Two weeks ago I went up to the Continental Gallery on South Congress to checkout Downtown Rulers Club, the soul side project of Maneja Beto's lead singer Alex Chavez. It was the first time I have ever heard him sing anything non-Latin and in English. The dude is good. He got soul and so do his bandmates: Christopher Grady on bass, Jeremy Bruch on drums and Beto Martinez on guitar. All four members play for bands or artists you might recognize including Brownout and What Made Milwaukee Famous.
Downtown Rulers Club is a semi-new new band and looking for a good spot for a weekly residency. Their show Monday night is free. They play at 9:30pm and put on a good show. That Continental Gallery space is small but has a good vibe to it. It is not The Continental but the second floor loft next to the tattoo place and The Continental Club. Check it out for free and have a good time listening to music that your momma would love.
The Downtown Rulers Club (photo by Isabel Salazar)
This Monday night at The Continental Club, The Downtown Rulers Club will be playing a free show starting at 9:30pm. They are a very cool classic '60s-'70s style soul band. They are fronted by Alex Chavez, whom you may know as the lead singer of Maneja Beto. Other members of The Downtown Rulers Club include members of Grupo Fantasma. When I first heard these guys, I was hooked immediately. I love old school soul music live. You can keep up with these guys on their Facebook page for now. We'll see what happens with these guys as the year goes by. For now, give a listen to The Downtown Rulers Club:
This Thursday through Saturday is all about Austin's own David Garza. These show picks were a clear no brainer for me, as I am a long time David (pronounced like Dah-Veed) Garza fan. This week offers something different even for me. I'll get to that in a second, but let me begin by talking about Thursday's show.
In what is a make up date from last Tuesday, Garza will be performing at The Continental Club located at 1315 South Congress. He was supposed to co-headline with Alejandro Escovedo last week but Garza had to cancel due to him fighting a cold. While I pretty was bummed I certainly understood with this ugly weather we're having in Austin right now. Thursday he'll be performing with Strange Darling and Chrysta Bell. Arrive around 10:00pm to catch the whole show. The Continental always has good acts booked from different walks of life. It's one of those venues that's a right of passage for people living or even visiting Austin. It's intimate and there's not really a bad spot in the house. Sometimes it just gets too crowded for such a small place.
For those who are unfamiliar with David Garza or haven't seen hm live, you need to get with the program already. Seriously, where have you been? Now I was fortunate enough to have seen Garza many a times, my first time being when I was in high school at the now defunct Steamboat (RIP) on 6th. I may or may not have been old enough to get in, but I'm glad I did. It was around the time his This Euphoria album was out, which is still my favorite of his to date. He is a complete talent with the ability to croon with his singer-songwriter skills but also rock when he wants to. Believe me when I tell you he thinks and sees things differently than the rest of us.
I admit, I always thought he was going to "make it" and reach a higher level than he has. Sure he has received tons of critical acclaim, and deservedly so, but something just never came together. I expected to see him on national magazine covers and MTV appearances. Again, remember this was the era when MTV played videos. I also remember around that same time This Euphoria came out, Best Buy had this music commercial campaign called "The Next Big Thing". One of those commercials featured David Garza and had a sound bite of his song "Kinder". After seeing that, I thought I'd never see him at the small clubs again. It's a shame he never got to that level and more people didn't get to hear David Garza, but perhaps he didn't want that for himself. I'd love to chat about that with him one day.
Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom (love the '90s haircuts!)
Here is the different part I referred to in my intro paragraph above. Way back when, Garza had an acoustic band that consisted of himself, Jeff Hayley and Chris Searles. From what I have read online, they started playing around UT and eventually played their way in gigs at The Cactus Cafe. They had an album called Me So Twangy, which is still available for download online today. Check the links at the bottom of this post.
Well for two dates this weekend, Friday and Saturday, Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom will be reuniting at The Cactus Cafe for two shows. Apparently Jeff Hayley isn't joining them, but Garza and Searles will be twangin' away. The music is very acoustic jam band, but not in the annoying hippie sense. The lyrics are humorous and Garza's voice is of course amazing. Those who get to witness Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom will be witnessing Austin history.
