Stave Magazine: Etc.

Steamy and Slow

It's definitely the dog days of summer around here.  Not much coming into Stave.  I've got a few young guns to check out in Miami, and also some cats from somewhere in the hip hop universe.  Mike Parrish and Sammy Hundley are working on their second Texas country rocker of CD.  Preliminary tracks sound true to form and should be just right for that big coastal landscape around Houston.  I'll be waiting for that recording.  I'm also patiently waiting to tell a tale of musical insanity and unmatched talent.  I'm keeping it under wraps for now.  It will likely be a crazy interesting yarn that plays out right here at Stave.  So stay tuned as I update randomly.

If you're looking to sell yourself, the Art Guild of Rural Texas will be throwing a little backyard soiree on July 24th, at 6:30, at their property on the square in Fayetteville, Texas.  Bring your songs and come join the circle.  Nothing but exposure, but I promised I'd ask my indie pro friends to come over for food, drinks and music. 

That's all for now.  Keep the independent spirit alive.  And don't forget that I'm over here waiting to hear you.

“Welcome home.”  It’s the perennial greeting as you enter the Kerrville Folk Festival.  It sets the atmosphere for a laid back weekend, week or full festival duration.  You immediately find yourself slowing down and ambling along the dusty trails of the festival site.  Thousands of campers stroll from campsite to campsite, and they gather for games, conversation and music at the Kerr country store.  It is rustic.  Believe me.  Rustic.  Although there are RV hookups, it’s mostly tent camping with access to one power outlet per camp.   From there, tent campers run a few fans and maybe a light.  The toilets are latrines.  Over the years, the sanitation in these structures has improved with more frequent cleanings, and thank goodness for that.  However, there’s been another, less obvious change to the festival.  It’s the energy of the youth.

Young and old volunteer to help run the festival, so there are crews that range from security to sanitation teams.  Historically, the volunteers have been warm and friendly, and for the most part, they still are.  Yet the younger generation of helpers is not necessarily acting like Kerrverts.  Let’s me share my experience from the last weekend of the festival.  

First, I was greeted by a sullen, unsmiling, non-speaking teenage girl at the parking permit booth.  When I said, “thank you,” she made no response, so I finally said, “Why don’t you try putting a smile on your face.”  She just looked pissier.  Bad image for Kerrville.  I can find brats like that at any Wal-Mart or movie theater, but my “home” doesn’t include rude teenagers.  I appreciate the salutation, but no thanks.  You can keep your home if that’s who lives in it.

Second - the latrines.  Here’s my problem.  There have always been cute, friendly little poems and reminders written on the inside of the door encouraging the user to please close the lid to the toilet.  They ask this to keep the smell at bay.  I used to actually look forward to the creativity.  This year, in multiple latrines the request was a rude demand, “Close the f-ing lid.”  And in one stall, near the store, it was simply truck stop scribble on the wall where some creep of a girl had written, “I blew your boyfriend.  That’s why he didn’t come back to camp last night.”  She signed her name.  At least I KNOW who that social disease – from head to toe – is.   

I don’t know who needs the “time out” worse.  These kids, or their parents for allowing their children to behave this way.  Yup.  I said “allowing.”  To this day, at age 45, I am programmed to say “ma’am” and “sir” to my elders.  I say “thank you.”  I’ve never written anything gross on a bathroom wall.  There were consequences for anything less.  Maybe these kiddos are doing the low-fi thing and hangin’ at the rustic Kerrville Folk Festival, but that computerized babysitter at home should have been fired a long time ago.  You long time Kerrverts who might be reading this… I hope you’ll protect the integrity of your festival and make rearing respectable young adults part of your “village.”  If you see this kind of behavior and know who the parents are, go report their child’s behavior.  But not before you scold the child for un-welcoming behavior.  Seriously, do we want to leave the long term future in these youngsters’ hands?  If you’re one of the young people who volunteer, and you’re reading this, check your manners.  It’s never too late to learn a few.  Even hippies have a code of conduct that includes kindness and respect.  

Before I talk about Shelby Lynne...

I want this guy to release his albums on vinyl.  Gratuitous... I know, but he just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Findlay Brown opened for Shelby Lynne last night.

Video without explanation didn't give "Shoulder to the Stone" a fair shake.

During the commercial breaks at the Texas Music Awards, a video played that featured Houston musicians singing a lovely song called "Shoulder to the Stone."  What was missing was any explanation of why the video aired.

