Release dates are subject to change, and often do.
**Release dates and Parental Ratings are subject to change, and often do.**
Hoping vs knowing J. Michael Dolan (:43) I have this argument with every one of my clients—doesn’t matter if they’re releasing a record, promoting a project, or building an empire: When you post an announcement, product or service on social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.), you can only HOPE that people see it, as they quickly scroll and scan through a hodgepodge of hundreds of other posts—just like you do. However, when you send a weekly email, newsletter or blog directly to your fans, clients and customers you KNOW they’ll see it. And while any marketing plan should include the full use of social media, it’s even more effective when paired with direct, personal, customer/fan engagement. There’s plenty of marketing research to show that a “direct-to-customer” email campaign is still the most effective way to provoke your followers to visit your site, experience your art, consider your new offerings, and make a purchase. There’s also
plenty of market research to show that most people procrastinate when it comes to pursuing direct marketing. Or, they’re in denial and are still under the illusion that “likes” and ‘follows” translate into dollars & devotees. If you’re in this for the long haul, then experimenting with innovative ways to grow your email list should be a daily priority. If you’re building a future, then it would be smart to explore ways to reach out, interact and engage with your fans and customers via blogs, videos, podcasts, webinars, etc. If you’re in this for life, the tools are available and the ideas are endless. And if you can’t figure out how to do this, there are plenty of coaches and consultants out there to guide you. Pick one.
yawn J. Michael Dolan (:07)
THE HAUNTING
We now live in a hugely competitive world, filled with a myriad of delightful distractions. As a listener, viewer, fan, client or customer, if I’m not continuously captivated, enticed, engaged and delighted with your art & commerce, I will (very) quickly get “bored” with your style and move on. This insight should alert you that “customer boredom” is now a critical challenge for artists & entrepreneurs.
As self-reliant, independent artists & entrepreneurs, the one thing that incessantly troubles us, the one thing that mercilessly crawls under our skin, the one thing that causes us to anxiously fidget and squirm the most, is that haunting voice between our ears that relentlessly reminds us of what we haven’t achieved, what we haven’t attained, and what we have yet to accomplish.
J. Michael Dolan (:10)
MAR 2016
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No growth, no glory J. Michael Dolan (:16) “Growth” is the ultimate telling factor in any worthy endeavor. Hits & likes are warm & fuzzy but they don’t represent real growth. The only thing that represents real growth is product sales, new subscribers, and a steady influx of scalable new customers, clients and fans. And if your best work doesn’t get shared, or if you can’t get people to subscribe to your world, or if you’re slowly losing the interest of former fans and devotees, it’s probably time to barricade yourself in your creative space and take an honest, intelligent look at why this is happening. That’s not a bad thing. Like the warning light in your car, it’s warning you that something needs to be done. “No Growth” is a warning light.
www.theawkwardyeti.com / www.lunarbaboon.com New Books Out Now! Order Yours Today!
MAR 2016
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& The
Sea Drifters By Tamma Hicks, STEAM Magazine
Todd Dorn has been performing around Texas for
the last 25 year. He is about to release a new album with 13 original songs and is heading into the spring and summer with plans of performing in your neck of the woods – Hill Country that is! I sat down with Todd to find out more about him and his music. I read that you started playing guitar at 10 by listening and strumming along to the radio. What was the first song you learned to play and do you still play it?
Country Roads by John Denver. Yes, I do still play it but I don't think I have ever played it live. Have you always been interested in playing country music? Who are you biggest influences?
I have always been interested in playing country along with others though. My biggest influences were from my mom's albums, which I learned to play along with. That would be Led Zeppelin, George Jones, Charlie Pride, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Cash, Eagles and Hank Williams. You call your band the Sea Drifters – where did that name come from?
Well, I'm still going back and forth with that. My CD will most likely be just my name. The original way I got the name was after I played with my cousins from Seadrift, Texas. It was a family member's funeral and we were going to do a fund raiser for it. My cousin, Garland, was going to play with his already well established cover band and I had brought my guitar. I played with them and only knew my original songs and they liked them and they played them well, so that was our first "gig." They were very interested in playing with me, so we practiced a few times and then had an opportunity to play New Year’s Eve in Seadrift. I needed to make flyers, so I just named it then-Todd Dorn and The Seadrifters. One thing I do now when I play with so many different musicians is call it Todd Dorn and the Sea Drifters. I break the word up because I found these musicians drifting in a sea of music. Tell me about your band members. I'll start with the original Seadrifters. Garland Spencer, on the keys, is my cousin. He and Damon Williams, on the bass, have been playing music professionally since they were in their early teens. They were neighbors growing up and were in choir together. They both have "day jobs" but play music on most weekends with various bands. Oscar Rios, on the drums, has played with Garland and Damon in their later years and still does. He lives in Victoria now but is from Seadrift also. One of the main staples now in the band is Woody Ray Lawson. He started out filling in for previous bass player, Jay Springer, and has been able to play pretty steady with me. He is from the Dallas area originally but has lived in Port Aransas for most of his life. He is another seasoned musician, who has been playing professionally with various bands. Since you play with different combinations of players does it make adding new songs, including your originals, difficult? And how do you overcome that?
It depends on the difficulty of the song, but most of the time it's not too difficult. Honestly the way I overcome that, is that I play with such awesome musicians who can figure out where I'm going by my just giving them the chords before we start and then a few facial gestures while we do the song.
Sometimes they come out amazing. Tell me about your original songs. What inspires the music you write?
