KSFR Fundraiser Plea and Terrell's Sound World Play List

Hey folks, the KSFR Spring fundraiser starts today. Please make your pledge!

Click that link or call (505)428-1393 or, if outside Santa Fe, 1-866-907-5737 (toll free)

Pledge what you can and be sure to ask when KSFR's webcasting will begin. Without your help, these wonderful play lists will wither and die!

Terrell's Sound World
Sunday, March 14, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Bits and Pieces by Joan Jett
The Subversive Sound by The International Noise Conspiracy
Love Buzz by Nirvana
Been Swank by The Von Bondies
The Police Are Just Doing Their Jobs by The Goblins
Sailor the Puppet by The Baby Robots
Grease Box by TAD
Crackpot Baby by L7
Talk About Love by The Emeralds

Dirty Boulevard by Lou Reed
You Got That Thing by Holly Golightly
What Are We Waiting For by The Yayhoos
Millionaire by The Mekons
Do Right in Your Eyes by Grandpaboy
Don't Step on the Grass Sam by Steppenwolf

Ain't That Good News by Sam Cooke
I Need Love by Little Richard
The Neighborhood by Los Lobos
They Don't Rob the Trains Anymore by Ronny Elliott
The Sky is a Poisonous Garden by Concrete Blonde
American Music by The Violent Femmes
Rest in Peace by Johnny Dowd
Cut the Mullet by Wesley Willis

Theme Song by Too Much Joy
Phil and Jerry by Mylab
Wobliczu Konca by Kazik
Follow You Down by The Twilight Singers
Killer Killer, Radio Thriller by Ai Phoenix
Beeswing by Richard Thompson
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Tune-up Note & The Santa Fe Opry Play List

Note for those of you looking for this week's Terrell's Tune-up: What was published in Friday's Santa Fe New Mexican was just a condensed version of the little reviews of South by Southwest performances that first appeared in this very blog. Rather than having me regurgitate the recap, I invite you go scroll down and read the original posts from Austin last week, in all their full-strength typo-ed glory.

Before I go on, I want to plug the revamped KSFR website. We're not streaming over the internet quite yet, but the site sure is looking good.

Here's my play list from last night.

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, March 26, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
We're Going to Texas by How's Your News
Born to Be Wild by Petty Booka
More Man by The Meat Purveyors
Over the Cliff by Jon Langford
Sometimes Lovers by Joe West
I Play With Girls My Own Age by Cornell Hurd
Go to Sleep Alone by The Flatlanders
Divorce Myself by Mary Alice Woods
Don't Make Me Pregnant by Tammy Faye Starlite

Red Sun by Jerry J. Nixon
You Got a Long Way to Go by Ronnie Dawson
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You by Elvis Presley
Fools Fall in Love by Jim Stringer
Buena by Joe "King" Carrasco
Another Great Dream of You by Eric Hisaw
Living the Wrong Way by Emily Kaitz
Country Trash by Johnny Cash
Wish I Could by Marlee MacLeod

Present Joys by Alabama Sacred Harp Singers
Are You Afraid to Die by Ricky Skaggs with Rev. Billy Graham
Drifting Too Far From the Shore by The Stanley Brothers
Fame Apart from God's Approval by Norman & Nancy Blake
It's Mighty Dark to Travel by Bill Monroe
When Jesus Passed By by Tammy & Jerry Sullivan
Waiting For the Times to Get Better by Mary and Mars
Silver Thread by Furnace Mountain

Sweetheart of Waco by Chrissy Flatt
Central Avenue Romance by Nels Andrews
The Jewell of Abilene by Grey DeIsle
Baghdad by Ed Pettersen
Time to Cry by Paul Burch
Prisoner of Love by Jon Rauhouse by Kelly Hogan
Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends by Kris Kristofferson
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: SGT. RICHARDSON's LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
(Devout readers of this blog will recognize this column had its roots in here.)

I thought I was on vacation last week in Austin attending the South by Southwest Music Festival. But last Thursday morning, while walking around the SXSW trade show, I learned that even in Texas, the eyes of Bill Richardson are upon you.

