MORE ON THE COURTHOUSE SCAM

My story in today's New Mexican about state politicos giving contributions from Manny Aragon and other figures in the courthouse scandal giving their "tainted" money to charity can be found HERE.

Turns out my figures here for former Albuquerque Mayor Ken Schultz -- who has pled guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy, admitting he was a "go-between" in the skim operation -- are drastically low. Looks like Followthemoney.org isn't as reliable as the lobbyist reports on the Secretary of State's Web site.

I can't believe I just said something positive about the Secretary of State's Web site.

UPDATE: Sure enough, it looks like I jinxed myself in offering any encouraging word about the Secretary of State's Web site. For the last couple of hours I've tried getting into the lobbyist reports.

Guess what ...

THE SHAVER SHOOTING

I just now learned about the Billy Joe Shaver shooting.

According to Billy's lawyer, he shot a guy in the check outside a joint called Papa Joe's Texas Saloon on Interstate 35, 89 miles north of Austin. The lawyer says it was self defense.

He was jailed only briefly, then did a free show at Waterloo Records Tuesday night.

Here's the initial story by Michael Corcoran in the Austin Statesman HERE, plus a follow up HERE. And HERE is the affidavit for arrest warrant.

Oh lord, Billy!

DOWN TIME FOR LEGISLATURE BLOG

Some of you have noticed that there's one less pretty picture of me on this page. Because the session and the special session are officially over, I've taken down the cool link/ad on this site.

I'll keep the link with the list of other personal links on the right-side column in case anyone needs to check anything from the 2007 sessions, but I won't be actively blogging there until the next session (or, Lord help us, special session.)

That means that this site will once again be my place for stray political posts in addition ot my weekly Roundhouse Roundup column.

A LITTLE VICTORY IN THE DIGITAL MUSIC WARS

One of the major music corporations has decided to quit putting copy protection code in digital music it sells.

from All About Jazz:

Music group EMI yesterday scrapped copy protection on all its digital tracks in a move that was immediately hailed by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs as “the next big step forward in the digital music revolution”.

For the first time, downloads by artists including Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Joss Stone purchased from any online music store will be playable on any digital music player, including the market-leading iPod, with no restrictions on their use.

Music group EMI yesterday scrapped copy protection on all its digital tracks in a move that was immediately hailed by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs as “the next big step forward in the digital music revolution”.

For the first time, downloads by artists including Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Joss Stone purchased from any online music store will be playable on any digital music player, including the market-leading iPod, with no restrictions on their use.

Until now, owners of digital music players have been restricted to buying downloads from certain stores, depending on the make of their device and the sort of copy protection it could handle.

Now owners of devices other than the iPod can buy songs from the iTunes music store, and the tracks will be available with higher quality sound. Conversely, iPod owners will be able to choose from a wider range of stores.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, April 1, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
NEW: email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Radar Love by Golden Earring
Mad Daddy by The Cramps
Reformation by The Fall
You Treat Me by by Ju Jus
Don't Try It by The Devil Dogs
How Do You Catch a Girl by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Inside Looking Out by The Animals
Money by Richard Thompson

Assembly of Dog by Hundred Year Flood
Club Mekon by The Mekons
Walk Idiot Walk by The Hives
I Can Hear the Grass Grow by The Move
Break It One More Time by Mary Weiss
When I'm Skinny by Spanking Charlene
Money Won't Change You by James Brown

Dr. Funkenstein by Parliament
Superman Lover by Johnny "Guitar" Watson
Topless a Go Go by The Rockets Combo
Native Girl by The Native Boys
The Jungle by Diablito

Stool Pigeon by The Soul Deacons
Green Light by The Detroit Cobras
Step Aside by Sleater-Kinney
Ocean of Noise by Arcade Fire
Gypsy Hop by Ron Romanovsky
Here Comes The Terror by King Automatic
House Where Nobody Lives by Tom Waits
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, March 30, 2007
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
NEW: email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
In the Jailhouse Now by Steve Earle & The V-Roys
Crazed Country Rebel by Hank Williams III
If Walls Could Talk by The Bottle Rockets
Poor Little Critter on the Road by Trailer Bride
Bullet of Redemption by Graham Parker
Always the Same by The Watzloves
Cottonseed by Drive By Truckers
When I Stop Dreaming by Charlie Louvin with Elvis Costello
Pig Ankle Strut by Cannon's Jug Stompers

