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July 2019 VOL.8 ISS.4 #88 ON THE COVER...
314 E AVENUE G, PORT ARANSAS 361-290-7143
2 NEW MOVIES AND MUSIC 4 COMICS 5 QUICK READ 6 ALBUM COVER OF THE MONTH 7 CD REVIEWS 9 HARRISON FUNK: PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE STARS 14 JOHN SCHNEIDER : NEW MUSIC, MOVIE, & MORE 16 JOHN SKOC SEN: MASTER PERCUSSIONIST 18 THE TEXAS HORNS: NEW MUSIC, TOURING 19 SO UT H T EX ASMU SI C WALK OF FAME
PUBLISHER RUSTY HICKS EDITOR TAMMA HICKS COMICS EDITOR ALLENE HICKS STAFF WRITERS STEVE GOLDSTEIN, TAMMA HICKS, RUSTY HICKS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS ALLENE HICKS, RUSTY HICKS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS J MICHAEL DOLAN, DEREK SIGNORE, ROB DICKENS, RICK J BOWEN, DEBBIE NOBEL Alternative Weekly Network
JOHN SCHNEIDER & KID ROCK BY HARRISON FUNK
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STEAM Magazine is published monthly by STEAM Magazine, South Texas Entertainment Art Music, in Corpus Christi, TX. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Views expressed within are solely the authors and not of STEAM Magazine. Typographical, photographic, and printing errors are unintentional and subject to correction. Please direct all inquiries to: submissions@steamtx.com
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Resolution road revisited J. Michael Dolan Q: What’s the right strategy going forward? A: The one you will actually follow. Q: What’s the best solution to this problem? A: The one that will benefit everyone involved. Q: What item on my to-do list should I do first? A: The one that’s screaming the loudest. Q: What’s wrong with my computer? A: Try rebooting. Important because most often, the road to resolve is well lit.
New blood J. Michael Dolan Solutions, ideas and innovation live in the conversations we have with each other. And if you’re talking to the same people all the time you’re likely to remain attached to your own thinking and unlikely to see other workable possibilities and options. And when that happens progress slows, projects stall and results creep along at a petty pace. Pretty soon another year flies by and nothing much has changed.
Important because bringing in
outside thinking moves the ball. It provides a unique POV and another way of looking at the situation—which always sparks creativity , ignit es in nov ati on , jumpstarts enthusiasm and offers a new twist to an old worn out strategy. The reason to bring in an outside thinker is because we don’t know how to think other than how we think.
Anxious meets adamant J. Michael Dolan — While The Anxious are constantly on the hunt for others who agree with their anxious concerns, The Adamant are constantly on the hunt for experts and thought-leaders to help point the way. — While The Anxious remain uncertain and indecisive about their strategy going forward, The Adamant are making tough choices, confronting impossible decisions and taking big risks. — While The Anxious allow themselves to be stressed by mainstream media, distracted by social media and stopped in their tracks by the jaw dropping headline of the day, The Adamant allow themselves to be consumed with their art, buried in their work and adamant about achieving the goal that is right in front of them.
Important because while The Anxious remain anxious about the future and indecisive about how to proceed, The Adamant remain optimistic about the big picture and focused on the very next step they need to take today, in order to inch closer to the ultimate outcome they want to achieve tomorrow.
The elephant in the room J. Michael Dolan Saying the unsaid, expressing the unexpressed, revealing the concealed and exposing what’s hiding in the shadows has huge transformative results in any relationship, group, band, partnership, company or impenetrable situation. Drumming up the courage to finally say out loud what you’ve been withholding for so long may be confronting and uncomfortable going in, but it’s really the only true way to get to the heart of the matter and escort the elephant out of the room. Important because whether we like it or not, escorting the elephant out of the room always provides a huge space for new options and possibilities, plus, opens new pathways to achieving significant breakthroughs in stalled or seemingly unsolvable situations .
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Music aside, this has to be one of the coolest album covers of all time. It’s certainly one of my favorites. It is the only blues album cover Norman Rockwell ever painted. Keyboardist Al Kooper takes credit for the idea to commission the revered American artist to create a portrait for his latest record. As for guitarist Mike Bloomfield, he was a huge fan of Rockwell and couldn’t stop gushing over the man. Rockwell said the pair was the “most interesting-looking people” he’d ever painted. Bloomfield and Kooper met when they backed Bob Dylan on his HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED album in 1965 and at Dylan’s controversial Newport Folk Festival appearance that same year. By 1968, Kooper had just left Blood, Sweat & Tears and called on his friend Bloomfield, then in his last days with Electric Flag, to record a jam session over two days. They managed to get half an album’s worth of good tracks on the first day, but on day two, Bloomfield was a no-show. Kooper recruited Stephen Stills, fresh out of Buffalo Springfield and on the verge of the collaboration of a lifetime, to complete the album. The end result was SUPER SESSION which, to everyone’s surprise, went gold. Kooper then booked three nights in late September 1968 at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West, called on Skip Prokop and John Kahn for drums and bass, and recording for this two record live album was set. Bloomfield starts off by humbly explaining that they are playing with very little rehearsal, and whatever happens, happens. On nights one and two, great versions of Ray Charles’ “I Wonder Who” and “Maryanne,” along with other blues gems were record-
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ed, along with Kooper’s Hammond drenched covers of “The Weight” and “Green Onions.” True to form, Bloomfield was absent on the third night. So, Kooper got an up and coming Bay Area guitar player named Carlos Santana to rock on "Sonny Boy Williamson" and Elvin Bishop to flaunt his chops on “No More Lonely Nights.” When Paul Simon heard the soulful take on his “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” being mixed, he was only too happy to add a harmony on top of Kooper’s vocal. The vibe throughout is live and loose. Kooper’s mic dies during Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” and “Finale-Refugee” ends with Bloomfield dropping his guitar. “Her Holy Modal Highness” is the only track from the original SUPER SESSION, and the nine minute version included here is spellbinding. Give it a listen and check out Rockwell’s rock and roll masterpiece.