One of the first booths I stumbled upon at the trade show -- right there among others hawking guitar strings, record labels, music software and rock 'n' roll magazines -- was one manned by Jon Hendry and Mike Stauffer from the New Mexico Tourism Department. And on a colorful cardboard poster behind them was the smiling face of the omnipresent governor.

Hendry and Stauffer were in the Live Music Capital of the World extolling the virtues of the Land of Enchantment's musical attractions. They also attended the SXSW film and interactive-media festivals, which preceded the music shindig.

"All our new surveys show an increased interest by visitors in new experiences, including music and food," Hendry said Wednesday. A recent Tourism Department focus group in New York showed potential visitors are interested in what New Mexico has to offer in terms of night life, Hendry said.

"We passed out a lot of tourist guides and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival posters," Hendry said of SXSW.

Also, the two were giving out a poster titled "New Mexico Musical Enchantment," featuring a Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band-like collage with the Roundhouse in the background and the state seal on a bass drum in the center of a whole gaggle of musicians and other famous folks with some connection to the state.

Among them are John Denver (he was born in Alamogordo), Glen Campbell (he played in an Albuquerque country band with his uncle Dick Bills), Michael Martin Murphey, Randy Travis, Roy Rogers, María Benítez, the Manzanares Brothers, Eliza Gilkyson, Paris Hilton (her grandfather Conrad was born in San Antonio, N.M.), former Sen. Harrison Schmitt in full astronaut regalia and -- you guessed it -- Bill Richardson, in a Cab Calloway-type white jacket.

What? No Buddy Holly, who recorded his greatest work in Clovis in the 1950s?

No Jim Morrison, who lived in Albuquerque as a child and who, according to his own legend, was possessed by the spirit of an Indian road-construction worker who died in a car wreck north of the Duke City?

No Roger Miller or Al Hurricane or Robert Mirabal or Terry Allen?

This poster, Hendry said, is a "work in progress." He said New Mexico musicians are welcome to send in head shots to be included on its next version.

Hendry has other ideas for promoting New Mexico music.

He wants to set up a program in which musicians from the state can have Web sites on the Tourism Department's site. There, he said, musicians could promote themselves and sell their music.

He wants to start an Internet database where event organizers in the state could find musical entertainment appropriate for their events.

He also said he wants to work with the city of Santa Fe to start concerts on the Plaza every night during the summer.

As for the South by Southwest Music Festival, Hendry said next year he'd like for the state to host a New Mexico Night in one of the area's downtown bars during the festival, which includes several themed showcases such as Japan Night or Australia Night.

He also said he'd like to produce a compact disc of original music by New Mexican artists that the Tourism Department could hand out at events such as SXSW.

Interested musicians should e-mail Hendry at jon@newmexico.org

TAMMY & ME

As promised, here's the photo that Marlee MacLeod took of Tammy Faye Starlite and me during Tammy's performance of "Don't Make Me Pregnant" last Saturday at South by Southwest.

And here's Sean's Sound World List ...

Terrell's Sound World
Sunday, March 21, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Guest Host: Sean Conlon

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Jim Dickinson/Chuck Prophet - Money Talks
Steinski & Mass Media - It's Up To You
Marianne Faithfull - Broken English
Sally Timms - Seminole Wind
Bob Marley - Simmer Down
The Clash - Police & Thieves

Lee Dorsey - Holy Cow
Only Ones - Special View
Willie Tee - Thank You John
Janis Martin - Teen Street
Pere Ubu - Heaven
Patti Smith - Redondo Beach
The Lion - Ba Boo La La

Mekons - Flitcraft
Kisumu String Band - Wanyanga Jaraha
Harmonica Frank - Knothole Blues
Holy Modal Rounders - Rompin' Through the Swamp
Mud Boy & the Neutrons - Shake Your Moneymaker
Maddox Brothers - Shimmy Shakin' Daddy
Jimmy McCracklin - Georgia Slop
Richard & Linda Thompson - It'll Be Me
Pogues - Jesse James

