PRESENTed by
fort worth weekly
Music Awards
festival Sunday, June 23, 2013 West 7th Corridor
Season 1 Featured Artists blacktopGYPSY. D. Anson Brody. Eleven Hundred Springs. Hares on the Mountain. Holy Moly. Madison King. Quaker City Night Hawks. Seryn. Tejas Brothers. The Effinays. The Hanna Barbarians. The O’s.
Who’s Next?
Tweet your favorite local band name to @ChevyMusicNTX #NTXSEASON2 ChevyMusicShowcase.com Driven by your North Texas Chevy Dealers
facebook.com/ChevyMusicNTX @ChevyMusicNTX FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS festival 2013 3
4 FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS festival 2013
FORT WORTH WEEKLY
MUSIC AWARDS
That Low-End Rumble First, thank you for supporting local music. As you’ve probably learned by now, the best stuff doesn’t always come from someplace else. Like, say, Brooklyn or Portland. Or Boise. Sometimes your backyard is as fertile an artistic breeding ground as any other place in the universe. Good for you for knowing that. Lucky you, you get to live in North Texas, home to easily one of the most dynamic music scenes in the country; even luckier if you have a Fort Worth address. Sure, you might have to work a little to tease out the good music in our neighborhoods, but if you do, you are rewarded on more than just an aesthetic level. Your support for local artists keeps the local economy humming, and thriving local economies are great for the global economy. The warm fuzzies should course through your soul just knowing that that $10 you shelled out for a local CD or band t-shirt is not going into the pockets of some fat-cat New Yorkers or Angelenos. Supporting local artists, frankly, is just part of fostering sustainability. And what’s not to like? Prefer hard-charging, no-nonsense rock ’n’ roll? Try Quaker City Night Hawks, The Hanna Barbarians, or The Frisky Disco. Garage-rock more your thing? Check out The Longshots, We’reWolves, or War Party. Or maybe you dig neo New Wave. Well, if you haven’t heard Burning Hotels, Ice Eater, or Ronnie Heart, you haven’t heard anything yet. You probably need to get out more, and to inspire some (geographically concentrated) wanderlust, we offer up the 11th Annual Fort Worth Weekly Music Festival, one fun-filled day of 48 of the most asskicking independent artists in the Greater 817. Taking place in eight venues in the West 7th corridor on Sunday, June 23, MAF ’13 is free, and what could be more sustainability-encouraging than that? –– Anthony Mariani
POAG MAHONE’S POUR HOUSE
THE GROTTO
6
7
MORTON ST.
BLEDSOE ST.
CURRIE ST.
MAGNOLIA MOTOR LOUNGE
NORWOOD ST.
CAPITAL BAR
W 7th St. CROCKETT ST.
5
1 3
FOCH ST.
FRED’S CAFE
W 6th St.
CARROLL ST.
W 5th St.
RODEO GOAT
FOCH ST.