The pride of Littlefield, Texas; Waylon Jennings. Buddy Holly took his Lubbock, Texas disc jockey friend Waylon to Clovis, New Mexico in 1958 and produced his first record, Jole Blon. Not knowing all the French lyrics, Waylon simply made them up. When Buddy needed a band for his illfated Winter Dance Party tour in 1959, he asked Waylon to be his bass player. After the concert in Clear Lake, Iowa, Waylon gave his seat on the plane that Holly chartered to The Big Bopper, and the rest is rock and roll history. Eventually, Waylon pursued his own career in Country Music and after Bobby Bare suggested that Chet Atkins and RCA Records give him a chance, he moved to Nashville. But Waylon found himself shackled by the music industry in there. After contemplating a different career path, his
friend Willie Nelson convinced him to check out the music scene in Austin, Texas. There, he found that he could do things his own way. There was a new audience that accepted and identified with his soulfully expressive vocal style and his fresh take on Country. They labeled it "Outlaw," a term Waylon was never too comfortable with. He went on to rack up numerous hits on his own, and with collaborators like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. But his most important collaboration was with Jessi Colter, the true love of his life. They married in 1969. Jessi was the only one able to smooth out Waylon’s rough edges. Numerous health problems plagued Waylon throughout his life. In 2001 he lost his left foot to diabetes, and in 2002, lost his life to the disease, and we lost a true, creative innovator. His legacy lives on with his son, Shooter, who works to keep his father's memory alive. This live album is a great representation of what made his sound so special. It’s a perfect jumping off point for those not familiar with his music and a must have addition to any Waylon Jennings collection. His regular band of the time joins him; Richie Albright on drums, Duke Goff on bass, Ralph Mooney on steel guitar, and they all rise to the occasion. The songs were recorded in Dallas and Austin, Texas. ("Is it true that all you people in Austin think that when you die you're gonna go to Willie's house?" - WJ.) If you only listen to one track from this great album, try "Bob Wills Is Still The King." If Bob Wills is the king, then Waylon is surely the Crown Prince!
MATT ANDERSEN HALFWAY HOME BY MORNING (TRUE NORTH) BY RICK J BOWEN Award-winning Canadian soul-blues an Matt Andersen’s 11th album, Halfway Home by Morning, released in March of 2019 was produced by JUNO-Award-winner Steve Dawson and recorded “live off-the-floor” at Southern Ground Studio in
SUZI QUATRO NO CONTROL (STEAMHAMMER) BY STEVE GOLDSTEIN It’s easy to write off names that have faded into the vaults of time without taking into account the years of experience and maturity that go along with hard work and a long career. That’s where this pop icon fits in. Suzi Quatro may be best remembered in America as the leather clad musician friend of Richie Cunningham and Fonzie on the hit 1970’s sitcom, “Happy Days.” But her greatest musical success has been ongoing for many years in Europe and Australia. On NO CONTROL, her most recent release, the bass playing dynamo brings the goods with a rocking delivery that has served her well for over 50 years. There’s no guessing once the opening track, “No Soul/No Control” kicks in; we’re in for a rocking good time. “Going Home” is an upbeat boogie that follows, and “Strings” is the rock and roll thread that holds it all to-
Nashville. The12-song set of blue-eyed soul showcases Matt Andersen’s powerful vocals in all their glory. He is backed by a sympathetic band of all-star musicians including Dawson on guitars, the amazing Jay Bellerose on drums a full horn section and legendary backing vocalists The McCrary Sisters. A highlight is Levon Helm’s daughter Amy guesting on “Something to Lose,” a lovely Memphis/Muscle Shoals-fueled duet with Andersen. Other great tracks are the driving commentary on global warming “Gasoline”, the soaring country anthem “Long Rider,”- and the tender ballad “Been My Last.” The- album captures Anderson’s internationally celebrated sound: Sweat-soaked soul meets incendiary rhythm and blues . MATTANDERSEN.COM RICK J BOWEN: WABLUES.ORG
gether. There’s an underlying Latin rhythm driving the lesson learned in “Love Isn’t Fair.” “Macho Man,” “Don’t Do Me Wrong” and “Heavy Duty” are all straight, in your face hard rock. In contrast, “Easy Pickin’s” shuffling beat and the melodic “Bass Line” show off Quatro’s versatility. “Going Down Blues” is a hard driving R&B burner that fittingly closes out the album. The band, including horn section, is tight, and with Richard Tuckey, Suzi’s producer and son, they all provide exactly what is needed. The sound is a fresh throwback to a fun era with a fun artist. It’s easy to understand how this “Queen of Rock” has influenced so many along the road she has paved. It’s all here. NO CONTROL may not win any big awards and may not garner Suzi Quatro a slew of new listeners, but the ears of her faithful followers will welcome what they hear. SUZIQUATRO.COM STEVE GOLDSTEIN: STEAMMAGAZINE.NET
OUTLAWS & ARMADILLOS: COUNTRY’S ROARING 70’S VARIOUS ARTISTS (SONY/LEGACY COLUMBIA) BY MIKE J ELLIOTT The Country Music Hall of Fame in (where else?) Nashville, TN opened a new exhibit in May of 2018 centered around the subject of its name, “Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s.” The exhibit is designed to chronicle the rocky, lucrative, and complex relationship between Texas and Nashville in the 1970s, focusing on artists that came to define the Outlaw movement. Growing up obsessed with Willie Nelson (a story I reflect upon in my article published in the Bitter Southerner), I soon immersed myself in the deep well of Progressive Country (what later became labeled Outlaw Country), music that opened up the wide plains of Texas to me, from Asleep at the Wheel to Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Joe Ely, Terry Allen, Kinky Friedman, and especially Billy Joe Shaver. Each had their own distinct voice and their own unique sound. I became such a huge fan of Texas singer-songwriters and was so moved by their songs and stories I thought for a while I must have been a Texan in a former life since I’ve yet to even visit the Lone Star state. Released around the same time as the opening of the exhibit was a compilation album bearing the same title containing 36 songs from the heyday of P r o g -C o un t r y . ( I d o p r e f er “Progressive Country” over “Outlaw Country” in case you’re wondering.) Featuring all the usual suspects and a few welcome additions. Listening to it, I was transported back to that wondrous time of discovery. Hearing Willis Alan Ramsey deliver his “Satin Sheets” with such back porch ease yet still rip out your soul and stomp it is not something you don’t get over quickly after the song’s over. Of course, there’s Waylon, Willie, Tompall Glaser, and Kris Kristofferson, but there’s also Lou Ann Barton’s “You Can Have My Husband,” unfortunately – and curiously – credited to her thenunknown guitar player, Stevie Ray Vaughan. (I am well aware it is to move
