Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
'Member Me?!
I realize that even at my best I wasn't exactly lighting the blogosphere on fire, but I still feel a bit guilty about not posting for a looooooong time now. Sorry imaginary audience...and sorry to Andy, my older brother, and a huge influence on my life. How so you ask? Well, Andy was the one that set me on my path of obsession with art, music, and other forms of expression and/or pop-culture. Damn him!! But seriously, if it weren't for him I'm not sure what I'd be into today. It could have been ugly, though I don't think so. In the age-old nature vs. nurture debate( or most debates for that matter) I think that most of the time the truth is somewhere in the middle ; neither black nor white. I feel that I would have eventually gravitated towards what I now consider to be my primary interests even without the strong, and diverse influence that Andy had on my formative years, but I might have made a few more wrong turns along the way. While maintaining straight-A's in school, as well as being involved in numerous extra-curricular activities Andy still found time to indulge his other passions of music, comic books, theatre, movies, technology, and women. I received a fine education via an egalitarian gumbo of the golden-era of mainstream and underground comic books, horror/sci-fi/B-movies and television, and "pop" music ranging from Spike Jones, and Al Jolson to Plastic Bertrand, and Pink Floyd along with musical and movie soundtracks amongst other oddities. Thanks Andy! You are very appreciated for that reason and many more.
While my brother Charles was also an influence, primarily in the form of a surreal sense of humour, and his hard rock, and occasional new-wave records (Devo, Talking Heads), Andy was without a doubt the one that ended up making the most indelible mark on my soul. Just for exposing me to the Church of the Subgenius he should be either celebrated or damned depending on your perspective. After Andy I'd have to say that Scott Franzke and Colin Bolinger were the biggest influences, and later a revolving cast of characters from what would be called the punk/new wave/skateboarding scene, and of course Bob Hudspeth; David Breihan, and Mandon Maloney certainly get honorable mentions for the skatepunk trip. College brought a whole other cast of characters that will have to wait for now. But enough about people from my past that you don't know, let's talk about people from the present that you don't know either.
I can't go any further without acknowledging the life and passing of Freddy Fender who was part of the soundtrack of my childhood, and one of my musical heroes along with the rest of the Texas Tornadoes in my adulthood. Joe Belock of WFMU has put together a brief but effective tribute to Freddy on his Three Chord Monte program which can be found here(scroll down): http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/20755. Music has become an even bigger part of my life in recent months primarily due to the fact that my band is playing shows more regularly now with the new, solidified line-up. Saddle Tramp now consists of Chad Bennet on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Anthony Hernandez on lead-mandolin/accordion/bajo sexto/backing vocals, William "The Finger" Pollard on bass, and yours truly, the Pickin' Polack on lead guitar/backing vocals. It's really getting to be a lot of fun, and I believe we sound better than ever. William, and Anthony are both exceptionally good musicians and quite personable as well. They are the glue that allows Chad and I to justify having a band at all. Anthony plays in another band called Mule Dixon, that happened to be one of the bands we opened for at our recent show at Club Dada, and William is a veteran of many Denton-related bands ranging from the infamous Cornhole, to the recently defunct Budapest One. Mule Dixon is a very polished act comprised primarily of acoustic guitar, mandolin, hand percussion and of course vocals provided by Nick Ippolilitti and Anthony. Cool, gritty and folkish with a narrative bent. Definitely worth checking out. There were two other bands that played that night but for some reason the Places, which were scheduled to go on third ended up playing last but that seemed to work out for the best as they didn't quite fit in with the decidedly roots/folk/country/hillbilly vibe that seemed to be the common thread between the rest of us. Garland's Fish Fry Bingo rounded out the rural portion of the evening nicely with their stripped down, old-timey/bluegrass/folk sound. Stand-up bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals were all they needed to win over the sparse crowd( hey it's Tuesday night!) at Dada. That along with their infectious energy, quirky stage presence, and in some cases appearance (but hey look at me!) made for a memorable performance. Apparently they enjoyed our set as much as we enjoyed theirs as they invited us to play with them at Muddy Waters next month. The lead singer, whose name I believe is Daniel paid us a huge compliment by saying we reminded him of Doug Sahm, as well as the Flying Burrito Brothers. Now I'm going to take that with a grain of salt, but I did tell him that I could die peacefully after hearing it. Sadly, the Places came on to a very small crowd that had just been bombarded with three rootsy acts and though they were interesting and inventive I doubt it was one of their best shows. They would have faired far better in Denton, but they may already know that.
