Austin Welcomes The Sound of the Big Easy

NOTE: This article is currently in the October issue of INsite Magazine - http://www.insiteaustin.com


Singers from New Orleans play at Nubian Queen Lo-La's.





Austin Welcomes The Sound of the Big Easy

By Sean Claes
When Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Central Gulf Coast in Louisiana on August 29, 2005, nobody could have been prepared for the destruction it would leave in its wake. The storm surge compromised the levee system that protected New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain, flooding most of the city. The physical destruction of homes and other property (estimated at over $200 billion) is a horrible thing, but things are replaceable, cities will rebuild. The destruction of lives is what lingers today. Over 1,000 people were killed. People of areas ravaged by the Hurricane who escaped death were dubbed "refugees" and there were moments of "mob rule" and then the finger pointing started... and continues today. Then, on September 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita came through and flooding occurred again this time in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

In the midst of all of this, people had to uproot their lives, many without more than the clothes on their back, and search for somewhere to live, something to nourish themselves and their family, a place for their kids to go to school and somewhere to earn money to help sustain themselves. Many people saw Austin, Texas as the place to go to start over. The outpouring of support the Austin community has shown in the last month has been amazing.

Of course, since Austin is the "Live Music Capital of the World" a good amount of displaced musicians have come to town and are infusing the local music scene with a good dose of New Orleans. A few of the musicians and groups from the New Orleans area who now call Austin home include: Cyril Neville, Ivan and Ian Neville, The Iguanas, Dumpstaphunk, Dominick Grillo, half of the Hot 8 Brass Band, Willie Green, The Young Originals, The Flaming Arrows lead by Big Chief Kevin Goodman, Tim Green, Norman and Richard Caesar, Teresa Anderson, and Big Sam from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

Many members of our music scene are welcoming the musicians with open arms. One Austin musician who has deep roots in New Orleans music is Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne. "I've spent about half of my professional life playing in New Orleans. All of my family is from New Orleans. Almost all of my collaborators are New Orleans musicians," Welbourne said. Since Katrina, he has been spending time playing in town with a multitude of New Orleans musicians, introducing them to local musicians, club owners, and recording studio folks.

A number of musicians have found a place to live, a friendly face, and the chance to start over again in the Austin Music Co-Op (5413 Guadalupe Street). The original idea of the Co-Op was to serve as a communal-type living environment for Austin's musicians, but when manager Matt Meshbane heard about the great number of New Orleans musicians who were homeless and at temporary shelters, he decided to open the Co-Op to those people and worry about how to pay for their rooms later. As of September 21, more than 10 residents of the Austin Music Co-Op were from New Orleans. "These musicians are coming to stay with us," Meshbane said. "We're trying to raise money and awareness to pay these people's rent... just one room at a time. To sponsor a room is $500." A few local people and businesses have been able to sponsor a room and donate useful items such as clothes, toiletries, and musical instruments (broken, new, or used).

One of the residents of the Austin Music Co-Op is saxapohone player Dominick Grillo. When I spoke with him, he'd just arrived in Austin after bouncing around for about three weeks. He's ready to get out and find some people to play with in town. "I've played with West Bank Mike and the Fisher Project, Big Chief Alfred Doucette a couple of times, pretty much anyone who would let me play," Grillo said. "I'd play every single night. Now that I'm here in Austin, I'm not playing with anyone yet. It looks hopeful, though. Between here and Houston, I should be able to work."

Another resident of the Co-Op, Hilton Joseph, wasn't a citizen of New Orleans - he's actually from Houston - but was working in town when Katrina hit and he lost most of his belongings, including his instruments. He found the Austin Music Co-Op due to some nice strangers who were determined to help him find a home when he was holding a sign that read "Sax Player Needs A Home."

Joseph's musical resume includes playing with B.B. King for ten years, Bobby Blue Bland, Z.Z. Hill, and some solo work. The band he was playing with moved to Mississippi, but he decided to make the trek to Austin. He's been playing on the streets outside of the Driskill Hotel (604 Brezos Street) and on the sidewalk by Antone's (213 W. 5th Street where New Orleans musicians have been playing many a night including Blue Monday's). "It's the live music capital of the world. It seemed like a nice little spot to land," he said. "I didn't want to go home. There's nothing there, no wife, no kids, all my family is gone. So, I'm kind of like a wandering minstrel."

There are a number of local restaurants who have stepped-up to help. One that has been instrumental in helping many New Orleans musicians is Nubian Queen Lo-La's Cajun, Soul Food, and BBQ Kitchen (1815 Rosewood). Lola Stephens is from Louisiana, and has opened her restaurant, and the lot behind it, to host benefit concerts by New Orleans musicians. In fact, Hilton Joseph was one of the sax players at the September 18, 2005 music and food benefit. "We are all cut from the same cloth and we need to stick together," Stephens said when she spoke to the crowd at the concert. She plans to have gatherings of New Orleans musicians every few weeks.

Also, local restaurant, Threadgills (301 W Riverside Dr) is hosting Cookin' and Jookin' every Tuesday night, featuring the cooking of Gaynielle Neville and the music of Cyril Neville and Tribe 13 featuring an assortment of New Orleans and Austin musicians.