It needs a fair shake because it's a group of good people trying to fund a good cause.  What I like about this fundraising organization is that their goal and recipient(s) are very specific.  Shoulder to the Stone will fund one orphanage in Haiti.  And recently, they've diversified to help rebuild Second Harvest in Nashville.  It's not a nebulous "feel good" project.  It's specific and it's organized. 

The artists involved in this project are not looking for glory and praise.  They are deeply committed to helping a specific group of children in Haiti.  It's rare that our music community gets this focused and organized to the point that it becomes about the mission instead of the music.  I've occasionally chastised the independent music community for jumping on stage without doing the "grunt" work.  These folks, over in Houston, don't want your pat on the back.  They want your help.

www.shouldertothestone.com if you'd like to donate or get a copy of the CD. 
Yes.
You would like to.

Young Guns impress.  Mainstays continue to hold the bar high

Just a few quick words before I retire and regenerate after a big weekend at the Texas Music Awards.
Yesterday, I strongly encourage the new guard to buddy up to the old guard and learn how to be great.  In a few days, I'll go into great detail with words from the masters' mouths. 

However, the young guns gave me the discovery I was looking for.  During the awards, as I waited backstage to present the award to the top DJ of 2009, I got a back curtain seat to an awesome band out of Dallas.  Blue Condition rocked the house with high energy blues tinged rock.  These guys should settle into a nice long ride in Texas and beyond.  Check them out on your own until I have time to really dig in and write about them.  www.blueconditionmusic.com



However, the universe didn't stop with my wish for one stand out surprise.  After getting a lovely burst of inspiration from Blue Condition, I made my way to the TMA after party at the OS2 pub and walked in on the recipients of the "Live Band of the Year" giving the packed house a jaw dropping acoustic rocker of a night.  After being nominated 3 times, FINALLY, The Captain Legendary got a chance to take away the well deserved award.  And if anybody was wondering who and how, they blew a bunch of old timers like me, Ken Gaines, TC Smythe, Danny Santos and Steve Brooks away.  Catch this band live!  The performance is constant energy; even during what would usually be a tuning lull.  I can't describe it in this short brief, but here's one thing that will illustrate... a get down and dirty blues number in three four time.  Anybody wanna try it? 

That's what I thought.

Here you go - www.thecaptainlegendaryband.com

If you can close your eyes and imagine what it's like to walk into a deep Texas bar packed with scrappy Texas boys and beautiful girls who move with a carefree groove, add some whiskey, sweat, attitude, long wavy curls, scratchy beards, intense stares while flying up and down the fret board like it's just something you do when you breath, and do it with grit and twang... you've got the Hager brothers and their Southern rockin' jam band giving a one two punch as legendary as a late night bar fight.

I'll be back in a few days with more from the TMAs.  I have CDs to review, conversations to share with you and impressions of the 8th installment of the event.  In the meantime, anybody wanna send me some cool pictures from your point of view.  I'll take shots from the awards show and the pre and after parties.  Bring it on!  Thanks.

Impressions from last night...
Texas Music Awards pre-shows

The drive to deep East Texas has a gothic beauty. Where it could be a drive through Oregon or Pennsylvania, there's always that break in the trees where a run down, repainted single wide trailer house will sit with 3 or 4 rusted out old cars in the yard. The residents are poor, poor, poor with their ragged clothes, soft overweight bodies that have been defeated by cheap quality food that stocks the refrigerators of poverty across this country. Marshall, Texas is typical of a small Texas town. It sits in the northwest corner of the intersection of I-20 and Hwy 59. The courthouse is a huge, classical structure with a guardian angel on its dome. The downtown area surrounds it with a mix of empty buildings - that used to host five and dimes and department stores - and new touristy shops and restaurants. The streets behind the courthouse are populated with old clapboard houses and what seems to be hundreds of white churches with tall steeples.

Pre-show night here in Marshall was meant to be a festival to celebrate the arrival of the Texas Music Awards in this little town. Two businesses hosted showcases featuring nominees. OS2 Pub hosted songwriter nominees, Danny Santos and Steve Brooks. These guys are a little out of sorts to this event, if you ask me. They've transcended the confines of the Red River and made extremely respectful careers for themselves as songwriters. Brooks is academically considered one of the state's top lyricists. He is simply the most clever man you'll hear with a guitar. Santos is one of the pioneers of singer/songwriter Mexicans in Texas. He's not peddling Tejano, he's writing great Texas flavored songs with just a sampling of his roots. He's hot, hot, hot in Europe. I know it won't happen, but the young guns who are here to hopefully pick up an award really ought to be chatting up guys like Brooks and Santos. The TMAs are, to me, about rewarding emerging Texas artists. What those players do after they receive the award varies.

