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February 26, 2003
February 26, 2003
I really don't what it is that compels me to write this stuff... but sometimes it’s just a simple question.
I was recently asked how a CD like Live at Stubb’s comes about and it got me to thinking...
No matter how many times I try to explain it, I feel that my feeble attempts fall short. I have to say though, my answer may be what makes me run all over God’s creation to see this grubby little band of ne'er-do-wells.
I purchased both Millican and Live at Stubb's at the same show at the Fab Sat (RIP) some time in late fall/early winter of 1998 and the very first thing that struck me as peculiar was that the live CD didn't have ANY of the songs from the studio CD (insert cartoon light bulb moment here). Not to help with the resurrection of your friend and mine, Arsenio Hall, but I definitely went hmmmmmm...
I think it was right then and there that I really (& I really mean really) started to pay attention to RK and specifically Willy Braun as a songwriter. It hadn't occurred to me that he was in his late teens when most of these songs came to fruition (more on that later).
I have been in and around the music business since I was in my mid-teens from a "street team" level all the way to club manager. I have even tried my hand at managing a band once or twice. I might have even been successful at this venture had I not been my own worse enemy (insert "addictions" here). I've hyped bands as the next big thing and missed the bus on that call more than once... This is not one of those times.
I think its safe to say that the number of bands that would even begin to put together a project such as Live At Stubb’s can be counted on one hand. Now as a master of stating the obvious I'll edify that by saying "it worked."
I hope it goes without saying that a huge percentage of the Stubb’s CD is a part of each and every live show. Every time we hear “Hottest Thing In Town”, “Shook Me All Night Long, “Red River Valley”, “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, “Wild Western Windblown Band”, Tommy & Marla” My Baby Worships Me” or even “Loving you” - all invoke the spirit of “Live at Stubb’s”.
Bobby Dylan, Pinto Bennett, Steve Poltz, Bruce Hauser, Steve Earle, Billy Joe Shaver, Chris Wall, AC/DC and even ole’ Led Zep get "props". Props = roots (or as the lovely aed says I says, roots!!!). I wonder how many RK'ers became fans of the above mentioned artists AFTER hearing RK play "their" version of it... I know I’m in that group and I bet it’s a lot more that you'd think.
However, this has lead to the very silly “compare and contrast” argument featuring the common thread that I hear time after time – “RK plays that song way better than blah blah blah." I think we'd be hard pressed to find any member of the band that considers their renditions "better." Louder, faster and reinterpreted? Yeah, maybe you might get that out of them. But better? Nah..
When you put down roots like RK obviously have – ones that run deep and wide, the foundation for longevity is really built on the respect for the artists that have come before you. So once again, the naysayers that may call RK a glorified cover band don't really have much vision or respect for history or preservation of the past!
That being said, I feel something really different on the horizon as far as RK is concerned. It’s palpable and it feels singular... as is not for everyone’s consumption. It’s not so much the “everything old is new again” feel but something more edgy and electric... I kinda feel like Willy, Cody, Jay, Jimmy and David are up to something.
Take a good look at them next time you’re at a show.
Do you see what I mean?
I've seen it before - in pictures and in person. Bands like The Stones, U2, The Clash, a young Steve Earle and The Dukes - handsome devils one and all. Ok, so they got older - I defy you to find anyone with more charisma and presence as ole’ Keef and Mick, and DON'T even get me started on Mr. Earle.
It seems like all these guys were at about the same point when things started to be different. It wasn't hype - it was respect. Something that you earn the hard way - by working your ass off.
Don't get me wrong, if I had a daughter I wouldn't leave her alone in a room with any of these knuckle-heads!! AT first ... But, as the song goes, “to know ‘em is to love ‘em..” Pretty decent bunch of fellows as ne'er-do-wells go.
I’m not saying what I’m feeling is part of what I do now. I do feel pretty cool that I get to write my own column and get to play rock star (Trust me - when you are as big a dork as I am, any cool that comes my way is a big deal).
I have started to learn a thing or two about following a dream from being around Reckless Kelly. It’s not a dreamy existence - driving all night to get back and forth to a gig or skipping meals. Waking up with no voice or a throat that feel like I gargled with barbed wire. I got blisters on my calluses and I don't get to shave very often and sometimes I don't get to take a shower and I’m broke.
But, I get to do what I love. I have a great support group called the Reckin’ Crew. I have lost love and found grace and been as up as you can be and as low as can be stood with out breaking. It’s really a great life lesson. I think I found a calling in this world we live in.
I used to beat myself up a bit for missing out on the early days of RK. I wish I could have been there when they were just getting to Austin and had a handful of songs that were about to turn into a part of so many peoples lives.
Perhaps Willy and the boys do have a leg up since they have been in and around the biz since they were lil’ spuds up in Idaho and touring with Muzzie. I for one am glad 'cuz Willy really does have a knack for storytelling that implies many more years than he has been around (“hit the million mile mark at 17 years old”). Then again, seems like Guy Clark, Townes, Steve Earle and Gram Parsons all were right about at the same age as the RK boys when it all came together.
I think the new CD on Sugar Hill is going to really showcase a style and vision in RK's music that will really cause a stir in the "Texas Music Revolution” - As in it won’t have anything to do with it. I think that the hype you'll find elsewhere really just bounces off of RK and they have a propensity to say "oh, every one is going that way huh? Well... we'll go this way…" Not to be different but because that where the path they have chosen leads...
Things like integrity, respect, vision, and truth keep popping up in reference to RK. The healing and joy that some (Heck, most of us) feel from RK's music is not singular. I think that given a chance, most folks will find something in RK's music that reminds them of the best things ever - love, joy, heartache, laughter. Things you get when great people get together to roll in the soul mud in the middle of the RK pit.
As luck would have it, the little bits and pieces of RK's past that I missed I get a feel for from another band from Austin. Well what do you know... they got two brothers in the band too… seem to have a lil’ grip on some roots of their own - a lil’ band called Micky & The Motorcars - check ‘em out. You'll be happy ya did.
Oh and Jim Caligiuri? I think the only miscues the brothers Braun and gang ever took in regards to what path to follow was to read any thing you write in its entirety. You just can’t get a waste of time like that back.
I'd like to steal from Steve Earle (sort of) to wrap this up:
I'll stand on ol' JC's coffee table in my cowboy boots and tell him the same thing to his face.
If he's got a problem with that well... I 'm the easiest man in Texas to find…
My name is Everlovin’.
Posted by reh at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)