Lucero's Roy Berry and Brian Venable Mugged in Augusta, GA, Berry Injured

3152_Lucero @ Quack Media day party, Red 7, SXSW 2009, originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike.

Unbelievable...Lucero drummer Roy Berry and lead guitarist Brian Venable were mugged last week after a show in Augusta, GA. Venable came out unharmed but Berry was suckerpunched and wound up with a broken jaw that had to be wired shut. "He is recovering from what would best be called a mugging," said Lucero manager Thaddeus Rudd, "and is home in Memphis recovering." Here's hoping he's feeling better soon.

As such, the band's Jackson, MS and Huntville, AL shows this weekend have been cancelled, but they are planning to reschedule at a later date. Rudd says Berry plans to rejoin the band for next week's run of shows in Tennessee. "They intend to fulfill next weekend's shows," he said.

Newly Identified Dinosaur Bird, Hollanda luceria Named for Lucero

First purveyors of truthiness now a cool rock band is dinosaurtastic! A newly discovered bird from the Late Cretaceous era has been partially named for Lucero. Closely resembling the modern Southern Screamer, Hollanda luceria may have also been ear-splitting with a "call that has been likened to a blaring trumpet and a stadium horn." Apparently too, it was a fast road-runner. Loud? With horns? Always on the road? Yup, that all sounds about right. Congrats guys!

During the Late Cretaceous, Mongolia's Gobi Desert was home to numerous dinosaurs, mammals and lizards. One of the most eye-catching, and possibly ear-splitting, residents was a newly identified bird.

The new species, which lived 71 to 75 million years ago, has been named Hollanda luceria, after the punk/country band Lucero and the Holland family, whose donations helped to support the research.

"Judging from the size of the hindlimb, Hollanda luceria most closely resembled the modern Southern Screamer," project leader Alyssa Bell, a researcher in the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, told Discovery News.

The modern Southern Screamer's call has been likened to a blaring trumpet and a stadium horn.

For the study, which will appear in the February issue of the journal Cretaceous Research, Bell and her team analyzed the bird's remains, which were originally found in the southern Gobi Desert in 1997.

Previous research on avian anatomy concluded that bones in the third toe reflect how much time the bird spent moving on the ground.

The scientists studied these bones and compared them with those of other birds. Bell said the data "shows that our new bird was most likely a ground-foraging bird like a roadrunner or a chucao, implying that it spent a great deal of its time foraging or hunting on the ground."

Other fossils excavated at the site reveal that the newly identified bird was part of an ecosystem consisting of dinosaurs, such as Protoceratops and Velociraptor, mammals, lizards and other birds, like waterfowl Teviornis and the large, clawed Gobipteryx.

Bell doesn't think H. luceria preyed upon dinosaur eggs, "as they would have been too large for the bird to swallow; however, it probably would have been an active hunter of the small lizards and mammals as well as insects that lived in the environment."

The presence of so much diverse wildlife in the Gobi region during the Late Cretaceous, along with geological studies, suggests that this area was once similar to the Channel Country of central Australia or to the Nebraska Sand Hills.

"Thus, Hollanda's environment would have consisted of sand dunes, which had been stabilized by a covering of vegetation, and a continuous water supply that formed shifting streams and ponds," she said. "This interpretation is very different from early research that saw the Late Cretaceous Gobi as a desert of shifting sand dunes and sand storms."

Gareth Dyke, a paleontologist at University College Dublin, told Discovery News that the new research "is interesting," in part because, "Hollanda has quite an unusual ecology and is also well-preserved."

"It has very long legs compared to other birds known from the time and, from this part of the world, shows that early in their evolutionary history birds had evolved a range of ecological adaptations like fast 'road running,'" he added.

Given the Mongolian bird's connection to a musical group, Bell said Lucero "now joins the ranks of artists such as Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel and Mozart in having a species named after them." [Source]

And So It Begins...Cheap Trick, Spoon Announce Headline Shows at SXSW 2010

It's early January and right on schedule, some acts have announced headlining shows for SXSW in March.

-3/17: NPR is opening the conference with their showcase at Stubbs; Spoon is headling. The show kicks off Spoon's US tour for their 1/19 release, Transference. (Transference is available for pre-order here.) As is usual with NPR, they will be broadcast, webcast, and podcasting the entire show. Hopefully a Britt Daniel acoustic show announcement somewhere won't be far behind...

NPR also announced today that they are streaming Transference now through 1/18 for free here.

-3/19: Legendary rockers Cheap Trick are headlining the Auditorium Shores Stage on Ladybird Lake with special guest, The BoDeans. The show will be free and open to the public.

And rumor has it that BL&L favorites The Hold Steady will not be making the trip south this year but Lucero will be, playing out at Ladybird Lake at some point during the week; here's hoping additional locations will be added!

In Case You're Trying to Find a Christmas Present for Ben Nichols...Cormac McCarthy Puts Long-Time Typewriter Up for Auction Friday

If you're wondering what to get that hard-to-buy-for bibliophile this holiday season, or want to get Lucero frontman Ben Nichols a present, we may have found you the perfect gift. The NY Times reports that Cormac McCarthy, author of such acclaimed books like Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, and The Crossing is putting the Olivetti typewriter he wrote every one of his books on up for auction on Friday. A personalized authenication letter will accompany it.