Come On by Hundred Year Flood
Time Heals by The Gear Daddies
License to Drive Me Crazy by Jack McMahon
Ain't Got No Sweet Thing by Ponty Bone
Come and Take It by Brent Hoodenpyle & The Loners
Harper Valley PTA by Syd Straw & The Skeletons
I'm Sending Daffydills by Maddox Brothers & Rose

Truth and Darkness by Round Mountain
Lean on Me by Michael Hurley
Long Haired Country Boy by Charlie Daniels
The Running Side of Me by Dean Miller
Husbands and Wives by Roger Miller
Engine Engine Number Nine by Southern Culture on the Skids
I'll Sail My Ship Alone by Johnny Bush
My Blue Eyed Jane by Bob Dylan

I'm Tired of Pretending by Hank Thompson
Pistol Packin' Mama by John Prine & Mac Wiseman
I Walk Alone by John Egenes
Rose Petal Ear by Califone
Candy in the Window by Mary Cutrufello
Girls by Eleni Mandell
The Wilderness by Peter Case
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: ROUND MOUNTAIN, ANGEL, ROMANOVSKY

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
March 30, 2007

Here are some recent CDs by folks from around these parts:
* Truth and Darkness by Round Mountain. The brothers Rothschild show that Round Mountain’s strange and wonderful self-titled first album was no fluke.

The first notable musical project by Char and Robby Rothschild was the band Lizard House, a local favorite back in the early ’90s. In 2004 the brothers regrouped as Round Mountain, playing a whole museum exhibit’s worth of musical instruments from around the world — stringed instruments, horns, percussion.

On the new album the brothers, joined by veteran Santa Fe bassist Jon Gagan, continue mixing all sorts of sounds. You’ll hear traces of reggae, bluegrass, Balkan, and African music and other subtle influences you probably won’t consciously recognize.

Sometimes you don’t even realize that a song is taking off into different realms. “I Won’t Lose Sight of You,” for instance, starts out as a banjo tune, but before you know it, a saz (a Turkish lute) joins in. And there’s some Middle Eastern drumming by Robby. And some kind of flute.

The title song starts off with a sweet bagpipe-like drone (Celtic? Balkan? I dunno) before going into a melody that reminds me of something hippie/hobo Michael Hurley might have written.

As with the first album, songs are mostly somber and meditative, a mood that Round Mountain does well. Sometimes I wish the band would cut loose with a good, crazy stomper. (They come close with the reggae-fried “Candle in the Willow Tree.”)

The CD-release parties for Truth and Darkness are 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 30, and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 31, at the Armory for the Arts, 1950 Old Pecos Trail. Tickets are $10. For more information, call 984-1370.

* Amor, Dolor y Pasión by Angel Espinoza. This is how I like Angel best — nice and traditional. The music brings back memories of listening to Spanish-language radio as a kid, not understanding most of the words (my Spanish is still pretty bad) but being completely taken in by the seductive rhythms and the exotic, yet familiar, sounds.

This album — recorded in Mexico and San Antonio — has a real old-fashioned feel. Angel is backed here by instruments that include a prominent accordion (Rudy Cortez and Alex De Leon share the honors here), bajo sexto (a 12-string guitar), and horns and strings on some songs like “Pues a Poco No” and “Si Quieres.”

Angel’s voice is the centerpiece, as well it should be. (She won female vocalist of the year at the New Mexico Hispano Music Awards in January.)

Checking out Angel’s Web site, I see she has recorded a song for Gov. Bill Richardson. It’s more country western than norteño (there’s a steel guitar, and it’s in English). While not quite as cool as the one she did for Río Arriba political boss Emilio Naranjo a few years ago, it’s worth hearing. Find it

* It’s a Boy! A Circus Opera composed by Ron Romanovsky & Betty Katz Sperlich and Pittsburgh to Paris by Ron Romanovsky.

OK, I’ve always been a sucker for circus operas. True, that tag sounds a little crazy, but it’s a pretty apt description of the performance piece It’s a Boy! It was recorded live at Santa Fe Playhouse in 2005.

