Larry Manale with the Lubbock Police called the Chronicle this week in
hopes of finding some information about a Mr. Paul Wilkins. Well, indeed you
can, Officer. Wilkins, you may recall, was the man who ruffled feathers with
his “Best of Texas” and Bob Marley music festivals a few of years back. He’s
apparently up to his old stunts yet again, as Manale says the Lubbock district
attorney’s office is in the process of filing felony theft charges against
Wilkins after he “reportedly absconded with money” following a Marley Fest in
Lubbock, which left vendors and others unpaid. Manale requested the material
from the Chron towards establishing that Wilkins has a history of such
activity.
If that scenario brings to mind a more recent situation in Austin, don’t jump
to conclusions. A staff member from the One World Music Festival (who also
worked “Best of Texas”) tells me that while many of the staff from One World
remain unpaid, Willie Nelson is now scheduled to perform a show on November 10
to help the fest pay off its debts. The staffer further describes One World
producer Judd Schwartz as a “nice guy” who got into a troublesome situation,
compared to Wilkins, whom she described as a “swine.” That Nelson show will
likely be held at Resort Ranch, the same site as the One World Fest. Now, just
don’t charge too much and you should be able to get out of this yet, guys.
Sixth Street walkers got a tragic eyeful just before 2am, September 24, when a
young man fell off the outside deck of the recently opened Iron Cactus at 606
Trinity. The Cactus’ owners are maintaining a blanket “no comment” policy
regarding the matter, and Mike Burgess with the Austin Police says that
witnesses to the fall were intoxicated and “not very cooperative.” Apparently,
says Burgess, the victim was a minor who was running “to build up speed so that
he could spit on top of the bus parked outside” and sailed right over the
railing, falling two floors to the concrete. Lt. David Ferraro with the TABC
says that the victim, who was seriously injured, apparently was intoxicated and
that they are “concerned with where he would have obtained any alcoholic
beverages.” Andy Langer tells me that, while investigating a story on the
entertainment district, he may have run across some very interesting answers to that question, but you’ll have to wait until next week to find out
what they are.
“A” Is for Austin, “A” Is for Americana!
If you’re one of those grumpy types who bitches about how Austin musiciansought to be topping the charts, maybe you haven’t see the Americana chart, a
creation of Gavin, the radio and music trade magazine. Created
specifically for that type of non-Nashville roots music that we seem to do so
well, the airplay chart (determined by 72 stations, compared with the 200 or so
that report to their country chart) is often dominated by Austin and/or Texas
artists. The most recent chart finds the Texas Tornados’ 4 Aces at
Number One, with placings by Lyle Lovett (Number Six), Sue Foley (Number 11),
Shaver (Number 12), Junior Brown (Number 16 — down from Number One a few weeks
ago), Johnny Rodriguez (Number 17), and Leann Rimes (Number 20). Even Cornell
Hurd, with no label or decent distribution behind him, has managed to hit
Number 30. Also, the Austin-heavy Rig Rock Deluxe compilation (profiled
in the Chron two weeks ago, Vol. 16, No. 3) has shot up to Number 3,
while Dave Alvin’s Interstate City, which was recorded live at the
Continental Club, is at Number 7. If you don’t have a Gavin subscription, you can check it out at
http://www.gavin.com/issues/current/charts/am.shtml. Make room for one more
soon, seeing as The Gourds have their debut just out (see “Texas Platters”).
Pot Is a Four-letter Word
Prior to their Steamboat show last Friday, Dash Rip Rock dropped by AM15’s newFriday night entertainment show only to find they already had an audience.
Seems the band’s hit “(Let’s Go) Smoke Some Pot” had worried some the
City-types, who, fearful of the drug reference, visited the set to make sure no
nefarious endorsements were made. The band, who prefer Bud to bud themselves,
were amenable to avoiding the title and completed the segment without incident.
As the went out live, however, their squeaky clean interview was preceded by a
video of the Austin Lounge Lizards singing “Teenage Welfare Mothers on Drugs.”
No, you figure it out!
The Toni Awards
Oops! Last year we didn’t give enough attention to the Buck Owens tribute (wegave it to Kelly Willis instead), so Toni Price sent us a missive saying the
entire Chronicle music staff was “fired.” This year, we didn’t give much
play to the Continental’s Hank Williams tribute, and now I’m afraid she’s gonna
repossess our cars!! Here’s a tribute we didn’t forget, though: The
Texas Branch of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS, or
in layman’s terms the Grammys) will be honoring Lyle Lovett at their upcoming
Governor’s Award Tribute Dinner on October 22 (which probably explains Lovett’s
anchoring the Walter Hyatt tribute at the Paramount the next night). Hosted by
Ray Benson and Ann Richards, the dinner and accompanying Silent Auction will
benefit MusiCares, a financial assistance program for musicians. No word on
whether there’ll be a roast (“Actually, we had to seat Lyle up here
because anywhere else we put him people were bitching that they couldn’t see
the podium through his hair!”)
