unknown instructors, peter laughner

just received some interesting propaganda from smog veil, the cleveland-based indie that's becoming my fave rekkid label:

The sophomore Unknown Instructors album titled, The Master's Voice, is set for a March 20th release date. The band is a veritable punk and avant-garage super group featuring the legendary rhythm section of Mike Watt and George Hurley (both from Minutemen, fIREHOSE) as well as Joe Baiza (Saccharine Trust) and Dan McGuire (Unknown Instructors founder). This new album features special guest appearances by David Thomas (Pere Ubu, Rocket From The Tombs) and Raymond Pettibon (designer of Black Flag's distinctive "four bars" logo). Pettibon executed the cover art, wrote lyrics for and sings on the album which was recorded at Total Access in Redondo Beach, CA this past October -- the studio in which nearly all of the best-loved SST releases were recorded. "The deal was to improvise songs in the studio," says David Thomas, "and a lot of the time I forgot to open my mouth cuz I was so into listening to the band." McGuire quips "it's not half-bad for a day's work."

Smog Veil Records owner Frank Mauceri will be attending SXSW in Austin, TX this year and will have plenty to talk about including the definitive Peter Laughner retrospective set for a November release. Laughner was a talented singer, songwriter and guitarist who played with Rocket From The Tombs and the earliest incarnation of Pere Ubu. The Cleveland native died in 1977 but left behind a number of lo-fi live, rehearsal, and demo recordings.

cecil taylor on the 'tube

dig the sound of "88 tuned drums":

eel pie island

thinking a lot lately about "scenes" and their ephemeral nature (wreck room, black dog, whitewater tavern), i stumbled upon this item on the bbc website about eel pie island, birthplace of the brit r&b boom and subsequent profusion of bands including the stones, who, yardbirds, small faces, and so on. particularly interesting were the comments of arthur chisnall, a ww2 vet and the scene's unheralded godfather, on what motivated him to get it started in the first place.

new stoogesong on myspace

oh yeah, it's there: "my idea of fun" ("...is killing everyone").

as one who's been infatuated with this noise since 1970, i daren't hope that the new alb will be anything approaching the cataclysmic mindfuck that funhouse was when it was new.

but i'd be delighted to be wrong.

coley on fahey

having missed out on most of the '80s (the decade i spent guarding freedom's frontier), i'm familiar with byron coley's scrawl mainly from the "bull tongue" column he co-authors with thurston moore in arthur. as such, i was somewhat surprised to stumble on this john fahey article from perfect sound forever and discover that the cat can actually write een eengleesh. wowzers. so there.

wes race's cryptic whalin'

yeah, there's more (i got a lot to process the other night)...
for those of you who don't know, wesley race III, born june 1947 in wichita, kansas
moved to chicago in the early '70s to be close to the epicenter of the blues
was part of a crew of bluesfans he dubbed "blues amalgamated"
members of which went on to ensure, through the record stores, labels, radio shows, magazines, etc. they started, that the music would continue to be heard for yrs 'n' yrs
was instrumental in getting hound dog taylor and son seals recorded
i usedta read his scrawl in living blues when i was a snotnose in noo yawk
and the black ppl i knew all looked down on blues as "slave bullshit"
and the white ppl i knew all thought it had something to do with led zeppelin
i encountered wes in '98 when the band i was in was hosting a benefit for the foodbank at the keys
and he got robin sylar and homer henderson to play, to my everlasting stupefaction and amazement
("mamas 88 prayer" and "shot time" originally appeared on robin's ceedees)
later on i usedta hear him declaim his poetry at the swing club at evans and allen
in between ray reed singing verses of "mr. charlie" (you know, that lightnin' hopkins toon about the st-st-st-st-stutterin' boy)
and he got me in vernon garrett's band for a minute
"luella small blues" was an account of the groupie queen of wichita which wes wrote in 1968 and once declaimed in bob and sue koester's living room
(see "hip card punched," the tale of wes' chicago apotheosis)
"lucky number dream book" is a surreal bit of socio-political rumination over a killer funk groove
"strange stuff" and "mate like a cheetah" feature homer henderson deep into his jimmy reed bag
i could let this thing spin forever, and prolly will, at least for awhile
i got to meet wes' son, wes race IV from south wichita, at j&j's the other night
he says he was a chitlin' child; "hound dog taylor was my godfather"
chip off the old block, it seems
shabam!

that 1 guy, reggie rueffer

speaking of one-man bands, heard bartender/music promoter/hunter s. thompson impersonator extraordinaire billy whitewater wilson on 88.7 ktcu-fm's the good show tonight, talkin' 'bout the demise of the black dog and a show he's got coming up at the wreck room on march 21st (near the end of the line for my fave rawk dump, sigh) with that 1 guy, a kind of bass clef-centric version of the fort's own nathan brown who vocalizes over bass 'n' drum grooves he lays down using a bizarre-looking instrument of his own design called "the magic pipe" and an array of pedal-triggered percussion instruments. billy caught him opening for buckethead a coupla months ago and contacted him to book the gig. last time billy was this excited about an artist it was mark growden, so he's definitely got a track record for pickin' em. should be a show not to miss.

on the very same radio program, reggie rueffer of the hochimen reminisced about going to smu before they had a football team, backing sara hickman on an out-of-control version of the partridge family's hit "i think i love you" while a member of mildred, and touring ireland with charlie pride. he also performed two songs ("the king has been brought down" and "i built my own head") from the new rekkid he just started work on, and hyped his appearance at tomorrow evening's fwac acoustic monday thingy at the wreck, as well as the spot reunion that's skedded there march 2nd. reggie's always worthwhile listening and has been spending more time in the fort of late; a benefit for us, i'm thinking.

here's the vid for spot's "moon june spoon" from back in '95.

homer henderson pixxx

here are some shots my sweetie took of homer's one-man band 'n' his onstage accomplice, the amarillo fireball, miss donna pearl, at the wreck room a coupla wks back. (and yes, those are his real eyes.) if allah is merciful and fortune smiles, they'll be there again before the curtain falls there for the last time and the bulldozers start rolling.

james hinkle, homer henderson, wes race

so james hinkle roadtested his new ceedee blues now jazz later last night at j&j's blues bar, and man, if you weren't there, you sure missed some goings-on. james, who was there with the avowed intention of selling 30 discs at the special foat wuth price of a ten spot ("next weekend in dallas, it'll probably be 15 or 20 bucks!"), thoughtfully ran through the tracks in order up to a point, which allowed me to make the following observations:

1) his solo on "i hear stories," on which he had lyrical assistance from his wife betsy, is prolly the hottest he's every played on rekkid, which made it frustrating that j&j's soundman (who groused at opening act homer henderson for being too loud when you could _talk_ over the music during his set) appeared to be turning james' gtr _down_ when he soloed (he got it together in the second set, altho i believe it took drummer austin allen's between-set prompting to do it).