They have been inspired by so many things. Sometimes, life situations of my own or others and sometimes I will hear a phrase and think, "that's a hook." There have been times when I just get inspired wherever I am. I will have my guitar and just start picking a tune and the next thing you know, I have a whole song; I love those the best. I am constantly working on new music and will be going back into the studio soon. I know you have an album coming out soon. Please tell me about it and where will it be available?
I recorded it at Radio Dog Studios in San Antonio. The owner is Jerry Clayton, who also played drums on it. He has a home studio where he has recorded some pretty talented musicians. I wrote all the songs and also helped produce most of it. Damon Williams played bass and created his own bass lines as did Jerry create his drum lines. I had little advice to give them when it came to the recording. I did have two other musicians play on it, Amy Hermes played fiddle on “Motorcycle Ride” and Jackson Parten played piano on “My Last Tear”. This album is special because it's my first and I put a lot of practice into it. I played all the guitar tracks and vocals. I wanted to put other vocals on it, but I could never get it scheduled. It is in mastering phase right now at Edit Point Studios, also in San Antonio and it should be available at the end of April. It will be available on ITunes but not quite sure where else, besides our gigs. I read on your ReverbNation page that you don’t really like doing cover songs, so what kind of process do you go through to choose songs?
The main reason I do not like doing cover songs is because I have always been a firm believer that if you are going to cover a song, then you need to cover it perfect. I mostly choose cover songs that I like and I know the crowd will like, plus ones that don't have a lot of production to them. We know you’ve played at venues and festivals all over Texas, what are your plans for touring? Do you have any road trips planned for the summer?
My biggest goal right now is to try to expand my area that I play in. I love playing the Texas coast but would like to play more gigs in the Texas Hill Country. I am currently negotiating a pretty big gig in June. Stay Tuned!
4/2 Giggity's, Port Aransas 4/30 Crawfish Festival, Port O'Connor TX 5/7 Giggity’s, Port Aransas Facebook.com/ Todd Dorn and The Sea Drifters
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CD REVIEWS
STEAMMAGAZINE.NET
TERRI HENDRIX LOVE YOU STRONG - PROJECT 5.1 (WILORY RECORDS) BY STEVE GOLDSTEIN San Antonio’s Terri Hendrix has once again demonstrated that you don’t need the backing from a corporate recording industry machine that seems to care more about hits and the bottom line over artistic integrity. With LOVE YOU STRONG PROJECT 5.1, Terri Hendrix kicks off a lofty endeavor to release four albums and a book through 2016, or Project 5, as she has named it. Each release will deal with a different theme but will all be commonly joined together in the end. This initial 11 track project deals with the realities of love; the good, the bad, the ugly of it all. Terri Hendrix’s earthy vocals are strong and passionate, and the same can be said for her songwriting. We are greeted with upbeat percussion that forces you to “Feel the Time.” Terri shows us that time is everywhere and constantly on the move, whether we like it or not. The old-school folky feel of “Vulnerable” says that in order to trust in love, you must be willing to open yourself up to pain. On the title track, “Love You Strong,” Terri sings about the early stages of a lasting love affair, a beautiful sentiment that she relates to her own parents. Strong love is the result of enduring love. “The Rant” is a witty look at dealing with real life circumstances and the confidence to overcome obstacles. It also may be the only song in history that tells anyone who says that she can’t win to “shut your pie-hole.” With harmony vocals by Eliza Gilkyson on “The Texas Star,” we are delivered an ode to the legacy of some truly inspired Texas women; Barbara Jordan, Lady Bird Johnson, Ann Richards, Molly Ivins, and Liz Carpenter. “Calle De Los Niños” is a rootsy, South Texas look at the loss of a loved one to a tragic situation. We again are invited to feel the time and find our own way on “Northern Lights.”
The pleasant acoustic guitar that introduces us to the “Earth-Kind Rose” is joined by Lloyd Maines’ expressive steel guitar accompaniment that lends itself comfortably to the reality of aging and how the human spirit adapts. “Fifty Shades of Hey” makes the most of Terri Hendrix’s wonderfully poignant sense of humor to tell of staying intensely middle-age strong and not necessarily struggling to stay on top of the current trends. She was born to be wild – shout “HEY!” Terri’s vast vocal ability is at the forefront of “Found.” She meets life’s adversities head on and comes out on top. The final track, “Mingulay Boat Song” has a folky, sea shanty feel that compliments the lyrics about the anticipation of sailors sailing home to their loved ones, with Drew Womack on harmony vocals. Terri Hendrix has had a long-time collaboration with the award winning Lloyd Maines; a true Texas living legend. There can’t be enough good things said about this prolific producer and musician from Lubbock. His production technique is never heavy handed. The feeling is that if it sounds good, it IS good. His mulit-instrumental talents are in abundance and there are no wasted notes. The same can be said for Terri’s regular band-mates Glenn Fukunaga on bass and Riley Osbourn on keyboards. Also featured are Pat Menske and John Silva on drums and percussion, Bukka Allen on accordion, and Dennis Ludiker on fiddle. Yes, Terri Hendrix’s 2016 Project 5 may be a huge undertaking, but LOVE YOU STRONG PROJECT 5.1 will leave you looking forward to her very productive year ahead. TERRIHENDRIX.COM