Another new resident comes in the form of a prominent New Orleans record label, Basin Street Records (http://www.basinstreetrecords.com/). Mark Samuels, president of the label, moved to town and set up shop after his home was completely flooded and his studio had a foot of water inside. I had a chance to talk with Samuels and one of the label's artists, clarinetist and trombonist Dr. Michael White (who's home was also destroyed), who was in town to play a benefit, but is living in Houston at this time.

They both are very optimistic about the rebuilding of New Orleans but are concerned with trying to preserve the same feel as it had before Katrina and Rita. "I definitely plan on moving back and I'm hoping it comes back. A lot of it is uncertain at this point of how it will come back. You had such a rich unique culture and way of life there," White said.

Samuels agreed. "We don't want it to come back as every other city, and look like every other city. The beginning of that needs to be the music and food and culture, and those of us who lead that culture.. it's that group of people, and the musicians who need to be the leaders to formulate how New Orleans can keep all of that and still become a better city in the end," he said. "I'm planning on going back as well, but at this point I need to have access to schools to send my kids to and banks and grocery stores open. My children have to have a reasonable ability to enjoy life. If I was a single person, I'd go back today and start helping rebuild."

The above is only a few of the hundreds of stories about displaced musicians in Austin. Life resumes and working musicians will be out there in force in town, creating a dash of Cajun and funk seasoning to our already eclectic musical menu. So, if you would like to support these new Austinites, do so by attending the shows. Support them by supporting their craft. It's only a matter of time before New Orleans is going to be open for business again and Austin will lose this rich infusion of music. It's my hope that the flavor seeps into the sound of this city, and we will always have our own Crescent City Connection.

A Sample of New Orleans Musicians Playing in October
October 7 - Big Blue Marble @ Beerland
October 9 - Katrina Benefit show at Redrum
October 10 - The Iguanas @ Continental Club
October 10 - Cyril Neville's Birthday @ Threadgills
October 13 - New Orleans Musicians on Fox 7 News morning show
October 13, 14, 27 - The New Orleans Jazz Vipers @ The Elephant Room
October 15 - Benefit Featuring New Orleans Musicians @ Trophy's Bar and Grill
October 15 - The Big Wu w/ Papa Mali, James Speer Band
October 16 - Katrina Relief Fundraiser @ Ruta Maya
October 22 - Cowboy Mouth @ La Zona Rosa
October 22 - The Austin Live Show Hurricane Benefit Show @ The Ritz Lounge
October 23 - Boogie Benefit for New Orleans (Marcia Ball, Tribe 13, the Iguanas, the Warrior Gospel Band, more) @ La Zona Rosa
October 29 - Papa Mali & Friends @ Threadgill's
October 31 - Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk @ The Parish Room
Residencies:
Tuesdays @ Threadgills - Tribe 13
Wednesday's @ Austin Music Co-op - Open Mic
Thursday's @ The Velvet Spade - Topaz

Reverse WHAT Curse?

Here's a question... maybe someone who reads this can answer.

Why are they promoting the UT/OU game as "REVERSE THE CURSE?"

Did some event cause it to be a curse?
Just because UT hasn't won it in years doesn't mean it's a curse.. it just means they haven't won.

UT is ahead in the 99 previous meetings if looked at all together...even if they haven't won since 1999.

Now Boston.. that was a good curse... UT? I don't know. What am I missing?

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(From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_River_Shootout)

The Red River Shootout is a common name for the annual college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Texas Longhorns. The series is considered one of the greatest rivalries in NCAA football. The name is derived from the Red River that forms part of the boundary between the U.S. states of Oklahoma and Texas. Beginning on October 8, 2005, which marks the 100th meeting between the two teams, the game is being sponsored by SBC, and the game has been officially renamed the SBC Red River Rivalry. The term Red River Shootout or Red River Rivalry is also sometimes applied to meetings between the two schools in sports other than football.

The game typically has conference or even national significance. Since 1945, one or both of the two teams has been ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation coming into 60 out of 65 games. Texas leads the all-time series 55-39-5 (with a 43-35-4 edge in Dallas), but Oklahoma has won the last five straight games.

The winner of the game receives the Golden Hat, which is, appropriately, a gold ten-gallon hat, formerly of bronze. The governors of Texas and Oklahoma often place a bet on the game such as the losing governor having to present a side of beef to the winning state governor, who then donates the beef to charity.

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That said.. kick some ASS UT...

Food Association

There are certain foods I just tend to associate with different tasks. It’s an odd thing, but people I’ve talked to about it tend to agree with me. I’m not talking about the pumpkin seeds for Halloween or Peeps for Easter… I’m talking about… well. Let me just go into it and you will get a better idea.

Road Trip Food
There is some food that I associate with a road trip. I can’t bring myself to buy this stuff when I’m not gassing up at a Conoco or Diamond Shamrock.
The first one is sold at an extremely high price and after eating it; you may have to make a dentist appointment. I’m talking, of course, about the beef jerky. This rip-apart-and-take-a-tooth-with-it treat is something that I only get a hankering for when I’m driving down I-10 or IH-35 on my way to Houston or Laredo.
The next item is a name brand…. anything by “Tom’s.” This is the generic version of Fritos, Cheetos and/or Peanuts that you’ll only find in a gas station...it tastes old, but you’ll never know if it is or not, because that’s the way it always tastes... a combination of salt, cheese powder and Styrofoam. Why do I buy it? It’s like 99¢ to the Frito’s $1.29. I may be killing myself, but by God I’m saving 30 cents.

