<<

JOHN THE REVEALATOR FREEFORM AMERICAN #107 ROOTS BIRTHS & DEATHS REVIEWS &&&&& Cor not) JOSH ALAN FRIEDMAN JIM STRINGER & THE AM BAND ABI TAPIA

\ ERIC HISAW Nature of the Eric d e liv e r s his b e st a l b u m to-date w ith 13 n e w ORIGINALS INCLUDING “CHEAP LIVING”, “SHOUT OUT Lo u d ” a n d “To m o r r o w ”.

"AT ANOTHER TIME, HlSAW, LONG BASED IN A u s t i n , c o u l d h a v e b e e n d e s c r i b e d a s COUNTRY-ROCK, WITH THE EMPHASIS ON ROCK, BUT HIS COMBINATION OF LITERACY AND GRIT MAKES AMERICANA A RATHER MORE USEFUL LABEL THAN USUAL. I’VE SAID THIS BEFORE, BUT IT BEARS REPEATING BECAUSE IT’S THE SOURCE OF HlSAW’S STRENGTH, WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING ABOUT CLASS LIFE, HE’S NOT

V *ÊÊÊÈÊÊmÊ£?r~' -} V- YOUR USUAL OVER-PRIVILEGED MIDDLE CLASS STRIVING FOR DOWNWARD MOBILITY, HE’S THE REAL THING, WITH THE RAGGED EDGE OF AUTHENTICITY. THINK OF HIM AS THE a n t i -Ja m e s T a y l o r . ” JOHN CONQUEST'/ THIRD C O A S T M USIC

www.saustexmedia.com © ® # bumstcle distribution corporation

SAUSTEX & S.A. MUSIC GRINDER PRESENT... Saustex & Jovita's present... RICK BROUSSARD 8c TWO HOOTS ERIC HISAW BAND AND A HOLLER the "Tex-Mex Beatles' CELEBRATING THE RELEASE OF HIS NEW ITDAVOT AG “Na t u r e o f t h e B l u e s ”... I a H a i U L a 9 PLUS A VERY SPECIAL GUEST ERIC HISAW BAND Making a rare appearance and recording live... P l u s t h e l o v e l y a n d t a l e n t e d ... RICH MINUS JANE BOND ¿Tins s t a y o n t h e s i d e w a l k b o y s Friday July 18th SAW SABA COUNTY SAM’S _ FRIDAY JULY 25th _ BURGER JOIN 3 3 0 E .G r a y s o n at Br o a d w a y o v i t a s a n n t o n io e x a s 1619J South First St. Austin, TX 78704 512-447-7825’ S A , T 210-223-2830

