2L April 00 Studio - Two Louies Magazine

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ing out her awesome postcard marketing her half
dozen appearances for that week. Manager/agent Eric
Mayers and publicist December Carson of Siren Music
Co. were on hand as were Toni Severe and Carlos
from Silkenseed. The funny part was Thrillbilly
frontman and poet J. Bowman lives in Austin now
and was tending bar that night. This threw all the
Portland folks for a loop. It was cool to see the Portland
crowd out and together in Austin and was a sign
of the strong and supportive Indie scene here in PDX.
I used to say that Grindstone is a great band for
their genre. After seeing these guys in Austin, I now
say Grindstone is a great rock band. I don’t know if
they are a bit more mainstream now or they chose to
have a more poppy set, but this band plays songs ready
for the airwaves. Even their visuals are ready for MTV.
Lead singer Lamar gets my best SxSW tattoo award,
and I can’t decide which was more beautiful, that jet
black thumping bass or those flat tummies on the
stage.
Sharing the same showcase and backline equipment
was Portland’s Pedro Luz. Guitarist Dan Meyers
was pumping out fabulous guitar riffs from his rented
amp and from my seat at the bar, frontman Mark
Booth can apparently jump up 10 feet from the
ground. Pedro had a killer set with their new rhythm
section lineup of California veteran drummer David
Currin and bassist Davy Hall formerly of Thrillbilly.
Camaro Hair showcased next door at SOHO
and played to a reasonably full room. The songs I
heard reminded me of the U2 Boy album. If anyone
sees the bass player from this band, ask him if he re-
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ally lost his tooth at the Austin ladies mud wrestling.
Portland was nicely represented by some other
great acts this year. Larry Yes was on a cool showcase
with John Cale. Also from Portland were; Lopez, and
Duane Jarvis who immediately followed 44 Long’s set.
New Wave Hookers and The Weaklings played the
same room one night. VI Foot Sloth and new to Portland
act, Fireballs of Freedom, also made the trip.
Portland rocker girls Anny Chelsea and Nicole
Campbell had Austin shows this week as well.
God bless the unsigned bands for braving the
trip to showcase. At Austin’s, SxSW,unlike Portland’s
NxNW, the focus is not simply getting unknown
bands some exposure. Every year, several of the major
labels have showcases to market their acts to all
the industry folks in town such as; press, retail, radio,
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management, promoters, attorneys etc. Examples
would be the Dreamworks evening with Elliott Smith
and Sam Coomes headlining, a Columbia Records
showcase featuring the Jayhawks, the Capitol Records
girls night, and the BMI night at the Austin Music
Hall, where several major Nashville acts were lined
up with country rock darlings from Whiskeytown and
Reckless Kelly. (The normally omnipresent Reckless
Kelly was relatively low profile this year. They were
in the studio mixing album # 3 all week and then left
on a month long tour before the conference was even
over.)
Other competition that out of town bands face
are those clubs which feature a line up all Austin
groups. Gaziillions of Austinites won’t pay the $95
for a wrist band, so they choose a show with a mess
of bands they know and park it all night. It is a misconception
that it is an industry packed room that
bands will play to. Sure, the industry people can pack
the rooms, but it is because somebody got them to go
there. It’s doubtful that the label guys just read what
a band says about itself in the conference catalog and
then show up. For an unsigned band, a SxSW showcase
is more an honor, is great press kit fodder and is
an opportunity to go to the school of rock and roll,
A.K.A. the conference panels. Certainly it’s tough to
showcase for an unknown, unsigned band from out
of the region, without anyone scaring up the industry
such as a manager or label. They just can’t compete.
What they can do is rock! And all the Portland
acts I saw did just that.
Some Portland acts dial it in and return year
after year. Pete Krebs, Richmond Fontaine and Brian
Berg are all returning veterans of SxSW. All three got
good press coverage this year in Austin, are rootsy and
rocking and fit in with the Austin music scene brilliantly.
The huge live music Austin consumer group,
including all those local musicians, will come to see
these acts over and over. These Portland artists are
also on the good side of the learning curve. The trip
to Texas becomes easier and richer each time because
they know where to get good tacos, where to rent gear,
who to call for pot, where the 24 hour food is, and
where the good South Austin parties are....
Stay tuned next month for more about the Flavor
of South Austin.
LL
TWO LOUIES, April 2000 - Page 11