Big Ugly's Response

My pal Rio DeGennaro of the Kansas City band The Big Ugly Guys wrote a full length response to my Kurt Cobain/Gaynel Hodge story (posted this morning immediately below.) However, it was too long for the "comments" feature.

I obviously don't agree with everything he says, (I believe there was plenty of joy and rebellion in the old Seattle sound) but Rio's a smart guy and his full response is worth reading. Plus I like his band. So here it is:

Great story, Steve.

I never really understood where all the BS about being the voice of teenage angst came from, and how Nirvanna was the medium for Corbain's status as spokesman for Gen X or whatever they were called. Grunge was the reason I bought a guitar and started my band to try to preach the fun and rebellion of rocknroll to people. I know that may seem to be an outdated idea but I still believe the reception of rock is in making people get out of their seats and shake their ass.

I never subscribed to the dark visions of the music of the Doors, the Velvet Underground, Black Sabbath. I kinda thought the record companies were using the weirdness in people brought out by the excesses of uninhibited lifestyles to make a buck. The whole Seattle thing to me is just a reverberation of the NW heroin scene that seemed to play on the disconnect
of youth at the time. Me, I've never been into smack or downers, so I just couldn't relate at all. A buncha minor key tunings do not make a memorable song to my ear. Have you heard anybody walking down the street whistling "Teen Spirit"?

Our local alt. rag, "The Pitch", had a music editor who hooked up with a local studio and tried to ram midwest grunge down everyone's throat.. The only bands who ever got favorable reviews were recorded at that studio with the same riff heavy hand. Totally sucked. We had plenty of great bands spread across the musical spectrum from jazz to blues who couldn't get the time of day in the paper. Me, I still get the cold shoulder from a lot of the clubs and businesses associated with the ass. I made the mistake of writing a letter to the editor pointing out the fact that "...you can't recreate the grunge scene in KC with 3.2 beer and road weed". My point being pretty obvious to anyone who bought records for 50 years.

I spent many a night trying to get a little sweater in the back seat of the car parked in some lover's lane listening to "Earth Angel" and "Tonight's the Night" and "Silhouettes". Aaaah, the glories of submarine race watching doo wop.

Now that was all rocknroll and all missed by kids today. Who wants to slow dance with some whiner mosh pit enthusiast.

I use to always want to be alive 100 years in the future. Now I'm just not so sure about the future.

rio

OF EARTH ANGEL, LOLLAPALOOZA AND THE GHOST OF KURT COBAIN

Kurt Cobain's suicide 10 years ago this week shook me, even though I'm a generation older than the generation for whom he'd been deemed a spokesman. His death was on my mind that next summer when I went to Lollapalooza in Phoenix. After all, before the suicide Nirvana was considering an offer to headline Lollapalooza.

The night before the concert , I was with a group of folks that went to hear doo-wop pioneer Gaynel Hodge play his happy hour set at a hotel lounge. Kurt's ghost tagged along. This is the oddball Lollapalooza review I wrote for the paper:

Originally published September 2, 1994

SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN

Gaynel Hodge said he'd like to go to Lollapalooza, but he didn't think he could make it. He had a dental appointment that day.

Besides, being in his 60s, Gaynel undoubtedly had no desire to stand out in the un-airconditioned sun for hours with thousands of navel-pierced white kids listening to music that he had helped to create some 40 years ago, but which had mutated beyond his recognition.

Chances are, unless you have a Ph.D. in Doo Wop, you have never heard of Gaynel Hodge. But surely you have heard his song, "Earth Angel," which in 1954 arose like a trapped spirit of the underworld, eventually becoming part of our civilization's collective unconsciousness.

Actually, Gaynel is one of three authors listed on "Earth Angel"'s credits, the other two being Jesse Belvin, (the silken-voiced crooner of "Good Night My Love") and Curtis Williams, a member of The Penguins, the group that made the song famous.

Gaynel himself never made it big, although he still earns his living playing music. The night before Lollapalooza he was playing happy hour at the Quality Inn bar near downtown Phoenix.

That's right. Happy hour at the Quality Inn. Phoenix, Ariz.

Sounds like your archetypal rock 'n' roll sob story, right? Kurt Cobain blew his brains out partly so he'd never end up playing happy hour in a hotel lobby. Cobain also assured that Nirvana would not headline this year's Lollapalooza, thus propelling Smashing Pumpkins to headliner status.