/ FREEFORM AMERICAN ROOTS #107 REAL MUSIC PLAYED FOR REAL PEOPLE BY REAL DJS d u r in g J u n e 2 0 0 8

#1 J im S tringer & T he AM B and: [V r HÎÏÏ«! T riskaioekaphilia pJayinc OU» ci (Music Room) *BL/*CP/*DF/*GM/*JH/*KD/*LB/*LMG/*MN/*NA/ *RS/*TB/*TR/*TS 2 Miss Leslie: Between The Whiskey And The Wine (Zero Label) *MP/*RH/*RM/*RT 3 Heybale: The Last Country Album (Shuffle 5) *3RC/*BR/*SH/*TF 4 Eliza Gilkyson: Beautiful World (Red House) *DD/*DJ/*ES 5 ’ I See Hawks In LA: Hallowed Ground (Big Book) *RH/*WR 6 Alejandro Escovedo: Real Animal (Back Porch) *LW/*MDT/*N&T 7 : All I Intended To Be (Nonesuch) *CR/*RJ 8 James McMurtry: Just Us Kids (Lightning Rod) *GC/*XE 9 1100 Springs: Country Jam (Palo Duro) *M M /*00 10= John Hiatt: Same Ola Man (New West) *MB/*RF The Wilders: Someone's Got to Pay (Free Dirt) *ST 11 Paul Evans: Aqua Noir (Mount Misery) 12 Hayes Carll: Trouble In Mind (Lost Highway) *CS 13= Elliott BROOD: Mountain Meadows (Six Shooter) *SB/*SR Fred Eaglesmith: Tinderbox (A Major Label) *KB 14 Randy Thompson: Further On (Jackpot) *EW 15= Band O f Heathens (BOH) *MY Crooked Still: Still Crooked (Signature Sounds) *JT 16= Arty Hill & The Long Gone Dadays: Bar O f Gold (Cow Island) *BP Miss Lauren Marie: I'm No Good Without You ( Jamboree) *DA/*DC Kimmie Rhodes: Walls Fall Down (Sunbird) *TG 17= Hacienda Brothers: Motel (self) *KF/*RV Tim Hus: Bush Pilot Buckaroo (Stony Plain) ’*'BS/*RA 18 Chip Taylor: New Sounds O f Freedom (Train Wreck) *AA 19= Rachel Harrington: City Of Refuge (Skinny Dennis) *JB RG Stark: Not Crazy Tonight (La Linda) *JS 20 Red Molly: Love And Other Tragedies (self) 21 Stephen Clair: What Luck (self)^BB 22= NQ Arbuckle: XOK (Six Shooter) *JR : Wheels (Rounder) *MA 23 Scotland Barr & the Slow Drags:AII the Great Aviators Agree (Monkey Barr) *RC 24= Angel Band: With Roots & Winas (Appleseed) Chatham County Line: IV (Yep Roc) 25= & Joel Guzman: Live Cactus! (Rack 'Em) Feufollet: Cow Island Hop (Valcour) *AG Loose Acoustic Trio: Sorrow Be Gone (Biq Book) *PP 26= The Belleville Outfit: Wanderin' (self) *GF Chuckanut Drive: Fidelity Grange (Ragtown) *R78 Dr John: City That Care Forgot (429)^JP Old 97's: Blame It On Gravity (New West) Otis Taylor: Recapturing The (Telarc) *DWT Railroad Earth: Amen Corner (SCI Fidelity) *MF

Compact Discs Records * Video WATERLOO m t a - 1SM1 Sun 8*KMfc Nk»r*N ’LMMftr YX T*T&a

w M e m m u s i c s t i l l m a t t e r s

*XX = D J’s A l b u m o f th e M o n t h Freeform American Roots is compiled from reports provided by 140 freeform DJs. More information can be found at http://tcmnradio.com/far/ theswindles.com [email protected] Jim STRIMBR ' M r t ( W y . m io TH« m n kufiiiD

www.cdbaby.com “Top 7 CD 2008” www.villagerecords.com Hal Bogerd www.texasmusicroundup.com hickorywind.com See Jim Stringer & the AM Band live: Every Tuesday at Ginny’s Little Longhorn, 9pm; July 5, Patsy’s Cowgirl Cafe, 8pm; July 3 1st, Patsy’s, Cowgirl Cafe, 8pm. And don’t forget, Jim’s Country Jam on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at “R.G. Stark...chronicles his border-state life with such W aterloo Ice House, 38th & Medical Parkway... all in Austin, TX. aplomb that it’s a wonder he hasn’t been picked up on yet be the legions of and A HAC€ fOU GO O D TEXAS MUSXt .the music room acolytes.” Fred Mills, Harp M agazine/blurt.com * a u s t » n tc cs x rt s **** Four Stars, John Conquest, 3rd Coast Music (512) 302-0766 www.musicroom.org cd ba b v. co m/rq sta rk rqstark.com Since 1987 Cektsrating 20 years W E ’VE Buy-Self-Trade MOVED! 2928 Suadaiupc now at A m f'm , T m . 78705 2213 S 1st, (512) 222-0660 Austin, TX lP s-C t> s-45 S“ 7 Ss- Pasters- Wog« RETRSVOGUe 78704 8fiues-J«ucr-ftack-fihli - Texas -Zydeco - Cm m fry & RELICS www. antonesrecordshop. com 5 12/442-4446 You can update your web site yourself AND have your own custom design.

