TERRELL'S TUNEUP: THE GIFT OF LOCAL MUSIC

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
December 17, 2004

During this hollandaise season, my traditional gift-giving advice is to give the gift of local music. In other words, be New New Mexican, buy New Mexican.

Here are some recent examples of fine sonic produce by New Mexico artists:

*No More Music by The Suckers by Bernadette Seacrest & Her Yes Men. Seacrest, whose last gig was with the Albuquerque rockabilly outfit The Long Goners, has evolved into a tattooed chanteuse specializing in jazzy, torchy and extremely tunes with a band featuring a double bass, sax and trombone.

While Seacrest’s voice is the main draw here, don’t forget The Yes Men, who create the dangerous atmosphere. Grimes’ bass is a major component on most cuts. And sometimes the horn section sounds like they’re engaging in a gang rumble.

Seacrest performs several standards like “Strange Fruit,” “Ain’t Misbehavin'“ and “Dream a Little Dream of Me” (“Room service. Here’s your ham sandwich, Miss Elliott …”) and these are fine. -- but her vocal talents are best showcased in the ones written by her sidemen/friends Michael Graves and Pat Bova.

The best of these are Grimes’ “Cold in My Bed” in which Seacrest’s voice sounds like a transmission from the Dark Dimension, and Bova’s slow spooky “Sweet Salvation.” Both these tunes skirt the weird aural hinterlands somewhere along the border between Tom Waits and David Lynch. I hope her next album will be 100 percent originals.

*Circus Wife by Goshen. Goshen mastermind Grant Hayunga, backed here by Jim and Bill Palmer of Hundred Year Flood, does here what he does best -- hard grinding stompers carried by his slide guitar -- with an occasional slow pretty song to give you a breather. When Hayunga gets going on his slide, he’s not trying to dazzle you with hot licks. He plays his instrument more like a percussion instrument. You can only rarely understand the lyrics he sings on the fast and rowdy ones, but it can’t be denied he sings with passion.

*Cavalier by Hundred Year Flood. Santa Fe’s musical double date, featuring the Palmer Brothers (Bill on vocals, guitar, lap steel and keyboards, Jim on drums), singer Felicia Ford and bassist Kendra Lauman, delivers a tasty serving of neo-folk rock. They remind me a little bit of the old Seattle band, The Walkabouts. My favorite tracks here include the slow-burning “Gamblin',” Ford’s quasi-gospel “Jesus Rolled Over” (featuring sweet violin by Hilary Schacht) and a Tom Pettyish rocker called “Peach Blossom.”

*Self Titled by Solfire. The Abeyta brothers, Buddy and Amado, are second-generation Santa Fe musicians. Their dad, Chris Abeyta is a founding member of Santa Fe’s premier Chicano rock group Lumbre del Sol, which has been around for more than three decades. The boys honor their father by performing one of his old Lumbre tunes “Salsa Chicano” (the old man plays guitar on the track). Most the songs are sweet and soulful. “Desparately” is one of the prettiest. But Solfire can rock too, as they prove on “I Don’t Want to Lie.”

*Colorado Belle by Sid Hausman & Washtub Jerry. Sid Hausman’s cool, confident, cowboy voice has been a presence in Santa Fe for more years than he’d probably want to admit. Most his fans picture him with a guitar, but on this album he mainly plays ukulele. Don’t worry, Sid hasn’t gone Hawaiian and this isn’t a Tiny Tim tribute album. It’s “western swing ukulele” -- a concept with which I was unfamiliar, though Sid in his liner notes assures us that then uke had its place here. And it sounds wonderful indeed. Most the songs here are standards like “Cherokee Maid” “Don’t Fence Me In” and “South of the Border.” There also are some good Hausman originals, my favorite being “4,000 Rooms in Amarillo” and a great obscure Marty Robbins eco-ballad “Man Walks Among Us.”

And yes, Washtub Jerry does play washtub bass.

*Round Mountain by Round Mountain. Anyone vaguely aware of the early ‘90s Santa Fe music scene has to remember the band Lizard House, which featured Char and Robbie Rothschild. Since those days, the Rothschilds have gone down many twisted musical paths. What other groups can honestly boast of resumes that include stints with hair-metal icon Kip Winger and a Russian circus?