2) i can easily imagine toons like "ain't gonna make that call" and "things change" going over big with festival crowds. somebody oughtta pitch 'em to b.b. king's label, too -- assuming (knock on wood) that b. stays healthy long enough to record 'em. at the same time, james has never been so fort worth proud on rekkid, namechecking miss kim and her uncle ray reed on "funky town," a toon on which james' tasty soloing is highly reminiscent of c.l. dupree, a gtr slinger who left the fort for noo yawk in 1962 and subsequently made his mark on sides he cut with king curtis and aretha franklin (both of whose live at the fillmore albs, featuring cornell's telecaster styllings, are essential).

3) bassist daniel stone, whom i've seen in more contexts in the last yr than you can shake a stick at (jhon kahsen's quintet at the green party benefit, the monk tribute at arts fifth avenue, the avant-garde evenings at sardines) has definitely done his homework since the blues now jazz later sessions and is now playing the parts that jay dronge did on the records, on a fender, with aplomb. nice to see young cats like daniel and austin getting schooled in the blues by a veteran like james -- same way james his own self was schooled by freddie cisneros, sumter bruton, and robert ealey back in the day. (the other night at the wreck room, where he'd stopped in to vocalize with the wednesday night jam cats 'n' chixxx, i had an interesting convo with james on the subject of how "we're not teaching our children what _cool_ is anymore").

4) with every passing year, james' playing reminds me more of sumter bruton's -- a good thing. gettin' jazzier, i suppose, but beyond that, in his maturity (on his last two rekkids and every time he hits the boards), james seems like the inheritor of cowtown's blues tradition (along with kim and ray with the b.t.a. band). his 15th annual "krewe of kowtown" mardi gras shindig will be downtown at embargo on tuesday, february 20th. it was going to be at the black dog, but the day james got the posters back from the printer, tad gaither called him to let him know the dog was cashing in. c'est la vie, c'est la guerre.

for his part, homer henderson did his one-man band thang as documented on his boss live from the city of hate ceedee (if you see homer, ask him -- he'll prolly give you one), joined onstage by his lovely accomplice miss donna pearl on maracas 'n' vocalismo. always good to hear toons like the old kingsmen b-side "death of an angel," homer's down 'n' dirty take on slim harpo's "i'm a king bee," and his melodramatic medley of "pig hammer" and the elvis chestnut "baby you're so square," altho it woulda sounded better _louder_. (prolly have to get him back to the wreck room for that, tho.) offstage, homer regaled us with tales of his buddy 'n' greatest-'meercun-author-of-his-generation nick tosches, as well as high times at the holiday roller rink in haltom city back in the '60s (whence, he says, the best garage-punk combos of the day hailed: the no-names, who were "8th grade dropouts and glue-sniffers;" the barons, fronted by future bloodrock tunesmith johnny nitzinger; the rocks and their predecessors the nomads of "be nice" fame). he says jeff smith of the hickoids wants to release a "dirty" homer henderson rekkid on his san antonio-based label. sounds like a good idea to me.

also in the house: blues scribe-poet-rekkid producer (hinkle's straight ahead blues?, robin sylar's bust out -- which if you don't own, go immediately to the montgomery st. antique mall and find "rockin' robin," the shop operated by robin's former wife carol, to obtain you a copy) wes race, who's celebrating his 60th b-day in june by taking a band of "texas blues rockers" that'll include hinkle on gtr, homer on bass, mike buck on drums, lewis cowdrey on harp, and ponty bone on accordion to chicago to open for magic slim & his teardrops. wes' son was in town from wichita, kansas, and wes the elder presented me with a cd-r of some of his newest spoken word gems, entitled by him cryptic whalin' and featuring performances by homer henderson, robin sylar, blues now jazz later producer jim colegrove's band lost country, and austin bluesman johnny moeller, among others. pert neat stuff, which might conjure memories of readings wes usedta do at the dog star on berry street for them that was there. wes is a treasure, the fort's very own answer to john sinclair (and yes, we need one). a most immaculately hip aristocrat indeed.

as blues dumps go, j&j's has always seemed just a tad less _authentic_ to my mind than the keys, to say nothing of the bluebird or the swing club (r.i.p.), but nevermind -- gotta take these moments where you find 'em. es verdad.

hinkle/homer, electric mountain revue

this night, we're making a rare visit to j&j's blues bar, where homer henderson will be opening for james hinkle. a tough choice, as there's also this incredible wreck room bill (thanks to darrin kobetich for the heads-up):

The Electric Mountain revue featuring Swing Shift, Kristina Morland, Amanda Kitchens and of course THE ELECTRIC MOUNTAIN ROTTEN APPLE GANG!...opening for the DEWAYN BROS!! This'll be an evening of anticorperate, down in the dirt, honest music, accept no substitutes.

decisions, decisions.

stoogeaphilia, work, richard and linda thompson

had a good stoogeshow tonight. saw jesse for the first time and awhile, and shannon jackson's g-f who apparently grew up near robin sylar. matt is enjoying the space behind the drums. ray isn't enjoying the light above his head. nice size crowd, great sound onstage, mitigated slightly by the fact that i broke a string during the first song of each set (the E in the first set was no big deal but the G in the second set was a pain in the ass, i told steffin to take all the leads and we quit early). next time ray's gonna bring the hello kitty gtr he got from work. weird, i didn't break anything for over a year and now seemingly every time the stoogeband plays, this happens. i need to spend some time with my gear at home. li'l amp sounded like ass at the jam last night, too. sir steffin may have the solution: run amp volume full-out and use the knob on the gtr to regulate volume. have to figure out when we're gonna prac. everyone agrees it's time for new material; deconflicting time commitments is the challenge. it'll work out. everyone seems to have forgotten "your pretty face." feh. jon suggests reducing gig frequency. also says we can rehearse at his space if wx is shitty. he's contemplating a new 'puter. steffin is hot to play "marquee moon," jon to play pere ubu toons. forgot to ask him about the alice cooper version he mentioned at last prac. ray is on a dead boys kick; me-thinks usedta play "sonic reducer." that'd be good for us, too.

looking for a j-o-b, been too long between paydays. got a link to craig's list. need to update resume. actually create a new one, my old one was on the 'puter i abandoned at the benbrook house. hit the bricks maybe tomorrow, maybe monday.

ears still pleasantly ringing, listening to richard and linda thompson's "a heart needs a home" at very low volume. nice. their shoot out the lights alb usedta be a fave when i worked at blockbuster music in the mid-'90s. good for late-night listening. also, it appears there are other online video outlets besides youtube. danger, will robinson.