8
LOLA’S SALOON
UNIVERSITY DRIVE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
4
2
FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS feStIvAl 2013 5
3017 Morton St. 817-820-0049
2736 West 6th St. 817-877-0666
9PM
Burning Hotels 8PM
FUNGI GIRLS 7PM
THE PHUSS 6PM
WHISKEY FOLK RAMBLERS
9PM
holy moly 8PM
oil boom 7PM
perdition 6PM
We the sea lions 5PM
5PM
ICE EATER
gunga galunga
4PM
4PM
THE BREAKFAST MACHINE 2013
VENUES
THE fibs 2013
VENUES
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FORT WORTH • TEXAS
2725 West 7th St. 817-335-2575
3005 Morton St. 817-332-3344
9PM
9PM
8PM
8PM
7PM
7PM
fogg
foXTROT UNIFORM
6PM
6PM
southern train gypsy sonic buffalo
5PM
CLEANUP ANIMAL SPIRIT 2013
VENUES
THE WILL CALLERS
LUKE WADE & NO CIVILIANS
alan 4PM
QUAKER CITY NIGHT HAWKS
5PM
WE'REWOLVES 4PM
PATRIOT
2013
VENUES FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS feStIvAl 2013 7
700 Carroll St. 817-529-9141
2836 Bledsoe St. 817-877-4628
9PM
calhoun 8PM
secret ghost champion
9PM
dru b shinin' 8PM
ronnie heart
7PM
7PM
6PM
6PM
son of stan
lindby
5PM
5PM
missing sibling
siberian traps
4PM
4PM
madras À
constant seas
2013
VENUES
nice major
pablo & the hemphill 7
2013
VENUES
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517 University Blvd. 817-882-9331
9PM
915 Currie St. 817-332-0083
9PM
8PM
derek larson & the leavers
7PM
clint niosi & the unaccountable
the longshots year of the bear the hanna barbarians 6PM
the frisky disco 5PM
8PM
7PM
kevin aldridge & the appraisers 6PM
jacob furr & the only road
stone machine electric
5PM
4PM
THE DIABOLICAL MACHINES
raging boner
2013
VENUES
mills & co. 4PM
2013
VENUES FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS feStIvAl 2013 9
FORT WORTH WEEKLY
MUSIC AWARDS
SHOWCASING
ARTISTS
Art by Bonnie Mays and Matt Mabe
Words by Anthony Mariani
The vehicle for singer-songwriter and musical monster Chris Hardee, Alan manages the miraculous feat of symphonic rock grandeur sans pretension. The band’s 2011 debut full-length, Alan, The Universal Answer is Both, is quite simply a masterpiece.
Though Animal Spirit may inspire rhythmic movements in the feet and booty regions and create good vibes all around, this dreamy quartet is far from trippy-dippy. There’s some meat on them bones. Great chick-dude vocal harmonies too.
Described by at least one local soundman as “like Gwen Stefani –– but hotter!” frontwoman Meghann Moore is the riotous blonde heart and soul of The Breakfast Machine, specializing in sometimes glitzy and sometimes psychedelic but always technically tight poprock. 10 FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS feStIvAl 2013
When talk turns to Fort Worth’s best musical exports, one name near the top of the list (if not at the top) is Burning Hotels. Over the past decade-plus, co-songwriters and -frontmen Chance Morgan and Matt Mooty have produced more than a handful of cosmopolitan rock songs that in a perfect world would have achieved U2/Coldplay-like status by now. Alas …
Frontman, founder, and co-songwriter Tim Locke has pretty pipes, crazy-good guitar chops, and the ability to pen often poignant, mostly wry lyrics. With co-songwriter Jordan Roberts, Locke has transformed Calhoun into a must-see –– and -hear –– regional experience. A new recording, Paperweights, is on the way. A mostly post-rock group, Cleanup delves into jazz and prog but always keeps melody at the fore, and there are more than a few moments of loudness. The band’s debut recording, Whatever Your Place Might Be, is a nominee for EP of the year.
After years of plucking out folk noir as mainly a solo act, Clint Niosi got some badass backing musicians, picked up his hollow-body Gretsch, and plugged in. Enter: The Unaccountable. His dark and often darkly comic material hasn’t lost any of its bite, though.
Constant Seas create swirling, atmospheric, and sometimes bombastic soundscapes that call to mind the handiwork of post-rock giants Tortoise and occasionally the formerly Fort Worth-based American Analog Set.
FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS feStIvAl 2013 11
There’s no easy categorizing Derek Larson & The Leavers, whose brand of alternately punchy and moody barroom Americana is neatly manifest on the band’s recent debut album, Blood on Blood.
Their lyrics might not always be so shiny and happy, but The Diabolical Machines’ music –– a whistling-Farfisa-laden mélange of boutique pop and e-folk –– will smear a smile across your face like so much cherry-red lipstick. The band’s currently working on its debut album.
’Member that Big Daddy Kane song, “I get the job done / I work”? Well, BDK had nothing on Dru B Shinin’, who only stops writing, recording, or performing –– either solo or with his posse, Mount Olympus –– when he’s sleeping.