units, but still, it smacks of sexism in this age of enlightenment, not to mention it’s unintentionally hilarious that SRV is solely credited on a song titled, “You Can Have My Husband” – how woke!) Any collection that boasts Terry Allen’s peerless “Amarillo Highway,” Shaver’s “Old Five and Dimers Like Me,” the Flatlanders’ “Dallas,” and Kinky Friedman’s “Sold American” is worth seeking out, and they’re all here along with many other top notch choices. You’ll get Emmylou Harris’s classic take on “Easy From Now On.” Jerry Jeff Walker is represented by two tracks, the de facto Austin City Limits theme, “London Homesick Blues” and the slacker outlaw anthem, “Gettin’ By.” The too oftcovered yet never equal to the original “Desperados Waiting on a Train” is here in all its painful glory by the inimitable Guy Clark. Outlaws & Armadillos is not perfect, however. I’ve never been able to generate much excitement about John Hartford, and his “Back in the Goodle” days did not change my mind. Miscredited as it is, it’s still good to see the blues side of Texas covered by the Lou Ann Barton track, but they could have represented that side additionally by including one of those burning hot early Fabulous Thunderbirds tracks featuring Stevie Ray’s big brother, Jimmie Vaughan. That being said, including Marcia Ball’s cover of Rodney Crowell’s classic, “Leavin’ Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” was an inspired choice. Overall, Outlaws & Armadillos works as intended: to compliment/cross promote the exhibit of the same name at the Country Music Hall of Fame for its three-year run. The skeptic in me can’t help but sigh and roll my eyes, even as I’m enjoying the music, knowing that once again, Nashville is exploiting the Outlaw brand even as they once shunned it, until it started going platinum 40 years ago in the form of another compilation, Wanted: The Outlaws. It’s good to have the music and memories available for a new generation to discover, but as I write this I find myself subconsciously humming Waylon Jennings’ sly and knowing, “Don’t Y’all Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out of Hand?” . WRITERMIKEELLIOTT.CONTENTLY.COM MIKEELLIOTT.WORDPRESS.COM STEAMMAGAZINE.NET JULY 2019 STEAM MAGAZINE 7
By Tamma Hicks & Rusty Hicks, STEAM Magazine All Photos have been provided by Harrison Funk
Meet Harrison Funk. The most famous photographer you’ve never heard of. Harrison has the kind of career only a few have achieved. From photographing his friends when they were kids to being on the Jackson’s Victory Tour and riding the bus with the Allman Brothers. He has had the privilege of taking pictures of Nelson Mandela as he was released from prison and family photos for the Royal Family, and so many world leaders he can’t recall them all, but that’s OK because he’s got pictorial proof! After being Michael Jackson’s personal photographer for many years he relocated to Austin. We were lucky enough to sit down with Harrison and talk about his history and his future. How did you get involved with photography? I was in a summer arts program and I liked the idea of capturing things as they happen on film. My dad had a camera in a drawer that was like the “do not ever enter” area and I did just the opposite. I wound up appropriating his camera and one thing led to another and I ended up shooting my friends that summer at the arts program. That’s when I decided I wanted to do photography in school and sports. It was all funny because I had a yearbook advisor tell me I would never be a photographer because my pictures were just awful and that I had no chance of ever amounting to anything in photography, so one thing led to another and I started shooting sports and my dad was seeing it as a way of being educational, creative, and a way of keeping me occupied. I love proving the teachers wrong. You’re lucky your dad was Ok
with you appropriating his camera like that. Well, I was on a very academic track and he thought I needed some outlet, and obviously, sports were one way and creativity was the other. I had money saved but I couldn't afford a bunch of lenses, so my dad kind of took up slack and one thing led to another I made enough money to pay him back and buy even more stuff including a camera body, so he could have his back. By the time I was 14, I had been published by the New York Times and doing regular work for the local newspaper chain. I started getting a couple of assignments a month for the New York Times and that led to me shooting pro-sports and I got to shoot the Yankees and the Jets.
Like Billy Joel, he was your first client, right? Pretty much; that was back in college. He played the whole college circuit and I took pictures of him and showed it to his tour manager, who decided he wanted to license the pictures for the tour program and that’s how he became my first major client.
Oh, yeah. It really put me to the top of the market and I was amazed. I'm in the early stages of my career and I was shooting in front of half a million people in Central Park. They use one of my pictures for the album cover, which was a split cover. Neither Art nor Paul could pick out one picture of the two of them together. They really had issues with each other for a long time, but they couldn't find a picture, so a designer at Warner Bros. used my picture of Paul and someone else's picture of Art on the cover and then he used a bunch of my pictures of the two of them and individual shots of them throughout the packaging. I actually went up to California in 1982 to pick up the check. I had wanted an excuse to go to LA on my own and just hang out, so I picked up the check and picked up a bunch of other
That is an amazing album! That had to turn some heads.