Almost forgot to mention that we played with a cool band from Arkansas(Fayetteville I think) called the Saddle Burrs couple of weeks back at the Bar of Soap. It was supposed to be the Dallas premiere of a movie made by a friend, or indirect friend of both bands but due to technical difficulties the movie wasn't happening, but that didn't stop the "Saddle Gang" from making a ruckus. We might do it again but for real so I'll keep you posted. And now for some pathetic complaints to round out the post...I missed yet another Gonerfest in Memphis last month. This was the third multi-day concert put on by Goner Records, which might be the epicenter for the modern underground rock and roll/garage/punk scene. The best thing about these guys is that they don't forget their roots so local Memphis musicians, and international musicians that are only loosely related in style all share the same stage. I hear that much like the Ponderosa Stomp, Rockin' Enocki the one-man band from Japan was the star of the show in the opinion of many. This would be the reason that he is pictured at the top of the page. Well, that and the fact that it's one of my favorites from my trip to Memphis in May, and it prevents me from the shameless self-promotion of putting a picture of Saddle Tramp up there. But you just wait...
http://www.myspace.com/muledixon
http://www.myspace.com/fishfrybingo
http://www.myspace.com/saddleburrs
http://www.myspace.com/saddletramp
While my brother Charles was also an influence, primarily in the form of a surreal sense of humour, and his hard rock, and occasional new-wave records (Devo, Talking Heads), Andy was without a doubt the one that ended up making the most indelible mark on my soul. Just for exposing me to the Church of the Subgenius he should be either celebrated or damned depending on your perspective. After Andy I'd have to say that Scott Franzke and Colin Bolinger were the biggest influences, and later a revolving cast of characters from what would be called the punk/new wave/skateboarding scene, and of course Bob Hudspeth; David Breihan, and Mandon Maloney certainly get honorable mentions for the skatepunk trip. College brought a whole other cast of characters that will have to wait for now. But enough about people from my past that you don't know, let's talk about people from the present that you don't know either.
I can't go any further without acknowledging the life and passing of Freddy Fender who was part of the soundtrack of my childhood, and one of my musical heroes along with the rest of the Texas Tornadoes in my adulthood. Joe Belock of WFMU has put together a brief but effective tribute to Freddy on his Three Chord Monte program which can be found here(scroll down): http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/20755. Music has become an even bigger part of my life in recent months primarily due to the fact that my band is playing shows more regularly now with the new, solidified line-up. Saddle Tramp now consists of Chad Bennet on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Anthony Hernandez on lead-mandolin/accordion/bajo sexto/backing vocals, William "The Finger" Pollard on bass, and yours truly, the Pickin' Polack on lead guitar/backing vocals. It's really getting to be a lot of fun, and I believe we sound better than ever. William, and Anthony are both exceptionally good musicians and quite personable as well. They are the glue that allows Chad and I to justify having a band at all. Anthony plays in another band called Mule Dixon, that happened to be one of the bands we opened for at our recent show at Club Dada, and William is a veteran of many Denton-related bands ranging from the infamous Cornhole, to the recently defunct Budapest One. Mule Dixon is a very polished act comprised primarily of acoustic guitar, mandolin, hand percussion and of course vocals provided by Nick Ippolilitti and Anthony. Cool, gritty and folkish with a narrative bent. Definitely worth checking out. There were two other bands that played that night but for some reason the Places, which were scheduled to go on third ended up playing last but that seemed to work out for the best as they didn't quite fit in with the decidedly roots/folk/country/hillbilly vibe that seemed to be the common thread between the rest of us. Garland's Fish Fry Bingo rounded out the rural portion of the evening nicely with their stripped down, old-timey/bluegrass/folk sound. Stand-up bass, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals were all they needed to win over the sparse crowd( hey it's Tuesday night!) at Dada. That along with their infectious energy, quirky stage presence, and in some cases appearance (but hey look at me!) made for a memorable performance. Apparently they enjoyed our set as much as we enjoyed theirs as they invited us to play with them at Muddy Waters next month. The lead singer, whose name I believe is Daniel paid us a huge compliment by saying we reminded him of Doug Sahm, as well as the Flying Burrito Brothers. Now I'm going to take that with a grain of salt, but I did tell him that I could die peacefully after hearing it. Sadly, the Places came on to a very small crowd that had just been bombarded with three rootsy acts and though they were interesting and inventive I doubt it was one of their best shows. They would have faired far better in Denton, but they may already know that.
