Free Music? Oh si!

Dueling drummers

One of my favorite new discoveries from my recent trip to Austin was Thee Oh Sees from San Francisco. (I say "new discovery" meaning that I just discovered them. They've been around for a few years.) I saw them at the new Emo's East on the same bill as The Gories and Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkey Birds.

As I suspected, Thee Oh Sees have a bunch of downloads over at WFMU's Free Music Archive.

So get over there and listen and/or. download to your heart's content. Or if you're too lazy for that, enjoy a rocking 2009 concert below.

eMusic March

Here's my latest batch of downloads from eMusic:

  * Bluegrass Classics by Various Artists. This is one of those eMusic bargains that keeps me paying my $19.99 every month. What we have here is 48 tracks of bluegrass -- and some proto-bluegrass -- artists, mainly from the '40s and '50s, but some even earlier

I've been on a bluegrass kick lately. But -- call me a cranky old purist if you want -- I don't like much of the modern bluegrass music. So much of it seems cold and intellectual -- virtuoso musicians who seem more highfalutin than high and lonesome, lacking in that true hillbilly spirit that fueled the original masters.

This collection features very few artists whose names might be recognized by casual fans -- do Sonny Osbourne and J.E. Mainer ring a bell? But mostly there are singers and pickers who never got as famous as Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers or Flatt & Scruggs.

But it's full of great songs. There's "I'll Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms" by Buster Carter & Preston Young (and fiddler Posey Rorer), cronies of Charlie Poole. This version is at least a decade older than Flatt & Scruggs' more famous version.

There's "Wild Bill Jones" by Wade Mainer & The Sons of the Mountaineers. This is the song that contains the line, " “I pulled my revolver from my side / And I destroyed that poor boy's soul," which inspired the name of  Trevor Jones' one-man band.. Wade, by the way is J.E. Mainer's brother.

But my favorite has to be "Missing in Action" by Jim Eanes &His Shenandoah Valley Boys. It's the story of a soldier who was wounded in battle, left for dead and taken prisoner by the enemy. But the narrator escapes and makes it home. Nobody was home, but when he goes in he finds a wedding photo  -- his wife had married another guy. He then finds a letter to the Mrs. from the Army saying that her first husband was missing in action and presumed dead. The sad soldier doesn't want to spoil his wife's happiness, so he decides just to move along without letting his wife know he's still alive.

Wow! What a good sport.



* Singin' in the Rain: The Best of Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards. He was the voice of Jiminy Cricket, the sweet-voiced guy who crooned "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "Give a Little Whistle"in Walt Disney's Pinocchio.

Like Mark Twain, Edwards was from Hannibal, Mo. Starting out in vaudeville and later moving to Broadway, he played the uke to accompany his singing. Some say he learned to play the instrument when he was a newsboy to draw attention to himself while hawking papers on the street.

Edwards' golden years were in the '20s and 30s. He reportedly sold some 74 million records. He specialized in the pop hits of the day, doing versions of the pop standards of the day -- "Hard Hearted Hannah," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Dinah" "It's Only a Paper Moon," "I'll See You in My Dreams," and of course "Singin' In the Rain."

He also was known for his novelty songs like "My Dog Loves Your Dog," "Paddlin' Madelyn Home," and the risque "Who Takes Care of the Caretaker's Daughter?" Often Edwards would scat, then break into a bizarre falsetto "human trumpet" sound.

But though most of his songs had a carefree and happy aura, Edwards' life was a mess. Alcoholism, morphine addiction and financial troubles plagued his life. He tried his hand at acting, but never got any significant roles.

But he did manage in 1940 to score a gig that would win him -- or at least his voice -- immortality: providing the voice of Pinnochio's conscience in the classic cartoon feature. "When You Wish Upon a Star" won an Academy Award. And Edwards' recording of it was his last hit record.

It might be cruel irony that Edwards' musical legacy is largely forgotten while the cartoon cricket to which he gave voice is a household name 70 years later. But the truth is that Ukulele Ike's music is a delight. This collection of 25 songs, including all the ones I mentioned here is a great testament to the singer.

* Help Me Devil  Here's how I stumbled across this album on eMusic:

A few weeks ago when writing my review of Andre Williams' new album Hoods and Shades, I was trying to find an early version of the song "Mojo Hannah" by an R&B  singer I'd never heard of named Tami Lynn. Searching eMusic for Tami I came across Help Me Devil, which features her on a couple of tracks.

I liked what I heard.

 The group behind this self-titled effort is a Spanish trio heavily influenced by rockabilly.