'CAFE AND BAR* Want to add & update your own gigs, write a blog, upload photos to your on-line scrapbook, post the latest news, and modify it anytime from anywhere? Sat 5th ABI TAPIA, BETTY SOO, JESS KLEIN & More Don't know a scrap of HTML? Don't want to puzzle out a generic-looking Wed 9th BEPPE GAMBETTA Thu 1 Oth SISTERS MORALES template? No problem! websiteCOPILOT is easy to use and as unique as you are. Sat 12 th DARDEN SMITH Wed 16th BARBARA K HiMgfcfrja w e b s it e COPILOT Wed 23 rd SUSAN Frl 25 th JIMMY WEBB FARM Site Design, Hosting, Domain Names & much, much more. Friends of Sat 26 th JIMMY LaFAVE American Affordable Rates for & Small Businesses Roots Music www.utexas.edu/student/txunion/ ae/cactus For more information: www.websiteCOPILOT.com - 512 442-8953 JOHN THE REVEALATOR JIM STRINGER & THE AM BAND o idea how other music writers operate, but what works for me is coming T riskaidekaphilia up with an opening line, putting the mechanical bits (songs, credits) in the (Music Room middle and finally wrapping up before I hit the JC exit. Thing is, this tends ad I been thinking about hot country pickers last month, rather thar toN happen in installments, I let the album brew—or fester—in my mind, going back Hgreat all-rounders like John Inmon, Jim Stringer would definitely have been ir to the review as ideas bubble to the top, but last month I plain forgot to plug in one contention. So what does he do? Opens his latest album with a terrific revisit of Duane last section. I did get Mitch Webb’s Lonely Kind rather late in the month, so I was Eddy’s Rebel Rouser, that’s what. So much for pigeon-holing. Maybe I have a warpec a bit rushed. So a bit belated and detached, but what I intended to say was “Most taste in guitarists or maybe Austin Chronicle readers are a bunch of meatheads. Texas musicians will, at least, pay lip service to St Doug, but Mitch Webb & The but my favorite Austin pickers never seem to get any respect in the Chron’s music Swindles are just about his only true disciples.” awards, but I personally know people who put Jim Stringer at the top of their lis1 • One correction to last month’s cover story, John Inmon actually started playing of reasons for coming to Austin. As NotSXSW regular Bob Howell remarked in the with Austin bands in 1966, not, as I said, in the early 70s, thus his remark about “plenty April issue, “I’ve never seen Jim Stringer be anything less than rock solid.” The same of work, good money, big crowds” speaks to an earlier period than I implied. can be said of his CDs, one writer remarked of In M y Hand (Music Room, 2004). • Not sure why, but this month’s editorial put me in mind of a chain of used record “a 38 minute clinic on how to write, perform and engineer a real country CD,” and stores in London, back in the 80s, which put all new acquisitions in its central flagship, turning 60 hasn’t slowed him down any. The title means love of the number 13, and moving anything that didn’t sell quickly out to less and less desirable locations until of the 13 tracks, ten are originals, including the standout ‘where were yottwhen RFK they wound up in a store way the fuck down the crappy end of Portobello Road, where was assassinated?’ Chevy Headed West, Sugarfootin,’ a hot instrumental tribute tc you could, if so minded, buy almost the entire pressing of every Hawkwind, Pretty Hank Garland, and, something that’s pretty hard to find these days, a murder ballad. Things or Blodwyn Pig album and have change from a ten bob note. Which, in turn, I Saw Them Together, the other covers being Jay & the Americans’ Come A Little reminds me of the music writers’ joke about Hawkwind, that they only made one Bit Closer and The Glaser Brothers’ Rings. Backed by pianist T Jarrod Bonta, whe album, reissuing it periodically with a new title and artwork. just keeps getting better and better, Carl Keesee bass, Dave Biller pedal steel on six • Expanding a bit on this month’s cover story, one reason Steve Silbas & Barbara tracks and Karen Poston vocals on four, Stringer also plays and lapsteel. Wolfe are moving is because their lease on the original Casbeers will expire in early Invest with confidence. JC 2009 and their relationship with their landlord is not such that they really wanted to ABI TAPIA • The Beauty In The Ruin renew. The old place will stay open until they have to move out, but only for lunch. Mentioning the enchiladas reminds me that they paid a premium for the Casbeer (MoonHouse family recipe, but oldtimers told them they weren’t as good as they used to be, so they ather the catalyst for this month’s editorial, this is Tapia’s third album, you tracked down Casbeer’s widow and discovered that they’d bought a debased version, Rknow, the good one. I never heard the first, which she’s let go out of print, but a flaw they were quick to remedy. I remember taking FARster Dan Ferguson there while there wasn’t anything actually wrong with her second, made after moving tc one time and, not being able to decide between the enchildas and the burgers, he Austin, to paraphrase a very astute remark made by Lee Nichols some years ago. had both. Those Rhode Islanders sure can deal with groceries. coincidentally about another female singer-songwriter, of all the released • Given that the great died during a very slow news cycle and thus got in Austin in 2005, One Foot Out The Door was one of them. However, it did rather more coverage than one might have expected, I don’t see any need to add to bring her into the ambit of Chris Gage, who produced it, and this time round he and the many obituaries. However, I did have a notion to see how many euphemisms for Christine