NEW RED MEAT CD: THE HITS KEEP A-COMIN'
 
It's been five years since the release of the last Red Meat CD, Alameda County Line, but the new one, We Never Close, is here and it's been well worth the wait. The songs have
been aging like fine wines and popping the CD into the player is like pouring out vintage grape at its peak.
Whether on CD or live, the band delivers the goods, as they did on July 21st at their
Great American Music Hall CD release party. They dove into "High Maintenance Babe," like they'd dated more than a few, and Jill Olson,
resplendent in a Darth Vaderesque honky-tonk hairdo from Thunder Wigs-r-Us wasn't just singing the "Queen of King City", she was The Queen. The CD's producer, Dave Alvin,
was on hand for the set's first three songs including a rousing version of Webb Wilder's "Pretty Little Lights of Town," the CD's strongest cover tune. Max Butler
played pedal steel and traded some tasty licks with guitarist Michael Montaldo on the instrumental, "Moonrock." "Mr.
Johnson," "I'm Gonna Burn Down the House (and Leave by the Light of the Fire)," "Honky-Tonk Habit," and "City Slicker," along with other tunes from the CD, and a
few old favorites like "Lolita," gave the audience the full meat monte they were expecting. Check out "Honky-Tonk Habit," and "City Slicker" posted at www.MySpace.com/redmeatcountry.
This CD is their best yet, not that the three others have been slouches, so what's
next? It's hard to imagine waiting another five years, so speculation that the band could release a live or "best of" CD can't be too far off the mark. For now though, fans couldn't ask for more than
We Never Close which provides enough high-cholesterol honky-tonk to hold 'em for awhile.
Lead songwriter Scott Young's cousins in Big Smith came from Missouri to
help out with the CD release party. They're another band to reckon with as they too are as suited to large stages. But their visit was not without a sad note as they were replacing the Hacienda Brothers
whose lead guitarist, and Bay Area favorite, Dave Gonzalez (Paladins), is recovering from a motorcycle accident that injured his right wrist. He has recovered enough to practice again, and
Hacienda Brothers will be back on the road in August where they are scheduled to play Rancho Nicasio on the 12th.
DAVE GLEASON MOVING ON
  Dave Gleason's CD release party at Annie's Social Club on 7/15 was a great show. Gleason and
Wasted Days bandmates Mike Therieau and Pat Johnson had their harmonies going like there was no tomorrow, and that appears to be the case.
Dave Gleason is following the examples of the
Mother Truckers and Lloyd Tripp and the Zipguns by leaving the Bay Area to further his music career. He's bound for La-la-land next
month. He'll be reuniting with his SF band for a few shows here, but will likely form a new band there. Anyone with any idea how Bay Area twang bands can
make a living by staying here should dial the Hicks with Sticks hotline ASAP.
THE SPIRIT OF OUTLAW COUNTRY, TEXAS STYLE
Thanks to the Rockin' Cabbie
for the link to the Texas country die-hards at http://www.spiritoftheoutlaws.com/newoutlaws/index.htm. There's nothing quite
like a bunch of fed-up Texas country music fans to kick some backsides and howl at the moon. The site is a mix of business and pleasure with a strong anti-Nashville undercurrent. It's got a very busy h ome page, but scrolling down a
little will reveal three columns: "Interviews", "News" and "Reviews" that are full of twang-worthy information. It's in their news section that we learn, for example, that Merle Haggard is planning to do a
bluegrass CD with Alison Krause and Marty Stuart, and when Porter Wagoner, whose new CD is a KPIG favorite, will be on David Letterman.
Further down the page is an editorial that reflects the outlaw spirit that the site embodies. Twangers can find any number of reasons to bookmark the site. |
NEW HICKS WITH STICKS BANDS AND PHOTOS PAGES
The Hicks with Sticks Bands
page has been given a makeover to coincide with the explosion of new twang bands in the SF Bay Area. The page now lists 67 bands, the newest being the five-piece San Francisco Cattle Company,
and there are more to come.
The most noticeable change is that pictures have been added to the Bands page itself, and links to additional photos have been added in 67 expanded
new photo gallery pages. Pointers on each of the new photo
gallery pages provide navigation from band to band. Bands on the HWS Bands page and in the new galleries are listed in alphabetical order based on the first letter in the band's name. Axton Kinkaid
for example is listed under "A" rather than "K" which makes sense since the name is not that of an actual person. Texas Steve is a real person, but it still makes sense to list Texas Steve and the Git
Gone Trio under "T" rather than "S". Yet Audrey Auld Mezera,
who performs under her own name, is listed under "A" rather than "M", which might not make sense but at least it is consistent with first letter alphabetizing.
Links to MySpace pages have also been added, and
there are links to the band's site and its MySpace page for bands that have both. The next steps will be to get more song samples from the bands and find, or make, more videos.
Drawing the boundary around which bands to list has always been difficult. Houston Jones for instance can twang up a storm, but they are not listed because twang is only one of the many styles they
play. The California Cowboys
are a popular new country band and a good one, but they are not listed because the HWS audience has little interest in new country. Also unlisted are about a half-dozen bands, mainly on the outskirts of the Bay Area, that play garden variety bar-band country covers. There are others, like
Howdy!, a former folk band, and the Sons of Emperor Norton,
a rock band that have developed more twang-based sounds, and are awaiting a chance for HWS to hear them live. Whatever the case, there is no shortage of twanging bands for Bay Area Audiences, and the new Bands page should make the choosing easier.
ALL THE NEWS THAT PRINTS IN FITS
 Hicks with Sticks presents
Misisipi Rider, Starlene and Michael Koppy in the first of it's end-of-the-month Sunday BBQ shows at Parkside (17th and Wisconsin) on 7/29. Doors are at 4:00, bands are at 5:00 and it's
free... Pete Chase's Shellac Shack, where 78 rpm records are the norm, is back at Homestead, 19th and Folsom in SF, every Monday from 7-11... New ownership has rescued DeMarco's 23 Club
in Brisbane from the doldrums after ten years of under-funded and bad management. The booths on the east wall have all been removed to support the new 32-channel sound system.
Advertising will start soon, as will more music... A $20,000 reward has been posted for information identifying the person who threw the M-80 that blew up the hand of Roisin Isner
in Dolores Park on the Fourth of July. She is the drummer for the punk band Tinkture. According to her dad, who has posted the reward, this misguided act will end her music career. Send info to
ChrisIsner-at-hotmail-dot-com... Danny Santos has his van stolen along with the upright bass that was in it. The bass is a 1960's Strativarius knock off
plywood top bass with gut strings, a Gollihur adjustable bridge, and a decal on the back of it that reads "Cari Lee & The Saddle-ites"... Fifty years ago, Hank Williams the First
was 86ed from the Grand Ol' Opry which has yet to reinstate him. Sign the petition to save Hank the First from the Phantoms of the Opry at
www.gopetition.com/petitions/reinstate-hank-williams.html... While
signing for Hank, also check out the petition for a commemorative stamp for the founder of Sun Records, Sam Phillips at www.gopetition.com/petitions/sam-phillips-commemorative-us-postage-stamp. html
... The band Gen 11 is a tip from Hot Rod Edell of the RevTones. Hot Rod sez check out how they've merged 1960's Brit-pop and Gram Parsons at www.myspace.com/geneleven.
Are these guys the new Byrds?... There was a mighty fine party on June 23 that was announced in Hicks with Sticks
News two issues ago. Pictures are at
http://www.hickswithsticks.com/Photos/60Bday/60bday.html. |