The group is led by Juan Carlos Parlange, who has led Spanish punk bands in the '90s.

It's just cool, basic rock with titles including "Girls Today Don't Like to Sleep Alone," ,“We Sold Army Secrets For Dope," and "Rattlesnakes Don't Commit Suicide." (which you can hear on the latest Big Enchilada podcast. ) They even cover a Hasil Adkins tune, "Chicken Walk."

 Matt Verta-Ray of Heavy Trash produced the album and played on some cuts. But an even more impressive guest here is Miss Tami who kills on the old fashioned boogie "It's Great to Be Here, It's Great to Be Anywhere."

Plus


* 3 Songs from Ricochet by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Ricochet was The Dirt Band's second album back when they still were toying with the idea that they could be the West Coast version of The Jim Kweslin Jug Band. Most the songs on the album, however, were fairly uninteresting folk-rockish pop. But I still love the crazy words-crazy tunes of their jug-band stuff.

The ones I downloaded were "Coney Island Washboard," "Happy Fat Annie" and "Teddy Bear's Picnic," a demonic stomp that I shamelessly ripped off for the arrangement of my own "Potatoheads' Picnic." There's three or for other kazoo, banjo and washboard-heavy tracks here I'll probably nab in the future.

* "Old Original Kokomo Blues" by Kokomo Arnold and "Kokomo Blues" by Scapper Blackwell. When I was writing my Terrell's Tuneup column about President Obama singing "Sweet Home Chicago" at a White House blues concert a couple of weeks ago, my original idea was to write about the history of the song. (Hint, these tunes, especially Kokomo Arnold's, were huge influences, to use a kind word.)

The column took a different turn, but I'm still glad I downloaded these country blues classics.

SXSW 2012 Final Report

Country break dancing at the Austin Moose Lodge

I spent Saturday night, my last night in Austin, at The Austin Moose Lodge.

Moose Lodge? Isn't that the kind of place where your folks would play bingo in the '50s and '60s? Don't their roots go back to prehistoric days when Fred and Barney belonged to the Bedrock lodge of the Loyal Order of Water Buffalo?

That's right. The Loyal Order of Moose, by God. It's an off-the-beaten track venue on the east side of Austin. There was plenty of parking and few, if any, people there actually part of the South by Southwest festival.

It was a perfect place for the "Saving Muddy Hillgrass" party.

This was a two-day event (unfortunately I missed the first day) organized by three institutions of the "underground country" scene -- Saving Country Music, The Muddy Roots Festival, and Hillgrass Bluebilly Records.

Calamity Cubes

I arrived at the Moose Lodge just in time to see The Calamity Cubes, an acoustic trio from Kansas.

They look like villains from a Rob Zombie movie. Singer/guitarist Brook Blanche is a huge hairy guy who, if he was a pro wrestler would be named "Man Mountain" something,

When they pick up their instruments, you might expect them to be a raucous punk-bluegrass band. And indeed, they are capable of that. Their first couple of tunes Saturday fell into that category.

But the Cubes' most memorable songs are Blanche's slow, soulful, mournful country weepers. Many, perhaps most of the songs they played Saturday were from their upcoming album Old World's Ocean. I'm not sure of the titles but among my favorites is a minor-key dirge that starts out, "You and I, we're like cattle in the slaughter house." Nothing short of stunning.

Also excellent is the one I think they call "Empty Bottle" (it starts out "I'd rather have an empty bottle than no bottle at.") At first you might think is going to be a funny drinking song. But it's much deeper than that.

 I bought a CD-R copy of "rough mixes" of the album and my favorite songs they did Saturday are on it. When I get back to doing my radio shows next month, I'll be playing it.

Other bands I saw at Saving Muddy Hillgrass were:

Soda & Friends

* Soda Gardocki: He's a singer/banjo picker from Knight's Ferry, California with a gruff voice and punk-rock past.  He performed many songs solo, but my favorites were those in which he was joined by various friends.

On several songs he had a fiddle player, but a few included mandolin, guitar, accordion, stand-up bass and drums. On song, he said, he wrote with his late grandmother, who was 97 at the time.

Hellbound Glory

* Hellbound Glory. This is a good, rowdy country rock (they call it "scumbag country") group from Reno, Nev.  featuring a lap steel and a stand-up bass -- but no drummer on Saturday  (except singer/guitarist Leroy Virgil, who sat on an played a bass drum on some tunes) Opening with Billy Joe Shaver's "Georgia on a Fast Train" they show a fine grasp of the spirit of '70s outlaw country. Though playing mostly originals, Hellbound later in the show did a fine version of David Allen Coe's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" (with an updated verse to make it the "perfect country western" song.)