Airplane Food
I know I’m not the first one to say it... but I hate getting pretzels with my flight. I want peanuts! What the heck… there’s like one airline that gives out peanuts now. What, did they corner the airline peanut market? I don’t want pretzels, or trail mix, or bread sticks. I want peanuts. That’s the way it was in the beginning, and how it still should be.
This is more airplane drink than food...but let’s not argue the details. Every time I fly, I have to order ginger ale. I don’t know why, but that is the only time I order it. Ever. I guess it tastes better at 30,000 feet.

Swimming Food
When I was a kid, I used to go swimming in the local pool in Laredo. You could pick me out fairly easily… I was the blond kid who tanned red in 20 minutes… in Laredo. You could also pick me out because I was the one eating Funions and drinking a Mountain Dew. The weird thing is… I don’t really like Funions but every time I went swimming at the pool, I’d have to have them. Something about burnt Anglo and Funions that went together.

Drinking Food
There are few things that go with beer like an open flame and dead meat. Grilling the cheapest meat allowable for human consumption was usually the order when drinking in someone’s backyard. This is usually Chicken Leg Quarters. The important thing was to make sure they were cooked all the way through… so we’d usually be half-way lit by the time the chicken was ready and forget to take it off the grill and end up eating chicken as thick as toothpicks. I don’t think I’ve ever had chicken leg quarter sober (except when I buy it in a benefit BBQ plate served by someone who has a beer in his hand).

Football Game Food
There is only one real football game food. It’s a cuisine, really. Not the hot dog, not the Cracker Jack’s (I’ve never actually seen anyone eat Cracker Jack’s at a football game...or a baseball one as the song implies)… it’s the Nacho.
No, not those individually cooked with melted jack and cheddar cheese topped with Sour Cream and garnish nachos you get at Applebee’s. I’m talking the round tortilla chips with yellow watery cheese sauce and canned jalapeños thrown on top. Hell yes. Not even real cheese… cheese sauce. I don’t know if they’ve been able to come up with an ingredient list...but give me that yellow # 12 Rico’s Nacho Cheese concauction any day. Garnish with 10-15 of those little napkins that are useless to anything but sticking to your cheese-drenched hand. Yum.
Here’s a side note. Real Mexican food (and I’m not suggesting that the above nachos is counted in the arena of “Mexican food”) doesn’t have sour cream. Any Mexican restaurant that serves sour cream is an expensive version of Taco Bell.
Back on task. Football game food. Sunflower seeds, or anything you have to suck on, crack open and spit out, are a biggie for football games. They really don’t taste too good...but I guess someone once had it in for the dude that has to clean the stadium and thought… “Hey... this is the messiest snack in the world... let’s make this what you should have during a sporting event where over 10,000 people will have access to them.”

Free Food
OK... this is just a list of food that should NEVER cost anything. This should always be gratis when you go to a restaurant that serves it… ready? Chips and salsa, bread sticks, crackers, tortillas, water, extra cheese, olives, jalapenos, pickles, muffins, rolls, substitutions, and refills on soda.

I know there are many other items of food that I associate with something… like corn and Ohio… casseroles and my mother… and pasta and Boston… but I’m tired and…lets face it… a little hungry.

Until next time.

FOOD: Do You Know the Bakerman?

Do You Know the Bakerman?

Downtown Austin has a new alternative to chain-restaurant bagels and hotel coffee. In January 2005, Bakerman’s Bakery (120 E. 7th Street) made a quiet but tasty entrance into downtown Austin. Custom-made cakes (from birthday to weddings), cookies (need a “Vote For Pedro” sugar cookie?), and handmade doughnuts are just the beginning of what you will find when you ring the cowbell to enter the domain of the Bakerman.

Breakfast is king at Bakerman’s Bakery. The selection of doughnuts is amazing too many to mention. My personal favorite is the blueberry. If you just think That’s all right, I just like glazed…” well do you mean regular, maple, orange, or strawberry?

According to owner and chief baker man Chris McGuill, the most popular and their “signature” offering is the “Yellow Rose of Texas” doughnut. This Texas-shaped glazed monster is lemon-filled. Since Bakerman’s fills all of their doughnuts from the top-middle, the lemon filling makes a “yellow rose” deep in the heart of Texas. In my opinion, filling a doughnut in the middle is an awesome thing, this way the stuff that goes into the treat is evenly dispersed and you don’t get a quarter-filled disappointment.

If you want to stray from the sugar a bit in the morning, maybe you should try one of their breakfast sandwiches. I have one of their “Pigs in a Blankets” at least once a week… They use Elgin sausage (big…none of this “link sausage” business). Their breakfast croissants are great (and great big) as well. Take the bacon, egg, and cheese one for instance. The croissant is flakey and fresh, the eggs (that’s right, two of them) are cooked with solid yolks, and the bacon and cheese is yummy. That’s right – yummy.

A couple of their newer treats include the moist pumpkin muffin (with cream cheese frosting), and a HUGE cranberry-nut muffin with cream cheese baked into the top. I thought I didn’t like cranberries, until I tried it.

Of course, for those who aren’t early risers, Bakerman’s Bakery also offers some delictible deli-quality croissant sandwiches for lunch. I recently had the pleasure of sinking my teeth into the ham and swiss croissant (topped with crisp lettuce and tomato slices). The flakey-buttery croissant was the perfect compliment to the none-too-salty ham and thick slice of swiss.

