My first SXSW experience ended abruptly on Friday, but that doesn’t mean that a good time was not had. Chaperoned by some of the foremost Southby experts around, Mayer Danzig and John Anderson, my week starting on Saturday the 10th and ending on Friday the 16th was absolutely incredible. Highlights included Tuesday Night at the Saxon Pub, Guitartown/Conqueroo Kick-off Party, the Palo Duro Records Showcase and the New West Party. Low points included leaving my cell phone in a cab and a broken camera. Luckily, thanks to a friend, a nice lady named Dee from cab dispatch and the best cab driver in all of Austin, I recovered the phone. No luck fixing the camera.
Before I recap some of the performances, here’s a video clip of a show that Gregg Geil and I happened upon and unbeknown to us captured by the good folks over at The DL. A laugh riot to say the least.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Tuesday Night at the Saxon Pub
A group of us headed over early to the Saxon Pub to ensure entry for Austin staple Bob Schneider and his merry band of musicians. This could have been my best night of the week. By arriving early, we happened to catch Matt the Electrician whom I had heard of but have never heard more than a few songs. Anchored by Scrappy Jud Newcomb and Seela, Matt was an amazing crowd pleaser. I could have left after their show and gone home happy but I’m sure glad I didn’t because Schneider and crew brought the house down. Bob Schneider, Bruce Hughes, Jeff Plankenhorn are some of the best musicians I have ever seen and heard. They played for over two hours with a wide range of songs, several of which I’m guessing were new material. My new personal mission is to evangelize this band of Austin musicians as they had already made my week amazing and the official music festival had not even begun yet. - What Made Milwaukee Famous
I only caught the last two songs of their set. Shame on me. These guys rock. - Two Cow Garage w/ special guest Tim Easton
The combination of these two made for a great show. - Grand Champeen
Solid band, though I had higher expectations and I’m not sure why. Regardless, they are worth seeing.
Different Sort of Story (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/Grand_Champeen-Different_Sort_of_Story.mp3] - The Explorer’s Club
Harmony reigns. This was one band I wasn’t aware of before SXSW. They are from South Carolina and draw comparisons to the Beach Boys but can certainly stand on their own. Put them on the radar.
Forever (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/The_Explorers_Club-The_Explorers_Club_-_Forever.mp3] - The Lemurs
Another band I only saw the last two songs of. But they were dang good. This band was a favorite of some friends that were also browsing around.
They Do What They Like (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/The_Lemurs-They_Do_What_They_Like_.mp3] - Michelle Shocked
I’m not sure I can tolerate too much of Shocked’s wails but she sure does make for an enjoyable performance. Great musician. Great band.
Hardcore Hornography (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/Michelle_Shocked-Hardcore_Hornography.mp3] - Scrappy Jud Newcomb
I’ve concluded that anyone within 2 degrees of Scrappy Jud Newcomb must be of musical greatness. He seems to play with a handful of local Austin artists and is talented as a frontman too. If you ever see Scrappy Jud on the bill, you know its gonna be good. Don’t miss. - The Silos
Their recorded material is great. At least half of their songs sounded great live.
Come On Like The Fast Lane (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/The_Silos-Come_On_Like_The_Fast_Lane.mp3] - Meiko
Up and coming folk singer-songwriter. I’m glad I caught her performance as she is otherwise unassuming. I’m not sure if I would have seen her if I wasn’t in the right place at the right time. Put Meiko on your radar if you like female folkies. - Office
My wife really liked this charismatic band. I don’t really know how to describe them but I though they were pretty good too and definitely fun to watch.
The Big Band Jump (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/OFFICE-The_Big_Bang_Jump.mp3] - The Redwalls
They tend to sound a little too much like the Stones and won’t be able to avoid comparisons to the Sex Pistols nor the Beatles, but they rock it none-the-less and have amazing stage presence. Besides what great band wasn’t influenced by those predecessors?
Memories (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/The_Redwalls-Memories.mp3] - Beaver Nelson
Another artist within 2 degrees of Scrappy Jud Newcomb who was found onstage with Nelson at a competely different part of Austin than I had seen him earlier in the day. We only caught two songs before heading over to Gueros for dinner. Again, my sense is that anyone that plays with Newcomb is of greatness. - Patty Hurst Shifter
One of my biggest disappointments is not catching a full set of PHS. I arrived only to hear a song and a half before they were done. I’ll be kicking myself for years for that. At least I was there in time to catch Peter Case. - Peter Case
I missed Case earlier in the week so I was ecstatic to have finally see him live for the first time. To my delight, the second song of his set was The Plimsouls “A Million Miles Away”. Of course, I also love Case’s blues.
