B-Sides

Because--assuming you can handle poop jokes and a parade of single entendres--he's a funny guy.--D.X. Ferris

Vaughanville
In case they forgot last year, SRV fans celebrate the blues great for the 11 year in a row
This weekend, if hundreds of local guitar wankers don't stretch properly, they may very well cramp their air guitar-playing hands after experiencing hours of sweet licks. The Stevie Ray Vaughan Remembrance Ride and Concert hits Dallas on Sunday for the 11th year in a row, starting at 9 a.m. at Deep Ellum Blues and winding down the highway with a car parade to Arlington. After the seven-hour tribute by local bluesers such as Pete Barbeck and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, fans will return to Dallas for Jim Suhler's after-party that will keep blues hounds wailing well into Monday morning.

Those loud squeals on Sunday night won't come from the cats, but rather, the Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute concert.

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Like his idol Jimi Hendrix, the influence of Vaughan continues years after his early demise--one only need look at the other guitar-solo-crazy acts inundating Dallas this weekend for proof, including Carlos Santana's two-night stand at Nokia Theatre and Steve Kimock on Saturday at Granada Theatre. It's because the Dallas-born guitarist not only made music that honored the legends of the blues (Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy), he also made the music approachable to young rock audiences--the ones who never saw Zeppelin and whose exposure to Clapton came well after the Londoner's commitment to the genre had waned.

That said, many who have followed seem content to simply blister the fret board, proving speed a poor substitute for feeling; after all, Vaughan's talent was backed by the true range of emotions inherent in the blues, and he definitely preferred the subtle genius of Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins to the virtuosic overkill of Eddie Van Halen. And while the rhythm and pulse so vital to Vaughan's best work is often missing from the latest generations of ax wielders, we can't hold that against local Remembrance players like Chris Duarte, Lance Lopez and Rama Satria Claproth, folks who actually play songs with their solos. Anyone willing to stomach that much blues in one day will certainly accept a few slip-ups, so long as they're observing the former glory of Vaughan's career and utter sadness of that helicopter crash 15 years ago. The house will be rockin', Stevie. --Darryl Smyers