SOLIDARITY FOR THE DEAN

The only connection I have with Robert Christgau -- the dean of American rock critics, recently fired by the new kids running the Village Voice -- is the fact that about 15 years ago he invited me (and hundreds of other music writers across this great nation) to participate in the Voice's annual Pazz & Jop music poll. I've filed my ballot every year since and always appreciated the fact that he reached out to writers from smaller papers out here in flyover country to get a fuller representation of American criticdom.

Well, no more. I realize it's a symbolic gesture, but I won't participate in any poll for a paper that treats a senior writer this way. (They also previously canned music writer Chuck Eddy, which is an atrocity in itself.) And I'm urging other past P&J participants to do the same.

Grant Alden writes more eloquently about this on his blog on the No Depression site. (He credits me, but actually it was my KSFR colleague Sean Conlon who put the bug in my ear.)

Perhaps new management won't bother with this annual tradition, or
(more likely) they'll be delighted to see another middle aged critic leave the field of battle. But if enough of us decline to participate, perhaps it will mean something. At least to Mr. Christgau and Mr. Eddy.

Let's show some solidarity for the Dean.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: TALES OF THE BIZARRO WORLD

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 1, 2006

New Mexico politics is usually a little crazy, but this week, one state race turned downright surreal.

I’m talking, of course, about the state auditor’s race, which suddenly has turned into Tales of the Bizarro World.

Last week, the harsh spotlight of media attention was on Democratic auditor candidate Jeff Armijo after the news broke that two women — one in 2003, one in August — had reported to police that he had made unwanted sexual advances. In the most recent case, the complaint says he pinned the woman on the floor and took off some of her clothing.

One day after insisting he would not drop out of the race, he met with Gov. Bill Richardson, who persuaded him otherwise.

But on Tuesday, the deadline for withdrawing from the race, Armijo held a news conference in Albuquerque announcing he’d been “a victim of a horrible political scheme” (I’m often heard muttering similar things during the last week of a legislative session), and he wouldn’t be withdrawing after all.

“I have faith in our political and legal systems that will expose the individuals in this scheme,” Armijo said Tuesday. Who are the evil schemers? Richardson? Republican auditor candidate Lorenzo Garcia? Professor Plum? Miss Scarlet?

To add to the dreamlike quality of all this, the news conference apparently was held just a few minutes after the state Democratic Party e-mailed a “statement in reaction to Jeff Armijo’s press conference,” which lambasted the decision.

About this time, I called the Secretary of State’s Office to see whether Armijo had withdrawn. Hoyt Clifton, a consultant for the office and a 26-year director of the state Election Bureau said, “I think I’m being faxed his withdrawal statement in a few minutes.”

I rushed over to the office only to find what had been faxed was not from Armijo, but from the governor’s office. And it wasn’t anything official. Just the news release Armijo had issued last week when he was withdrawing.

And soon, the governor, the secretary of state and the attorney general were saying this news release was good enough.

Take note campaign flacks: Your news releases apparently have more legal power than you ever imagined.

In fairness, state election law is rather vague when it comes to candidates withdrawing from the general election. “No candidate shall withdraw from a general election unless he withdraws at least 63 days prior to that election,” is about all the law says on the matter. Nothing on procedures on how to withdraw. Nothing about news releases.

J.R. Damron, who in June withdrew as the Republican gubernatorial candidate, said Wednesday that when he dropped out, he sent the secretary of state a notarized, certified letter. He said he couldn’t remember whether the Secretary of State’s Office advised him to do it that way or party officials.

The state Democratic Central Committee is meeting Saturday to try to sort this out. But everyone’s saying the whole mess is bound to end up in court.

And if Armijo comes out on top in this skirmish, perhaps we can attribute to psychic powers the statement state Dem Chairman John Wertheim made a couple of weeks ago when rumors of Armijo’s troubles were starting to swirl:

“We affirm what we know to be true: That Jeff Armijo will be the next auditor of the state of New Mexico.”