RENO PEREZ THIS HELL (SELF RELEASED) BY STEVE GOLDSTEIN Imagine walking past Antone’s in Austin and being drawn in by some edgy, guitardriven, rocking music. A packed house glides to some authentic, live Texas blues. That’s the feel of THIS HELL by Reno Perez. This man plays the blues! It’s Reno’s screaming guitar that takes center stage here. We are immediately greeted and enticed by Reno’s welcoming licks on the leadoff track, “Rescue You,” and it never lets up. The eight tracks on THIS HELL tell of heartache, heartbreak, and a rebellious unwillingness to settle for the status quo. It’s all blues, but Reno’s Country and Tejano roots also show their faces. The title track is about a guy who turned left when he should’ve turned right. He leads you down with him into the darkness until the surprising coda which brings you right back up again with some real Mariachi Mambo Blues, featuring Roger Vera’s
jazzy, muted trumpet and Ernie Ruiz’s rhythmic congas. Reno also surrounds himself with a tried and true, who’s who of Corpus Christi’s finest, including Antone Perez on drums, Art Galvan on bass, and Jak Payne on keyboards, and the entire ensemble rises to the occasion on each track. Blues legend B.B. King once said in an interview that the standard I-IV-V blues progression played over and over can get pretty monotonous. It’s what you do with that I-IV-V that matters. On THIS HELL, Reno Perez shows that he knows what to do. RENOPEREZ.COM
By DC Washington Sound Magazine
When Seattle gave birth to Candlebox it created a rarity in the music world. Since their formation in 1990 the band has released five studio albums achieving multi-platinum and gold certification including numerous chart topping singles that put together each sound like they’re from a different band, individuality that proved uncommon from an area where seemingly every other emerging band sounded an awful lot like Nirvana, Pearl Jam. We had a chance to speak with front man Kevin Martin to discuss their upcoming album and why, though they felt at home in Seattle, they never did quite fit the mold. STEAM: Does it get frustrating to be encouraged to play the older hits? CANDLEBOX: I’m happy that people like to hear them still. The main thing is when people like to hear them earlier on in the set. I know you want to hear ‘Far Behind’, but we have some other songs to play as well so let us get to them first. I think that’s my biggest pet peeve. I’m not trying to downplay those songs at all, when I wrote them they meant the world to me and they still do as a songwriter. I’m happy that they make people happy but I wish I didn’t have to fucking play ‘Far Behind’ in the middle of the set sometimes (laughing). That being said at least they want to hear it. STEAM: As we’ve seen the shift back to instrumentation the last couple of years we have yet to see the return of rock radio, instead we see rock making its way onto more pop stations across the country. Do
you see rock radio ever making a comeback? CANDLEBOX: Honestly I don’t think so. It’s just such a different landscape from where it used to be. I think we recognized the transition too during the mid-nineties when we asked our label about making a website for us and they declined saying that ‘no one was interested in that’. Just look at what the late great David Bowie did with website and servers, he was truly ahead of the game. It’s spotting trends like that early as a musician that keeps you in the forefront and sadly when it comes to rock radio I don’t think there is a saving grace. I’m just happy that I’m able to make music and that labels give us the opportunity. STEAM: I remember the first time hearing ‘Far Behind’ on a classic rock station and remember saying, ‘Fuck, how old am I that this is classic rock’? How does that feel for an artist to see your music transitioning to a classic rock setting? CANDLEBOX: (Laughing). The fact that I feel classic every morning is bad enough. Yeah it’s weird but at the same time it’s great to know that we’re still on the radio. I think what is weirder is hearing Nirvana on a classic rock station because Candlebox to me was always a blues based rock band and if we had a hit I always knew we would end up on one of those stations one day. So listening to Nirvana on classic rock just doesn’t fit. My thought is play me on whatever station as long as you play me. STEAM: The new album drops in April; do you have a working title for the album yet? CANDLEBOX: Typically we do not pick a name for the album until it is done but this time we came up with the name in advance. The name is “Disappearing in Airports” and the name and artwork comes from
an artist we were working with before the album was finished who died from a heart attack. We decided to use his painting for the artwork and the name of the album. STEAM: The last few albums have been departures from your previous works; will we see the trend continue with this new album? CANDLEBOX: Yes, I’ll never go back to our early sound. I think the one thing I love about this band is that we never went backwards. You are definitely going to see the continued trend of the last few albums. I would dare to say that this album is not going to be what people expect from Candlebox and I think, subconsciously, when I started this album it’s what I wanted to do with this record. I did not want to make what people expected and I know there are going to be fans that are not happy with this record and that’s okay because at some point every musician has to make the album that they want to make. I wanted to reach an audience that we haven’t reached, that younger Arcade Fire audience that is out there, something enticing to that new audience. We’ve never been a prolific band in terms of our album releases. I mean, we have a handful of records over our time as a band while our brethren released three times as many during the same span. We release albums when we are ready to release them. STEAM: How do you rank Candlebox amongst the other great Seattle bands that COMTINUED PG 20
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Nikki
Ikonomopoulos was born and raised in Chicago IL to an artist and a builder, so there was always creativity around her. From a very young age, Nikki knew that art would be forever in her life. She has always been influenced by nature and conservation of the world around us and it shows in her art. When her parents retired to South Texas she followed has carved her niche in the art scene.