John Arthur Martinez has won many times, and his career has grown accordingly. I think, if you get an award under your belt, you have to do like Martinez and take it as a huge responsibility and challenge and go out and make yourself - not only a great Texas artist - but a great American Independent artist. If you don't, the wall of success will wash away like a flash flood off the Red River itself. That is to say that, for me, there was a huge gap in craft on the outdoor stage at the pre-show festival. Martinez was bookended by by a couple of bands who I really don't think will ever play outside the state. Martinez has the intelligence to #1: Make his voice project like a power chord, #2: Really master his guitar, #3: Surround himself with superior side players (both his percussionist and flaminco lead player are world class). Martinez is burning up the water on the big pond. He, too, is hot in Europe. Danny said that part of the appeal is their Mexican flavor. The Europeans feel that the sounds of Mexico drive right into their emotional center, and Santos and Martinez don't need to tell you that emotional connections sells like hot tamales at Christmastime.

The bands on either side of the Martinez outfit were not particularly tight. So that kind of distracts people like me. Also, I've heard and met some of the uber independent artists in this country. To wow me, you have to be that flamico player beside John Arthur Martinez. Boinking around the stage, playing overdone scales and riffs that sound like a parody from "This is Spinal Tap" will sound, well... like a parody when you try to sell your music to anyone outside the rural county you grew up in.

I seem mean? Not at all. Think of me as your mama. I'm telling you that I am a proud Texan, and I want all Texas musicians to make me proud. If you're gonna strut around like a "star" then play like one! It's really hard work. It's why I don't play anymore. I'm simply not a good enough technical player, and I don't think I should be taking up performance time from the real craftsmen. What is happening to many of these young Texas players is the same thing that happened to me: They're from small communities that don't really have a grasp of how competitive and serious the music world is. Their friends and family think they're "Nashville" quality, and they start to believe it. They get a nomination to a regional awards organization. They believe even more that they're the "best" in that category.
Please! You young artists! Book (or try to book) a tour outside of Texas. Go to high level conferences like SXSW or Folk Alliance and listen. The non-Texas touring will humble the shit out of you. I'm speaking from experience. The high level conferences will teach and guide you. You'll learn, from players who are as green as you, how to craft excellence. I know 20 year olds that will blow you away. They're from small towns in other places. Brandi Carlile's mother had never seen the ocean when Carlile was booked on her first Cayamo music cruise... get it?!? Bumpkin girl does super well because she is disciplined, humble, and realistic about what it will take to have a life long career in music.

I'm begging... one more time. Make the Martinezes and Santoses and Brookses your mentors. They're right here in town with you. They're good guys. And like me, they want you to make them Texas proud.

May Feature - Eye'z Interview
Editor's note:  I'm moving the May feature interview to ETC. because it's powerful and deserves your attention.  If you missed this interview in the May edition, please read it now.
-peace from the porch

Eye’z contacted me about getting some exposure in Stave, but she unwittingly fell into the Peace from the Porch Project mission: connecting music and healing in a way that transforms.  Any time an artist I’m unfamiliar with approaches me for a review, I always hit the web and check them out before I respond.  That way I can temper what I say and direct what I want from them.  Eye’z is young and idealistic in her music, but her soul is as old as the world itself.  In many ways, she’s like any other aspiring musician.  She’s certainly motivated to put all of the right tools in place via YouTube, Reverb Nation, MySpace and her own website.  She has downloadable music for sale.  She’s creating a fan base.   And like so many young artists, she’ll continue to grow as she hones her craft into a lasting career.

However, I do not exaggerate when I tell you she understands suffering better than the Buddha himself.  She didn’t have to seek it out.  Forget asceticism.  We’re talking real, and dirty, yet beautiful, transformative life here.  She’s real.  She’s a survivor.  She’s like an Archangel for those who endure the suffering of domestic violence.  Eye’z didn’t graduate from high school.  I watched a little video of an interview she did with a seasoned DJ, and was struck with her demure presence and fragility.  Yet she is so amazingly strong. She refers to herself as the “crazy one.”  And maybe she is.  After what she’s been through, I can’t imagine one could survive on sanity.  She’s a  real gift to those who think they’ll die before they get out.  And a guide for those of us who work with all of our sweat, heart, and drive to stop the violence.  If you read attentively, you’ll see many layers here that will inspire.  Artists! Grab pen, paper and instrument.