Cormac McCarthy has written more than a dozen novels, several screenplays, two plays, two short stories, countless drafts, letters and more — and nearly every one of them was tapped out on a portable Olivetti manual typewriter he bought in a Knoxville, Tenn., pawnshop around 1963 for $50.

Lately this dependable machine has been showing irrevocable signs of age. So after his friend and colleague John Miller offered to buy him another, Mr. McCarthy agreed to auction off his Olivetti Lettera 32 and donate the proceeds to the Santa Fe Institute, a nonprofit interdisciplinary scientific research organization with which both men are affiliated.

“He found another one just like this,” a portable Olivetti that looks practically brand new, Mr. McCarthy said from his home in New Mexico. “I think he paid $11, and the shipping was about $19.95.”

Mr. McCarthy, 76, has won a wagon-full of honors including a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award and the MacArthur Foundation’s so-called genius grant. Books like “Blood Meridian,” “All the Pretty Horses” and “The Crossing” have propelled him to the top ranks of American fiction writers.

Even nonreaders are familiar with his storytelling since his two most recently published novels, “No Country for Old Men” and the 2007 Pulitzer winner “The Road,” have been made into movies. (“No Country” won best picture and three other Oscars last year.)

Christie’s, which plans to auction the machine on Friday, estimated that it would fetch between $15,000 and $20,000. Mr. McCarthy wrote an authentication letter — typed on the Olivetti, of course — that states:

“It has never been serviced or cleaned other than blowing out the dust with a service station hose. ... I have typed on this typewriter every book I have written including three not published. Including all drafts and correspondence I would put this at about five million words over a period of 50 years.”

Speaking from his home in Santa Fe, Mr. McCarthy said he mistakenly thought that the typewriter was bought in 1958; it was actually a few years later. He had a Royal previously, but before he went off to Europe in the early 1960s, he said, “I tried to find the smallest, lightest typewriter I could find.”

Mr. McCarthy is known for being taciturn, particularly about his writing. He came to realize that not only his working method but even his tools are puzzling to a younger generation.

He remembers one summer when some graduate students were visiting the Santa Fe Institute. “I was in my office clacking away,” he said. “One student peered in and said: ‘Excuse me. What is that?’ ”

“I don’t have some method of working,” he said, adding that he often works on different projects simultaneously. A few years ago, when he was in Ireland, “I worked all day on four different projects,” he said. “I worked two hours on each. I got a lot done, but that’s not usual.”

Glenn Horowitz, a rare-book dealer who is handling the auction for Mr. McCarthy, said: “When I grasped that some of the most complex, almost otherworldly fiction of the postwar era was composed on such a simple, functional, frail-looking machine, it conferred a sort of talismanic quality to Cormac’s typewriter. It’s as if Mount Rushmore was carved with a Swiss Army knife.”

Preview Notes on the Lucero Show @ 930 Club (10-15-09)

I'm catching a flight home in a few hours to catch a ultra rare appearance on the other coast by The Parson Red Heads. With Red Cortez, The Henry Clay People, and The Airborne Toxic at Northern Lights in Clifton Park, NY. Short of being at Spaceland in LA a few years ago, I'm pleasantly shocked that I'm getting to see a lineup like that.

But I wanted to just drop a note and say...the 500+ photos and review of the Red Cortez, The Henry Clay People, and The Airborne Toxic's DC stop should be up this weekend, as will the photos/review from last night's Lucero show at the 930. A few quick notes on the latter:

-Ben's Nichols voice is pretty ragged out. I thought it might have been due to a cold or something but I found out after that they'd been practicing like 6-8 hours a day for like a week prior to the tour to get the horns up to speed. And Nichols, "who doesn't take care of himself anyway" (says Brian Venable), shot his voice. Anyone seeing them this show, seeing them earlier than later might be better.

-Nichols was drinking water (I know, shocking) but there was whiskey shots being brought up around all sides of me that he was drinking.

-Stand in the back of whatever venue you go to see them in order to hear the horns the best. I commented to their steel pedal player Todd Beene after about how hard it was to hear the horns where I was up front and he said, 'Yeah, the horns were put through the mains so the sound carries. If you're up front, it's not as much." He said he had a hard time hearing them in his monitor, and he was right in front of them.

-FYI: horns were worked into their older tracks and boy, are they niiiiice. They aren't onstage for the entire show though.

Oh and speaking of Lucero, if you're in Baltimore, MD tonight, be sure to catch The Revival Tour 2009 at Sonar. Lucero's buddy Chuck Ragan and the awesome Jim Ward are among the large group of performers.

Earotica:1372 Overton Park-Lucero Review

With fall here, music writers are starting to ponder the choices for their lists of best new releases of the year. The more I think about mine, the more I can't see another record coming close to Lucero's latest, 1372 Overton Park which dropped yesterday.

Why?

Every other release I've listened to this year, after a few listens, I feel like I've heard all it has to say. While there may be a couple standout songs that stay with me, there’s not enough to keep me listening to it in full. However, 1372 is busting with 12 songs that will all most definitely stay with you, that will lure you in with their catchy sounds and keep you wanting to hear them over and over. And each time you hear it, you’ll discover something new that will make you fall in love just a little more. Be it one of lead guitarist Brian Venable’s great guitar hooks, the enthusiastic “Yeah, Yeah!” ad-lib in many of the songs by lead singer/guitarist Ben Nichols, or any of the horn arrangements from the legendary Memphis sax player Jim Spake, 1372 is a record that swirls and swings with wild abandon; so just try to resist the urge to dance.

