The Door Celebrates 8 Years Madly w/Hendrick on Addison Road

By Cindy Chaffin

This weekend kicks-off the 8th year for the legendary Deep Ellum all-ages "Christian" club The Door. I tried to reach Russell Hobbs for an interview, but he won't call me back...sniff...sniff...I just wanted to talk about the good old days when ecstasy was legal and the Theater Gallery was the place to hang. Course, he's made a few life changes since those days.

Anyhoo, having a youngster musician under the TexasGigs.com homestead roof, I've spent many an hour lugging equipment through the Door's back entrance, and many a night enjoying the finest screamo bands in da' land. But The Door ain't all screamo...nope...for example there's a few splendid bands performing (tonight) of a different genre:

Addison Road

"Dallas based pop/rock fivesome Addison Road splits their time between leading worship and playing music. The band has already received lots of recognition, including an American Christian Music Award nomination, along with endorsements from major mainstream companies like Martin Guitar and Elixir Strings."

Listen to "I Have Always Loved You.mp3"

Madly

I've actually been...you guessed it...madly in love with Madly for a couple of years now.

"Madly are four musicians from the Dallas area who deliver powerfully beautiful piano-based rock. By combining the driving rhythms and simple melodies of the British rock movement with huge walls of meticulously crafted sound and lyrics that reflect a sensitivity, Madly engage the audience in a paradoxically relaxed and yet intense musical experience that brings light to a sometimes dark music scene."

Listen to the music of Madly

Hendrick

Hendrick has a new album out that has been in my CD changer for a couple of months now. Me luvs it. Josh has one helluva set of pipes on him.

"Hendrick was formed by Josh Hendrick and Hans Grumbien, soon after Grumbien had gone to see Josh perform. The two began experimenting on the guitar with songs Josh had written, looking for a catchy, pop kind of sound. In 2001 they recorded an album together and eventually went on to add 15 backup instrumentalists over the years until they settled into the current, six-member lineup."

Audio interview with Hendrick

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TONIGHT - Friday, May 26th

The Door

Doors at 7:30 PM - $10.00 Cover Allows You Access to All Stages

All Ages

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Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 26, 2006

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This Week in QuickDFW

By Cindy Chaffin

The first thing that caught my attention in this week's QuickDFW Pop Life was the headline "Sorta Hits Roadblock." Sorta is a band I never, ever tire of hearing - be it live or on CD. I love just about everything they've ever put out in the world, and I've highly anticipated their forthcoming album...looks like I'm going to have to wait a little longer.

Paul Salfen writes:

"Dallas band Sorta is facing a surprising dilemma: Its long-delayed new CD set to hit stores June 8, Strange and Sad But True, will no longer be released on Summer Break Records."

"Lead singer Trey Johnson explains: "We've had to back out of the agreement with our label. We're now two weeks out from the release date of the record and we have, uh, nothing. This has just gone down in the last week."

"Summer Break president Robert Jenkins could not be reached for comment yesterday..." Read the rest

Hm. This is all rather surprising to me since Sorta and Summer Break Records have had a long-standing relationship. In fact, Sorta performed at the Summer Break Records SXSW Party back in March. Hm.

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Of course the demise of Frank Hejl's Frequency Down Show has been all the chatter amongst us fans, and Hunter Hauk is among us. Hunter thankfully brings us better news:

"Paul Slavens (left), host of 90.1 At Night Sundays on KERA-FM, was saddened after hearing the news of Frequency Down's cancellation. "I listened to Frequency Down on the ride home from my show. The real shame is that it was a good outlet for local music, and D-FW-Denton needs lots more – not less – of those shows." Slavens said he approached Hejl about doing a segment on 90.1 at Night. Hejl is interested: "Paul's a great guy. I really respect his show. It's a silver lining."

This little enlightenment kicks-ass!

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Boy howdy, but the local Rap/Hip-Hop scene is continuing to gain momentum with the local media.

QuickDFW has jumped on the bandwagon as of late with their weekly Quick Rhymes, featuring Pikahsso last week, and Mr. Blakes this week. Pretty nifty...er...I mean sick man, sick!