For more details about everything I mentioned, check out the following links:
This weekend in Austin we are blessed with not one, but two back to back nights with Alejandro Escovedo at the legendary Continental Club on South Congress. Escovedo is a music icon and a real genuine dude. I only hope I'm half as cool as he is one day. I admit I didn't much care for his music until Boxing Mirror came out, but wasn't totally won over with his latest album came out, Real Animal.
The first time I got to see Alejandro live in concert was at the legendary Gruene Hall in Gruene (pronounced like "green") right outside New Braunfels in 2008. It was also my first time seeing a show at Gruene Hall. My dad and I went and had a blast. Afterward, Alejandro stayed and signed autographs, took pictures with fans, etc. I bought my vinyl copy of Real Animal that night and had him sign it. I snapped this photo with him for the scrap book.
Just to briefly touch upon his music for those who don't know, it is very modern rock meets alt-country. It leans a little on the American side at times, but then kicks ass '60s rock style. He is an old school punk rocker, world traveled and made what is being called his "debut to the world" by sharing the stage with Bruce Springsteen. He often gets comparisons to The Boss more than any other known artist. Although I don't agree with the comparison, I know The Boss's fans will no doubt love Escovedo.
He does draw, and forgive my honesty and age here, an older crowd most of the time. There's always a few of us 20 something, in the know music geeks in the crowd. I am hoping that changes over time and believe it will as more people hear Real Animal and attend his shows. You may even get to hear him cover "All The Young Dudes" or see him share the stage with some talented musician friends of his.
When I was surfing around for a good live clip to embed in this post, I came across some great live footage on Vimeo of Alejandro performing "Always A Friend" live at SXSW this past March. Turn it up and give it a listen, then thank me later. There's some helpful links for the show as well as my interview with Alejandro I did this spring for Austin Vida. It was one of the highlights of my career.
Those Darlins made quite a splash online when they were here in March for South By Southwest. I have read several reviews, interviews and blogs on them recently. One source quoted their sound as "Appalachian Indie" and I agree with that. Those Darlins hail from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Their sound is very Carter Family meets Pitchfork. I am actually surprised that I like this group, as it outside of my usual repertoire of musical genres. Maybe it hits my Southern roots or maybe becase it is three bad ass chicks in boots. Who knows?
All I do know is that when I received their album a couple of months back, I had so many albums to listen to at that time that it ended up sitting in a pile for a bit longer than I wanted. Once I listened to it all the way through for shits and giggles one day, I regretted not opening it sooner. It isn't something I'd listen to everyday or regularly, but once in a while when I am grillin' or on a long road trip perhaps.
So as I was looking around online the other day at different venue schedules and check Myspace bulletins, I saw that Those Darlins will be coming back to Austin on October 30th. They'll be playing at one of my favorite local venues, The Continental Club on South Congress. There will be a lot stuff going on that weekend as it is Halloween weekend, but it is definitely something people should consider checking out. Mark your calendars now.
Before concluding, I just wanted to show you a great video I found online of Those Darlins performing my favorite song of theirs called "Whole Damn Thing". I can relate because I too have eaten a whole chicken after drinking heavily. Who doesn't love a good chicken?
After listening to Dream Delay all the way through a few times I thought to myself, “finally”. Not since This Euphoria has there been a David Garza album I could listen to and enjoy all the way through. Dream Delay, like This Euphoria, showcases the diversity Garza posses as an artist. There really isn’t anything he can’t do. No, I mean it. He writes, produces, sings, and he probably do stuff we don't know about yet. That's David Garza.
Ian is a graduate of Round Rock High School and attended St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. In 2008 he joined the team at Double Stereo (formerly CD Fuse) as their Blog editor where he reviewed concerts, albums, and did interviews for the popular music site.In January 2009, he became the Editor in Chief for Austin Vida. In 2010, with the help of some of his most talented friends, he launched Red River Noise. "Ian's Music Blog" is also one of the few blogs selected to be a Do512 All-Star.
On any given night of the week he can be found in downtown Austin on 6th Street and the Red River live music district.