As fine as the Pumpkins sounded, I couldn't help but think about that fact throughout their set. Cobain's ghost also seemed to be flitting about the Quality Inn as Gaynel sang his hit along with covers of Ray Charles, James Brown and Little Richard songs.

Try to imagine the year 2033 with Billy Corgan or Kim Deal or Green Day's Billy Joe in some cocktail lounge, serving up '90s nostalgia with piano- bar renditions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Disarm" and Pearl Jam's "Alive."

Doesn't seem likely, but it could happen. And if it does, would any of them handle it with as much grace and humor as Gaynel?

All in all, I'd rather be Gaynel Hodge than Kurt Cobain.

In some ways, Gaynel's gig is closer to the democratic spirit that nurtured the Lollapalooza bands. Ironically, the "alternative'' acts on the main stage are big rock stars now, separated from the audience by a fence and a small army of security guards. All that comes between Gaynel and his fans is the free hot-wing spread.

And fans there were. There were the ladies who usually caught Gaynel at a neighborhood bar called Chez Nous (nicknamed "Cheese Nose'') where until recently he played with his own combo.

And there were a couple of bozos on holiday who had a berserk fantasy about taking him to Lollapalooza where someone - probably some graybeard in George Clinton's entourage - would recognize him and hustle him up to the stage, where he would win over a new generation with his ageless hymn to teen-age passion.

Surely the kids would recognize the secret links between "Earth Angel" and the Pumpkins' "Cherub Rock." If they could appreciate the grandfatherly Clinton, maybe they could relate to Gaynel.

It was a well-meaning fantasy.

Roseanne Cash probably was right. Earlier this year when there was talk about Johnny Cash playing Lollapalooza, Roseanne worried that the same people who stormed past security guards to mosh to Green Day would not show her dad proper respect. Johnny didn't sign.

Gaynel promised his new friends he would call them if he could make it to Lollapalooza.

He didn't.


Gaynel Hodge with fans

Terrell's Sound World Play List

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Terrell's Sound World
Sunday, April 4, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
from Cryptical Evelopment by The Grateful Dead
Hpw Do You Think It Feels by Lou Reed
Gravity/Falling Down Again/Street Hassle by Alejandro Escovedo

Mama's Selling Heroin by Otis Taylor
Funky Kingston by Toots & The Maytals with Bootsty Collins and The Roots
Dylan's Coat by Johnny Dowd
The Fever by The Von Bondies
Smash it Up by The International Noise Conspiracy
In Praise of Sha Na Na by The Dead Milkmen
Privacy Calls by The Baby Robots
Ragdoll by The Four Seasons

Kurt Cobain Tribute
All Songs by Nirvana unless otherwise noted
Sliver
Been a Son
Heart Shaped Box
Rape Me by Richard Cheese
Floyd the Barber
Territorial Pissings
Sleeps With Angels by Neil Young
You Know You're Right
Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Sara DeBell

Dive
Serve the Servants
Breed
Something in the Way
About a Boy by Patti Smith
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

The Santa Fe Opry Play List

The Santa Fe Opry
Friday, April 2, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Host: Steve Terrell

Support the KSFR Fund Drive!

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Allon a Grand Coreau by Cyndi Lauper
Brother, It's All Lunchmeat by Cornell Hurd
Sleeper Hold on Satan by Rev. Billy C. Wirtz
The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 by Kris Kristofferson
Last Fair Deal Gone Down by Jon Langford
Too Long in the Wasteland by James McMurtry

One Woman Man by Johnny Horton
Nothing Can Stop My Loving You by George Jones
Darling Do You Know Who Loves You by The Stanley Brothers
Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms by Flatt & Scruggs
I'm Ragged But I'm Right by Johnny Cash
No Depression in Heaven by The Carter Family
Please Carry Me Home by Jessie Coulter & Shooter Jennings
Dry Bones by Norman & Nancy Blake

Radio Interview/Moonlight by Jerry J. Nixon
Up Jumped the Devil by Ronnie Dawson
Red Hot by Billy Lee Riley
Hillbilly Monster by James Richard Oliver
Blues Keep a Callin' by Rosie Flores with Janis Martin
Gonna Romp and Stomp by Slim Rhodes
Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee by Jerry Lee Lewis
Baboon Boogey by Jimmy Murphy
Annie Don't Work by Jimmy Wade
There's a World Between You and Me by Jerry J. Nixon

Revengin' the Death of Charlie Sapp by Starlings Tn.
Payne Co. Line by Slipshod
Jamie III by Joe West
Smoke Rings by Jon Rauhouse with Kelly Hogan
Sharecroppin' Man by Grey DeIsle
Mon Conne La Cause by David Hidalgo
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: My Search For Jerry J. Nixon

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican, April 2, 2004

Every few years about this time, I toy with the idea of writing an April Fool’s column and make up a bunch of ridiculous titles for CDs to review. “Where the Rude Boys Are: A Reggae Tribute to Connie Frances”; “Ebony and Ivory: The Ray Charles/Elvis Costello Sessions”; “The Symphonic Iggy Pop”; The Essential Eddie Money (oops, that’s a real one!)

