Cory Graves
Dallas Bands Earn Attention En Route to SXSW, and The Fort Worth Music Fest Gets Less Jazzy.
Just like last week's column, the bulk of this week's local music news and notes are heavily festival intensive. That's not a surprise. When a large group of North Texas' best acts prep for the three-hour drive south to perform at official SXSW showcases, national press is pretty much a given for at least a few of them.
First off, we have to wonder: Has local crooner Larry g(EE) ever considered trying his hand at the Publisher's Clearinghouse? Or maybe becoming a professional lottery player? Fact is, that dude most certainly has a knack for winning national contests. Most recently, he claimed the grand prize in the R&B category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for his song “Yo Mamma.” Similarly, the soulman won contests on Ourstage.com that allowed him to both join last year's Van's Warped Tour and make his national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last December. Already, his week down in Austin has been busy — opened for funk bass king Bootsy Collins at SXSW Interactive's kickoff concert — but it's only going to get busier. Later this week, g(EE) will perform at a live-streaming SXSW event hosted by Diddy alongside Skylar Grey and Warren G. We can only hope this will spawn a future collaborative project down the road to be called Warren g(EE).
Other North Texas-based SXSW acts receiving some love this week include Blackstone Rangers, who were featured in a Red River Noise blog post that purported that Dallas wasn't typically known for having an indie music scene. Ugh.
The Polyphonic Spree, meanwhile, were named one of the five bands to catch at this year's fest by Yahoo!'s music blog, and Air Review received a similar designation on NPR's All Songs Considered SXSW preview show.
But just because those band's are away getting their fest on doesn't mean the local music scene stops down entirely. For instance? Tomorrow night, charming local oddball electro-pop exhibitionist George Quartz will begin his new Wednesday night weekly at the Double Wide. Aside from his patented brand of razzle dazzle, we're not sure exactly what to expect from his weekly offerings, but the event's title and posters do promise the quirky performer will definitely be “working hard for your pleasure.”
In other news, much like their cohorts Pinkish Black and Vulgar Fashion, who've also put out releases on the critically acclaimed local Handmade Birds label in the past year, Denton power trio Terminator 2 are beginning to get some love from outside the Metroplex, too. Today, the Philadelphia-based Decibel magazine posted an exclusive stream of the band's blistering new cassette, along with videos from their set from this past weekend's 35 Denton festival.
Moving over to Fort Worth (though not away from festival talk), it seems the Fort Worth Music Fest has named some additional performers to this year's lineup. And now, after the most recent round of additions, roughly half of the fest's acts have been named. While the music made by the likes of Drive By Truckers, Old 97's, Whiskey Myers, Dirty River Boys, Quaker City Night Hawks, Calhoun, Galactic, The Walkmen, Allen Stone, Delta Spirit, ZZ Ward, Air Review, The Sheepdogs, The Orbans and The Hanna Barbarians indeed falls all across the board, none are particularly all that jazzy, which only furthers our earlier claim that this year's lineup will have little to do with the former Fort Worth Jazz Fest from which it was spawned. Seriously, though, no Kevin Eubanks this year? What gives?
Lastly, because we like to double as the site's unofficial classifieds section (insert joke about times being tight here), we've got a couple quick announcements to make:
• Anyone who owns “vintage 1930s-40s-esque clothing” and is available to be in Dallas from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on March 25 is eligible to be an extra in the latest Toadies music video — provided, that is, that they're not looking for any additional compensation in return. If you're still interested in making a cameo in the “Rattler's Revival” video, email your info here.
• Or, perhaps you're looking for some new digs and also happen to be a huge fan of house shows? The tenants of Denton house venue Macaroni Island are seeking a new roommate. For more info contact Gutterth Records founder Michael Briggs. A head's up: We hear he likes cookies.
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