Rockin' notes from Austin
L. Kent wolgamott column
AUSTIN, Texas - Some observations from South By Southwest 2004:
n Reports of the death of the music industry are greatly exaggerated. What's really happened is that all the major labels' mistakes over the last decade have come back to haunt them.
Those errors include a bottom-line mentality that encouraged pop hitmakers over the development of career artists, leading to sales booms and busts, a failure to embrace the Internet when it became widely used and then resistance to solutions to the downloading dilemma that resulted in the PR nightmare of suing customers.
The downloading is also a result of another lamentable trend in the big-time music business: the release of CDs with more than an hour of material on them, but only a couple of good songs. No wonder people want only one or two of the tracks.
But interest in music is as high as ever - as could be seen in the record SXSW attendance, both at the conference and the festival - and the multigenerational appeal of both young and old acts. It's also worth noting that music is at its most vital when major labels are out of the way and little imprints are putting out records that aren't aimed at selling multiple millions of copies.
n There were no Lincoln bands that I know of playing here last week.But there were plenty of former Lincolnites on the scene.
Sweet Basil McJagger of the Self Righteous Brothers, aka Jon Jamison, and Hastings' own Gina Lee played a BrokenSpoken show with their band, Gina Lee and the Brisket Boys; the Head of Femur contingent made its way from Chicago to Austin for a party performance, and Sean Beste, of Happy Dog/Square, played on a Trampoline Records showcase.
n What is the point of trying to talk on a cell phone during a rock show?
n Quote of the conference:"South by Southwest is a place where bands come to have their dreams crushed, once and for all," Marah lead vocalist Dave Bielanko.
Truer words have rarely been spoken at SXSW. This year, more than 1,200 bands were vying for attention at official showcases, and there had to be 300 to 500 more at unsanctioned events. The odds of getting noticed out of that pack? Pretty slim, I'd say.
n Amid the "Keep Austin Weird" T-shirts and bumper stickers bemoaning the continuing corporatization/yuppification of the formerly funky Texas capital city emerges a ray of hope: a sticker with the Star of David in the blue field of the Texas state flag that reads "Why Not Kinky?" That Kinky being Richard "Kinky" Friedman, leader of the '70s country band The Texas Jewboys, best-selling detective novelist and all-around great American who's running, in his hilarious way, for governor.
n The Best Party I Attended: "Athens in Austin."This gathering on the patio of the Green Mesquite, one of Austin's overlooked little treasures, had good bands, great barbecue and a laidback atmosphere that was reminiscent of South By Southwest of a decade or so ago.
n The Best Shows I Saw:Little Richard, Marah, International (Noise) Conspiracy,The Flatlanders, JonDee Graham, Mary McBride and The Bottle Rockets. See my SXSW report card for more on the music.
n What I Ate in Austin: Mexican/Tex-Mex, four times; Barbecue, three times; Texas chili (string beef, no beans), once; chicken fried steak, once; deli pastrami-on-rye and blintzes, once; wings and nachos, once. Highly recommended:the chicken fried steak at the Broken Spoken, plus Katz's Deli and the Texas Chili Parlor. Best fast food: Taco Cabana.
n Only 11 months and three weeks until SXSW2005.
ReachL.Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or at kwolgamott@;journalstar.com.
Report card:
In 16 years at the SouthBy Southwest Music Conference, I've seen somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 bands. Or make that 500 sets.Because there are some bands - The Flatlanders, The Bottle Rockets, Marah and, before his passing, Sir Doug Sahm and any of his ensembles - that I see over and over and over on my trips to Austin.
With that as background, I found last week's SXSW to have one of the best musical lineups in the last few years.
In all, I saw 32 bands and one me-and-my-guitar act that I paid attention to for most of a set from Wednesday through Saturday.
There were also others where I lasted a half-song, like Scotland's Sluts of Trust, before hitting the street to catch something better and a few that just couldn't pull me away from the food, drink and conversation at the afternoon/evening parties that precede the official showcases.Hence the few really bad grades on my South by Southwest report card.