Instead of one more interview with an emerging artist that focuses on what she’s doing to advance her career, I thought it might be more meaningful to give readers a deeper understanding of what some people endure to get to a place where they can even THINK about making dreams a reality.  For each of us, this is a candid look into life we might not otherwise get the opportunity to understand.  It might be your story.  And for those who thought it was tough to get an independent music career off the ground with a SUPPORTIVE family, you may want to take a step back and be grateful.  You may finish this article with a new song on the edge of your heart.

Here’s my interview with Eye’z:

How old are you?
6,000 I will be 6,001 on july the 26th J

Did you take piano lessons?
Yes. My mom and aunt are both piano teachers. My mom and aunt still give piano and voice lessons till this day.

Have you always been a singer?
Yes since I was little. I would sing all over the place outside, inside. I even sang at my preschool graduation. I sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It was my first gig I could think of and they even asked me to come back next year and sing the little mermaid! :-D


Did you ever use singing to escape violence when it was happening to you?
Yes I’ll open up right now cuz I want to….
I was sexually abused as a child and my cousin would molest and even smother me at times. I got sick of it…. I would try to tell jokes and sing songs to make him change his mind.  Sometimes it would work. Sometimes it wouldn’t. I would usually sing “over the rainbow.” I sincerely understood every word of that song.

Where’s your mother?
She’s at home.

How about your father?
At the other house.  My mom has one house and one apartment. She lets my dad live there for some reason and lives in an apartment.

Do you have any children?
No.

Ever been married?
Lmao no!

If you’ll tell me about it, who abused you the most when you were little?
I would say my mother.

Was it hitting?  Verbal abuse?  Emotional abuse?  Sexual?  Or was it none of this, and just extreme poverty or hard times like that?
All of the above.  My mom would say sick things to me growing up. My dad did more of the hitting. But what hurts the most is when they let strangers hit me. My dad used to tell me it was ok for (my cousin) to do the things he did to me because “when boys get a certain age that’s just what they do.”

Ever had an abusive boyfriend that was really hard to leave?  If so, tell our readers about it.
Yes once again it’s the allowing others to abuse me. My mom let a boyfriend live with me. I didn’t want him there and he would abuse me. I got out of that relationship by being obnoxious and taking the beatings. I knew if I made him mad enough he would have to leave. This may not be the best advice to give and I’m not giving it.  It’s just my situation and that worked at that time.

You moved around a lot when you were young.  Was it hard for you to make friends?
Yes. I had one best friend growing up, but we grew apart. I think that’s how Eye’z was created. No one paid attention; only laughed and smiled. Every teacher ignored the brutal truth even when they saw a diamond….


So Eye'z was created by moving around alot and not having
many close friends.  Who were you (or what was your name) before Eye'z
emerged?
Lol. I tried every name in the book. I wanted the brat but that was taken. See back then; names where a bit more artistic than just the name you were born with.
 I had so many artists and singing groups on my walls I just wanted everyone else’s name. But then it came to me one day. I was reading a black beat magazine(in payless drug store).  There was a picture of a boy my age who got my attention. His mouth/lips were closed and his eye contact wasn’t exactly on the camera, his name was no words.
I sad THAT’S IT! I had a flash back of my getting suffocated when I was a toddler by my cousin. "that’s it! No words"!
...you don’t have to hear words to know what I’m saying just look in my eyes. If people cared about me growing up they would have known what I was trying to say if they only would look in my eyes.
It’s all in the eyes! But it couldn’t just be eyes back then. “z's” were popular, and in my world they still are. So that’s why I spell it with the z! I love the z it’s kool!


Ever had to go hungry?
HELL YEAH!  
My mom used to leave me at home with nothing to eat. And I’ve also had the pleasure of being homeless. I’m talking about real homelessness. Not a shelter where you  get 5 star meals. I’m talking about so hungry I was angry and tired at the same time.