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On a regular basis? Yes, and I also got to shoot the New York Cosmos were the leaders of the soccer league. Professional soccer was huge at the time and they were owned by Warner Communication and through that, I started meeting a lot of major artists from the Rolling Stones and Peter What year was that? I have my favorite pictures Gabriel. The New York 1978. That's when he was throughout my career and it’s really getting to be huge. area is one of the four major markets in the US, more along the lines of a favorite At that point I hadn’t so they were doing started to do much in the photo of each person. shows all over way of portraiture. That came later, but in those days, my first major And you were on assignment as a young album cover was in 1981. It was Simon and teenager? Garfunkel’s concert in Central Park. Yes, but I wasn't being hired by the artists. I was being hired by the record companies.
The Jackson’s Victory Tour (1st Publication) STEAMMAGAZINE.NET JULY 2019 STEAM MAGAZINE 9
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE the day she passed away. That’s a piece that evokes emotion, but knowing the story behind it makes it even more so. Do you just take pictures for the fun of it or do you always have something in the back of your mind on what you’re doing? It is always for the fun of it and if I'm not having fun taking a picture, I’m in the wrong place. If I pick up my camera right now, I will probably spend the next four hours shooting pictures of my Cat. All pictures to me should have some kind of message. Photographs are there to convey a message. The message could just be fun, or it could be serious, or telling a story. There are a lot of things I like to photograph. I can't think of anything I don't like to photograph, although I don't do social gatherings. Let’s talk a little about your business end of photography. Do you do workshops or classes? And can people buy prints of your work? Better yet are you available for photoshoots? I do workshops and I’ll be offering some this summer and fall here in Austin. I’ve been thinking about doing one in Corpus because there are some very old rural communities and one of my favorite things to
shoot is abandoned buildings, so that's a possibility for a workshop. I’m also thinking of doing something down in Port Aransas would be cool because it's a beach community that reminds me of the Florida Panhandle, Daytona, and Venice Beach California yet it's its own thing and I admire that. I'm going to do a workshop at some point here in Austin very soon in shooting music. It won't just be about shooting music but about photographing musicians and how to get the most from them in front of the camera. I also do private consultations and photoshoots. If I’m available and it sparks my interest, which most things do, I'm more than happy to have a conversation about it with you. Limited edition prints are available and I sell and price my work according to what I think is the true value of it. My dad was an amateur photographer and he would take a roll of 36 and get one picture. What did you do with all the bad pictures? Mostly they're all stored in file cabinets and over the years I've gone through and culled the really bad ones and just threw them away if it was over or underexposed or you couldn't see the artist, etc. That has still left me with a few hundred thousand images now. Part two to that question; are you scan-
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ning them all into digital so you have them? Are they cataloged in a certain way? Everything is cataloged either in the file cabinet or has been scanned. I am planning to do a retrospective book. There are a lot of pictures to be scanned and there are a lot that have not yet been scanned. I scanned a few hundred of my favorite images for an expose I did in 2008 in Florida and most of the best Michael Jackson images are scanned to a couple of hard drives that are constantly backed up. Any advice for up-and-coming photographers? I am represented by a stock agency called Zuma Press. A lot of professional companies keep the money to themselves and give just a small percentage to the photographers. A lot of guys had suffered because it's a lot of waiting with
your foot in the door. One thing I have for young up-and-coming photographers is to be careful about how you do business. The artists have attorneys and agents who try to get the photographers to give them all of their pictures for free. I don't sign “work for hire” agreements. There are things that I will do and won't do, but I try to make it easy for my client without getting myself ripped off and I try to make the pictures as accessible to the client as humanly possible without allowing myself to get robbed and I’m pretty generous about all that. The biggest problems today are these contracts that they hand photographers that say you don't own the pictures that you're shooting.
HARRISONFUNK.COM INSTAGRAM.COM/FOTO_ICON
The Allman Brothers Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, & Nelson Mandela Garfunkel & Simon in Central Park | Quincy Jones (1st Publication)
I have my favorite pictures throughout my career and it’s more along the lines of a favorite photo of each person.
Greg Allman David Bowie Blue October Freddie Mercury Amy Winehouse Jimmy Page
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“We’re each going to leave a mark, you know. And it's up to us whether we leave a good one or bad one; whether it's a mark or stain.”
By Tamma Hicks, STEAM Magazine All Photos by Harrison Funk
John Schneider
has graced television screens, made an impact in the film community, and delighted the country music world for decades by eloquently delivering stories in a way no one has before. When he’s not acting, John can be seen with his guitar creating beautiful works of art echoing his roots, in the director’s chair on his independent productions, or across the world on various TV shows. John hails from Mount Kisco, New York where he began acting at the age of 8 in local theatre productions and in 1977 landed a small featured role in Smokey and the Bandit. In 1978 John made his television debut as Bo Duke on CBS’s The Dukes of Hazzard, the show ran for 6 years and remains in syndication on CMT and TNT. In 2001, John became Superman’s father, Jonathon Kent, on the CW’s Smallville and in 2018 John made his dancing debut on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars: Season 27. He currently plays the role of the powerful Judge Jim Cryer in the Tyler Perry smash hit, The Haves and the Have Nots. John has also made an impact on the film community starring in films such as Dream House, Happy Endings and Run. Though John had directed episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard and Smallville, his cinema directorial debut was the return to form story of Bo Duke in Collier & Co. in 2006. Following the success of that film, he and Alicia Allain (Producer, Executive Director John
Schneider Studios) have produced a slate of indie classics including Like Son, Anderson Bench, Smothered, and Inadmissible. They have just begun post-production on Christmas Kars. John Schneider has enjoyed a successful career in country music, topping the charts with his no. 1 hits I’ve Been Around Enough to Know and You’re the Last Thing I Needed Tonight. In 2018 we saw John everywhere, from television to movies, to his most ambitious music endeavor in which he released 7 albums! The Odyssey is a 5 album adventure featuring Nashville’s most sought after songwriters and musicians, John, Alicia, and famed drummer/producer Paul Leim recorded 52 of the best songs never touched before with Bob Bullock at Backstage Studios. Through Odyssey John released a new song weekly through November and in December he released newly recorded versions of his 10 greatest hits, but he didn’t stop there. John also released a Christmas album! In 1983 John and Marie Osmond cofounded The Children’s Miracle Network and have raised over $7 billion for the more than 200 member hospital s that have provided 32 million treatments to children across the U.S John has not let up in 2019. Again, he’s everywhere… in the movie studio, recording studio, on tour for his albums, cam-
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paigning for the Children’s Miracle Network, in April he produced, hosted, and performed at the Second Annual Bo’s Extravaganza festival with featured guest Kid Rock. And he still finds time to work out and relax. Hi John, it’s nice to talk with you again. How’s Louisiana today? I have been sitting here editing the movie we just shot. Now I'm just sitting on the back porch of my little edit building and I'm looking at the rain hitting the swamp. I'm going to see what the weather report says. Rain in Louisiana. Big surprise. Well, it is summer. You know, typically when I talk with a musician, that's what we talk about. And when I talked with an actor, chances are that's all they're talking about. With you… there's no limits which makes it really interesting! So what movie are you working on? It's called Christmas Kars. Everywhere I go people say “why don't you do a Dukes reboot” and I tell them that with the current insane politically correct affairs that are going on out there, nobody will touch Dukes of Hazard. So we did a movie that's about a guy that used to be on a television show that has all of a sudden become the enemy of the politically correct police. It's very much like an episode of Dukes where we got into something to save the farm but in this case it's the studio. The bad guys come against that plan by putting press out there about me and my car, so it's kind of “art imitating -life imitating, art”. Yes, that does sound familiar.