Mixed Notes
From the Los Angeles Times online: “As part of a `Rock `n’ Reel’auction of celebrity memorabilia on Saturday and next Sunday, Executive
Collectibles in Newport Beach is offering such [Kurt] Cobain detritus as a
pimple-medication bottle he used (expected price range: $300-$500) and a piece
of Publishers Clearing House junk mail sent to the rocker’s Los Angeles house
(range: $200-$300). Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in 1990, is also rapidly
climbing on the collectibles market, with an even more personal, historical
and, of course, pricey item featured in this sale: a set list from his very
final performance, autographed to a friend just minutes before Vaughan climbed
aboard the helicopter that then crashed on a Wisconsin hillside. The official
estimated value: $8,000-$10,000.” Hmmm. Run across any longtime local musicians
who’ve suddenly run into a bunch of really good heroin lately?…
Speaking of which, we’ve heard that the reason a certain hot local drummer left
the band of a certain whiz local guitarist is that the guitarist in question
was fond of a Certain Substance and the drummer was fearful of rekindling his
own former fondness for the substance. Jeez, if everybody starts dropping out
of bands for that reason, we’re really gonna see a big jump in
singer-songwriter acts… I mentioned Missile Command last week, but I don’t
believe I informed you that MC is one-half of the old Gals Panic, the half
fronted by Jerm Pollet. The other half is Lance Fever’s Playdoh Squad. Together
or separately, it seems like these guys just can’t get away from those already
copyrighted product names… Javelin Boot have now got a “full-blown record
deal” with Pravda, the label that’s been distributing the band’s indie releases
for some time. Two songs from theforthcoming Fundamentally Sound album
have been played during recent episodes of Fox’s Party of Five program.
Look for the album itself on the first Tuesday in November… The Flametrick
Subs have got a deal going with the Teen Rebel label and are in the process of
finishing up a Mike McLaughlin/Brian Anderton-produced album. They’re hoping to
have the 14-song disc ready by the end of the month… Craig Ross is back in
town, following his tour with Throwing Muses. Incredibly, Ross says he didn’t
write or record any songs with the Muses during their time together. Currently
he’s waiting to figure out where his next tour will take him. He’s also just
returned from Toronto and a gig with Malcolm Burn, celebrating the Canadian
release of a new album by their group Pregnant. Listen for “Mudslide” off Ross’
current album Dead Spy Report in Steve Buscemi’s movie Trees
Lounge. The song was originally slated for The Long Kiss Goodbye,
but when the choice came up, Ross nixed that deal in favor of Trees because, as he says, “I like Steve Buscemi.”… KUT is now on the verge of
announcing the name of their new General Manager. In fact, they’ll probably
call the very second after this issue goes off to press. Meanwhile, a source at
the station says the matter is currently “lost in the great bureaucracy of the
universe.” Boy, do radio people talk funny or what?… More changes for the
Ugly Americans, with Sean McCarthy splitting the band. Bruce Hughes, who will
be taking over the bass chores, says, “I don’t know what’s in the guy’s head,
but sayo nara.” Asked how this would affect the band in his view, Hughes
replied, “I’m definitely gonna miss my guitar playing. But if I start sucking
at the bass I’ll hire someone and go back to guitar.” Meanwhile, the
McCarthy-less band is scheduled to begin a fall tour with Big Head Todd… The
contents of Doyle Bramhall II’s touring band have been announced, with
ex-Soulhat/current Papa Mailist Bill Cassis taking second guitar duties, Wendy
Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (or just “Wendy & Lisa” if you will) on bass and
keys, respectively, and Abe Laborial, Jr., on drums. You can see the band at
Stubb’s, October 17 and at Steamboat the following two nights. Bramhall’s
rumored tour with Me’shell Ndegeocello is now official, but has been whittled
down to a few dates on the West Coast as she’s entering the tail end of her
trek… In-stores this week find The Gourds at Waterloo Records this Friday at
5pm, and the Queers at Tower Records on Monday at 4pm… Sorry all you Cheap
Trick fans, but it’s KISS tickets that go on sale this Saturday for the band’s
November 5 date at the Erwin Center… Today (Thursday) is your last chance to
mail off your submission to the Austin Acoustic Music Festival, to be held in
mid-November at the Green Room (which is now a real club, if you haven’t
checked by there lately). Send your tape, bio, and photo to: AAMF, PO Box 4865,
Austin, TX 78765. Include your address and phone number, and if you can’t
manage all this before midnight, that explains why you can’t get a band
together…
— Contributors: Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret Moser, Lee
Nichols
This article appears in October 4 • 1996 and October 4 • 1996 (Cover).