No T i m e To Be Bored By Tamma Hicks, STEAM Magazine
And is that thing recording? It makes me nervous. Yeah, but you're fine don't worry about it; pretty soon you won’t even know it’s here… So how did you get into art? Oh, ever since I was very young I have always done something – drawing, painting; my school years from elementary to high school everything was about art. I've always been driven to create art in one form or fashion. My mother is an artist and my father is a builder and he's very creative as well, so there was always construction and building and art. My mother has always supported education as well as art but she just never thought that it was something that a person should do to make a living because, even the most prolific and celebrated artists in history have died starving because of the way society is. So she thinks it would be a suffering and hard life for the person trying to make a living this way; and in a lot of ways she's right correct, but I also think there are people like me that are driven to use their artistic talents all the time. Because I have always had this creativity it took me awhile to understand that not everybody has the talent to be able to draw. I didn't really think there was anything unique or special about what I was doing it’s just what I did. I believe that we all have our different talents and we are all on this planet together and that's how it's supposed to be. How many projects do you do at one time? I have a lot at once; it's what takes priority over other things. On any given day I have probably 30 projects that I'm working on, however any commission or custom piece that I'm doing for someone takes precedence; and of course I have my ink pad that I take with me all the time and there are some pieces that I just like to sit
peacefully and paint, so I take different things with me at all the time. Whatever piece I’m working on, I don't want to feel rushed. What mediums do you like to use? Watercolors, acrylics, oils, pastels, charcoal, ink, mixed mediums, photography, sculpting, and graphic designs. Do you prefer any specific type of medium? I think I enjoy something different about all the different mediums I work with. It would be hard to say which my favorite or my preference is because it depends what my mood is; sometimes I prefer to draw, sometimes I prefer to sculpt, or paint. If I had the time and just the ability to not stress over whatever I have to do, like my job, then I would say my preference is sculpting, but it takes so much time. Maybe when I get older and have more time I'll get to do more. Sculpting's the most enjoyable, something about the materials, but I don't have a lot of time so I don't get to do it as much as I'd like.
Examples of commission work by Nikki: Replicating the Beatles “Revolver” album cover on a guitar (front & back views). Creating a charcoal family portrait.
Do you do a lot of commission work? Yeah, custom commissioned pieces because I want to be a sustainable striving artists not starving artist. Most of the custom pieces I do are portraits in either charcoal or paint and murals like at It’ll Do saloon in Corpus Christi and Giggity’s in Port Aransas. I’ve also done some sculptures and some restorative work, but I don't do that a lot. I did the restoration of the mural at Crazy Cajun (Port Aransas) and I worked with a guy who taught me how to restore antique porcelain and pottery as well, but not a great deal. Mostly, if I know that I can take something
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platform I would do it again because it was very rewarding.
STEAMMAGAZINE.NET
Continued From Page 13 Yeah, I like to carve into wood but I really haven't gotten into it in a long time because I'm pulled in so many different directions. I started working with the stone in my midtwenties after I had move to Tennessee and I had gotten to know some really great people who work in that medium. I met one in particular, Myron, who pointed out what the uses are and how to use the soapstone. Really you can just do so much with a small piece of stone. I have been working on a coral reef sculpture. The base is limestone and the soapstone pieces will set in almost like a jigsaw puzzle creating a 3-dimensional coral reef. I'm doing each of the smaller pieces in different types of stone to add color and texture to the reef. This is dendritic soapstone from Montana there's not a lot left and is very highly sought after; fortunately I taught sculpting classes for so long that I have a really good resource to get it.
I didn’t realize you taught classes. Yeah, I did it for 7 or 8 years. I started teaching at a small private after school program. The woman I worked for had contracts with elementary schools and I would rotate through teaching them whatever the topic of the week was. Her program was called the Promising Picassos and was a 5 week session with one afternoon a week for 45 minutes. She would give me the topic and materials and basically I would walk the kids through how to draw/paint it. And that was my first intro to teaching after that I learned about the junior colleges offering continuing education classes to the community and that's mostly where I would teach sculpting. Would you consider going back into teaching? Oh, I have considered it a lot. I would love to get involved with some of the community based education here. I think if I find the right
Above: Nikki adding bubbles to Sailfish. Right: Sailfish as on display at Giggity’s in Port Aransas; Bottom: LOVE the Arts & LOVE Nature. The branch that began the LOVE series. (photography)
Where does inspiration come from? Anything, everything? Yep, pretty much. Typically inspiration comes from the beautiful things I see around me. However dark things can be inspiring too. I see things that I just want to put out there and draw attention to or wake people up by raising awareness; it just depends on what it is that's inspired me and most of the time its beautiful things. I'm a big nature advocate. When we moved here it was the first time I had seen a clean River. I have always been very nature driven. Often when I needed calmness and peace I would go to the woods or sit by a river. I take clay or my drawing pad or a painting to work on and I just create and calm down that way. I see Nature as being very important; I see how we humans are and our tendency to take as much as we can; however, I am seeing a change of scene in clean energy. That's something 20 years ago no one talked about. There's a lot more that we can do and I think we will get there slowly. An example of a dark inspiration is
about Fukushima. I feel that we (humans) are not taking care of what we have and Fukushima in Japan was the worst human created catastrophe on earth that we are aware of, so I created “Fukushima Update” – a broken boat sculpture that I had in our yard. It was my way of showing people what happened and how detrimental it really is to our lives. It’s not that it happened and it's over - it's that it happened and it continues to be causing issues problems. Another medium that I forgot to mention is that I write poetry. I am working on publishing a book of poetry and artwork. I just do so much: paint, sculpt, and draw. OK, is there anything you don't like? No, I really don't think so. I think everything has its own beauty to it and I may not prefer to do something but it’s not that I don't like it. I just don't understand the meaning of bored when there's just so many different things you could be doing! Alphaomegaart.com portaransaslive.com coastallbendattractions.com coastalbendmenuguide.com corpuschristihappyhour.com
Troubadour Insights
With Dale Martin
The Band of Heathens are celebrating ten years together and are set to celebrate in a major way. First up is a new CD / EP titled ‘Green Grass,’ with several new BOH songs plus a cool cover version of the Band’s ‘Bessie Smith.’ Next will be a full length album of all original tunes, set for release later this fall. In a few months, they set sail with Kid Rock on his 7th Annual Chillin’ The Most Cruise. After that it’s up to Colorado for another appearance at the famous Ride Festival in Telluride, CO. Then, it’s on the road, playing all over America with stops in Texas on March 16 and 17 at SXSW in Austin. Then over to Luckenbach, then Houston and Ft. Worth, so check out their website for all their upcoming dates.
