SxSW REPORT and BOCHA SINGS!!!!!
It's Monday, 3/21/05. Two Thousand and Five. Already. WOW.
I just got home from SXSW '05 and I have so much to talk about, but first things first. Today marks the last 6 days of vocals with Carolina Bedetta before her visa expires and she returns to Argentina. I am sad already because Caro and I have turned into really great friends. Her dad, Bocha, is here to help with the final arrangements. Now you need to understand that Bocha is cool. I mean, REAL cool. He hung out with us all day, and stepped up to rap a part on our song 'Treachery'. I got to sing too, but it was so very cool to see Bocha do it!!! I think he was pumped:
About SxSW:
We left last Tuesday afternoon after packing the cars full of PA gear, instruments and promotional material. On our way out of town, we listened to the local Pacifica Radio affiliate do their SxSW pre-show, live from SugarHill Studios. Steve Christensen did an awesome job mixing about 6 bands on the fly!!!! WOW! We were stoked!
When we arrived in Austin, we got situated and I went and had dinner with Bruce Hughes. Bruce plays bass for Bob Schneider, The Resentments, and his own projects. He produced Matt the Electrician last year here at SHRS:
Logan and I were amused to see a certain Texas Film Star totally sh*tfaced at Antone's while we grooved to Bob's set.
Next we went to the Lucky Lounge for Carlos Sosa & John Pointer's uber-funk band: Boombox:
The place was as packed as the Coconut Grove and just as hot. We ran into Sarah Sharp there working it hard:
Logan works it hard every time we go out!
We closed out the night there so we would have some juice left for the next day:
On Wednesday, it was overcast, cool, and breezy. OF COURSE, we were playing outdoors at Opal Divine's for the first Dan Workman event. We had the full DWMusic crew: Logan, myself, Jamie, Josh, and Devon working the patio crowd there to watch Glenna, Avalon, Sarah Sharp and the Southern Backtones. We all froze. I bet I drank two pots of coffee. The Backtones played a showcase at Cheapo's then immediately drove over to Opal's.. Oh yeah, besides the brisk weather, Mother Eagan's, across the street was KICKIN' IT LOUD. Our artists were super-pro and delivered solid sets.
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That night, I thought I would get some rest, because the next day was our big DWM showcase night at the Agave on 6th Street.
Instead of going out, Hank and Mike from the Backtones hung out with Avalon, Josh, and myself back at the motel. We wrote one song together and got parts of about two more:
The next day, Mikey from Sound Breaking Ground, (and Hellstar, etc,...) helped out IMMENSELY with setting up the PA. Josh and MIkey spent most of the day at the Agave getting it going while we all prepared for the show.
This show featured the Drop Trio, Next Best Thing, The Southern Backtones, Hollister Fracus, and Sound Breaking Ground.
First up was the Drop Trio, which was billed as 'The Drop-tet" because moi, your humble scribe, got to sit in with them!!!!!!!
Ian, Mike and Patrick were super patient and generous in letting me fulfill one of my older fantasies. I have loved the Drop Trio since the first time that I saw them at Brazil in Houston. I was SO excited, that I practiced the heads of their songs all afternoon. WHOO HOO!!!! Naturally, they were awesome, so all I had to do was hold on for the ride. They made me look great!
After us, Next Best Thing tore a hole in the stage about ten miles deep! Next up was the Southern Backtones who had the girls swooning:
My dear friend, Andrew Amelang showed up with his crew (who are all musicians and artists). Andrew and I were in our first rock band together when we were 13 years old (a long time ago!). We still play together today!
Andrew's cousin, DeDe, and her & my friend, David Knight, showed up. I ran into those two over and over during the festival but with whom I never fully hooked up:
Right before Hollister Fracus took the stage (and packed the Agave for the first time that night), Logan came up to me and said that I should go see Robert Plant. I was stunned. She was offering to hold it down so I could leave my own showcase and see Plant?? I thought about the guys in Hollister & SBG,.... well, I thought about it for about two seconds, and said f*ck yeah--I'll go to see Plant.
John Griffin and I walked about a mile to the Austin Music Hall. And there he was. This was a show I won't forget as long as I live. Plant (like Hollister Fracus was,) fkn' BROUGHT IT!! His new material sounded timeless, and he played lots of Zepplin songs, but he re-arranged them all. It was sublime!
I got back just after Sound Breaking Ground had closed it out. The crew and crowd looked shell-shocked & happy.
Josh tells me that Channing, Michael & Mike rocked it super hard. Logan text-messaged me during Plant TWICE to tell me how hard Jim & the Fracus boys were tearing it up!! I had more comments about Hollister Fracus that night.