A Heart Needs A Home - Richard & Linda T
Uploaded by richardjgibson

sneak peak at new stooges alb

from blogger the church of me. thanks to ig for the heads up and katboy for the sterling internet detective work. now if we can just score a copy of this thing before it comes out...

boris

got an hour to kill? dig this, 53 minutes and change of the heaviest sound you will ever hear from people under 5'4" who don't speak english so good.

if jimi hendrix was here, he'd be turning in his grave

proof positive (as if any more were needed) that the '60s sleep with the fishes: jimi hendrix's image has been licensed to help shill an energy drink.

five live yardbirds

i hadn't listened to this thing in ages, longer in fact than the dead sexy disc, but back when i was a snotnose, around the time import rekkids started to be a big deal, this was the holy grail of yardbirds albs and it took me a long time to hunt it down. when i finally did, i was kinda perplexed by what the big deal was. it was thin-sounding and herky-jerky and eric "god" clapton's teeny-tiny gtr tone couldn't hold a candle to jeff beck's fuzztone 'n' feedback pullulations with the same band. in the fullness of time, however, i've come to realize that _it ain't all about the fuckin' gtr player_. what makes this an essential live alb (in the platonic sense) is its innocence, energy, and immediacy -- you can hear these beered-up brit lads connecting with their audience in the same way as dylan & the hawks at the albert hall, the who at leeds university, or the stooges at the michigan palace (albeit in a more positive manner than the last example; no breaking glass here). that's when 'n' where the goodness happens -- in the locus where performer's intention meets audience's expectation, and accidental, unplanned events can carry the performance to a level that transcends both (or take it right down the shitter).

punk is the new blues

i'm really starting to believe this. which, i suppose, means that mohawks 'n' tatts are the new soul patch 'n' funky fedora. not as ludicrous as it sounds in a year when the '90s have officially arrived as nostalgia, what with rage against the machine and the jesus and mary chain reforming for coachella. and the bassplayer from the clash is in a band with that blur guy.

little rock

seems change ain't unique to the fort. just saw online that the white water tavern in little rock, where i do believe the nathan brown vids below were shot, is undergoing a change in mgt. the tavern, open since 1972, had a pert happenin' little scene goin' on when i played there with nathan at the ass-end of 2003 -- as many ppl there on a tuesday night as you'd see at the wreck on a typical saturday. apparently the j'int is being taken over by a consortium of passionate 20somethings with some capital. heartening to see such a level of commitment to maintaining a scene. much of the heavy lifting to build said scene was done by one t.j. deeter, cat who also founded and publishes little rock arts rag the localist, which was a cut-and-paste, print-only 'zine three yrs ago but has since developed a pretty, um, _robust_ web presence -- one of the most sensibly-organized and easily-navigable i've seen, comparable to a new times product -- while maintaining a participant/supportive perspective. makes little rock look like a pretty cool place. nice to see ppl doin' it right.

dead sexy, strange attractors

while i was cooking dinner this evening, my sweetie threw in the ...and now you know ceedee by late lamented glam-punkers dead sexy, and we both remarked on what a fine, fine, supafine slab of trashy blast it was. now _there's_ a reunion i'd like to see, and one that wouldn't be hard to pull off, since 3/4 of dead sexy are now playing together again in austin's droney-spacey strange attractors.

barber mack

barber mack bassist-_conceptualist_ john shook (who played in a band that opened for the skatalites at d.c.'s storied 9:30 club when he was only 16) sez the vocalist slots for his reggae-jazz beatles revolver extravaganza (date to be announced just any day now, at the wreck room) are filling up even faster than expected. he's even thinking about making barber mack "a concept band that only gigs every three months or so, with different repertoire." next concept he's considering: '80s metal. be afraid. be very afraid.

james hinkle, holland k. smith

speaking of fort worth musos on the 'tube, here's gentleman james hinkle with holland k. smith, going all djangoesque on a toon from james' new ceedee blues now jazz later.

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and another, thisun with james' full band, including professor robert cadwallader tickling the ivories.



big love and much respect to don o. of bluesdfw.com for posting the vid.

goodwin live at the moon!

daniel gomez (the fella with the yamaha) will prolly break my legs for posting this, but whatthehell...this song is on a ceedee that will be released, as gawd is my witness, sometime this yr. or before i die. whichever comes first.



these guys still give me the same kinda kicks i usedta get from the who and husker du before their respective gtrists/evil genii got tinnitus. remember, daniel: wear plugs.

browningham

is nathan brown on youtube? yes, nathan brown is on youtube.



i still have nightmares about playing this prince cover to three toothless drunks in springfield, missouri. afterward, the bartender who let us play said, "well, what ppl around here really like is hipi music...or death metal." sorry, boys.



here's a link to his label, arkansas-based thick syrup.

black dog, wreck room

katboy refers to the migration of stoogeaphilia from the black dog (r.i.p.) to the wreck room as "our first bedouin gig -- since we are wandering the desert in search of a venue."

i'll admit to feeling a little adrift since the dog's demise not quite a week ago, even though i usedta bitch about the vomit smell at the downtown location and the miniature toy self-service p.a. bar as much as anybody. whatever else you can say about tad gaither, he provided a venue for lotsa stuff -- jazz, spoken word, punk -- that you couldn't find anywhere else in town (well, maybe at the metrognome, but only for a minute there), and on certain nights, his room had a more, how you say, _culturally diverse_ audience than i'd seen in the fort since the demise of the original bluebird. in his curmudgeonly way, evabody's favorite paranoid conspiracy theorist gave me a weird kind of _hope_. may he and his crew (jem rodriguez, the best bartender in the fort, once made me walk a line to get out of his bar when i wasn't even drunk, bless him) all find good places to land.

oddly, my two favorite black dog memories have nada to do with music: 1) when i was newly unemployed back in the spring of 2002, once a week i'd go downtown when the black dog opened, throw two dollars in the meter across the street, and sit shooting the shit with the bartender until the happy hour crowd started drifting in. it was a cool, quiet place. 2) i met my wife there one night in october 2003 when i was standing at the end of the bar with my beer, waiting to hear acoustic goodwin.

most of my best memories of the wreck room are like that, too -- going there before there was even a stage to drink black and tans with my rekkid store co-workers; our wedding party and just hangin' out there with ppl we dig. but there were also nights when sub oslo threatened to levitate the joint, or woodeye brought strong men to tears, or the boss martians from seattle played one of the rawkin'-est shows i've ever seen to like eight people, or mark growden played the accordion while flamenco dancing on the bar.

i dug just sitting there last night, when my sweetie 'n' i went in to hang up stoogeaphilia posters, watching graham deal with a backed-up toilet while the fwac acoustic monday thingy was going on over at "wreck west," shooting the shit with john shook, drinking in the vibe of the place and thinking about how it's going to feel when el wreck shuffles off this mortal coil to join the black dog and caravan of dreams and the hop in the land of places that don't exist anymore. sure, there'll be other rooms, but you've gotta appreciate the good ones while they're around, because they're never around for too long.

television

i wanted to see how they divided the labor, gtr-wise, on "marquee moon." all i could find was some audience-shot vid from the reunion in '93. the leads are all lloyd up until the long break, then it's verlaine's show.



here's a '74 rehearsal of "double exposure," verlaine vs. hell.

teatro de la rosa comes up taller

this from the smiling folks at rose marine theater. congrats!

MRS. LAURA BUSH TO HONOR ARTS AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR UNDERSERVED YOUTH
Honorees from 17 communities in the U.S. and Mexico

WASHINGTON, D.C- Jan 22, 2007 Young people from communities across the U.S. and Mexico who engage in after-school arts and humanities programs that promote educational achievement and productive lives will be honored by Mrs. Laura Bush at a ceremony for the 2006 Coming Up Taller Awards in Washington, D.C. The ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. in the East Room of the White House on Monday, January 22.