Billy Joe Shaver is back on the road supporting his latest album ‘Long In The Tooth,’ easily his strongest album in years. Willie Nelson calls Shaver the ‘Greatest Living Songwriter’ in America and it’s a statement I totally agree with. Look for Shaver in these Texas towns: Hunt, Tomball, Fredericksburg, Austin, San Antonio, Grapevine and Plano. Shaver has more lives than an alley cat but is still releasing viable music.
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Breelan
Angel, a New Braunfels native, just filmed a cool music video for her song ‘Rhinestone World’ at the historic Sisterdale Saloon in Boerne, Texas. The video was released in conjunction with the song going out to radio stations. Angel calls on her Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn influences for this traditional country tune. The song is from her latest CD, ‘Diamond in a Rhinestone World,’ which was produced by Trent Willmon in Nashville. Keep a close watch on this rising star at breelanangel.com.
When the subject of tradi-
tional country music is brought up, the name of Hank Williams is usually where people start. Hank was one, if not the first, true country music superstar. There’s a new movie coming out next month called ‘I Saw The Light’ that is touted as being the most accurate portrayal of his tumultuous life. Hank was just 29 years old when he died in the back of his white Cadillac on January 1, 1953. Hank started performing as a teenager in 1937 but it took ten years before he landed a record contract with MGM Records in 1947. His life was plagued by constant back pain due to spina bifida, a spinal cord disorder he was born with. He often used alcohol to mask the pain, which lead to Hank becoming an alcoholic at an early age. He wrote over 100 classic songs in his short career and released 35 hit singles. The screen play for the movie was written by Colin Escott, who wrote the original book in 2004. Ten years later, so much new information about Hank’s life was discovered that Escott revised the book in 2015. Our very own Houston native Rodney Crowell served as Executive Music Producer for the movie and has a bit part in the film as Hank’s dad, Lon Williams. Hank was an incredible artist who left us far too soon. The final two songs he recorded before his death were ‘Kaw-Liga’ and ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart.’ They were both recorded at the same two hour session. I finished reading the book last week and it is one of the most in-depth biographies I’ve ever read.
MAR 2016
Reckless
Kelly just announced the lineup for their annual celebrity softball jam to be held at the Dell Diamond on May 15 benefiting The SIMS Foundation. This year’s lineup includes Cory Morrow, Micky & the Motorcars, Midnight River Choir, Uncle Lucius, Shinyribs, Kelly Mickwee and Jamie Lin Wilson. Over 20 acts will perform on two stages after they compete in a friendly but competitive softball game. Check out the full schedule of events at recklesskelly.com.
Speaking
of Reckless Kelly, they just guest starred in a video by Cody Canada & the Departed titled ‘All Nighter.’ Filmed at the historic Floores Country Store in Helotes, it also features Micky & the Motorcars, so it keeps the fun all in the family. Canada wrote the song before he realized that the woodstove in the Braun family home in Idaho was called ‘The All Nighter.’ Soon Cody will hit the road with fellow red dirt pal Mike McClure for shows in San Antonio, Tomball, Crystal Beach, Kenney and Dallas, just to name a few. McClure has a long history with Canada, including producing many of the hit albums by Cody’s previous band, Cross Canadian Ragweed. Check out their full tour schedule at thedepartedmusic.com. www.martinsmusic.com
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By DC Washington Sound Magazine
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doesn’t end tragically. The situation for us is that with every change we knew we needed to better ourselves, why move forward otherwise.
Drowning Pool has mined hardship, struggle and disappointment to emerge victorious each time, crafting empowering hard rock anthems. Their songs conjure emotions that deeply connect with those who persevere against the odds and sacrifice to survive, and their music transcends boundaries of race, class and lifestyle as well, resonating with people from all walks of life who look to music to get them through life’s challenges. We had a chance to speak with C.J. Pierce to discuss their new album and the bands legacy.
STEAM: What expectations did you have from Jason when he first joined the band? Again, with numerous lead singers is it safe to assume the band had some requirements he would have to meet? DP: We’ve always known Jason. In fact he would open up shows for us throughout the year, so there was not really any audition needed. We didn’t need to talk things over with him and discuss what bad habits and attitudes were not allowed in the band. The only thing we expected was that he would take the stage every night and give it 100% and he’s delivered.