We didn't get in until 5am, but Devon, Josh, Jamie, (and Jason McKee), and John Griffin had breakfast and crashed.
Friday found us all pretty cooked. We did our show in the tent at Mother Eagan's. Danny Kadar from New Orleans brought his producer/engineer self over. The biggest celeb guest was accountant to the starts (The Stones, for instance), Aaron Schecter and his wife Elaine:
The Googe also showed up. They were playing a showcase that night at Trophy's on S. Congress:
Glenna kicked it off:
Sarah Sharp played the best acoustic set I have ever heard her do (this is very impressive!). She did two new songs, and I got a bit misty-eyed:
You can tell that the weather was now cool and sunny!
After Sarah, was the Backtones. The guys let me sit in with them on my Casio SK-1. For those who don't know, it is a toy sampler from the 1980's. I had SO MUCH FUN!!! I hope I wasn't too anoying:
That night, I had to crash, but Saturday was the day I was looking forward to. I got to see Aimee Mann at Stubb's on 7th street. Along with Aimee was the amazing John Butler Trio. Those guys rocked HARD!!!
The sound was not optimal for Aimee, but just seeing her perform & being so close to her was magic!!!
Winter Wallace, my artist and friend, drove from Houston to see Aimee & it was really special seeing it with her.
After the show I caught up with Logan and John Griffin and we took in a great Cure-like band called The Black Tie Dynasty (is that right, Logan?) They are from Ft. Worth, and they reminded me of the Psychadelic Furs, Gang of Four, Ultravox, and Gary Neuman. That was a blast.
After that, I was done. I went back to the motel and wrote for a while, then packed some stuff. I can't wait for next year!!! I want to sit in on SK-1 with a bunch of other bands.
thelove,
Dan
I just got home from SXSW '05 and I have so much to talk about, but first things first. Today marks the last 6 days of vocals with Carolina Bedetta before her visa expires and she returns to Argentina. I am sad already because Caro and I have turned into really great friends. Her dad, Bocha, is here to help with the final arrangements. Now you need to understand that Bocha is cool. I mean, REAL cool. He hung out with us all day, and stepped up to rap a part on our song 'Treachery'. I got to sing too, but it was so very cool to see Bocha do it!!! I think he was pumped:
About SxSW:
We left last Tuesday afternoon after packing the cars full of PA gear, instruments and promotional material. On our way out of town, we listened to the local Pacifica Radio affiliate do their SxSW pre-show, live from SugarHill Studios. Steve Christensen did an awesome job mixing about 6 bands on the fly!!!! WOW! We were stoked!
When we arrived in Austin, we got situated and I went and had dinner with Bruce Hughes. Bruce plays bass for Bob Schneider, The Resentments, and his own projects. He produced Matt the Electrician last year here at SHRS:
Logan and I were amused to see a certain Texas Film Star totally sh*tfaced at Antone's while we grooved to Bob's set.
Next we went to the Lucky Lounge for Carlos Sosa & John Pointer's uber-funk band: Boombox:
The place was as packed as the Coconut Grove and just as hot. We ran into Sarah Sharp there working it hard:
Logan works it hard every time we go out!
We closed out the night there so we would have some juice left for the next day:
On Wednesday, it was overcast, cool, and breezy. OF COURSE, we were playing outdoors at Opal Divine's for the first Dan Workman event. We had the full DWMusic crew: Logan, myself, Jamie, Josh, and Devon working the patio crowd there to watch Glenna, Avalon, Sarah Sharp and the Southern Backtones. We all froze. I bet I drank two pots of coffee. The Backtones played a showcase at Cheapo's then immediately drove over to Opal's.. Oh yeah, besides the brisk weather, Mother Eagan's, across the street was KICKIN' IT LOUD. Our artists were super-pro and delivered solid sets.
That night, I thought I would get some rest, because the next day was our big DWM showcase night at the Agave on 6th Street.
Instead of going out, Hank and Mike from the Backtones hung out with Avalon, Josh, and myself back at the motel. We wrote one song together and got parts of about two more:
The next day, Mikey from Sound Breaking Ground, (and Hellstar, etc,...) helped out IMMENSELY with setting up the PA. Josh and MIkey spent most of the day at the Agave getting it going while we all prepared for the show.
This show featured the Drop Trio, Next Best Thing, The Southern Backtones, Hollister Fracus, and Sound Breaking Ground.
First up was the Drop Trio, which was billed as 'The Drop-tet" because moi, your humble scribe, got to sit in with them!!!!!!!
