Vol. 43 - No. 3 • DECEMBER 2023 • www.houstonmusicnews.net • FREE
Also In This Issue Warrant, Lita Ford, Winger, & Steelheart Queens Of The Stone Age Croce Plays Croce • Akon Shane Smith & The Saints • The Toadies • Big Wreck K.Flay • Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel
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Music News • December 2023
December 2023
Hi Folks,
Hello Music News readers. I hope you had a great November. Our cover story for this month is Peter Frampton. Peter Frampton is bringing his Never Say Never Concert Touir to Houston this month at Smart Financial Centre on November 15th. This concert is scheduled to feature almost all of his major hits. It will be definitely one concert you won’t want to miss. Now, on to the new issue. In this issue, as usual, we have some great stories and information to pass on to you. Check out stories in this month’s issue on The Trilogy Tour featuring Enriques Iglesias, Ricky Martin, and Pitbull. Also in this issue are stories on The National, Pierce The Veil, Kim Petras, The Struts, Miserable Faith, Mammoth WVH, Intocable, and more, as well as another installment of the original story, THE BIKER! Also in this issue are a ton of great pictures of bands performing around the Houston area. I’m sure you’re going to be familiar with a lot of these bands. Those bands include Bad Habits, Eric Korb Band, Josh Garrett Band, Keeshea Pratt, Kimmi Bitter, Kory Quinn, Lightning Rob, Ozz, Phantom Eye, Stoneside, The After Dark Society, and The Repeat Offenders. We’d also like to invite you to check out our Spanish music section. This month we feature stories on The Trilogy Tour featuring Ricky Martin, Pitbull, and Enrique Iglesias. There are also stories on Intocable, Maria Jose, Yahritza Y Su Esencia, and Mora. Check these stories out in English and Spanish. I sincerely hope that everybody reading this new publication finds something here that they like and I would like to encourage you to let your friends and colleagues know about us. Just look for us every month at http://www.houstonmusicnews.net. I would also like to encourage you to email us for a free subscription to Rock And Blues International as well. Just email us at musicnew@airmail.net and in the subject line simply put “Sign Me Up” and we’ll email you a copy each month when it is published. Remember, for your convenience, Music News is also now downloadable. You can download the issue into your computer or storage device and save it and read it at your convenience without having to get logged on to the internet every time. Try it now and save every issue. It will make things a lot easier for you.
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Kevin Wildman Editor and Publisher Web Address http://www.houstonmusicnews.net Mailing Address Box 1162, League City, TX 77573 Phone 281-650-1953
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Contents
VOL. 43 NO. 3
Page 6 Trans-Siberian Orchestra The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Perform At Toyota Center Dec.10
Page 12 Akon Akon Performs At Bayou Music Center Dec. 7
Page 14 Warrant, Lita Ford, Winger, & Steelheart Warrant, Lita Ford, Winger, and Steelheart Perform At Smart Financial Centre December 16
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Music News • Decvember 2023
DECEMBER 2023
Page 16 William Beckmann
ISSUE NO. 530
Page 28 Queens Of The Stone Age
Queens Of The Stone William Beckmann Age Perform at The 713 Performs At The Heights Music Hall December 9th Theater December 16
Page 18 Big Wreck Big Wreck Perform At The House Of Blues December 11
Page 22 Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel Ray Benson And Asleep At The Wheel Perform At Dosey Doe December 16
Page 30 Croce Plays Croce Croce Plays Croce Performs At Bayou Music Center On December 10
Contents
VOL. 43 NO. 3
Page 32 The Toadies The Toadies Perform At The House Of Blues December 29
DECEMBER 2023
Page 42 Raul Malo Raul Malo Performs At The Heights Theater December 10th
Page 34 Shane Smith & The Saints
Page 48 Chris Gardner
K-Flay Performs At White Oak Music Hall December 29th
Page 54 The Biker The Continuing Saga Of A Lone Biker On The Road To Explore The Freedoms Of America.
Page 58 On Random Shots featuring
Shane Smith & The Saints Perform At White Oak Music Hall December 9
Page 36 K.Flay
ISSUE NO. 530
Chart Busting Songwriter/Artist Chris Gardner Penning From Personal Experiences, Delivering From The Heart
As If Atomic Motor Queen Big Jordan Crosswind False Gods Holland K. Smith Ian Flanigan Judas Kiss JW Jones Liquiedracula Midnight Beverage Opie Hendrix Ruby Dice Band Sixth Sense Swingin’ Bottles Throat Piss December 2023 • Music News
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The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Perform At Toyota Center December 10 Rock out this holiday season with TSO as we bring back ‘The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO and More’! We’re pulling out all the stops to make sure this winter tour is our best show in years. We can’t wait to be back together for the rock holiday tradition we all know and love. See you on the road! When Paul O’Neill first conceived Trans-Siberian Orchestra, his goal was as straightforward as it was incredibly ambitious. “The whole idea,” he explains, “was to create a progressive rock band that would push the boundaries (of the genre) further than any group before... Way, way further.” With more than 10 million albums sold, TSO has inspired generations of fans to rediscover the multi-dimensional art form of the rock opera. Meanwhile, on the road, they have become one of the world’s 6
Music News • April December 20232023
top acts, with Billboard magazine naming TSO as one of the top touring artists of the past decade — a $20 million-plus production that has played to over 100 million people in 80+ cities, selling more than $280 million worth of tickets and presenting $11 million to charity. O’Neill, a New York City native grew up, “with a wide-ranging world of (rock) musical influences.” But, O’Neill also soaked up sources such as Broadway musicals, Motown and singer-songwriters such as Jim Croce and Harry Chapin, while authors such as Oscar Wilde and Robert Graves fueled his literary tastes. He began his career playing guitar for touring productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair, then went to work in the late ’70s for Leber-Krebs Inc., the Manhattan management company whose clients included Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, AC/DC, Def Leppard, the Scorpions,
the New York Dolls, and scores of others. In the ’80s, O’Neill became a major concert promoter in Japan as well, but returned to the States to start writing and producing full-time. O’Neill helmed Aerosmith’s Classics Live I and Classics Live II albums before beginning a fortuitous relationship with the band Savatage that led to conceptual pieces such as Hall Of The Mountain King, Gutter Ballet, Streets: A Rock Opera and Dead Winter Dead. Producing introduced O’Neill to Jon Oliva, Bob Kinkel and Al Pitrelli, as well as reconnecting him with legendary studio engineer Dave Wittman, who all became key original collaborators in O’Neill’s grand vision - TransSiberian Orchestra. “I wanted to take the very best of all the forms of music I grew up on and merge them into a new style,” continued on next page
Trans-Siberian Orchestra continued from previous page
O’Neill says. “Basically I was building on the work of everybody I worshipped: the rock opera parts from bands like the Who; the marriage of classical and rock from bands like Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Queen; the over-the-top light show from bands like Pink Floyd... I always wanted to do a full rock opera with a full progressive band and at least 18 lead singers.” O’Neill took the idea to Atlantic Records which, to his surprise, went for it and financed the creation of Romanov, which was initially to be TSO’s first release. “We were very fortunate,” he says. “It was one of the only labels left that still did an ‘old school’ kind of artist development. My original concept was that we were going to do six rock operas, a trilogy about Christmas and maybe one or two regular albums.”
However, when Romanov got temporarily put on the back burner, the first installment of the Christmas trilogy, Christmas Eve and Other Stories became TSO’s debut album. Fueled by the socially conscious single “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/ 24,” the album was certified double platinum. More platinum certifications followed with 1998’s The Christmas Attic, and the final installment of the Christmas trilogy, The Lost Christmas Eve in 2004. In the midst of completing the trilogy, TSO released their first non-holiday rock opera, the gold certified Beethoven’s Last Night. But TSO really cemented its following in concert. The group hit the road in 1999, beginning an annual November-December extravaganza that O’Neill takes pride in being, “as over the top as we can
make it. We have, two stages —with pyro, light and lasers— on both sides of the arena, as well as in the crowd and the best sound we can find... There’s no second-class seats at a Trans-Siberian Orchestra show. I want people to walk out of our shows speechless and still not believing what they have seen was possible.” TSO’s latest album, Night Castle, released in October of 2009 debuted at #5 and was certified gold by year’s end. A sweeping two-discs of genre-bending epics, Night Castle is an affecting story that takes the listener around the world, through time and to points beyond. O’Neill and company will eventually give Night Castle its due in a live setting just as they have Beethoven’s Last Night in spring ’10 with a new continued on next page December 2023 • Music News 7
Trans-Siberian Orchestra continued from previous page
hybrid form of concert they called “Rock Theatre”— just one of many multi-media avenues TSO will be exploring in the near future... “We spend a lot of time planning,” O’Neill confesses with a laugh, “and people are always telling me, ‘Paul, stop writing and start recording!’ It’s working out great, though. I feel lucky that it’s gone this long and that we get to do what we love for a living. The arts have incredible power, and with that comes incredible responsibility. Someone once said that if you want to change the world, don’t become a politician — write a book, write a great song. I believe in that, and that’s what Trans-Siberian Orchestra is about.” “I’ve always believed that music has the power to transport and transform,” O’Neill explained. “The original concept of Trans-Siberian Orchestra was how to make music have the most emotional impact. We always try to write melodies that are so infectious they don’t need lyrics 8
Music News • December 2023
and lyrics so poetic that they don’t need a melody, but when you combine the two together they create an alloy where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. Once those songs are woven together into a tapestry they create a story which gives each song a third dimension.” “That was so much in the spirit of Trans-Siberian Orchestra,” O’Neill explains. “This is a group —
a constantly morphing group— of extremely creative and talented individuals who are always trying to raise the bar of where a band can take its audience sonically, visually and emotionally. With that as our core ideal, the possibilities are endless.”