It’s operatic in that there are dramatic roles sung by various local musicians (Busy McCarroll, Peter Williams, Greg Harris, Nacha Mendez, and Charles Tichenor). And the music — provided by Romanovsky on accordion and guitar, Elena Sopoci on violin and viola, and Williams on electric guitar and string bass — sounds like a stripped-down circus band.

The subject matter is bound to make male listeners squirm. It’s basically a propaganda piece against circumcision. It’s handled with humor, however, with songs like “Cleaner Wiener” and “Locker Room Blues.”

And the music is a real treat. Romanovsky and Sopoci bring elements of French sidewalk café and Gypsy music into their circus sound, while Williams sounds like a monster when he comes in with his electric guitar.

Romanovsky is one of this town’s most interesting musicians. He’s got a Russian name, but he plays French music in New Mexico.

My favorite songs on the solo record are the French/Gypsy-flavored ones. (The instrumental “Birth Theme” from It’s a Boy! is on this CD, too.) Though there’s nothing wrong with Romanovsky’s voice, the best songs here are instrumentals — “Fellini’s Caravan” (which also is on his Je m’appelle Dadou album) and “Gypsy Hop.”

But I do appreciate Romanovsky’s humor. “Burro Alley Tango” is about finding a little piece of Paris in downtown Santa Fe, namely Café Paris, where Romanovsky entertained regularly for six years (“You will not find one single burro/ But you’ll find music and romance”).

In “The Gay in Paree” Romanovsky sings about feeling “butch” every time he goes to France even though he was taunted as a “sissy” as a lad (“I’m confused/I don’t know what to cruise”). He even pays tribute to KBAC-FM 98.1 radio personality Honey Harris with “Honey in the Morning.”

You can find these albums on CD Baby at HERE and HERE.

Ron Romanovsky is having a CD release party 8 pm Saturday at The Silver Starlight Lounge, Rainbow Vision at 500 Rodeo Road. Tickets are $10 at the door. For more information call 428-7781

Flash Flood: This is shaping up to be a great weekend for local bands. In addition to the Round Mountain and Romanovsky shows, Hundred Year Flood — a band we have to share with Austin, Texas — is returning to Santa Fe Friday, March 30, for a gig at Santa Fe Brewing Company. Goshen opens the show, which starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.

If you can’t make that, Hundred Year Flood also is appearing at the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid at 9 p.m. Saturday, March 31.

According to John Treadwell of Frogville Records, the Flood is going back to Texas until June after these gigs. Treadwell said he’s thinking of holding the annual Frogfest in June this year instead of August. Last year’s fest at the Brewing Company was a fantastic exposition of (mainly) local musicians, though it was criminally underattended. A lot of people whine that there’s no local music scene. If half of them had showed up, the joint would have been packed.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: LETTER TO A PASSIONATE SUPPORTER

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
March 29, 2007

The Richardson campaign last week sent one of its fundraising letters to The New Mexican’s post office box.

It was addressed to “Ms. Santa Fe New.”

And, in a nice personal touch, the letter, from campaign manager Dave Contarino, started off, “Dear Ms. New, I just got off the phone with Governor Richardson and he asked me to write you immediately.”

Apparently the guv. and “Ms. New” are old friends.

Deep down in the second page of the three-page missive, Contarino outlines Richardson’s goals for the next three months.

And in the letter is something that the campaign refused to tell me earlier in the week — how much money Richardson’s raised so far.

The letter says Richardson’s goal is to raise an additional $2.7 million from “the governor’s most passionate supporters” to meet a goal of $5.92 million by June 30. That would seem to indicate the campaign had raised about $3.22 million as of March 22.

It’s not clear why they’re shooting for $5.92 million by the end of June instead of an even $6 million. Maybe they’re hoping for $80,000 from less passionate supporters.

Richardson’s other goals include showing “the American people what the governor has done in New Mexico” and presenting a “detailed outline of his plan to get American troops out of Iraq and establish a permanent Mid Eastern envoy.”

Another goal is to “blitz the early primary states to get his message of economic growth at home and diplomacy abroad to the voters. Once we’ve spread the word, we’ll begin to gain on the so-called ‘front-runners.’ ”

In an underlined paragraph, Contarino says, “If we can meet these goals by June 30, we will have the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States in our sights by the end of this year.”

