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Country Music
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Suggestions and salutations
Wow! That thursday late-night intro to get this up and running certainly looks a little sparse. Truth is, I wanted to get it on the page so I could determine if I could work on the page from one of the computers at work. Well, yes I can but, eventually, I didn't have the opportunity because of what might be called in the management corridors as "work commitments". Things will improve. I haven't filled in all of my profile and favourites but will get around to it as time progresses. I might mention here and now - and you'll be hearing quite a bit about it - I have a passion for Mac computers and all associated operating systems. I don't run anything like the best, with all the bells and whistles, but what I do have is more than sufficient for what I need to do. My big baby is a G4 with a G3 sitting alongside as a back-up or to use as a graphics work station while its big brother does the serious browsing and the inevitable downloading of whatever in the fields of research I'm interested in: music, movies, Australian political threads and groups and forums discussing all of the above and more.
Live music is, by far, the main interest I have in life. It's the indulgence of all indulgences, beginning way back when I was a kid crawling around under the tables at the local Sunday afternoon pub gig by unknown country/pop bands. My mother would rarely miss these and I'm grateful she took me along. I remember Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers' covers, Frank Sinatra-style crooners, Pat Boone sound-alikes, Bing Crosby warblers, Burl Ives, early bluegrass and swing numbers along the lines of of Bill Monroe and Bob Wills. We weren't a rich family by any means but those Sundays were like a million dollars to me. Eventually cutting the apron strings I began to hang out at the local milk bars as a weedy young rocker where the "hip" kids around town would gather on weekends to rock 'n roll through the hours to the well-stocked juke boxes of 50s rock songs of Elvis, Little Richard, Richie Valens, Carl Perkins and on and on . . .
Last night, after getting home from a particularly harrowing working week, I considered a drink or three and some live music was what was required - what else is there? Nothing country or rockabilly in the gig guide so I took a gamble on dropping into a local watering hole in Leichhardt, The Bald Faced Stag, where last Saturday night we were graced with the presence of Sydney's most authentic roots country band, The Murray Hillbillies (more on them in the future). The advertised artist was someone I associated with, for some reason or other, Corb Lund, a Canadian country/folk performer in the same ilk as Fred Eaglesmith. It's gotta be good, I thought to myself. WRONG! The "act" was nothing other than a bloody karaoke night, complete with swirling coloured balls flashing their absurdities all over the room. What a contrast! Last week the best danged country music and this week a bunch of (almost) no-talents as you could get into one room. I say almost because there was one young woman who could even hold a note and in the correct key for longer than ten seconds. The others: hopeless and embarrassing to music! Too late. I was into a few cheap beers before I ventured off to the second preference for the night - a line-up of punk bands at the Empire at Annandale. I'm not a lover of the antics and whatever of the punk style (if you can call it that!) but I have to admit many of the punksters I've seen perform do something with a beat and a rhthym you wouldn't always see or hear. As I walk into the back bar I hear the unmistakeable drone of a bagpipe. Holy shit! I thought this was punk night! Pushing closer to the action I see the four-piece outfit (sans shirts by now) doing their "rumble" with this skinny kid jumpin' around playin' hell out of a set of pipes! The more I heard, the better it sounded and it soon became evident he was playing the role of a second lead guitar. Brilliant! The line-up consisted of The Turbo ACs, The Go Set and Stereo City. I'm assuming I missed the first band, Stereo City, so this would have been The Go Set - not bad at all!
Karaoke to punk. How far away from genre structures can you get? Both have their places in the realms of music but I'd prefer to have some good country or rockabilly anytime. After the break and a visit to the nearby Jazz club venue, the Side On Cafe, where the afore-mentioned Corb Lund was to appear the next night (Saturday Feb 18 if you're at all interested). Thought I'd check out the cover charge and was amazed and delighted there would be no cover charge. Immediately put it in the black book as a "certainty". But back to the punkers at the Empire and the main act from America, The Turbo ACs, were about to strut their stuff. They began steadily enough but didn't seem to advance very far from steady. I think they realised it wasn't going down as well as they would have hoped - the Aussie kids were red hot in comparison - and the obligatory shirts off (the flabby bass player maybe should think again about doing this as part of HIS act!) brought about an increase in tempo and stage antics but I think they'd already gone too far with the "ordinary" and the crowd was well lost. A mate, who knows much more of the punk scene than I, said they were: ". . . boring and predictable". I was happy but my brain had been assisted with a cocktail of refreshments of choice so I was far from being objective by then. My feet were still tappin' and movin'. I guess I'm just too easy to please. I managed to see his point as the set ground down into a nothingless pit of loud, loud, crumbling chords. Good try guys - hope you bought some of the local music to take back!