This raw, punchy, bluesy trio is young and full of promise. The Fibs are currently working on a debut recording with Dreamy Soundz, the North Texas studio (and label) of choice for the discerning young ruffian.
Loud, heavy, and psychedelic, The Fogg’s tuneage is a long, slow march through hazy, swampy density. Blue Cheer and Sabbath would be proud. And pulsating through every note is a bloody punk heart.
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Foxtrot Uniform represents simple rock arithmetic: Two badasses, co-founders Kenny Uptain (guitar, vox) and Kelly Test (drums, backing vox), plus three new badasses equals a bevy of rich, full-bodied throwback rock and soul jams.
Thank goodness someone around here hasn’t forgotten about AC/DC. Ain’t nothing complicated about The Frisky Disco sound: just huge, chunky guitar riffage, pounding rhythms, and wildman Hayden Miller’s otherworldly voodoo howl. The Frisky Disco will leave you thunderstruck, for sure.
Pure kickassery. Though the surf-rock is prevalent, large doses of psychedelia, proto-punk, and pop explode from this trio that sounds like it’s 10-people large. The young turks that make up Fungi Girls are also some of the most technically proficient cats you’ll ever see or hear.
Fort Worth needs more funky, groovy, crazy-melodic jazz a la Medeski Martin & Wood –– thank the music gods then for Gunga Galunga, the brainchild of saxophonist Jeff Dazey, who works harder to keep this town and its music colorful and happenin’ than just about anyone else.
Some heart-wrenching lineup changes have only brought about a tougher, more determined, more progressive Hanna Barbarians, who can do a lot more than just let their hair down and rock balls. Check out the newish tracks “Way Down” and “Oh, Spirit.” Imagine Genesis or Yes by way of Texas. Mind? Blown. FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS festival 2013 15
He’s been described by more than one observer as “Fort Worth’s Prince,” and it’s true. Disco-rock singersongwriter Ronnie Heart is Lilliputian, stylish as all get out, and can play the gut-tar like a mo-fo. Heart releases new material and some of his DJ handiwork on the reg via Soundcloud.com/ronnie-heart.
Zero media coverage from the hometown daily paper? Next to no airplay on local radio? Neither matters to Holy Moly. All this acoustic rockabilly quintet cares about is writing good tunes –– the band has released four albums in nearly as many years, each platter better and realer than the last –– and having a grand ol’ time onstage. Fact: Holy Moly’s music is responsible for the only mosh pit ever to swirl at Billy Bob’s Texas.
Future rock? Lasergaze? Killer-robot porn music? An internationally influenced monument to un-sexy, un-danceable, organic techno, Ice Eater’s debut full-length, Don’t Care, treads where few local outfits have ever dared. Though completely analog, the album sounds computerized –– it isn’t.
Jacob Furr and company have a unique sound –– smooth Americana with jazz influences (courtesy of Best Guitarist nominee and Cleanup axman Landon Cabarubio) –– which fits with pretty much everything, from folk to rock and all points in between.
Like Calhoun’s Tim Locke, Kevin Aldridge has been at this indie music game for nearly 20 years, and when it comes to songsmiths who know how to turn a phrase and can bring the rafters down with their voices, Aldridge is one of the big dawgs. His most recent album, the Americana-honoring Viper Sessions, perfectly showcases his beautiful, haunting voice and writing. 16 FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS festival 2013
Composed of several young UTA vocal grads, Lindby does some quite off-kilter stuff –– ditty about Leif Erickson, anyone? –– but keeps the energy high and the musicianship taut.
Though all four of these cats were probably in diapers at the time, the kind of rabid punkinflected radio-rock that dominated the early’80s underground scene (think: The Clash, The Alarm) is The Longshots’ forté. Synchronicity. Be on the lookout for their debut album.