Somehow it always seemed too cute to do a whole column of that stuff.

However in late March I stumbled across a real CD, that, after a little research, I’ve come to believe is an April Fool’s Day joke at Santa Fe’s expense by an obscure Swiss record label, Voodoo Rhythm.

Gentleman of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The Q Recordings, New Mexico ‘58-‘64, released last year, is by an unknown rockabilly singer named Jerry J. Nixon with sad eyes, pale skin and greasy hair.

Nixon’s life story is told inside the package.

Indeed, it was like uncovering a secret history of this place I call my home.

Born Gerald James Hall in 1937 in Yorkshire England, the future rockabilly gentleman was involved with a botched armed robbery in Southampton. But because of his youth, he got off with a light sentence, joined the merchant marines and sailed to America, where he adopted a fake identity — Jerry J. Nixon — and stayed.

By 1956 “Nixon” ended up here in Santa Fe, where he initially worked at a cardboard box and packing company. Perhaps the oppression of this factory was what led Nixon to join the Communist Party of New Mexico.

Inspired by Elvis Presley, Nixon hooked up with a band playing at Atahualpa Bar & BBQ. The were initially called The Santa Fe Flames, but under Nixon’s sway, they became The Volcanoes.

Santa Fe businessman Leonard E. Sanchez, who managed entertainers and owned Q Studios and Quality Records, heard a Nixon and The Volcanoes gig, signed them up, made some records and toured the Southwest and even Mexico.

Like the archetypal rock manager of the day, Sanchez took songwriting credits on nearly all Nixon’s original songs.

After a few short years, however, things soured between Nixon and Sanchez, who gambled away all the band’s money betting on card games and cockfights. He also favored one of his other stars, local country singer Dick Lotner.

The bad blood came to a head in 1963 when the two got into a fight that ended with Sanchez in the hospital and the Gentleman of Rock ’n’ Roll in jail. The bio in the CD says the two never spoke again. However, according to the album notes, the song “Red Sun” was recorded at Q Studios in March 1964.

But shortly after that, Nixon left the Volcanoes and the music biz in general. After doing some work in the Texas oil fields, Nixon settled in Albuquerque by 1967, working as a driver for the Sunset Glades retirement home. He died in Albuquerque in 1999.

Damn! Had I known about him, I could have interviewed him. How come nobody ever told me about Santa Fe’s greatest rockabilly commie?

But the more I thought about it, the more I suspected there was a good reason why nobody told me about Jerry J. Nixon.

The fact that I had never heard of any of the people or the places mentioned in the Nixon story made me wonder.

Checking city directories and phone books between 1957 and 1961 I found no listings for Atahualpa Bar & BBQ, Quality Records, Q recording studio or KWXL radio. There’s no current listing for Sunset Glade retirement home in the Albuquerque directory. I couldn’t find a listing for any cardboard factory in Santa Fe During those years.. There were no residential listings for Leonard Sanchez, Dick Lotner or Jerry Nixon.

Whoever wrote the stuff on the CDs knows something about Santa Fe though. Q Studios was said to be located above a garage on Galisteo Street, while Atahualpa Bar & BBQ allegedly was off Old Taos Highway.

So where did this music come from? One online critic said there are similarities between Nixon and Die Zorros, a Swiss band led by “Beatman” the head honcho of Voodoo Rhythm.

The sad part is, I wanted the album to be real. While not exactly revelatory, this is the sound of a journeyman rockabilly cat who captures the wild spirit of that era.

The music is tough and cranking. Several cuts feature an eerie organ sound (think Joe Meeks or Del Shannon), while “Saturday Midnight Bop,” has a cool sax (credited to one Jose Martinez, if that can be believed) and Latin rhythm that could pass for proto-Los Lobos.

You could almost believe it’s a frustrated cardboard worker releasing his tensions in a cluttered little studio overlooking a garage on Galisteo Street.