"Wait, horns on a Lucero record," you ask? Yes, Virginia, there are horns and they provide the perfect complement to Lucero’s brand of country-fried punk. 1372 is like a celebration of love to all the ways Memphis has impacted Lucero’s music. From horns and bluesy keyboard riffs to the soul-tinged rock songs with gospel back up singers and the ghost of Elvis hovering nearby ("1372 Overton Park" in Memphis is actually the address of the band’s long-time practice space/residence that served as a karate dojo back in the day when Elvis Presley took lessons there), 1372 is so Memphis that it should have come packaged with a sample of Corky’s Smokin’ Hot.

As I listened through for the Nth time, something else struck me: Ben Nichols’s singing and songwriting have really gone up a level on this record. When I interviewed Nichols awhile back, we talked about his famous gravel –and-cigarettes timber and he said he’s noticed his voice has become stronger over the last 10 years with Lucero. It really shows on 1372, there’s a lot more clarity of Nichols' voice within the raspy growl. Maybe it was the result of writing songs around characters from a famous novel, but Nichols’ songwriting for this record has become much more emotional and alliterative, paying a name-check homage to loves (Replacements records) and likes (“The Devil And Maggie Chascarillo” is from Los Bros Hernandez’s Love And Rockets comics series). The songs are so visually described that you can’t help but picture the scenes he sets in your head, like mini-musical vignettes. And if you see the band live, keep an ear out for a great song that didn't make 1372, "Lonesome Dogtown Nights."

1372 is Lucero’s sixth release and their first since 2006’s Rebels, Rogues, and Sworn Brothers. During that time, members have had children, houses have been purchased, new members have been added, and big labels came a’calling. Is this a more mature Lucero? Probably not, I mean, this is Lucero after all. But maybe it is a Lucero who’s been able to find a happy medium between its road dog side and its hometown side, and celebrate the hell out of where they’re from and who they are now.

Give a Listen:
-The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo-Lucero
-Lonesome Dogtown Nights (live at Ottobar, Bmore, MD, 2-5-09)-Lucero

(Lucero's 'Memphis Revue & Ramblin Roadshow' tour kicks off tomorrow with a free show in Memphis, TN. See the rest of the dates here.)

Seen Your Video: "Darken My Door," First Video Off Lucero's 1372 Overton Park Released

Lucero's first release in three years, 1372 Overton Park, comes out 10/6, and from already seeing many of the tracks performed live, I can assure you it's going to be an amazing listen. Tour dates for the 'Ramblin Roadshow and Memphis Revue' as the tour is called, start back up in earnest on 10/9, and best of all, shows will include a full horn section onstage, something they've never done before! (See the list of tour dates here).

In anticipation of Overton's release, the band held a little contest for fans to make and submit videos for each of the new tracks, and the first one, "Darken My Door," was released last week. It's...interesting... to say the least, and includes one seriously messed up and brokenhearted puppet. Something really neat about it though is that a lot (maybe all?) was filmed in and around DC; keep your eyes peeled for landmarks like Ben's Chili Bowl, the National Mall, and what I'm pretty sure is the upstairs bar of the Black Cat.

Darken My Door from Lucero on Vimeo.

Hey Darlin, Do You Gamble? Townes Van Zandt Documentary "Be Here to Love Me" Available Online

If you haven't yet paid a visit, you must head over and explore the Snagfilms site. It has a plethora of great indie films from all different genres that you can watch online for free, including Dig!, the documentary about the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols, and Black, White and Gray,a history of the relationship between photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and his benefactor lover Sam Wagstaff.

One of its absolutely stellar adds though has to be Be Here to Love Me, a documentary on the great singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Van Zandt is one of those cult figures whose name not everyone knows but whose musical influence is felt and generated by musicians far and wide, everyone from Lucero to Sonic Youth to Willie Nelson.

I got to thinking about this documentary again this weekend after hearing a gorgeous acoustic version of "Hey Darlin Do You Gamble" by Lucero's Ben Nichols and Rick Steff (a full band version of the track will be on their forthcoming release,1372 Overton Park this October). The title of "Hey Darlin" comes from the line Van Zandt actually used to pick up his third wife and kudos to Nichols for using it. Van Zandt's music and lyrics are those you just feel and have a way of getting in your blood; given the Van Zandt's life story, I think it's because you know the man wrote what he lived. Like a good biography, those are the stories that always resonate the deepest.

Give a Listen: Hey Darlin Do You Gamble (acoustic)-Ben Nichols and Rick Steff of Lucero

Fall Tour Dates Announced for Lucero's 'Ramblin' Roadshow and Memphis Revue'

As we reported recently Lucero's sixth release, 1372 Overton Park comes out October 6 (presale info and a cool 6-song sampler with your order can be found here). The good news is that the new tracks are white hot, with horns and female backup singers; frankly, it’s like they decided to couple some of the best aspects of Memphis and its music with their own fab style of sodden and whiskey-soaked cowpunk.