Should have called it a night then but just had to get home and continue the musical rampage with a variety of music, the highlight maybe being one of the few good Nashville bands I've heard, BR-549. You can't go wrong with any of their stuff.
If you're interested in seeing Corb Lund, the Side On Cafe is just a few doors down Parramatta Road from the Empire at Annandale - on the city side. Start from 8pm I'd assume.
Nuff for now. Happy honkin'.
The Tonker.
Live music is, by far, the main interest I have in life. It's the indulgence of all indulgences, beginning way back when I was a kid crawling around under the tables at the local Sunday afternoon pub gig by unknown country/pop bands. My mother would rarely miss these and I'm grateful she took me along. I remember Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers' covers, Frank Sinatra-style crooners, Pat Boone sound-alikes, Bing Crosby warblers, Burl Ives, early bluegrass and swing numbers along the lines of of Bill Monroe and Bob Wills. We weren't a rich family by any means but those Sundays were like a million dollars to me. Eventually cutting the apron strings I began to hang out at the local milk bars as a weedy young rocker where the "hip" kids around town would gather on weekends to rock 'n roll through the hours to the well-stocked juke boxes of 50s rock songs of Elvis, Little Richard, Richie Valens, Carl Perkins and on and on . . .
Last night, after getting home from a particularly harrowing working week, I considered a drink or three and some live music was what was required - what else is there? Nothing country or rockabilly in the gig guide so I took a gamble on dropping into a local watering hole in Leichhardt, The Bald Faced Stag, where last Saturday night we were graced with the presence of Sydney's most authentic roots country band, The Murray Hillbillies (more on them in the future). The advertised artist was someone I associated with, for some reason or other, Corb Lund, a Canadian country/folk performer in the same ilk as Fred Eaglesmith. It's gotta be good, I thought to myself. WRONG! The "act" was nothing other than a bloody karaoke night, complete with swirling coloured balls flashing their absurdities all over the room. What a contrast! Last week the best danged country music and this week a bunch of (almost) no-talents as you could get into one room. I say almost because there was one young woman who could even hold a note and in the correct key for longer than ten seconds. The others: hopeless and embarrassing to music! Too late. I was into a few cheap beers before I ventured off to the second preference for the night - a line-up of punk bands at the Empire at Annandale. I'm not a lover of the antics and whatever of the punk style (if you can call it that!) but I have to admit many of the punksters I've seen perform do something with a beat and a rhthym you wouldn't always see or hear. As I walk into the back bar I hear the unmistakeable drone of a bagpipe. Holy shit! I thought this was punk night! Pushing closer to the action I see the four-piece outfit (sans shirts by now) doing their "rumble" with this skinny kid jumpin' around playin' hell out of a set of pipes! The more I heard, the better it sounded and it soon became evident he was playing the role of a second lead guitar. Brilliant! The line-up consisted of The Turbo ACs, The Go Set and Stereo City. I'm assuming I missed the first band, Stereo City, so this would have been The Go Set - not bad at all!
Karaoke to punk. How far away from genre structures can you get? Both have their places in the realms of music but I'd prefer to have some good country or rockabilly anytime. After the break and a visit to the nearby Jazz club venue, the Side On Cafe, where the afore-mentioned Corb Lund was to appear the next night (Saturday Feb 18 if you're at all interested). Thought I'd check out the cover charge and was amazed and delighted there would be no cover charge. Immediately put it in the black book as a "certainty". But back to the punkers at the Empire and the main act from America, The Turbo ACs, were about to strut their stuff. They began steadily enough but didn't seem to advance very far from steady. I think they realised it wasn't going down as well as they would have hoped - the Aussie kids were red hot in comparison - and the obligatory shirts off (the flabby bass player maybe should think again about doing this as part of HIS act!) brought about an increase in tempo and stage antics but I think they'd already gone too far with the "ordinary" and the crowd was well lost. A mate, who knows much more of the punk scene than I, said they were: ". . . boring and predictable". I was happy but my brain had been assisted with a cocktail of refreshments of choice so I was far from being objective by then. My feet were still tappin' and movin'. I guess I'm just too easy to please. I managed to see his point as the set ground down into a nothingless pit of loud, loud, crumbling chords. Good try guys - hope you bought some of the local music to take back!
Should have called it a night then but just had to get home and continue the musical rampage with a variety of music, the highlight maybe being one of the few good Nashville bands I've heard, BR-549. You can't go wrong with any of their stuff.
If you're interested in seeing Corb Lund, the Side On Cafe is just a few doors down Parramatta Road from the Empire at Annandale - on the city side. Start from 8pm I'd assume.
Nuff for now. Happy honkin'.
The Tonker.