* James "Slim" Hand. While I was watching Hellbound Glory, a man in a cowboy hat came up to me and shook my hand. "I'm James Hand," he said. A friendly gesture for sure, but I couldn't figure out why.

But later, during his set at the party, he said he wanted to shake the hands of everyone in the audience. I guess with me, and probably others, he was just getting a head start.

James Hand (Speedy Sparks, right)

Hand is a long-time Texas honky tonker (a real Waco brother!) who never got famous beyond the Lone Star state but is well-respected and loved in Austin music circles. (Hell, he has a testimony from Darrell Royal on his website!)

With a band that included bassist Speedy Sparks (he's played with Doug Sahm, the Texas Tornados and jillions of others) Hand delighted with a mix of country and rockabilly standards (fine, fine versions of Johnny Cash's "Get Rhythm"; "Mona Lisa," which sounded like it was based on Carl Mann's arrangement; and a hillbilly blues take on Jimmy Reeds' "Take Out Some Insurance."

There were a couple of more acts on the bill, but I was a tired old man with a long drive home the next day. And I couldn't think of a better way than James Hand to end my 2012 South by Southwest.

UPDATE: You can find my snapshots of the music I saw last week HERE.

SXSW Friday Report

Jon Langford and Bill Kirchen Reenact the Battle of Waco

JC Brooks

The first part of Friday I went to the annual Bloodshot Records party at the Yard Dog Gallery. I got there just in time for JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound. He's Bloodshot's entry into the soul-revival -- a revival, like I've said before, that has been going on for years and hopefully will be for a long time.

Brooks is a young guy from Chicago, but he's obviously well versed in the book of Otis Redding, Wilson Picket and other founding fathers of southern soul. His band -- guitar, bass, drums and keyboards -- is nice and tight.

Brooks plays mainly original tunes but one real crowd pleaser is their cover of Wilco's "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," which is the first song by J.C. I ever heard. I never envisioned that tune, (which starts out, "I am an American aquarium drinker ..." ) as a soul workout when I first heard Wilco do it all those years ago. But I'm glad J.C. Brooks did.

Paul Burch with the Wacos

It just wouldn't be a South by Southwest trip for me without seeing The Waco Brothers at the Yard Dog. I've seen them every SXSW I've attended since 1996. And yesterday I passed over Roky Erikson, T. Tex Edwards and many other shows to see them again. And the Wacos, fronted by The Mekons' Jon Langford --  foul-mouthed, self-mocking and charming as ever --  didn't disappoint. I knew they wouldn't.


Amazingly, The Waco Brothers haven't released an album since their 2008 live set (released just before the last time I saw them.) But now, they're about to release a collaboration with Paul Burch, a wonderful country singer himself. Unfortunately on most the songs Burch sang yesterday were severely under-miked. I guess I'll have to wait until the album to fully appreciate them.

Probably the highlight of the show was when then band was joined by Bill Kirchen -- former guitarist for Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. With Kirchen, The Wacos unleashed a downright apocalyptic version of "Folsome Prison Blues."

That was the afternoon/early evening. For the night shows, I spent all my time at the new Emo's -- Emo's East, where the former Sixth Street punk rock institution presented a free show (not associated with SXSW) hosted by In the Red Records.

Thee Oh Sees

I went for The Gories and Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkey Birds -- two bands I saw a couple of years ago in New York. But I was surprised and impressed  with another band Thee Oh Sees.

This San Francisco band has two drummers as a well as a male and female singer. They're hard-driving, playing songs based on tasty garage-rock riffs.

My only complaint is that the last song they played, a droning psychedelic excursion (sorry, I'm not familiar with the titles) was too long and repetitive. The sets at Emo's on Friday tended to be short and they probably could have fit in two shorter snappier numbers here,  But overall, I still want to check out more of Thee Oh Sees.

Kid Congo has to be one of the most under-rated, under-appreciated musicians working today. His rock 'n' roll resume is impeccable (The Cramps, Gun Club, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.)  But his music with The Pink Monkey Birds is wildly original -- mostly original instrumentals or songs in which the only vocals are the Kid speaking the lyrics.

He does often pay homage to his old bands though. last night he did a version of "I'm Cramped." His set was finished though before I even had a chance to shout a request for "Sex Beat." (He did that Gun Club classic when I saw him in New York.)

Hey Hey We're the Gories!