We also mentioned fall tour dates were about to be released. What makes it even cooler is that this tour, coined the “Ramblin' Roadshow and Memphis Revue,” will have Amy Lavere and Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcom along for the ride through many of the October dates. LaVere, who was in $5 Cover with Ben Nichols, plays stand-up bass with a lilting voice, one that makes her songs of crimes of passion surreal but captivating. If their Myspace URL of “JukeJointDuo" is any indication, Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcom will bring quite the rhythm and blues tie-in. Burnside is the grandson country blues singer R.L. Burnside and Malcom is a skilled blues multi-instrumentalist in his own right. All in all, should make for a right proper way to remotely introduce anyone unfamiliar to the “birthplace of the blues.” Now if they could only hold a pig picking in every club’s parking lot too…

Give a Listen:
The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo-Lucero (live, Ottobar, Baltimore, MD (2-5-09) (Read our review of that show here)
Killing Him-Amy LaVere

09/05/09, F Yeah Fest, Los Angeles, CA
09/06/09, Red Dirt Round Up, Ft. Worth, TX
09/10/09, The Blue Note, Columbia, MO
09/11/09, The Crossroads, Kansas City, MO
09/12/09, Arkansas Music Pavilion, Fayetteville, AR
09/17/09, Canopy Club/Pygmalion Music Fest, Urbana, IL
09/18/09, DIY Street Fair, Ferndale, MI
09/19/09, Rumba Café, Columbus, OH
10/09/09, Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, TN
10/10/09, The Masquerade , Atlanta, GA
10/11/09, The Pour House, Charleston, SC
10/13/09, Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC
10/14/09, The National, Richmond, VA
10/15/09, 930, Washington, DC
10/16/09, Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia, PA
10/17/09, Webster Hall, New York, NY
10/18/09, Middle East (Downstairs), Cambridge, MA
10/20/09, Lee's Palace, Toronto, ON
10/21/09, Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
10/22/09, Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
10/23/09, Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN
10/26/09, Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins, CO
10/27/09, Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
10/29/09, Crocodile Café, Seattle, WA
10/30/09, Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR
11/01/09, Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA
11/04/09, The Casbah, San Diego, CA
11/05/09, The Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ
11/07/09, Longhorn Saloon, Fort Worth, TX
11/08/09, Fun Fun Fun Fest, Austin, TX
11/09/09, Meridian, Houston, TX
11/10/09, Alabama Music Box, Mobile, AL
11/12/09, Club Downunder, Tallahassee, FL
11/13/09, Czar, Tampa, FL
11/14/09, The Social, Orlando, FL
11/15/09, Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine, FL
11/17/09, Visulite Theater, Charlotte, NC
11/18/09, 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
11/19/09, Valarium, Knoxville, TN
11/20/09, The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
11/21/09, Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, KY

New Lucero Album Presale Starts Wednesday

Our favorite drink-till-we're-gone band from Memphis, Lucero, is starting a presale tomorrow for their upcoming release, 1372 Overton Park, due out officially in October. The neat part is that, much like lead singer Ben Nichols solo release, The Last Pale Light in the West, they're offering an immediate digital download of some of the new record's songs if you purchase the record via presale. Want to make sure you like the record before buying? They're streaming it in full here (requires Quicktime application).

Lucero will be touring for 1372 Overton Park this fall.

Memphis Musicians Starring in MTV's "$5 Cover," Debuts Today

Lucero will be starring in MTV's new show $5 Cover, which premieres today. The series, directed by "Hustle and Flow" writer-director, Craig Brewer captures the lives of Memphis musicians.

Part reality show, part indie cinema, "$5 Cover" will be aired on MTV and here. The main Web component of the series offers 15 digital episodes, each six or seven minutes long, only loosely chronological, that follow the romantic entanglements and career ups and downs of a group of Memphis musicians as they haunt bars, clubs and cafes. MTV will air a half-hour packaged version of three episodes each week during a five-week run on the network.

From the website:

All of the characters play themselves and perform their own music. Each episode builds to an exciting performance or recording session captured on location. The dialogue is improvised and the scenes come straight from the lives of artists and bands struggling to make a mark on their scene.

MTV five dollar cover Trailer (HD)


More detailed write up from the LA Times here

Lucero Tour Dates, Debut Record for Universal Out This Fall

Memphis-based rockers Lucero have made a name for themselves as the hardest working band in indie rock. They’ll continue this work ethic with a two-month U.S. tour this spring. Opening acts include Titus Andronicus, Black Joe Lewis, and Chuck Ragan. Lucero will be playing tracks from their highly-anticipated major-label (Universal) debut. The album, to be released this fall, sees the band making a true Memphis-inspired record, with local luminaries adding horns to over half the tracks.