From student-produced radio programming in New York, NY, to performing arts steeped in Hispanic culture in Ft. Worth, TX, to an orchestra program that nurtures high academic achievement in Fremont, CA, the honored programs represent a diverse array of experiences that enable young people to nurture their interests under the disciplined and caring tutelage of educators and community leaders. All programs will receive $10,000 in honor of their accomplishments in enriching the lives of young people and their communities.

“Coming Up Taller gives us the chance to celebrate arts programs that are helping boys and girls develop their talents and find their own voices,” said Mrs. Bush. “The programs we recognize with the Coming Up Taller awards bring caring adults into the lives of children so that these children can grow up to be successful and healthy adults themselves.”

Coming Up Taller is an initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH). The President’s Committee partners with the Institute of museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to administer the program, which was founded in 1998.

The Coming Up Taller Awards recognize and support outstanding community arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of America’s young people, and provide them with new learning opportunities and a chance to contribute to their communities. The awards also highlight the contributions that historians, scholars, librarians and visual and performing arts make to families and communities by mentoring children. More than 250 nominations were received by the program in 2006.

Created through a partnership between the Latin Arts Association and local community organizations, Teatro de la Rosa enables young people aged eight- to-18 from Fort Worth, Texas to learn all aspects of theater operations, from playwriting to production to performance. Students receive free, on-site classes at the Rose Marine Theater three days a week for 12 weeks in both the fall and spring sessions, and four weeks of instruction during the summer. Through the collaborative involvement of teachers, parent volunteers and fellow students, participants benefit from an immediate network of mentors and friends and learn important skills such as resume- development. Rose Marine Theater staff also provide deserving students with letters of support that lead to internships and careers with professional theaters across the country.

Managed out of the Latin Arts Association’s headquarters, Rose Marine Theater, at 1440 North Main Street, the program has been dubbed the “1440 Experience” by the participants, and has garnered a reputation for transforming the lives of thousands of minority students from underserved communities. Various locations in addition to the Rose Marine Theater also offer the students intensive training free of charge, and participants gain access to the Theater’s other cultural programs as well.

Serving a community that has a significant Hispanic population, TDLR youth program emphasizes cultural identity and sensitivity, with many bilingual plays focusing on Hispanic culture to provide young people the opportunity to discuss topics that are relevant to their neighborhoods and lives. Approximately 80 percent of the students who begin the program continue through graduation.

“Someone once asked me “how many of your actors will go on to a career in theater?” I thought a career in theater? Hmmm, that’s an interesting question.” said Yvonne Duque, Artisitic Director for Teatro de la Rosa. “For me, our youth program is a platform to teach both theatrical and life skills- self confidence, team-work, decision making, and collaboration. By creating live productions students exercise these new skills that feed into other parts of their lives. Through the power of the arts, I have seen young people transform into leaders. They stand taller.”

“Arts and humanities activities have a wonderful way of enabling young people to discover their unique talents and interests while forging a path to success in school and life,” said Adair Margo, Chairman of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. “Teatro de la Rosa is especially notable for the way it enables students to play a leading role in discovering their innate abilities while setting the stage for a lifetime of continuing achievement.”

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities bridges the interests of federal agencies and the private sector, supports special projects that increase participation, and helps incorporate the humanities and the arts into White House objectives.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education. Because democracy demands wisdom, the National Endowment for the Humanities serves and strengthens our Republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners. For more information please visit the following Web sites:

Teatro de la Rosa: www.rose marinetheater.com
Coming Up Taller: www.comingu ptaller.org
President’s Committee on the Arts and the
Humanities: www.pcah.gov
National Endowment for the Arts: www.arts.gov
National Endowment for the Humanities: www.neh.gov
Institute of Museum and Library Services: www.imls.gov

***Go to myspace/rosemarinetheater to check out
video footage on Teatro de la Rosa's youth program***

new york dolls

behold the mighty dolls, playing "personality crisis" on german teevee. hard to believe that three of the guys in this clip are now on the underside of the grass.

watt, miles, stooges

listening to banyan's version of "funhouse" from the live at perkins' palace ceedee and reading mike watt's tour diaries from sxsw 2001, where i saw ron asheton for the first time, playing stoogesongs with j. mascis and the fog _twice_ (emo's and rekkid store), and the gypsy tea room from later on that same tour. 'twas truly inspiring to see them playing those stoogesongs live; that run of shows is prolly my fave of all time after the couple i caught by scott morgan's powertrane in cleveland and ann arbor. funny that listening to banyan, tahiti thought it was miles' tribute to jack johnson alb -- actually an easy mistake to make. thinking about miles and how every decade (or half decade; think about the diff between bitches brew and jack johnson, even). thinking about how many musos i dig besides banyan -- dave douglas, ghostcar, dennis gonzalez, to name a few -- owe their existence to miles davis. cat had big shoulders, indeed -- big enough to carry multitudes. stooges same way.

ratvid

ladies and gentlemen, ratsamy pathammavong! ratsamy pathammavong!





for the love of gawd, somebody give the asian media crew their own teevee show. that way i'd have something funny to watch with the sound off in bars late at night.

carbon/silicon

the intarweb: last refuge of old punkers. to wit: carbon/silicon, the latest project of mick jones (ex-clash) and tony james (ex-generation x), who (so far) have cut two albs, available only via their website. truly, it's so much more than porn.

"the new groups are not concerned / with what there is to be learned..."

joe nick patoski in national geographic

joe nick patoski -- former fort worth rekkid store owner and deejay, onetime manager of joe "king" carrasco & the crowns, a man who was known as "the kid who could dance like james brown" when he was a student at arlington heights h.s. -- has an article about big bend in the latest national geographic ish. jack dykinga shot the pics. you can read joe nick's field notes here.

nervebreakers and some band from england

in 1977, i was still living at my parents' house on lawn guyland and working at the rekkid store a coupla yrs after dropping out of college. i was planning to move to boston until a coupla guys i knew did and were back in six months, saying, "don't go there! there are 20,000 college kids! you'll never find a job! the auto theft rate is the highest in the country! bleeeaaaggghhh!!!"

then my drummer from college called me up. he had been going to electronics school in new jersey when he inexplicably decided to transfer to texas. (i'd been on my way to see him in jersey when i wrecked my car on staten island and had to postpone my departure for a yr.) he said, "come to texas. you can make nine dollars an hour raking rocks in the road. i just saw the sex pistols. they sucked. but i saw this dallas band called the nervebreakers open for them. they were great."

thank you, stephen thomas gray.