Albert felt strongly enough about the results to. put it out on their label, ‘got ripped off I could spot in them, starting with the obvious, ‘legendary,’ ‘pioneering,’ which, Gage & Albert being nobody’s fools, is reason enough to let her step back up ‘influenced,’ you get the idea, but then I ran into my old colleague Adam Sweeting’s to the plate. With Gage once again producing her 12 originals, also playing , piece in Britain’s The Guardian, which leaned heavily on the fact that it was other, keyboards, mandolin, and percussion, with Glenn Fukunaga bass, Eleanor and, not to put too fine a point on it, white artists, from and Buddy Whitmore violin, bruce Logan drums, Buzz Evans pedal steel and Albert background Holly to Bruce Springsteen and , who cashed in on Diddley’s genius (I will say for vocals, Tapia brims with confidence, her delivery of her country/folk/rock material The Rolling Stones that, sharing a bill with him in 1963, they dropped all their Bo Diddley both bold and nuanced. JC material as a mark of respect). The one thing I would say, because no one else did, is is that “I wear a cobra snake for a necktie” is the greatest single line in rock & roll, and Who Do You JOSH ALAN FRIEDMAN Love is the equal of anything has ever written. T ell The Truth Until They Bleed • One story that cropped up in different, mostly toned-down, versions in the obits was (Backbeat, paperback Diddley’s run-in with Ed Sullivan.Appearing on his show in 1955, Diddley was nless I missed out along the line, the last people to tell the truth about what Jerry asked to play Tennessee Ernie Ford’s hit Sixteen Tons, instead, he played Bo Diddley. Leiber calls “this rotten fuckin’ business” were Frederic Dannen (Hit Men, 1991) Afterward, Sullivan told him “You’re the first black boy that ever double-crossed me” U and William Knoedelseder (Stiffed, 1993), both of whom focussed on the monsters and vowed that he’d never work in TV again. Diddley had to be pulled back from at the top, Moe Levy, Walter Yetnikoff, Clive Davis, Irving Azoff, David Geffen et al, punching Sullivan and it was 10 years before he next played on a network show. who seemed to have a pathological need to rip off every who crossed their • Joe Specht, my man in Abilene, recalled Diddley saying, in a 2005 issue of Mojo, paths. Friedman takes a rather different approach in a book mainly made up of Dallas that he stumbled onto his trademark shave and a haircut beat by accident: “I’ve always Observer and Texas Monthly features, talking mostly to marginalized musicians like loved , and I was trying to play a song by Gene Autry, I’ve Got Spurs Doc Pomus, , , Dr John, , Keith Ferguson. That Jingle Jangle Jingle. That’s how I came up with that rhythm.” Tommy Shannon, David ‘Fathead’ Newman and Sam Myers. A couple of wild cards • Am I too hard on the Americana Music Association? Jim Beal Jr, are an 11-year old Dallas blues guitarist, like who gives a shit, and proto-outlaw Express-News music columnist and Music Director of Third Coast Music Network, country singer Rick Sikes, who can’t hardly blame the music business for the 15 certainly thinks so, though I have to say his reasoning, that the AMA does put on a years he spent in Leavenworth on account of his day job, robbing banks. However, good annual mini-festival, “like SXSW without the Swedish metal bands getting in while these pieces are interesting enough, the real meat in the book are Friedman’s the way,” and provides music writers everywhere at least one chance a year to play memoirs of his Adventures at the Bottom of the Music Trade and his brief affair with up Americana music by writing about the awards, while true enough, seems a rather Ronnie Bennett and, most of all, the book’s centerpiece, a previously unpublished, and small return on the organization’s original ambitions. Thing is, I’m not angry with absolutely fascinating, article on Jerry Leiber. Interweaving Leiber & Stoller’s heart the AMA, I’m just very, very disappointed. Still, in deference to Brother Beal, on of rock & roll history with a very lengthy, very nonlinear and extraordinarily, even this occasion I will simply list the AMA’s 2007-8 award nominees with no snarky brutally, frank and forthcoming 2007 interview, Kiss My Big Black Tokhis! is a true commentary. classic of music writing, even if Leiber now regrets opening up to Friedman. JC Album of the Year & : ; Hayes Carll: Trouble in Mind; James McMurtiy: Just Us Kids; : Dirt Farmer HACIENDA BROTHERS • Arizona Motel Artist of the Year , Levon Helm, , James McMurtiy (self &&&) Instrumentalist of the Year , Chris Thile, Gurf Morlix, uch as I hate to say it, I doubt this album, lashed together from the Brothers’ New Emerging Artist of the Year Justin Townes Earle, Mike Farris, Ryan Mlast two recordings sessions, four tracks produced by in Nashville, Bingham, The Steeldrivers ten more self-produced in Tucson, would have seen the light of day, certainly not Song of the Year Tift Merritt: Broken; James McMurtry:Cheney’s Toy; Alison so soon, if not for the tragic death of singer/accordionist last April. Krauss & Robert Plant:Gone Gone Gone; Levon Helm:Poor Old Dirt Farmer; Hayes Unashamedly a tribute to Gaff, it follows too close on the heels of one of the most Carll:She Left Me For Jesus remarkable accomplishments in roots music. Any recording featuring Gaffney and Duo/Group of the Year Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Drive By Truckers, Kane Dave Gonzalez is going to have its merits, but to truly understand the greatness ol Welch Kaplin, The Avett Brothers Chris Gaffney, you only need the sensational Music For Ranch And Town. JC July 15*