With the boys playing a huge arsenol of stringed instruments, horns, percussion and even a hurdy gurdy, their music is an enchanting mix of American folk, Celtic, Mideastern, Balkan and African sounds that might remind old timers of The Incredible String Band. (I also hear what sounds like echos of Neutral Milk Hotel in some tunes.)

(The CD release party for this record is Saturday at El Meson, 213 Washington Ave.)

*House to House by Randal Bays & Roger Landes. Taos resident and bouzouki master Landes is best known around here for the annual Zoukfest in Taos, a festival dedicated to the Greek stringed instrument which in recent years has been adopted by Celtic music enthusiasts. Landes teamed up with Irish fiddler Bays to make some fine traditional Irish music. This CD consists of recordings from various house concerts by the duo, so what you have is genuine living room music. Most the songs are traditional Irish instrumentals.

*Snow Angels by The Buckarettes. Here’s some cowgirl Christmas music featuring the sweet harmonies of Katie Gill and Debra Jean Parker Harris and the picking of dobro/steel man Auge Hayes and guitarist, mandolinist and musi9cal saw player John Egenes. Highlights here include covers of The Louvin Brothers’ away-in-the-manger tune “The Friendly Beasts,” the Polynesian yuletide classic “Christmas Island) made famous by Leon Redbone and a western take on Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby.” I’m also partial to the title song, a Gill original featuring a roller-rinky organ by Dick Orr.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: "GRASSROOTS" RECOUNT FIZZLES

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dec. 16, 2004

While some New Mexicans who are distrustful of last month’s presidential election results have been pursuing a statewide recount through regular government channels, a Santa Fe physical therapist and Democrat poll watcher is leading a “small grassroots group” to do a partial recount themselves.

In a Dec. 3 letter from Citizens to Verify the Vote sent to every registered voter in east-side Santa Fe Precinct 36, Amba Caldwell said, “We find it imperative in our democracy that all our votes are counted correctly and that we find ways to trust the results.”

Then she asks each voter whether or not they voted and who they voted for. A separate sheet of paper, containing the voter’s name and the names of the major party candidates (and a space for “other candidate”) is included to be mailed back to Caldwell in a pre-addressed, postage-paid envelop.

“We understand the secret of the ballot is very important to many voters in our democracy,” Caldwell’s letter said. “However, we believe that an accurate vote count is more important than privacy.”

Who are these citizens?: First of all, Citizens to Verify the Vote is not associated with Verified Voting New Mexico, a group that has raised concerns about electronic touch-screen “black box” voting machines. Nor is it part of Help America Recount, which has been trying — unsuccessfully so far — to get the state to conduct an official recount.

City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer, whose district includes Precinct 36, said some of her constituents thought something was hinky about the letter and brought it to her attention.

“They had no idea what it meant or what (the sender) meant to do with the information,” Heldmeyer said Wednesday.

Caldwell, in an interview Wednesday, said she had no sinister motives in seeking this information. “When I got my voter list (from the county clerk), I had to sign an affidavit saying I understood that I’d be subject to criminal charges if I used this list in any way not related to elections,” she said.

“There are times when we have to find out the truth and need to let go of our secrecy,” she said.

“We need your participation to be successful,” the letter said.

However, it seems that most of the voters of Precinct 36 still like the idea of a secret ballot.

Out of more than 500 voters in the precinct, only 125 responded to the letter, Caldwell said. And one of those wrote the words “Secret Ballot” in the space in where respondents were supposed to mark their choice for president.

An Albuquerque friend who sent a similar letter to voters in Precinct 350 in Albuquerque reported a similar level of response, Caldwell said.

Why Precinct 36?: Caldwell said she got the idea after serving as a poll watcher on election day for the Democrats at Acequia Madre Elementary School, where Precinct 36 votes.

“As far as I know everything there went according to the law,” she said.

Though she saw no hanky panky at her polling place, Caldwell said some people are worried that somehow a small number of votes were stolen — somehow — from each voting machine statewide. Stealing a handful of votes from each machine could be enough to tip the election without anyone noticing, or so goes the theory.