ADDENDUM: wanna hear the nervebreakers? go here. wanna read an interview i did with 'em? go here.

reggie rueffer ADDENDUM

duh, it's a spot reunion at the wreck room on march 2nd, not the hochimen. all the more reason to come out, it being the wreck's victory lap 'n' all.

jeez, with that in mind, how 'bout a bindle reunion, guys?

celibate rifles

i do believe the celibate rifles from orstralia might just be the greatest rockaroll band on earth. i don't listen to 'em all the time, but on those occasions when i do, i frequently get this impression. i will never see them, because they don't tour the states (altho they did back in the '80s, when they actually cut a live alb, kiss kiss bang bang, at c.b.g.b.'s, something my friend marlin, who lives in texas in a town where a corn dog factory is, has told me he usedta dream of doing with his band). my friend geoff has seen them many times, both at home in oz and in the u.k. on his honeymoon with his late wife, but i know i will not be traveling to either of those places anytime soon. (nor will the rifles in the case of the u.k.) my friend tony in amsterdam might be starting a band with their gtr player. even though i lost their thread a couple of yrs ago, listening (as i am now) to their albums the turgid miasma of existence and roman beach party makes me think that yes, they just might be what i said.

larry wallis

i've always thought highly of larry wallis, the token american git-slinger in the pink fairies, a late-'60s/early-'70s britband with connexxxions aplenty to the deviants, hawkwind, and motorhead. that esteem has only increased since i read this screed, wherein lazza 'fesses up that his axe of choice is a peavey predator, which usedta be my preferred plank back when i was still getting thrown off bobby counts' stage at the keys lounge on a reg'lar basis. inexpensive tools are _good_!

mike neal

while reviewing vids for teen a go go, i learned that mike neal of the fort worth cats (the band, not the ball club -- kid daniel, please phone home), a principal in the story of the worst thing i have ever done in my life, was a member of a '60s garage band, the jackals from dallas. if i'd known that, i'd have asked him very different questions than the stupid, bogus ones i did when i "interviewed" him back in '79. live and learn. these days, he hosts karaoke shows. mea culpa and much respect, man.

metrognome collective

...is apparently unassing their location at 1518 east lancaster and will live to fight another day, but jayzus. so far, 2007 has brought many cataclysmic changes to the scene here in the li'l fort. unfortunately, none of 'em good. we live in hope.

real women have curves

this from the smiling folks at the rose marine theater:

January 19,20,26,27, Feb. 2,3 at 7:30pm
January 21,28 & Feb. 4, Sunday Matinees at 2:00 pm
Real Women have Curves- by Josefina Lopez

Ana, a sullen high school graduate dreams of bettering her life while dealing with her over-restrictive parents and her mother's constant criticism of her weight. Set in a sewing factory five Mexican women discuss their lives, their futures and their figures. Bilingual. $12 Adults, $7 Students/Seniors.

call for tickets now at 817.624.8333 or visit our website at www.rosemarinetheater.com

reggie rueffer

in what appears to be an unprecedented feat of premeditation, hochimen frontguy reggie rueffer will play an acoustic set at the li'l wreck room on monday, january 29th, preceded by a radio broadcast on 88.7 ktcu-fm's the good show the previous evening.

even more exciting, the hochimen will be playing a full band show at the wreck on friday, march 2nd, supported by goodwin and velvet love box (who should be brushing up on their xtc for the occasion). old fans of spot, drunken monkey, and daddy's soul donut should be out in force for thatun.

nick tosches

i'm such a literary ignoramus that i didn't even realize that nick tosches had a new book, king of the jews, pubbed in 2005. what it is, is nothing less than a _history of western civ_ told through the prism of one man's life -- in this case, arnold rothstein, a politically-connected gambler and gangster who was accused of fixing the 1919 world series. more to the point, it's about storytelling (in the same way that another of my favorite books, tim o'brien's the things they carried, is) -- specifically, the notion that history is nothing more than a collection of lies that get repeated (and referred to) enough to be taken as truth. a sobering notion for anyone involved in the production of "non-fiction." strangely, altho i bailed on nick 30 pages into a diatribe against his agent that he inserted in the middle of his last book, in the hand of dante, my fave moment here comes when he pauses in the middle to contemplate and philosophize on matters unrelated to "the story." his use of language is _that_ beguiling.

having recently read his two mafia novels back-to-back, i gotta say that this time around, i found the "big" one (that'd be trinities) less diverting than the "little" one (cut numbers, his first novel), possibly because the former seemed like a big-budget hollywood epic version of the latter's small indie art film -- same story, different scale 'n' scope. or so it seemed to me, anyway. it's just nice having the attention span to read again.

r.i.p. black dog

damn. just got word the black dog tavern is shutting down. tonight is the last night. wishing all the best for tad, jimmy, billy, shaggy, and the rest of the crew. funny, just this afternoon, lee and i were talking about maybe moving the jam there when the wreck room closes. now i've gotta see if i can get a regular gig for stoogeaphilia at the wreck (while it lasts) or maybe 6th street live. can't take _anything_ for granted, it seems.

the deviants

listening once again to the deviants, lit brit expat mick farren's anarchic '60s hipi band that kinda paralleled the mc5/stooges' trajectory before (d)evolving into the pink fairies at the cusp of the '70s, only to return from oblivion in the mid-'90s. while on one level the early stuff sounds like generic late '60s brit psych (think of the pretty things after they stopped playing arranbee, minus, how you say, instrumental fluency), on another, i'm struck by how much the stuff i play with impulse of will (or as my mother would say, "_the_ impulse of will") when the proceedings are at their most chaotic is influenced by deviants gtrists sid bishop ('60s model, when it ain't happenin') and andy colquhon ('90s, when it is) -- as much as it is by ron asheton and eddie hazel, in fact. my sweetie agrees that the best farren rekkid remains the deathray tapes, on which he doesn't sing but rather declaims like an evil jeremy irons (as my oldest dtr once said). so there.

the huns, the big boys

finally, no stagger down memory lane, austin punk division, would be complete without the huns, the band who put austin punk on the map by getting arrested every single time they played at raul's or club foot, possibly because of frontguy phil tolbert's assless chaps, or his propensity for kissing cops.

i left down before the dicks happened, but i did catch some of the first shows by the big boys, at least one of which was apparently at raul's, altho i only remember ever seeing them at some afterhours joint (again, a clue to my state of dissolution at the time). my one vivid memory of said show: biscuit had purina dog chow bags safety pinned to his jumpsuit. and i heard them play "frat cars."

live at raul's

ha. found my copy, but if you're not similarly blessed, last days of man has blogged a few of the tracks, including both of the explosives ones without roky erickson but neither of the ones with him. feh. (prolly has to do with brother sumner's wise stewardship of the rok's biz affairs of late; a good thing.) besides roky, the best of the batch (not on last days etc.'s blog, unfortunately) were prolly the skunks, one of whom (jon dee graham) went on to play with alejandro escovedo in the true believers and another of whom (jesse sublett) now writes mystery novels like kinky friedman. no word on whether he's running for governor, tho.

django reinhardt festival

this from gracey tune at arts fifth avenue:

ARTS FIFTH AVENUE
1628 5th AVENUE
FORT WORTH, TX 76104
Ph (817) 923-9500
www.artsfifthavenue.com

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE”

DJANGO REINHARDT: FW FESTIVAL ‘07 – LIVE AT ARTS FIFTH AVENUE

ARTS FIFTH AVENUE presents: DJANGO REINHARDT: FW FESTIVAL ‘07

…3 Nights of Film, Live Music & French Ambience honoring The Life of Legendary Gypsy Jazz Guitarist: DJANGO REINHARDT (b.1910-d.1953)