Tour Dates
4/10: Chicago, IL, Metro*
4/11: Detroit, MI, The Magic Stick*
4/12: Toronto, ONT, Horseshoe Tavern*
4/14: Buffalo, NY, The Mohawk Place*
4/15: Northampton, MA. Pearl Street Clubroom*
4/16: Boston, MA, The Paradise*
4/17: Philadelphia, PA, First Unitarian Church *
4/18: Brooklyn, NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg*
4/19: Washington, DC, The Black Cat*
4/21: Charlottesville, VA, Outback Lodge*
4/22: Morgantown, WV, 123 Pleasant Street*
4/23: Newport, KY, Southgate House*
4/24: Indianapolis, IN, Radio Radio*
4/25: Louisville, KY, Headliner's*
5/6: Baton Rouge, LA, Spanish Moon
5/7: Houston, TX, Walters on Washington ^
5/8: Austin, TX, Emo’s Outside ^
5/9: Fort Worth, TX, The Longhorn ^
5/10: Lubbock, TX, Bash's #2 (In the Depot) ^
5/12: Phoenix, AZ, The Rhythm Room ^
5/13: Solana Beach, CA, The Belly Up Tavern ^
5/14: Long Beach, CA, Alex's Bar ^
5/15: Los Angeles, CA, The Troubadour ^
5/16: San Francisco, CA, Slims ^
5/17: Santa Cruz, CA, Rio Theatre ^
5/19: Sacramento, CA, Harlow's ^
5/21: Portland, OR, Hawthorne Theatre ^
5/22: Seattle, WA, Tractor Tavern ^
5/23: Vancouver, BC, The Biltmore ^
5/24: Bellingham, WA, The Wild Buffalo ^
5/26: Boise, ID, The Bouquet ~
5/27: Salt Lake City, UT, Urban Lounge ~
5/28: Aspen, CO, The Belly Up Aspen ~
5/29: Denver, CO, The Bluebird Theater ~
5/30: Boulder, CO, The Fox Theatre ~
6/2: Omaha, NE, Waiting Room ~
6/3: Minneapolis, MN, Varsity Theater ~
6/4: Iowa City, IA, The Picador ~
6/5: Tupelo, MS, The Tupelo Elvis Festival
6/6: Ozark, AR, Wakarusa

* Titus Andronicus support
^ Black Joe Lewis support 5/7 – 5/24
~ Chuck Ragan supports 5/26 – 6/4

Show Review: Lucero @ Ottobar, Baltimore, MD (2-5-09)

At one point during Lucero’s recent show at the Ottobar in Baltimore, MD, lead singer/guitarist Ben Nichols commented how tired they all were as they had driven up from Nashville. But "tired" was the last adjective anyone would use for this Lucero show. They went on to play a hard 90 minutes, doing what they do best, tearing up the floorboards and shaking the rafters.



With them this night was pedal steel player Tom Beam and accordion/keyboard player Rick Steff. Steff and Beam backed up Nichols on his recent solo record, The Last Pale Light in the West. “We normally get one or the other so it’s cool to have both of them tonight,” said Nichols.

(Todd Beam)

(Rick Steff)

Beam's interaction with the band, especially Nichols, was great to watch because it's obvious they all have a great time together. During my interview with Nichols back in November, he commented how every member of Lucero has the Lucero insignia tattoo, including Beam.



The full band played a majority of the time but Nichols came out towards the end for a set of his songs from The Last Pale Light with Beam and Steff. They played two new songs, one with the full band and one during Nichols' solo set. Of the two, I can't say I liked the full band piece as much the pared down presentation. While I give props to Lucero for covering an Irishman as bad ass as Phil Lynott, I've never been a big fan of a lot of his music so a “rip off of Thin Lizzy,” as Nichols called the new full band song, fell sort of in the same "not so much" category.





But the other new song was beautiful. Played by Nichols during his five to eight song solo set with Beam and Steff backing, it's one of those great songs of longing and loneliness that Nichols seems to pen so well. “We did this only once before, in Nashville,” said Nichols. Group consensus was that it's called “The Other Side."

(By the way, if you have not purchased The Last Pale Light yet, I highly recommend it. It's this lush compilation that's deceptive in its structural simplicity. There's no fancy guitar wizardry or complex Dylan-esque lyrics that describe its inspiration, Cormac McCarthy's novel, Blood Meridian, it's a set of seven songs about characters in the book using many of the exact phrases and words that McCarthy wrote. These lyrics, paired with keyboard, accordian, acoustic and steel pedal guitar, take a story filled with, quoting Nichols, "gnarly violence," and make them into seven songs of calming and blinding, but somber, beauty. Toadvine is one of these, which Nichols said he wrote in his bedroom. "It's a hard song to sing at a rock show," he said.



Picking it back up with the sure-to-please-the-crowd number, “All Sewn Up,” you couldn't help but come back up with them. A rollicking ball of punkabilly, the band tore into it with vigor. At one point, it was a case of dueling pianos with Beam and Steff (on keyboards), and wound up an all-out musicial brawl.

This is a band that knows its audience came to see them, all sewn up with bad tattoos in full, and no amount of tired was going to stop that. Most of the night, they were taking requests from the audience in addition to their regular set list. “You don’t realize this is a finely timed machine up here, down to a science,” said Nichols as he wore a wry grin and tapped a non-existent watch.






Covers included Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers, a punked-version of Dirty Old Town by The Pogues, Kiss the Bottle by Jawbreaker, and possibly a Charlie Daniels song (or maybe it was just a song that sounded like a Charlie Daniels song, none of us could tell...)





As the band filed back out for the encore, lead guitarist Brian Venable took a seat behind drummer Roy Barry's drum kit and started to play...



...and soon the rest of the band started to follow. Barry decided fair was fair, and picked up Venable's guitar. “He’s been doing this for 11 years and this is the first time he’s been able to do this,” said Nichols of Barry switching instruments.