Of course the real Santa Fe wasn’t devoid of real rock ’n’ roll during this area. Wouldn’t it be great if some record company recorded a compilation of real Santa Fe bands — The Defiants, The Rocking Aces, The Morfomen?

Jerry J. Nixon Lives on the Radio: Hear songs from the Gentleman and other rockabilly renegades on The Santa Fe Opry, country music as the Good Lord intended, Friday 10 p.m. to midnight and Terrell’s Sound World, freeform weirdo radio (same time Sunday.)

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: Anarchy in the GOP

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican

Ramsay Gorham's decision Wednesday to step down as state Republican chairwoman -- and to quit her contested re-election campaign for the state Senate -- caps off more than a year of infighting in the state GOP. The party has been so divided that New Mexico Republicans are behaving like a bunch of Democrats, or so the joke goes.

While some GOP leaders such as U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici have called for Republicans to view Gorham's departure as a time for reunification, some think the divisions are going to haunt the party for a long time. "The war isn't over," state House Republican Leader Ted Hobbs of Albuquerque said Wednesday.

"We've still got two factions," said Hobbs, a Gorham supporter, "and they're still going to do their things. Ramsay was trying to bring the factions together, but we've still got a problem. And it's not in best interest of the party."

It's hard to pinpoint the exact date of origin for the current turmoil. But there were serious rumblings as early as spring of 2001, when Gorham and her husband, Frank, a former Bernalillo County Republican chairman, backed Rep. Ron Godbey of Cedar Crest against John Dendahl for the state chairmanship.

The Gorhams and Godbey were upset with Dendahl and then-Gov. Gary Johnson over their support for liberalizing laws against marijuana. Though Domenici didn't take sides in the chairmanship battle that year, he, along with U.S. Reps. Heather Wilson and Joe Skeen, publicly denounced Dendahl for saying Republicans shouldn't use Democrats' support for drug-reform bills against them.

Dendahl won another two years as chairman. But Ramsay Gorham began positioning herself as a challenger. During the next legislative session, she and her husband started an antidrug group called Protect New Mexico to lobby against Johnson's drug-reform bills. By the end of 2002, she announced her candidacy against Dendahl.

Dendahl in 2002 had come under fire from some Republicans for allegedly favoring gubernatorial candidate John Sanchez over other contenders -- including then-Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley -- in the Republican primary. Sanchez won the nomination but lost to Bill Richardson in the general election.

The Dendahl-Gorham battle was long and bitter. Gorham's effort was boosted when Domenici endorsed her. The state Republican Central Committee in May voted 197-156 to elect Gorham.

But the sniping between the two sides continued. Gorham supporter Rep. Earlene Roberts of Lovington told a reporter that GOP National Committeeman Mickey Barnett would be next to get the ax. Dendahl supporter and Barnett protégé Joe Thompson had earlier that year defeated Roberts, who was seeking re-election as House Republican whip.

Last October, Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, wrote a scathing analysis of what he said were Gorham's shortcomings in fighting a state constitutional amendment concerning school funding. The amendment narrowly passed.

(Adair, in a Wednesday interview, bristled at the notion he is a "critic" of Gorham. He has merely analyzed certain things that have happened under the chairwoman, he insisted. The kicker: "I'm a Gorham supporter," Adair said.)

But perhaps the most obvious signs of discord in the GOP was the distance between Gorham's state party organization and the Bush-Cheney campaign. The state Bush organization -- which includes several Gorham opponents -- has visibly distanced itself from the state party. Gorham was snubbed in November when the Bush campaign didn't invite her to a presentation in Albuquerque by national Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot.

Although at one point Gorham announced a "truce" between the state party and the Bush campaign, it soon became obvious that peace wasn't really at hand.

The latest Gorham controversy was over her running for re-election to the Senate (against former Dendahl staffer John Ryan) while keeping her position as chairwoman. Some called that a violation of party rules. The state Central Committee was to discuss the issue in Roswell next week, but Gorham on Wednesday made it moot.

As Hobbs pointed out, there's still plenty of GOP strife. There are plenty of contested Republican legislative primaries, one of which pits incumbent Rep. Larry Larranaga of Albuquerque against former Rep. Rob Burpo -- a Gorham ally. Republican National Committee members Barnett and Rosie Tripp of Socorro are expected to face challengers from the so-called Gorham faction.

And sometime in the next 30 days, the divided party has to chose a new state chairman or chairwoman.

Stay tuned.

KSFR Fundraiser Plea and Terrell's Sound World Play List

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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.