Dancing About Architecture
Not Really From L.A.
Fri., Nov. 17, 1995
If you see some unpacking going on around town while Kelly Willis is packing,
the fella you spotted moving his stuff into Austin just may be David
Rice, who's relocating from California. Don't worry, though, he's actually a
Texan. Hailing from Houston, the young singer put out a couple of albums on
that city's Justice Records. He's no stranger to this town either, and even had
a weekly residency going for awhile at Antone's a couple of years back, but
this will be his first time as an actual Austin resident. This will also be his
first time as a major label recording artist. After his relationship with
Justice dissolved, Rice got in good with Columbia Records, and as I write this
he is at the tail end of negotiations before signing a contract with them. Rice
was "kinda frazzled" from packing boxes when I spoke to him by phone, but says
he expects the deal to be done in the next few days, which means by the time
you read this, the ink will most likely be dry.
I said last week I wasn't going to tell you this again, but here it is:
tonight (Thursday) you bands and solo acts need to get down to Ruby's Barbecue
between 6pm and midnight if you want to submit an application to showcase at
SXSW '96. The music conference and festival will be held March 13-17 next year,
and as soon as acts get confirmed and the names of hot bands on the bill start
trickling in, I'll start passing them along to you. As far as the multimedia
geniuses that I told you last week I was pushing SXSW to invite, it looks like
you don't need to wait. The brain-battering audio-visual attack of the
Emergency Broadcast System (EBN) will be coming to Ohms on November 27. I'll
have more to say about them, either here or in "Recommended," next week.
Damn! Just a few weeks ago, I saw Country Dick Montana onstage for the first
time. It was also the last. I and a lovely intern from Sector 2 Records had
been lounging around my living room all evening, bristling with lethargy. We
managed to cast it off, however, and we completed the grueling half-block walk
to Antone's just as Country Dick was emerging from behind the Beat Farmers'
drum set to begin his frenetic set-within-a-set of drinking songs, audience
kazoo choruses, and beer-puddle belly-flops. It was an incredible, electric
performance, from an authentic wild man. Then, a mere two weeks after launching
the big tour to support the San Diego-based band's second album for Sector 2,
the 40-year-old Country Dick (aka Daniel McLain) suffered an apparent heart
attack midsong and died onstage at the Longhorn Saloon in British Columbia.
(Since the band was on an Austin label, I'm assigning partial blame to the
Austin Curse, especially with his death following so closely on the heels of
the tragedy on the Blind Melon/Dah-Veed tour.) The great thunder of the man
wasn't completely silenced, though. He had recorded a solo album which will be
posthumously released. And of course, if you ever saw him perform, it's not
something you'll soon forget.
Congrats to the Bad Livers: that threesome reportedly just played their
1,500th show in five years. Look for show 1,501 at Emo's next Friday... Well,
of late, besides the usual compilation albums of bands from Austin, Dallas, San
Antonio, and Houston, there have been new punk/alternative collections out from
both El Paso (Past Due -- A Compilation of 14 Alternative Bands on Krank
Records) and Corpus Christi (Alalva! Corpus Christi on Total Fucking
Chaos Records). What's next? Get Me Outta Here!: The Waco Collection?...
I haven't been able to piece the whole thing together yet, but the plans I
recently mentioned for Texan (and great songwriter) Michael Nesmith to
tour with the Monkees next year seem to have hit a big snag. From what I've
pieced together on the Internet, the problem seems to stem from a lawsuit he's
embroiled in... The latest Austin-based performer to appear on the Larry
Sanders Show is Shawn Colvin, who performed "Polaroid" on last week's
episode of the Gary Shandling pay-cable vehicle, and then went out to dinner
with his character at the end of the show... Toni Price has been moonlighting
as "official jingle singer" for local station K-EYE (apparently she doesn't
mind not being heard in stereo) and recently performed at a birthday party for
CBS News anchor Dan Rather. Price is seen here with Rather and family,
wisely keeping Rather's daughter Robin between him and her to avoid any
possibility of scandal... In-store performances and appearances this week
include rappers Aggravated at Music Mania on Friday at 5pm (just signing
autographs, not performing), and Ponty Bone playing a set there Saturday at
3pm. Charlie Robison will be doing an in-store show at Tower Records on
Saturday at 4pm, so if you're quick, you can catch 'em both... The Coffee
Plantation (Sixth and Brazos) is another new venue for live music seven days a
week (examples: Michele Solberg this Friday and Laurie Freelove Saturday). And
if you're in the campus area and want to sample their wares, they'll be
providing refreshments at the Tower in-store I mentioned above... Alessandro
Maggiori at Club de Musique Records in Italy e-mailed me to note that following
that label's release of the Walter Tragert album I recently referred to, Club
de Musique is also planning to distribute albums by Billy Eli, Sleestacks, R.C.