What happened to all the ‘Ethical Politicians’?: A couple of weeks ago, this column featured a new Web site by conservative Republican blogger Mario Burgos on which candidates of any party could post — voluntarily — their campaign contributions and expenditures.

Burgos set up http://www.ethicalreporting.com partly because under current law there are no campaign finance reports due between July and October.

The good news: The number of participating candidates grew 100 percent since I wrote about the site.

The bad news: The number grew from one to two.

State Rep. Brian Moore, R-Clayton, joined Rep. Kathy McCoy, R-Cedar Crest, on the site.

There was a nibble from a Democrat. Land Commission candidate Jim Baca said he’d post his reports on Burgos’ site if his opponent incumbent Pat Lyons posted his. Lyons didn’t respond and Baca never posted, prompting a blog chide from Burgos, who noted that McCoy posted her information despite the fact her opponent hasn’t participated.

“There is some concern in many of the tight races that leading by example could be used against them,” Burgos told me last week. “I believe in some of the statewide campaigns, they’re running as fast as they can, and taking on another task, albeit simple, is just more than they can contemplate.”

Burgos also said he’d heard from some Democrats that there’s concern that “a site run by a Republican couldn’t possible be nonpartisan.” He said he’s offered to “partner” with a Democrat, giving his counterpart full administrative rights to the site.

But so far, no takers.

AUDITOR'S RACE TURNS TOTALLY CRAZY

Looks like some weirdness is coming down in the state auditor's race.

Apparently Jeff Armijo is jumping back into the race, one week after stepping down over allegations of sexual misconduct.

I haven't been able to reach Armijo, but the state Democratic Party just released this statement:

Albuquerque -- Today, Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico John Wertheim issued the following statement in reaction to Jeff Armijo’s press conference:

"No matter what Jeff Armijo says or does today, he already officially withdrew his name from the General Election ballot for State
Auditor a week ago, on August 29, 2006. His actions on that day created a vacancy on the General Election ballot.

“Although I am personally disappointed that Jeff has gone back on his word, officially, he is welcome to go before our State Central Committee on September 9th just like the other candidates vying to fill this vacancy, and attempt to get his name back on the ballot.”

By the way, state Rep. Hector Balderas announced today he's going to try to get the nomination.

UPDATE: I told you it was getting nuts. I just talked to Hoyt Clifton of the state Bureau of Elections who says he understands that Armijo is faxing astatement of withdrawal. In other words, the above message might be a false alarm.

Meanwhile, the governor's office just issued this statement:

“The Governor is very disappointed that Mr. Armijo is attempting to
go back on his word and selfishly put himself before the Democratic Party,” said Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Richardson.

“The governor agrees with the legal position of the Democratic Party Chairman, who is moving forward and asking the State Central Committee to select a replacement candidate who is responsible and committed to running a campaign based on the highest ethical standards.”

UPDATE TO UPDATE: Hoyt got a fax alright, but it wasn't from Armijo. It was from the governor's legal team. The "document" was Armijo's press release from last week announcing his withdrawal.

Looks like this one's going to the lawyers.

Stay tuned and watch tomorrow's New Mexican.

THIRSTY EAR FESTIVAL: SUNDAY

For my Thirsty Ear Photos CLICK HERE

I think I might have said this last year, but this has to have been the best Thirsty Ear Festival ever. A mighty time, as the fokies used to say.

I was filling out the survey yesterday and, while I had a zillion or so suggestions for acts to get for future festivals (The Waco Brothers, Irma Thomas, Los Tigres del Norte, Peter Case ....) I couldn't really think of anything to write under the category "What are we doing wrong?" Later I thought, "More trash cans around the festival grounds," but that's about it.

Like I said about the Saturday show, there seemed to be more people than ever this year. That trend continued Sunday and that's a good thing, though like I was telling Mike Koster (strongman and president for life of Thirsty Ear Festival), if this keeps up, soon people will be grumbling about the "good old days " at Thirsty Ear when the crowds weren't such a problem.