Check us out at http://www.rockandbluesinternational.com Also available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Index, Amazon Music, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Pocket Casts, Deezer, Listen Notes & More! December 2023 • Music News 9
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Music News • December 2023
Shady Acres Saloon www,shadyacressaloon.com 1115 W. 19th Street, Houston 77008 713-534-1112
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December 31 NEW YEAR’S EVE BASH featuring HARDLUCK REVIVAL December 7 - Devin Rismay December 14 - Beth Lee December 21 - Paul Ramirez December 28 - Goodtrain
December 1 Shame On Me
December 9 Kory Quinn
December 14 Beth Lee
December 22 December 29 December 28 Nick Mitch Western Gaitan Jacobs Bling
Sundays - Bingo @ 3 pm • Mondays - Trivia @ 7 pm December 2023 Entertainment Schedule 12/1 - Shame On Me 12/2 - Patrick B Ray 12/7 - Devin Rismay 12/8 - The Common Ground Band 12/9 - Kory Quinn
12/14 - Beth Lee 12/15 - Phillip Craig and Countryfied 12/16 - ZAK PERRY 12/21 - Paul Ramirez 12/22 - Nick Gaitan
12/23 - Eric Korb 12/28 - Goodtrain 12/29 - Mitch Jacobs 12/30 - Western Bling 12/31 - NYE Bash with Hardluck Revival December 2023 • Music News
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appearing on Young Jeezy’s “Soul Survivor,” his number of guest appearances seemed to multiply each month. Konvicted, his second album, was released in November 2006. Soon enough, two of the album’s singles, “I Wanna Love You” and “Smack That,” made their way to the upper regions of the Billboard charts.
Akon Performs At Bayou Music Center December 7 Senegalese-American singer, producer, and entrepreneur Akon mixes smooth R&B vocals with hip-hop grooves. He first gained fame with the single “Locked Up,” from his 2004 debut album, Trouble. A Top Ten hit in the U.S. and U.K., the song helped Trouble go platinum, a certification achieved several times over on subsequent albums including 2006’s Konvicted and 2008’s Freedom. Along with his music, Akon founded his own Konvict label, helping launch the careers of artists including TPain, Lady Gaga, and Kardinal Offishall. He has showcased these label connections on 2013’s Konvict Mixtape, Vol. 1 and 2017’s Konvict Kartel, Vol. 2. Born Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam in St. Louis, Missouri, in 12
Music News • December 2023 October 2023
1973, Akon grew up in Senegal before he and his family (including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam) returned to the United States and settled in New Jersey when he was seven. There he discovered hip-hop for the first time, as well as crime. He was eventually jailed, but he used the time — a total of three years, he claimed — to work on his musical ideas. Upon release, Akon began writing and recording tracks in a home studio. The tapes found their way to SRC/Universal, which eventually released Trouble, Akon’s debut LP, in June 2004. The album was an interesting hybrid of Akon’s silky vocals with East Coast- and Southern-styled beats. The success of the song “Locked Up,” a Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 hit, made Akon a star and desired collaborator. After
A significant stylistic shift occurred with Freedom, his third album. The December 2008 release avoided the rugged hip-hop/R&B hybrid of his earlier work and courted a broader audience with a dance-oriented Europop sound. Despite the bold change, the album repeated Konvicted’s chart success by peaking within the Top Ten of the Billboard 200; “Right Now (Na Na Na),” its most successful single, reached the Top Ten of the Hot 100. Akon slowed his own output but subsequently collaborated with dozens of artists, including David Guetta (the world-wide smash “Sexy Bitch,” 2009), Artists for Haiti (“We Are the World 25 for Haiti,” 2010), parodists the Lonely Island (“I Just Had Sex,” 2010), and close friend Michael Jackson (“Hold My Hand,” 2010). A fourth album, Stadium — originally planned for a 2010 release — was delayed several times and eventually abandoned altogether. However, the single “Angel” did emerge in September 2010. Also that year, Akon collaborated with Dr. Dre on the track “Kush.” Another stand-alone single, “Dirty Work” featuring Wiz Khalifa, arrived in February 2013 and was followed that November by “So Blue.” After signing a new contract with Atlantic, Akon issued several singles in 2015 and 2016 including “Want Some,” “Hypnotized,” and “Good Girls Lie.” He then joined Chris Brown and Gucci Mane for the Michael Jackson-tribute single “Moon Walk.” The following year, he issued the mixtape Konvict Kartel, Vol. 2. In 2019, Akon released the Latin-influenced single “Get Money,” featuring Puerto Rican rapper/singer Anuel AA. It was the first track from his fourth studio album, 2019’s El Negreeto, issued on his own Akonik imprint.
Green Oaks Tavern
211 E. Main St. • Humble, TX • 281.570.4344 • www.greenoakstavern.com Saturday, December 2 Eric Demmer Band
Sunday, December 3 The Octanes
Friday, December 8 Buck Yeager Band
Saturday, Dec. 9 Van Wilks
Saturday, Dec. 22 Diunna Greenleaf and Blue Mercy Sunday,December 10 Aaron LaCombe
Friday,December 15 Saturday,December 16 Larry Tillery Band Jonn Del Toro Richardson
Saturday,December 23 Chris Castaneda Band
Friday, December 29 Whitt-Ness
Saturday, Dec. 30 Mark May
Sunday, Dec. 31 Sparky Parker Band
DECEMBER 2023
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED (call, email or FB message us) • Happy Hour Tues-Sat @ 4-7pm Decsmarember 2023 • Music News
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Warrant, Lita Ford, Winger, and Steelheart Perform At Smart Financial Centre December 16 American charts. Released in the summer of 1990, follow-up effort Cherry Pie was an even bigger success, climbing into the Top Ten and featuring the high-charting singles “I Saw Red” and “Cherry Pie.” Warrant had some trouble continuing their multi-platinum success during the alternative explosion of 1992, although their third album, Dog Eat Dog, did go gold. Ultraphobic (1995) and Belly to Belly (1996), however, failed to chart.
Warrant With a pair of double-platinum albums and three Top Ten singles, Warrant were one of the most popular pop-metal bands of the late ’80s. Formed in Los Angeles in 1984, the group weathered several lineup changes before solidifying around the talents of vocalist Jani Lane, guitarist Erik Turner, guitarist Joey Allen, bassist Jerry Dixon, and drummer Steven Sweet. The band signed with Columbia Records in January 1988 and released Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich one year later; by that summer, it had climbed into the Top Ten and launched the hit singles “Down Boys,” “Sometimes She Cries,” and “Heaven,” the last of which reached number two on the 14 Music News • Decvember 2023
The band’s lineup began to splinter as the ’90s progressed, with the majority of Warrant’s founding members leaving the group. Under the Influence arrived in 2001; comprising various cover songs and two original tracks, it also marked Jani Lane’s last recording with the band. He ultimately left in 2004, taking two of Warrant’s members with him, and was replaced by former Black ‘N Blue vocalist Jaime St. James. While Lane attempted a solo career, the revised version of Warrant released Born Again in 2006. St. James’ tenure with the band proved to be very short, as he was ousted in 2008 in favor of Lane’s return. Later that year, Lane left once again and was replaced by Lynch Mob’s Rob Mason. In August 2011, Lane was found dead from acute alcohol poisoning at the age of 47 in a Los Angeles hotel room. That same year the band released Rockaholic, the first Warrant studio album to feature continued on next page
Warrant, Lita Ford, Winger, and Steelheart (continued from previous page) Mason behind the mike. That same lineup reconvened for 2017’s Louder Harder Faster, which was produced by Jeff Pilson and released via Frontiers.
later that decade, releasing three albums before reuniting with his former bandmates in 2002. After a brief tour alongside fellow pop-metal veterans Poison, the band returned to the studio to craft their first album in more than a decade. 2006’s IV stuck close to the formula that made Winger famous, and the resulting reunion tour was captured on the two-disc set Winger Live. Another album called Karma quickly followed in 2009, but the group took its time to deliver Better Days Comin’, which appeared in the spring of 2014.
Lita Ford One of two solo stars to spring from the ashes of the ’70s all-girl hard rock band the Runaways, Lita Ford has long been a more frustrating, contradictory proposition for critics than former colleague Joan Jett. Ford is subtly feminist in her musical approach, displaying guitar heroics on the level of any male metal hero; the mere fact of her existence in the otherwise testosterone-driven heavy metal genre has made her a hero to some, but her persona has often been criticized as calculated to appeal to male adolescent sexual fantasies, simply embodying the standard wild-girl stereotypes of many male metal artists’ lyrics. When she has the material to back her up, though, Ford is inarguably capable of rocking out aggressively and assertively.