In the end, everyone was exhausted, the band, the audience, the bartenders...but it was that happy sort of exhausted one gets at the end of a Lucero show. You never know what you'll see or what you'll get at one of their shows, but dog-tired or not, Lucero is a band that makes sure you walk away from it a convert. A Lucero show, my friends, defines what makes a live show fun.

(See the rest of the Lucero show photos here.)

Listen:
-Toadvine-Ben Nichols/Purchase
-All Sewn Up-Lucero/Purchase

(Lucero is currently out on tour throughout the country (see dates here). Ben Nichols will be opening for The Pogues (!!) at their sold out shows here in Washington, DC on March 17 and 18. If you're heading to SXSW, they're playing, well, all over the place. Check the SXSW schedule for details.)

SXSW 2009 News...

Music news for your day party/night show schedules at this year's SXSW Music. No idea on specifics like place or time yet but will post as soon as I hear more...

--Rhett Miller playing an acoustic set...of covers?



I spoke to hip-swinger extraordinaire Rhett Miller after his recent show here in DC (photos forthcoming, honest!), and given the New West day party last year completely changed my SXSW outlook, I had to ask if Miller and the Old 97s were slated to play again this year. He said he will be playing a solo acoustic set at SX in support of his new album that drops that week (3/16). It's a live record, of covers in fact, recorded at Largo in Los Angeles. Covered artists include Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel ("Homeward Bound," he said), and...wait for it...Michael Buble (which confused me because I thought Buble's whole career was him singing covers...) Ah, but whatever, it's Rhett Miller singing, the man could sing the phone book and every female would swoon...

Hopefully we'll also get some of the material from his new solo record he said is coming in June, and the new Old 97s record that will follow later this year.

--Lucero joining The Hold Steady and Airborne Toxic Event at Rachel Ray's shindig...



I also had a few words about Lucero's SXSW plans this year with frontman Ben Nichols after a recent show. Lucero is playing a night show at Dirty Dog Bar but they are also playing Rachel Ray's day party this year along with The Hold Steady and The Airborne Toxic Event! As Ben sang on the latest Hold Steady record, I'd say that makes a good possibility of some intermingling onstage, you know?

--Daniel Johnston possibly...



Via the very nice people over at High Wire Music who handle Johnston, he'll be doing a night show and perhaps grace us during the day in a couple of places.

In other notes...

-- Seems PJ Harvey is heading down for a show on Saturday March 21st.

--SILVERSUN PICKUPS WAS ADDED! SSPU's new record Swoon drops 4/14 so hit their SX show early, it's going to be mobbed.

Four New Lucero Tour Dates Announced

The fabulous Lucero will be back in the studio for their follow up to "Rebels, Rogues, and Sworn Brothers" come early 2009. They announced yesterday they'll be back on the road (briefly) for two shows in December and two in February 2009.

12/12/08 - Portland, OR @ Berbatis Pan
12/13/08 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
2/6/09 + 2/7/09 - NYC, NY @ Terminal 5 (with The Black Keys and Heartless Bastards)

Look for Between Love and Like's interview with Ben Nichols next week.

"Rock and Roll Spring Break," or My First Time at SXSW (Day 3 cont)

(Day 3 begins here)




DAY 3 (continued)

7. Portastatic
Portastatic is the prolific side project of Mac McCaughan, whom you may also know as one of the main guys in Superchunk. I'd heard of him from that but more so because my dear friend Margaret White, fiddle-player extraordinaire and all around great dame, played fiddle for them over the years (and Cat Power...and The Comas...and 66489685 other bands). Margaret said she wasn't playing SX this year but that Mac was playing an acoustic set and to go check him out, which I did as the first slot of the Merge Records showcase at the Parish.

Now, I'd heard of Portastatic but not *heard* them, and I was pleased to find the same great quirky pop lyrics of love and yearning that permeate so many of Superchunk's songs. McCaughan started out with a Doug Sahm cover that I think is called "Live in Texas Anymore" (I think). Which was a weird kismit as I was finishing up the book Learning How to Die, a book about Wilco and the band that led up to Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, which is how I first heard of Sahm because he played and sang on one of my most favorite Tupelo songs, Give Back the Key to My Heart. (WHEW, that was a long sentence.) So in addition to writing great stuff, I had to give big props to Mac for having stellar choice in covers.

It's tough work I think to command a large room with an acoustic guitar, but McCaughan did it beautifully. Later on I picked up a few Portastatic cds and found it was a full band. Of the two, I think I liked the acoustic more...something about stripped down music with fab lyrics that just gets me...but that's just me. But if like Superchunk but none of the fuzzy guitars, or just dig something acoustic that's smart lyrically with edgy pop sensibilities, I highly recommend checking Portastatic out.

Download: Getting Saved-Portastatic.mp3 (MP3)

8. Driving By Night
In trying to learn from my previous mistakes due to misjudging the distance in between venues, I tried to make the next three bands in the general vicinity of each other (my mama didn't raise a dumb girl you know...). I ran late leaving the Parish after Portastatic so I was only able to catch a few songs from Driving by Night. I really liked their submitted mp3, and they're out of Belfast so you know, the cute Irish boy factor which is always a plus. What came to mind upon hearing the lead singer was a more ethereal version of Julian Casablancas of the Strokes. Song wise, and you'll prolly be like, "Are you high?" but think Arcade Fire meets Big Country....no really. Now, I've never seen Arcade Fire, Big Country, or the Strokes live, and I'm pretty sure I've heard that Julian Casablancas just stands around on stage, but that's more animated than DBN was....But hopefully they're a young band so maybe that will change. But the music, of that I liked what I heard.