This week's Skinizzle announces the addition of "Skinny Fresh's Gemini Disco Soul Party," a weekly Podcast with Quick's in-house Rap/Hip-Hop expert, Skin. The first episode kicks off in style with the incomparable Steve Austin. Click here to listen.

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Ayo's Five to See Live

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Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 26, 2006

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D.O Dish

By Cindy Chaffin

Aaaaah, once again great minds think alike - or at least one great mind and one sort of so-so. Sam Machkovech writes in this week's Dallas Observer:

"I'd rather not start a discussion about Denton's Fry Street with an overemotional plea...but it's tempting. As GlobeSt.com's Connie Gore reported on May 5, Bellaire, Texas, real estate developer United Equities Inc. acquired 3.7 acres of retail in the heart of central Denton--essentially, the 100 block of Fry Street, home to locally owned restaurants and shops like The Tomato and Texas Jive. Think the dozen-plus businesses will survive the deal? The article doesn't.,," Read it all as it also contains more on the ridiculous removal of Frank Hejl's Frequency Down Show.

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Michael Alan Goldberg chats-it-up with Derek Fudesco (Pretty Girls Make Graves) - a little about music - a lot about food:

"Juicy chunks of fresh lobster,lightly bound together with mayonnaise and served on buttered, toasted bread. Spicy, bubbling étouffée laid out over a bed of steaming white rice. Succulent Chinese dumplings stuffed with garlicky pork, floating in a rich vegetable broth. Fucking delicious. That's according to Derek Fudesco, anyway--the Pretty Girls Make Graves bassist, co-founder and primary spokesman sounds like he's drooling as he describes these dishes over the phone from the band's tour stop in Providence, Rhode Island. And now, as the proud proprietor of the new food blog, www.fucking-delicious.blogspot.com, he'll be detailing his coast-to-coast culinary finds for everyone to read..." Read the rest.

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Darryl Smyers writes about local greatness, Todd Gautreau:

"With his nondescript, boyish appearance, local multi-instrumentalist/ producer Todd Gautreau talks about his music with a casual enthusiasm, discussing his art with the same demeanor he might use in talking about his day job as a graphic designer. "I think what I do reflects a struggle," he says. "I try to get across a vulnerability that, hopefully, others have felt."

"The 37-year-old is nearly as soft-spoken as his intricate and achingly pretty compositions. Yet this Louisiana native's relaxed nature should not be interpreted as dispassionate. Like so many others who express their emotions quietly, bitterness and anxiety brew underneath Gautreau's calm exterior. Much of that subconscious spite is channeled into his second album under the Crushed Stars moniker, Obsolescence, an opus of romantic gloom, and a dreamy, whispered collection that presents the dichotomy of soft music/hard feelings as succinctly as any manic-depressive can..." Read baby - Read

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Jesse Hughey was at J&J's Pizza last Saturday for The Theater Fire / Emil Rapstine / Chris Flemmons

"The perfect setting for the Theater Fire's blend of rustic Americana and Southwestern music would be under a full moon on some sweltering backwoods back porch, where listeners slap mosquitoes on their sweat-slicked skin, pass around XXX-embossed jugs of hooch and laugh when the hounds howl along with the performance. For the band's Denton CD release party, $1 Lone Stars and floorboards creaking overhead in the hot basement of J&J's Pizza had to suffice..." You know what to do

The Theater Fire Live at Good Records.mp3

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Jesse Hughey also picks the one *fer-sure* show that I personally plan to hit this weekend at Club Dada:

"Don't dillydally on the way to Dada, because Voot Cha Index's early set will be the highlight of the night. Singer Neil Sanzgiri has some grating vocal quirks--his voice couldn't have dropped more than a few months ago--but with such pretty melodies and creative arrangements of piano, accordion, banjo and power-pop guitars, that's easily forgiven. The Plano pop quintet's songs about penguins and shouts of "Let's go!" might be annoying if they weren't so earnest and enthusiastic..." Click here silly

Be on the look out for audio performances, interviews and what-nots here from the Saturday, May 27th Show w/ Voot Cha Index / Blackheart Society / B-Minor Harmonic / The Shim Shams

Voot Cha Index Live at Good Records.mp3

Blackheart Society Live Interview/Performance in the TexasGigs.com Studio

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Check all the rest of this week's music section

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 25, 2006

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Fry Street Affair/Central Denton Preservation.org Updates

By Cindy Chaffin

I hate that this blog came to pass due to a rotten situation, however, the Central Denton Preservation Blog has turned into a real gem.

