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.

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST: DAY 1

Greetings from Austin, Texas, Live Music Capitol of the World.

Ever since I started going to the South by Southwest Music Festival nine years ago I've heard people complain about how big the festival has gotten. The general line is that back in the good old days it was a human-scale event in which unsigned, mainly local, bands showed off their stuff to grateful, mainly local, audiences and maybe a few music bizzer types. It was quaint and good and everyone had a great time.

But then it got ruined by people like me -- a decent local festival grew into Spring Break for the Industry with Austin becoming a hill country Fort Lauderdale with hoardes of unworthy outsiders clogging the streets; musicians corrupted by visions of greed kissing up to the music biz creeps with their cell phones and pony tails; long lines and high prices; another good thing done gone.

Normally I ignore such sentimental blather. But after a day of traffic jams all around Austin (much of which, in fairness, can't be pinned on SXSW), an oppressively long line to pick up the official SXSW badge, the huge crowds at most the venues and the throngs of revelers out on the downtown streets, I began to wonder if perhaps this thing hasn't grown out of hand, exploding beyond repair.

Or maybe I've just gotten old and feel like it's my turn to gripe about the passing of the good old days.

But even with the problems that come with what seem to be the bigger crowds, the basic pleasures that draw me back to Austin and SXSW -- the music, the food, and seeing old friends -- are still pleasurable.

My little entourage kicked off the festival with our usual ritual -- Frito Pies at the The Texas Chili Parlor, made famous in Guy Clark's "Dublin Blues." No Mad Dog Margaritas for me this year though. In fact this is my first SXSW since I gave up drinking. (Maybe that's why the long lines and big crowds seem worse to me.)

Wednesday nights are traditionally lighter than subsequent nights on big national talent. This gives festival goers a chance to check out new, unknown bands.

Last time I came here we started out seeing a local group called The Girl Robots, an artsy New Wavey band that was lots of fun. This year we decided to stick with the robot theme and check out The Baby Robots. They sound a lot like Sonic Youth, doing weird things with screeching feedback and odd guitar tunings. But they've also got a good garage sensibility and are well acquainted with the "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" chord pattern. You can even hear a little Talking Heads in the Baby Robots. And just like people used to say the Talking Heads looked like Young Republicans, the Baby Robots are freshfaced youngsters who look like the kind of kids you'd trust to babysit your children.

We also checked out a few songs by a band from Mexico called Vaquero. These guys epitomize the concept of "crossover dreams." All their new songs seem to be in English. Basically a guitar band, who employ some elements of Flaming Lips syntho psychedelia in some songs, Vaquero creates some extremely beautiful and catchy melodies. One of my favorites was an instrumental in which the singer played a melodica. It sounded like the theme from an imaginary French movie.

I tried to check out Los Lonely Boys at the Austin Music Awards show at the Austin Music Hall. But the staff wouldn't let me in with my camera. I was sincere when I told them I wouldn't take any pictures. But that didn't get very far with these by-the-book volunteers. Can't really blame them for not buying my sincerity. After all, they have to deal with music industry folks all week.

So I headed east towards Stubbs BBQ, where unfortunately I was too late for the Von Bondies. However I was just in time for The International Noise Conspiracy. This is a politically-minded high-energy guitar-based band from Sweeden. They have black leather jackets like The Ramones, but their sound is colored by an electric organ that sounds right out of Steppenwolf.

At one point the singer told the crowd that he knows that Americans don't like Swedes coming over here and preaching to them about politics. "But what you do in America affects the whole world," he said. "So fuck you if you're going to vote for George Bush again!"

The crowd -- who I assume to be mostly American -- applauded wildly. (However, Bush might have the last laugh. If statistics hold up, only a fraction of the young people who were cheering will even bother to vote.)

Capping off the evening was an old favorite rocker, Joan Jett, who concentrated mainly on enthusiastic takes on her hits of yore -- "Bad Reputation," "I Hate Myself For Loving You" and, of course "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."