I hope they’re not counting on a contribution from Ms. New.

Nuclear and other threats: I thought Gov. Bill Richardson’s appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart would be the most humorous thing coming out of the Richardson campaign on Wednesday, but somehow an irreverent Washington, D.C., blog found some comedy in a speech Richardson made to Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

In a post with the headline, “Bill Richardson Threatens ‘Nuclear 9/11’ & Al Gore’s Life, Wonkette: The D.C. Gossip noted “You’re not a serious candidate until you start crazy fear-mongering so voters know you’re Tough On Terrorism,That’s why a somewhat likable like Bill Richardson had to ramp up his campaign today by threatening Americans with a ‘nuclear 9/11.’ ”
Before the word “voters” was a scratched-out word: “idiots.”

“Richardson, who couldn’t even keep track of laptops when he was Energy Secretary, says as president he will secure the world’s nuclear weapons to stop the constant accidental terrorism nuke attacks that are such a regular feature of our lives today.”

Wonkette missed an opportunity to poke fun at Richardson’s call in the speech for “a new Manhattan project to stop the bomb.” He’s already called for an “Apollo project” for clean energy. Can a president have a Manhattan project and an Apollo project at the same time?

As for the second part of Wonkette’s headline, the blog quoted an Associated Press story in which Richardson credited Gore with raising awareness of global warming — a quote described tongue-in-cheek as a “chilling message.”

“ ‘I like Al Gore, he looks very healthy and prosperous,’ Richardson said with a laugh. ‘He should stay where he is.’ ”

Bolo the belt: O.K., Wonkette, you can mock our governor. But not our recently designated official state tie. Last week, in a post about the governor’s weight loss, Wonkette wrote, “Richardson has reportedly lost 30 pounds, but he continues to burden his horse with the extra weight of a jackass ‘bolo tie’ that all western U.S. politicians are compelled to wear.”

Thanking Karl: Newsweek’s Michael Isakoff, in an article on that magazine’s Web site Tuesday, offers the latest twist in the ongoing U.S. attorney saga.

According to the story, Steve Bell, chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., sent a “cryptic thank-you note” to White House political director Karl Rove in January at the same time Domenici was recommending replacements for fired New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

“Thanks for everything,” Bell said in a Jan. 8 e-mail to Rove and two other White House officials. Isakoff said the same e-mail included the name of a candidate to replace Iglesias.

Isakoff admits it’s not clear what Bell was thanking Rove for. “But the thank-you note is the first indication that Rove himself may have been involved in replacing Iglesias,” he wrote.

Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos told Newsweek, “We’re not going to have anything to say about that e-mail,” and Bell “did not want to discuss a private communication.” A White House spokesman, according to Isakoff, said the e-mail was “interpreted” by the officials who’d received it as “a thank you for considering the names of Domenici's candidates for replacing Iglesias — not for their help in removing Iglesias.”

GAYNEL!

Gaynel Hodge, a founding father of L.A. doo-wop and a co-author of "Earth Angel" has his own Web site. CLICK HERE.

I had the pleasure of meeting Gaynel about 13 years ago when I went to Phoenix to cover Lollapolooza. That encounter is described in the piece titled "Of Earth Angel, Lollapalooza and the Ghost of Kurt Cobain," which I wrote for The New Mexican. It turned out to be less of a concert review and more of a meditation on artistry and fame. You can find a reprint of that HERE.

I wonder if Gaynel ever crosses paths with Jerry Lawson, founder of the Persuasions, who also lives in Phoenix

ANOTHER REASON TO HATE THE MUSIC BIZ

My friend DJ Spinifex (I call him "Dave") from KSFR's The Twisted Groove sent me this link to a story of one music fan's frustrations with buying music downloads with weird "protections."

Long story short, the poor boob spent 10 bucks on a bunch of songs that are purposely set up not to be allowed to be played on an iPod.

Here's part of a conversation by the author with a record company "customer service" agent:

"Well" she responded, "You didn't actually purchase the files, you really purchased a license to listen to the music, and the license is very specific about how they can be played or listened to."

That's how these people think!

Read the story HERE