacation,
the Chronicle decided to ask Number One fan Michael Corcoran what
he plans to do for entertainment during July and August. “I don’t know,” he
muses. “I guess I’ll just stay in…
Are the Gourds in town?”
Actually, Corcoran says he’s taken high enough dosages of the band over the last few
months that he should be able to last through the drought without them — as long as
he’s got his copy of their just-released KUT Live Set…
Watching Doyle
Bramhall II blast away at Antone’s last week, you wouldn’t have guessed that he’d
recently been dropped by media giant Geffen Records. Former manager Mark Proct reluctantly confirms that Geffen and Bramhall have parted ways, adding quickly, “I
don’t think it’ll be tough for Doyle to hook up with another label”…
Jeff
Smith, late of the Interstate Leisure Kings, has found his way back to Austin
from Memphis following a bit of trouble with the law there. He says he won’t be
around town too long before moving on to Minneapolis in a few weeks. “And when
I run out of `M’s, I’ll head on to the `N’s,” he says. A scheduled
get-together of former Austin “psycho-country” acts that was set for this week
seems to have been scuttled, despite Smith’s presence; Evan Johns is apparently
not going to make it down from New England due to the illness of bandmate Michael Maye…
For the past several weeks, rumors have been circulating as to
whether Sunflower has broken up? Former manager Peter Raspler says he’s
been getting calls from curious fans regarding such a dissolution, but states that
the band has merely decided to take the summer off from live performing. Due to
attention from some labels (no, they’re not saying which ones), the band has decided to
spend the next couple months writing new material and rehearsing. “They’re
just switching gears,” says Raspler…
Frank Kozik‘s Man’s Ruin label has sent
along an advance CD from underground author Adam Parfrey. You may recall
catching Parfrey’s spoken word performance at Mojo’s during South by Southwest, or
perhaps you even witnessed his near explosion at Fringeware when he was told that his
publisher was screwing him over by sending cheap copies of his Apocalypse
Culture to Half Price Books…
Rick Carney from Jesus Christ Superfly is
celebrating his birthday with a “Thirsty and Miserable” Hoot Night of drinkin’
songs on Tuesday at the Hole in the Wall. Look for performances from Honky and Gomez among others…
I hear that King Coffey got some attention
from the boys in blue at his birthday party last Friday — or at least Starfish did. (Perhaps the cops would have been more useful at Bukka Allen‘s
party, where Will Sexton reportedly gave Craig Smith a pop on the
honker). Coffey’s label has been getting attention of a more positive kind, though;
The American Analog Set just got its new 7-inch “Magnificent
Seventies” reviewed in SPIN, while an upcoming Rolling Stone reportedly
has a review of the band’s new album, From Our Living Room to Yours…
Screwtape have a CD release on Thursday, July 10 at Liberty Lunch starting at
10:30pm. The band has also managed to put together the most elaborate press kit I’ve
ever received from a local act…
Del Dragons have a release party for
their new CD at Flipnotics on Friday, with Earthpig performing as well…
Oh, and that in-store at ABCDs I mentioned last week is tonight (Thursday) at
8pm, with Trish Murphy and the Sir Finks
performing…
When Japanese garage bands 20/20 and Antonio 3 played Austin a
few weeks ago, the former band did some recording with Tim Kerr for an
album on a Japanese label, while the latter group did some recording with Kiss
Offs drummer Dwayne Barnes for a split 7-inch due out in Japan this Fall.
The Kerr sessions aren’t likely to thrill long-time pop band 20/20, who are partially
based in Austin. Ron Flynt, of the U.S. 20/20, says he plans to fight to
protect the copyright on the name, adding that ironically, “We never sold that
many records, but one of the places we sold the most was in Japan”…
— Contributors: Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret Moser
This article appears in July 4 • 1997 and July 4 • 1997 (Cover).