But until that day, here's my favorites from the Sunday line-up:

Dave "Honeyboy" Edwards: I don't know whether he really
was there the night Robert Johnson was murdered, but he was a lot closer to it than I was, so I won't argue that here. One thing for sure, he's probably the last of the old Mississippi blues masters performing today, maybe the last one standing who's played with Son House and Charlie Patton back in the old days, and he's still a joy to hear and behold.

Listening to Honeyboy sing and play (accompanied on harmonica by his manager Michael Frank) made me imagine what it must have been like to hear this music played at parties and back porches in rural Mississippi in the '30s. Honeyboy was joined late in his set by guitarist Louisiana Red (a relative youngster, in his '70s who'd performed at the festival on Saturday), jamming like a couple of old friends. Sometimes the songs meandered a bit, and I'm still not quite sure why he played "Catfish Blues" twice, but Hells bells, he's 91 years old!

Hazel Miller: Like T. Broussard & The Zydeco Steppers on Saturday night, this soul belter from Denver was one of the big surprises of the show. That's been one of the real joys of Thirsty Ear in recent years. Last year I discovered soul singer Earl Thomas as well as blues stomping' Tarbox Ramblers. It's the "big names" that draw people in I suppose, but it's these lesser-knowns who can deliver that make the festival a real treat.

Hazel, who has some association with Bighead Todd and the Monsters -- and said she used to have a band called Hazel Miller & The Caucasians -- plays a basic funky soul blues. There were some covers (Aretha's "Chain of Fools") and several I didn't recognize, which I'm assuming are original. But she branched out some, doing a Latin-tinged number followed with a jazzy version of the standard "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." And her between-song patter was hilarious, especially when she talked about BOB, her "Battery Operated Boyfriend." She had the audience in the palm of her hands from the first song.

Bone Orchard: Chipper (pictured left with mandolin) was the utility man of this festival. Besides his own electrifying set with his band The Feast Friday night, he did a second-stage set accompanied by Kim Treiber and one with bouzouki-man Roger Landis. And on Sunday night he played a high-charged set with a Taos band Bone Orchard, led by Dan Pretends Eagle (pictured here with banjo) who also plays with The Feast, and singer Carol Morgan-Eagle.

They romped through a fine folk-rock cover of X's "Burning House of Love," a version of "Pretty Polly" (Dan called this chestnut the "Johnny B. Goode of folk festivals") which featured Chipper on some pretty psychedelic guitar; and an incredible folk gospel of Michael Franti's version of "Wayfaring Stranger."

Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men: It just doesn't get much better than this folks. Alvin's performance has reduced me to pre-teen gibberish:

He ROCKED!

HE RULED!

And in my own language: BITCHEN!

The Guiltys were joined by none their than Chris Gaffney of the Hacienda Brothers (pictured at left with accordion) who opened the set before Alvin emerged with a song about Albuquerque. My only complain about the whole set is that Alvin should have let Gaffney sing "Volver, Volver."

Alvin's songs relied heavily on tunes from his latest album West of the West -- "Redneck Friend," "Surfer Girl," "Between the Cracks," and Merle Haggard's "Kern River," (which Greg Brown also sang the day before. But some of my favorite songs he did Sunday were from his previous album Ashgrove -- "Out of Control," a classic Alvin tale from the American underbelly, and the title song, which not only is a tribute to the blues greats he used to see as a teen in L.A. , but is an affirmation of his purpose as a musician -- raising ghosts on the stage.


Goshen: Grant Hayunga and the Palmer Brothers Jim & Bill (the male half of Hundred Year Flood) are energetic enough to follow Dave Alvin and original enough to take you to another dimension. The group played an intense set which featured old songs and some from an upcoming album.

How can you describe Goshen? This is what people who condemn the blues hear right before they die and go to Hell. Grant plays slide guitar, Bill does keyboards (that sometimes crept merrily into Addams Family territory Sunday) and Jim drums. Last night he was pounding like a madman. What a great way to end the festival.

