Links
Archives
- 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003
- 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003
- 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003
- 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004
- 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004
- 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
- 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
- 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
- 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
- 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
- 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
- 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004
- 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
- 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
- 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
- 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
- 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
- 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
- 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
- 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
- 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
- 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
- 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
- 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
- 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
- 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
- 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
- 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
- 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
- 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
- 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006
- 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
- 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
- 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
- 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
- 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
- 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
- 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
- 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
- 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
- 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
- 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
- 07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007
- 08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007
- 09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007
- 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
- 11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007
- 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
- 02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
- 03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008
- 04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008
- 05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008
- 06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008
- 07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008
- 08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008
- 09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008
- 10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008
- 11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008
- 04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009
Flanfire (Duggan Flanakin) is bringing LIFE to Austin music -- and telling the world how sweet it is!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Ricky Stein; Lonesome Heroes Rich Russell and Landry McMeans.
Ricky Stein Down at the Hole!
Journalist-musician Ricky Stein asked me to come by early to catch The Lonesome Heroes before his midnight show at the Hole in the Wall - and what a nice surprise they were [more later]. But since it was also the first time I was getting to see the gravel-voiced kid whom I know as a bigtime supporter of his musician buddies, I had been looking forward to a long evening already.
The first thing you notice about Ricky Stein is his ENERGY -- and on stage, that gregarious outgoing nature seems to get magnifed twice over. My first impression of Ricky and his (still unnamed) band was -- WOW! These guys remind me of the first time I saw Jack Ingram and the Beat Up Ford Band (at a Robert Earl Keen extravaganza back in Houston a long, long time ago -- also the first time I saw Trish Murphy as a solo act and the first time I saw Ian Moore).
Now, Ricky plays a whole lot more Chuck Berry (and even Ray Charles) than Jack (who among other things overcame playing live in the movie "Hope Floats" but not being credited or even included on the movie sound track CD -- contract issues, I am told) -- but the honest Texas freshness and the respect for musicial forebears and the high energy on stage are very much a part of both musicians' repertoire. Who knows? Maybe Ricky will someday equal the output of another famous Texas journalist-songwriter who graduated from Klein High School more than a few years back.
Longtime mates Phil Morris (bass) and Nathaniel Klugman (Roland keyboard) were joined by drummer Josh Weinholt and guitar gunslinger Hunter St. Marie (a Galveston native now ensconced at Texas State - so thanks for the drive up the road), and the band did a fine job of filling in the spaces Ricky left for them to improvise. The songs ranged from full-tilt boogie woogie to Texas blues (Down and Out in Dallas, featuring Ricky on harp and Hunter on slide, was memorable) to oldies but goodies (Too Much Monkey Business, I Got a Woman, and - in quite a change of pace - I Shall Be Released) to a fine cover of Bill Davis' "Money on You."
My favorites, though, were a new original, "Every Step of the Way," which reminded me of Jerry Lee Lewis (thanks, Nathaniel!) and also was the number on which Hunter started really getting loose on stage, and "DC Blues," which just plain rocks! Ricky has announced plans for a debut CD to be produced by Texas Music Hall of Famer Freddie Steady Krc (and that ain't bad!). Ricky is playing Thursdays at the Hole for the foreseeable future (next week with Slowtrain, two weeks from now with Black Water Gospel), and may also be seen on Tuesday at Momo's.
Now back to The Lonesome Heroes. Brooklyn born and raised (and California educated) Austin transplant (thanks to Kerrville) Rich Russell met up with native Austinite Landry McMeans shortly after arriving in Texas, and the two have been making music together ever since (sometimes with other players, but this summer they traveled over 8,000 miles together and played as a duo, winning friends wherever they went). Landry said she kept her dobro in the case last night, but photos tell the story that she is more than just a lap steel and occasional guitar player and sweet singer. This night the band included Andy Garsea on standup bass and Sarah Millenary (aka Stalek?) on a fuzztoned fiddle that had a unique sound.
Listening to these guys, I conjured up tumbling tumbleweeds - and wondered how a kid from Brooklyn could sound like he was from deep west Texas and an earlier time around the campfires. The band did songs from their recent release, "Don't Play To Lose," and lots of other songs that may be included in an upcoming live recording planned for September 30 at Flipnotics (a do not miss occasion, to be sure!).