However, Santa Fe County doesn’t use the controversial “black box” voting machines that have stirred so much controversy. The machines used in Santa Fe are “first-generation” — meaning “real old” — electronic devices that tally votes on computerized cards and produce a receipt at the end of election day of all votes cast.

It’s not clear how the bad guys would be able to program all the state’s 3,367 voting machines, which aren’t linked via the Internet or via anything else.

For the record: Sen. John Kerry won big in Precinct 36, receiving 423 votes — better than 80 percent — compared with the 92 votes for President Bush and four votes for other candidates. Caldwell said the un-secret ballots she received are similar in proportion to these numbers.

AM I (PRUSSIAN) BLUE?

They're talented. They're cute. They're little ... Nazis!

Meet Lynx and Lamb Gaede, 12-year-old California twins who have started their own pop band called Prussian Blue. It's like a cross between The Olson Twins, Hanson and Hermann Goering.

"These gals will be breaking new ground, and will also capture the imagination of young boys and girls all across the world," says National Alliance Northeast Regional Coordinator Rich Lindstrom in an article on the National Vanguard Web site. "The impact could be huge and their influence will encourage 'copycats' ...creating an entire genre of pro-White music. ...I'm hanging on the edge of my seat with anticipation."

I dunno ... Does this guy sound just a little too excited about these little girls?

Thanks to my sister Mary for bringing this to my attention.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, December 12, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Co-host Laurell Reynolds

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Sic 'Em Pigs by Canned Heat
Green Lights by NRBQ
I'm Down by The Beatles
Don't Beat Me Down by The Donnas
Here Comes Your Man by The Pixies
I Wanna Be Your Lover by Bob Dylan
Tweeter and the Monkeyman by The Traveling Wilburys
The Christmas Blues by Dean Martin

True Love Will Find You In The End by Beck
Rhinocratic Oathes by The Bonzo Dog Band
Trickle Down System by Giant Sand
Song For Jeffery by Jethro Tull
Copshawholme Fair by Steeleye Span
Crown Of Love by Arcade Fire
You Better Run by Iggy & The Stooges
Christmas At K-Mart by Root Boy Slim & His Sex Change Band

Satisfied Fool by Nathaniel Mayer
Sling That Thing by Andres Williams
I'm a Millionaire by Lee Fields
Midnight Sky by The Isley Brothers
Breaking Up Somebody's Home by Anne Peebles
Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year by James Brown

Babe, You Turn Me On by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Wonderful by Brian Wilson
Meaning of Loneliness by Van Morrison
Muriel by Tom Waits
Sweet Salvation by Bernadette Seacrest
I Still Believe In You by Mavis Staples
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Friday, December 10, 2004
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
The Wayward Wind by Lynn Anderson with Emmylou Harris
Where The Devil Don't Stay by Drive-By Truckers
Let Him In by The Gourds
Dead Cats on the Line by Vassar Clements
Say it Say When by Goshen
The Van Lear Rose by Loretta Lynn
Baghdad Baghdad by Acie Cargill

Hard Liquor & Handgun Night by Jim Hoehn
Rocky Top by The Osbourne Brothers
Pretty Polly by Ralph Stanley with Patty Loveless
Love's Gonna Live Here by Bill Monroe with Melissa Monroe
Shame on You by Sid Hausman & Washtub Jerry
The Friendly Beasts by The Buckarettes
Throw a Seven by Ken Keppeler
Come On by Hundred Year Flood
Good Christian Soldier by Kris Kristofferson

See That My Grave is Kept Clean by Blind Lemon Jefferson
One Kind Favor by Canned Heat
A Dying Man's Plea by Mavis Staples
Find Blind Lemon Part 2 by Geoff Muldaur
Done Got Old by Jim White
The Twist Came from Tampa by Ronny Elliott

This Little Light of Mine by Neko Case
Only a Rose by Geraint Watkins
Fill My Way With Love by Iris DeMent
Try and Try Again by Billy Joe Shaver
Returning by Buddy Miller
The Maple Tree by Grey DeLisle
Love and Mercy by Jeff Tweedy
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: MAVIS FOR PRESIDENT

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dec. 10, 2004

One of my fondest memories from the Democratic Convention in Boston last summer was the last day of the convention when I went to the FleetCenter early to type up some notes.