BD C Distribution www.bdcdistribution.com

9— i C % , rir- www.myspace.com/missleslieherjukejointers www.missleslie.com

HONKY TONK MUSIC? WE'VE COT IT! REAL COUNTRY, TEXAS SWING, COWBOY Coriectifar.es , 7 . w / SHUFFLES ON HARD TO FIND INDIES \ ¿ j b s .- ■ www. Honkytonkin. com Largest selection y secure online ordering, fast worldwide shipping of Austin music posters dealer inquiries 903-664-3741 and m ovie m em orabilia 5341 B:Uf?NET BO Catalogue: 2334 CR 2265, Telephone T X 75488 Jewelry - furniture - toys more Austin, IX 78756 inf o@honkytonkin. com BUY-SELL-IRADE <512) 371 -3550 Mom-Sat 10-6.30 * Sun 1 2-6 .outottfaep«Ki#e*rtMink.ne* 8106 BRODIE 10 flu/tin 512/082-0586 Southern (oui/iono Cajun Style Cafe mmm fob mme m whom mmm mmsm w PoBoy/. Gumbo. third coast mmmsmmmmimm mmmmmmm showcases saowcmssss: Gtouffe & fllore! Th u r s d a y J uly w (m m mmm mmmmfj m mm JULY IIYE music SCIIEDUIE MM PATTOM C SHERRY BROMI!*, MUM MILLER, Mmm swmommms,y mm mtscHmMPS smmmmmr m elt m SEE mmmmmME cafe (m ot brooie lame} to pm m m pmwiom c sherr y BRmmm* cleve c s w m .EynnGEiinEcnrE.com m a r y (prom w e e m y wheelsh mmmmw mmn m m pmnom c s h er r y bromo* mm eolmways mm mow (mosrmf smwommmw j w l y n (rmej