Almost forgot to mention that we played with a cool band from Arkansas(Fayetteville I think) called the Saddle Burrs couple of weeks back at the Bar of Soap. It was supposed to be the Dallas premiere of a movie made by a friend, or indirect friend of both bands but due to technical difficulties the movie wasn't happening, but that didn't stop the "Saddle Gang" from making a ruckus. We might do it again but for real so I'll keep you posted. And now for some pathetic complaints to round out the post...I missed yet another Gonerfest in Memphis last month. This was the third multi-day concert put on by Goner Records, which might be the epicenter for the modern underground rock and roll/garage/punk scene. The best thing about these guys is that they don't forget their roots so local Memphis musicians, and international musicians that are only loosely related in style all share the same stage. I hear that much like the Ponderosa Stomp, Rockin' Enocki the one-man band from Japan was the star of the show in the opinion of many. This would be the reason that he is pictured at the top of the page. Well, that and the fact that it's one of my favorites from my trip to Memphis in May, and it prevents me from the shameless self-promotion of putting a picture of Saddle Tramp up there. But you just wait...
http://www.myspace.com/muledixon
http://www.myspace.com/fishfrybingo
http://www.myspace.com/saddleburrs
http://www.myspace.com/saddletramp
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Lazy Lester, Lil' Buck Sinegal, and Barbara Lynn(above)!
I need to say that I don't consider myself to be (TOO big of) an expert on "popular" music by any definition. However, I am a somewhat obessive fan of that nebulous genre and in recent years my tastes have gravitated even more so towards what might be called "roots music". This would be the seminal stuff that is now considered to be the template for rock and roll. I say this to distinguish myself from the true authorities, some of which I met recently during an eye-opening set of performances. I got back from Memphis weeks ago now so I think my brain has had time to process the whole trip; particularly the 3 nights of incredible music known as The Stomp. I'm glad I went on this vacation all by my lonesome for multiple reasons, but the main benefit was only being accountable to myself. I'm the kinda guy that worries whether my friends are having a good time at a show, and that can hinder my enjoyment at times. As the only people I had ever approached some semblance of communication with previously were folks from the Garagepunk.com forums I was free of any interruption in my music-watching regiment. It was very nice to meet this group in three-dimensions, as opposed to a reconfigured batch of 1's and 0's. We seemed to have a bit of an instant kinship, or maybe they were just very cool and friendly people with somewhat similar interests. I guess I just don't meet people like this in Dallas much.
I'm a pretty open-minded fella when it comes to music but at the same time I do tend to filter things through punk if you catch my drift. What I mean is that I tend to like a live performance to be upbeat or at least heartfelt, and passionate. If you leave the edges slightly ragged and try to remember that fire in your belly, even better. With this in mind, and with the large amount of legendary perfomers on the bill I will attempt to mention the highlights of the show. Ironically, the first night of the three was in my opinion the best over-all, and the hands-down showstopper of the evening was Tammy Lynn's extended version of "Mojo Hana". If you witnessed this and were able to control your body then you might already be dead. Lil' Buck Sinegal and the Topcats, with Stanley "Buckwheat Zydeco" Dural on Hammond B3( with Leslie speakers) were the backing band I saw and enjoyed the most over the course of all the nights. They backed a rotating cast of front men and women that would make most records geeks shivver in their Beatle-boots. It was impressive to watch them jump right into songs they may or may not even know with the most minimal of instruction, and no rehearsal. Deke Dickerson and the Eccofonics were the second most active backing band of the event and they did a great job too.