Download: Fears of Men-Driving by Night (MP3)

9. Mario Matteoli
While the boys were off seeing Chris Mills, I decided to go check out this guy whose mp3 I loved, Mario Matteoli. I knew nothing about him so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was, in a word, rather shocked but not in a bad way: the mp3 was quiet; at Lambert’s, he was playing with a full band doing a bluesy stomp….think Professor Longhair meets Whiskeytown’s Faithless Street, with a trombone and a kick ass drummer (no offense Skillet heh). I’d read later on Matteoli's website that he often plays solo or with a band called The Weary Boys, so I’m guessing that's who I was seeing. (Although based on this photo here, the band at Lamberts had other members so who the hell knows…Matteoli’s an Austin local, so maybe he just grabbed a bunch of folks and said, “Let’s play”….) I’d book this guy for my backyard in July and throw a party, or use his music for a long drive up US 1 in California, it just sounds like summer to me. Matteoli’s lyrics are reminiscent of Ryan Adams-full of guitar-driving melancholy and observations from a bar stool perch. Of course I can’t put my hands on it, but they did an incredible song that I think was called, “You Follow Yours/I’ll Follow Mine.”

The one downside to the performance was that the space upstairs at Lamberts was small. Matteoli’s electric guitar player was fond of shredding solos, which, while showing his talent, did nothing for the ear drums in a place that small. Much like bag pipes, some things should be done over a hill and far away.

Download: United Nations - Mario Matteoli (MP3)

10. Watershed
John, Sean, and I reunited for Watershed at this scary little place called “Wave” (aquatics-themed, it’s layout was like a long bowling alley. It also had an upstairs and for some reason, they chose to place the band right next to the stairway for a nice clogging of people trying to get upstairs to see a different band).

Watershed is a great bar band with tons of energy and very catchy songs. My first thoughts were that they had a cool straight-ahead rock sound in the tradition of Cheap Trick meets Dash Rip Rock. Much like Dash, these guys are funny as hell onstage while rocking the place (the lead singer goofing on Paul Stanley of Kiss was worth the price of admission alone). This band has been around awhile, still making fans outside of the Midwest one show at a time I’m sure, but they’re really, really good at it, and really, really talented musicians.

Later, I discovered my ears were dead on in my initial assessment: their Midwest sound is because, like Cheap Trick, they are out of the Midwest (Cleveland, OH), and Dash Rip Rock, another band of road dogs, have long played many shows with them over the years. In fact, I got talking with the lead singer afterwards and when I mentioned I’d never heard Watershed before but how I immediately though of Dash, he damn near fell over in shock, and was super-psyched to hear it. He’d said DRR are basically their big brothers and mentors, and Bill Davis, DRR leader, really helped them along over the years, so the comparison was awesome to hear.

What was it Bono said in that movie, “Rattle and Hum,” “All I need is my red guitar, the three cords and the truth”? That’s these guys in a nutshell (minus the Bono-pomposity of course.)

Download: Obvious-Watershed (MP3)

11. Nicole Adkins
I made it a point to see Nicole Adkins because a friend whose taste I respect saw her in Boston and raved, raved, raved. She wasn't really what I expected; I guess I was thinking she would be more bluesy ala Marcia Ball....but Adkins is all driving pop. She reminded me of an early Chrissie Hynde for some reason...maybe it was the bangs...but her voice is like syrup, smooth and sweet, and goes over you like lapping waves. There is a rather interesting quality to her voice and then it hit me: She's like a female Jeff Buckley.

Overall, I enjoyed her, and her band was great (although the mix for the lead guitar was WAY too jarring...jarring like dogs nearby were howling jarring). The show was crowded so Adkins' name is definitely out there. Rather odd venue for a rock show though...couches...bottle service....weird. And I was really glad I had sprung for a badge versus a wrist band once I saw the line (and at one point, this guy in the wristband line was complaining how "wristbands should have some merit" as badges got to go in first, and should the place be at capacity, wristband holders may not get in at all. Sure badges are expensive but for the three things a wristband holder gets shut out of, there's a bunch they get into as well, which is pretty good considering they paid $150 and we paid $600. And even with a badge, I got shut out of Nada Surf AND missed the first four Lucero songs, so you just gotta roll with it I guess).

Download: Party’s Over–Nicole Adkins (MP3)

12. Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin seems to play DC so much that I thought they were from here (and yet, I'd never seen them previously). But I'd heard they were decent so I decided to finally catch them halfway across the country. They started late, and I had a date with Lucero in 20 minutes, so I only got to catch a couple of songs, but I dug them...which is saying a lot because they were playing in Habanna Calle’s basement, the Bermuda Triangle for band vocals. Yeltsin's members looks like they’re 12 but they rock like they’re 40, especially the drummer. These guys are guitar-driven power pop with really good hooks.

