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RITES OF SPRING: Well, this week marks the official beginning
of spring, and as far as music goes that means three things: the
Fourth Avenue Street Fair is upon us, your local record
store is being inundated with a slew of big new releases, and
as a means of celebrating that fact, virtually the entire music
industry will converge on Austin, Texas, this week for the annual
South By Southwest Music Conference--the largest gathering
of its type in the country, if not the world.
Local matters first: the Street Fair runs Friday through Sunday,
March 19 through 21, all along the avenue from University Boulevard
to the downtown underpass. In addition to the usual vendors, people
watching and carnival-like atmosphere, the fair will also feature
five (count 'em, five!) stages for musical entertainment. If you
enjoy music of any kind, there will be something here to please
you. There's the Tucson Musicians Showcase Stage (1 to
5 p.m.), the Winsett Park Community Stage (10 a.m. to 5
p.m.), the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association (FAMA) Jazz
Stage (1 to 5 p.m.), the FAMA Blues Stage (1 to 5 p.m.),
and the FAMA Main Stage (10 a.m. to
The schedule for the Main Stage is as follows: Friday, March
19, will feature One-O-One from 10 a.m. to noon; a TBA
act from noon to 12:30 p.m.; L.A.P.D. from 12:30 to 2:30
p.m.; Alana Sweetwater from 2:30 to 3 p.m.; and The
Money Shot from 3 to 5 p.m. On Saturday, March 20, Al Foul
and the Shakes take over from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by
Tesa & Morgyn (noon to 12:30 p.m.), Pardon Me
(12:30 to 2:30 p.m.), Scott Huckabay (2:30 to 3 p.m.),
and Ismael Barajas (3 to Now for the national stuff: There are two times during the year that record labels spring a veritable shitload of new releases on the music-buying public. In the fall, the labels have their sights set on the bountiful holiday season, and even when their artists don't have a new album ready to go, you can bet they'll throw together a greatest-hits package--anything to get "product" on the shelves in time for the feeding frenzy. But it's right now, in the spring, that the marketplace is truly flooded with the cream of the new-release crop. The majority of the songs you'll be sick of hearing halfway through summer will be released sometime between February and May. After all, the prime demographic for disposable income (12- to 24-year-olds) needs something to do to while away their school-less dog days. Fortunately record companies have thought ahead to give the little people something to spend their summer-job money on. Hence the fact that the "new release" shelves at record stores are nearly as loaded as the "catalog" bins. I'm hardly complaining. I've probably spent more money at the record store in the past three weeks than I'll spend throughout the entire "dry season," which runs from June to September. And many of those artists currently in heavy rotation at my household will be showing off their stuff in a live setting in Austin this very week, at South By Southwest.
The fest hosts big-time bands for the masses (this year's marquee names include Lucinda Williams, Built to Spill and the Flaming Lips, who will be playing their first live show in several years), but the real focus of the event is to showcase up-and-coming acts in front of industry insiders, many for the first time, and allow new talents to connect with those people who could actually have an impact on their careers. Bands from all over the world submit applications as much as a year in advance to be considered by the festival's organizers. And as SXSW grows each year, a slot at the fest is becoming increasingly more difficult to get, as evidenced by our own local scene. While dozens of bands from our considerable talent pool submitted applications this year, (somewhat inexplicably) only three were granted a time slot to represent the Old Pueblo: Shoebomb, Crawdaddy-O and Calexico. Godspeed, kids. A full report on the conference is forthcoming. BAND WAGON: Rootsy film-soundtrack faves Tito and Tarantula cruise into town this week to support their March 16 release, Hungry Sally & Other Killer Lullabies (Cockroach Records). Led by Tito Larriva, former frontman for the Cruzados and the Plugz (featured on the Repo Man soundtrack), the highly-acclaimed band has garnered national attention by appearing in and on the soundtracks for such films as Desperado, Somebody to Love, From Dusk Till Dawn, and the forthcoming Million Dollar Hotel and Just Some Harmless Sex. Embarking on their first-ever national tour, the band hits the Rialto Theatre stage, 318 E. Congress St., on Sunday, March 21. Greyhound Soul opens the show. Advance tickets for this all-ages show are $7 at Hear's Music, Congress Street Store, Zip's University and Guitars, Etc. For more information, call 740-0126. If you want to get a pre-performance peek, check out Tito and Tarantula's short, free set at Zia Records' Oracle Road location at 3 p.m. the same day. Call 887-6898 for details. In a show billed as The Bland Ole Opry, former Tucsonans the Supersuckers bring their special brand of countrified punk rock back home this week, complete with '70s arena rock-style guitar moves. If you've never seen these guys live, you're really missing out, and there's no better place to see them than here in the Old Pueblo, as the band members' extended families are always pleasantly present. I'll never forget a Supersuckers show years ago at the long-defunct Firehouse (now the site of Christine's) where a friend and I were trying to explain to one of the band member's parents that it was a really big deal that their son had just gotten signed to Sub Pop (at the time, the biggest indie label going), while said parents adamantly protested that they wished their son would just get a "normal job." Not to mention the fact that it always makes me happy when singer/guitarist/Amphi graduate Eddie Spaghetti's father breaks out in a proud, shit-eating grin when his son points to him while singing, "It's not so bad/When Satan is your dad," during "Hell City, Hell." Witness the homecoming, along with special guests Gerard Collier and Al Perry, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. The show is all-ages, and advance tickets can be had for a paltry $5 at CD Depot, Congress Street Store, Zip's University and Guitars, Etc. That phone number again is 740-0126. And finally, blue-eyed soul man and cult hero Geoff Muldaur, who recently released his first album in almost two decades--the winning The Secret Handshake (Hightone Records)--will make a rare live appearance in town this week. Although saddled with the indelible "former husband of Maria Muldaur," this other Muldaur has also been lauded by Richard Thompson, among others, who said: "There are only three great white soul singers in the world, and Geoff Muldaur is at least two of them."
If that doesn't get you out to see him, then surely nothing I
can possibly tell you will. Muldaur appears on Saturday, March
20, at the Pusch Ridge Brewing Company, 5861 N. Oracle
Road. For ticket information, call 888-7547.
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The biggest industry shmooze-fest there is, SXSW features live
performances by more than 800 bands and artists, as well as conferences
on a myriad of industry-related topics, free daytime performances
in barbecue joints and record stores, and a never-ending game
of celeb sighting.