For those who get a hankering for a hunk of sweet in the afternoon, stop by Bakerman’s Bakery for their “doughnut happy-hour” which is where you can get half-off any yeast doughnut product after noon until closing most days.

For people looking for a baker for a birthday or a wedding cake, I can tell you from experience, they make a wonderful and unique cake. In April I ordered one of their cakes for my daughter’s first birthday. I was thrilled with the time and effort put into my cake…and the taste was amazing. On occasion when I wander in to get my morning pig-in-a-blanket I get to see some of the cool custom cakes they make…I’ve seen a royal crown, a spilled coffee-cup, and the state of Texas to name a few.
A local bakery through and through, they buy much of their ingredients in Austin. They buy their coffee from Texas Coffee Traders, and (season permitting) buy their fruits and veggies from local farmers.

So, next time you’re downtown and decide to get something to eat, why don’t you wander down to the corner of Brazos and Seventh and get yourself a Bakerman’s Bakery treat. The prices are more than reasonable, and the staff is friendly as well. They also have a Web site - http://www.bakermansbakery.com.

(This review will be in the October issue of Austin's INsite Magazine.)

What was missing from ACL

I just realized what was missing from the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Deep-Fried-On-A-Stick stuff. Where was all the carnie/festival food? Yeah... I had an excellent steak sandwich from Hoffbrau and awesome fries from Waterloo and great tea from Sweet Leaf... but was there anything on a stick? Fried shrimp, chicken, corndog, sniker bars? anything? I missed it if it was there. I guess I'll have to go to the Renaissance Festival for my fill of festival-fried-on-a-stick.

Just an observation.

ACL, Emo's, Alamo Draft House - 5 Days...

Wow, what a weekend.

Photos of ACL Fest (from 9/24-25/05), The Sinus Show (9/24/05), and Emo's and Redrum (9/21/05) are up at the homepage (http://www.seanclaes.com).

My weekend started on Wednesday with a few concerts in Austin. I made it out to the 101X NO CONTROL Homegrown Live at Redrum to see a few local hardcore bands. I saw Meet Fist and By Any Means Necessary. Then I headed over to Emo's and waited for Every Time I Die to play. Saw some interesting bands open. ETID were great...and the lead singer from The Chariot was a hoot (yeah.. a hoot) when he climbed ONTO the crowd in order to wrap himspef around a pipe on the ceiling (see photos). I'd have to say that By Any Means Necessary were my favorite. Lead singer Adam Wright comes on like a young hardcore version of Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys/ Broken Teeth).

Thursday we attended my wife's grandmother's funeral. It was a day I won't soon forget. Too much to get into in a blog.

Friday we were going to do some family stuff with the in-laws, but the daughter's daycare let out at noon, because we were supposed to have the hellish weather that never really came to the Austin area (thak God). So, we thought about heading out to ACL Fest, but pretty much didn't have the energy to do it after such a hectic Thursday. Man, I'd have loved to see The Black Crowes though.

Saturday afternoon, after spending a few hours at ACL Fest (Asylum Street Spankers Rocked..and I kept thinking I was in an episode of "The OC" while Aqualung/Built To Spill/ Death Cab For Cutie played - "Ryan! No!") with the family, we came home, I took a quick shower to get the layer of dust off of me and headed back to Austin for the The Sinus Show at the Alamo Drafthouse. They were mocking the classic "Kiss Meets The Phantom of the Park."

This was my first Sinus Show... and being a HUGE Kiss fan...and a pretty big fan of making fun of movies I was pretty pumped about this. Let me just say this... if you haven't seen The Sinus Show before, make it out for this. I probably laughed harder and truer than I have in a long time. There will be a story about The Sinus Show (It turns 5 years old in October) written by Danna Williams in October's INsite (http://www.insiteaustin.com) with some of the photos I took...

Sunday the family and I made it back out to the fest, determined to make it long enough to see Ruthie Foster. My wife and 17 month-old daughter stayed at the Austin Kiddie Limits section (The Biscuit Brothers are awesome by the way) and I went off to take a few photos of a some performances (M83 were allright, I liked Zykos, I ran into David (Dahveed) Garza jamming to Brave Combo). When I got back to the family, we wandered over to see Ruthie Foster, then it was way too darn hot, so we left after Foster was on her third song. I'm not sure if I want to do the "family thing" and the "photo thing" ever again.

My observation about this year's ACL Fest is... these were a bunch of bands who should be playing in a dark club hours after the sun goes down... not in 100 degree weather amidst the sunshine and happy things. I'm not a big fam of Emo music, but I can understand the broody nature of it. When I was a teenager I had my Metallica "Dyer's Eve." This generation has Coldplay's "Clocks." OK.

Thanks to Buddy Guy for showing folks how to do it... and Ruthie Foster for bringing the Gospel to the Gospel and Blues stage... and the Biscuit Brothers for putting on such an entertaing show for the kiddo's. Actually, the entire Austin Kiddie Limits area was awesome. The free Clif bars, caractitures, ACLfest temporary tattoos, and baloon animals were awesome. The volunteers at the fest were awesome as well...

Best shirt for sale at ACL: My Mom's Tattoo is Cooler Than Your Mom's Tattoo
Funniest t-shirt moment: Seeing a girl in an "I love cereal" shirt talking to a guy with an "I have candy" shirt
Coolest people at ACL: all those people who gave us water.