Ian, Mike and Patrick were super patient and generous in letting me fulfill one of my older fantasies. I have loved the Drop Trio since the first time that I saw them at Brazil in Houston. I was SO excited, that I practiced the heads of their songs all afternoon. WHOO HOO!!!! Naturally, they were awesome, so all I had to do was hold on for the ride. They made me look great!
After us, Next Best Thing tore a hole in the stage about ten miles deep! Next up was the Southern Backtones who had the girls swooning:
My dear friend, Andrew Amelang showed up with his crew (who are all musicians and artists). Andrew and I were in our first rock band together when we were 13 years old (a long time ago!). We still play together today!
Andrew's cousin, DeDe, and her & my friend, David Knight, showed up. I ran into those two over and over during the festival but with whom I never fully hooked up:
Right before Hollister Fracus took the stage (and packed the Agave for the first time that night), Logan came up to me and said that I should go see Robert Plant. I was stunned. She was offering to hold it down so I could leave my own showcase and see Plant?? I thought about the guys in Hollister & SBG,.... well, I thought about it for about two seconds, and said f*ck yeah--I'll go to see Plant.
John Griffin and I walked about a mile to the Austin Music Hall. And there he was. This was a show I won't forget as long as I live. Plant (like Hollister Fracus was,) fkn' BROUGHT IT!! His new material sounded timeless, and he played lots of Zepplin songs, but he re-arranged them all. It was sublime!
I got back just after Sound Breaking Ground had closed it out. The crew and crowd looked shell-shocked & happy.
Josh tells me that Channing, Michael & Mike rocked it super hard. Logan text-messaged me during Plant TWICE to tell me how hard Jim & the Fracus boys were tearing it up!! I had more comments about Hollister Fracus that night.
We didn't get in until 5am, but Devon, Josh, Jamie, (and Jason McKee), and John Griffin had breakfast and crashed.
Friday found us all pretty cooked. We did our show in the tent at Mother Eagan's. Danny Kadar from New Orleans brought his producer/engineer self over. The biggest celeb guest was accountant to the starts (The Stones, for instance), Aaron Schecter and his wife Elaine:
The Googe also showed up. They were playing a showcase that night at Trophy's on S. Congress:
Glenna kicked it off:
Sarah Sharp played the best acoustic set I have ever heard her do (this is very impressive!). She did two new songs, and I got a bit misty-eyed:
You can tell that the weather was now cool and sunny!
After Sarah, was the Backtones. The guys let me sit in with them on my Casio SK-1. For those who don't know, it is a toy sampler from the 1980's. I had SO MUCH FUN!!! I hope I wasn't too anoying:
That night, I had to crash, but Saturday was the day I was looking forward to. I got to see Aimee Mann at Stubb's on 7th street. Along with Aimee was the amazing John Butler Trio. Those guys rocked HARD!!!
The sound was not optimal for Aimee, but just seeing her perform & being so close to her was magic!!!
Winter Wallace, my artist and friend, drove from Houston to see Aimee & it was really special seeing it with her.
After the show I caught up with Logan and John Griffin and we took in a great Cure-like band called The Black Tie Dynasty (is that right, Logan?) They are from Ft. Worth, and they reminded me of the Psychadelic Furs, Gang of Four, Ultravox, and Gary Neuman. That was a blast.
After that, I was done. I went back to the motel and wrote for a while, then packed some stuff. I can't wait for next year!!! I want to sit in on SK-1 with a bunch of other bands.
thelove,
Dan
posted by dan at 3/21/2005 10:24:00 PM
6 Comments:
Flaming Dr. Peppers!!!
Dude,
I can literally see the smoke coming off your Casio! No matter what you do, you always seem to look super-cool.
Sounds like the entire event was a hoot. Hopefully a lot of interest will be generated from all your kick-ass involvement.
Aimee Mann eh? I bet you could write a kick-ass song for her.
I'm sure you're super-tired but exhilerated. I expect to hear from you eventually...
Ok, Aimee. I'm throwing down the gauntlet....
Hey Aerik, I understand that the Austin Fire Marshal is looking for your crew!!! :)
Awesome! Thanks for the great SxSW replay and pics!
was this your tired entry you told me about? seems okay to me.
great pictures! you seem like such a kickass guy. looks like you had/have lots of fun!
--Audrey
Audry: If you think I look cool (thank, btw), just remember: I get to pick and edit the pictures AND write the text.
What's really cool is that some people are gracious enought to pay any attention at all.
BigLove to you and all the folks who read & post!
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