Al "Carnival Time" Johnson's signature song seemed to get people in good spirits, and Texas' own Roy Head was a particularly dynamic, and charismatic performer. I heard that after his Ballroom set he walked straight up to perhaps the only black dude in that audience and said "Pretty good for a white boy, huh?" Jay Chevalier, and what little I witnessed of vocal group The Climates were terriffic as well but the other first night performance that will stand out the most after Tammy Lynns's will be The Alarm Clocks. This probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were the only "Garage" group of the evening, but they did not dissappoint. Of all the garage bands on the bill they seemed to "get it" the most. The fact that they did some new numbers didn't distract from their blast of primal '60's punk. I might even buy the new album! The Bad Roads were in a tough spot following up the Clocks performance, and their standard bar-band set made me head to the Lounge stage to see what I was missing.
I decided to show up late the 2nd night to conserve energy, and that turned out to be a mistake. I got there in time to see B.B. Cunningham backed by James (Telecaster-whiz) Burton which was very cool, but I had missed what was apparently a pretty smokin' set by Dallas' own Kenny and the Kasuals. Well Kenny and the boys are playing around the corner at their usual haunt tonight so I guess I finally need to go check them out. Lady Bo(to right), who was the female counterpart and partner to Bo Diddley was fun if not a bit reliant on the novelty people seem to enjoy when a woman plays guitar. She did look extremely cool! Novelty seemed to be the motivating factor behind the inclusion of Arch Hall, Jr. as well but I wasn't complaining. Arch is most famous for a handful of B-movies from the '60's, one of which was immortalized by the TV show Mystery Science Theatre 3000...EEGAH!! The stars of the night had to be Travis "Scratchy" Wammack(below left), and The Fabulous Wailers without question. Travis was a child prodigy guitarist from Memphis who started out a little bit Link Wray and ended up a lot badass. He looks like Kenny Rogers now but that didn't stop him from backing up many an artist at Muscle Shoals and many other fine recording studios, or from ripping it up at the Stomp. The crowd went nuts when we did his instrumentals, and even seemed to enjoy most of his stuff with vocals. The addition of his son "Monkey" on drums was a nice touch. William Bell was a veritable "how to" on stage presence and what a great singer. I nearly had tears in my eyes when he did "You don't miss your water." The Wailers headlined the main stage that night and I feel lucky to have seen these living legends. They were the inspiration for what many consider to be the first proper "Garage" group, the Sonics. The Wailers were known across the Pacific Northwest for their amped up shows and the young Sonics were inspired to take that energy to the next level in turn creating a template for future raw, rock and roll, and punk. That Hammond really paid for itself by the end of the night, and I was a bit jealous that I didn't get to see these cats in their youth, because if they rocked this hard as "senior citizens" I can only imagine the shows they used to put on.
On the 3rd night I was dissappointed to learn that Barrence Whitfield, and The Rebirth Brass Band had cancelled for various reasons but not to fear, Rockin' Enoki was near. I had actually already seen this wonderful man from Japan play twice in the past couple of days at in-store performances at Goner Records, and Shangri-La Records respectively so I didn't check out much of his last minute, fill-in lobby set at the Stomp. I guess I missed one of the highlights of the show but there was just to much going on so I headed off to check out what else was happenin'. I do think it was very cool for everyone, Enoki included, that he came to the event as an observer and ended up playing to a very receptive crowd. He's primarily known for his own band Jackie and the Cedrics, and stayed two doors down from me at the hotel...cool! Memphis' own (Monsieur)Jeffrey Evans was a lot of fun at Shangri-La as well. Backed by wisecracking Ross Johnson on drums he held the small, ethusiastic crowd captive. Corpus Christi's Zakary Thaks were a cool blast of '60's garage, but their singer seems to have forgotten that it's encouraged to