Fine Line: May, 2007

It’s at J&J’s. It’s free. It’s on.

Also…
Adair’s – Jonathon Tyler & Friends “Back Porch Mondays
Granada Theater – Ben Gibbard / David Bazan / Jonathan Rice – Site says “Sold Out” but there’s always that slim chance you can sweet-talk your way in…or not.
Dan’s Silverleaf – Paul Slavens
Hailey’s – Fab Deuce / Smash Funkum Sideways / Villian Vanguards

What the hell? I guess it’s just not in your best interest to walk a friend to her car safely or get a good night’s sleep at a decent hotel or turn your freakin’ back for a few seconds…sigh…from DJ Killtronix:

On Saturday, May 5th at the end of Cinco de Fly-o at The Amsterdam Bad I walked my friend to her car and upon returning discovered that my olive green laptop bag along with my laptop and external hard drive and my blue Jansport backpack with my Serato had been taken. Basically my entire DJ setup.

If you know anything, please contact me or someone who might know me. I’m even offering a reward, no questions asked. Please guys, help me out. I pretty much won’t be able to DJ until I get this stuff back or buy new stuff, and since the total value is about $2500 It’ll be a while..

Thanks,
Joel
http://www.myspace.com/joeldamage
everyonehertz@gmail.com

My Midlake men make me merry…

Midlake have been nominated for both the MOJO BEST ALBUM and MOJO BREAKTHROUGH ACT, two of their most prestigious categories.

For Best Album they are up against Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, Grinderman and The Good, The Bad and The Queen.

In the MOJO Breakthrough Act they are up against Joanna Newsom, The Hold Steady, Seasick Steve and The View. Impressive company to say the least, and worth mentioning that Arctic Monkeys are the only other band to receive two nominations.

Here’s the full list of nominees if’n you wanna…

Song of the Year
Amy Winehouse – “Rehab”
Arctic Monkeys – “Brianstorm”
Gossip – “Standing In The Way Of Control”
Guillemots – “Made Up Love Song No 43″
The View – “Same Jeans”

Album of the Year
Amy Winehouse – “Back To Black”
Bob Dylan – “Modern Times”
The Good The Bad And The Queen – “The Good The Bad And The Queen”
Grinderman – “Grinderman”
Midlake – “The Trials Of Van Occupanther”

Compilation of the Year
“Change Is Gonna Come: The Voice Of Black America 1963-1973″ (Ace)
“Jonny Greenwood Is The Controller” (Trojan)
“Rough Trade Shops: Counterculture” 1976 (V2)
“Soul Gospel Volume 2″ (Soul Jazz)
“White Bicycles: Making Music In The 1960s – The Joe Boyd Story” (Fledgling)

Best Live Act
Amy Winehouse
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
The Stooges
The Who

Best Breakthrough Act
The Hold Steady
Joanna Newsom
Midlake
Seasick Steve
The View

Catalogue Release of the Year
Gram Parsons – “The Complete Reprise Sessions” (Reprise/Rhino)
Fairport Convention – “Live At The BBC” (Universal Island)
Various – “Forever Changing: The Golden Age Of Elektra Records 1963-1973″ (Rhino)
Johnny Cash – “At San Quentin 1969″ (Sony BMG)
Karen Dalton – “In My Own Time” (Light In The Attic)
Various – “The Complete Motown Singles Vol 6. 1966″ (Universal)

The Mojo Vision Award
Nirvana – “Live! Tonight! Sold Out!” (Universal)
Slade – “Slade In Flame” (Union Square Music)
Ronnie Lane – “The Passing Show The Life And Music of Ronnie Lane” (EagleVision)
Gorillaz – “Phase Two: Slowboat To Hades” (Parlophone)
T.Rex – “T.Rex On TV” (Demon Vision)
Townes Van Zandt – “Be Here To Love Me” (Snapper)

The awards will be announced on June 18th and I fully expect those trophies to come back across the pond to reside in Denton where they belong.

“Roscoe” by Midlake

I don’t know if it’s cuz I’ve got a budding young musician under my roof who loves his guitars and equipment more than…well let’s just say that if his guitar and I were floating in the ocean and there was only one life raft, the guitar would get it…or because when asshole thieves steal band’s trailers and/or equipment, they are effin’ with the band’s livelihood as well – but this thievin’ crap really pisses me off…

The band Chevelle had the trailer stolen from the back of their bus this morning (Wednesday May 9th) at the Clarion Dallas Park Central Hotel in Dallas. The theft was discovered at approximately 11am.