Ever had to live on the streets?  Like, have you ever run away from home?
Yes to both. I lived in Atlanta as a homeless person. I didn’t even have any shoes. People may think that it’s easy to even get free shoes. Everyone’s situation is different. But I made it out thanks to my former manager Reggie Green! I prayed and prayed and I begged the moon to send me a place to live. And he made a deal with me; I can live in one of his homes (which was a party home he does business in) if I clean it up and work as an assistant. Therefore he would consider taking me as one of his artists. I love him and I thank him for the opportunity. He got me out there and ready to go. I’ve been homeless quite a few times and similar things have taken place. But just know your faith in god goddess fairies or whatever will get very strong because when god sends you a manager a home and some food… its like; “Thank you!”

How did Reggie Green find you?  Did he see you performing on the
street or what?
Lol.  It’s funny you say performing on the street...
I had just been crying and I tried to cheer myself up by knowing in my mind I was gonna make it. I started singing and dancing and practicing one of my song routines. No one saw; considering it was well past 2 maybe? Then I said “fuck it” and kept walking. I had no idea where I was. I had been walking for a long time. Then all of a sudden I see lights from a car. I looked back and saw an L.A license plate and he spoke to me. He was like "what are you doing out here"? I was like...um I actually don’t remember what I said, but I forced the conversation
to go to “I’m an artist and I came from California to make it out here in Atlanta.” He laughed and said "I'M A MANAGER!"..."look here is one of my artists." He handed me a CD. He told me to look at his license plate to prove he was from L.A! lmao! He said his name was L.A Redge.
He asked if I needed a ride and I said yeah and we talked and he was hella cool.


I watched “A Cage for Paper Tigers.”  Would you say the younger girl is more like you?  Did you ever think about killing yourself?
YES! I thought my fans would like that.
Yes of course when I was younger I tried to commit suicide with sleeping pills. I’m glad I didn’t do it. I saw a picture online of what people look like when they kill themselves… and uh… that cured it. I don’t wanna look like that.

Typically, abusive people want their victims to feel like they’re worthless and can’t survive without them.  Yet, you’re out here taking on music on your own.  That’s really hard to do.  What happened in your life that gave you the confidence to do this?
I don’t know. I just follow my heart like Dorothy.

What pisses you off the most about people who don’t understand how you grew up?
The fact that they are judgmental.

I was listening to “Dedicated” and I thought that you really sounded old school Motown.  Were you influenced by old pop music when you were little?
Yes. The doowop era, swing and big band, Opera, and classical music. I wasn’t really allowed to listen to new school music. A few artists such as Madonna, Gloria Estefan, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK seeped though. But I must admit that MJ was ALWAYS allowed in the home. We used to watch music history a lot and the PBS specials from the 50’s, but I feel connected when writing this music. I just feel so tingly sexual and as if it’s familiar. I felt as though I knew every note of the songs when hearing them growing up. I feel at one with the music.

Tina Turner was really abused when she was just getting started in music.  Ike Turner used to beat her up a lot.  What was really crazy about it was Ike was nothing without Tina.  She’s one of my greatest music heroes.  Do you know much about her?  And if you do, what do you think about her?
I think she was a good example because she had inner peace. Through her religion, she transformed and became stronger than him. Which she always was, and that’s why he picked her.

Besides make it really big!  What do you hope your music does for people who follow you?
I hope it gives them inner peace, laughter, happiness and a drop of a diamond tear.
I hope that it’s something they will listen too the rest of their lives and become really touched by my music and feel tingly the way I felt when I wrote it.

I want you to give your best advice to young girls who live in abusive situations.  Take as much space as you want.  Tell your whole story if you want.  This is your chance to really change some young person’s life.  Change a life that is dying right now.  Go for it!
Everyone’s situation is different and so what if people don’t understand. You can get out. You just have to believe in yourself. You can fight. Take legal action.  Do what’s right.
You don’t have anything to lose what else can they take from you?
Just do it. There’s a way out. Sometimes all you have to do is knock on the door.
Once you make it they will be like damn…  A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH? A DIAMOND IN THE EYE! IT’S THE CRAZY ONE AND IT’S NOT LEFT EYE!
You can become successful. Success just doesn’t mean money. Success can mean beauty or what ever it is they are trying to take from you. It can mean your kids.
Use your brain and figure something out think of strategies.
When all else fails just say “fuck it” and go for it.
You are smart you can do anything you put your mind to. Just put it to it and you can do it….
Hmm I think I’ll copyright that… ;)

http://www.thelovelyeyez.com