Winger
Steelheart
A former member of Alice Cooper’s band, bassist Kip Winger formed his own group in 1987; in addition to vocalist/ bassist Winger, the group featured guitarist Reb Beach, bassist Paul Taylor, and drummer Rod Morgenstein, formerly of the Dixie Dregs. Taking their name from their leader after a lastminute change from Sahara, Winger specialized in the stylish pop-metal that sent Bon Jovi and Poison to the top of the charts. The band’s eponymous debut sold over a million copies on the strength of the rocker “Seventeen” and the ballad “Headed for a Heartbreak.” Winger’s second album, 1990’s In the Heart of the Young, was equally successful, selling over a million copies and featuring the hit power ballad “Miles Away.” However, the band didn’t outlast the post-alternative pop-metal backlash and the group faded away after the release of their 1993 album Pull. Kip Winger launched a solo career
Steelheart is an American glam metal band from Norwalk, Connecticut, that formed in 1989. At the time that their debut was recorded, the band’s members consisted of vocalist Miljenko Matijevic, lead guitarist Chris Risola, rhythm guitarist Frank DiCostanzo, bassist James Ward and the now deceased drummer John Fowler. The current lineup contains Miljenko Matijevic, Mike Humbert, Joe Pessia and James Ward. Steelheart’s debut album, the self-titled Steelheart (1990), which was released on May 10, 1990, was certified gold by the RIAA on July 30, 1991, mainly on the strength of the single “I’ll Never Let You Go” which reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was their only major hit in the US, making them a one-hit wonder. December 2023 • Music News
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William Beckmann Performs At The Heights Theater December 16 Hailing from the small border town of Del Rio, TX, William Beckmann was raised on classic country as well as the mariachi and Norteño sounds of northern Mexico. He delivers a fresh blend of vintage country, Americana and Latin music with a timeless baritone and an old soul maturity that belies his youth. His 2022 album Faded Memories, featuring the slow-burn single “Bourbon Whiskey” as well as a 16
Music News • December 2023
mesmerizing cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” and the haunting “In The Dark.” The album garnered praise from critics including American Songwriter, Billboard, CMT and more. His current single “Tennessee Drinkin’” from his most recent “Here’s To You. Here’s To Me” album is Beckmann’s fifth consecutive to hit the Top 20 at Texas Regional Radio Chart and fastest rising to date. Beckmann has
amassed an incredible fanbase, independently garnering more than 670,000 followers on TikTok and over 3 million streams of Faded Memories. He has spent the last year touring with artists including Parker McCollum, Koe Wetzel and Randy Rogers Band, sold out three shows at legendary Gruene Hall and made his Grand Ole Opry debut in Spring, 2023.
November 2023 • Music News
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Big Wreck Perform At The House Of Blues December 11 As the 1990s came to a close, Canadian-American neo-prog hard rock outfit Big Wreck climbed the charts with their first single, “The Oaf,” a post-grunge anthem that became their biggest radio hit. Found on their multi-platinum debut album, In Loving Memory Of..., the track was followed by subsequent singles that fared well in Canada. Their sophomore follow-up, 2001’s The Pleasure and the Greed, hit the Top Ten in their home country, but it failed to gain traction on the singles charts or in the U.S. Soon after, Big Wreck split up. Nearly a decade later, with various side projects and adult careers under their belts, the band was re-formed by founder Ian Thornley and guitarist Brian Doherty, issuing the comeback effort Albatross in 2012. A Top Five Canadian hit, it was followed by the equally wellreceived Ghosts (2014) and Grace Street (2017). By the close of the decade, they’d released their acclaimed sixth album, ...but for the sun. In 2021 the band unveiled Big Wreck: 7.1, the first of a planned trilogy of new EPs. Big Wreck was formed by Thornley (vocals, guitar), Doherty (guitar), Dave Henning (bass), and Forrest Williams (drums). The quartet met in the early ’90s 18 Music News • December 2023
when they were studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Eventually, the four spent more time jamming together than attending class, and they soon decided to leave school to form Big Wreck. The group became a fixture around Boston and Cambridge, regularly playing local stages. After spending several years rehearsing and playing concerts, Big Wreck landed a contract with Atlantic Records in 1997. Their debut album, In Loving Memory Of..., was released in the fall of that year. Their bestselling release to date, it climbed the Canadian and U.S. charts, spawning the radio hit “The Oaf.” Their sophomore effort, The Pleasure & the Greed, arrived in 2001. Despite a Top Ten debut on the Canadian charts, the set did not sell as well, and the band broke up in 2002. Thornley formed a new group, simply called Thornley, and released a pair of albums in the 2010s. In 2011, Thornley reconnected with Doherty and they returned to the studio to record Big Wreck’s comeback effort, 2017’s Albatross, with new members Paulo Neta (guitarist), Dave McMillan (bass) and Brad Park (drums). The positive public response to their return propelled the effort to number five on the Canadian charts. Park soon left
the band and was replaced by Chuck Keeping, who joined in time for the slightly more prog rock-sounding Ghosts. Issued in 2014, the set was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the Juno Awards the following year. Ghosts was also their highest-charting effort to date, showing again at number five in Canada and rising to number four on the U.S. Heatseekers chart. In late 2016, Big Wreck issued the single “One Good Piece of Me,” found on their fifth studio long-player, Grace Street, which arrived in February 2017. Around this time, Neta parted ways with the band (later replaced by Chris Caddell). The next year, the quintet celebrated the 20th anniversary of Big Wreck’s breakthrough debut, embarking on a tour where they played In Loving Memory Of... in its entirety. Jumping immediately into the studio, they kicked off a new album cycle with the release of “Locomotive,” which was included on their well-regarded sixth LP, 2019’s ...but for the sun. Tragically, before the album was released that August, Doherty passed away and the band continued as a quartet. Two years later, they returned with Big Wreck: 7.1, the first installment of a three-part EP series.
December 2023 • Music News 17
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Music News • November 2023
September 2023 • Music News
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Ray Benson And Asleep At The Wheel Perform At Dosey Doe December 16 Fifty years ago, Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson wrote in his journal that he wanted to form a band to bring the roots of American pop music into the present. It seemed like an ambitious goal for a 19-year-old, yet Benson has done exactly that – traversing the globe as an ambassador of Western swing music and introducing its irresistible sound to generation after generation. Although the lineup has changed countless times since its inception, Benson’s mission has never wavered. That merging of past and present is effortlessly woven throughout two of the band’s new releases. First, their Better Times EP compiles three new tracks: “All I’m Asking,” a rousing plea for a second chance; the hopeful title track, about getting back to life as it once was (namely, before the pandemic); and “Columbus Stockade Blues,” a traditional tune arranged in the spirit of Willie Nelson and Shirley Collie’s 1960s version. Then, in the fall, a career retrospective recorded with the new band — and a few special guests — will carry Asleep at the Wheel back onto the road, where they’ve remained a staple for five 22 Music News • December 2023
decades.
the political posturing that is important, it is the soul of the music.”
“I’m the reason it’s still together, but the reason it’s popular is because we’ve had the greatest singers and players,” Benson explains. “When someone joins the band, I say, ‘Learn everything that’s ever been done, then put your own stamp on it.’ I love to hear how they interpret what we do. I’m just a singer and a songwriter, and a pretty good guitar player, but my best talent is convincing people to jump on board and play this music.”
Then, in 1970, two hippie buses pulled up to the farm looking for the band they’d heard about. Inside were a ragtag group of musicians calling themselves the Medicine Ball Caravan and they invited Asleep at the Wheel to open their upcoming show in Washington D.C. The fledgling band at this time was centered around guitar, steel guitar, bass and drums.
Raised in Philadelphia, Benson dropped out of college in 1969 and moved to a farm near Paw Paw, West Virginia, to figure out how to put a band together with two friends, Lucky Oceans and LeRoy Preston. Although he gravitated toward honky-tonk and swing music, Benson stood on the opposite side of the generation gap – a young man opposed to the Vietnam War.
From that very first out-of-town gig, Asleep at the Wheel steadily built a fan base in D.C., and opened a date for Poco a short time later. However, Benson observes that the reception back home wasn’t always so warm. “We would play these little bars in West Virginia, and they thought because we were hippies, we wouldn’t fight. I stared down a few shotguns,” he says. “I think it was the music that saved us because we were playing real country music.”
“Music became a rallying cry for these disparate groups,” he recalls. “My reaction was we need to take this music to my generation to show them it’s not
When Benson booked Commander continued on next page
Ray Benson And Asleep At The Wheel continued from previous page Cody for a double bill in D.C., the cosmic country legend encouraged them to give the Berkeley, California, a try. The group arrived out West in August 1971 and started booking shows in the East Bay clubs. Word of their Tuesday night gigs reached Van Morrison, who loved country music and asked to play a show with them. Around this time, when Rolling Stone asked if that pop star was excited about any new bands, he namechecked Asleep at the Wheel. That’s when, as Benson remembers, “the L.A record companies came running.” Then everything happened fast. The band paid its dues by touring as country singer Stoney Edwards’ band in 1971. A year later, their United Artists debut album sold well in Oklahoma and Texas. In February 1973, they moved to Austin, Texas, encouraged by Doug Sahm and Willie Nelson; that same day, Epic Records issued the band’s second album. When that deal unraveled, they joined the Capitol Records roster. One of the band’s compositions, “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read,” became a national Top 10 country hit in 1975. For the remainder of the decade, Asleep at the Wheel rode the wave of
success, charting multiple singles and developing an international following. The Academy of Country Music named them the top touring band for 1977. The band won the first of 10 career Grammys in 1979. “We’ve always said that we’re a live band,” Benson emphasizes. “We’ll make great records but it’s all about being on stage. The best promotion for a band is a great live show.” By 1981, the band faced a turning point. Most of its members had departed and the disco craze stood in direct contrast to Asleep at the Wheel’s authentic approach. While the band still played shows, they went without a label deal for six years. Benson made ends meet by producing commercials for Budweiser. “The one reason that I kept going,” Benson says, “is that every week a fan would come up and be so appreciative, saying, ‘Don’t ever stop.’ We weren’t drawing a lot of people, but they’d say, ‘You’re the only band that goes out on the road and does this old, cool music.’ That’s when I knew it was more than just a living – that I was blessed with
caretaking a form of music.” The 1990s put Asleep at the Wheel back on the map permanently, with the band regularly playing between 180 and 200 dates a year. Benson enlisted the top country artists of that era for an outstanding pair of Bob Wills tribute albums, a move that solidified the band’s focus on Western swing. When a duet version of “Roly Poly” with Dixie Chicks impacted country radio in 2000, Asleep at the Wheel became that rare country band to chart across four consecutive decades. Fifty years in, Asleep at the Wheel represents an important cornerstone of American roots music, even though some of its members and audiences represent a new generation. That farreaching appeal remains a testament to Benson’s initial vision. “How do you keep this music going?” Benson asks. “Well, you’ve got to have some young people. If young people aren’t doing this, then we’re just a museum – and I don’t want to be a museum.”