Sid Selvidge - The River
Garnett Mimms & the Enchanters - Baby Don't You Weep
Dionne Warwick - Don't Make Me Over
Guitar Slim - Sufferin' Mind
Smiley Lewis - Tee Nah Nah
Jerry Lee Lewis - I Can't Stop Loving You
The Bobettes - Baby You Belong To Me

Clear Channel Buys KSFR Set:
Raincoats - Lola
Lorette Velvette - Boys Keep Swinging
Pop-O-Pies - The Slow Version (Truckin')

Mekons - Powers & Horror

Catching Up

First I'll post the play list for Friday's Santa Fe Opry from substitute host Sean Conlon. (Hopefully he'll send his Terrell's Sound World list too.)

Following will be last week's Terrell's Tune-up.

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, March 19, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Guest Host: Sean Conlon

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Mekons - Oblivion
Kitty Wells - It wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
Dinah Washington - Cold, Cold Heart
Jerry Lee Lewis - Since I Met You Baby
Linda Gail Lewis & Van Morrison - Crazy Arms
Ray Price - You Done Me Wrong
Jeffrey Fredrick & the Clamtones - Weep Weep Weep
Alex Chilton - Waltz Across Texas
Mary & Mars - King of Pain

Waco Brothers- The Lie
Lorette Velvette - Happy Xmas (War is Over)
Eugene Chadbourne - Universal Soldier
Johnny Cash - Man in Black
The Byrds - 100 Years From Now
Ted Hawkins - Long As I Can See The Light

Sid King & The 5 Strings - 1955 Broadcast
That's All Right
Rock My Soul
Maybelline
Wildwood Flower
There She Goes
Making Believe
Flip, Flop & Fly
Five String Hoedown
George Jones - 1956 Louisiana Hayride
You Gotta Be My Baby
Color of the Blues

Carl Perkins - Let The Jukebox Keep On Playin'
Emmett Miller - I Ain't Got Nobody
The Knitters - Poor Little Critter in the Road
Patsy Cline - Lovesick Blues
Janis Martin - Drugstore Rock & Roll
The Collins Kids - Hot Rod
Hank Snow - The Golden Rocket
Niu Abdominaux Dangereux - Ghosts
Modern Mountaineers - Everybody's Truckin'
Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant - Stratosphere Boogie

Johnny Bond & His River Valley Boys - Mean Mama Boogie
Spade Cooley & His Orchestra - Yodeling Polka
Leon McCauliffe & His Western Swing Band - Blue Guitar Stomp

Terrell's Tune-up
As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican, March 10, 2004

From South Dakota to Tofu Ridge

The more I listen to the music of Joe West, the more I’m convinced that Santa Fe has a world-class songwriter/performer walking among us. His latest CD, South Dakota Hairdo, reinforces that notion.

Like all of West‘s efforts, Hairdo is collection of fascinating songs. Weird enough to keep things fun but real enough to pack a punch. Many, maybe most of West’s songs display a sardonic sense of humor, sometimes poking fun at life in Santa Fe (People not from here might actually think “Tofu Ridge” is a real geographical location if they only know the City Different from Joe’s songs.)

But they aren’t novelty songs by any means. Take the final track, “Video Taping Our Love.” In lesser hands, a tune with this title would be a dirty joke. And indeed it kind of starts off that way (“If you got issues and you’re camera shy/Paranoid and you don’t know why/Come on baby, come on with me … “) But the slow, sad, minor key melody (in which West is backed by singer Aimee Curl) avoids the easy Dr. Demento path, instead becoming a lament of insecurity and the urge to hang on to fleeting moments.

And by the last verse, it becomes an ode to “Jamie,” West’s mythical lost-love muse, a flawed goddess who has survived domestic violence, alcoholism and untold stupid love affairs in I’m not sure how many West songs.

Jamie’s all over South Dakota Hairdo. She’s the star of “Jamie III” (here, she wants to move to the suburbs.) She drops hints of bisexuality in “More than You’ll Ever Know.”

And she’s also the subject of the best song on the album, “Reprimand.”