My assigned work space was right next to the band, a horn-heavy ensemble whose main job was to play little snatches of “Soul Man” or “Respect” or Kool & The Gang’s “Celebrate” before politicians’ speeches. (One delegate told me she heard them play “Mr. Big Stuff” before Gov. Bill Richardson’s speech. I was there, but I honestly don’t remember.)

So on the last afternoon of the convention I was sitting there typing notes on a laptop.

Although virtually nobody was on the floor, the band was there. They started playing a song called “The Promised Land.” The singer was doing an excellent imitation of Willie Nelson, I thought. Then I looked down to the stage below, and dang if it wasn’t Willie Nelson himself. He was doing a sound check for his performance at the convention later that night.

Next, the band started playing a soul/gospel version of “America the Beautiful” and there was another familiar voice. Sure enough, it was Mavis Staples, dressed in a sweat shirt for the sound check.

Twenty years before, “America the Beautiful” was performed in a similar style by Ray Charles -- except he sang it at the Republican Convention. Brother Ray had just died a few weeks before, so singing this song at a political convention was bound to draw comparisons. But pulled it off spectacularly. In fact, what living singer is better qualified to assume the mantle of Ray Charles?

This hardly was the first major political event where Staples performed. As part of The Staples Singers with her father and siblings, she sang at the inaugurations of both John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. The Staples also shared the stage many times with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.

Amazingly, except for a few guest spots (on various-artist albums such as the most recent Los Lobos album, cuts on recent tribute albums for Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Cash, Stephen Foster and a gospel tribute to Bob Dylan), Staples until now hasn’t been putting out much of her own music in recent years.

Have a Little Faith is Staples’ first new album in nearly a decade -- and the first since her father Roebuck “Pops” Staples died.

This is an album of mostly gospel tunes with the old standby “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” along with lesser known tunes like the funky “There’s a Devil on the Loose” and “God is Not Sleeping.”

The best songs are down-home and rootsy like the opening cut “Step Into the Light,” which features a mean slide guitar and background vocals from The Dixie Hummingbirds.

Like The Staples Singers, whose biggest hits were songs like “Respect Yourself” and “I’ll Take You There,“ which were spiritually uplifting without specifically mentioning God, on this album Mavis sings tunes like “At the End of the Day“ and “In Times Like These” (“In times like these/We need to be strong/We need to carry on/We need to get along …). The latter features backing vocals by the Rev. Jesse Dixon and The Chicago Music Community Choir.

There’s a sweet tribute to her father, “Pops’ Recipe,” (“He said accept responsibility/Don’t forget humility … Don’t subscribe to bigotry, hypocrisy, duplicity …)

But I think my favorite one here is a classic Blind Lemon Jefferson song The Staples Singers used to cover. Blind Lemon called it “See That My Grave is Kept Clean.” Canned Heat rocked it up and knocked it up, calling it “One Kind Favor.” Mavis calls it “A Dying Man’s Plea,” and, backed by a dobro and fiddle, infuses it with countrified soul.

My only complaint about this album is that it doesn’t include “America the Beautiful.”


Also Recommended

* I Just Want to Be Held by Nathaniel Mayer. To be honest, I’d never heard of this guy, but the liner notes of his new Fat Possum CD assures us that he had a bonafide hit in the early ‘60s with a song called “Village of Love.” But, like too many soul codgers, Mayer fell on hard times -- drink, drugs, poverty and obscurity.

As is the case with the best Fat Possum albums, Mayer’s is rough, raw, rocking and raunchy.

Songs like “You Gotta Work,” with its bitchen Farfisa organ and “I Wanna Dance With You,” with its slightly grating but truly addictive guitar hook, will remind you of the links between ’60s soul and garage-band music.

And songs like “Stick It or Lick It” will explain why Nathaniel Mayer wasn’t invited to perform at the inaugurations of John F. Kennedy or Jimmy Carter. (But Bill Clinton surely would like it.)