THIRSTY EAR FESTIVAL: SATURDAY

For my Thirsty Ear Photos CLICK HERE


The big news: It didn't rain.

The winds kicked up a few times, and by early evening it started getting pretty cold for early September, but the Thirsty Ear Festival was spared of actual rain on Saturday and for that, everyone was grateful.

The other big news: The joint was packed!

I've attended every Thirsty Ear Festival and I've never seen as many people at the J.W. Eaves Ranch as I did yesterday. It looks as though all these years of persistence for Mike Koster -- including some heartbreakingly meager turnouts at some festivals past -- are starting to pay off.

And here's the good news for the future -- there were plenty of good, and some great performances Saturday to create enough positive word-of-mouth to ensure good turnouts in years to come.

Here's my favorite performances on Saturday:

T. Broussard & The Zydeco Steppers: When I first heard a radio ad about this year's festival, I thought I heard "Zydeco Strippers." So I was disappointed when a bunch of guys came out. But that feeling didn't last very long. These guys roared! Broussard (pictured above) is an accordion maniac and the band seemed to play nearly nonstop. People were dancing not only up by the stage, but even the vendors in front of their tents couldn't keep from shaking it. The Steppers played a number of zydeco standards -- "My Toot Toot," "Jambalaya," etc. and a lot of French-language tunes. But there also some surprising covers, including Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" and Wa's "Cisco Kid."

The Steppers made one major misstep: They didn't bring any CDs to hawk. They easily could have sold a couple of hundred. I bet a lot more festival-goers are looking for Boussard's web site right now than are reading this blog.


Greg Brown: Some folks were hoping that Brown was bringing his guitar buddy Bo Ramsey. But that wasn't to be. Greg played solo, but it was still a fine set. His deep laconic drawl (think Leonard Cohen as Uncle Remus) is irresistible. And his between-song patter is half the fun.

His set consisted of a lot of favorites ("Boom Town" is a natural Santa Fe hit), plus a good selection from his new album The Evening Call.

Eddie Turner: Guitar hotshot Turner was just what the festival needed when he started his afternoon set. At the risk of offending every sensitive female in Santa Fe, I'm not that huge of a Be Good Tanyas fan. Their music is pretty and I can take them one song at a time, but a whole set of their low-key Canadian folk, I was starting to feel a little drowsy.

But guitar stud Turner cranked it up immediately with his Hendrix/Jeff Beck drenched hard-rocking blues. (He did a sizzling cover of one of J. Beck's instrumentals Saturday.)

Turner was the guitarist for Otis Taylor until a couple of years ago. He's not nearly the songwriter that Taylor is. Then again, Taylor's sound has suffered since Turner's departure.

Turner's new album has a rather twisted title: The Turner Diaries. If only Tim McVeigh been into Eddie Turner than that other Turner Diaries!

Trilobite: This Albuquerque-based group has one of the most unique instrumental line-ups: Banjo, trombone, cello, stand-up bass -- and on Saturday they were joined by The Handsome Family's Brett Sparks on musical saw.

Mark Lewis, the banjo man, is an excellent songwriter, as he shows on the group's self-titled album. It was great to hear my favorite songs from that album -- "Caves of Burgundy" and "Man of God" live.

I spoke briefly with Rennie Sparks of The Handsome Family following Trilobite's set. She said she'd like the Handsomes to play Thirsty Ear. Maybe next year.



Josh Martin & The Santa Fe Supergroup: OK, I crapped out before the end of this late-night bluegrass set. But what I saw just reminded me of a lot of the things I love about the Santa Fe music scene. I like seeing relative new kids like Josh and Ben Wright playing beside oldtimers like stand-up bass queen Janice Mohr and Jerry Faires, who joined the group for a few songs

The Sunday chapter of the festival will begin in a few hours, Honeyboy Edwards, Dave Alvin, Goshen, etc.