Boris Yeltsin also played the Paste/Stereogum showcase at Volume earlier in the day (where I saw The Weakerthans and part of The Whigs set). That's where I had intended on seeing Boris Yeltsin but remember how I told you how the depths of hell were cooler than Volume that day? Yeah, so thankfully they played someplace else. (However, NPR endured the heat and produced a copy of Yeltsin's Paste/Stereogum show here).

Download: Glue Girls--Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (MP3)

13. Lucero
For the first time all trip, I got stuck in a line waiting outside a venue due to overcrowding, even though I had a badge. John and Sean had ditched any 9:30 act to go to Red Eye Fly early for just this reason. While I could hear some of the songs from the outside, it was KILLING me because for one reason or another, I’d always missed DC Lucero dates.

Lucero cites their influences as The Pogues, Springsteen, and The Replacements, among others...so the perfect band for me essentially, as those are three of my all-time favorites (remind me to tell you about the time I got to slow dance with Westerberg). Plus, lead singer Ben Nichols is hot as hell, which always helps, and has a songwriting style similar to Paul Westerberg. His vocal style well...imagine Tom Waits gargling with razors before going onstage, that’s about what Nichols sounds like.

Apparently, Lucero also shares a hard drinkin lifestyle like the Westerberg and the 'Mats too. That’s why I laughed when I ran across this quote recently: “Lucero….is the sound of the Replacements, 20 years later, a little more sober, and from Memphis instead of Minneapolis.” I think "slightly more sober" is up for interpretation, or the author of said quote has never seen Lucero's live show. At the Red Eye Fly show, Nichols was barely standing and admittedly obliterated...and this wasn’t the worst shape my friends had seen the band in (though usually it's the members falling down, not Nichols). I was really enjoying the show and slacking a bit on note taking, but John captured some essential quotes from the stage and the overall essence perfectly, so I'll defer to his take:

I’ve been a fan of Lucero for some time now (having first seen them at South-by a few years back), and while I’ve seen them in various states of inebriation, I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing Ben Nichols, their fearless leader, utterly bombed onstage. Until this night, that is.

It’s funny ‘cause Nichols walked into the club right behind me and, upon recognizing him, I took the opportunity to ask if they might be adding a D.C. date to their Spring tour And while the answer was “not in the spring, but probably summer,” it was the rest of the conversation that proved most prophetic. Nichols went on to say that they’d played a party early in the afternoon and “that was a mistake, ‘cause we’ve been drinking since 1 … so we’ll try to be good.” I countered that there seemed to be little cause for concern given the various states of drunkenness in which I’d seen the band play –and acquit themselves admirably– in the past. Nichols appreciated the encouragement, but clearly seemed less certain of their abilities on this particular night.

Upon taking the stage a short while later, the first words Nichols uttered were, “SXSW stresses me the fuck out…goddamn.” Then the set took off like a rocket with an opening threesome including “That Much Further West,” “I Can Get us Out of Here Tonight,” and their scorching take on Jawbreaker’s “Kiss the Bottle.” Three songs later, following a raucous performance of “Tonight Ain’t Gonna be Good,” Nichols explained to the crowd, “I’m way too drunk to play this … let’s play something easy.” In response to a shouted request for “All Sewn Up,” Nichols agreed, “that’s cool,” but following a somewhat shambling version, he quipped, “we need to play an easier one, don’t we?”

A few songs later in the set, an honest-to-god mosh pit broke out during “Tears Don’t Matter Much,” which was, admittedly, extremely cool to see at a Lucero show. Following that always-cathartic song was “Drink ‘Til We’re Gone,” after which Nichols helpfully explained, “this is what I play like drunk. Rest of my band? Sober. Me? Hammered.”

Nichols went on to apologize, saying that if there were any representatives of influential record labels present, it was all his fault. At which point, one wag in the crowd shouted out, “if you play ‘The War,’ I’ll sign you!” By now, the rest of the band had packed it in, but Nichols was still strapped and, with a wry grin, launched into a solo electric version of the requested song. And he even made it through two full verses before packing it in himself, explaining, “it’d be worse if I played the rest of it … I’m done. I like Austin, but … this is tough on me.”

And that concluded the highlight of my Friday night. If you’re wondering how such a sloppy, damn-the-torpedoes drunken performance could be the highlight of a night filled with (other) great bands performing soberly and without any handicap … well, have I mentioned that the Replacements are my all-time favorite band?

Afterwards, I spoke to the lead guitarist briefly, and told him how I was going to review this first show of mine for my site, to which he began to apologize profusely about how bad it was. I said, "No, no, really, it was fantastic, I'm a huge 'Mats fan.." and before I could finish my sentence he said, "Oh thank god," which cracked me up.

Here is a rough interview with Nichols the next day with the kids from Muzzle of Bees


Long story short: Do not miss these guys if you ever get the chance to see them live if you love music in any way, shape, or form. The show may go off the rails, but I promise you, you'll enjoy every minute of it.

Download: Kiss the Bottle--Lucero (MP3)
Download: Tears Don’t Matter Much--Lucero (MP3)

Day 3, Total Bands Seen: 13

Day 4 coming up...

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SXSW, Day 1/Part 1
SXSW, Day 1/Part 2
SXSW, Day 2/Part 1
SXSW, Day 2/Part 2
SXSW, Day 3/Part 1