As some of you are aware, Pete’s guitar are all one-of-a-kind custom built pieces.

If anyone has any information, or sees a light grey K2 Cargo trailer with Illinois tag number 57002, please call 911 or your local police authority.

Most items are labeled “Chevelle”, so if you notice anything suspicious on eBay or if you see any other online resellers selling “authentic” Chevelle items…guitar, basses, drums amplifiers, risers, backdrops, t-shirts, etc., please call the police. Or email: thestolenchevellegear@hotmail.com

Alternately you can contact the band’s Tour Manager, Dave Pinsky, at: Pinskyontheroad@gmail.com.

Below is a partial list of items stolen:

Paul Reed Smith Custom 22 Gold Guitar serial # 837769
Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Black Guitar serial #160399
Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Red Guitar serial #730083
PRS Chevelle Signature White Guitar W/ Red “x” logo inlay fret marks serial #597526
PRS Custome White Baritone Guitar
PRS Custom 24 Red Guitar

3 Gibson Thunderbird BLACK Bass Guitar
2 Gibson ThunderbirdBass WHITE Bass Guitar
1 Gibson ThunderbirdBass WOOD GRAIN Bass Guitar
Mesa Boogie Recto 4 x 12, 4 x 12 bass cabinet

Pearl Copper 6 x 14 snare
Pearl Masters 18 x 22 kick drum- BLACK with Ferrari stickers
2 Pearl Masters Eliminator Double Kick – BLACK- with Ferrari Stickers
Roland TMC 6-TR1 trigger to midi converter serial #ZP40565
Pearl Masters 14 x 16 tom w/ rims- BLACK with Ferrari stickers
Pearl Masters 10 x 10 tom w/ rims- BLACK with Ferrari stickers
Masters 10 x 12 tom w/ rims- BLACK with Ferrari stickers

Shure Beta 56 Microphone
Shure Beta 54 Microphone
6 Shure Beta 98 Microphones
5 SHURE KSM137 Microphones
2 SHURE KSM141 Microphones
6 SHURE VHF wireless transmitters
2 SHURE KSM32 Microphones
Shure SM-57 vocal mic
4 Shure SM-58 vocal mic

3 Sennheiser SR-300IEM G2 in ear transmitter
serial #’s: 100448, 100382, 100397

6 Sennheiser EK-300IEM G2 in ear receiver packs
serial #’s: 103938, 100398, 100382, 103938, 100398, 100397

3 Shure E-1 In-ear monitors
3 Shure E-5 In-ear monitors

Click here to find the band’s most recent manifest (from just a few weeks ago). It’s pretty accurate but you know how those things go. One item that is missing from it is the chuck case, which is the rosewood entertainment center that has the flatscreen tv, xbox 360, and the stereo system for the dressing room.

I left for San Antonio last Thursday morning laptopless. I unpacked a ton of crap. “Crap” being such the operative word. Sometimes I think it’s best to just purge yourself of broken china, old love letters, vase after vase after vase and all else that one might haul from home to home in the name of sentimentality. We are downsizing considerably from a gargantuan house in North Dallas to a teensy-weensy house in San Antone. Therefore, I basically have no choice but to pick and choose the best crap to keep, and sell off or burn the rest.

Besides sorting through said crap and fussing over decor and watching TheFatGuy build a deck, the main occasion for the weekend was TheFatGuy’s birthday. ‘Twas his wish to head over to Floore’s to catch Joe Ely and Reckless Kelly. So that’s what we did. This was the first show (out of literally a gazillion) in the past 5 years that I went to a show sans my recording equipment. It was weird. Once Reckless Kelly began to play, I wished I’d snuck in at least one Microtrack. They was good. They was real good.

I dunno what the hell is up with I-35 between Austin and Dallas, but I’m gettin’ real sick of having to drive at 10 MPH all the freakin’ way home in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

“Seven Nights in Eire” by Reckless Kelly

Speaking of Joe Ely and Reckless Kelly, my new pal Kelly Dearmore done gone and started his own damn blog, entitled The Gobbler’s Knob. He said it’s gonna focus more on the Texas Country/Americana/Alt.Country kinda genres, but he’s already leaning into other genres. Visit him often.

Some time last year, I had read about this character and his affinity to play in strange locales and was intrigued. Then I checked out some of his music, via online sources, and my interest was piqued even more. My first encounter seeing Peter and the Wolf came when Red came up from Austin to play a “New Music Tuesday” show series I was hosting, at Club Dada in Dallas.