Let Tbe Good Times wwmammmmtiM » emm CASBEERS AT THE CHURCH ven its most devout regulars would have freely admitted that the legendary Henry’s Bar & Grill lacked curb appeal, would, in fact, have been considered Ean eyesore in Serbia, and I heard many stories of friends of friends who drove up, took one look and kept going. Inside, of course, was another matter—as the men’s room graffito put it, “I dreamed I went to Heaven. It wasn’t as good as Henry’s.” Similarly, Steve Silbas has been told by many of his regulars that, on first seeing the 237 W Mandalay Dr, San Antonio, TX 78212 unprepossessing security barred exterior in a rundown block on a particularly grim and routinely torn up stretch of Blanco, they almost didn’t make it through the door 210/820-3748 • [email protected] of Casbeers, “Who knows how many more never did.” publisher/edltor • John Conquest Welcome to an upgrade on the order of James & Gayle Henry taking over the Driskell Hotel bar. One thing Henry’s and Casbeers people have in common is SUBSCRIPTIO N S (12 Issues) referring to the two bars as “going to church,” but, as you may have gathered from U S/Car\ada • $18 (1st class)/$6 (email, PDFs) the cover, Steve and Barbara Wolfe are turning metaphor into reality. Their new place is the ‘mission’ style Alamo Methodist Church on South Alamo, built in 1912, Elsewhere • $30 (air mall)/$6 (email, PDFs) whose congregation disbanded in the late 60s, after which it was converted into The Church Dinner Theatre, later The Alamo Street Dinner Theatre. How many clubs, I REVIEWS CODE wonder, are listed in the National Registry of Historic Places? SPONSOR & & & $ & Killer If you don’t know San Antonio, the new Casbeers is on the edge of the historic What's not to like? King William district, smack in the heart of trendomat Southtown, worlds away from Blanco. Leaving aside the quality of the music, past and future, on a scale of one to FARM Can do better ten, the old joint is one, maybe two, the new one a big fat 10 and while it’s hard, if not Friends of Why did they bother? impossible, to adequately describe Casbeers At the Church, it’s a huge, enormous, American Piss on this noise staggering leap for Steve & Barbara, and, while I didn’t ask sordid questions about ? I don't get It what has to be a somewhat higher rent, when you see it, you’ll understand why Roots Music Barbara says, “Insanity prevailed.” % Fraction of what you pay for Thanks to Dr Paul Boskind, who fully restored the church three years ago, but has since abandoned his own plans for it, the move is almost a turnkey operation, LEARNING ON THE JOB almost meaning Steve & Barbara had a shitload of work to do to have it up and running for a July opening, little things like staffing, a music quality sound system, ome years ago, a friend remarked about a reissue, “it’s his first album, you putting in a (full) bar, figuring out a quick fix for the restaurant floor, etc, etc. The know, the good one, the one everyone liked.” Which was a far from unusual exorcism ceremony will have to wait—oh, yes, the church is also certified as haunted S summary back when major and indie labels ruled the roost; the first album by Texas Ghost Hunters. Even so, this is a place where you’d feel you ought to wear was all too often the best (if not also the last) and ‘sophomore slump’ became a cliche your Sunday best just for the weekday shows in the cafe, let alone the bigger, and precisely because it was a seemingly inevitable fact of life. soon to become even bigger, shows upstairs in the church itself, which still has the I once came across a musician quoted as saying, “You have your whole life to original pews, with not a bad sightline to be found. One huge shock f o r the o l d - t i m e r s pet ready for* your "first altum and lfi montlis ior tV»o second.” However, for llllicll is going to be the rest rooms—if you never had to use the men’s room at the old place, of the history of recorded music, a hidden clause in that quip would have stipulated I’ll spare you a graphic description, but if they were in Austin, you could rent the that someone else would decide if you were ready (or not). In olden days, every church’s facilities out as $600 a week apartments. musician, every act basically had to play every gig on the off-chance that out there The odd thing is that Steve & Barbara rather stumbled into the music club was the A&R man who could change their lives, because the cost of making, pressing, business. Steve was a truckdriver and worked on offshore oil rigs before becoming warehousing, promoting and distributing self-released LPs was, well, if you could a cook in various Austin and San Antonio restaurants, Barbara was a department afford it, you almost certainly weren’t a musician. There were vanity LP releases to store buyer but got sick of the corporate world and became a vet’s assistant. Nine be sure, but they were marginal curiosities, more realistically, there were any number years ago, both between jobs and living near Casbeers, which has been in business of self-released 45s, but LPs were the domain of record labels and it was their talent since 1932, they noticed that, only marginally open, it was for sale, so they bought it. scouts who made dreams come true (or turn into nightmares). However, they soon discovered that one drawback to running a restaurant was that The combination of being dubbed ready for prime time by professionals making they never got out to hear live music anymore, so they started off inviting their local a hardheaded business decision and getting to record your best, road-tested material favorites to come in and play and one thing led to another as word of a cool club run with the knowledge that your debut might well be your one and only shot at making by good people who paid the guarantee without any pissing and moaning, and fed it is, obviously, potent. There have, of course, been plenty of crappy ones, but there you great enchiladas and burgers, spread as rapidly as you might imagine through have also been many first albums that eventually turned out to be as good as the the world of roots music. artist or act ever got, if not better. There’s no denying that Steve & Barbara are taking a considerable risk.As I Recently, though, along with so much in the music business, this has changed. mentioned last month, San Antonio maybe the 7th largest city in America, but take Now it’s artists and acts that decide when they’re ready to make an album, which, by away all the areas where, for various socioeconomic reasons, there’s little if any odd coincidence, is usually whenever they have enough money in the bank to swing interest in roots music, basically, the East, South and West Sides, and everything it. As musicians are, between you and me, not necessarily the best judges of their own outside Loop 1604, if not Loop 410, and what’s left is about the size of Waco. Which merits, this has led to a curious reversal, now the second, or even third, self-released explains why, say, David Olney might play to maybe six people at the old Casbeers album is “the good one,” while the first, quite commonly, gets completely written out (though, at the same time, the room was not exactly ideal on the occasions when an of the script, an embarrassing faux-pas to be brushed under the carpet. act, Gatemouth Brown, for instance, did draw maximum capacity). This, obviously enough, is a somewhat flawed approach, relying, as it does, on On the plus side, apart from its sheer fabulousness inside, Casbeers At The Church the supposition that snakebit writers, DJs and punters alike will, thanks to ADD or not only has curb appeal to spare, its visibility, especially on First Friday artwalks, CRS, have forgotten the juvenilia or have so few demands on their time and money proximity to downtown and ability to stage bigger, better known acts will, one hopes, that they’re willing to forgive them and risk taking second or third chances—two generate a whole new audience, of tourists, conventioneers and, most importantly, very, very iffy propositions indeed. We may be greying, but we can still remember those locals who couldn’t quite handle parking, or even slowing down, on Blanco. shit(CSRS). In the short term, the biggest problem will be persuading bands to play to the room, A couple of months ago, Baltimore country singer/songwriter Artie Hill this is, after all, an almost too year old church, designed for a preacher to be clearly commented that being on a label “indicates—minimum—that someone is shelling heard without amplification, in other words, ideal for The Asylum Street Spankers, out their own money to promote your music. I think that makes people take you but requiring radical rethinking of their normal practice for many musicians. more seriously.” Well, I should cocoa. There have been many really remarkable self- As I’ve remarked before, the back pages of almost 20 years of Music City Texas/ released albums, some financed by people who can truly be described as angels, but 3CM are, in part, a litany of great clubs that no longer exist, Henry’s, Chicago House, they’re in the minority. Far too many wouldn’t, on purely practical grounds, be put the real La Zona Rosa, Chances, Austin Outhouse, Black Cat Lounge, Blue Bayou/Big out by the smallest, most idealistic and optimistic, indie label. Learning on the job Mamou, Red River Saloon’ the list goes on and is only the tip of an iceberg. So it’s is all very well, but one way the rest of us know you’ve finally made a good album is rather amazing to witness such a dramatic metamorphosis of a favorite club, even if if it comes through a gatekeeper—yet another reason labels will survive. JC I’ll have to drive across town instead of sliding round the corner. JC JULY 2008 Every Wednesday • Red White & Blues Jam (cafe) Fri 4th • The Swindles (patio) Sat 5th • TBA Tue 8th • Rusty Martin (cafe) A TRADITION, Fri 11th • Sisters Morales (CD release, church) Sat 12th • Michael Martin & Patricia Vonne (church) AT THE CHURCH Sun 13th • Ear Food Gospel Orchestra Gospel Brunch, 1-3pm (church) New Location Tue 15th • Open Mic w/Glenn & Kim (cafe) 1150 South Alamo Fri 18th * Mary Cutrufello (church) San Antonio, TX 78210 Sat 19th * Ruben V (church) 210/271-7791 Tue 22nd • Ruven V (cafe) Full Bar/draft beer Fri 25th • Patrice Pike (church) Beautiful Patio Sat 26th * closed for private function Expanded Menu with our famous tue 29th • Crimson Orchestra (church) Enchiladas & Burgers WWW.CasbeerS.COm