“People talk about Jamie like she was some kind of whore/But the truth of the matter is I ain’t never loved a girl like her before.”

The melody of the verse is similar to Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row,” though “Reprimand”’s rhythm is upbeat. Like Dylan’s “Shelter from the Storm,” there’s the image of soldiers gambling for the clothes of the crucified Christ.

The song is a declaration of love despite what seems like overwhelming odds against it. When his bandmates join him -- sometimes singing in unison rather than harmonies -- West sounds like he’s ready to defiantly march into Hell for the mysterious Jamie, and he‘s taking his band down with him.

The South Dakota Hairdo production team, headed by Bill Palmer and Nathan Moore (ThaMuseMeant), wisely keeps the emphasis on West’s vocals (a pleasant drawl in which I detect trace evidence of James McMurtry, David Bromberg and Lou Reed).

But also they let West’s band (I think they’re called The South Dakota Hairdo here, though he’s been playing some gigs lately billed as Joe West and The Sinners) show their stuff. The band includes lead guitarist Derek Zelenko, bassist Jennifer West (I’m not sure what teh relation is), drummer Paul Groetzinger and, on various cuts, keyboardist Kevin Zoernig and all three members of Mary and Mars. (More on them below.)

Whatever you want to call this group, it’s a very solid ensemble that’s loose enough to sound roadhouse funky but precise enough to strengthen each song.

South Dakota Hairdo doesn’t replace Jamie Was a Boozer as my favorite West album. Still, Hairdo only reinforces my appreciation of young Joe‘s talents as a songwriter and performer.

Also recommended:
*Live at the Old Blinking Light by Mary and Mars. When Martian Josh Martin gave me a review copy of this CD a couple of weeks ago, he said, “It’s mainly just covers” -- almost apologetically.

Well, it’s true that most the tunes here were written and recorded by others. But the diversity of sources -- including songs not normally associated with bluegrass by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Beck, Tom Petty, Bob Marley and Sting -- is pretty impressive in itself.

And the performances live up to the promise. I especially enjoy Bacharach’s “Say a Little Prayer,” sung by mandolin demon Sharon Gilchrist. (This isn’t the first time this song’s gone bluegrass. Jerry Douglas recorded a version in 1979.)

Also notable is “Ready For the Times to Get Better,” a forgotten Crystal Gayle hit sung by Gilchrist.

My favorite Mary and Mars Dylan cover, “Maggie’s Farm” isn’t on this one. But they do a righteous job on their speeded up version of “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.”

For the record, the trio plays “regular” bluegrass tunes quite well also. They prove it here on “Pretty Polly” (over covered yes, but the harmonies as well as the picking make this version worth it) and Jim & Jesse‘s “Hard Hearted.”

And there are a couple of originals -- Martin’s “Deck of Cards,” and guitarist Ben Wright’s instrumental “Stillwater Breakdown.”

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST: Day 4, A DAY LATE

I wrote the gibberish below early Sunday morning only to have technical difficulty with my laptop. The problem didn't clear up in the morning. But once I got back to Santa Fe, it seemed to work.

As a newsman, it occurred to me that someone reading this blog who also has been reading national news reports coming out of Austin (like this one) might wonder whether I'm attending the same festival.

Basically what happened early Thursday morning, shortly after I was rocking out to Joan Jett at Stubb's, there was a confrontation between Austin police and fans of the band Ozomatli, who led their fans in a conga line out of the Exodus Club and onto the street. I'm not completely sure what happened, but the conga line ended badly with pepper gas being sprayed and three of the Ozomatli crew getting arrested on assault charges.

So here I am writing about all this great music while there's violence in the streets -- a near conga riot! If I were officially on duty and covering SXSW as a news story, I'd surely be working it. But give me a break, I'm on vacation. So allow me to blather on about my Joan Jett and Mekons and indulge in all the barbecue and Mexican food and explore all those great antique stores and folk-art galleries on South Congress.

A couple of nights later, my friend Alec ran into the band's drummer Jiro Yamaguchi, who was one of the arrestees. He gave Alec a T-shirt that says "Free the Ozo Three." Alec offered to pay, but Jiro said, "You can have it for free if you wear it." I spotted several folks wearing the shirt Saturday night.