Some CD Reviews

Full Service
Irie Love
Just when I thought I’d be able to figure out Full Service, they go and do something like this. On the heels of their hard rock/Reggae debut album from 2004, they have come up with a fifteen song hour-long acoustic recording.

I can’t figure them out. But, maybe that’s the thing. They are not supposed to be figured out, they are just to be enjoyed. And enjoy I did.

My favorite track, maybe because it mentions peanut butter and jelly, is “Pizza Song.” It has a really nice slow reggaeesque groove. “I take Arwen on down with me, she’s hunting lizards on the tree, yeah, yeah, yeah/I make myself peanut butter jelly / tastes as good as when I was three and eating the same thing.”

The traveling tune entitled “Ghosts of Gettysburg” is another strong tune on this disc. They go off on a Doors trip tune in “Bad News.” They showcase their harmonies on “Love is Requited.”

This is a really, really good disc. It really proved to me that these guys have some real talent musically and lyrically. They don’t need the crushing jam to being them through a gig…

Of course, it is damn nice when they do plug in and do a little yelling, but don’t expect that from Irie Love. This is one Full Service album that showcases the laid-back side band. So, if you are looking for laid back, pick this one up, if you want to do some straight-up rocking, pick up their 2004 release 3 Will Ride Forth.

Either way, you should see the band for yourself on September 23, 2005 at the Dirty Dog Bar (505 E. Sixth) in Austin. I don’t know weather they will play a full-out rock show or a funky acoustic one. I don’t think they even know.


Matt White Band
Burn Out Bright
Risky Lizard Records
The debut album for this Austin-based band, Suddenly Bright Out is a very pleasant introduced to the smooth singing of Matt White.

The band’s namesake is a Houston native and former lead singer of an alternative rock band by the name of Bent. There’s not much of an alternative rock sound to the Matt White band though. This is full-out singer-songwriter gold in the vein of Edwin McCain and John Mayer. The later more than the former.

In fact, there were a few tracks that I wasn’t quite sure I wasn’t listening to a Mayer song. I mean that in the best way possible, as Suddenly Bright Out is an enjoyable forty-minute journey.

The track that stands out most to me is a little love song ditty by the name of “Makes Me Happy.” It’s showcases the fact that the band is ready for radio. Other pleasant tracks include “Friend I Need,” “Love Dies,” and the funky jam “Strange Love.”

A great track on the album is “Five Letter Word,” Probably the nicest sounding tell-off song I’ve heard in a long time. “I don’t regret one damn word I called you / You might think I do / There’s a five letter word I’d like to call you.”

The Matt White Band is made up of White on vocals and guitar, Joe Fladger on bass and keys, Shane Vannerson on drums and piano, and special guest Mark Addison on guitar and keyboard.

Chadd Thomas and the Crazy Kings
Hush Hush With…
Hi-Fi Rhythm Records

This is an album that I’ve been listening to since seeing the band playing on the street during SXSW. When I saw Chadd Thomas and Dylan Cavalier jamming some Elvis-inspired jams with the signature slicked-back hair, it stopped me in my tracks and got my toes tapping.

Chadd Thomas and the Crazy Kings is a four piece, Austin-based rockabilly band has a firm grasp on the genre. Thomas’ vocals are equal parts Brian Setzer and Elvis with a little Dwight Yoakum thrown in for good measure.

The album heads off in full Swing with the title track-inspired “Hush Hush” and it proceeds to provide some forty-two minutes of ear candy.

“Longtime Baby” is a sweet rocking jam that features the sweet drumming of Charlie Gnerre. “Loves For Fools” takes a musical page from Hank Williams himself (or maybe Hank III). The energetic “Swing With The Crazy Kings” is a highly danceable tune. “Drinkin’ Alone” is a slow tune about liquid refreshments.

As expected, this album is a testament to rockabilly music. It goes best with a Lone Star Beer and a little too much gel in your hair. It’s classic and timeless all at the same time.

If you like the music of Wayne ”The Train” Hancock, Dale Watson, Royal Crown Revue, or Brian Setzer, you’ll not be disappointed with Chadd Thomas and the Crazy Kings. They are playing all over Austin and surrounding areas, check them out at http://www.thecrazykings.com/ for dates and time.



Rice Festival 2004 Live
Various Artists
Cabin 10, Inc
“When people die they don’t really leave you. Their seeds explode all around you and inside you. Their good parts live on” – Tim O’Brien

The Rice Festival is an event that debuted in 2004 to honor the life of Rice Harrington, an art teacher from San Marcos High School who passed away suddenly in 2003. Friends of Harrington thought the best way to remember their friend was by establishing the Rice Harrington Art Scholarship… and in central Texas, what better way to raise funds but by organizing an annual concert event?

So, here we have it, the one-hour long, fifteen track live album from the first concert, held on November 13, 2004 at Fischer Hall (nestled between San Marcos and Blanco, TX).

The recording is obviously live and not touched up much, but it captures a snapshot of time very nicely. The artists that played the concert include an impressive amount of talent. Pat Green, Ponty Bone, Tim O’Brien, Jeff Plankenhorn, and Susan Gibson are just a few that contribute live tracks to this album.