Luke Wade may sing like an angel and have a charismatic stage presence, but the veteran singersongwriter can pen a tune that would make John Mayer and Ray Lamontagne weep with envy. Though Wade’s sumptuous, soulful voice is his main selling point, he’s also got a crack band behind him.
Don’t call it “yacht rock.” Yes, this international trio –– brothers and Horned Frogs Jeevan and Mathew Antony are from Dubai –– crafts pleasure-crafting music that’s appropriately soft and sentimental, but in live settings, Madràs can reach true indie-rocking heights.
Former bassist for mod-rockers Voigt and The February Chorus and current bassist for Un Chien, Taylor Craig Mills has been doing his own thing for the past few years and seems to be having more fun now than ever. Specializing in a kind of shabby, Westerberg-ian pop, Mills & Co. recently released an exceptional debut album, Don't Ever Look Back Twice. FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS festival 2013 17
Featuring members of two of the most popular bands in North Texas, Calhoun and Fate Lions, this Fort Worth/ Dallas trio pumps out sweet, guitar-based indie-rock, which means dynamic melodies, smart lyrics, and a polished rawness. Missing Sibling is following up its debut recording, the EP Pick a Family, with a couple of new tracks, with backing vocals from members of The Diabolical Machines.
There are a lot of rappers out there, but only a few of them seem to have the wide-angle vision of Nice Major, a haircutter by day who has his eyes on world domination. Strong, poppy, and melodic, Nice’s sophomore album, The Do You Believe Project, sounds like a million bucks and is international in style. Look out, Mr. Kim Kardashian.
A boisterous, blooze-soaked romp through the Delta (circa 1920s) in Ugg boots worn ironically, Oil Boom’s tuneage doesn’t have a lot of gears but manages to say a lot in as few notes as possible. Can’t wait to hear what this two-thirds Dallas-based trio comes up with to top its sophomore album, Gold Yeller.
Pablo & The Hemphill 7 gets every party started right, busting out infectious reggae riddims and raging against The Man. Pass the dutchie on de left-hand side, we say.
Twenty-two-year-old frontman Jake Paleschic is a prodigy of sorts –– not only does he play bass and sing in garage-rockers The Longshots, he also leads Patriot, a nuevoOutlaw County outfit.
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Perdition isn’t a-scared of pop-punk, because this quartet gives the sound some balls while at the same time keeping things moving along at an uptempo, head-bobbing clip. Hispaniola, the band’s 2012 debut, might just be the best slice of ragged yet tight, poppy yet rugged punk ever to come from El Fort.
Deafening, raunchy, punch-you-in-the-face rock ’n’ roll is what The Phuss has been pumping out for more than five years –– amazing, considering the guys are barely old enough to drink legally. Their year-old selftitled debut album was produced by The Toadies’ Vaden Todd Lewis, marking the first time Lewis has ever produced a non-Toadies recording. ’Nuff said.
Anchored by the gritty vocals of co-frontmen Sam Anderson and David Matsler, Quaker City Night Hawks generate a species of rock that’s familiar but in its subtle intricacies and structural dynamism remains wholly original. Raucous and greasy but soulful and decidedly Southern fried –– that’s the Quaker City sound. The band’s sophomore CD, Honcho, is up for Rock Album of the Year.
Rowdy, fast, and tight –– and loud –– Raging Boner will, simply put, rip your freaking face off. The crunchy guitars, machine-gun beats, and frontman African Mike’s screams make for one helluva mosh-tastic experience.
With one album already under their belt, the wistful and enigmatic Psychosomatic Immortality, the fellas of Secret Ghost Champion are at work on a follow-up. Follow Soundcloud.com/secretghostchampion for more.
FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS festival 2013 19
If you like Wilco and Son Volt, you’re gonna love Siberian Traps, an edgy alt-Americana outfit fronted by singer-songwriter Seth Reeves, who only recently moved back to his native 817 after spending some time in Nashville.