DJANGO REINHARDT (1910 – 1953)

On January 23, 1910 in Liverchies, Belgium – the Gypsy Jazz King was born: Jean Baptiste “Django” Reinhardt. He grew up in a Manouche Gypsy. Django (pronounced John-go and meaning “To Awake”) first took up violin and started playing guitar at age 10. Later, he moved on to an old-fashioned banjo-guitar and began playing Paris dancehalls before the age of 13. In 1928, his trailer caught fire and he was severely burned; two fingers on his left hand were seared together. Despite all odds, he was able to play guitar again as he invented a new chord technique to allow him to play with only 2 fingers. In 1930, painter Emile Savitry first introduced Django to Jazz – upon hearing jazz “he took his head in his hands and began to sob”. Jazz and Django were meant for each other…the rest is history. An important influence on the likes of contemporary guitarists such as Les Paul, Charlie Christian, B.B. King, Jerry Garcia, and Chet Atkins, in 1971, Django was elected by critics for induction into the Down Beat Magazine Hall of Fame. Les Paul called Django “the greatest guitar player that ever lived.”


FRIDAY/JANUARY 26, 2007

Celebrating the birthday of Stephane Grapelli (Jan. 26, 1908-Dec. 1, 1997). Most Django fans also know the name Stephane Grapelli because of his collaboration with Reinhardt in the Quintet of the Hot Club de France. Like Django, Grapelli was self-taught early on but later was trained as a classical musician first at the Isadora Duncan School and later at the Paris Conservatory. However at age 19 everything changed when he heard his 1st jazz recording by Lois Armstrong – “I discovered jazz and my vocation and kissed Amadeus good-bye.” Always a musical adventurer, Grapelli is featured on the title cut of Pink Floyd’s classic album “Wish You Were Here” released in 1975. Unlike Reinhardt, Stephane Grapelli lived a long life remaining active until shortly before his death in 1997. “Music keeps me going…it has given me everything.”

FILM: Stephane Grappelli: “A Life in the Jazz Century”: Universal Classics/128 min.

MUSIC BY: Mark Menikos/violin, Tom Reynolds/guitar, Paul Unger/bass, Andy Cristani/clarinet


SATURDAY/JANUARY 27, 2007

FILM: “Swing Guitar: The Genius of Django Reinhardt”:EFOR Films/46 minutes. Includes footage of Reinhardt playing, rare photos, documents…even some of Reinhardt’s paintings. Also includes “Le Jazz Hot” filmed in 1938 and the only known existing film of the Quintet on the Hot Club de France and MORE!

MUSIC BY: Gypsy Moon: Ray & Linda Sriro/guitar
and
YO! GADJO – Slim Richey/guitar, MeauxJeaux/bass, Ross Holmes/violin & Django Porter/guitar


SUNDAY/JANUARY 28, 2007

FILM: “Djangomania” Aired on the Sundance Independent Film Channel. Written, Produced & Directed by Jamie Kastner/A Cave 7 Production 2005, produced in association with Bravo Canada, the Government of Canada and the Canadian Cable Industry.

MUSIC BY: Kim Platko – guitar (solo set)
and
The Texas Gypsies: Steve Curry/guitar, Erik Swanson/guitar, John Hewitt/bass, Mark Menikos/violin and Kim Platko/guitar


FRIDAY & SATURDAY: Doors Open at 6:30 pm. Films shown at 7:00 with Live Music following.

SUNDAY: Doors Open at 5:30 pm. Film shown at 6:00 pm with music following.

$15 per night/3-night ticket $30 – CASH or CHECK – RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED

Concessions available by donation. For additional information or to make reservations, please call 817.923.9500 or email: artsfifthavenue@aol.com.

ARTS FIFTH AVENUE, an eclectic (nonprofit) neighborhood arts center located at the corner of 5th Avenue and W. Allen in the Fairmount Southside Historic District of Fort Worth, is the home of MONDO DRUMMERS and both are 501c3 nonprofit corporations. Partial funding by the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Arts Council of FW & Tarrant County, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

the normals

speaking of bands i saw when i lived in austin, the normals from nola apparently have a new ceedee of unreleased masters from '78 out on a japanese label. i saw 'em at a show that _might_ have been at armadillo world headquarters and _might_ have been with the huns (all of which gives you a clue to my state of mind at the time). what i do remember vividly: the way redheaded bassplayer steve walters thrust his head forward riddimically in time with the music on _every song_. if he did that every timed they played, dude must be in traction by now. if you're realaudio challenged like i am, you'll wanna go here to hear their single "almost ready" in glorious mac-friendly mp3.

the explosives

doing ints for robin sylar's bio today, i was surprised and pleased to discover that robin's childhood pal from dallas, waller "sonny" collie, is none other than the gent who went by the curious moniker wc3 as a member of austin's explosives, one of my fave bands to go see when i lived in austin briefly at the ass-end of the '70s. their dark secret was that sonny and drummer freddie krc usedta play with non-punk acts like b.w. stevenson, willis allan ramsey, and jerry jeff walker. that didn't keep roky erickson from using 'em as his backup band, tho, either back in the day or during his 2005 resurgence. damn, wonder where my copy of live at raul's has gotten off to.

lou reed

hadn't visited lou reed's website in awhile, but he now has all kindsa interesting vid up, including the high-fuckin'-larious "velvet underground on lawrence welk" clip. my buddy geoff in philly, who attends more shows in a month than i do in a year, saw lou perform his berlin alb in its entahrty at st. ann's in brooklyn, with musos that included soul sista extraordinaire sharon jones, gtrist steve "the decatur gator" hunter (who played on mitch ryder's killer '71 version of lou's "rock and roll" as well as all of lou's -- and alice cooper's -- worthwhile '70s output), and bassist rob wasserman (who was a crucial element of lou's new york and magic and loss albs, and whose own duets alb is worth seeking out to hear lou sing "one for my baby"). said it was boss (of course).

tv didn't always suck balls

showing our age, my sweetie 'n' i have been trawling the intarweb for stuff we usedta watch on teevee as tots (altho these days we only see it late at night in bars with the sound off and our set serves as a dvd/vcr monitor only).

found out, among other thangs, that my sweetie's childhood fave sally starr was an associate of bill "rock around the clock" haley. regrettably, couldn't find any watchable-on-our-'puter vid on wonderama (whose host sonny fox usedta teach at suny stony brook in the '70s and wound up working for a nonprofit dedicated to promoting aids prevention and population control; who'd a thunk it?), but did find an an int on youtube with three cats i usedta watch on wnew-tv in noo yawk: soupy sales (i was watching his show the time he told the kids to "take green pictures of presidents from your father's wallet and send them to me"), sandy becker (creator of norton nork and hambone), and "uncle" fred scott (the newsreader who did one of the afternoon cartoon shows).

robin sylar

things are kinda slow on the movie front right now, so i'm working on a bio of larger-than-life texas gtr titan robin sylar for his memorial website (which is live now; be the first on your block to hit the link). found this vid of robin rippin' it up on bo diddley's "can't judge a book" at schooner's in dallas wa-a-ay back on the first day of december, 1990. dig his trademark telecaster torturin' (and the snippet from "baby please don't go" he inserts in the middle of mr. diddley's toon). i _think_ that singing drummer is doyle bramhall, but robin's pal phil bennison aka homer henderson is definitely on bass. might have to give homer's live from the city of hate a spin later.