December 2023 • Music News
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Friday, December 1 - Hippie Jim,Tres Leches, Mother Talkers Saturday, December 2 - Stop Drop Rewind, Just Fan Fiction, Bar Rats Sunday, December 3 - School Of Rock Thursday, December 7 - T im Cappello (The Lost Boys), Doug Westcott Friday, December 8 - Lucid Illusions, 307Depar ture, SOA, ColourNoise Saturday, December 9 - Darkness of omorrow, T Scream At The Sky, Excodex, Krod, Chaw Sunday, December 10 - HighVoltage Rock Academy (NONSMOKING SHOW) Friday, December 15 - Mirr or Lake, Suffering In Silence, Super Villain Saturday, December 16 Benefit Show Sunday, December 17 - THANKYOU BYE, Shosty the Band, Garbage Girlfriend Thursday, December 21 - DearNobody, Bad Trip Friday, December 22 - Br eaker, Maxi Fads Saturday, December 23 - Bovine,The Monochrome Sun, Midnight Beverage, April Company Thursday, December 28 - FREE SHOWwith Samantha Lynn, Adam Anderson, Junction Friday, December 29 - Hellgrimm, Ese Saturday, December 30 - Downfall 2012 Sunday, December 31- Ciao 2023 December 2023 • Music News 27
Queens Of The Stone Age Perform at The 713 Music Hall December 9th
Queens of the Stone Age emerged from the stoner rock underground of the 1990s to become one of the leading heavy rock bands of the 21st century, a transition sparked by the release of their major-label debut, Rated R, in 2000. A murky immersion in chemical excess, the album showcased QOTSA’s skill in wedding thick, grimy guitars with shape-shifting psychedelia, a blend suited for the desert leader Josh Homme called home. Over the years, Homme remained the constant in QOTSA’s mercurial lineup, anchoring the group as members and guests cycled through the studio and stage. 28
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Dave Grohl’s presence on the drumkit on 2022’s Songs for the Deaf helped break the band to a wider audience in America, placing them at the vanguard of hard rock music. QOTSA’s membership stabilized around the release of …Like Clockwork, the 2013 record that returned them to indie status while giving them their first number one album on the Billboard charts. Homme maintained the same quintet through the Mark Ronson-produced Villains and In Times New Roman..., a 2023 album that found them discovering new shades and textures within their palette.
Queens of the Stone Age has its roots in Kyuss, the stoner rock band Josh Homme led during the early ’90s. After Kyuss split in 1995, Homme served as a supporting guitarist on a Screaming Trees tour, then decided to launch a new band called Gamma Ray. An eponymous EP appeared in 1996 before a German metal band named Gamma Ray threatened legal action over the appellation. Taking a cue from a nickname bestowed on the group by producer Chris Goss, Homme continued on next page
decided to rename his fledgling unit Queens of the Stone Age, unveiling this moniker on the Roadrunner various-artists compilation Burn One Up! Music for Stoners in 1997. Later that year, the split EP Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age — comprised of old tunes from the latter and new material from the former — confirmed the transition between Homme’s two groups. Homme co-produced Queens of the Stone Age’s eponymous 1998 debut with Joe Barresi, which was released on Loosegroove, the indie imprint from Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and Regan Hagar. With Alfredo Hernandez on drums, Homme played all the guitars and most of the bass and keyboards on the record, but he soon expanded QOTSA into a touring outfit featuring former Kyuss bassist Nick Oliveri along with guitarist Dave Catching; the latter played on the first volume of Homme’s shapeshifting collaborative project the Desert Sessions, which appeared in 1997. This group was by no means secure. By the time QOTSA entered the studio to record their major-label debut Rated R, Hernandez was no longer with the band; Nick Lucero and Gene Trautmann split drumming duties on the record. Co-produced by Homme and Goss and released on Interscope, Rated R built QOTSA’s audience exponentially. “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” gave the band a Top 40 hit in the U.K. Live spots at Ozzfest and with Foo Fighters and Hole helped broaden their following, while events like Oliveri getting arrested after performing nude at the 2001 Rock in Rio Festival helped generate headlines. All this buzz culminated in Foo Fighters leader — and former Nirvana drummer — Dave Grohl becoming a temporary member of QOTSA for 2002’s Songs for the Deaf and its 2022 supporting tour, which featured Homme, Oliveri, Grohl, ex-Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, and A
Perfect Circle guitarist/keyboardist Troy Van Leeuwen. With its singles “No One Knows” and “Go with the Flow,” Songs for the Deaf elevated Queens of the Stone Age into the upper ranks of modern rock acts, acting as a heavy, trippy counterpart to the prevailing neo-garage rock of the early 2000s. Grohl decamped at the conclusion of the Songs for the Deaf tour, returning to his regular gig in Foo Fighters; he was replaced by Joey Castillo, who previously drummed with Danzig. In the wake of QOTSA’s success, Homme embraced a variety of outside gigs, including playing on a pair of Mark Lanegan albums and collaborating with Jesse Hughes on Peace, Love, Death Metal, the first album by their band Eagles of Death Metal. When it came time to reconvene QOTSA for a sequel to Songs for the Deaf, the band no longer featured Nick Oliveri; Homme fired him due to issues in the bassist’s personal life. With Alain Johannes taking over for Oliveri, the group finished recording Lullabies to Paralyze, making space for guest appearances by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Shirley Manson. Preceded by the single “Little Sister,” Lullabies to Paralyze appeared in March 2005, followed by a supporting tour that occasionally featured Lanegan in his last live outings with the band. Chris Goss returned to coproduce 2007’s Era Vulgaris alongside Homme. Featuring fewer guests than usual — Julian Casablancas of the Strokes appeared on the single “Sick, Sick Sick,” Lanegan provided vocals on one track — Era Vulgaris appeared in June 2007, wrapping up the band’s contract with Interscope. After a supporting tour featuring bassist Michael Shuman and keyboardist Dean Fertita — the pair would become steady members of QOTSA from this point forward — the band went into a period of inactivity as Homme pursued other projects over the next few years.
Chief among these was Them Crooked Vultures, a power trio also featuring Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, who released an eponymous album in 2009. The next year saw a deluxe reissue of Rated R and in 2011, the band reissued their hard-to-find debut and did a small supporting tour behind this deluxe edition. Queens of the Stone Age began recording a new album in 2012, transitioning from drummer Joey Castillo to his replacement Jon Theodore during the sessions. The record found QOTSA bringing Grohl back into the fold while also finding spots for Mark Lanegan, Trent Reznor, Alex Turner, Jake Shears, and Elton John, as well as Nick Oliveri for his first spot on a QOTSA album in a decade. With the finished album in hand, Queens of the Stone Age signed with Matador in 2013 and the ensuing ...Like Clockwork album was released in June of that year. Supported by the singles “My God Is the Sun” and “I Sat by the Ocean,” ...Like Clockwork topped the Billboard 200, as well as the Alternative, Digital, Hard Rock, Independent, and Top Rock charts. Following the success of ...Like Clockwork, Homme and various Queens’ members participated in the Sound City documentary project and Iggy Pop’s 2016 Post Pop Depression album and tour. For Villains, the band’s seventh album, QOTSA worked with Mark Ronson and invited Nikka Costa and Matt Sweeney into the studio as guests. Featuring the singles “The Way You Used to Do” and “The Evil Has Landed,” Villains debuted at three on the Billboard charts upon its August 2017 release. After the Villains tour, Queens of the Stone Age took an extended hiatus, reemerging in June 2023 with In Times New Roman…, their third album for Matador. It was the first QOTSA album to be produced by the band and to not feature any guests. December 2023 • Music News 29
son of the late folksinger Jim Croce, A.J. turned to music in the face of tragedy to made his own mark as a singer/songwriter, debuting in the mid-’90s and garnering critical acclaim during the next decade with albums like 2004’s Adrian James Croce and 2006’s Cantos. He later signed with the Compass label and issued a straight-up soul album in 2017’s Just Like Medicine. In 2021, after enduring the sudden death of his wife, Croce found comfort in classic songs from his old covers repertoire and released an album of them called By Request.