For the record, my first thought, without knowing the details is that
the cops probably over reacted.

My second thought was, damn, a band can't buy publicity like that!

By the way, I just noticed the lawyer for Ozomatli is one Bobby Earl Smith, who is a fine country singer himself. I've played his music before on The Santa Fe Opry. Small world.

But getting back to music geekery, here's a rundown on the music I saw Saturday night and early Sunday morning:

Jon Langford's Ship and Pilot: After his inspirational performance with the sainted Mekons Friday, Langford returned to Austin's famed blues barn Antone's to play music from his solo career, including his latest, All the Fame of Lofty Deeds. With a band that included two stray Waco Brothers and former Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone, Langford showed why his talents can't be contained by one, or even two bands.

Paul Burch: Had this guy been born 30 years earlier, I'm convinced he would have been a Nashville star. He's got a voice similar to Jimmie Dale Gilmore's and his steel-heavy music is deep and soulful, with melodies meandering along often surprising chord structures. Burch deserves far more attention.

Tammy Faye Starlite: Oh Lord! My old friend Miss Starlite ("That's l.i.t.e., just like the adjective.") played at Coyote Ugly -- a truly loathsome chain joint with gyrating waitresses climbing up to the bar to shake their stuff, making Hooters look tasteful.

Tammy treated her devotees to blasphemous beatitudes, hard-rock anthems altered into Jesus songs, a version of "Stand By Your Man" that devolves into a graphic description about being raped by truckdrivers in Amarillo, and at least the beginnings of an evangelical strip tease.

And she even brought me into the act. When she began the song "Don't Make Me Pregnant" (written for her by Marshall Chapman) the Little Tart of Bethlehem called upon a guy she correctly described as resembling "the ghost of Stevie Ray's grandfather" to lift her into his arms. There she sang the first verse or so, before she instructed him to hand her to me.

He did.

There I was, Tammy's boy toy. Then she asked me to dance during the instrumental. And our mutual friend, singer Marlee MacLeod, took pictures to prove it. And no, I didn't make Tammy pregnant.

Petty Booka: After Tammy Faye, these Japanese sweethearts seemed pretty tame, even though their band consisted mainly of members of the raucous Meat Purveyors. But their take on bluegrass music, including country classics as well as songs like "Material Girl" and "Born to Be Wild," is irresistible.

Los Lobos: I knew this was going to be good Lobos show when I spotted Beatle Bob. For the uninitiated, BB is a St. Louis guy with a fab moptop whose life centers around musical events. He shows up in his snazzy '60s era sportscoat and dances his cool jerk and wild wahtusi near the front of the stage (often on the stage, if Jon Langford is playing.) I consider Beatle Bob to be something of a rock 'n' roll Koshare, a ritual clown whose presence is a blessing. Though usually I run into him several times during SXSW this was my first and only Beatle Bob sighting at the festival this year.

And his magic worked. Los Lobos played one of the strongest sets I've
ever seen, including a breathtaking spookhouse blues version of "The
Neighborhood," taken to dark dimensions by Steve Berlin's sax. They performed several tunes from their upcoming album The Ride.

For the last two songs their old L.A. pal Dave Alvin joined them to help sing a new song he co-wrote with David Hidalgo. Both singers muffed some of the lyrics, but that's the beauty of this festival. You can sometimes hear songs that are still in their early phases. Alvin and Los Lobos finished the evening -- and capped the festival for me -- with a rocking version of The Blasters' "Marie Marie."

Back to Santa Fe!

And here I am ... It was a long drive back, what it was fun week.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST: DAY 3

An incident at breakfast Friday morning illustrates a lot about the community that is drawn to SXSW.

My cronies Alec and Chuck and I were eating the famous love migas at the Magnolia Cafe. We were discussing The Bottle Rockets and how their latest album has been getting a rough ride from critics. A woman in the booth behind us joined in the conversation, saying that some of the criticism is unfair. We got to talking and it turned out the woman was singer Mary Alice Wood, an artist I have played on the Santa Fe Opry.