We just finished filming that two weeks ago and thankfully we didn't have any kind of rain until the last hour of the very last day. We were very fortunate weather-wise. With all the movies out here, we have never been stopped by rain which is amazing. It's very amazing. Every time we've been through Louisiana, on the way to or from NAMM in Nashville, it always rains at least one day. We’ll stay 2 or 3 days and it always rains one day. I'm looking out at about a million shades of green right now as I watch the rain; which is a small price to pay for the greatness as Butch Cassidy said to the banker in that great movie. I am always amazed with how busy you are. Last time we talked, you had just done your first week with Dancing With The Stars and you were in the process of recording and releasing a new song a week all year long (you were at number 30-something I think), you were also putting out music videos, and you were planning to re-record 10 of your greatest hits. And I just read you also did a Christmas album. Yup, we did the Greatest Hits Still, and there’s a single out now; it's a reboot of my Love You Ain’t Seen The Last Of Me. T hen like you said we went ahead and did a 1 2 s o n g Christmas album too, Merry Christmas Baby. It’s got a couple BB King and Louis Armstrong songs on there, some of my old ones from the Scotty Brothers/ CBS White Christmas Album. We redid Katie's Christmas Card and It’s Christmas. Then I thought musically we would be done for a
while, but while doing these albums we connected with so many great live musicians and friends, l ike Cody McCarver and Keith Burns, and we were hearing a whole slew of great new songs. I spent some time with Kid rock, he played here for the Bo’s Extravaganza here, so we connected and have been doing a lot of concerts t o g e t h e r after 10 o'clock down in the Florida- Texas areas. That audience seems to want a little bit more Southern Rock, so we are just finishing up a Southern Rock record called the “Redneck Rebel”, which we’ve been working on since the beginning of this year. We don't do any covers of any kind, so it's brand-new stuff and it's very reminiscent of my high school days like the Allman Brothers, Lynrd Skynyrd, Creedence, and some great Southern rock from the 70s. And if that's not enough, which it certainly is, we just recorded with a great producer named Larry Hall, and did what I like to call a gospel record, Alicia calls it an inspirational album, called Recycling Grace. Wow! Well, I knew about Recycling Grace, but I didn't know about the other two. Yeah, Recycling Grace kind of came out of nowhere. It was me and an amazing Bass singer named Christian Davis who I travel with quite a bit, and a wonderful singersongwriter named Jacob Lyda, my buddy Clay McCarver from Confederate Railroad and he also produced Redneck Rebel by the way, then this crazy, crazy singersongwriter named Jay Edwards. So, the five of us got together specifically to do “House of Amazing Grace”, which is Amazing Grace done to House of the Rising Sun, but with Larry Hall's particular vent on orchestration. It's really beautiful, so beautiful that Alicia is now jumping to the hoops necessary to get it up for Grammy consideration! It's wild and fully orchestrated, charted and beautifully done. We did 10 songs including I’ll Fly Away and Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down, which is like a blues gospel tune from the New Orleans 1930 era. And, of course there’s a song called Recycling Grace. S o 2019’s been a wild ride so far and we just finished filming Christmas Kars, which I'm getting out as we speak. I wish I had half the energy you have! Well, if I didn't work so much I might not have this energy. True, but I know you’re a PX guy too. Yes, we did our beach body workout this morning. It’s, kind of important as fuels everything; your health, your energy, it makes you sleep better, and makes you want to rest so you can work harder, which
makes you sleep better. I wholeheartedly agree; that’s why I need to start exercising again. I think we touched on the Children's Miracle Network last time we talked, but I recently learned your goal is to reach $1 billion a year through fundraising? Yeah, a billion a year! In our 37 years we raised $7.7 billion and currently we raise about $360 million annually. A billion dollars a year is a lofty goal, but we have wonderful folks out there that give very generously from the public standpoint and we also have some amazing corporate sponsors, and since we are so many billions of people strong, it's not inconceivable. If we could convince the population to give $10 rather than $1 or 10 grand rather than 5 when they drop their donation in one of the canisters at Walmart or Dairy Queen or any of our corporate sponsors, we could
Your work is just incredible! That's just the only word I can come up with. We’re each going to leave a mark you know. And it's up to us whether we leave a good one or bad one; whether it's a mark or stain. I think you’re going to be a mark, a very good mark. It will probably look like A+! (Laughter) You're finishing a movie, you are getting Recycling Grace out, you’re finishing the Redneck Rebel, you’re always campaigning for the Children’s Miracle Network, so… When do you have time to film Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots?” Thankfully, when we do that, it's very quick. It's done in a couple of weeks and is very intense so when it comes time to do shoot that, it’s all I do. When I did Dancing With The Stars and The Haves And The Have Nots at the same time that was tough, but next time we do it that's all I’m going to be dedicated to, just the show. I can't wait, it's a great experience. And you play the bad guy don't you? I do. It would be hard to find a good person in The Haves And The Have Nots, however I'm among the worst of the worst I'm told. I just think I’m misunderstood, nobody thinks they’re bad. You don't know why you do those things.