Croce Plays Croce Performs At Bayou Music Center On December 10 A.J. Croce performs Croce Plays Croce, a special night of music featuring a complete set of classics by his late father Jim Croce, some of his own tunes, and songs that influenced both him and his father. This special event features such timeless songs as “Operator”, “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim”, “Time in a Bottle” (a song written for A.J.)“, Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)”, and “Lovers Cross”, to name a few. Classic covers may include songs by Lieber and Stoller, Bessie Smith, and other folk and roots artists. Jim Croce was an American folk singer with a short-lived professional recording and touring career, and decades of posthumous fame as one of the greatest songwriters and artists ever. With sales surpassing 50 million records, including three #1 songs and 10 Top 10 hits, Jim Croce’s short career and long-lived legacy are well-remembered through his eradefining standards like “Operator”, “Time in a Bottle” and “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”. A.J. Croce’s 30-year touring and recording career has produced ten studio albums that have been released via both major and independent labels, and have charted 20 Top 20 singles and all ten albums on the radio including on Top 40, Americana, and Blues. A virtuoso piano player, he has performed at a TED Talk and
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gave a master class at the University of Barcelona. Croce has performed on major talk shows and news programs including The Late Show, The Tonight Show, The Today Show, CNN, MTV, and VH1. He’s toured with such esteemed artists as Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and B.B. King. While his last album, Just Like Medicine, paired him with producer and soul legend Dan Penn and an all-star cast of players and guests like Vince Gill and Steve Cropper, his new album was born of memories — of favorite artists and shows, but mostly, of late-night gatherings with groups of friends, many of them fellow musicians, with Croce at the piano taking requests. Croce revisits these musical evenings on By Request (out on Compass Records) with 12 personally curated covers that traverse decades and genres, propelled by his spirited, piano mastery and emotive vocals. With a rich catalog of original compositions A.J. first recorded and released a composition of his fathers with a never-before-recorded song “Name of the Game” on his Just Like Medicine release. In 2018 he covered the 1973 hit “I Got A Name” for a Goodyear commercial with Dale Earnhardt Jr. A.J. Croce has built a distinctive career with a warm combination of contemporary blues and soulful roots rock threaded with various facets of pop. The
Much of Croce’s young life was marked by tragedy, beginning with his father’s 1973 death by plane crash before A.J. was even two years old. When he was four, he suffered a brain tumor that cost him his eyesight. He eventually recovered partial vision in one eye and found solace in learning to play the piano. Taking influence from the likes of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, as well as several early blues artists, Croce began gigging on the San Diego circuit and signed a record contract with Private Music at the age of 19. Two years later, he released his selftitled debut, which featured production from John Simon and T-Bone Burnett. That’s Me in the Bar appeared in 1995, and Croce soon left the label to sign with Ruf Records, for whom he issued Fit to Serve in the spring of 1998. Although best known for his piano-based interpretation of American roots music, Croce switched gears in 2000 by hiring alternative rock producer Michael James (whose credits included albums by New Radicals, Hole, and Jane’s Addiction) to helm his next record, Transit. Four years later, the singer’s fifth album, the self-titled Adrian James Croce, explored an eclectic range of pop music influences, while 2006’s excellent Cantos featured a decidedly strippeddown feel. Croce then returned to a rootsy sound with Cage of Muses. Croce signed with Compass Records for the release of 2014’s Twelve Tales, an ambitious project that featured a dozen original songs recorded in six cities with six different producers, including Allen Toussaint, Jack Clement, and Mitchell Froom. Arriving in 2017, Just Like Medicine was a set influenced by vintage soul artists; legendary producer Dan Penn was behind the controls for the sessions, which included accompaniment from Vince Gill, Steve Cropper, and David Hood. The following year, Croce’s life was again turned upside down when his wife died suddenly of a rare heart virus, leaving him a widower with two young children. Again healing himself with music, he revisited cover songs he loved to play by himself or at parties. Translating that intimate feel to record, he returned with the 2021 album By Request.
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The Toadies Perform At The House Of Blues December 29 Best known as the creators of the 1995 grunge staple “Possum Kingdom,” Fort Worth’s Toadies found success during the alternative rock boom of the ’90s with crunchy yet hooky guitar-based music that put a fresh spin on hard rock. With tunes influenced by the Pixies and guitars that were powerful but melodic, the Toadies made a splash with their major label debut, 1995’s Rubberneck. However, conflicts with their record company led to their follow up, the significantly heavier Hell Below/Stars Above, not reaching fans until 2001, after which the group broke up. However, in 2008 they returned to action and began recording prolifically for their own Kirtland Records label; while their subsequent albums sounded a bit more streamlined, for the most part they stuck to the style that won them an audience, though 2015’s Heretics was a low32
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key, semi-acoustic set, and 2017’s The Lower Side of Uptown found them turning up the amps and cranking up the guitar firepower. The Toadies formed in 1989 and spent their infancy playing shows in Fort Worth, Texas. Musicians cycled in and out of the Toadies lineup from the very start, and the group soon became the domain of frontman Todd Lewis, a Pixiesinfluenced musician who wrote and produced the band’s early releases. After issuing a series of homemade tapes and bringing drummer Mark Reznicek into the fold, the band released a proper EP, Pleather, in 1993. Pleather attracted attention from Interscope Records, which signed the Toadies soon after the EP’s release. Now financed by a major label,
the Toadies entered the recording studio with producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, who had previously worked together on Beck’s platinum-selling album Mellow Gold. Released in August 1994, Rubberneck brought the Toadies similar success by going gold the following year and platinum by the end of 1996. Most of that popularity was due to “Possum Kingdom,” a stark song with a 7/8 time signature that nevertheless became a Top 40 single. With replacement guitarist Clark Vogeler now on board, the group enjoyed its temporary space in the post-grunge landscape, playing high-profile shows with the likes of Bush, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Butthole Surfers. The Toadies had trouble continued on next page
The Toadies (continued from previous page) producing a worthy follow-up to Rubberneck, however. Returning to the studio in 1997, they recorded a batch of new material and planned to release the resulting album, Feeler, in 1998. Interscope objected to the new songs and permanently shelved the project, prompting the disenchanted group to take a break for the rest of the decade. The Toadies eventually resumed their pace in 2001, salvaging some songs from the Feeler sessions and recording new material as well. Their long-awaited sophomore album finally arrived in the form of Hell Below/Stars Above, which featured production from Rothrock/Schnapf and a brief cameo by Elliott Smith, who played piano on the title track. During the national tour that followed, though, longtime bassist Lisa Umbarger announced her decision to throw in the towel, and the rest of the group followed suit.
Best of Toadies: Live from Paradise appeared shortly after the group’s breakup. Although the Toadies reunited throughout the following years for one-off shows, they didn’t officially re-form until 2008, when Lewis, Reznicek, and Vogeler banded together once again to record No Deliverance. Longtime friend Doni Blair — whose previous band, Hagfish, had emerged from the same Dallas/Ft. Worth underground scene as the Toadies — played bass during the resulting tour; one of the dates was recorded for the 2008 release Rock Show. The year 2008 also saw the debut of the band’s annual rock festival, Dia de los Toadies, with the Toadies headlining and like-minded Southwest acts joining them on the bill. The Toadies continued their comeback in 2010 by reviving their
long-scrapped album Feeler; Interscope refused to license the original recordings to the Toadies, so the group re-recorded the songs from the album and released it in the summer of 2010. An album of fresh material, Play. Rock. Music., was released in 2012, followed by the semi-acoustic Heretics in 2015, and the harder rocking The Lower Side of Uptown in 2017. A second concert recording, Live at Billy Bob’s Texas, was released in September 2018. Toadies released the EP Damn You All to Hell on September 13, 2022, as they began touring North America to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album Rubberneck. The EP is four previously unreleased tracks, including a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Sound and Vision.’ Three of the songs were recorded during sessions for the band’s last studio album The Lower Side Of Uptown, while ‘Forgiven’ was recorded during the No Deliverance session. December 2022 • Music News
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their own influences, and we’ve spent years together, letting our sound evolve into something really unique.” That sound began evolving onstage. Thanks to early albums like 2013’s Coast and 2015’s Geronimo, Shane Smith and the Saints became a popular act in Austin, regularly cutting their teeth with marathon gigs at venues like The Stage On Sixth. “We’d do four-hour sets, sometimes backto-back, meaning we’d be onstage for eight hours,” Smith remembers. “It taught us to grow tighter as a band, experiment with our sound, and find our identity.”
Shane Smith & The Saints Perform At White Oak Music Hall December 9 “It ain’t black or white, babe; it’s all the greys between,” Shane Smith sings in “The Greys Between,” the first single from Norther. On the surface, it’s a cinematic love song about a relationship’s twists and turns, punctuated by slide guitar, Appalachian fiddle, and sharp storytelling. Take a deeper listen to Shane Smith and the Saints’ fourth studio album, though, and those words also sound like the motto of a band that’s spent the past decade blurring the lines between genres. Norther is anything but monochromatic. Written and recorded during breaks in the band’s touring schedule, the album captures Shane Smith and the Saints at their most colorful, offering up a hardhitting version of American roots music that’s influenced by country, folk, and roadhouse rock & roll. It’s a sound that’s been shaped by the road, where the Saints spent the past decade on tour, building a cult audience with each gig. Those years of raw, redemptive performances are now paying off — not only with headlining concerts at bucket-list venues like Red Rocks Amphitheater (which the group sold out in 36 hours) and the Ryman Auditorium, but also with an appearance on the hit TV show Yellowstone, where the Saints premiered Norther‘s final track, “Fire in the Ocean,” with an onscreen performance. “If you spend 10 years playing dive bars and small clubs almost every single night, and you go to the merch booth after every show and hang out with the fans until the staff literally kicks you out, you get to turn those fans into friends,” says
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Smith, who grew up in Terrell, Texas, before launching his band in Austin. “That’s how we built this thing. We’ve done as many as 240 shows in a single year. We’ve worked so hard to get there, and that hard work has created a beautiful, meaningful audience.”
Released in 2019, Hail Mary introduced the band’s current lineup, as well as a heavier sound that separated the Saints from other Texas acts. It wasn’t rock & roll. It wasn’t country, either. It was everything that connected those genres, glued together by the camaraderie of a road-tested band that built its audience the old-school way: by hitting the stage and winning over the crowd, song after song, night after night.
Beautiful, indeed. Named after the northern winds that blow across Texas during the winter, Norther begins with the haunting “Book of Joe.” Bennett Brown’s fiddle gives the song plenty of orchestral atmosphere, Dustin Schaefer’s electric guitar adds anthemic punch, and Zach Stover’s percussion — which builds toward a pummeling finish, locking in with Chase Satterwhite’s bass along the way — rolls like thunder. At the center of that sound is Smith’s voice: a husky baritone that’s been textured by countless gigs in smoky bars and loud dance halls. It’s a gorgeously raw instrument, caught halfway between tender and tough, and it’s there — somewhere in the middle — that the Saints shine their brightest.