The Gories are as loose as The Pink Monkey Birds were tight. But that's their heritage, a proud tradition since the 1980s they must uphold. The group -- guitarists Mick Collins and Dan Kroha and drummer Peggy O'Neill -- broke up in the 90s, but a few years ago got back together for a reunion tour. This, I believe is their third such reunion. They aren't ready for the casinos yet, but they were just right for Emo's.

 They romped and stomped through most of their best songs, including "Hey Hey We're The Gories," "Thunderbird ESQ," "Idol With the Golden Head" (a Coasters song, but played as if filtered through Bo Diddley) and a ragged but right take on "Mona," (a Bo Diddley song as filtered through The Gories.)

Unfortunately the all-ages crowd began to seriously thin out by the time The Gories went on.

Kids these days ...

SXSW Thursday Report

Bonaparte at the Dog & Duck

Thursday was a great day for rock 'n' roll spectacle at South by Southwest. Though most of the music I listen to -- be it rock, country, blues or whatever, is performed by artists with come-as-you-are fashion sensibilities, sometimes it's fun to see a full-blown costume party on stage.

That was certainly the case with a German band called Bonapart, who played an afternoon party organized by Saustex label of San Antonio. They were already in to their set when I arrived and I couldn't believe what I was seeing on stage. There was a guy in a horse costume. One of the guitarists had a mask that looked like a  terrorist  gorilla (that's correct -- not guerrilla.) The keyboardist, to quote the Bonzo Dog Band,  had "a head on him like a rabbit.." A woman with a Plasmatics-style Mohawk was charging out from the stage into the audience.

Several costume changes ensued during the next few songs.

The music was frantic and hard driving. I liked it well enough to buy a CD (My Horse Likes You) -- though on first listen it's not nearly as exciting as what I heard on stage.

Pinata Protest

Bonaparte was followed  by Pinata Protest, a San Antonio band I've described as a Chicano version of The Dropkick Murpheys. (They do a fantastic punk version of "Volver, Volver") I saw them last summer in Espanola, where their opening act was The Imperial Rooster. (Here's a video of one of their songs from that show.)

Although the German crazies was a hard act to follow, Pinata did the job. At the Dog & Duck show, I heard some songs I hadn't heard them do before, including a cover of "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam" originally done by The Vaselines, but made famous by Nirvana.)

Although the German crazies was a hard act to follow, Pinata did the job.

I guess Thursday was Saustex day for me. After the D&D party, I went to the label's official showcase at a downtown club called Karma. Unlike my bad experiences from the night before, I was able to get in by paying a cover charge -- an incredible $5.

Glambilly

Glambilly had just started its set when I walked in. This is a San Antonio trio that infuses a basic cowpunk sound with a New York Dolls style glam-rock sound.

Michella the Fire Eater

Glambilly concentrated on tunes from their album White BBQ Sauce, including a blazing version of "I Must Be the Devil." (I'm not kidding about "blazing." the performance was aided by a beautiful dancer/ fire-eater, who provided some real "glam."

Glambilly was extremely tight. My only complaint is that they didn't do their cover of Bob Wills' "Stay All Night."
A San Francisco punk band called The Grannies followed. This was the second great costume-party band I heard Thursday. The members appeared on stage in granny drag -- bad wigs and even worse dresses.

And their show was downright feral. The singer frequently charged out into the audience to get the moshing started.

But the set was way too short. Apparently some technical problem caused them to start 15 minutes or so after they were supposed to. Oh well, they were fun while they lasted.

The last act I saw was The Hickoids, the band fronted by Saustex owner Jeff Smith and one of the first real-live cow-punk bands of the 1980s.

The group includes Santa Fe punk hero Tom Trusnovic (Monkeyshines, The Floors, Blood Drained Cows, 27 Devils Joking).

When they played in Santa Fe last year, Tommy was playing drums with The Hickoids. However, he's since switched to acoustic guitar. The band was bigger than the one that played at The Underground (Evangelos' basement). At one point they had four guitars blaring on the stage.

As always they were loud, funny, obscene and rocking. They even make Elton John's '70s clunker "Bennie & The Jets" sound exhilarating.

The Hickoids ponder the Universe.

SXSW Wednesday Report

I learned a couple of valuable lessons for SXSW yesterday.

1) Austin traffic during the festival either has gotten a lot worse during the past 4 years, or at least is a lot worse than I remember it. And parking is even worse.

2) Not having a badge or a wristband is a lot harder than people say, at least for the nighttime, officially sanctioned events.

The first lesson I learned after trying to get from my daughter's house in south Austin to Lovejoy's where Kid Congo Powers was playing a free show at 5:15 pm. After dealing with the traffic crawl and finding a $10 parking space about 6 blocks from the venue, I got there just in time to hear Kid Congo thank the crowd.