STEAM: For most bands, the vocalist is a driving creative force in the band. Is that less of the case with you guys? Are you forced to rely more heavily on the creative forces that are consistent
STEAM: Is the Drowning Pool name and band bigger than any
Shows: Drowningpool.com 3/2 Tyler TX
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throughout different stages in the band's career? DP: I think back in the day it was pretty normal to have the lead singer be the driving force in the band. In our band, though, we had to break all the rules especially after losing Dave Williams. With each singer we just had to work that much harder. We had to make some changes to better ourselves and I think we’ve done that behind our new lead singer Jason with this second record with him fronting the band. I think it’s also
important to point out that we haven’t had this much fun in years and that’s also a key element in making music. STEAM: Looking back now, seeing that there has been a revolving door of singers in Dave’s wake, was there ever a thought of shutting down the band or did you all feel the need to carry on the legacy? DP: I don’t think so. We’ve been down this path so many times now that I don’t think any of us is planning on going down that road again. Looking at the divorce rate in this country I think we’ve fared pretty well considering that bands aren’t as apt to stick together as they used to and that’s assuming their members leave the band and the relationship
individual component of the band or band member? Does that make you feel good to have created a band that means more to fans than say, one or two members does? Do you even agree with that? DP: I think it has become something bigger than the name. Fans come up all the time and say they love our new song ‘Bodies’, like it just came out yesterday…it’s things like that that reminds us we’re lucky to continue to reach a new fan base all the time.
I think it’s healthy that we all have side projects as well from the band so at the end of the day when we get together the focus is all about what we can do together. STEAM: How did having such a big rock hit during your first record impact the band, both positively and or negatively? Did "Bodies" give you guys a high bar of success to live up to or did the success of that song pave the way for your longevity as a band?
STEAM: Bodies has been featured in numerous movies, and movie trailers to pump up the hype of some great films including The Punisher and Rambo. That being said the song has been played and associated with some bad situations as well. Does it bother you as an artist not to be able to filter where that material is used?
DP: When we wrote that song we were just rocking out and having a good time and it just came out through that song. It’s fun to play that song every night. I don’t know how other bands get weird about songs that work for them, but that’s not us. Do I feel that we’ve evolved as musicians and have written better songs since then? Of course, I think any musician would say that about their music. If you like a song like Bodies and the energy and attitude you get from it then you are going to like our new songs as well.
DP: Different people own it now outside the record company, not that we received a dime from the record company, but they choose to use the song as they see fit. It’s awesome that it is used all the time, there have been offers to use it very often and every time I see it used I’m blown away. The song has been used in some bad situations and that’s not great when that happens but we’ve also had fans send in videos where they are walking down the aisle to the song so there has always been a balance. Our thought is use the song for whatever, a tampon commercial, whatever, we don’t care, just use the song.
STEAM: Does it bother you when fans want to hear a song like Bodies so early in a set when you want to push the new material out onto the fans?
STEAM: Despite how some people may see your music, the band is incredibly upbeat. How difficult is it to balance your onstage persona from your personal life?
DP: We’ve tried it all over the set and to be honest it works best at the end. And, considering we’ve played it so many times that we can play it in our sleep, it works out in the end so that we can still function on the song no matter how hammered we are. We could play it first but then some fans might just leave when it’s done (laughing).
DP: We’re just entertainers like everybody else. Metal is aggressive but that doesn’t mean that we just hate everybody else. When you write metal songs everyone thinks you are Satan worshipers. Unless you meet someone personally you never know and that’s where people’s assumptions come into play. STEAM: In the fifteen years since the re-
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still get cd’s and this is the first album we are releasing on vinyl, which might be for nostalgic purposes, but it shows that there are fans out there that want to live outside the digital world. STEAM: Taking a look at your facebook page it seems the band has embraced social media…
lease of Bodies the band has had limited album releases, a result of the constant changes in the band lineup. With Jason at the helm do you think we’ll see a more frequent stream of new music now? DP: There has been an excuse for every single cycle with this band. It’s just been a constant three year cycle for us. One cycle we had to find a new lead singer, the next time it’s a new label and so on and so forth. Those situations put everything on hold. Now that we’ve gone past all of that drama, it’s full steam ahead. We’ve already made plans to put something out at the beginning of next year as well. Now that everyone in the band writes songs and contributes we have a lot of material to offer our fans. STEAM: With the format changes over the last decade did the rather infrequent release schedule benefit the band at all where other groups were scrambling around dropping EP’s to keep their fans interest? DP: I don’t know if it benefitted us or not but I know you have to roll with the punches and change. People
DP: I love it. Connecting with fans who love your music…you also get a lot of opinions from people who really hate the band as well but that’s ok, I’m into that. We’re at a point where we can connect with fans like never before and it would be foolish not to embrace that aspect of things. STEAM: It’s funny you mention the varied opinions of the band as it seems that you are all extremely genuine people, you care what your fans think but no label or review is going to change the way you think or perceive the world around you. DP: To be honest we’re a band that does what the hell we want to do. There are no stylists or label reps behind the scenes whispering in our ears. What you see is what you get and that’s how we will always be.
t s a o C 3rd e i d o o F
By Tamma hicks, STEAM Mag.
The Hungry Cajun
The Crazy Cajun Celebrating 29 Years Every once in a while I stumble upon what I think is a hidden gem and then everyone tells me, “Oh yeah. We love that place… Go there a couple times a month… What do you mean you hadn’t eaten there before?” So yes, I am admitting that I hadn’t been to The Crazy Cajun in Port Aransas until just last month. And it is most definitely a gem!
What do you get when you cross an
Oklahoman, Port Aransas, and Cajun food? You get some of the best Cajun food this side of the Louisiana border for 29 years and counting! That’s right, 29 years ago Phyllis Layne and her (ex) husband moved to Port Aransas with the mind set of starting over. They had recipes that had been handed down and opened in a little place that could barely hold 29 people and soon moved to a location that could serve 80 at one time. However, after just a few years they needed more room and found the perfect building (that seats 150) on the corner of Station and Beach, where they’ve been for 24 years. For surfers – it’s where Pat Magee had his first shop. For the rest of us – it’s between the beach and the main thoroughfare and across from the ballfield so there’s plenty of parking.