Shot Through (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/Peter_Case-Shot_Through.mp3] - Two Tons of Steel
Late Wednesday night, my wife and I were fortunate enough to catch up with Gregg Geil (AmericanaRoots.com) and his family at the Waterloo Ice House for the Palo Duro Records showcase. Not only were Greg and his family some of the nicest and hospitable folks you will ever meet, the Palo Duro artists showed me some of the best twang I would see all week. TWO TONS! TWO TONS! Two Tons of Steel is country meets rockabilly. These guys are true crowd pleasers. Don’t miss an opportunity to see them live in your area. - Trent Summar
If you haven’t seen Summar, he is quite a character. Think Gary Busey meets honky-tonk Elvis. An interesting performance to say the least. Interesting fact… for some reason Summar always wears red pants. - San Saba County
I didn’t actually get to see San Saba County play due to the intrigue of Trent Summar’s performance, but thankfully I met Chris and John from the band. Not seeing them was a huge disappointment but sticking around made for an interesting next act.
Psalm 102 (MP3)
[audio:http://audio.sxsw.com/2007/mp3/San_Saba_County-Psalm_102.mp3] - Hayseed Dixie
I’d never heard of these guys, but apparently they are famous for playing covers of bands like AC/DC really fast in a bluegrass style. This was definitely good for a laugh or two though I missed a Drams performance across the street in the same time slot. - Buddy Miller
A perfect start to Thursday until my camera decided to go kaput. Miller is a true gentleman and his set had some of the best audio I would hear all week. A sharp contrast to the performer immediately following him. See next. - Rickie Lee Jones
I had just finished watching Buddy Miller effortlessly belt out a handful of tunes only for it to be soured by Rickie Lee Jones who followed Miller’s act on the same stage. I was enjoying myself at the New West day party on Thursday when Jone’s came on. In fairness, the sound was off though Miller and his band didn’t seem to have a problem with this. After the first song, Jone’s started exhibiting diva-like behavior by complaining and blaming someone else relying on them to fix the problem. About 10 minutes of playing time expired and they came back on stage to give it another try. The sound was still terrible, but that didn’t mean she had to start heckling a guy in the middle of the audience for talking during the performance. Dropping an F-bomb directed to the guy into the middle of her song and then giving him a dirty look while asking the audience to stare and point at him as she further incorporated her rant into the song. But this didn’t work as the performance was terrible and everyone continued their conversations until Jason Isbell came back to recapture the stage. I’ve never seen Rickie Lee Jone’s live before and I never will again. RLJ earns a big fat “boo”. - Jason Isbell
This is the closest I’ve come to seeing the Drive-by Truckers live. Isbell is unquestionably strong on his own rights. If his new album is anything like his live peformance, its gonna be dang good. To put an exclamation point on the performance, Booker T joined in on keyboard for the last two songs. Amazing! - The Drams
After several days thinking about it, I’ve decided that The Drams put on the best performance I was able to witness at the festival. Not only did they have me running away from watching Robyn Hitchcock and Peter Buck next door, but they rocked every single song of this set. A classic moment was around 5pm when a girl came to the front of the stage with a handwritten sign saying “please play until 5:30”. You don’t see this much at SXSW as bands seem to have very strict time slots. This was the equivalent of a double encore if they were in the middle of a tour. Our very own Mayer Danzig acquired the aforementioned sign for the Twangville archives. - Paula Cole
I caught Cole because she preceeded Grace Potter and I wanted to get a good seat. I’m not really in to her music but it turns out this was only her second time playing in the last five years so I figured the show ought to be interesting at the very least. She was clearly nervous at first, but by the end of the performance both she and the band felt quite at ease and the crowd loved it. - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
The last performance I was to see at SXSW 2007. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see this band live. Not only did they perform an amazing set, but Potter showed that she is a class act and truly cares for her fans. There were strict limitations for when the band had to stop playing. But the crowd wasn’t having it. They looked like they were going to break the rules and come on for an encore when some dilhole came down and pulled the plugs off the amps. The crowd still wasn’t having it so we started chanting “acoustic, acoustic, acoustic”. Sure enough Potter with a glass of scotch in hand and her lead guitarist Scott Tournet returned to the stage and belted out an acoustic song with the remaining crowd clapping along. Yours truly was right there up front serving as lead clapper. Rickie Lee Jones could learn a thing or two from young Potter. This was the perfect way to end my first Southby experience.
I wonder what I have to do to get Twangville a showcase next year, ’cause I definitely want to head back. Were any of you Twangville readers at any of these shows? Where there any that I missed that were truly “must sees”?
About the author: Washington, D.C. area creative by day. Music is my muse. I host Twangville’s weekly Readers‘ Pick.