Hubbard & son

I also arrived too late to see Eric Burdon (yes, former singer of The Animals)  play a free show in the Hotel San Jose parking lot. That was my own fault though for stopping for a nice Mongolian BBQ dinner downtown.

But then the badges deal: I figured my musical taste was so obscure there wouldn't be big crowds for some of the bands I wanted to see -- such as Lee Fields, a soul singer I like.

I was wrong. The line was so long in from of Red 7 that the SXSW looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if I could pay a cover charge.

Then I hiked several blocks uphill (with my soon-to-be-replaced arthritic hip) to the Presbyterian church where Giant Sand was playing. Even though there wasn't a big line, again it was a badge-or-wristband-only show. I even tried to play the crippled old man card. Sorry. Policy is policy.

By now it was midnight, so I trudged back to my car, down near I-35 and drove to East Austin where I knew that Ray Wylie Hubbard and Billy Joe Shaver were playing at a bar called The White Horse.. I found a parking spot nearby (free!) and I didn't need a wristband to get in. In fact it was a free show. And Ray Wylie Hubbard was onstage with a full band.

The funny thing is that I'd started out the day with Ray Wylie Hubbard. He had done a short solo set around noon at Threadgill's, where I'd just had brunch with family. I didn't mind  For one thing, Hubbard sounds best with a band. His songs stand by themselves but they sound best with bass and drums and electric guitar. His son Lucas does that job, both on stage and on the record. And the boy can pick. I remember seeing an impromptu set by Hubbard four years ago when I was in Austin during SXSW, Hubbard and son, then about 14, I think, did some blues tunes at Threadgill's. He's learning well.

For another thing, his soon-to-be-released album, The Grifter's Hymnal, is the first great album of 2012 as far as I'm concerned. It's got Hubbard's trademark style of snarling, cosmic blues he's perfected during the past few years. Lots of slide and attitude.

As I said in reviewing his previous album, " ... unlike his fellow cosmic cowboys of the ’70s, Hubbard stayed cosmic. Since the ’90s ...  his best material has been concerned with the wrath of God and the temptations of the devil, of earthly delights and heavenly light. And it’s mostly done with wry humor."

(I didn't get close enough to shoot a decent video myself, but check out this one Ray made himself.)

Bass Drum of Death

Earlier in the day I did catch a pretty cool band over at Waterloo Records. They're called Bass Drum of Death. No, thy aren't some techno band. It's a trio from Mississippi that play a raw blend of blues rock and pop. I couldn't make out any of their lyrics, but they played with spirit.

But some of my favorite part of SXSW  is hearing music just walking down the street. For instance I came across a fun little jazz band -- trumpet, guitar, snare drum and accordion -- playing "Mack the Knife" and other tunes, on Sixth Street Wednesday afternoon. They sounded a lot better than the one happy guy banging on an acoustic guitar just up the street.

And there was a fairly competent metal band called Broken Teeth, playing a free outdoor show on Seventh Street   I heard while eating a BBQ chicken Korean taco on my way between being denied entrance to Lee Fields and being denied entrance at Giant Sand.

So far today I've been hanging out with my grandson on his first birthday. We'll see what music awaits this evening.

UPDATE 3-16-12 : The original version of this post misidentified the venue where I saw Ray Wylie Hubbard do his solo set.

SxSW 2012

Here's a couple of great musicians who unfortunately I won't be
seeing this year. (R.I.P Doug & Freddy!)

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- I'm here at the Live Music Capitol of the World for the South by Southwest Music Festival, my first time at SXSW since 2008.

I'm off to a great start. I rolled into town about 1 am and went to the motel I usually stay at. But to my surprise, when I booked the room in January, I boneheadedly booked the chain's other Austin location -- way way up on the north side, miles away from anything. And, as fate would have it, the northside location doesn't have wi-fi in my room. (I won't name the motel chain, but let's just say that NRBQ was WRONG!)

But I won't let a little thing like that stop me. I'll just camp out in the lobby and blog away.

Unlike past years, when, like other media elites, I'd have a press pass for the festival (and my own dear friends with me would refer to me as a "badge-wearing scum"), this year I'm trying something different. I'm going to try doing it like a regular plebeian -- hitting the free parties shows and/or paying a single cover at bars and staying all night instead of running all over the downtown area. We'll see how that turns out.

Hopefully I'll see this guy this year.

So check back here every day and I'll let you about the bands I see.

(Here's a handy link to all my SXSW posts -- going back to 2004)