Norther builds upon that singular sound while also highlighting the bandmates’ road-warrior chops. “We’d be on the road doing shows, and there would be a 48-hour gap where we’d fly into Dallas and try to record everything we possibly could, then fly right back to wherever the bus was,” says Smith, who tapped producer Beau Bedford to helm the album. “It was like that for the entirety of the recording process.” The result is an album that’s filled with all the electricity and eclecticism of the Saints’ live show. For the band’s country-loving fans, there’s “1000 Wild Horses,” which barrels forward at a rootsy gallop. For rock fans, there’s “Fire in the Sky,” which makes room for fiery fretwork and a massive chorus. For those looking to slow dance, there’s “All the Way,” a threadbare piano ballad captured live in the studio, imperfections and all. “Norther has little bit of everything,” Smith says proudly. “It’s not a onesided album. It’s got every single element of what makes up our sound right now.”
“When you’re in a band like ours, everyone gets their turn to play their music in the van,” Smith explains. “Bennett grew up listening to Appalachian and Celticinspired folk and bluegrass music, and you can hear that in the way he plays fiddle. Dustin grew up loving classic rock. When I met my wife, she introduced me to music like Arcade Fire, Alberta Cross, and First Aid Kit — bands that I’d categorize as cinematic folk or cinematic indie-rock — and that had a massive impact on my writing, too. Everybody in this band has
For an independent band like Shane Smith and the Saints, the work is never done. “It’s like you can’t help but feel like you’ve paid your dues to get to a certain spot, but once you get there, you realize you’re just starting to touch the surface of the bigger picture,” Smith admits. “At the end of the day, it still feels like we’re getting discovered. But maybe that’s what it’s all about.” Norther is the soundtrack to that discovery. It’s the sound of a band pushing its limits, broadening its reach, and expanding its audience.
K.Flay
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K.Flay Performs At White Oak Music Hall December 29th
K.Flay is an American songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist whose music is an introspective, empowering blend of hip-hop, indie rock, and electronic music. Inspired by artists ranging from Missy Elliott to Liz Phair, her hard-todefine sound has earned her a wide-ranging fan base, and has led to her sharing the stage with artists like Passion Pit and Snoop Dogg. Emerging in the 2000s, she issued a series of EPs and mixtapes before delivering her official studio debut, Life as a Dog, in 2014. Her Grammy-nominated sophomore effort, Every Where Is Some Where, yielded a Grammy-nominated single (2017’s “Blood in the Cut”) and became one of her highest-charting albums. In 2019, 15 years after her underground debut, she released Solutions. She also collaborated with Tom Morello and Travis Barker in the process of recording a pair of 2021 EPs, combined the following year as the deluxe Inside Voices/ Outside Voices. Mono, her inward-looking fifth studio album, appeared in 2023.
Born Kristine Meredith Flaherty near Chicago in 1985, she first grabbed the mike while a student at Stanford University in California. It was the frivolous topics and misogynistic lyrics she heard in mainstream rap that first drove her to
record a parody of the genre, but she was surprised by both her talent and how much she enjoyed recording. She released her debut mixtape, 2004’s laptop-recorded Suburban Rap Queen, and attracted local attention with her performances.
After graduating, she moved to San Francisco and continued to develop her style. Her second mixtape, Mashed Potatoes, appeared in 2009 with backing tracks that were more electro- and indieoriented. She also collaborated with MC Lars that year, releasing an EP titled Single and Famous. These releases were followed by a self-titled 2010 EP and 2011’s I Stopped Caring in ’96, a personal breakthrough that inspired her to pursue music as a career. K.Flay signed to RCA Records in 2012, issuing Eyes Shut that year; the EP included two songs co-produced by Liam Howlett of the Prodigy. Following the selfreleased mixtape West Ghost, the What If It Is EP arrived on RCA in 2013, and included a guest appearance by Danny Brown. Ultimately, the label wasn’t sure how to market her eclectic style, so instead of being pressured to fit into a specific format, she left in 2013. Her crowdsourced, independently released full-length
debut, Life as a Dog, appeared in 2014, and charted in Billboard’s Top 200 albums. Following the album’s success, she toured the United States and Europe extensively, both as a headlining artist and as support for acts ranging from AWOLNATION to Third Eye Blind. She then became the first artist signed to Night Street (an imprint of Interscope Records run by Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds), releasing the Nashville-recorded Crush Me EP in 2016. In April 2017, K.Flay released her sophomore album, Every Where Is Some Where, which yielded the Grammynominated single “Blood in the Cut.” After delivering a deluxe version of Every Where in 2018, she kicked off a fresh album cycle in 2019 with the singles “Bad Vibes” and “Sister,” which appeared on her third effort, Solutions. An EP, Inside Voices, arrived in June 2021 and featured guest appearances by Tom Morello and Travis Barker. A companion EP, Outside Voices, followed that November. A deluxe version combining both EPs, Inside Voices/Outside Voices, arrived in February 2022, adding several songs, including “The Muck” and “Good to Drive.” In 2023, K.Flay issued the guitar-driven and deeply personal Mono, which tackled subjects like police violence (“In America”), emotional December 2023 • Music News 37
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Music News • October 2023
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December 2023 • Music News 39
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Sunday, December 31, 9:00 pm - 1:00 am *Happy New Year!!! Aspens Bar & Grill 817 Clear Lake Rd
June 2023 September 2023• •Music MusicNews News 2345
Raul Malo Performs At The Heights Theater December 10th First making his mark in country music and then slipping into the Latin, jazz, and roots rock arenas, Raul Malo has proven to be an ever-evolving musical talent. Possessing a voice that’s rich with a wide tonal range, Malo’s performances have a brio that’s emotionally expansive and adaptable to a variety of genres without slipping into melodramatics. He first rose to fame with the eclectic country group the Mavericks, scoring hits with the albums What a Crying Shame (1994) and Music for All Occasions (1995). The Mavericks’ work in the late ’90s found them dabbling in Latin music and vintage pop, and Malo put the focus on those sides of his musical personality for his solo debut, 2001’s Today. He later showed he was also a sure hand with old standards on several efforts steeped in pop and vocal jazz, including 2006’s You’re Only Lonely, 2007’s After Hours, and 2022’s Quarantunes, Vol. 1, all created during downtime from his busy schedule with the Mavericks. He proved he was more than just a great voice with his
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2023 album Say Less, a collection of instrumental pieces. Raul Malo, born in Miami of Cuban parents on August 7, 1965, started playing bass guitar in high school, and soon found his way into several small bands. In 1987, he made his first recording with the Basics, and one song, “Paperheart,” appeared on the promotional collection Unsigned. While the album wasn’t a success, the experience whet Malo’s appetite for more. Later in the ’80s, Malo and a high school friend, bassist Robert Reynolds, formed their own country band based on their mutual love for Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Patsy Cline. Paul Deakin, with experience in several progressive rock bands, became the drummer, and the group chose the name the Mavericks. Under Malo’s leadership, the Mavericks independently released their self-titled debut album in the fall of 1990. The album managed to grab the attention of many big
labels, and MCA Records signed the Mavericks in May 1991, after they played their first gig in Nashville. David Lee Holt, who previously played with Carlene Carter, Joe Ely, and Rosie Flores, became the lead guitarist for the band, with Malo concentrating on the songwriting and vocals. MCA released From Hell to Paradise in 1992; it was critically acclaimed, but not a financial success. However, What a Crying Shame brought forth financial fortunes when it was released in 1994, with its title track reaching the Top 40; the album went platinum by spring 1995. Holt was replaced with Nick Kane as lead guitarist for the next release, 1995’s Music for All Occasions. Many of the band’s singles reached the Top 40, with “O What a Thrill” making number 18 in the summer of 1994 and “There Goes My Heart” reaching number 20. The Mavericks eventually won a Grammy, and the Country Music Association twice bestowed them with continued on next page
Raul Malo (continued from previous page) Top Vocal Group honors. As Malo began to integrate Latin rhythms into his songwriting during the latter part of the ’90s, the Mavericks’ recordings picked up a stronger Cuban influence, leaving the country rhythms in the shadows. The band became an eclectic mix of rockabilly, honky tonk, Tejano, native Cuban, and country, with their multifaceted sound reaching its apex on 1998’s Trampoline. The Mavericks quit playing gigs together in early 2001, but Malo continued to work with his bandmates. During the latter years of the ’90s, Malo began doing parallel solo work, sometimes accompanied by the Dennis Burnside Orchestra. In October 1999, he completed his first solo tour in the U.K., performing many of his new songs. By 2000, he had become a producer, supervising sessions with Ethan Allen and K.T. Oslin, and joined roots music supergroup Los Super Seven as a lead vocalist and songwriter, in addition to working with Latin singer Rick Trevino in his studios. Malo’s first solo recording, “Bailare (El Merecumbe),” was self-penned in Spanish, and he also did a solo recording of “Downbound Train” by Bruce Springsteen. When the Country Music Association needed a voice that could handle singing all the different hits of those being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, they called on Malo because of his ability to handle a diverse range of styles. Malo’s first album as a solo artist, 2001’s Today, reflected his Cuban heritage, but didn’t entirely leave out the deep-twang guitar of country music as he mingled the pop sounds of the ’60s with salsa, jazz, and country. Released by OmTown/Higher Octave Music in October 2001, the album also included Shelby Lynne on guest vocals and an 11-piece backup band that mimicked the big-band sounds Malo loved. Malo also covered “Black Is Black,” a Latin rock hit, on Los Straitjackets’ 2001 album Sing Along with Los Straitjackets, and sang “Thanks a Lot” on Country Goes Raffi, a 2001 compilation of country artists covering songs by the noted children’s entertainer. The Nashville Acoustic Sessions, a pared-down collaboration with Music City session players Pat Flynn, Rob Ickes, and Dave Pomeroy, was released in 2004. Malo returned to the studio for You’re Only Lonely and After Hours in 2006 and 2007, respectively; the former was
dominated by his interpretations of old standards, while the latter put a sophisticated spin on country classics. The countryaccented Lucky One followed in 2009. In late 2009, Malo signed to Concord’s Fantasy imprint and began recording a slew of new tracks at his home studio in Nashville. He took them to Sam “Lightning” Seifert at Bismeaux Studio in Austin and enlisted the help of the legendary Vox Continental organist Augie Meyers; guitarist Shawn Sahm (son of the late Doug Sahm of the Sir Douglas Quintet); accordionist Michael Guerra (known for his work with the Tex Mex Experience), and Austin’s lauded vocal group the Trishas (Savannah Welch, Kelley Mickwee, Liz Foster, and Jamie Lin Wilson), who provided background vocals. The end result was Malo’s debut for the label, Sinners & Saints, released in October of 2010. In 2012, he delivered Around the World, a set of classic love songs backed by Britain’s 30piece Northern Sinfonia Orchestra, including versions of “Let It Be Me,” “Make the World Go Away,” “Dance the Night Away,” and “Around the World.” After periodic reunions for live work, in 2013 the Mavericks returned with a fresh studio album, In Time, and Malo divided his time between solo projects and recording and touring with the group. In 2018, as the Mavericks released the album Hey! Merry Christmas!, Malo dropped a
seasonal single; “I Don’t Need Anything for Christmas” was a collaboration with David Colon of the group Small Town Fair. The Mavericks stayed busy on stage and in the studio, releasing LPs in 2019 (Play the Hits) and 2020 (En Español), but the group’s projects were put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. As he was isolated at home, Malo began recording songs he loved but had never performed in public, accompanying himself on Mellotron. As Malo cut more and more tracks, he invited several friends to add instrumental touches to the material, including members of the Mavericks, the Band of Heathens, and his sons Max and Dino. In 2022, Malo released Quarantunes, Vol. 1, a collection drawn from his home recording sessions, distributed by the Mavericks’ own Mondo Mundo label. In 2023, Malo took a creative detour with the album Say Less. Rather than emphasizing his vocals, the set was devoted to instrumental performances, with Malo creating the arrangements and playing guitar. The Mavericks joined him in the studio for three tracks.