Here are the sets I watched, in the order in which I saw them:
Squad Five O. Revved up garage/power pop from a young Philadelphia band hip enough to end with the Replacements' "Bastards of the Young." B
Division of Laura Lee. Much-hyped Swedish hard-rocking garage band turned out to be dull. Could really use some melodies. C-
The VonBondies. The true heirs to the Detroit sound, this two-guy, two-girl outfit delivers dirty, snarling, uncompromised rock 'n' roll. A
International (Noise) Conspiracy. Matching outfits, great garage rock sound and moves and - get this! - they're Communists, for real, with songs like "Capitalism Stole My Virginity" and "Under A Communist Moon."A+
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. She still loves rock 'n' roll. A
Old 97s. Rootsy, bouncy, entertaining pop rock from Dallas band. B+
The Flatlanders. A little bit of magic from the Lubbock/Austin trio of Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. A+
Drive-byTruckers. A primarily acoustic set shows off the songwriting skills of Patterson Hood and company. B+
The Holmes Brothers. Soul, blues, gospel and rock 'n' roll and one of the great versions of "Amazing Grace."B+
Jack Ingram. Tasteful Lone Star country with beats, hooks and just enough rock. B
Cake. It's inexplicable to me why this boring, pretentious band is so popular in Austin. D
Little Richard. For a few exhilarating moments, it's 1956 all over again. A+
Van Hunt. Sweet, smooth soul singer. B
Gary U.S. Bonds. The '60s hitmaker has a new album and he's still got it. B+
The Populists. Energetic, tight power pop. B
TheSleepy Jackson. Psychedelic folk pop rock 'n' roll. This Australian band goes all over the place with its music, and it all sounds great. A
TheThrills. Gorgeous, keyboard-based '60s-style California pop from an Irish band, go figure. A
Sophie Raymond. This Aussie singer/songwriter turned up with her guitar while I was eating some barbecue. A pleasant surprise. B
Randall Bramlett. Southern-tinged soul rock with keyboards, sax and plenty of spirit. B
JohnDee Graham. Austin's gravelly voiced version of Tom Waits entertains with funny, touching, brilliantly written songs. A+
Delbert McClinton. Duet with Gary U.S.Bonds is one of my festival highlights. A
Dwight Yoakam. The hillbilly/honky tonk hearthrob of the '80s covers Cheap Trick, the Flatlanders and Elvis. A
Big Star. Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and company bring back one of the '70s great lost bands. B+
Kevin Kinney's Sun Tangled Angel Revival. Shambling, soulful Southern-tinged rock 'n' roll. B.
Marah. The Kids InPhilly are back. Rock 'n' roll doesn't get better than this - great cover of "What's Goin' On." A
Mary McBride. She can flat out sing the twangy blues/soul, and sideman Dan Baird is the hillbilly KeithRichards. A
Liz Phair. The week's weirdest show. The former alt. rock 'it' girl goes Britney-style sexpot but with hostility for her audience and dull songs. C
Silver. Routine glam punk from Oslo, Norway, delivered by an absolutely riveting Iggy-meets-Axl singer. B
The Damnations. Rockin', harmony filled alt. country from Austin band. B
The Bottle Rockets. The New York Times called Brian Henneman today's Woody Guthrie for good reason. Only the Bottle Rockets rock. A
AUSTIN, Texas - Some observations from South By Southwest 2004:
n Reports of the death of the music industry are greatly exaggerated. What's really happened is that all the major labels' mistakes over the last decade have come back to haunt them.
Those errors include a bottom-line mentality that encouraged pop hitmakers over the development of career artists, leading to sales booms and busts, a failure to embrace the Internet when it became widely used and then resistance to solutions to the downloading dilemma that resulted in the PR nightmare of suing customers.
The downloading is also a result of another lamentable trend in the big-time music business: the release of CDs with more than an hour of material on them, but only a couple of good songs. No wonder people want only one or two of the tracks.
But interest in music is as high as ever - as could be seen in the record SXSW attendance, both at the conference and the festival - and the multigenerational appeal of both young and old acts. It's also worth noting that music is at its most vital when major labels are out of the way and little imprints are putting out records that aren't aimed at selling multiple millions of copies.
n There were no Lincoln bands that I know of playing here last week.But there were plenty of former Lincolnites on the scene.
Sweet Basil McJagger of the Self Righteous Brothers, aka Jon Jamison, and Hastings' own Gina Lee played a BrokenSpoken show with their band, Gina Lee and the Brisket Boys; the Head of Femur contingent made its way from Chicago to Austin for a party performance, and Sean Beste, of Happy Dog/Square, played on a Trampoline Records showcase.
n What is the point of trying to talk on a cell phone during a rock show?
n Quote of the conference:"South by Southwest is a place where bands come to have their dreams crushed, once and for all," Marah lead vocalist Dave Bielanko.
Truer words have rarely been spoken at SXSW. This year, more than 1,200 bands were vying for attention at official showcases, and there had to be 300 to 500 more at unsanctioned events. The odds of getting noticed out of that pack? Pretty slim, I'd say.
n Amid the "Keep Austin Weird" T-shirts and bumper stickers bemoaning the continuing corporatization/yuppification of the formerly funky Texas capital city emerges a ray of hope: a sticker with the Star of David in the blue field of the Texas state flag that reads "Why Not Kinky?" That Kinky being Richard "Kinky" Friedman, leader of the '70s country band The Texas Jewboys, best-selling detective novelist and all-around great American who's running, in his hilarious way, for governor.
n The Best Party I Attended: "Athens in Austin."This gathering on the patio of the Green Mesquite, one of Austin's overlooked little treasures, had good bands, great barbecue and a laidback atmosphere that was reminiscent of South By Southwest of a decade or so ago.
n The Best Shows I Saw:Little Richard, Marah, International (Noise) Conspiracy,The Flatlanders, JonDee Graham, Mary McBride and The Bottle Rockets. See my SXSW report card for more on the music.
n What I Ate in Austin: Mexican/Tex-Mex, four times; Barbecue, three times; Texas chili (string beef, no beans), once; chicken fried steak, once; deli pastrami-on-rye and blintzes, once; wings and nachos, once. Highly recommended:the chicken fried steak at the Broken Spoken, plus Katz's Deli and the Texas Chili Parlor. Best fast food: Taco Cabana.
n Only 11 months and three weeks until SXSW2005.