ADDENDUM: homer henderson sez the singing drummer is billy knight. so there.

lady pearl; dewey redman

the birthday tribute to lady pearl johnson at the bluebird has been rescheduled to next saturday, january 20th, due to bad weather this past w-e.

likewise, the next avant-garde evening at sardines will be tuesday, march 12th.

in the meantime, the lineup for the tribute to dewey redman, to be held at sardines on sunday, february 18th, has been released. confirmed so far: saxophonists marchel ivery and dave williams; bassists james gilyard, drew phelps, and daniel stone; pianists jhon kahsen, roger boykin, and daymond callahan; drummers duane durrett and danny tcheco; and multi-instrumentalists joey carter and chris white. four band sets and a jam session, starting at 5pm and ending at 11pm. no cover, but the regular menu is available, hint hint. donations will be accepted for a scholarship fund to be established in dewey's name. call 817-332-9937 for reservations.

alice coltrane, captain beefheart, dave alexander

alice coltrane, coltrane's last piano player, his second wife and mother of his kids, born alice mcleod in detroit 1937, went to join ohnedaruth last friday. peace.

besides mlk, today was also don van vliet's berfday, in honor of which we listened to doc at the radar station and the trout mask house sessions today.

canceled stoogeprac last night because of the shitty weather, so we're gonna do it on wednesday (which means no jam for me this week). oh yeah, for matt 'n' marlin, here's an int with mike watt where he talks about the late stooge bassplayer dave alexander.

thelonious redux

jazz repertory lives in the fort. saxman dave williams sez that monk tribute band thelonious is currently rehearsing for their next appearance, which be's friday, march 2nd at arts fifth avenue. the mingus trib dave mentioned to me back around christmas time remains an idea, but a damn good one imo.

patti smith at 60

and this:

greetings

The last ten days or so I have been the lucky
recipient of a lot of well wishing. For my 60th
birthday, New Years and for being an inductee
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2007.

I have to say it has been really nice
greeting the dawn picking the same old clothes
and used up socks off the floor and stumbling into the world
in search of coffee, encountering friends, neighbors
and passerby all with a kind and encouraging word.
So I want to thank everybody as well as send out a few
encouraging words myself. A new year begins and it
gives us an opportunity to reassess ourselves, physically,
emotionally and spiritually. There is no reason at all
why each of can't take stock of ourselves and better
our situation. For instance just simple things like
eliminating fast foods, soft drinks and excessive salt
is a start. Drinking more water. Getting one's teeth cleaned.
Saying a simple thank you or grace before eating.
Going through our possessions and letting go of what
we really don't want or need. If one has vices and can't
give them up, just cut down.

Start with the small things and as you feel better about
accomplishing them, add more challenging things. It's
an elemental concept but sound. Sometimes we ask
so much of ourselves that we feel defeated before we begin.
Don't defeat yourself. We are lucky to be alive. I always
think of the Jimi Hendrix line "Hooray I wake from yesterday".
Just being alive is a gift. We can build on that thought
every day.

Well, happy new year. And thanks everybody. I am going to
take my own advice and change my socks.
all good wishes.

patti smith

tammy melody gomez' daily poem

i found this inspahring:

Hello, Brilliant and Beloved:

READ TAMMY MELODY GOMEZ' Daily Poem (365 poems in 2007) at:
http://xxcommunicator.blogspot.com

I have launched a new project for 2007, in the spirit of sweating my prayers (nod to Gabrielle Roth) and inspired by 2 of my creative influences, Jonas Mekas--filmmaker--and Suzan Lori-Parks--playwright.

Both Mekas and Parks are presenting this year--for free to the public--their original short films and plays, created like life, one day at a time.

Between November 2002 and November 2003, Pulitzer-winning Lori-Parks wrote her “365 Days / 365 Plays” as an exercise in exploring the writing process. Right this very moment, the plays are being produced LIVE, DAILY, in cities 'round the country. (Even a few theaters in Texas, mostly in Austin, are staging a week's worth of her plays.) So they were written in 02 and 03, and they're live onstage in 06 and 07. But--you can also read them online, one-a-day, at: http://www.tcg.org/publications/365/index.cfm.

Film-wise, Jonas Mekas launched his film-a-day creative endurance fest in autumn of 2006. They're shorts, not feature-lengths, of course. They are also available for online viewing here

AND--for your reading pleasure, I am posting DAILY POEMS on my blog at:
http://xxcommunicator.blogspot.com. One a day, like a vitamin, they are being written. Original and fresh, exemplary of my life's musings and everyday happ'nin's.

Lori-Parks summed up her philosophy this way: “The writer has two kinds of faith: actual writing and sitting openly. Have faith in your personal effort or sweat. And faith in God, or whatever you want to call it. Then the voices will come.”

READ TAMMY MELODY GOMEZ' Daily Poem (365 poems in 2007) at:
http://xxcommunicator.blogspot.com

dewey redman, lady pearl

dewey redman was a son of fort worth who left a big footprint in jazz, playing tenor sax with ornette coleman, keith jarrett, pat metheny, and his own groups. he seemed to be on the rebound from various health issues before he checked out unexpectedly last september from liver failure. now, jhon kahsen is working with the jazz by the boulevard folks to put together a tribute to dewey at sardines on sunday, february 18th. details are sketchy at this point, but johnny says they plan to start around 5pm and have four bands playing hour-long sets before opening things up for a jam session.

meanwhile, lady pearl johnson's annual birthday tribute is at the bluebird this sat'day, january 13th. miss kim, ray reed and the b.t.a. band are hosting. i've been remiss in supporting the bluebird since it reopened; gotta take advantage of these oppos or they have a way of disappearing.

wtf?!?!?

did somebody try to burn fred's again? a coupla different ppl have called / emailed to say it's boarded up today. jayzus. hope everything's alright with terry 'n' them.

