From what we hear, Lift to Experience's long-promised debut, The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, will be a double-disc set when it finally hits stores later this year (well, probably) on Bella Union Records, the U.K.-based indie label run by Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins. The group has been working on the record(s) for what seems like years now, tinkering with it, rerecording parts, sometimes entire songs. If memory serves, a completed version of Texas-Jerusalem was scrapped at one point. But from the little we've actually heard, you'll be able to hear why it has taken so long when it makes its way into a bin at a record store near you. No telling when that may actually happen...
The Paper Chase's first album, Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know, which has been delayed due to artwork problems, should be in stores soon, if it hasn't already trickled into a few by now. Contrary to one local musician's opinion, the group does not sound like Primus, and the record (which includes Centro-matic's Will Johnson on a couple of tracks) is worth the wait. And someone actually bet us we couldn't work Johnson's name into our column this week. That wasn't even our first choice...
If you haven't gone to one of the Slow-Cooked Sundays that Budapest One's Keith Killoren puts together at Steve's BBQ in Denton, well, you're not only missing out on performances by the likes of Little Grizzly, Slobberbone's Brent Best, Joe Cripps, and Paul Slavens (last Sunday's lineup), but you're also skipping some mighty fine grub. (His ribs would make a militant vegan have second thoughts.) Also, we've been told that at a recent Slow-Cooked Sunday, a duo by the name of Mr. Miyagi's Protégé made its first--and, unfortunately, last--public appearance, with a set of Karate Kid-themed songs, as well as a cover of Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love," which you may remember as the "love theme" from the second installment of the trilogy. (No one counts The Next Karate Kid, especially the Academy Award-winning Hilary Swank.) So, really, check it out, because you never know what's going happen. Or, as Killoren himself so eloquently put it, "Stop being a dumb fucker and come to Steve's." You heard the man...
As we reported last week, Reed Easterwood will celebrate the release of his seventh disc, Go To Work Tomorrow You Fuckin' Jerk, with gigs on September 23 at the Barley House, and September 29 at the Gypsy Tea Room. (If you can't wait until then, the album is already available in MP3 form on his Web site, www.lookatwhatwegot.com.) Joining Easterwood and crew at the Tea Room show will be Pat McKanna, whom you may recall as the front man of The Trees, and Ruffled Feathers, which includes Chris Purdy, ex of Slowpoke. Ruffled Feathers, who have a tape floating around with a few songs recorded by Centro-matic's Matt Pence, recently wrapped a week's worth of recording sessions at the Bethel Assembly of God Church in Arlington. No telling where those songs will end up, but if they're anything like the tape Purdy sent us, you should hunt 'em down...
While we've never been big fans of Stevie Ray Vaughan--we happen to like, you know, songs with our guitar solos--but we'll admit a certain fascination with the never-ending stream of post-mortem product bearing his name and maybe one or two "new" songs (read: lengthy, directionless guitar jams.) Hey, he always wanted to be like Jimi Hendrix, and Hendrix is certainly the only other dead guitar hero who can match Vaughan's production from beyond the grave. But it seems as if the vault will finally be emptied once Epic/Legacy releases SRV, a three-disc boxed set featuring, from what the PR flacks tell us, 70 percent new material. Which means that 70 percent of the set, due out on November 21, is stuff you probably don't want to hear. But wait, there's more: SRV will also contain a DVD with six songs Vaughan taped for Austin City Limits that never made it onto the show, as well as essays by former governor Ann Richards, Austin Chronicle hack Margaret Moser, Guitar World's Alan Paul, Jack Chase, and a Q&A session with Vaughan and Andy Aledort. If this doesn't close the books on Vaughan's career, someone needs to get a silver bullet...
When The Adventures of Jet, Slowride, Kill Jenny, and PVK perform at the Ridglea Theatre on September 23, it will be the first of a series of monthly shows assembled at the venue by Twinfish Productions, which, from what we can tell, is an operation run by AOJ's Zach Blair and Tony Janotta. Of course, we've been wrong before, usually only so that we can apologize in print and fill up even more inches with our unique and sometimes funny brand of self-deprecating humor...
Shows and tell: Club Clearview celebrates its 15th anniversary with a free show featuring Chomsky and Bowling For Soup on September 22; Prize Money celebrates the release of its new album, All Eyes on the Prize, at the Curtain Club on September 21, with Clumsy and Fivecat; The Ranchero Brothers play on September 22 at the Gypsy Tea Room; and that same night, Cowboys & Indians and Hillbilly Café have a battle of the bands at Sons of Hermann Hall. Combined with the goings-on at Trees, there isn't any reason to stay at home. Well, unless you count having to pay for parking, the ever-rising drink prices, and the plethora of just-plain wrongness you can find in Deep Ellum on any given weekend. Other than that, get out.