Queen Joan has a knack for choosing perfect cover songs -- Tommy James' "Crimson and Clover," Sly & The Family Stones' "Everyday People," The Replacements' "Androgenous." Her strangest one last night though was a rousing "Love is All Around" -- the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. There is a Texas rock 'n' roll connection here though. It was written by Sonny Curtis, a Buddy Holly crony and sometimes Cricket. Curtis' other well-known song is "I Fought the Law (and The Law Won)."

Gotta hit the hay. Little Richard is giving the SXSW keynote address Thursday morning ....

SXSW Here I Come!

I'll be leaving for Austin tomorrow from beautiful Santa Fe. I just secured a lap top from The New Mexican, which I'm using now, so I'll be posting nightly (or rather, early morningly, from my motel room on all the bitchen rock 'n' roll action, from Little Richard's keynote address to the last showcase early Sunday morning.

There should be a link from the New Mexican web site.

Please, as always, feel free to leave your comments.

There will be no Roundhouse Round-up this week. And Terrell's Tune-up might be late getting posted here. But there will be lots more music.

Terrell's Sound World Play List

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
Sunshine by The Red Elvises
Bikini Girls With Machine Guns by The Cramps
Head Held High by The Velvet Underground
Broken Man by The Von Blondies
Berlin by Dickie B. Hardy
Garden of Delight by Johnny Dowd
Lady Wendy by Mummy the Peepshow
Fukin Huge Crisis by Chopper Sick Balls
Little Annie Fanny by The Kingsmen

The Workaholic Song by Mylab
Gilman Report by Pedal Steel Transmission
Everyone Comes to the Freak Show by The Residents
Chords of Fame by Jad Fair & Daniel Johnston
Downfall by Stuurbaard bakkebaard
Philosophy of the World by The Shaggs
You Got That Thing by Holly Golightly

Function at the Junction by Little Richard
Hello It's Me by The Isley Brothers
Let Me Down Easy by Bettye Lavette
If You Don't Know Me By Now by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

Women Help to Create the Kind of Men They Despise by Lambchop
The Comedians by Roy Orbison
We Are Never Talking by Roky Erickson
Somebdy's Watching by X
Innocent When You Dream by Kazik Staszewski
Lucky Day by Tom Waits
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

The Santa Fe Opry Play List

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, March 12, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Pussy, Pussy, Pussy by The Light Crust Doughboys
Reprimand by Joe West
Say a Little Prayer by Mary and Mars
Indian Cowboy by The Flatlanders
Play Some George Jones Songs by The Last Mile Ramblers
The Race is On by George Jones
One Has My Name by Jerry Lee Lewis
If I Needed You by The Holmes Brothers

Precious Memories (Is a Song I Used to Hear) by Norman & Nancy Blake
Sputnik 57 by Jon Langford
Cowboy Peyton Place by Doug Sahm
Country's All I'll Ever Be by Poodle Lynn
Let Me Play With Your Poodle by Tampa Red
Last Days of Tampa Red by Ronny Elliott
Payday Blues by Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
New Country by Dollar Store

Maintenance Nightmare by Emily Kaitz
Why Are You Always Cheatin' on Me by Nancy Apple
Don't You Want Me by Moonshine Willie
River of No Return by Jon Rauhouse's Steel Guitar Rodeo with Neko Case
Someone to Give My Love To by Johnny Paycheck
Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) by Kris Kristofferson
Strange Things Happening Every Day by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Lonesome Road Blues by W. Lee O'Daniel & His Hillbilly Boys
The Marriage Song by The Stumbleweeds

Trying to Get to You by Elvis Presley
He'll Have to Go by Ry Cooder
The Last Word in Lonesome is Me by Roger Miller
Li'l Wallet Picture by Richard Buckner
Alone and Forsaken by Hank Williams
Blue Distance by Peter Case
Little Bird by Furnace Mountain
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

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