That was impressive in itself, but there were three other things that impressed me:

1) We were in a place where people actually know bands like The Bottle Rockets.

2) We were in a place where people actually have points of view about bands like The Bottle Rockets.

3) We were in a place where strangers feel free to join in on conversations related to music.

Another cool tidbit: Rosie Flores was eating breakfast at a nearby booth.

Friday was a very good day for music.

First of all there was Marah. A few years ago their album Kids in Philly was my number one album of whatever year that was. However their next album (dang, I can't even remember the title) was such a blah disappointment, I had just about given up hope for Marah.

Before they went on at an afternoon party at the Gingerman, I told a friend that Marah was going to win me back.

They did.

If their Gingerman performance is any indication, Marah has gotten away from the generic classic rock sound they showed on their last album.

But they still rock. It helped that they played several songs from Kids in Philly including my favorite, "Round Eye Blues." (How could kids this young write such a great song about the Vietnam war?)

It also helped that Robyn Hitchcock joined the band on stage for a song.

But Marah sounded so strong it made me anxious to hear their upcoming album, which hopefully will be released in the not distant future.

The Mekons, who played Antone's were even better than I expected. Joyful, anarchistic, irreverent ... this is the curse of The Mekons.

They concentrated on songs from their latest album Punk Rock. But they managed to sneak in one of my obscure favorites, "I Love a Millionaire," one of Sally Timms' sexiest tunes.

(I spoke with Jon Langford earlier in the day. He explained why The Waco Brothers, who have played this festival every year since 1996, didn't play at SXSW this year. He said mandolin player Tracy Dear's wife recently gave birth prematurely to twins. Going to Austin was out of the question for Tracy, who Langford normally calls "The World's Greatest Living Englishman.")

Other music I heard Friday:

The Flatlanders: Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock are great artists on their own. Together they are Texas' finest.

Graham Parker: He's just released a country album on Bloodshot Records. Today at the annual Bloodshot party at the Yard Dog Gallery, Parker played an acoustic guitar backed by a stand-up bassist. Among the songs he did was a version of Jerry Garcia's "Sugaree" and a hillbilly take on "Crawling from the Wreckage."

Mary and Mars: Santa Fe's contribution to SXSW. The bluegrass trio, led by mandolinist Sharon Gilchrist played some fine songs, including their cover of Burt Bacharach's "I Say a Little Prayer," which is on their recent live album. Former 27 Devils Joking frontman Brian Curley, who now lives in Austin, created a cool quasi-psychedelic poster for the group.

The Black Keys: I finally figured out who this guitar-drums electric blues duo remind me of: Blue Cheer!

Ed Pettersen: This Nashville singer/songwriter/producer, who, along with his wonderful wife Jane organized the Gingerman party, played a new song called "Baghdad" about the war, as well as a very moving song he wrote after Sept. 11. Turns out Ed's younger sister is a New York City cop who was working at one of the twin towers the day of the attack. (She survived.) Ed had a band that featured Austin guitar stud Jim Stringer, who played a rocking little set at Cheapo Records the day before.

Before I get to bed I have a mea culpa. Yesterday I described the group Cake as an Austin band. My friend Jim pointed out that Cake actually claims Sacramento, Calif. for a hometown.

My apologies to the good people of Sacramento.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST DAY 2 (The Morning After)

Yikes, I haven't slept this late in a long time.

I thought I was on vacation this week, but Thursday morning walking around the SXSW trade show, whose smiling face did I see staring at me from a poster at a booth but Gov. Bill Richardson.

Jon Hendry and Mike Stauffer from the state Tourism Department were here in Austin extolling the virtues of the Land of Enchantment -- right there among other boothes pimping guitar strings, record labels, music software and rock 'n' roll magazines .

And they were giving out a poster featuring a Sgt. Pepper-like collage of famous folks with some connection to NM -- John Denver, Glen Campbell, Michael Martin Murphey ... and Bill Richardson. (What, no Buddy Holly, who recorded his greatest work in Clovis? No Jim Morrison, who as a boy was possessed by the spirit of an Indian worker who died in a car wreck near Albuquerque?)