ADDENDUM: just talked to outlaw chef terry chandler and apparently it was another fire -- not as catastrophic as last time, no structural damage, just smoke from a cigarette that fell and smoldered. they'll be open again; he's just not sure when right now. we live in hope. i'd go sit in the fort next to a heatlamp and eat a fredburger. how 'bout you?

just in case you were wondering

white bread _is_ good for something. it is good for grilled cheese sammitches.

wonder bread (or mrs. baird's or any bread that is primarily air) is not good for anything, however.

say it ain't so, watt

i've been in denial ever since matt sent me news of this awhile back, but apparently it's legit: mike watt played on kelly clarkson's new alb. (apparently she won on american idol or something.) hope he was generously remunerated.

god bless haltom city

congrats to the me-thinks for being named "best band in haltom city" by haltomcity.com. but hey, waitaminute...it sez here that the site isn't the official haltom city website! and i see jack bensonhurst's name here. could this be one of them thar red herrings? only jack knows for sure!

a pale blue dot

if you make it to the bottom of this, you'll find proof positive (as if any more were needed) that carl sagan was pretty damn smart.

goodwin, sunward

i didn't mean to give matt hembree an anxiety attack when i re-posted the bulletin about the goodwin / sunward bill at the moon next sat'day, january 13th, as "MUFFINHEAD REUNION!" i just couldn't resist, 'cos all three ex-muffinheads (that'd be matt, daniel gomez, 'n' dave karnes) _will_ be in the house, and it's on berry street, where they usedta play incessantly, way back when.

avant-garde evening next tuesday

jhon kahsen's next avant-garde evening be's at sardines next tuesday, january 9th, after which the event reverts to its second-tuesday-every-other-month sked. there's a johnny case myspace page now, too, where you can hear some of his toonage online.

reggie rueffer

reginald rueffer, he of the hochimen, performeth his songage, accompanied by george esquivel on percussion, at club dada in dallas (where, alas, i shall venture not) this thursday, january 11th, and again at the wreck room in fort worth (where i am more prone to visit) on monday, january 29th, as part of the fwac acoustic monday thingy. hear him you should.

old ppl sing da ramones

i can see my future now...

wow! my big sis is on youtube!

with the lark recorder trio. (she's the one in the middle.)

barber mack's revolver

fans of the easy star all-stars' dub side of the moon take note: barber mack leader john shook plans to stage a full-on reggae-jazz re-imagining of the beatles' revolver, complete with a horn section and multiple singers, sometime this spring. should be worth hearing.

kristina morland

kristina morland, who has a distinctive voice and a bag of interesting 'riginal songs, is covering the happy hour slot at el wreck tonight and the winedale tavern in dallas tom'w night. check her out.

fz/mothers on german tv 1968

this shit is too addictive...

"talk talk" by the music machine

speaking of '60s folks who wore lotsa black (note single glove on each player's pick hand), i musta played this perfect 1:57 single like a thousand times back when i was a snotnose. still sounds good. who woulda guessed the bassplayer would go on to produce the two biggest-selling fleetwood mac albs?

the monks on beat club

consider the monks...way too extreme for the u.s. in the '60s (altho big in deutschland, where they were all stationed while in the army), just right for the '90s, when they were rediscovered.

6th street grill, tahiti

so brian forella of wreck room / embargo fame has taken over 6th street grill, a room i should prolly be 'shamed to say i've never set foot in my life until yesterday. seven or eight yrs ago, brian had a sportsbar called the screaming peanut there, and he's not sure what he's gonna call the new place, but some changes in the physical plant / sound system are coming (this time he's gonna own the bldg), and brian plans to walk the line between not scaring the everloving shee-ot out of the yups (the j'int is in the shadow of monkey wards or the montgomery towers or whateverthehell they're calling it, near the supertarget that thankfully has made it unnecessary for me ever to brave s. hulen or bryant irvin evereverever again) and not alienating his core clientele from el wreck (and again thankfully, he appears to be wise enough to understand 'n' appreciate the value that carl, dre, graham, rod et al. have brought to his table). my sweetie 'n' i are just happy that we'll still be within walking distance of his new location. now i'm just hoping he'll keep el wreck open long enough for me to have my 50th b-day party there at the ass-end of june (which he sez he might).

ran into foat wuth hip-hopper tahiti at the modern art museum yesterday (where we joined all the alternakids for free-admission wednesday, since i had never seen the permanent collection there before, altho i think tadao ando's design might just eclipse anything else i saw there) and actually succeeded in luring him to el wreck for the li'l jam last night, when jam-meister lee allen had planned a james brown tribute. in the event, tho, lee had to call it off for lack of a drummer (funky or otherwise), which made me not glad, but i got to chew the rag with tahiti for awhile 'n' learned that he'll be back at the wreck on january 12th, opening for black tie dynasty and faux fox with ppt, and that ppt's alb tres monos in love is released nationwide (!!!) january 30th. it seems hard to believe that a group that's accomplished as much as ppt has in a very short time -- together since last february, their song "we're rowdy, loud and proud" was chosen as the mavericks' official playoff theme song, and they've received plenty of media exposure due to tireless self-hype, no longer a dirty word in this myspace universe o' music -- they can't get a headline gig in fort worth. could it be fear of a hip-hop audience (rather than a nation of millions) that's holding 'em back? only the collective clubowners of the fort know for sure.

greg tate on j.b.

let the final word on j.b. (from this week's village voice) belong to the former gregory "ironman" tate of brooklyn, muso-social critic and prolly the finest scribe o' the funk extant (seek out his flyboy in the buttermilk: essays on contemporary america), who co-founded (with vernon reid) the black rock coalition way back in '85 and is now the guiding intelligence behind gotham-based free-jazz ensemble burnt sugar.

kids' books

had a surprise visit from my middle dtr who lives with us (that i see every three wks or so) and her 5-yr-old niece today. got to read stories to my granddtr, which is something i don't get to do as often as i'd like. in the yrs since my kids were small, as many new kids' books have come into existence as did between my own childhood and fatherhood. besides the old faves (goodnight moon, dr. seuss), i got to read a coupla titles with which i was unfamiliar by jon j. muth, zen shorts and the three questions. both tackle pert heavy existential / philosophical issues (latter's based on a story by tolstoy, but be not afraid) in an sweet, engaging way, with muth's charming watercolors to help out. recommended (as is reading aloud in general) to anybody with small ppl living in their house.

sonny sharrock

well, it ain't ask the ages or guitar (esp. if you're like me and hate blorp-bleep '80s keyb sounds), but this 30-minute vid of a 1990 sonny sharrock show is still pert neat.

the 'oo on the 'tube

wow. found a vidclip from my very first concert, forest hills ny, 7.31.1971, on youtube. quality kinda suxxx, but i was there. two nights before, it piss-poured rain and a kid got stabbed to death outside. this particular night, townshend broke four sg's and entwistle broke his thunderbird. "love ain't for keeping" was their opening song back then.



wish i coulda seen 'em in '69-'70, when they were opening with "heaven and hell."



also found a clip of the first time i saw 'em on tv, in 1969, on, um, this is tom jones. who'd a thunk it? looks like they're lip-synching to a live track they recorded for the show, 'cos it definitely ain't the rekkid.

"

color me impressed

thinking about the replacements since my sweetie put on all for nothing/nothing for all as her soundtrack for baking. found this pert damn impressive 'mats fansite. still can't hear "can't hardly wait" without thinking about woodeye, tho.

yardbirds documentary ADDENDUM

duh. no paul samwell-smith or simon napier-bell (r.i.p.) either. it was the end of the year. i was in a rush.

von bungy speaks

me-thinks gtrist and recent guest stoogeaphile sir marlin von bungy writes:

I was reading your blog about the girl asking if that was your hair color and I wanted to say that the same nite some chick who looked like courtney love asked me if i live in FTW. I told her no, i live in Haltom City. She asked why I dont live in FTW. I told her because they dont have a corn dog factory and I wouldnt live in a city that doesnt have a corn dog factory. At least I thought it was funny.

a man's got to have _some_ standards, dammit.