Your backstage pass to the DFW music scene and beyond.
-- Before I dive into the odds and ends of the day (and Friday), a few words about the spectacular Doug Burr/Telegraph Canyon/Tim Locke gig at the Modern on Valentine's Day.
Simply put -- gorgeous from beginning to end, but definitely peaking with Burr's complete run-through of The Shawl. The richly textured walls of sound that accompany Burr's nimble recitations of Psalms were staggering in person; from the impromptu choir to the goosebump-inducing pedal steel, it was a night to remember. Take a bow, everyone.
-- I was off Friday and therefore missed posting a lot of music happenings ... first up, Ben Rogers sent over a link for the latest One Hundred Second Dash compilation. This second volume, as with the first, was curated by Rogers and Eaton Lake Tonics' Tony Ferraro and it's a beaut. It's available for free download right here.
Littered with top-shelf bands (including Clint Niosi, RTB2, Telegraph Canyon frontman Chris Johnson, Tame ... Tame and Quiet and Eat Avery’s Bones, to name just a few). It's 26 tracks and a hair over 36 minutes. The conceit is that all songs must be close to 100 seconds (one minute, 40 seconds). Good stuff.
-- SXSW '09 released its no-really-it's-finally-final schedule for bands on Friday ... and the list of area musicians/bands hitting Austin next month is pretty stout: ABSU; AwkQuarius; Bad Sports; Blofly; Bosque Brown; Bowling for Soup; Complete; the Crash That Took Me; Floyd Dakil Combo; Dooney Da Priest; the Drams; Huelyn Duvall; Jason Eady; the Elite; the Excels; Fair to Midland; Fat Pimp; Fight Bite; Five Times August; Robert Gomez; Green River Ordinance; Here Holy Spain; I Love Math; Sarah Jaffe; Jessie Frye; Little Black Dress; Mom; Opium Symphony; the O's; the Paper Chase; Rev. KM Williams and the Amazing Trainwreck; Riverboat Gamblers; Shibboleth; St. Vincent; Telegraph Canyon; True Widow; Tum Tum Jonathan Tyler and The Northern Lights; Uptown Bums; Money Waters and (whew) Wax Museums.
Of this list, there are scant few Tarrant County artists making the trip -- Green River Ordinance, Jessie Frye and Telegraph Canyon. We'll try to catch up with each of 'em down Austin way.
-- Speaking of SXSW '09, the Dallas Observer is hosting a showcase this year, heavy on NTX talent.
-- Elsewhere ... congrats to M.I.A. on the birth of her child last Wednesday, which she announced via her MySpace blog. Part-time Westlake resident the Jonas Brothers were the musical guests on Saturday Night Live this past weekend ... I couldn't bring myself to actually watch the performances, but these two skits made me chuckle.