Gibson’s version of “Naïve Melody/Wide Open Spaces” is wonderful. The catchy and slightly disturbing “Hard Day on the Planet” by The Cary Swinney Trio is definitely one to check out. The song where the first line from this review comes from is “Colleen Malone,” a track from Tim O’Brien featuring the backup singing and wonderful mandolin playing of Wimberley, Texas’ own Sarah Jarosz (who’s barely a teenager, but has 4 years stage experience).

To find out more about the Rice Festival and how to get your hands on this one-of-a-kind collection of good music for a great cause (you can only get it online), visit http://www.cabin10.com. The 2005 Rice Festival will be November 12, 2005 with many of the same names playing.

(These CD reviews are in September's INsite Magazine (http://www.insiteaustin.com) which is available free at over 500 locations around Austin.)

I've overbooked myself again...

So, besides my full-time job today, I've got to stop by a publicit's place to pick up some tickets for ACL Fest (rock on), interview a person at a place that is housing musicians who are living in Austin from the New Orleans area, have a staff meeting for INsite, go to Red Rum for Homegrown Live, and go to Emo's for the Every Time I Die concert...and take photos.

Please pray for my soul.

Older movies to check out...

Just thought I'd list a few older movies I'd highly recommend...

- The Hudsucker Proxy (you know... for kids)
- Army of Darkness (Groovy)
- Breakfast Club (THIS is what happens when you spill paint in the garage)
- Emmit Otter's Jugband Christmas (Nobody wants to oil a snake)
- Top Secret (LATRINE!)
- Real Genius (Have you been touching youself Kent?)
- Best In Show (And to think that in some countries these dogs are eaten.)

How Not To Sell A Car

My wife and I are interested in buying a new vehicle. We decided it would be “fun” to run around and test drive different makes and models. We went to a bunch of dealerships in between Austin and San Marcos.

I know these day s you can find pretty much any vehicle you want on the internet, know what the best price is and buy it. Some folks even shop on the Internet and don’t even deal with a salesperson until they go to pick their car up. The stress-free way to buy a car, I guess. Others pick the car they want then shop for dealerships and head in to find the best deal. Still others (like my wife and I) know basically what kind of vehicle they want (a mini SUV or a 4-door sedan) and jump from dealer to dealer to see what that dealership has to offer.

For the most part, all two weeks of shopping net us was a pile of brochures, some interesting stories, and a couple of headaches. For the most part, if you are open to dealerships in the area, I would recommend Howdy Honda out of Austin (ask for Eden) or Gillman Mitsubishi out of San Marcos (ask for Chris). These two were the ones that I felt more comfortable with and I didn’t feel like they were shoving a vehicle down my throat. Eden and Chris knew they weren’t getting a sale that day and really tried to work with us to find out exactly what we needed and the price we could afford.

But, we visited a number of dealerships with varying results. I stopped in a World Car Mazda twice (I had rented a Mazda 3 and liked the ride) and was ignored by everyone. We tried San Marcos Toyota to test drive the Matrix and the salesperson was sexist (told my wife “atta girl” for sitting in the back seat to see what room she’d have when she would be taking care of our daughter in the car seat while I was driving…in his eyes it was where a mom should be). We stopped in at Chuck Nash in San Marcos and just didn’t find a vehicle we liked at our price, but the salesperson (Peggy) was really nice. I contacted a few dealerships in Austin via e-mail and never heard back.

We spent a lot of time at San Marcos Auto Outlet. Our salesperson is a good guy, but somehow he was able to almost sell us a completely impractical vehicle for our family of three (14 month old daughter). We were seconds away from buying a 2005 PT Cruiser convertible. It was the floor model so it’s really sweet…and he offered to pay off our present vehicle on trade (a 2001 Ford Focus...a tale I’m going to tell later) and get us into this MSRP $30K car for just under $17K. What a deal...right? Luckily we had to walk away and think about it for the night. They “lent” us a non-convertible PT Cruiser for the evening so we could get a feel for driving a PT Cruiser.

Once we got home we realized a few things. It would be virtually impossible to load/unload a child in a car seat when the top was up. The trunk space didn’t work for a family with a young child. It was a two-door. Yes, among all the buzz of “great deal” we didn’t even notice that this car was a two-door. Man he had us going. Sure, it was a nice car to drive and the one we took home for the evening was nice. It had an MSRP of about $16K. When I took it back the next day and was about to leave, he suddenly offered to pay off my car off as the trade-in, pay my truck off (I’ve got about 8 months left on a Ford Ranger) and I would drive off that lot with payments of $450 a month for 4 years. Man…that sounded really good… be free and clear of about $660 a month in payments AND have a new vehicle. The buzz hit me again… Thank God of two things. I went there by myself (so I had to go discuss things with my wife before signing) and I had no access to the $1K down I needed to plop…or a checkbook to “hold” it at that point.

I almost paid $21,600 for a $16K car...over 4 years. I’ll have the truck paid off in 8 months… we’ll have the car paid off in 18 months. In the words of Dierks Bentley…”What was I thinking?” Well... I know what I was thinking. PT Cruiser...cool car…shiny...new…we can be rid of the Focus… ZZTop rocks… the whole family could learn that synchronized move that the guys in the band do in “Sharp Dressed Man…” I wonder if he’ll throw in that Terri Clark CD I saw in the lobby even if I don’t buy a Dodge truck…people will check me out driving this thing…sure it’s ugly, but in the best way possible… man I hate Red Simon Ford and really want to get rid of this damned Focus…if I buy this PT Cruiser, I can drive by Red Simon Ford and show them I was serious about buying a vehicle and they lost a customer because their staff is mostly made up of rude, angry, argumentative, asses who don’t give a flip about the customer and make it abundantly clear.