Wasn’t sure what to expect that day in November as I had heard about an ever-changing cast of characters that he played with, including at times a choir of backup vocalists. What I got was one guy, by the name of Red Hunter, on the stage in somewhat solitude, singing personal lyrics that the listener could take to heart as their own. He was joined on stage that night, for some select songs, by Dana Falconberry (who appears on some of his recordings) to add yet another, almost otherworldly lilt to the singular set.

In anticipation of Peter and the Wolf’s Dallas & Denton shows, I had the opportunity to ask Red, the mastermind behind Peter and the Wolf, 20 questions. And here are his answers.

CS: Let’s go over your background a bit…Are you a native of Austin?

RH: Actually a native of every port-town in the country thanks to (drumrrrroooolllll) Navy Dad.

CS: Red Hunter…stage name or real? Either way, how was the name Red inspired?

RH: Brian Redding Hunter is my name. My mom had a love affair w/Otis Redding and that’s where I got the middle name. I might actually be his son. Plus Red is way more fun to say.

CS: You seem to dabble in a lot of areas: writing, singing, musician, art…what is your main love?

RH: Swimming.

CS: I always see you with a varying cast of characters playing with you, whether it’s local or on the road. How did you come together with some of these folks, like Dana Falconberry & Dallas native Emma Hertz? Anyone out there you’d like to work with that you haven’t already?

RH: I drink a lot which makes it much easier to meet people. And yes, I’d like to sing a duet with Jolie Holland someday, spread the word!

CS: In all your travels, where do you feel Austin’s doppelganger is, whether it be vibe, climate, etc…?

RH: The island of Savu Savu in Fiji.

CS: You handmake your T-shirts with your original art. How long does it take to do one? Do you ever outsource your skills, as an artist, for other bands/projects?

RH: I’m a neophyte, just picking up tips on crafstmanship from friends like Eric Shaw. (www.ericshawdesign.com)

CS: What do you see on the horizon for music, especially in the computer era of downloads?

RH: Soon all musicians will have to sell hot dogs and those beerhat-dispensers at shows, invest now.

CS: Anyone who’s been on the road has various “crash pad” stories. Usually good, but some border on unusual. Care to share one?

RH: I slept in a pretty rad hammock last night.

CS: You recorded in LA, earlier this year. How did that come about & how did you like LA on a whole?

RH: LA is great for frisbee, probably the best frisbee in the world.

CS: Who should we hear, especially Texas music-wise?

RH: Willie.

CS: You’re getting back from another jaunt across the US & lost a loved one along the way…your car…have you recovered?

RH: She was a loyal gal. And that’s really the best thing a man can ask for.

CS: Your lyrics paint a picture. Are they autobiographical or do you tend to borrow ideas?

RH: I buy my ideas fair and square. But seriously I pretty much just write to get the demons out, so it’s usually autobiographical. But just cause a singer says somethin doesnt mean it’s them sayin it! Coulda been someone said it to ‘em, or they saw someone say it, or it represents a kind of thought they’re tryin to get rid of. Ya never know.

CS: Your wide array of instruments are always impressive. Do you have any new finds or what have you enjoyed playing most recently?

RH: I’m working out arrangements to get to Bali where I promise to play some of the coolest instruments ever invented by man.

CS: On your myspace page, you have “absinthe” as your headline. Do you derive some inspiration from drinking or otherwise?

RH: what’s myspace?

CS: It seems you have a DIY mentality with recording & releasing your own stuff, doing artwork, etc… You do have a booking agent though. Was that necessary to free up more of your time?

RH: That aint the half of it, sister. I also have a PR van with one of those TV-billboard things on the side, three accountants, and a team of 1000 monkeys at 1000 typewriters working around the clock so that the only thing I really have to do is lay back and get BJs. I’m not even typing this. I’m just dictating to my hot blonde assistant. And she’s not typing it either! She’s actually pleasuring me while outsourcing to China. Join the Leisure Class!

CS: What’s next for you? Overseas?

RH: A big “?”

CS: Do you have a homebase or are you currently couch-surfing?

RH: Actually hammock-snowboarding.

Peter and the Wolf will be winding down a recent US tour with a string of Texas dates. Come and see Red exorcise some demons up close & personal at their area shows.