move around in rock and roll. Still sounded great, though. Sleepy LaBeef, The Tennessee Three, and Fillmore Slim were enjoyable as well but the real standouts as expected on this evening were the sets by Barbara Lynn, Clarence "Frogman" Henry and Dallas' own Bobby Patterson. Corpus Christi's Barbara Lynn was only able to do a few songs due to arthritis but don't let that influence your mental picture of her appearance, abilities, or performance that night. I'm not sure how old she is but she looks great and I can only wish that I was half the guitarist that she is. I won't try to pretend that I could write or sing like her either. I'll go see her again anytime if it's within a couple hundred miles or so. It's really hard to describe the magic feeling that this type of performer brings so I'll just say she kicked ass. Lazy Lester( whose song Ponderosa Stomp was the inspiration for the events moniker)even sat-in with Barbara despite cancelling for mysterious reasons. The Frogman was literally infectious with his big, genuine smile and fun, friendly demeanor. He's getting up in years, needing the assistance of a walker but when he took to his feet for certain songs you would never know it. He almost looks younger than I do now, and he is one hell of an entertainer. Like at many moments during this show I felt like I was living a piece of history. I mean how often do you get to see the original artists do their own hit songs? He treated the crowd to wonderful version of "I ain't got a home" complete with his patented "baby-girl" voice and "Frogman" voice. Lots of Fun! Bobby Patterson closed the show with a very engaging performance and lots of down home asides and hilarious anecdotes. The guy was at home in his element and looking very dapper with his embroidered Tweety Bird vest. I hope he plays around here sometime, as he's a dj at local AM station Soul 730 KKDA (You've got a friend.)
The whole experience was too much, and certainly beyond description. Bonus photos of The Fabulous Wailers, Arch "Wild Guitar" Hall, and Jeffrey Evans with Ross Johnson at Shangri La Records
I'm a pretty open-minded fella when it comes to music but at the same time I do tend to filter things through punk if you catch my drift. What I mean is that I tend to like a live performance to be upbeat or at least heartfelt, and passionate. If you leave the edges slightly ragged and try to remember that fire in your belly, even better. With this in mind, and with the large amount of legendary perfomers on the bill I will attempt to mention the highlights of the show. Ironically, the first night of the three was in my opinion the best over-all, and the hands-down showstopper of the evening was Tammy Lynn's extended version of "Mojo Hana". If you witnessed this and were able to control your body then you might already be dead. Lil' Buck Sinegal and the Topcats, with Stanley "Buckwheat Zydeco" Dural on Hammond B3( with Leslie speakers) were the backing band I saw and enjoyed the most over the course of all the nights. They backed a rotating cast of front men and women that would make most records geeks shivver in their Beatle-boots. It was impressive to watch them jump right into songs they may or may not even know with the most minimal of instruction, and no rehearsal. Deke Dickerson and the Eccofonics were the second most active backing band of the event and they did a great job too.
Al "Carnival Time" Johnson's signature song seemed to get people in good spirits, and Texas' own Roy Head was a particularly dynamic, and charismatic performer. I heard that after his Ballroom set he walked straight up to perhaps the only black dude in that audience and said "Pretty good for a white boy, huh?" Jay Chevalier, and what little I witnessed of vocal group The Climates were terriffic as well but the other first night performance that will stand out the most after Tammy Lynns's will be The Alarm Clocks. This probably had a lot to do with the fact that they were the only "Garage" group of the evening, but they did not dissappoint. Of all the garage bands on the bill they seemed to "get it" the most. The fact that they did some new numbers didn't distract from their blast of primal '60's punk. I might even buy the new album! The Bad Roads were in a tough spot following up the Clocks performance, and their standard bar-band set made me head to the Lounge stage to see what I was missing.