conceivably double in the second year without changing anything except “Hey, why don't you double your donation”. As far as I know we’re the only fundraising effort out there where 100% of the money actually goes to the Children's Hospitals. That’s really incredible! Yeah, and it stays local which is really, really great! It eliminates the question “where's the money going?” If you're in Texas the money stays right there in Texas. I think that's the biggest difference between us and everybody else. I think it’s also one of the reasons why 25 years ago we became the largest children's charity in the world and no one has challenged that position at all
And in your spare time you started a festival, Bo’s Extravaganza. I believe this was your second year and the turnout you had was terrific! Yes, it was great! It's hard to start something, but you have to start. A lot of people wonder why they haven't gone anywhere and chances are it’s because they never took that first step. Last year was the first year and it was great, but this year was fantastic! We had close to 10,000 people here, the weather cooperated, Kid Rock came and played, our great friends from all around Louisiana came, Cody McCarver, Keith Burns, and others. I jumped the car, really jumped the car! 110 feet and I lived to tell the tale. I'm excited about it next year, because every year we do it, it means I’ll have a birthday so that's good. Hopefully I'll be able to show up for that one too and it will be great. I'll jump the car a little further maybe. Maybe you'll jump two cars? Well, I jumped over a police car. Maybe I'll
put another car in there or I’ll jump over a bus, I don't know. I'll jump over something, but it was great, great fun. And again, kind of like with the movie we just shot, about 10 minutes after the last car left the parking lot it started to rain, and it hadn't rained at all during the whole weekend. God was watching out over our potential parking and car problem, and as the last car left the clouds opened up and it rained, and that was fine. You say you jumped t h e car. Do you practice that? No (laughter) You can't because you'll break the car or, God forbid, you practice and it goes great and nobody saw it! Cars are expensive, you know, so you just got to trust your stunt coordinator, which I do, buckle up, put your helmet on, and go for it. You practice things that won’t hurt you like your songs, your lines, but jumping cars, the one thing that could hurt you… You don't practice. Interesting. Well, I believe we have talked about all your current happenings with the exception of where we can see you perform. Excellent and I have an app on the web for just that. It's Johnschneiderstudios.com and works on iPhone and Android. It’s an easy app for all the folk wanting to know where I am, get Christmas Kars and other movies, or anything music, including all 72 songs I put out in 2018 or know when to expect Redneck Rebel. We do all the distribution and depend entirely on fans of Dukes of Hazard, Smallville, and The Have And The Have Nots. I don't want you to support something you don't like, but if you like it, it would be much appreciated.
JohnSchneiderStudios.com August 2 Greenville TX August 3 Roscoe TX
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groove, so I may switch from the bongos to the drum set depending on what we were doing. We were the all around the world beat band for everybody which was different from the steel band out front or the orchestra upstairs; we were the band that catered to different cultures. Learning all of these different styles probably wasn’t easy. Well, I was always into ethnic styles and I consider jazz an ethnic style. From there I got into Samba, Brazilian, and African. I would say the three major styles or cultures are American jazz, African, Brazilian and you have to say Afro-Cuban too, so actually four major styles. I'm like a little kid a toy shop when it comes to drums. Tell me about playing drums, because I understand your start isn’t a typical story. It was a funny thing, because I was into geology and all that stuff, jewelry, rocks and minerals, and my dad was all happy because I was going to go to college to be a geological engineer. I graduated high school and I realized I just wanted to be a drummer and you should've seen the look on his face! It just dropped and he said, “You know, son you can have a regular job and be a drummer too.” Did you play drums before you got out of high school? No. I wasn’t in band when I was a kid. My parents gave me tennis lessons and everything, but not band.
By Tamma hicks, STEAM Magazine us about a year. In fact, Tony was there when I fell off a roof and broke my arm and the doctor told me I would never drum again. How did that happen? Between cruise ship contracts I would paint houses, which was an easy job because I could just close it up, go on a cruise ship, and
Tony has been telling us for a while that we needed to meet you. How do you know Tony? I had been a cruise ship drummer until 2010, which was when my (ex)wife and I bought a house here in Austin. We came to know a lot of musicians. I think it started out with letting a bunch of the guys practice in the garage and Tony was involved in that group. I got to know Tony, his recording abilities, and he set up a recording area out in the garage. We had an extra room, so Tony stayed with
reopen when I came back. Anyway, I had this big contract for the Treehouse in Austin and it was the only time I had a helper. I was on the tall roof and fell onto a shorter roof then down onto solid concrete. Tony was like, “Man whatever you do, don’t look at your arm!” It was snapped in half. Luckily he called 911 and the ER guys were right around the corner. The doctor said I’d never drum again, but within a month I was playing at the Saxon Pub. I had my arm in a sling but I still played.