Banks, and others throughout Europe. He also answered my question about the
label's name: Club de Musique is based in Courmayeur, on the French/Italian
border where both languages are spoken... Quiz Without an Answer Department:
What longtime, loud Austin rocker, known for his work with two famous drug
casualties, once got a call from someone looking to score some pot for Garrison
Keillor?... Citizen Lane's last shows before spending December in California
are tonight at Babes and Monday at Steamboat... Prescott Curlywolf have
completed work on their album for Mercury. Well, not quite, actually. They're
heading back into the studio to remix a few tunes... Bottle of Smoke have
recently completed radio remixes of three songs from their debut EP Never
Been Down. Next up for the band is a trip to the studio to begin their
first full-length effort... The Speed Queens should have a new tape out in the
next week... KVRX is celebrating the first anniversary of being on the FM
airwaves with a benefit at Liberty Lunch this Saturday. Stretford, K. McCarty,
Pocket FishRmen, Furry Things, and Gut equals an entertaining evening...
Applications for listings in the 1996 edition of the Texas Music Industry
Directory are now being accepted. The TMID is a comprehensive sourcebook
listing all Texas music businesses, events, and talent. To receive an
application, call the Texas Music Office: 512/463-6666; fax the TMO: 463-4114;
e-mail the TMO: [email protected], or write: Texas Music Office, PO Box
13246, Austin, TX 78711. The deadline for submitting applications is November
30... Rootsy Rounder roundup: Out in January (on the 16th, to be precise) will
be two new Austin albums from Rounder Records, the Tailgators' It's a Hog
Groove and Teisco Del Rey's Plays Music for Lovers. The latter,
described in the press release as "A 13-page love letter from the cheeze wizard
of the electric guitar, sure to get that special someone very hot and extremely
bothered," was produced by Dan Forte...
I should have guessed. I made a joke last week that I'd finally found a photo
of an Austin band in a national publication that wasn't taken by someone who
worked at the Chronicle. Well, the SPIN pic of Sixteen
Deluxe I referred to last week actually was taken by someone who has
done work for the Chronicle, one Will Van Overbeek, who did a cover for
us back in 1992. From now on, I'll assume that everyone in the music
journalism/photography biz has done something for us. Also, since I was
taking the green pills instead of the blue ones last week, a few brain-slips
managed to get in: The correct address for the new Split Rail will be 705 Red
River. Of course, since I said it would be in the location of the old Cave
Club, Kilimanjaro, etc., you knew what I meant, anyway. Steve Bernal and Brian
Walsh are, needless to say, bassists and not drummers (I don't know how that
glitch got in there, but I'm so embarassed I won't even make a bass player
or drummer joke) and Mr. Whitley of the Cherubs' first name is of course
Kevin, not Keith... Tim Stegall would like to point out that it was the
Chron's editing error and not his which resulted in Carlene Carter being
married to Benmont Tench and not Howie Epstein in his Carter record review...
Finally, in this week's Mixed Notes, the last line should've read "[Teisco
Del Rey Plays Music for Lovers] was produced by
sometime-Chronicle writer Dan Forte." Thank you.
Okay, So I Lied...
I said last week I wasn't going to tell you this again, but here it is:
tonight (Thursday) you bands and solo acts need to get down to Ruby's Barbecue
between 6pm and midnight if you want to submit an application to showcase at
SXSW '96. The music conference and festival will be held March 13-17 next year,
and as soon as acts get confirmed and the names of hot bands on the bill start
trickling in, I'll start passing them along to you. As far as the multimedia
geniuses that I told you last week I was pushing SXSW to invite, it looks like
you don't need to wait. The brain-battering audio-visual attack of the
Emergency Broadcast System (EBN) will be coming to Ohms on November 27. I'll
have more to say about them, either here or in "Recommended," next week.
Dick in the Dirt
Damn! Just a few weeks ago, I saw Country Dick Montana onstage for the first
time. It was also the last. I and a lovely intern from Sector 2 Records had
been lounging around my living room all evening, bristling with lethargy. We
managed to cast it off, however, and we completed the grueling half-block walk
to Antone's just as Country Dick was emerging from behind the Beat Farmers'
drum set to begin his frenetic set-within-a-set of drinking songs, audience
kazoo choruses, and beer-puddle belly-flops. It was an incredible, electric
performance, from an authentic wild man. Then, a mere two weeks after launching
the big tour to support the San Diego-based band's second album for Sector 2,
the 40-year-old Country Dick (aka Daniel McLain) suffered an apparent heart
attack midsong and died onstage at the Longhorn Saloon in British Columbia.
(Since the band was on an Austin label, I'm assigning partial blame to the
Austin Curse, especially with his death following so closely on the heels of
the tragedy on the Blind Melon/Dah-Veed tour.) The great thunder of the man
wasn't completely silenced, though. He had recorded a solo album which will be
posthumously released. And of course, if you ever saw him perform, it's not
something you'll soon forget.
Mixed Notes
Congrats to the Bad Livers: that threesome reportedly just played their
1,500th show in five years. Look for show 1,501 at Emo's next Friday... Well,
of late, besides the usual compilation albums of bands from Austin, Dallas, San
Antonio, and Houston, there have been new punk/alternative collections out from
both El Paso (Past Due -- A Compilation of 14 Alternative Bands on Krank
Records) and Corpus Christi (Alalva! Corpus Christi on Total Fucking
Chaos Records). What's next? Get Me Outta Here!: The Waco Collection?...