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Penning From Personal Experiences, Delivering From The Heart
Chart Busting Songwriter/Artist Chris Gardner Literally tens of thousands of radio listeners hear a Chris Gardner release and immediately relate to the lyrics of what the man is presenting within his song. That’s not too surprising as Chris’s writing style breathes life into multiple unspoken personal situations, those experiences that just about every adult has gone through or perhaps may be going through right at the exact moment they hear the song. Chris draws from within exposing intimate snapshots of personal life, memories frozen in time that range from the exhilaration of falling in love to the almost unbelievable, unspoken loss of a child. Across the board on all types of topics the man has been there, experienced it first hand and now he’s sharing them with the world. Interestingly enough Chris’s original instinct was not to sing but to pen songs with the hope that a major artist would choose one and that would open the door. Little did he know that reaching those stars would be more difficult than he could have ever imagined. So he came up with an idea; he would surround himself with quality musicians, hire the best record producer going and he himself would be the vocalist. All of this in hopes of scoring radio spins just so a major recording artist might like one of his songs and want to record it. Little did he know that fate would step in and his record releases would zoom up the charts. Chris’s 2019 release “One True Love” zoomed to number one on Indie World’s Country Record Report but success as an artist for Chris did not end there. His release would go on to chart on Roots Music Reports for twenty six weeks in a row. It was a steady increase in chart positions with three songs moving up fast. This is when international publications such as Top40-Charts Magazine would run glowing remarks about the success of this aspiring artist. That was not the plan but what a nice surprise and it didn’t end. In the summer of 2020 Chris would submit his new album “Second Helpings” to radio. At this time Chris had begun to work with legendary radio promoter Bill Wence out of Nashville. Once again another new album was making its way up the RMR charts. It was about this time that Chris decided to produce two new music videos and both were gaining views at a very nice pace on You Tube. Movie Debuts Magazine noted the movement and brought continued on next page
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October 2020 Music News • December 2023
Page 2 - Penning From Personal Experiences, Delivering From The Heart
Chart Busting Songwriter/Artist Chris Gardner even more attention to Chris. However, this time it was not only Chris’s story telling ability that brought the videos to life but he also went a step further and brought a live audience into Wire Road Studios as he and the band recorded the new album. He would team with vocalist, sax player Evelyn Rubio on one of the songs and then contracted with Relaxing Blues Productions to craft it into a story telling video for You Tube. This was not the first time Chris would team with a vocalist. Prior to “Miracles” Chris teamed with the late, great Sarah Dash of R&B fame. Most recently Chris partnered with vocalist Kelley Peters who is currently starring in the stage production of “Patsy Cline”. Between both the audio chart positions and the new music videos Chris’s international visibility was increasing fast and that would lead to both a radio show interview on Tom Tranchilla’s Songwriter’s Studio on KPFT Radio and then a trip to Chicago to be the musical guest on the region’s noted music talk show “In A Nutshell”. To think that it all started with his Mom and then his Uncle which ultimately led to being in the bands in Buffalo New York which would prepare him for participating in future radio contests with his original songs in Dallas Texas is in fact the American dream. The various components that make up this musical mosaic could not have been created if it were not for the those that came into Chris’s life along this journey into musical success. continued on next page
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Page 3 - Penning From Personal Experiences, Delivering From The Heart
Chart Busting Songwriter/Artist Chris Gardner After all Chris was an Air Force brat with Dad being stationed on various bases around the U.S. so for seven years he was with Mom and Dad as they moved around. Mom poured genuine heart felt love on Chris and Dad while doting on his son none the less was a firm believer in discipline. By the time Chris’s formative years in high school rolled around he had already been writing songs since 8th grade and so being in a rock band sounded great to him. He had always admired the Beatles and Pink Floyd starting back when he was twelve so a chance to hang with the guys and maybe present some of his original songs sounded great to him. It’s all history now and today Chris builds off of his previous experiences and works to augment his sound. As good as he is he continually works on both his songwriting skills and vocal presentation. You can feel the forward trend of his music if you listen to his releases in historical order. Chris shares, “The albums that I would like folks to listen to first would be “Second Helpings” and then “Love Thing”. Across the board if someone were to track the musical journey I am fortunate to be on they can experience the new ideas, tempos, and compositions over all. “Love Thing” is definitely my favorite album and the song “Elle” because it is so personal to me although I will say that it was the hardest to write and record but in the end the most satisfying because it has the potential to reach those that have gone through it too. My songs are drawn from personal experiences. Some of the facts are cloaked but the main theme remains intact for the most part. I write about situations I remember, touching in some way. I want to share songs that may hit home with others so they might take comfort in knowing they are not alone, that they are not the only ones. Creating and delivering quality music is not done in a vacuum, it takes a team. In band practice sessions I am fortunate to work with such gifted professionals that I can encourage various ideas as they can add what I call color behind the original story line. Personally, I am more of a story teller, a song writer, more so than a musician but these people on the other hand are over the top.” www.chrisgardnermusic.com 50
Music News • December 2023
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Leon’s Lounge Is Now Available For Private Parties! Make Your Reservations Now!! This December at Leon’s Lounge Friday, December 1 - Suzanne’s Band Trio Saturday, December 2 - Mallard Creek Songwriters Tuesday, December 5th - PANCHO CLAUS TOY DRIVE AND SISTAS PUB CRAWL with ANGELA MORGAN Wednesday, December 6 - Randy Soffar Hosts Leon’s Open Mic @ 8:00 pm Friday, December 8 - Yaupon Band Saturday, December 9 - 4th Quarter Band Wednesday, December 13 - Randy Soffar Hosts Leon’s Open Mic @ 8:00 pm Friday, December 15 - Live Strangers Band Saturday, December 16 - Entertainment TBA Wednesday, December 20 - Randy Soffar Hosts Leon’s Open Mic @ 8:00 pm Friday, December 22 - Leo Sandoval Saturday, December 23 - Loose Helmet Wednesday, December 27 - Randy Soffar Hosts Leon’s Open Mic @ 8:00 pm Thursday, December 28 - No Stairway (Led Zeppelin Tribute) Friday, December 29 - Gypsy Rose Saturday, December 30 - Super Pop
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31 NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY! NO COVER BARCRAWLERZ CRAWL TIL THE BALL FALLS
Music 2021 Music News News •• August November 2023
8:00 - 12 AM
November 2023 • Music News
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The Biker, The Blues, The Recording Session & The Tour Bus Accident One of the nicest places to ride to and visit in Southern New Mexico is the town of Ruidoso. A nice sort of sleepy community with its cool craft stores and pubs but it’s also home to a class A horse track, a major casino and dare I say it legalized marijuana dispensaries. On just about any given day through the end of September there’s around 40,000 visitors just to give you an idea of what kind of draw Ruidoso has these days. My friend Richard Cagle lives there and he has this really cool recording studio named Montrose Records where professional artists and producers go to record new music. I like to visit with Rich once in a while because we sit on their porch rockers, take in the marvelous view and swap lies. He drinks Shiner Bock while I sip scotch and smoke cigars. This time around I got to meet world class music producer Dale Penner. Dale is famous among other accomplishments for his work with Loverboy and Nickelback. His easy going but firm command of the recording sessions are something to experience, they are very good. Easy to see why he ranks high with artists and recording engineers. It’s not always this way in a studio but the man made it look easy and on these two days both the artists and the session players were digging the vibe quite well. Upon arrival the tour bus folks stayed at a hotel named Elevate and I stayed at the Mountain Inn. I met up with Rich early the next morning before the sessions began. We opted for something quick and that meant Denny’s. The food was Denny’s food I guess you might say and the service was good. We talked about the days when Rich recorded Johnny Winter, Carloyn Wonderland and Annika Chambers. All of which would go on to knock the heck out of the charts. We paid our bill and left to go up the mountain to the studio. Man was it ever beautiful and peaceful. Inside there was a wall with one heckuva selection of amps, guitars, a piano and a drum kit. A studio is not my habitual habitat but I know cool when I see it. The good folks from Synapse Publishing and Entertainment showed up next. Darice G, the CEO, was personally attending today’s session. The artist/songwriter that arrived with her is known commercially as Delaney Ann. Delaney hails out of Texas but also resides part of the year in Nashville. She’s in her twenties and a very pleasant person to be around. Her success to date is quite impressive and while sometimes quick success fills the head of a young artist and ruins them not so with this one. On this day they would record four of her originals before 10pm that night, talk about a long day. For an old scooter tramp like me to sit around and take it all in was cool for sure. I saw the session musicians meld with Delaney and Dale as they listened to all sorts of entrances and continued on next page
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The Biker, The Blues, The Recording Session & The Tour Bus Accident