They have invited in guests to add editorial content about their relationship with Denton and Fry Street, including Carl Finch of Brave Combo:

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"When I moved to Denton in the early 1970s to study art at NTSU, the scene was all about music and self-expression. The One O’Clock Lab Band was a big deal around the world, hippies roamed free and easy, and political demonstrations were a regular event. The epicenter of this mindset was, of course, Fry Street, or more appropriately, the corner of Fry and Hickory. The first head shop in Texas was on Fry Street (the Birmingham Balloon) and, in fact, the street itself was developing a national reputation as a gathering place for movers, shakers and thinkers. It’s always been a symbol of what Denton, as an organic being, offered to encourage “unbridled” creativity. Artistically, Denton was once known as an “anything goes” town and an oasis of intelligence..." Read the Rest

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Michael Seman (Shiny Around the Edges) also added great editorial content:

"...Why did I choose Denton? Although the prospect of living closer to my wife’s sisters and brother was certainly an influence, my wife and I were more entranced by the town’s duality of being laidback (what some might term “sleepy”) while also having a thriving music scene that is of national regard. In the latter half of that equation resided the crux of our decision to choose Denton over Austin: not only is there a healthy music scene, but it’s one built upon such intensely individualistic artists as those in the bands Ten Hands, Brutal Juice, Lift to Experience, jetscreamer, Baptist Generals, Centromatic, Mandarin, and Little Grizzly, to name just a few."

"Normally, outside of music towns such as Olympia, Washington or Athens, Georgia, one just doesn’t find such a wealth of creative thinking in what is basically, on the surface, a small town. For a quicker analysis, I often times find myself explaining Denton to my non-Texan friends by simply saying, “it’s the kind of town where the local polka band has two Grammy awards and has been on ‘The Simpsons.’” As a student of urban development, I knew that it would only be a matter of time before the physical landscape of Denton would begin to change due to hyper-mobile real estate capital and the same market forces that are continuing to transform Austin. These are the same forces that transformed my former home, Southern California, seemingly overnight, beginning in the mid-90’s. And now those forces have come to be the concern of people in Denton by way of a Houston Development Company..." Read it all

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It really kinda hits you in the gut to watch things like this video clip of Chris Flemmons and Steve Hill (Baptist Generals) rehash their early days performing on Fry Street. I just picture the guys driving their children by the new Starbuck's and saying, see that spot in-between Starbuck's and The Gap? That's where daddy got his start performing...ugh.

Photo Courtesy of Denton Record-Chronicle/Steve Delafield

Take note of this entry:

"With this entry we announce a call to amateur and professional photographers who may have documented Fry Street culture in the last century. It is our intention to create a portrait of how life in a small, energized neighborhood may have changed over the years, and why it is important to acknowledge a place where for many generations people have come to create and celebrate."

"Referencing the statement of approach from the website of Hermes Architects (the group hired to design the plans for the new Fry Street)... "We believe that in order for our clients to be successful their projects must endure through time in order to create and add true value."(emphasis added). Let our photo archive serve as a fufillment of that creed, and demonstrate how our creative community endures, bringing value to a place worth preserving (no emphasis needed)..." You need to click here.

Photographers, please contact us at: dentonpreservation@gmail.com

I dunno, I'm a big fan of historical integrity, so this really saddens me even though it really doesn't particularly affect me personally. I feel their pain, though, everytime I drive through the Park Cities and Lower Greenville and old East Dallas. When I see the old historical homes demolished and replaced with shiny new crap-houses, where glorious architecture once stood, it really nurtures my ever-increasing loathing towards Dallas.

Hell, I literally cried at the site of John's Cafe on Lower Greenville flattened, as well as the old Goff's Hamburgers on Lovers Lane. I grew up in those joints...so I know how these good Denton folks are feelin' about now.