Yeah, my head was more on revenge then buying a practical car that would suit my family’s needs. So I’ve teased you enough. Let me explain about the experiences I’ve had at the hands of Red Simon Ford in San Marcos, Texas. But let me prelude this by saying I love my Ford truck. I have driven a Ford Ranger for the last 13 years (a used 1987 Ranger from 1992-96, 1996 Ranger Extended-cab from 1996-2001, and I currently drive a 2002 Ranger Edge). Nothing against the “blue oval.”

The prelude.
In 1998, I fell asleep at the wheel of my 1996 Ranger. It was damaged bad (luckily I wasn’t). We had it fixed at Red Simon Ford. A few months after getting it back, I was getting a ticket for parking illegally on campus at my college (I parked in a teacher’s space to run up to a building really quick and pick something up… University Police happened to drive by and see my truck and I was busted…my bad). Well, when I got back to the truck, they were writing my ticket and when I approached them they almost arrested me for having fake plates. Seems the wonderful folks at the body shop at Red Simon Ford put the wrong license plate back on the back. The right one was on the front. When I took it to get new plates, I didn’t get a word of apology or anything of the sort.

The first act.
In 2001, my wife (fiancée at the time) walked into Red Simon Ford. She was driving a really bad car that she bought used and was not safe for her to be driving. We decided the best thing was to get her out of that vehicle and into a new car. It was the first new vehicle I had bought without the help of my consumer-reports-reading-chief-negotiator dad. I had next to no experience buying a car other than walking into a dealership in Laredo, TX once, test-driving a Trans Am (I know…but I can’t help it… it’s the Smokey and the Bandit in me) and having the dealer take one look at the long-hair 22 year old in front of him and saying “You can’t afford this car” (Even though I could have at that time I was designing a hunting magazine and was making some nice pocket change). I walked out of there, went to the next dealership, test drove the 1996 Ranger, called my dad and told him that was what I was looking at… and 3 weeks later he called me up and told me to go pick the truck up and he got the best deal possible. I picked up the truck, drove right over to the dealership that told me I couldn’t afford the car, and made sure the sales rep knew he lost a sale. (That made me feel really good...but I’m sure the salesperson couldn’t have cared a flip).

Anyway... our salesperson at Red Simon was a guy named Mark. We test-drove the Focus and Mark didn’t know anything about the car. He didn’t show us any features; he didn’t try and explain the safety features, nothing. We didn’t know he was supposed to. All I knew was this little car would work, and if I could get it at about $300 a month, we’d buy it. My mantra was “I need this at $300 a month. After “negotiating” with him for a good hour (where he took calls on his cell phone and joked with a few other sales reps about going out and getting drunk that night). We got it at $309.25 a month. We signed the deal and drove home. It wasn’t until later that we figured out we signed it for 72 months. So, we’re driving a car right now that we owe 2 times what it’s worth…and we bought a Ford Focus for over $22K. Man I could kick myself still today.

Plus the sales rep never contacted us again. Except for his card in the case of the Focus instruction manual, he was all but vapor to us. What a piece of work.

Signing the deal was our fault. We can take the blame for that. No problem. Here’s where Red Simon screwed us...and continues. We had problems right off the bat. The service manager, Rusty Doherty, treated my wife on many occasions like a ditzy blond (she’s no ditz or blond) when he couldn’t find out what was wrong with the vehicle. He blamed the problems on her and her driving. They couldn’t find out what was causing the problem so it must be a women driver. In one particular instance, a few months later, there was a recall on the part that was causing the problem. He didn’t even acknowledge my wife or I when we got it fixed.

A few months later, I wanted a new truck, so we actually drove down to New Braunfels and had one of the most wonderful experiences in our lives buying a vehicle from Bluebonnet Ford. Our salesperson was the Internet Director at the time (Virgil) and he put us at ease, explained all of the options to us, made us very comfortable, told us all about the Ford Ranger Edge, AND told us about features on our Focus that we never knew existed. He spent an entire Saturday with us when he really didn’t have to.

We decided we never needed to step foot on Red Simon Ford’s lot again. From then on we took our vehicles to New Braunfels any time we needed anything done. In fact, Virgil has become our vehicle guru and kind of a salesperson-father-figure to my wife and I. We got fed up with the Focus at one point and visited him a few years ago and he took a good hour out of his day to talk with us, talk us out of trading in a vehicle (we were and still are upside down in payments) and even suggested a place we could go to consolidate our debt. Virgil rocks like Slayer.

Act two.
Well, fast forward four years… the sales rep that sold us the Focus is gone, and I had seen a few commercials on TV that made me think it was time to check out Red Simon Ford again. So, we went back in armed with the knowledge that they had done us wrong and they would at least have to give the Focus a good look-over (we had some knocking that we couldn’t pinpoint) and see how the service was before we made our decision.

We liked the Ford Escape, but wasn’t sure about Red Simon. We were ignored by and large by everyone but our sales rep (the girl in the receptionist’s desk didn’t even smile (or acknowledge us) when she looked over to us. The guy in the desk next to our salesman was talking (loudly) about how much better his car was than one of those on the lot…to another sales rep that was sitting at his desk. But... our sales guy (Kirk) was a nice guy and really wanted our business. When we told him we had a bad experience (didn’t even go into detail) he had Rusty come up and shake our hands and say he was “real sorry” we had such a bad experience and he’d make sure we were done right this time.