Sat, 5/12, at The Cavern, 1914 Greenville Ave, Dallas w/White Denim & Bosque Brown

Sun, 5/13, at Hailey’s, 122 W Mulberry, Denton w/Cartright & Tame..Tame and Quiet.

http://www.whiskeyandapples.com/

*Carlin Stultz is a booking agent/promoter, with Callithump, out of Dallas. This is first in a series of interviews she’ll be contributing to FineLineLive.

“Strange Machines” by Peter and the Wolf

I know I’m a tad late with this article, but my adoration for all things Denton compelled me to bring it up anyway. So there.

Jude Rogers (with Guardian Unlimited) travels across the pond to hang with members of Midlake and party-on at some of our favorite musical spots such as Secret Headquarters and Hailey’s and Dan’s. I believe he had a jolly good time.

“Roscoe” by Midlake

Wednesday, May 9th Barley House
Trey Johnson
9ish – No Cover

Trey Johnson of Sorta fame takes up residency at Barley House every Wednesday night in May. Should be a good time.

Should be a damn good time.

“85 Feet and Falling” by Sorta

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Wednesday, May 9th
Granada Theater
Reckless Kelly / Joe Ely
Doors at 7 PM – $20-$30

I’m hittin’ this show in San Antone on Friday night with TheBirthdayFatGuy at Floores. If’n you like your Texas Country music real good – If’n you like a little Texas rockin’ mixed up in good Texas Country music – then this is a show for you to go. Both artists/bands are solid and known for kick-ass shows.

“I’m On the Run Again by Joe Ely

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Wednesday, May 9th
Dan’s Silverleaf
Brunswick Turns 10! The Big One Oh – Benefits the Denton Humane Society
Mom / The Nouns Group / DJ Wild in the Streets
10 PM

“Green Echo” by Mom

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More good shows to go…FineLineLive.com Picks…

City Tavern – Dylan Sneed / Glendon Farris / Wes Whitic / Dick & Jane
Club Dada – Sarah Jaffe / The Postmarks
Absinthe – CC Cross
Love & War in Plano – Ed Burleson
Rubber Gloves – Sarah Reddington / The Robot te Me / Tha Bracelets / MC Router
The Aardvark – Taylor & Young / The Freakout / Roustabouts
White Elephant – Larry Hooper
Wreck Room – Impulse of Will – Wreck Room Book on Sale!

Take one Polyphonic Spree – add one Hal Samples – and you get brilliance. Fan-freakin’-tastic splendid genius…enjoy whilst you can….

The Stash just hipped me to a much appreciated MySpace page for Bindle. (Thanks for the update Muffy….not)

Ken writes…

Bindle was a rock band from Fort Worth, Texas, that existed for just over three years between 1998 and 2002. With hindsight, they can be viewed as a precursor to brainy pop-rockers Goodwin.

They got together when three quarters of Drunken Monkey – bassist Matt Hembree, singer Tony Diaz, and drummer Kevin Geist — decided to reform without guitarist Jim Palmer. Previously, Hembree (who’d grown up playing in a family bluegrass band in Tennessee) had been in the metal-funk power trio Muffinhead with guitarist-singer Daniel Gomez and teenage drummer Dave Karnes. When Karnes left to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Hembree and Gomez moved on to Uncle Pete’s Parade, a unit Gomez characterizes as “a really horrible Steely Dan as R&B-based alt-rock band,” but with the crisply polyrhythmic drummer Geist, who’d first met Gomez and Hembree while he was playing in a short-lived band called Fresh Coffee.

Gomez found Tony Diaz singing at Club Dada in Dallas with a band called Deep Domain. “[Diaz] was great”, said Gomez, ” — a powerful singer who believed every word he sang. I thought, ‘I want that.’ ” Gomez, Hembree, and Geist all tendered their resignations to Uncle Pete’s Parade and reformed as Big Mouth Buzz with Diaz on vocals. The band only lasted long enough to record a few demos (one of which, “Chuck,” found its way onto a compilation released by the Arlington club J. Gilligan’s) and to play live once before Gomez decamped for Portland, Oregon.

In Drunken Monkey with Palmer (whose previous band, Dead King’s Pillow, was known for extreme behavior that included picketing their own shows and cutting up plaster lawn angels with a chainsaw onstage), Hembree, Diaz, and Geist played music that was deliberately challenging and obtuse. After a few years and many shows spent confusing audiences around north Texas, Drunken Monkey was no more. By the fall of 1998, the three ex-Drunken Monkeys had begun rehearsing with Steffin Ratliff, a former “closet guitarist” who’d played in metal bands and backed former Brad Thompson’s Undulating Band singer Hillary Tipps. With the addition of Daniel Gomez, recently returned from Portland, the first incarnation of Bindle was born.