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Well if there is one thing I know about drummers – if the doctor tells you know, the answer is yes. I know you as a steel drum player, before that were you a kit player? Yeah, I was a kit player and a Conga player. Percussion and drums are so open to me. At first it was strictly beat drums, but I actually do better on the congas. I’ve done cruise ship contracts on drum sets and some on Congas. I met some of the steel drummers on the cruise ship and bought my first steel drum from a guy on the ship. How long did you play on cruise ships? I started in 1996 and the average contract was 3 months, but generally it would double if the company was happy with you because they don't want to switch around, however they do rotate players through so it wasn’t continuous. I had a couple years off in between contracts. I did about six contracts on drum set and another four on congas and bongos and then it got sketchy to where I was doing both, because the band was a world band. Meaning on the Princess Cruise Lines we were in the lounge, where people would come and want to hear a tango or ballroom dance or big band or a Latin
So you woke up one morning and just said drums, not cello or guitar? It was always drums. I was listening to music when I was a kid, and I didn't know it was going to be the drums, I just knew I liked music. As I got older I would set up my school books and I would play Steve Miller's Jet Airliner on the books but I never had a drum set until I saved up and I bought my own. I went to the local college in southern Colorado and enrolled as a music major. I got a four year music degree in teaching and performance, but I really didn't go in to teach music, although I did for 2 years in public school as a band director we got awards for best marching band and best percussion our first year. I really wanted to just learn the basics, I had my rudiments together but I wanted to learn how to read music and how to play. I never really intended to be a symphony drummer. I didn't start early enough for that and besides who’s got room for seven timpani's anyway (laughter). What kind of drummer did you want to be? I wanted to be jazz drummer, not the big band jazz but the small combo. I really like that because it's so small and intimate and that jazz beat. Of all the different beats that I have learned, there is no other beat that is as fulfilling as jazz. I’m super-satisfied when I can just sit at home on my vintage Sonor drums and just do that. What was your first kit? It was a Sonor cherry swirl kit, just gorgeous. I got rid of it and I shouldn't have, because I realized when I got older that I had to have it again. So, I found one in Texarkana and on my way to get it I got a ticket. The cop pulls me over and asked why I driving so fast, so I tell him “I’m on my way to get a vintage drum set” and he goes, “What kind?” and I go, “Sonor,” and he says, “That’s what I play! Let
me write you this ticket and we’ll talk about it.” Anyway, I got those drums and they are the last drum set that I'm ever going to own. I’ve made them sound Vintage with the old fiber skin heads. I just love them. So you have one kit and how many congas? I have two drum sets. I also have a Rotary Café Kit which is like a mini kit. I've got a Congolese drum, which is a like a big cone, made out of walnut-ngoma. I have two Jembes and a set Dojos, which are three African bass drums, that I play. Four steel drums: a marimba, a set of Tito Puente Timbales, a set of Bata drums I got in San Juan when I was there, all one shell each, and a set of Valje congas. Percussion is so wide open; there are so many percussion instruments. Speaking of which, you bought your first steel drum on a cruise and now you work for the drum company? Yes and no. That’s how I got the first one, but it wasn’t a great quality one. When I got off the ship I called VistaPan in New York. I called them every day to buy some drums and then one day the guy said, “Look, I don't have the time to talk to you or other customers. You're so excited about these drums, why don't you talk to the customers and I'll set you up on how to do everything.” So I bought a tablet, he showed me how to do invoices, and customers call me from all over. I take the orders and send it to the main office in New York; if it's a steel drum then it goes to Trinidad. We have three divisions there: one for the lowers, one for the uppers, and then one for the very nice uppers which are best pans that we do. I can see why he hired you to do sales. I know very little about steel drums, but I do know there is one called a tenor pan. The tenor pan isn’t called tenor because it's in the tenor range. They called it tenor pan because when it was developed there were only about 10 notes at first. Then as the instrument continued to develop the number of notes continued on and on until now, we have 29. It's really a soprano instrument. Now they have the double-tenor which isn't a bigger range, it just splits up the notes and pushes a more gorgeous tone. The doubletenor is probably the prettiest and is lush with beautiful sound.
steel drum sound. I recorded the album in Pueblo Colorado, my hometown. It's a very small, steel mill town. The keyboard player Sam, who does clinics for Steinway, also played with Tower Of Power. Mike is an upright bass player that I met in college. This album is called Shades Of Blue because I didn't want to do the standard steel drum album. I wanted to record songs that I played on drums, that I’ve loved all my life, that are jazz and blues songs. Little Summer Flowers is a jazz song that’s kind of bluesy. The cover is a painting of me by my girlfriend, artist Shelly Penko. I just told her what I was thinking and she did it; she is a fantastic artist and designer. Anyway, that’s what I wanted to do on my first album; I wanted to do what I want, not what is expected of me. If I did what everybody expects I would be putting Yellow Bird
on the album and I'm sure I would sell more copies at the gigs, because the style of the music on the album is different than what I play at gigs. What are your gigs like? If I’m doing a solo gig, I play with background music and when I play with the band we still use some background music because we don't have a bass or drum set player, however we may have a cello player or guitar player that strums. I don't play as much with the whole band, but it’s so much more fun with a full band. So, what is it about steel drums that captivate you? They play classical music with them; there are whole orchestras of steel drums. The thing about the steel drum is that it’s so versatile. There's no style of music you virtually can’t play.