Hendry told me about an idea in the works to start having music on Santa Fe's Plaza every night during the summer. More on that later, hopefully.

I saw a boatload of music yesterday in addition to Little Richard and Ronny Elliott. Here's some of it:

Sharde Thomas & The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band: Sharde is the granddaughter of the late Otha Turner, who was the best-known keeper of the flame of Mississippi fife and drum music, an ancient style with roots in Africa, as documented in Martin Scorsese's recent documentary on the blues. Sharde is just a kid -- looks about 10-12 years old -- but she does a great job on the fife, backed up by a bass drum and two snares. And on a couple of tunes she switched to electric organ for some stripped down basic organ and drum blues.

The Freeform American Roots radio party at Threadgill's: Part of Third Coast Music publisher John Conquest's "Not SXSW" festivities, this show featured short acoustic sets by singer songwriters. Among those I caught were Graham Lindsey, Colin Gilmore, John Lilly and Chrissy Flatt, back on guitar by Eric Hisaw, who I've had as a guest on my radio shows several times.

The Meat Purveyors: This is bluegrass music without the guilt. Or to use bluegrass terminology, all Saturday night, no Sunday morning. This female-led band of able pickers sing hopped up odes to sex, whiskey and general debauchery. You can't help but love them.

Cake: How have I missed this group these past few years. An Austin band, Cake is a unique blend of rock, funk, and even some latin sounds. They've got a keyboard player who doubles on trumpet, a singer who plays an acoustic guitar that sounds as if it were tuned by Son House on Mars and they do a moving version of the trash disco standard "I Will Survive."

The Yayhoos: My ears still ring! This is good, loud guitar rock with nods to Chuck Berry, Keith Richards and who knows who else (Mountain?) Led by ex-Georgia Satellite Dan Baird and ex-Del Lord Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, The Yahoos roar. My only disappointment: They didn't do "Dancing Queen." But they did a great version of "Love Train" and their take on "Roam" eased the pain of missing the B-52s, who were playing across town.

The Mekons tonight!

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST: DAY 2

So who needs to drink when you can indulge in the natural high of sleep deprivation? I honestly intended to come back to the motel and take a nap Thursday afternoon, but somehow as one party melted into another, that never happened.

Ronny Elliott, Tampa, Fla.'s greatest living rock 'n' roller, summed up the true spirit of SXSW better than just about anyone today. At his solo acoustic gig at the Cactus Cafe tonight, Ronny noted that the conference originally had scheduled some industry hotshot as the keynote speaker. Not very inspiring. But somehow that plan fell by the wayside and instead they got Little Richard.

This, Ronny said, shows that SXSW is more about music than the music business.

Of course, he was talking about these things when introducing his song "South by So What," which makes pointed fun of the festival.

But indeed Little Richard was a superior choice for a keynote speaker. His "speech" was set up as an interview with veteran rock journalist Dave Marsh. But one Little Richard got going, Dave barely got a word in edgewise.

Little Richard had some practical advice for young musicians: "Sign your checks." In other words, don't leave your financial affairs in the hands of anyone but yourself. "I wish someone would have told me that," said the star, who, like most other 50s rock icons, was mercilessly exploited.

Of course, Little Richard's performance at the Austin Music Hall Thursday night was the most inspiring. Backed by a cooking 9-piece band (two drummers, two bassists!), he ripped it up. And it seemed like he truly didn't want to leave the stage. Surely to the horror of the SXSW stage managers who usually strictly enforce the set times for performers, the Georgia Peach kept going and going and going long after he first told the crowd "We've got to go." He played short versions of songs -- "Chain of Fools," "Downhome Blues" and a version of The Rolling Stones' "It's only Rock and Roll" in which he repeated the refrain, leaving out the verses. I bet he could have stretched it out for another hour.

I saw lots of music on Thursday. And I even found agents of the New Mexico state government at the Convention Center. But that sleep thing is catching up with me. I'll continue this in a few hours.