It’s possible that Bindle’s sound, shaped by a variety of diverse influences, was an impediment to its success: audiences didn’t know what pigeonhole to put them in. Sure, musicians who saw them dug ‘em, but who cares what musicians like? The boys in Bindle weren’t hippified enough to appeal to jam-band fans, and they were too seasoned and mature for the pop-punk kids. More detrimental to the band’s longevity was its personnel instability. “Members were always joining and leaving,” said Hembree. “We never had a lineup that lasted more than six or nine months.”

Early demos, recorded at the Echo Lab in Denton with engineer Dave Willingham, included “Sunrise,” uncharitably described on garageband.com as “safe jazz for white people.” The original Bindle lineup also recorded “The View” as a project for a friend who was studying recording technology at Dallas Sound Labs. Not long afterward, Daniel Gomez unexpectedly bowed out of Bindle. Perversely, he then started engineering demos for the edition of Bindle — Diaz, Ratliff, Hembree, and Geist — that he says is his favorite. Ironically, the lineup change led to a sound more in line with what Gomez was envisioning — more streamlined, more emotionally direct, more overtly melodic.

The Gomez-recorded demos include what all the band members agree are some of their finest moments. Diaz’ lyrics to “Yusuf,” rich with lovely lines like “Standing in the market of moon and star … Voices like stones break this heart,” were inspired by the story of Brit folk-rocker Cat Stevens’ spiritual awakening. The band’s arrangement complements the song’s soaring melody, the rhythm section’s supple groove providing a platform for arcing flights of Ratliff guitar that underline the lyric’s sense of longing.

When performed live, “10,000 Miles” proved to be an audience favorite, and it contains a line that neatly encapsulates the Bindle experience, in a way: “I’m drifting into unknown space, falling back towards the Earth and landing on my face.” On the demo version, Diaz wears his heart on his sleeve, as was becoming his wont, while the music washes over the listener like a bath of melody, with Ratliff’s guitar effectively functioning as a second lead voice and sounding, oddly enough, not unlike Daniel Gomez’.

Most surprising, in light of all the Bindle music that had preceded it, was “State of Girl,” a full-on, pumping rocker (albeit one with a chorus in 7/8 time) inspired by a friend of Ratliff’s — “one of those girls that calls you whenever she needs help or fun or is in trouble,” according to Hembree, whose bass on the track, in dropped-D tuning, rumbles like a locomotive while Geist’s snare hits ring like rifle shots.

Justin Pate was a stage kid who grew up singing, acting, and tapdancing at Fort Worth’s Casa Manana Theatre and had drummed and sung with a Weezer-ish band called the Visitors. Hembree and Ratliff heard him playing piano behind an improvisational comedy troupe called Fuzzy Logic and were sufficiently impressed to draft him into Bindle as a keyboardist and second vocalist.

On the eve of sessions for the debut Bindle CD, Diaz was ousted from the band and Pate was forced to learn the lyrics to 20 songs in a week. Four of the tracks were mastered or an unused demo, and another song — “Yusuf” — holds the distinction of being the only Bindle tune to see an “official” release (on First Street Audio’s First Street Sessions Vol. 2 compilation, credited to “Bindle, lyrics by Tony Diaz”). Pate and Ratliff were already performing with a newly-formed reggae outfit, Pablo and the Hemphill 7.

When Hembree announced in late January 2002 that the band was folding the tent, it seemed like a formality. Bindle played their last show on February 7, 2002, in the lounge at the Ridglea Theater. In the audience were Tony Diaz and Daniel Gomez, who recalls, “We got there, and Tony said, ‘Wow, I think this is the most people that have ever come out to see Bindle.’ At the end, though, the audience started drifting away. It was kinda sad, but at the same time, it seemed fitting.”

(Bio courtesy of Ken Shimamoto. Read more about Bindle on his blog at http://stashdauber.blogspot.com/2004/10/bindle.html)

Ken also reports that, while the band has no plans for getting back together, they do have plans for some upcoming reunion shows. I’ll letcha know. Or better yet, all eyes here for better results.

“Automatic” by Bindle

PS- No, I didn’t make FredFest. Oh shut the hell up. Doctors orders and such. But Ken was there and has the pics to prove. Click-n-scroll.

The Dallas Observer Music Awards initial nomination forms are up and ready baby! Click here to vote for your faves.