The true sign of twisted genius here is Mayer’s cover of John Lennon’s seething “I Found Out.” This was one of Lennon’s angriest songs from his “primal scream” Plastic Ono Band. It’s a rage against religion, drugs, false promises and childhood pain. Mayer spits out “There ain’t no Jesus gonna come from the sky,” like a fallen evangelist drunk on heresy.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THIS BUD'S FOR YOU

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Dec. 9, 2004

Christmas is a-comin' and the heartwarming news releases are getting fat ...

My nominee for the holly-jolly media advisory of the week was an e-mail from the state attorney general's office announcing a Wednesday news conference in Albuquerque with Attorney General Patricia Madrid and Mark Bordas, director of government affairs -- corporatespeak for top lobbyist -- for Anheuser-Busch.

The purpose: "to encourage safety and responsibility this holiday season." Specifically, "to encourage parents to be good role models for their children by remembering to use a designated driver and to talk with their children about underage drinking."

Heartwarming. You can almost hear the clip-clop of Clydesdales pulling Santa's sleigh. It's like a government public-service announcement and a beer commercial rolled into one.

Fortunately, the news conference had a little more to offer than that. Madrid also announced she will ask the Legislature to pass a bill with tougher sentences for repeat drunken drivers.

I assume this means Anheuser-Busch won't oppose this. In recent years, the liquor lobby has not fought stiffer penalties for driving while intoxicated. The biggest fight it has gotten involved in here lately was squashing a move last year to impose a higher tax on alcoholic beverages.

In this Christmas season, it's good to remember that Anheuser-Busch is not just generous in sending the king lobbyist for the King of Beers to New Mexico to spread words of wisdom about safety and responsibility. The corporation has been generous through the years in spreading good cheer in the form of campaign contributions to our state leaders.

According to the Montana-based Institute on Money in State Politics' Web site, followthemoney.org, Anheuser-Busch and its lobbyists donated at least $30,000 to New Mexico politicians during the most recent election cycle. The company's wholesaler, Premier Distributing, kicked in another $7,500 or so.

But according to institute spokeswoman Sue O'Connell, these figures only include campaign-finance reports up to June 28. Final figures will be available later, she said.

In the 2002 election cycle, Anheuser-Busch donated more than $31,000 to New Mexico politicos, while Premier Distributing gave even more -- $41,409.

Madrid, who was re-elected in 2002, collected $1,000 from Anheuser-Busch plus $5,000 from Premier that year.

But that was small potatoes compared with Gov. Bill Richardson's $5,000 from Anheuser-Busch and $25,000 from Premier.

Anheuser-Busch donated to dozens of legislators for the 2002 and 2004 elections.

The top legislative leaders get the most from the company. Retiring Senate President Pro tem Richard Romero, D-Albuquerque, received $2,000 in 2002.

Former Senate Majority Floor Leader Manny Aragon, D-Albuquerque, got $500 from the company in 2002 and $1,500 in 2004. (Aragon resigned from the Senate after being named president of Highlands University. He won an uncontested primary for his Senate seat in June.)

House Speaker Ben Luján, D-Nambé, received $1,000 from Anheuser-Busch this year.

But just as the company believes in safety and responsibility, it also believes in bipartisanship.

Senate Republican Floor Leader Stuart Ingle of Portales got $1,000 in 2002 and another $500 in this election cycle.

House Republican Floor Leader Ted Hobbs picked up $1,000 in 2002 and $1,500 for his 2004 race.

Lobbyist Bordas himself is a generous soul. Last January, The Associated Press reported he paid nearly $700 for four legislators -- Aragon, Luján, Sen. Ben Altamirano, D-Silver City, and Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe -- to attend a San Francisco Giants baseball game plus another $250 for food and drink, while the four were in San Francisco for a national legislative conference.

Of course, Anheuser-Busch isn't the only player in the liquor industry in this state. In 2002, beer, wine and liquor companies donated a total of $181,021 to New Mexico politicians.

My advice: Be safe and responsible this holiday season. If you drink, use designated drivers. Be a good example to your kids and talk to them about drinking.