I haven't been able to piece the whole thing together yet, but the plans I
recently mentioned for Texan (and great songwriter) Michael Nesmith to
tour with the Monkees next year seem to have hit a big snag. From what I've
pieced together on the Internet, the problem seems to stem from a lawsuit he's
embroiled in... The latest Austin-based performer to appear on the Larry
Sanders Show is Shawn Colvin, who performed "Polaroid" on last week's
episode of the Gary Shandling pay-cable vehicle, and then went out to dinner
with his character at the end of the show... Toni Price has been moonlighting
as "official jingle singer" for local station K-EYE (apparently she doesn't
mind not being heard in stereo) and recently performed at a birthday party for
CBS News anchor Dan Rather. Price is seen here with Rather and family,
wisely keeping Rather's daughter Robin between him and her to avoid any
possibility of scandal... In-store performances and appearances this week
include rappers Aggravated at Music Mania on Friday at 5pm (just signing
autographs, not performing), and Ponty Bone playing a set there Saturday at
3pm. Charlie Robison will be doing an in-store show at Tower Records on
Saturday at 4pm, so if you're quick, you can catch 'em both... The Coffee
Plantation (Sixth and Brazos) is another new venue for live music seven days a
week (examples: Michele Solberg this Friday and Laurie Freelove Saturday). And
if you're in the campus area and want to sample their wares, they'll be
providing refreshments at the Tower in-store I mentioned above... Alessandro
Maggiori at Club de Musique Records in Italy e-mailed me to note that following
that label's release of the Walter Tragert album I recently referred to, Club
de Musique is also planning to distribute albums by Billy Eli, Sleestacks, R.C.
Banks, and others throughout Europe. He also answered my question about the
label's name: Club de Musique is based in Courmayeur, on the French/Italian
border where both languages are spoken... Quiz Without an Answer Department:
What longtime, loud Austin rocker, known for his work with two famous drug
casualties, once got a call from someone looking to score some pot for Garrison
Keillor?... Citizen Lane's last shows before spending December in California
are tonight at Babes and Monday at Steamboat... Prescott Curlywolf have
completed work on their album for Mercury. Well, not quite, actually. They're
heading back into the studio to remix a few tunes... Bottle of Smoke have
recently completed radio remixes of three songs from their debut EP Never
Been Down. Next up for the band is a trip to the studio to begin their
first full-length effort... The Speed Queens should have a new tape out in the
next week... KVRX is celebrating the first anniversary of being on the FM
airwaves with a benefit at Liberty Lunch this Saturday. Stretford, K. McCarty,
Pocket FishRmen, Furry Things, and Gut equals an entertaining evening...
Applications for listings in the 1996 edition of the Texas Music Industry
Directory are now being accepted. The TMID is a comprehensive sourcebook
listing all Texas music businesses, events, and talent. To receive an
application, call the Texas Music Office: 512/463-6666; fax the TMO: 463-4114;
e-mail the TMO: [email protected], or write: Texas Music Office, PO Box
13246, Austin, TX 78711. The deadline for submitting applications is November
30... Rootsy Rounder roundup: Out in January (on the 16th, to be precise) will
be two new Austin albums from Rounder Records, the Tailgators' It's a Hog
Groove and Teisco Del Rey's Plays Music for Lovers. The latter,
described in the press release as "A 13-page love letter from the cheeze wizard
of the electric guitar, sure to get that special someone very hot and extremely
bothered," was produced by Dan Forte...
Corrections, etc.
I should have guessed. I made a joke last week that I'd finally found a photo
of an Austin band in a national publication that wasn't taken by someone who
worked at the Chronicle. Well, the SPIN pic of Sixteen
Deluxe I referred to last week actually was taken by someone who has
done work for the Chronicle, one Will Van Overbeek, who did a cover for
us back in 1992. From now on, I'll assume that everyone in the music
journalism/photography biz has done something for us. Also, since I was
taking the green pills instead of the blue ones last week, a few brain-slips
managed to get in: The correct address for the new Split Rail will be 705 Red
River. Of course, since I said it would be in the location of the old Cave
Club, Kilimanjaro, etc., you knew what I meant, anyway. Steve Bernal and Brian
Walsh are, needless to say, bassists and not drummers (I don't know how that
glitch got in there, but I'm so embarassed I won't even make a bass player
or drummer joke) and Mr. Whitley of the Cherubs' first name is of course
Kevin, not Keith... Tim Stegall would like to point out that it was the
Chron's editing error and not his which resulted in Carlene Carter being
married to Benmont Tench and not Howie Epstein in his Carter record review...
Finally, in this week's Mixed Notes, the last line should've read "[Teisco
Del Rey Plays Music for Lovers] was produced by
sometime-Chronicle writer Dan Forte." Thank you. -- Contributions by Raoul Hernandez, Chris Gray, and Andy Langer.