A few things to keep in mind when you
go… First, remember that any place that has been around for almost 30 years is going to have a following! And they’ve got a
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MAR 2016
SAUSGE GUMBO, RED BEANS & RICE, AND SEAFOOD GUMBO
On the corner of Beach & Station 303 E Beach Ave Port Aransas TX (361) 749-5069 Mon-Fri Open 5pm Fri & Sat Open 12pm
DIRTY RICE AND JAMBALAYA WITH CREOLE SAUCE
THE AWESOME STAFF AT THE CRAZY CAJUN! (L TO R) CHRIS, PASCHEN, MICHAEL, & PHYLLIS (OWNER)
great one! Second, like all good Cajun food it isn’t made to be gobbled, it’s made to be enjoyed. And third, be prepared to loosen your belt! The portions are large and the Cajun Spices they use will have your mouth watering before you get to your seat. The staff is amazing! Chris, Michael, Paschen, and Alonso are so polite and ready to serve. They answered all my questions and made suggestions. Really, it’s like a family dinner at your aunt’s house! Of course, my aunt would have a fit if you poured a dinner plate out on the table! Speaking of which, every day The Cajun goes through one to two rolls of paper towels per table and almost every week they go through a 1,000-foot roll of white butcher paper and during high-season, they can go through as many as three in a week! Crazy?!
A little about the spices they use… It’s their own special
mix with garlic, oregano, onion, and a few others. Extremely fragrant, bursting with flavor, but not overwhelming so the shrimp tastes like shrimp, the corn tastes like corn, and so
on down the line. Another side note is about the rice – wow, I think that is perfect rice! Moist and tender all the way through with just a touch of seasoning. All this makes for a very enjoyable meal!
On to the food! We decided we would start out with a few of the traditional Cajun recipes that everyone knows - the rice dishes. We had both the Seafood Gumbo and the Sausage Gumbo. The roux base was thick and tasty and the choice of meat had its own distinctive flavors. The Sausage Gumbo had a mild flavor while you were able to taste the shrimp and the fish in the Seafood Gumbo. The Dirty Rice was really scrumptious with chunks of chicken and ground pork and all the spices. Of course no Cajun dinner is complete without Jambalaya! Chicken, ham, and sausage mixed into savory rice topped with their own Creole Sauce. The Red Beans & Rice were so good, we decided that was our favorite rice dish! Really no other words for it – three kinds of beans, smoked sausage, celery, bell peppers, and onions mixed with the savory rice. Yum!!
Hands down, the Cajun makes some of the most tender and
tasty baby back ribs! And they use their own barbeque sauce recipe that is a real standout! We had a half-rack which came with new potatoes and corn on the cob. Well, we were all so full and then came out The Crazy Cajun’s famous “The Hungry Cajun.” Yep, it was boil time and we forgot we were full! As it was poured out on the table in front of our wondering eyes I realized we were going to need to loosen the belts a notch or two! The savory steam reached up and pulled us in! What a full pot! Crawfish, jumbo shrimp, snow crab, corn on the cob, new potatoes, and smoked sausage. Everything was perfect! The potatoes were cooked just right as was the corn and neither had absorbed too much of the spices or water – which fellow “boilers” know can be a problem. Again everything was well seasoned, but not over the top. At this point I was ready to roll myself out the door, park on the beach, listen to the waves on the surf, and take a siesta in the car! But no. At some point, before we were stuffed to the gill, we had heard Key Lime Pie and now here was Michael bringing us a slice. Thankfully we had only ordered one, so we each took a couple bites. This was exactly the right thing to end this meal… lightly tangy, sweet, and creamy.
BABY BACK RIBS (HALF-RACK), JAMBALAYA, WITH CRAB FROM THE HUNGRY CAJUN
The Crazy Cajun has a saying… You haven’t been to Port A, if you haven’t been to The Crazy Cajun! Well, I have finally made it to Port A!
BELOW: THE CRAZY CAJUN’S LOUISIANA BAYOU MURAL. THIS WAS RESTORED BY NIKKI IKONOMOPOULOS, OUR FEATRED ARTIST—SEE PAGE 11
The Hungry Cajun
KEY LIME PIE
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MAR 2016
CONTINUED FRPM PG 15
came out of the early 90’s? CANDLEBOX: I actually don’t rank us amongst anyone else. I know that sounds weird but we never really fit into that Seattle mold. I’m not taking anything away from those other bands; it’s more a reflection of us. It’s just a hard comparison to make. That being said I don’t think we would have made it if we came from anywhere else. STEAM: With the new acoustic tour, what changes had to be made to your material to make them suitable to an acoustic environment? CANDLEBOX: We had to redo some songs acoustically so that it would have the same energy that the electric song did. Up on stage there is no base behind me to support me other than my voice and I need to be able to do what I can to draw upon the crowd for a reaction. STEAM: With the acoustic tour coming through Connecticut this month might we see some material from the upcoming album performed at the show? CANDLEBOX: We have been performing three new songs from the new album and will do some as part of the acoustic tour. That’s going to be interesting for fans as well because those songs were written acoustically at first but aren’t performed that way on the album. I’m interested in seeing what the fans think once they hear both versions.