ReachL.Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or at kwolgamott@;journalstar.com.
Report card:
In 16 years at the SouthBy Southwest Music Conference, I've seen somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 bands. Or make that 500 sets.Because there are some bands - The Flatlanders, The Bottle Rockets, Marah and, before his passing, Sir Doug Sahm and any of his ensembles - that I see over and over and over on my trips to Austin.
With that as background, I found last week's SXSW to have one of the best musical lineups in the last few years.
In all, I saw 32 bands and one me-and-my-guitar act that I paid attention to for most of a set from Wednesday through Saturday.
There were also others where I lasted a half-song, like Scotland's Sluts of Trust, before hitting the street to catch something better and a few that just couldn't pull me away from the food, drink and conversation at the afternoon/evening parties that precede the official showcases.Hence the few really bad grades on my South by Southwest report card.
Here are the sets I watched, in the order in which I saw them:
Squad Five O. Revved up garage/power pop from a young Philadelphia band hip enough to end with the Replacements' "Bastards of the Young." B
Division of Laura Lee. Much-hyped Swedish hard-rocking garage band turned out to be dull. Could really use some melodies. C-
The VonBondies. The true heirs to the Detroit sound, this two-guy, two-girl outfit delivers dirty, snarling, uncompromised rock 'n' roll. A
International (Noise) Conspiracy. Matching outfits, great garage rock sound and moves and - get this! - they're Communists, for real, with songs like "Capitalism Stole My Virginity" and "Under A Communist Moon."A+
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. She still loves rock 'n' roll. A
Old 97s. Rootsy, bouncy, entertaining pop rock from Dallas band. B+
The Flatlanders. A little bit of magic from the Lubbock/Austin trio of Joe Ely, Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. A+
Drive-byTruckers. A primarily acoustic set shows off the songwriting skills of Patterson Hood and company. B+
The Holmes Brothers. Soul, blues, gospel and rock 'n' roll and one of the great versions of "Amazing Grace."B+
Jack Ingram. Tasteful Lone Star country with beats, hooks and just enough rock. B
Cake. It's inexplicable to me why this boring, pretentious band is so popular in Austin. D
Little Richard. For a few exhilarating moments, it's 1956 all over again. A+
Van Hunt. Sweet, smooth soul singer. B
Gary U.S. Bonds. The '60s hitmaker has a new album and he's still got it. B+
The Populists. Energetic, tight power pop. B
TheSleepy Jackson. Psychedelic folk pop rock 'n' roll. This Australian band goes all over the place with its music, and it all sounds great. A
TheThrills. Gorgeous, keyboard-based '60s-style California pop from an Irish band, go figure. A
Sophie Raymond. This Aussie singer/songwriter turned up with her guitar while I was eating some barbecue. A pleasant surprise. B
Randall Bramlett. Southern-tinged soul rock with keyboards, sax and plenty of spirit. B
JohnDee Graham. Austin's gravelly voiced version of Tom Waits entertains with funny, touching, brilliantly written songs. A+
Delbert McClinton. Duet with Gary U.S.Bonds is one of my festival highlights. A
Dwight Yoakam. The hillbilly/honky tonk hearthrob of the '80s covers Cheap Trick, the Flatlanders and Elvis. A
Big Star. Alex Chilton, Jody Stephens and company bring back one of the '70s great lost bands. B+
Kevin Kinney's Sun Tangled Angel Revival. Shambling, soulful Southern-tinged rock 'n' roll. B.
Marah. The Kids InPhilly are back. Rock 'n' roll doesn't get better than this - great cover of "What's Goin' On." A
Mary McBride. She can flat out sing the twangy blues/soul, and sideman Dan Baird is the hillbilly KeithRichards. A
Liz Phair. The week's weirdest show. The former alt. rock 'it' girl goes Britney-style sexpot but with hostility for her audience and dull songs. C
Silver. Routine glam punk from Oslo, Norway, delivered by an absolutely riveting Iggy-meets-Axl singer. B
The Damnations. Rockin', harmony filled alt. country from Austin band. B
The Bottle Rockets. The New York Times called Brian Henneman today's Woody Guthrie for good reason. Only the Bottle Rockets rock. A
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