Son of Stan is the band project of singer-songwriter Jordan Richardson, who splits time between Los Angeles and his native Fort Worth and who with Oil Boom’s Steve Steward has produced some amazing recent local albums. SoS’s melancholy brand of sugary, guitar-based ’80s New Wave seems to have been made for cruising the summertime mall parking lot in your silver ’85 Civic while rocking Girbaud gear and Docksiders.
They’re young and loaded with songwriting and technical skill. And their music will flip your wig. Heavy, bright, uptempo, and melodic –– but still heaaavyyy –– Sonic Buffalo is the Fort’s answer to Jane’s Addiction and Butthole Surfers. No bull, the Buffalo is the real deal.
Southern Train Gypsy pounds out metallic massiveness with a slight twang. Think: Pantera but not as flashy. STG has just released its sophomore album, The Bastard, and it’s a doozy: Though ear-splitting and intense, it’s still wholly accessible. “So if you don’t give a shit about personal grooming or pretty-boy antics,” the band says, “then join the Gypsy Nation.”
Produced by Wo Fat’s Kent Stump, Stone Machine Electric’s recently released eponymous debut is simple but not simplistic –– the duo of guitarist/vocalist Dub and drummer Mark Kitchens (with studio bass) elicit a lot of color from their sludgy, obsidian version of doomy hardness.
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Pulling off smart, heroic mod-rock is a lot harder than you think –– one insincere, gratuitous note or lyric, and the whole shebang can go down in a sea of melted Velveeta. Not that anyone needs an extra reason to love We The Sea Lions, who pound out walls of sound across which frontman Jon Badillo carefully etches tales of heartbreak and woe, but if you haven’t heard this quartet yet, you don’t know what you’re missing.
For four young dudes, We'reWolves can whip up some genuine early-’70s flavor. Their recently released self-titled debut album is a moody, slowburning trip through the DayGlo-hued, wine-bottlestrewn garage of yore. (Just don’t scratch the Chevelle, please.)
The Lonesome Underground is Whiskey Folk Ramblers’ latest album, and it’s easily the most stylistically progressive thing these boys have ever done. The spaghetti Western influences are still there. They’re just no longer the focal point. They’ve been tactfully folded into a larger, purer tapestry of Dust Bowl-era folk and Americana noir.
Will Callers co-songwriters Jake Murphy and Daniel Slatton know how to write roadhouse rockers that engage the groove-bone as well as the head and heart. Though Texas Music giant Ray Wylie Hubbard produced their recently released new album, What Else Is Left?, The Will Callers transcend genres.
Comprising former Lift to Experience bassist Josh “Bear” Browning and the married duo behind the Dreamy Soundz mini-empire –– Jennifer and Robby Rux –– Year of the Bear does that swelling, gaping rock thing to a tee. Highly recommended for fans of My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr.
FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS festival 2013 21
IN-STUDIO RECORDING PROVIDED BY
911 S. MAIN ST. | 817.877.4338
Great music. Great cause.
FFiVe BucKs. Frequencies compilation CD with
18 songs from nominated bands will be on sale during the Festival on Sunday, June 23 at each participating venue.
eKly Fort worth we
usic m awards
, Vol. 4 Frequencies
The $5 cost will benefit Tarrant Area Food Bank to help empower communities to eliminate hunger by providing food, education and resources. Your $5 donation for the CD provides food for 25 meals. 22 FORT WORTH WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS feStIvAl 2013
WE CELEBRATE THE
MUSIC AWARDS
FESTIVAL AND LOCAL ARTISTS!
Now offering programs in:
GAME ART & DESIGN (BFA) VISUAL EFFECTS & MOTION GRAPHICS (BFA) CLASSES START SOON! Call us to explore your creative options:
888.422.9686 For a complete list of programs, visit us online:
www.ArtInstitutes.edu/Fort-Worth We offer programs in: DESIGN MEDIA ARTS FASHION 7000 Calmont Avenue, Suite 150 • Fort Worth, TX 76116 Toll-free: 888.422.9686 • Local: 817.210.0808
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Proud Presenter of the Fort Worth Weekly 2013 Music Awards.