I always kinda get the Music Awards issue mixed up with the Best Of issues. I don’t remember an initial write-in vote years past, but I could be wrong. In any case, this will hopefully be a year chock full of new names, sounds, faces and even venues…we shall see. I ‘d sure hate to be the one picked to sort through all the write-in votes though.

Perhaps we should start an Advil fund…

Photo by Hal Samples

Hal is documenting his adventures with Polyphonic Spree (as they do that road-thang) on his blog. The photos tell the tale. They are glorious, just like Hal.

Technically, Shanghai 5 was the very first band to grace the new faboo House of Blues stage. They did so on Sunday night, May 6th. I was supposed to be there, but got a real tongue-whippin’ from my doc about even driving myself ’round town. I tend to overdo things when I should’n-outta and underdo things when I should outta.

Reid Robinson, my dearest friend and co-host of the Fine Line “Inside the Mind” series, is running sound at H.o.B., so I figure when I’m all healed-up and feelin’ tip-top, I’ll be there a lot.

You healthy kids can go for the official grand-opening extravaganza tonight at House of Blues with our very own superstar Erykah Badu bringing down the house.

House of Blues
Erykah Badu
Price: $65.00 – $77.00 *
Date: Tuesday, May 8th
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm
Genre: Rhythm & Blues – Soul – Pop
Ages: all

“I Want You by Erykah Badu

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Tuesday, May 8th
Lee Harvey’s
Chris Berardo & The DesBerados
9 PM – No Cover
They call themselves Chris Berardo & The DesBerardos and they spend their days touring up and down this great country playing “Americana” — an amalgam that includes pop, rock, and country.

“So Good So Far” by Chris Berardo & the DesBerados

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Tuesday, May 8th
The Cavern
Colin Boyd
10 PM – UPstairs – No Cover

“Juliet” by Colin Boyd

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Tuesday, May 8th
SPACE
6:15 until 7:45 PM

SPACE will again host yoga free to the public. Instructed by Chinook Wusdhu, a regular instructor at Tsada Yoga, the free yoga sessions will take place Mats are available and donations are accepted, though all you have to bring is change for the meters. All levels welcome.

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Also tonight…

Tuesday, May 8th
Rubber Gloves
Awol One (w/Factor) / Josh Martinez (w/DJ Moves) / Mine + Us & DJ Hoppa
Doors at 9 PM – $8.00

Since I ain’t got no copy of the book cover, I’ll use this pic of Ken as a rockin’ kiddo

My darling Ken Shimamoto wrote a book. Then he had it printed up. Now he’s got the dang thing on sale at Sessions Music.

Ken Shimamoto has written extensively on music for print publications including FW Weekly, Texas Music, The Big Takeover, Shindig (UK), Funhouse (Italy), and DFW Poetry Review, and online for the I-94 Bar, The First Church of Holy Rock and Roll, KNAC.com, Funtopia, the MC5 Gateway, and MC5 Japan. He published the first interview in 20 years with former Iggy & the Stooges guitarist James Williamson in 2001, and a lengthy excerpt from his history of Sonic’s Rendezvous Band was included in the liner notes for the boxset released by Easy Action Records (UK) in 2006. He is currently at work on an oral history of the Wreck Room (a Fort Worth, Texas, rock club), blogs as The Stash Dauber, and reviews music for I Love Fort Worth. He also does freelance music PR and plays guitar in the bands Impulse of Will and Stoogeaphilia.

“WRECK ROOM STORIES: True Tales From the Home of Rock ‘n’ Roll In Fort Worth” is something any and every DdFW music lover should feature proudly on your rock-luvin’ coffee tables…well…after you’ve read it cover to cover a couple of dozen times.

Buy it here.

D.E.E.P. (Deep Ellum Enrichment Project) is organizing a performance art fair, “Street Art Attacks,” for June 2nd. Over 20 businesses have agreed to host a performance artist that day and we are looking for artists who can entertain on the sidewalk.

As part of this search, and as pre-promotion for this event, Kettle Art is hosting an open call for street artists on Saturday, May 12.

So, if you are a performer (we’re open to all kinds) and you can operate on about four feet of sidewalk, then come on out to Kettle Art, May 12th and show us what you can do! And if you just want to check out the spectacle and get a sneak peak at what will be invading Deep Ellum on June 2nd, come on out too.

Saturday, May 12th Open Call for Street Performers

D.E.E.P. Meeting Tonight – Tuesday, May 8th
The Bone
9 PM – Everyone is Welcome!