When I think of steel drum albums tropical is the first thing that comes to mind, so let’s talk about your album,
Shades of Blue with Mike Short and Sam Pannunzio. It isn’t typical
a
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By Tamma Hicks, STEAM Magazine & Mark Pucci Media Photo by Chris Caselli
Severn
Record proudly announces the signing of The Texas Horns, and released their label debut CD, Get Here Quick, on May 24th. Comprised of Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff (tenor sax), John Mills (baritone sax) and Al Gomez (trumpet), The Texas Horns are one of the most in-demand horn sections for both recording sessions and on tour with some of the biggest names in the roots music world. Now, they get a chance to strut their collective stuff on their own album of blues, soul and roots music, backed by an all -star group of supporting musicians. Special guests on Get Here Quick include singers Curtis Salgado, John Nemeth, Gary Nicholson, Guy Forsyth and Carolyn Wonderland; as well as guitarists Ronnie Earl, Anson Funderburgh, Johnny Moeller, Denny Freeman, Derek O’Brien, and Jonn Del Toro Richardson. I understand that this album took quite a while to complete. It took us a year to make Get Here Quick. I don’t usually like to do record production projects like that. But this time, we had so many wonderful guest musicians in mind that we knew we would never be able to get everyone together in one place for a week or two; so we did the CD bit-by-bit. No way to get all those great players in one place for very long. That seems like a smart idea considering the how many and who your special
guests are. It also allowed us to use a couple of different rhythm sections, including both Tommy Taylor and John Bryant on drums. We also were fortunate to get both Chris Maresh and Russell Jackson on bass. Same with the guitarists, we were so fortunate to have Denny Freeman, Ronnie Earl, Anson Funderburgh, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Johnny Moeller, and Derek O’Brien with us at different stages of the recording process. We also got to record with some wonderful keyboard players. One of my biggest musical revelations in the last few years has been getting to work with Red Young, a truly amazing, world-class keyboardist and singer. Very true, he is great and your other vocal guests are just as fantastic. I have to pinch myself that we have Curtis Salgado singing one of our tunes; same with John Nemeth. We were very happy to be able to get into the studio with Gary Nicholson for a couple of his original songs. We also wanted to do something with Carolyn Wonderland, so we asked her to sing my song, “I’m Doin’ Alright, at Least for Tonight.” We also were so happy to get to work with Guy Forsyth. He did a beautiful job with John Mills’ “Guitar Town.” Where did you record the album? The final and maybe most important part of this whole project was Stuart Sullivan. We recorded everything at Stuart’s Wire Recording Studio here in Austin. At last count, Stuart and I have made 50 recording sessions together since the ‘80s. Stuart made this whole thing WORK. He is a true ‘analog’ guy, who went on to master Pro Tools; but what is so special
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about Stuart is his musicality and good sense. That is unbelievable! It’s so hard for bands, let alone musicians and engineers, to stay together for 5 recordings, but then The Texas Horns have been together since the 90’s, right? John Mills and I started The Texas Horns 20 years ago, and we were fortunate to get Al Gomez to join us on trumpet for the last dozen years or so. John is really an amazing musician; he can play just about any instrument (I have heard him on all the saxophones, flute, clarinet, and piano so far!). Plus he has turned into a wonderful arranger and songwriter. John can write string parts, arrange orchestral pieces, write film scores and front a jazz band. But he loves roots music and blues (as you can tell since he is working with me!). Once Al joined us, the horn section really took off. Al is a very powerful trumpet player, at ease playing everything from blues to jazz to Mexican music. Al is also an excellent arranger, and between the three of us, there isn’t much that would slow us down as a horn section. We love our role as the House Horn section at the Ottawa Bluesfest, where we get to work with so many great artists. We are all excellent readers, but sometimes we have the most fun just jamming and coming up with cool horn parts on the spot! The three of us have developed a wonderful working relationship over the years. What makes Get Here Quick different? I feel like, on our first CD, Blues Gotta Holda Me, although we did some original tunes, it was more like us paying tribute to some of the wonderful older styles that we all had grown up with, doing songs and styles that we loved.
When we started thinking about this new CD, Get Here Quick, we challenged ourselves, first and foremost, to create all original material, and to do things that really represented who we are as a horn section and as creative musicians. We wanted to find out what we could be as a horn section but also as song writers and arrangers. We also wanted to make music that, though obviously still blues based, was more contemporary, and might stretch our vision of what we could do, as well as challenge our listeners with songs that were new and unique and more modern. Doing this CD the way we did, spread out over many months, allowed us to work with some of our closest musical friends; great musicians who we have been performing and recording with for decades. Players and singers that we knew we could count on to contribute their soulfulness and musicality to every song. And then we could find just the right tune for each musician. That really made it a fun kind of ‘family’ project. When David Earl of Severn Records heard the stuff and immediately said he wanted to put it out, that made us all so happy. We realized that by working with all these wonderful musicians, and challenging ourselves to be the most original and creative we could be, we had been able to create something pretty special.
SHOWS: July 1-17 Ottawa Bluesfest, Various Days
& Times, Ottawa Canada August 30 Antone’s Nightclub, Austin August 31 Central Market, Austin September 1 Gruene Hall, New Braunfels SevernRecords.com & MarkPucciMedia.com TheTexasHorns
It’s well known that 2020 will be the last year for new inductees to the South Texas Music Walk of Fame. We sat down with its director, Sue Donahoe, to learn more. Tell us why the walk began and why it is coming to an end. The Walk is a gift to the community, from Brad Lomax and the Water Street Family of Restaurants, to thank the people of the city he loves for the success of his restaurants. It is “coming to an end” because we’re out of courtyard. Brad only owns one block in Corpus Christi, not the whole town. Why can’t it extend along sidewalks around the city? Things can change with public property. The only way to protect a private gift is to own it. Also, it would likely become diluted, people would grow bored with it. Additionally, I’m getting old! Three of the five of us who have led this volunteer effort must soon retire, for family or health reasons. It must come to an end. But that makes me sad. No! Don’t be sad! The Walk isn’t going away; we aren’t going to dig them up! We will have installed 100 beautiful ceramic tile stars in the sunshine—open and free, every day, for all to enjoy. Only by bringing it to a close can it be elevated from an annual event to a permanent art installation. Only when it is finished growing, can we use it to launch the things ahead. Are you saying that more will follow? Yes...we’ve always wanted a “map of the stars.” We can only
do that after we’ve stopped adding new ones. Recently we learned of a “tour app” (however that works). People will someday be able to stand in the Water Street Courtyard and follow a narrated tour, learning about all names on those stars. We hope to attract a Texas culture grant, to bring that dream to life. And you’re seeking a publisher for a book? Yes, we are even more hopeful now that we see all the community enthusiasm for ending it well. As-long-as we avoid the rivalry and in-fighting that is common with awards events, I believe a publisher will see the love we all have for our musicians and the fellowship they feel for each other. So, if you are out of room for more stars, and there are too many nominees on for those that remain, why are you seeking more nominees? So that we can put every nominee’s name in front of journalists who might otherwise never hear of them, and so we can put them in the book. The publicity this elaborate voting plan generates will highlight both our music history, and the vibrant music scene of today. SOUTHTEXAS MUSICWALKOFFAME.COM
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