I decided to show up late the 2nd night to conserve energy, and that turned out to be a mistake. I got there in time to see B.B. Cunningham backed by James (Telecaster-whiz) Burton which was very cool, but I had missed what was apparently a pretty smokin' set by Dallas' own Kenny and the Kasuals. Well Kenny and the boys are playing around the corner at their usual haunt tonight so I guess I finally need to go check them out. Lady Bo(to right), who was the female counterpart and partner to Bo Diddley was fun if not a bit reliant on the novelty people seem to enjoy when a woman plays guitar. She did look extremely cool! Novelty seemed to be the motivating factor behind the inclusion of Arch Hall, Jr. as well but I wasn't complaining. Arch is most famous for a handful of B-movies from the '60's, one of which was immortalized by the TV show Mystery Science Theatre 3000...EEGAH!! The stars of the night had to be Travis "Scratchy" Wammack(below left), and The Fabulous Wailers without question. Travis was a child prodigy guitarist from Memphis who started out a little bit Link Wray and ended up a lot badass. He looks like Kenny Rogers now but that didn't stop him from backing up many an artist at Muscle Shoals and many other fine recording studios, or from ripping it up at the Stomp. The crowd went nuts when we did his instrumentals, and even seemed to enjoy most of his stuff with vocals. The addition of his son "Monkey" on drums was a nice touch. William Bell was a veritable "how to" on stage presence and what a great singer. I nearly had tears in my eyes when he did "You don't miss your water." The Wailers headlined the main stage that night and I feel lucky to have seen these living legends. They were the inspiration for what many consider to be the first proper "Garage" group, the Sonics. The Wailers were known across the Pacific Northwest for their amped up shows and the young Sonics were inspired to take that energy to the next level in turn creating a template for future raw, rock and roll, and punk. That Hammond really paid for itself by the end of the night, and I was a bit jealous that I didn't get to see these cats in their youth, because if they rocked this hard as "senior citizens" I can only imagine the shows they used to put on.
On the 3rd night I was dissappointed to learn that Barrence Whitfield, and The Rebirth Brass Band had cancelled for various reasons but not to fear, Rockin' Enoki was near. I had actually already seen this wonderful man from Japan play twice in the past couple of days at in-store performances at Goner Records, and Shangri-La Records respectively so I didn't check out much of his last minute, fill-in lobby set at the Stomp. I guess I missed one of the highlights of the show but there was just to much going on so I headed off to check out what else was happenin'. I do think it was very cool for everyone, Enoki included, that he came to the event as an observer and ended up playing to a very receptive crowd. He's primarily known for his own band Jackie and the Cedrics, and stayed two doors down from me at the hotel...cool! Memphis' own (Monsieur)Jeffrey Evans was a lot of fun at Shangri-La as well. Backed by wisecracking Ross Johnson on drums he held the small, ethusiastic crowd captive. Corpus Christi's Zakary Thaks were a cool blast of '60's garage, but their singer seems to have forgotten that it's encouraged to move around in rock and roll. Still sounded great, though. Sleepy LaBeef, The Tennessee Three, and Fillmore Slim were enjoyable as well but the real standouts as expected on this evening were the sets by Barbara Lynn, Clarence "Frogman" Henry and Dallas' own Bobby Patterson. Corpus Christi's Barbara Lynn was only able to do a few songs due to arthritis but don't let that influence your mental picture of her appearance, abilities, or performance that night. I'm not sure how old she is but she looks great and I can only wish that I was half the guitarist that she is. I won't try to pretend that I could write or sing like her either. I'll go see her again anytime if it's within a couple hundred miles or so. It's really hard to describe the magic feeling that this type of performer brings so I'll just say she kicked ass. Lazy Lester( whose song Ponderosa Stomp was the inspiration for the events moniker)even sat-in with Barbara despite cancelling for mysterious reasons. The Frogman was literally infectious with his big, genuine smile and fun, friendly demeanor. He's getting up in years, needing the assistance of a walker but when he took to his feet for certain songs you would never know it. He almost looks younger than I do now, and he is one hell of an entertainer. Like at many moments during this show I felt like I was living a piece of history. I mean how often do you get to see the original artists do their own hit songs? He treated the crowd to wonderful version of "I ain't got a home" complete with his patented "baby-girl" voice and "Frogman" voice. Lots of Fun! Bobby Patterson closed the show with a very engaging performance and lots of down home asides and hilarious anecdotes. The guy was at home in his element and looking very dapper with his embroidered Tweety Bird vest. I hope he plays around here sometime, as he's a dj at local AM station Soul 730 KKDA (You've got a friend.)
The whole experience was too much, and certainly beyond description. Bonus photos of The Fabulous Wailers, Arch "Wild Guitar" Hall, and Jeffrey Evans with Ross Johnson at Shangri La Records