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exits then lock down what he wanted from the suggestions. Next they started recording and was it ever cool. There is this thing called a click track, A click track keeps them all at the same tempo and some headphones were picking up the click just fine but others were not. When I went into the control room I could hear what they were hearing and that increased my understanding of how music is created in a studio. Me, I specialize in lunch and Darice had lunch catered up to us. We all sat outside and the musicians talked about places and concerts they had worked over the years. At one point they began to speak to Dale about all sorts of musical stuff. It was all foreign to me but they knew what was what. I just thought it was interesting that there is this language culture going on perhaps like listening to an Indian chief share his wisdom in another language. After lunch everyone went back inside but not me. The mountain air along with the peaceful feeling that was enveloping me combined with the serene view of the mountains was too much to leave. No regrets at all. Recording artist/songwriter/guitar stylist Rich Chorné stopped by and we had a nice conversation and then I left at dinner time heading back down the mountain to the motel. Chorné had told me about a singer that was performing on the main street downtown that I thought I might take in. However, once I sat my back side down on the motel
room sofa I quickly dozed off. The next morning I met up with Rich and then off to the studio for another day of recordings, four more songs in one day. This day Dale and Rich would be recording Americana songwriter/artist Julia Cozby (left). If you haven’t listened to Julia’s original songs you would be in for a real treat. Well there she was and so were the session guys and like a fine tuned piano they all knew the sound they wanted to deliver and deliver they did. Darice arrived with Delaney around lunch time and the two of them brought another nice meal. Darice told us some interesting facts about a place named The Villages in Florida. A gated retirement community, quite interesting. If you ever meet Darice she can fill you in, trust me you probably have not heard these facts about any retirement community. Basically what I learned was that just because there is snow on the roof doesn’t mean continued on next page Decemoer 2023 • Music News
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The Biker, The Blues, The Recording Session & The Tour Bus Accident
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the furnace is out. Ok so here I was in this cool, hip sleepy town of Ruidoso and what do I learn about? The new marijuana retail shops. Now you have to understand that when I was in high school we used to get high and talk about some day wouldn’t it be cool to just walk into a convenience store and ask for Panama Red or Acapulco Gold? Well now decades later of course you can do just that in some states in the U.S. New Mexico being one of them. Now get this - at some of the dispensaries as they are labeled you can even drive through - go figure! How modern is that? “Good Morning Sir, I would like a half ounce of Mellow Midday, a Latte and give me one of those gummy bear things too.” Is that nuts or what? Too cool! I was told that some places are generating as much as a hundred thousand in gross profit per month. Ok so you go to Ruidoso, you visit the horse track, go up to the Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino, stop by your favorite “convenience” store, rent a cabin with a dynamite view and kick back. Now if you are a touring band and you need a break well here you go and if you need to lay some tracks down you can do that too. I’m still blown away by a drive through lane wow! Well all good things must come to an end so too must a guy leave southern New Mexico. The recording sessions were over and the tour bus was going east and so was I so I thought I would tag along for a ways. I had followed them for several hours and we gassed up at a number of stops along the way. The bike seemed to need gas at about the same time the bus did so it worked out. Then it happened - about fifty miles west of Fort Worth Texas around Mingus the left front tire on the bus blew out and it veered into the passing lane, a car that was passing got involved and ended up in the median. I could see the bus was going into the sloped median too with a bit more speed than was probably ok. I am sure there was nothing the driver could do as the bus entered the median went down into its valley and then rose up its far side bank. It was at this point I saw the bus start to angle as if it was going to flip over and it almost did, man it was close. The bus righted itself and came to a complete stop. I slowed down and went back to see how everyone was doing and learn if the driver in the car was ok too. Everyone was shook up but all of them were ok. Then came the damage assessment. It would take two new front tires for them to get going again. That meant calling the insurance company and getting them involved which they did immediately. The Texas State Police showed up about two hours later and the officer was more than cordial. He stayed with them until much later. The incident happened just before sunset on a Sunday no less. So everybody was ok and the waiting was for the two tires. They finally arrived and the workers did a great job in this remote location near Mingus. Once the tires were on the officer instructed the bus driver on how they would continued on next page
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The Biker, The Blues, The Recording Session & The Tour Bus Accident
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enter back onto the freeway. The driver said ok and that is when he realized that the bus did not have any brakes. So he left the bus and told the officer. He also told him that he could stop the bus with the emergency brake and that there was an exit less than a quarter mile ahead. They agreed that would be the plan and they went for it. It worked and then after the move the bus was in front of an Exxon station that was about to close at 10 pm. The folks on the bus told me that they had no choice but to sleep on the bus until they could get the new brake line in the morning. However another problem surfaced. The CO2 detector on the bus kept going off. It turned out that the exhaust routing for the auxiliary generator on the bus was routed on the left front side of the engine compartment of course was bent upward and not outward into the air due to the tire blowing up. That meant that they needed a place to stay because they could die if they slept on the bus. Low and behold right behind the Exxon was this small motel (see photo above) named The Longhorn Inn. You talk about luck. A bad situation that could have been worse wouldn’t be. I decided to stay too and tied my iron horse up out front. Nice clean room so all was ok. In the morning the driver called the roadside service center and they would have to go to the dealership to get the part. The good news would be that once they picked up the part the installation should only take about an hour, wrong! They meant well but the factory unsealed package was missing the threaded connector fitting so off to an Ace Hardware of all places to get the part they needed. Quite the bus trip for sure. We met a gal named Lani who joined us outside the little gift shop that was attached to the motel. I was having a stogie and she was ready for a cigarette. Turned out that she was/is a professional horse trainer and worked/works as a trainer at some rather famous race tracks around the country with some notable race horses. She tolerated my ramblings about Las Vegas and sports betting and shared the names of some of the tracks she was involved with over the years. Quite impressive. One of the most interesting points that came up was where she was born, Hawaii. Lani is the name everyone in Texas calls her but Mom had named her a beautiful Hawaiian name. Soon the part was installed and the rest of the trip went without a hitch but what a wild experience. Me, well I had my eye on this pretty young philly down the road and no I am not talking about a race horse. But then again a gentleman never reveals some things and this is one of them. Merry Christmas to all of you. Hope you get what you want for the holidays. I know I will. December 2023 • Music News
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Liquidracula and Crew Perform At Soul’d Out In Katy Photos By Kevin D. Wildman 58
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Ian Flanigan Country performer Ian Flanigan was in town recently for a private showcase and we managed to catch his act. This gentleman is really very talented and performed some great original Country Tunes. We’re looking forward to seeing him again the next time he comes through town. This guy is going to be a star someday, so should you get a chance to see him, please do so. You’ll really enjoy his original tunes.
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The JW Jones Band Perform At The Big Easy Photos By Kevin D. Wildman
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July 2021 • Music News
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False Gods Perform Åt The Acadia Bar & Grill Photos By Kevin D. Wildman
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The Ruby Dice Band Perform At Green Oaks Tavern In Humble Photos By Kevin D. Wildman
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Check us out at http://www.rockandbluesinternational.com Also available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podcast Index, Amazon Music, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Pocket Casts, Deezer, Listen Notes & More! December 2022 • Music News
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The Swingin’ Bottles Perform At The Acadia Bar & Grill Photos By Kevin D. Wildman
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The Holland D. Smith Band Perform At The Big Eash Photos By Kevin D. Wildman 70
Music News • December 2023
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Atomic Motor Queen Perform At The Acadia Bar & Grill Photos By Kevin D. Wildman 72
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The Opie Hendrix Band Perform At Shady Acres Saloon Photos By Kevin D. Wildman December 2023 • Music News
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Judas Kiss Perform At The Concert Pub North Photos By Kevin D. Wildman 74
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Throat Piss Perform At The Acadia Bar & Grill Photos By Kevin D. Wildman
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Sexto Sentido (Sixth Sense) Perform At The The Concert Pub North Photos By Kevin D. Wildman
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Big Jordan Performs At Katie’s Bar in Bacliff Photos By Kevin D. Wildman December 2023 • Music News
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As If Perform At Leon’s Lounge Photos By Kevin D. Wildman 78
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Midnight Beverage Perform At The BFE Rock Club Photos By Kevin D. Wildman
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Crosswind Perform At The 19th Hole Photos By Kevin D. Wildman 80
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