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A Film by Phil Lee

Sunday, May 6th
Barley House
Brent Best
9 PM – No Cover

“Unhinged” by The Drams

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Sunday, May 6th
Love & War in Plano
KHYI/Shiner Sunday!
Ray Wylie Hubbard / Thomas Michael Riley
4 PM – $12.00 – Live Broadcast on KHYI 95.3 The Range

“Droppin’ Names” by Ray Wylie Hubbard

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Sunday, May 6 2007
Cottonwood Art Festival
10:30 – 11:45 Mile 21 Band
12:00 – 1:00 Katie Rae Davis
1:15 – 2:30 Straight Ahead Jazz
2:45 – 4:30 Anytown
4:45 – 6:00 Airline

“Sleepy” by Airline

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Sunday, May 6th
FredFest
$5.00 or $3.00 with 3 cans of canned food to be donated to the Tarrant County Food Bank
8:00 Darth Vato
7:00 The Gideons
6:00 Howling Dervishes
5:00 The Me-Thinks
4:00 Impulse of Will
3:00 Stoogeaphilia
2:00 Merkin
1:00 Tongue

Stoogeaphilia Live at The Black Dog Tavern

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Radio Sunday…

The Adventure Club on KDGE 102.1 The Edge with the wicked awesome Josh Venable – starts at 6 PM

The Local Show on KDGE 102.1 The Edge with the always hot ‘n hunky Chris Ryan – Tune in at 9:00 PM

The Front Porch on 99.5 The Wolf with the better ‘n buttah Justin Frazell – 6:00 PM

The Good Show on KTCU – 88.7 FM with my fave 3 stooges Tom U. Tony Diaz & Chris Bellomy starts at 9:00 PM.

90.1 at Night with my mentor Paul Slavens – 8-10 PM

Uncut with DJ Steve Nice – The absolute best in local Rap/Hip-hop/R&B 11 PM – K104 FM

A little desk tidying up uncovered my copy of Glen Reynolds solo release, In Between Days. Dang. Erv musta sent it to me (noted by the postmark) a few weeks back. How did I miss this? Musta been the morning Tequila shooters. Or an extraordinarily messy desk.

I’ll take a nice long listen today on my way to FredFest…and perhaps letcha know my thoughts about it later…and since I’m already a confirmed adoring Reynolds fan – expect plenty of gushing.

My dear friend Hal Samples just nailed down the gig of gigs. He’s simply giddy…

Just got off of a conference call with The Polyphonic Spree as well as their label and management and… OMG!

Here is the dealeo…

I leave on their bus Sunday night to NYC for a festival David Bowie is hosting in Manhattan. We will make a couple of stops for performances along the way.

They fly me back to SPACE on the 12th… and its there I’ll spend the next 10 days producing a feature music video to their opening track “Running Away” from the new record “The Fragile Army” which comes out on June 19th.

This is all happening quickly and on slim turn around time however, since I’ve never done one of these before… naturally I said “Yes”. I also added that I have an incredible network of friends who are my own “fragile army” who will be battling the deadline with me.

The video will consist of all stills no video. (Much like the feel you get in the Sledgehammer video from Peter Gabriel… but different.) My guess is it will take about 2500 photographs to complete the duration of the song. It should take close to 100 hours to edit.

Its scary and exciting all at the same time. Its a no brainer that this is an incredible opportunity for me to showcase my art in a different medium that could potentially be seen around the world yet… its huge! I mean the process is a monster. At least to me it is. I can only pinch myself at times and then I laugh at what I get myself into to keep from freaking out. Its also a no secret that I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to be working with on this either. “The Fragile Army” have so much musically and visually to offer as it is…. geez… my heart is still beating from all of this.

I’m extremely grateful that I was given this chance to work and BE PAID to do what I love. I just hope its enough to cover the bills.

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3:00 Update! It covered rent

This is really exciting stuff – ‘specially the getting paid part. I can hardly contain my impatience to get a gander of the finished product. Godspeed my darling Hal. Have the time of your life.

