By Jason Cohen
Texas Music News -- Late August
Snap! Crackle! Pop!
"The Crispy Chronicles" is a 73-minute compilation CD documenting the San Antonio punk and underground scene. Twenty-one bands are featured, including Glorium,The Dropouts, Boxcar Satan, Galaxian, Chapstik, Worm, Pink Filth, and Bluntslide. The disc is available in record stores throughout the state, including Sound Exchange in Houston and Austin and Hogwild in San Antonio.Peter Keane
A transplant from New England, Keane is a finger-pickin' acoustic songwriter whose second record, "Walkin' In the Rain" (Flying Fish/Rounder) was made in Austin with producer Bill Morrissey. Among the local aces helping out are Dave Heath, Champ Hood, and Paul Hagen.The Cherubs
"Short of Popular" is a 14-track epitaph from one of Trance Syndicate's flagship noise/sludge bands. The CD even comes with a cool sticker (aping the government-required nutrition label) that tells you just what you'll find within: "songs from 70s, 23%," "songs from compilations, 15%," "new songs, 62%" and "bacon fat, 8%."Eric Johnson
There's proof that Johnson's new record "Venus Isle" actually exists -- though it won't be out until September, fans can preview five new tracks (including one complete song) on Johnson's web site at (http://www.ericjohnson.com). This fall, the Austin guitar hero will hit the road with fellow noodlers Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.Float for Instruments
The Asylum St. Spankers will provide the entertainment at the Austin Music Commission's annual Town Lake Cruise on August 22. The journey, which takes two hours and costs $30 (for dinner, drinks, and music) will benefit the City of Austin's annual musical instrument appeal, which donates new and used instruments to underprivileged schoolchildren. To attend the cruise, call Tim Garbutt at 512-346-6235.Kelly Willis
Austin's alternative country diva finishes up her summer tour close to home, with dates in Gruene August 16, Austin August 17, San Angelo August 19, Lubbock August 22, Fort Worth August 23, Houston August 24, and Austin again on the 25. Check out her band of out-of-towners, including drummer Will Rigby, bassist Tony Maimone, and on guitar, seminal former Austin resident Jon Dee Graham. Gossip mongers will note that Willis is officially engaged to longtime beau (and fellow Austin country-scene stalwart) Bruce Robison.Law School Would Be the Wiser Political Choice........ In a report that was picked up nationwide by MTV, the Dallas Morning News revealed recently that Senator Phil Gramm's son Jeff is a burgeoning rock'n'roller. The 21-year-old University of Chicago student fronts the group Aden, described as a "moody pop" band. Aden releases its first album, "Fortune 4," in November, and according to the senior senator from Texas, they have a year to make good before young Jeff moves on to either medical school or law school. Gramm told the Morning News he doesn't want his son "to look back 20 years from now, when he's lancing boils or doing wills and say, 'I wonder if I could have been a big rock star?'" Actually, Phil, the question most University of Chicago bands ask themselves is "I wonder if Jim O'Rourke or Steve Albini will engineer our record?"
Achtung!
It's not available in Texas, but the Gourds record has hit the stores in Europe. Seeing as how the Austin band's debut, "Dem's Good Beeble," is on the Munich Records label, that's understandable. If you don't have any guilders or deutschemarks handy (to say nothing of paying for those nasty import tariffs and brutal exchange rates) you can wait until October 1, when Munich will release the record in America.Iain Matthews
The former Fairport Convention member and intermittent Austinite has just released a new record, "God Looked Down," on the local Watermelon label.The Future's Not So Bright
According to Ken Lieck of the Austin Chronicle, Timbuk-3 have called it quits, both professionally and personally (leaders Pat McDonald and Barbara K were married). Oh well -- for a band that could have gone down in history as one-hit-wonders, they had a pretty nice run. Maybe one day their kids will form a band and call it Jeffbuk-3.
