Archive for the ‘Bands’ Category

MORE BANDS ON THE RUN

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Hicks with Sticks finally caught up with the Whisky Richards and Lady A and her Heel Draggers.

whiskey richardsWe first heard the Richards — who spell it “whisky” or “whiskey” depending on their mood — back in their 2008 start-up days when it was a challenge just to get through some songs.  We waited as they tried different material and players until they found more traction in 2009.  In 2010 we’re part of the buzz because they were rockin’ the house at Cafe Du Nord during the SF Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival.   Chase Christie is up front on vocals and rhythm guitar, Katy Rexford (Misisipi Rider) sings and fiddles, Adam Roszkiewicz (A.J. Roach) plays lead guitar, Logan Barrier pounds the skins here and in our favorite Austrian-heavy punk band Arnocorps, and multi-instrumentalist Joe Kenny plays Fender bass.  Catch them early on Friday, March 5th, 7PM with Axton Kincaid at the Makeout Room, 3225 22nd SF.

Lady A aLady A2nd her Heel Draggers – and dontcha like the name(?) — turned out to be quite a surprise at the Parkside on the last Sunday in February, even without their fiddle player. They’ve got a few bugs to work out like those long what-do-we-play-next song transitions, but they are a mighty seven-piece with Ayelet Arbuckle who can do the big voice thing without over-playing it, Will Fourt who isn’t shy about sneaking in some jazz licks on guitar, Mitiya Matsuda who is the new secret weapon in the B-Stars on steel, Eric Chaves who got beat up more than anyone in high school for playing both accordion and clarinet, Danny Chaves on stand-up bass, Leif Karlstrom on fiddle and Mike Brilliot from the late, great Joe Buck on traps.  They’ll open for Deke Dickerson with the Modern Sounds at the Hedley Club – Hotel De Anza, 233 W. Santa Clara, San Jose on 3/4.

Charlie Roman and the Teenage Werewolves are looking for a new guitar player.  The Big Paisano wants someone who can play drivin’ rockabilly with a vintage guitar and amp and wants to be a teenage werewolf first and foremost.  That narrows down the field, but there’s got to be one locked in his parents’ basement somewhere.  Charlie’s bassist Jack Spade, also started a new band called the something-or-others.  We might get around to learning its name, but don’t count on it.  Happy Jack starts bands often and kills ‘em fast.

March 4th update: Happy Jack checked in to say his new band Sick Wolf now has members that do the little things like rehearsing and is destined for infinity and beyond.  They’ve got the bookings to prove it.  Follow the link and believe.

SF BAY AREA BAND & CLUB NEWS

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Smelley_Kelley100It appears that the Plain High Drifters are preparing for another run.  They cover late ’60’s early ’70s country tunes and provide an outlet for Smelley Kelley to sing the songs that there just isn’t room for in his main band Red Meat.   This will be the fourth incarnation of the PHDs who date back to the mid-’90s as the East Bay Drifters who, as they’ve evolved, tend to play for about three years then disappear for three years only to return again.  Whatever else can be said about the band, they at least have a fine sense of symmetry.

Li’l Anne and the Tune Wranglers emerged out of the Sweet ‘n’ Lo’s in 2009, but soon went into hibernation while waiting for a new bass player to appear.  Multi-instrumental Belle from the bluegrass band Belle Monroe and her Brewglass Boys might provide the Tune Wranglers with their bass line.

burning embers eric 100Eric Embry has confirmed that the fire has gone out of the Burning Embers.  Never the most focused of bands when it came to bookings,  Embry is likely to resurface in a band where he gets to just show up and play.  Tom Armstrong was one of the Burning Embers’ success stories when they pulled him out of retirement to play bass, but with two vocalists already in place, they never really got him into the mix as much as they could have.  Meanwhile, the Ember’s fiddler and singer, Katy Rexford, has joined the Whiskey Richards who spent a good portion of ‘09 stabilizing their line-up and now appear poised to hit it and git it in 2010.

The Lariats of Fire, who were quiet during most of ‘09, have found a replacement for their lost drummer and are back in action again.  And the new and improved five-piece B-Stars have hooked up with the new and improved 23 Club in Brisbane where every Wednesday night is now B-Stars night.  This provides an excellent mid-week opportunity to get your dancin’ shoes on or just sip a few and chill at this venerable club.

In club news, bars everywhere are changing hands as a result of the recession and among them are three Irish bars: the Abbey Tavern and Blarney Stone in SF’s Richmond district and the Blackthorn Tavern in the Sunset.  All of these venues have entertainment licenses, but none have managed to gain much traction with music.  Few, and least of all SF’s Irish community, seem interested in the trad side of Irish music and, with the possible exception of Cullan’s Hound’s, the Bay Area’s many fine alt-Irish bands haven’t been finding enough stages to play.  The real question is where the Abbey, Blarney Stone and Blackthorn are going with “Irish,” since all now have either non-Irish or second or third generation Irish-American owners with little or no connection to the Emerald Isle.  Of the three, the Blackthorn has been the farthest along in booking non-Irish music, but as the economy forces bar owners to seek new markets, we can count these as new opportunities for a wide spectrum of bands.

SHOVELMAN’S FOLKTRONICA

Monday, November 16th, 2009
Shovelman

Shovelman

A marriage between folk and electronica was destined, so if Shovelman hadn’t come along someone would have had to invent him.

Why “Shovelman?”  Well, because he plays a snow shovel rigged to be a combination fret-less guitar and percussion instrument.  Said shovel feeds its sounds into an array of samplers, compressors and other foot-operated gizmos to put the tronic in folktronica.

Every song is mixed from scratch, starting with a simple beat which Shovelman will sample and build upon (more…)

BAY AREA BAND UPDATES

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

BAND WATCH: Western Swing favorites The Saddle Cats have released their first CD, Herding Cats, so look for some CD release parties coming soon… The Cowlicks also have a new CD called Hey, Hey We’re the Cowlicks and a release party on Friday July 3rd at the Devil’s Canyon Brewery in Belmont…  J. Byrd Hosch, the transplanted Texas songbird with an ultra-low profile is working on a CD to be released in September…  Hang on to your livers because brothers Jack Spade and Jimmy Whiskey have (sort of) formed two bands: the Jack Spade Trio and (the return of the) Big Bad Wolves.  It’s difficult to say if these really are two bands since the bands share members full and part-time, and after a few drinks they like to be one band again.  Huh, what?  Who knows?  These bands may reconfigure themselves 2 or 3 times a night depending on the Jim Beam supply…  Rumors of the Shut-Ins’ demise are premature.  Mike Roper has been taking time off to work with Gayle Lynn and the Hired Hands, develop Cheetahs on the Moon and be a dad, but the Shut-Ins themselves are scheduled for a show in October…  The Blue Diamond Fillups have arrived with their own brand of pedal to the metal rockabilly…  The Jesse Jay Harris Quartet, a side project from the Rancho Deluxe guitarist, played its last show for the foreseeable future.  Work of the day-job variety is taking Harris to LA.  He’ll be back to the Bay Area soon with Rancho Deluxe…   The Sweet ‘n’ Lo’s have reorganized from a quartet to a trio and renamed the band Li’l Anne and the Tune Wranglers…  The B-Stars are glad to have released their 6-song CD which provides an excellent taste of what this four-piece is about…  The Blushin’ Roulettes hail from Mendocino County with a bluesy/country acoustic mix that provides a tasty listen on their MySpace page.