The record stores will be boomin’ today with some mi-tee-fine instores…

Bill’s Records
Saturday, May 5th – Free
BRETT DILLON HOSTING!
Noon – Owen Temple
1pm – Justin Trevino
2pm – Buddy Mondlock
3pm – Blake & Fallon
4pm – Shaun Ellis
5pm – The Woods

Good Records
Saturday, May 5th – Free
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
3 PM

Border’s Books (Grand Opening in Arlington)
4000 Arlington Highlands Blvd.
Arlington, TX 76018
Smile Smile
Free – 12 Noon

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Kettle Art
Twenty One Artists create four paintings each.
These artists include: Mark Nelson, Havi Frost, Sergio Garcia, Amber Campagna, Kirk Hopper, Tony Bones, Lisa Lindholm, Erica Fellicella, Tania Kaufmann, Perry Nichols, Judith Lea Perkins, C. Kirk Smith, Crimson Allen, Diablo Texas, Jonathan Kimbrell, Werewolf Micah, Richard Ross, Cathey Miller, Mikki Mallow, Melanie Gomez, Murphey Wilkins and Frank Campagna

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Radio Sputnik with Janice & Muffy
Noon – 88.7 KTCU

Be sure and tune in tonight (and every Saturday night) for DJ Eddie D’s Knowledge Dropped Lessons Taught II
KNON – 89.3
5:00 – 7:00 PM

DJ EZ Eddie D has cultivated a career as a DJ, remixer and producer for over 24 years. Being the closest thing to a hip-hop historian that Dallas has ever known, he has worked with the early pioneers as well as many of the current up and comers in the Dallas hip-hop scene. From his early days growing up in Finneytown(a mostly caucasion suburb in Cincinnati, Oh.) to his 23 years in dallas it’s no surprise to find his influences are all over the musical map. With a collction containing everthing from R&B to Classic Rock, Funk to Retro and Blues to Hip-Hop his studio is the Mecca record collectors dream of.

His main focus today is fusing all of these genres with hip-hop beats creating a distinctive sound all his own. In 1982, Dallas DJ The Master Mixer taught Eddie how to blend records and also introduced him to the radio station KNON 89.3 “The Voice of the People”. He interned and moved his way up the ranks, working with DJ Cisco Soul & the Party Patrol and Nippy Jones of the “Fresh & Freaky Friday Show”(later KKDA). Nippy helped groom him for his own time slot. In 1987 station manager Craig Taylor gave him that chance with his first show airing Thursday nights 9-11. The show moved a few times finally landing on Saturdays 5-7pm where you can still tune in weekly for “Knowledge Dropped-Lessons Taught(Vol.2)”. It is the only source Dallas has for true underground hip-hop and being a public radio station is a perfect forum for his philosophies on politics, religion, racism and social responsibility…

Stick around tonight, and every Saturday night, for the Dirty South Block Party
KNON 89.3
10 PM until Midnight

The krunkest radio show in the south hosted by Bobo Luchiano, DJ Fish, DJ Drop, Pikahssablanca, David and Kita Khat on KNON 89.3 FM Every Saturday night from 10pm to 12am Call the request line 214.637.1893

You won’t be disappointed…

There are lots of good shows going on this weekend. Frankly, with recovery and pending prom night tonight, I just don’t have the strength to plod through every venue website for show recommendations. Go see what Sam has suggested. He’s always dead-on with great picks.

Speaking of SaMach, the kid put together one hella-splendid Podcast. Really. Hella. Splendid. Go here for pure joy to your ears. If you see Sammy out this weekend, buy him a birthday beer. Happy birthday love.

For, like, ever I’ve been promising myself I’d hit Fred’s in Fort Worth for their annual FredFest. I really suck when it comes to my Fort Worth promises. However, tomorrow I shall rectify that suckiness. Since I do quite well at actually showing up when shows begin in the daylight hours, I’ll head towards Panther City ’round noonish tomorrow for my first ever FredFest. It’s a gangbuster line-up, chock full of great artists and good friends…

SATURDAY, MAY 5
10:00 SCOTT COPELAND
9:00 James Hinkle
8:00 Dirty Pool
7:00 Mule Dixon
6:00 Carey Wolff/ Magee Payne
5:00 Thief
4:00 Telegraph Canyon
3:00 Electric Mountain Rotten Apple Gang
2:00 Darrin Kobetich
1:00 Okay James
Noon John Burleson

SUNDAY, MAY 6
8:00 Darth Vato
7:00 The Gideons
6:00 Howling Dervishes
5:00 The Me-Thinks
4:00 Impulse of Will
3:00 Stoogeaphilia
2:00 Merkin
1:00 Tongue

$5.00 or $3.00 with 3 cans of canned food to be donated to the Tarrant County Food Bank

I’ll have the recording equipment in tow for all you lazy-ass late sleepers. Check back here next week for full rehash. Hopefully, my Muffy and The Stash Dauber will join me for a few tomorrow.

“Golden” by Telegraph Canyon