BAY AREA TWANGERS SAVE CHRISTMAS
  Bay Area twangers are stepping up for the holidays to
ease the care of last-minute shopping. All of these CDs are just a few clicks away and delivery is guaranteed for Xmas, or whatever it is we celebrate now.*
The latest is from those unsinkable Shut-Ins
-- A Very Shut-Ins Christmas. http://www.theshutins.com/ Just listen to what their fans are saying:
77 el Deora
hit the bull's-eye with their debut release Sirens. Beside all the great songs, hot musicianship and guest contributors, this CD bypassed the studios. Once the basic tracks were down, individual parts were recorded wherever, and then emailed to the band's 77-story global
headquarters at 77 el Deora Boulevard where the final product was hand-crafted on organically certified computers. Fear not, technophobes, the CD is the better for it. http://www.western-independent.com/77eldeora
 Since it's just as easy to give your friends and family gifts from any of the Bay Area's
twangers, why not give a gift from all of them. We're talking about the Bay Area CD that really did hit the charts in Belgium: A Town North of Bakersfield. All 25 of the Bay Area's finest,
who are on the CD, urge you to buy one for yourself and several for your friends. If you concentrate, you can hear their voices on the wind... They're chanting now... Can you hear them?...
Listen, buy... Listen, buy... You're getting sleepy... Sleepy... Sleepy... Listen, buy... Listen, buy... Follow the link... Listen, buy... http://www.cdbaby/cd/bakersfield.com
 Solid Air, an acoustic twang-oriented duo from Sonoma County added full band instrumentation for their CD, Local Color. The
HWS News review said, "Solid Air managed... to focus [supporting musician's] contributions into a unifying CD, carry interest from song to song, and still let each song speak for itself." It
has a country heart, yet provides a refreshing acknowledgement of times when music could be challenging, inspiring or just plain fun, and did not have to deal with the late 20th century's musical baggage. http://www.globerecords.com/solidair/
 Audrey Auld Mezera is a Marin-based twanger-songwriter who also favors band arrangements on her CDs. Texas, her third CD,
tackles the ever-touchy trick of making a third CD that builds on the other two without repeating them. With three solid releases, a bushel of great songs, her tours and the musical company she
keeps, she's got creds to spare. Her interests on Texas can range from born-again murderess Carla Faye Tucker, known for being the last
woman dispatched from this Earth by a certain former Texas Governor, to Billy Joe Shaver, the last cowboy poet. http://www.recklessrecords.com/aa_music.html
These CDs make great holiday gifts, including gifts from the newest winter holiday, December 23rd, which has been anointed, who knows by whom, as HumanLight.
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HumanLight |
NEW EAST BAY MUSIC PAPER
Music Scene
the East Bay's newest music monthly has been hitting the free newspaper distribution spots around Alameda and Oakland. Their 12th issue, which is out now, means they have survived their first year.
Their coverage is diverse. The latest issue features Oakland jazz rising star Natasha Miller, and last month's cover boy was Eddie Money, who played opening night at Oakland's new
Uptown Nightclub.
Music Scene could give the East Bay Express'
music section a run for its money because, being dedicated to music, it can provide more depth of coverage, which something the vibrant East Bay scene needs and can support. They've got ads too, which is always a sign of a healthy paper.
PATSY CLINE IS BACK, INDEED
 Some might have wondered what the mention of Patsy Cline in the last HWS News was all about.
Patsy Cline and the Memphis G-Spots were a popular band in the late '80s and early '90s. They played at DNA, Paradise Lounge and other SF watering holes including Cafe du Nord
where they were weekly regulars. The band grew popular because they were good, Patsy is arguably country's best female recording artist ever, and her music survives the test of time.
Respect for her music is the key to Arturo Galster's performance. There's a sense that if Patsy herself could see Arturo's show, she'd be fine with it. Arturo is back in the newest Bay Area twang band,
Patsy and the Midnight Walkers. They're "new" in this band, but veterans all. Mitch Polzac (Royal Deuces, Cottonpickers) sings and plays guitar. Conservatory-trained
Djordje Stijepovic (Bluenotecats) on stand-up bass brings his reputation for slappin' the bottom end all the way to California from
Belgrade, Serbia. "We had a pretty good band," he told HWS, but wanted to play while the government wanted to fight. That's why I came here." Drummer Eric Friedman
has plays guitar with his band, the Lucky Rubes and drums in Octomutt's Country Cousin.
Their debut show was Sunday the 18th at the Parkside with Valerie Jay and the Americanos.
Their next show is on Saturday, January 21 at the Starry Plough in Berkeley with
BLUENOTECATS AND CARELESS HEARTS
The Bluenotecats and the Careless Hearts
are two other bands on the HWS radar.
The first is a rockabilly three-piece that's been playing around Napa and Sonoma counties. Maybe they heard about the new law that forbids any rockabilly band
from using the words cat, king, star, lucky or blue in their name, but they are safe on a technicality. Their name is actually one word, not three. Ah-ha! Find a
little more about them at their bare bones website www.bluenotecats.com.
The Careless Hearts, a rockin' alt-country outfit, just played their debut show at Johnny V's in San Jose. We're already anticipating a 2006 Valentines Day
double bill with San Francisco's Cheating Hearts and the Careless Hearts. But the big question that the Careless Hearts bring to the table is whether the twang
Phoenix of San Jose will rise again? The Careless Hearts are a start. www.carelesshearts.com.
ALL THE NEWS THAT PRINTS IN FITS
Hearts that stray? As long as we're on the subject, millions do it and for everyone who does it there's another who doesn't like it, so how about a little help from the Internet? Whether you're a husband or a wife, the cheater or the betrayed, there's something for you at http://www.facereality.com/. At the very
least, C/W songwriters ought to be mining this site for material... Is SF's inner Richmond neighborhood getting in touch with its inner twang? The Plain High Drifters recently played
The Dog's Bollox which is next door to the former Last Day Saloon. Their show went well and has opened the door for more.
The Last Day Saloon itself had booked twang, though infrequently. It's new ownership has rechristened it the Rockit Room.
Their website (
http://www.rock-it-room.com) says,
"The Rockit Room was established in late 2005 by Marco Torresi to provide a live music venue not restricted to a specific genre." They'd booked Moot Davis and the Cool Deal when he toured through
town earlier in the month... This last link has nothing to do with twang or music, but we all need to bookmark this one. Http://www.posthoc.com
is a regularly updated guide for undermining corporate fortifications and getting a human on the phone. |