f E GM E :!>f T@S B AH S E C O M . H E T S I 2 - M19 - 01 uD

COW INLAND AUcSIC COUNTRY, ROCKABILIY, HONKY TONK, WESTERN, SWING AND A ll STOPS ALONG THE WAY M ö ö h W ö k se

Spïeadin the Sound

ACK NATE GIBSON AND THE GASHOUSE G A N G d//e ('Am«/// //> Z/e SA«/// (;«/■ //>. - jy((ir//ran<‘/'- Abi Tapia's latest hits the ai The third in Christine Albert's on MoonHouse Records!! Texafrance” series celebrating her ierlusty Americana at its finesi love of the French chanson and her Texas roots.

«”*

MoonHouse Records PO Box 41021, Austin, TX 7i P.O. BOX 51979 I BOSTON, MA 02205 www.cowislandmusic.com www.MOONHOUSERECORDS.com 11979 2.0th — JE Mainer • 1898 Weaversville, NC Cindy Walker • 1925 Mart, TX Sleepy LaBeef* 1939 Smackover, AR Jo Ann Campbell • 1938 Jacksonville, FL Jo Carol Pierce • 1944 Wellington, TX 2.1st Sara Carter • 1898 Flat Woods, VA Darde Deaville • 1962. Canada 2.3rd —Tony Joe White • 1943 Oak Grove, LA Keith Ferguson • 1946Houston, TX L i. t-Lc-a.n. Q-orrd. S