My wife ended up dropping the Focus off at the dealership on a Tuesday and they set her up with a rental car. Now… it may be just me, but shouldn’t a Ford dealership set someone up in a Ford rental when they are getting serviced? I’d think so, but I guess they thought different and my wife came home in a Toyota Camry.

Tuesday afternoon we hadn’t heard anything so my wife called and when she finally got hold of the service department Rusty said he heard the knocking and it wasn’t something they were familiar with so they had to take the car apart. Wednesday...we heard nothing. The sales rep did call on Wednesday to find out how our experience with the service department went (he could have walked a few feet or called “his” service department and seen that the car was actually there at the time). Thursday my wife called a few times and when Rusty called back he was extremely condescending to my wife and said the car was ready (It’s funny now…but at the time it wasn’t because it was never explained to us… but the ball attached to the antennae was knocking on the roof when the wind hit it). A few hours later someone called from Red Simon to let my wife know the car was ready (a conversation we’d already had). My wife was a little perturbed and asked me to go with her to pick the car up.

When we got there, we were directed to the service check out…and there the girl at the desk said it’d be something like $84 for the work. My wife said, “No, Rusty is taking care of it.” She got a bit of an attitude because we made her stand up and go make things right…but came back and said, OK you’re set. When I asked for a print out of what they had done, she seemed put out that she’d have to “print it again.”

Nobody explained what was done to the car. Nobody even told us where it was parked on the lot. All I knew was they took the thing apart and apparently an antennae ball was what they thought it was. I doubt they ever took a look at the car, other than driving it for 2 days and leaving the car on empty. The spare tire was out of the wheel well. So I asked my wife to take the truck to San Marcos Auto Outlet (you’ve read that story) and I’d be there as soon as I got someone to put the spare tire in.

I was going to be calm and nice and just request the tire be put in. I walked in to the service area and Rusty was there. I asked him if it would be possible to get someone to put the spare tire back into the wheel well like my wife had asked when she brought the car is, he said it wouldn’t be a problem. Then he gloated about how he had his guys do 10 hours of work on that car and he drove it for two days and he didn’t charge us a thing for that. My response was “I can tell you drove it for two days, it’s on empty.” At that point he told me that I didn’t have to get all argumentative with him and that mentioned again that they didn’t charge for the work. I mentioned that he was never going to charge for the work, as was the agreement in the first place, and that he tried to charge for it anyways. I then told him I hadn’t even begun to get argumentative. (All this with a calm voice... I was pretty proud of myself.) He then copped an attitude with me and started spouting about something. I finally said all I wanted was him to have someone put the tire back in like he said he would, and I’d be on my way to another dealership where I would buy my next car (I raised my voice a little at this point). His response was “Why don’t you have that other dealership put the tire back in then.” We had about a 20 second staredown...I told him that he was a wonderful professional and before I raise my voice again I was going to wish him a good day.

I walked up to the salesman’s desk left him a note that said I’d never buy a vehicle from Red Simon Ford again and he was too nice of a person to work at that dealership…then I left. I drove right to San Marcos Auto Outlet and almost bought a PT Cruiser.

So, I implore you, if you are going to buy a Ford, go to Bluebonnet in New Braunfels, or one of the Austin dealers. Just steer clear of Red Simon Ford. If I stop one person from making the same mistake I made, I have done my job.

The conclusion.
So I guess to wrap this up I can recommend you think about a few things when you buy a vehicle.
- Don’t buy out of spite or anger towards another dealership.

- Don’t buy anything on the first day you test-drive the vehicle.

- Don’t trade in a vehicle that you owe more than it’s worth.

- If you’ve had a bad experience with a dealership years ago and decide to give them a second chance, don’t be surprised if you get the shaft again.

- Go in armed with the knowledge of how much you are willing to pay for a vehicle. Do your Internet work; find out how much a car is worth.

- Don’t play the negotiation game with a salesperson unless you really, really know what you are doing. They do it 10 times a day and will crush you if you’re not careful (And THAT is your fault).

- If a salesperson doesn’t care enough to know about what he is selling, ask for someone who does. OR go to the next dealership. There are too many car dealerships for you to feel obligated to one.

- If you are just test-driving a car to have some fun, don’t go sit down in the salespersons office. You are either wasting his/her time, or you’re going to dive off in a car you don’t need.

- I have a neighbor that said he had a wonderful experience at Red Simon Ford. So, my opinion is worth what it cost you, but if I’d read this story by someone else, it’d have saved me about $11K and 6 years of headaches.

- Ask your friends and family who they went to for their cars, who their salesperson was and if they would recommend them to you. That’s how we found Chris at Gillman Mitsubishi.

- I am not a professional when it comes to buying, selling, or recommending vehicles at all. I’m just a customer that had an experience and thought by sharing it, I may be of help to someone. Every name I included in this story is a real name, the players all know who I am, and know I’m not stretching the truth in the least bit, but I suspect I’ll be called a few choice names by at least one “professional.” I hope it makes him feel better. I know I do now.

Oh, and for the record, I think we’re going to go with a Honda. The CRV or Accord…but we’re going to wait until the cars are paid off. Buying a car is too stressful right now.