THINGS HAVE CHANGED
• Jim Wilson, who had a hand in just about every record in town at Yes Mastering, has relocated to a state-of-the-art studio in Boulder, Colo., but hasn’t slowed down: Recent projects include new discs by Joe Ely, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Gravity Research (formerly God Drives a Galaxy), and the Asylum Street Spankers‘ “sort-of-children’s record.” Reach him at jim@airshowmastering.com.
• Bob Dylan still won’t come play Austin, but he doesn’t mind taking half the city on the road with him. For his annual summer tour of minor-league ballparks, the host of XM Radio‘s Theme Time Radio Hour has enlisted former Austinite Junior Brown, Jimmie Vaughan with Lou Ann Barton, and fiddling sensation Elana James. Naturally, the closest Dylan’s summer sojurn comes to these parts is Aug. 15 at Applebee’s Park in Lexington, Ky., which happens to be home to one of the Astros‘ class-A affiliates.
• The little acorns from which a great band grew, Spoon‘s 1996 LP Telephono and 1997 EP Soft Effects, long out of print and nearly impossible to find, will be reissued by Merge July 25; preorders are available at SpoonTheBand.com. Besides headlining this month’s Pitchfork festival and a West Coast minitour with Death Cab for Cutie, the band has been intermittently convening in Austin to begin work on a follow-up to last year’s Gimme Fiction.
• If you’ve ever wondered what sort of bodily injury is possible to inflict upon oneself while behind the presumably safe facade of a DJ booth, Sunday night is your chance to find out. The Riverboat Gamblers, warming up for their July 17 Emo’s show and an opening stint on the X/Rollins Band tour that hits Stubb’s Aug. 30, spin a few of their favorites starting 10pm at the Beauty Bar.
• Mark Rubin relays that ailing Austin legend Don Walser is still amenable to receiving visitors, especially ones who will sing for him. “I’m actually quite thankful for the opportunity to have him here still to talk to,” Rubin says. Contact Walser at donwalser@donwalser.com.
This article appears in July 7 • 2006.