I think the main surprise United Equities has in store for 'em is that folks like the ones who started Central Denton Preservation.org are highly intelligent, highly passionate, yet highly rational people. This ain't just a bunch of screamin' hippies - and they give me hope as to what will come of all of this mess. For example, they've assembled a great post with links and up-to-date information here.

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 25, 2006

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Prince Performs on American Idol?

By Cindy Chaffin

It's true...I don't believe it...but I see it right now on my teevee as I type...so is American Idol cool after all?

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 24, 2006

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Lowe Plays the LoweBro with a Cold One

By Cindy Chaffin

I told ya about Mike Lowe and his LoweBro makin' ways awhile back. I thought you might wanna see a finished product in action...enjoy...

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 24, 2006

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New IndieInterviews.com

By Cindy Chaffin

Garrison Reid has some fresh new interviews up on his site IndieInterviews.com:

Click here for the interview with John Vanderslice

Click here for the interview with The Czars

Garrison is getting some sweet, sweet audio from his studio on wheels.

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 24, 2006

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TexasGigs.com Stickers and their Multi-Use Ways

By Cindy Chaffin

A regular TexasGigs.com reader and local music promoter sent me the pictures below....he swears it was "her idea..." I'm going to try it on my 16-year old daughter this afternoon - ;-)

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 24, 2006

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New Tune Live from The Adventure Club - [DARYL]

By Cindy Chaffin

How's about a juicy new tune from [DARYL]? It's a live performance with Josh on The Adventure Club.

Click Here for "Petition.mp3"

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 24, 2006

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Todd Pertll Returns to The Cavern Tonight!

By Cindy Chaffin

I finally figured out a way to get Todd Pertll (nominated for "Best Instrumentalist" at the 2006 Dallas Observer Music Awards) back to Dallas for a performance. Just book one of his favorite bands from San Francisco to perform at The Cavern, and have them, in turn, ask Todd to perform with them. Easy right?

As it turns out, it is rather easy! Tonight at The Cavern come oooooon down for the musical stylings of:

The Court & Spark w/Todd Pertll

"With Hearts, The Court & Spark have created their meisterwerk, a rarified record that seamlessly stitches together their shimmering river hymns, fuzzy sci-fi sky songs, acoustic drone in the key of OM, dusky West Coast C&W (that's country and western), spectral discreet music, and serpentine motel blues into an album as rich, nuanced, and irreverent as it is ambitious. Hearts is about love, sanity, spirituality, and death on the borderlands of the 21st century, and it's the band's finest work."

Brothers & Sisters

"The spirit of feel-good Seventies radio is alive and the signal is coming from Austin's Brothers and Sisters. On their self-titled debut (see Texas Platters), the handsome sevenpiece tears a page from the alt.country twang of Gram Parsons and the Band, all while radiating sunshine pop and L.A. hooks. The feel-good local album of the new year." ~Audra Schroeder~

Pink Nasty

"Pink Nasty is Sara Beck, a folk singer reared in Wichita who now resides in Austin. She has a lot of friends in Lawrence, as her album "Mule School" features half of the Danny Pound Band -- Pound and Jeremy Sidener -- and other scenesters like Brandon Aiken, Steve Squire and Ben Tuttle."

"Beck writes twangy acoustic folk tunes in the style of Neko Case, splitting her time between melancholy ballads and folky rockers in the vein of (surprise) The Danny Pound. Her capable voice flirts with a southern drawl, but stays genuine enough so as to not induce groans." ~Lawrence.com~

Hello? That's a whole lotta greatness under one roof my friends!

Doors (upstairs) open at 6 PM - Show starts (downstairs at 10 PM) $8.00 Over 21 - $10.00 Under 21

Don't miss it...and give Todd a big ol' sloppy TexasGigs.com smooch for us.

If you are in Austin, you can check out the same line-up tomorrow (Thursday, May 25th) at Emo's.

Also, Todd will perform with Kristy Kruger on KUT - Eklektikos Show today at noon.

Cindy now blogs at The Fine Line.

May 24, 2006

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