WWW.CANDLEBOXROCKS.COM FACEBOOK & TWITTER CANDLEBOX
ON TOUR NOW! 4/5 Trees, Dallas 4/7 Scout Bar, Houston 4/8 Fitzgeralds Bar & Live Music, San Antonio 4/9 Clicks, Tyler 4/10 Jake’s Sports Café, Lubbock 4/12 Speaking Rock Entertainment Center, El Paso CANDLEBOX DISAPPEARING IN AIRPORTS AVAILABLE APRIL 22
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newspapers for insulation. A variety of materials can serve as insulation, including sawdust, chicken feathers or fiberglass batting. Insulation is key, because you want to trap heat in the box as effectively as possible to offFrom MOTHER EARTH NEWS, by Joel Dufour set shading by clouds that will invariably show up to Solar radiablock the sun. In tion is the most prolific optimal conditions, the cooksource of energy on our planet. ers we built can heat to 400 degrees About 84 billion kilowatt-hours of light Fahrenheit in about an hour, which is reach Earth every day — more than hot enough to cook anything from a four times our global energy consumpcasserole to biscuits. That’s a pretty tion. The challenge is to efficiently hargood appliance for only a $50 investness this energy. Most people settle ment. For me, the deal was even for gathering solar energy by eating sweeter — I married Mark’s sister a vegetables from their gardens or few years later, and we’ve been solar catching its reflection with their camcooking together ever since. eras. Trap that energy in an insulated box with some food — then you’ll realYou can easily manage a solar cooker ly be cookin’! by keeping these elements in mind: Nearly 20 years ago, as I was helping a Sun. Don’t put the oven where a shadfriend build his straw bale house (at ow will fall across it. If you use recycled which point he figured out I was into glass for the top, make sure it hasn’t “weird stuff”), he mentioned that been treated with UV-resistant some people he knew were teaching a coating. solar-oven-building workshop. I was Time. Cooking times are longer than in intrigued, so I sent in my 50 bucks to a conventional oven because average attend. Three weeks later, I found mytemperatures fluctuate during the day. self on a homestead out in the KenAs long as the oven temperature retucky woods, looking at the piles of mains above 200 degrees, your food plywood, cardboard, tinfoil and glass will still cook. that were to become solar ovens. The A sense of adventure. You never really instructors, Mark and Andy, had just know what the weather will do. returned from a nonprofit-sponsored For best results, preheat the oven for trip to Peru, where they taught people at least 30 minutes — allow it to heat how to build and use solar cookers. while empty or with an empty pot inMany of Peru’s mountain villages side. Also, someone should be around suffer from deforestation, so solar to adjust the cooker now and then. cooking offers a good alternative to The reflectors will angle sunlight into cooking with wood. the box for about two hours of the This solar cooker requires only cheap sun’s path across the sky, after which materials and the design is so simple: you should rotate the cooker to follow square, with an inner box and an outer the sun. With this method, solar cookbox separated by 1 or 2 inches of insuing will take about twice as long as lation, and a glass cover on the inner cooking with electricity or gas, but box to let in sunlight. Additionally, four cooking time will decrease dramatically reflectors are arrayed at obtuse angles if you rotate the oven every 30 to the glass to focus more light into the minutes. box and raise its internal temperature Cover reflectors with basic aluminum enough to make cooking possible. We foil, Mylar tape, acrylic mirror or other used plywood for the outer box for highly reflective products. The top of rigidity and durability, and crumpled your solar cooker should be inclined, either by design or by tilting the box on blocks. The best angle is based on your latitude and the declination of the sun, STEAMMAGAZINE.NET but in the Northern Hemisphere it
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should be about 30 degrees during summer and 60 degrees during winter. To increase your solar oven’s ability to convert light to heat, paint the bottom of its interior with black, high-heat paint. To improve heat-holding ability, add some thermal mass, such as a large rock or brick. On days with strong sun and no cloud cover, two to three hours is enough to cook almost anything, from a pot of rice to a loaf of bread, without adjusting the cooker. I put my oven to use right away and had fun figuring out what worked. When cooking grains or beans, you only need a little more than half as much water as on a stovetop. Cooking veggies in the slow, even heat results in incredibly savory dishes. Food rarely burns, and only ever on top, so nothing ever sticks to the bottom of the pot. Even bread, pastries and meat will do well, although you’ll need to maintain a high average temperature, so plan in advance, and cook on days forecasted to be completely clear and sunny. Frying is difficult as the temperature typically isn’t high enough and you’ll lose heat every time you open the cooker to stir the pan — but you could experiment with quick-cooking foods, such as eggs. Dark-colored cookware works best — dark objects convert sunlight into heat energy more easily than light-colored or reflective objects. Cast iron, black enamel and dark ceramic are good
options, and lids help hold in heat. But, when cooking colorful veggies, don’t use a clear lid. The concentrated sunlight will bleach the vegetables’ color. I painted the outside of a couple of wide-mouth, quart-sized Mason jars flat black with high-heat paint (including the outsides of the lids), and these became my rice- and beancooking jars. They heat up quickly, are space-efficient, and double as storage jars for leftovers. Never fill the jar more than half-full, including water. A cup of brown rice needs 11/2 cups of water and is usually done after 70 minutes. Don’t tighten the lid all the way when cooking in a jar or you’ll risk an explosion.
Solar Ovens Can Be As Simple As 2 Pizza Boxes, Foil, Black Construction Paper, Newspaper, Plastic Wrap, and a Stick
Excerpted from MOTHER EARTH NEWS, the Original Guide to Living Wisely. To read more articles from MOTHER EARTH NEWS, please visit www.MotherEarthNews.com or call (800) 234-3368 to subscribe. Copyright 2015 by Ogden Publications Inc.
BRON’S SHAVED ICE & DRINKS TO GO
314 E Ave G Port Aransas NEXT DOOR TO BRON’S BEACH CARTS