Before Sunday night (March 07, 2010) I had missed every chance to see Tim Barry play live. Circumstances had aligned against me and I was either out of town, sick, without transportation, or possibly dead (I got better) every time he rolled through Houston. In a very short amount of time I realized what I had been missing. Before I talk about any of the specifics let me make clear that this was the most intense show I can remember seeing bar none. It takes that spot from some great shows with absolutely crazy stories attached to them, like waking up in New Orleans on a tour bus, that are now put to shame by a show where nothing really all that crazy went down. The only way to chalk it up is to the sheer intensity that Tim Barry radiates on and off the stage. Now lets get on to the story…

So me and my brother showed up way too early because I thought the show would sell out. (As a side note: Fuck you Houston for not selling this show out. You bunch of bitches!) So we stood outside smoking and talking while trying to stay out of the possible line of fire from some asshole calling himself “Pony” who was waving around what he referred to as “My nine”. I thought he was the manager or one of the owners which would make his asinine behavior legal so we didn’t call the cops on the jackoff. We should have. He’s not even employed by the club. And eventually decided to wander down the street and grab some food and hope that “Pony”, who actually said “Man fuck that book (The Outsiders) I’ve been going by Pony since before that asshole write that book”, didn’t kill anyone and ruin the show before we got back.

When we managed to wander back I caught up with Tim and, much to my surprise, was taken aback at his humility. We hung out for a while before the show and I got permission to shoot some pics of the show as well as met some pretty cool people including a dude who had bicycled from Tampa, FL to Houston, TX and had come to see the show. Tim deflected most of the compliments people had about his music preferring to talk about life and wander through random topics. It was more like meeting an old friend for the first time rather than meeting a rock star.

That all changed when Tim took the stage. “I’m Tim Barry and I’m from Richmond Virginia” While there was a lot of intensity about him before the show, especially when he talked about the incident where he broke his hand, that intensity took on a whole new form when he picked us guitar. It’s almost impossible to describe him on stage to someone who hasn’t seen him play. He obviously enjoys what he is doing but there is an underlying “fuck you” that’s just waiting to break through. It almost felt like I was watching someone about to fight with themselves. With the crowd yelling along with every song the energy in the club was something that must be experienced to be believed.

All of that was almost destroyed when the aforementioned asshole “Pony” got on stage between songs and began ranting about why he didn’t understand why Tim would tour with those pussies on the Revival Tour and he was out of their league and much worse. Being as that the Revival Tour is put on by one of Tim’s best friends and musicians on it with him are all friends of his you can imagine that this went over like a ton of bricks. But Tim restrained himself and “Pony’s” friends pretty much got him out the door, into his car, and told him to fuck off before coming in to finish the show. Tim handled it well even taking time to say he understood that the guy was trying to compliment him and just went about it in the exact wrong way. And then he started playing again…

There were beers, there were shots, and there was even an asshole but most of all Tim Barry took the stage, owned the crowd, and played like a man possessed. If you have seen him you know what I mean. The tense arms, the spittle flying, the random “fuck you” between verses or songs, and him leaving all the blood, sweat, and tears on the stage. Like many shows it was over way too soon. We all said our goodbyes and parted ways into that moist Texas air. I know I normally share stories about the bands I cover and whatnot but the stories I have from this show, outside of the show itself, aren’t the kind of stories a body is inclined to make public. They seem, as weird as it sounds, too intimate to shove into a few words and post on the intertubes. So you’ll have to be satisfied with this write up and the pics I took. Quoth Tim Barry: That’s all I got…Goodnight!

Feel free to stop by my site to see all the pics from the show. I need to crop a couple a little differently but they are all posted. And as usual if Virgil or Tim, or hell anyone, wants to use the pics to promote Tim then just drop me a line and they’re yours to use.

Tim Barry – Exit Wounds (Live)
Tim Barry – Wait At Milano (Live)
Tim Barry – Avoiding Catatonic Surrender (Live)

Tim Barry’s Home Page
Tim Barry @ Suburban Home Records

Here is a real treat to start off a Friday morning. This is a bootleg of a show the Truckers did way back in 2002 when Jason was still in the band. What’s interesting about this show is that it was the first of two shows they did which are rumored to be where the whole idea for the Dirt Underneath acoustic tour came from. Personally, I love how you can hear the crickets and frogs in the background throughout the show. Get’s me ready for summer.

You can download the entire show here and listen to the samples below while it downloads.

Drive-By Truckers – Outfit
Drive-By Truckers – When The Pin Hits The Shell
Drive-By Truckers – The Living Bubba
Drive-By Truckers – Zip City
Drive-By Truckers – The Assassin

Darren Hoff was part of the beloved and now defunct Austin-based country juggernaut The Weary Boys. It’s been nearly two years and a day job since the Wearies flamed out and Darren is the last one to surface with a new project. Better late than never, I say.

When it came time for Darren to form a band he went back to where he started, calling upon folks he’d met and known via the Austin music scene. Guitarist Ben Massey had been a mainstay in the area since relocating from Maryland, while drummer Brandon Burke was initiated almost by accident when he agreed to play drums on the eve of a show. Keyboardist Jim Hawkins came to know Darren through Darren’s aforementioned day job at a music store. He was originally just working studio sessions, adding keys and acoustic guitar accompaniment to songs in the studio, but somewhere along the line it was decided that he should become a full share member. Finally, along came guitarist-freshly-turned-bassist Gregg White, and The Hard Times were formed.

I’ll be honest, when I first started listening to Darren’s album I wanted it to be The Weary Boys, and when it wasn’t anywhere close I was disappointed in the cd and put it away. As time passed I got to thinking about what I wrote when I was reviewing the new Lucero album, asking if it was fair for fans to expect certain things from bands and what was the band’s obligation to those expectations. Is it fair for me to summarily dismiss Darren’s album because it wasn’t The Weary Boys?

No. It wasn’t. So I pulled the album off the cd rack and took it back to the car.

What Darren did, while ignoring my personal desires to hear a new Wearies album, was make an utterly fantastic country music record. While some people might be put off by the fact that it doesn’t really break any new ground, I am not one of them and on closer listen it turns out that this record is pretty much exactly what I should have expected from Darren, based on his songs from The Weary Boys. All of which makes me feel like even more of an asshole. So if you’re a Weary Boys fan like me, I’d suggest you check your prejudices at the door and check this album out. If you’re a fan of the country music your dad listened to, then you’re gonna enjoy this album.

Darren Hoff & The Hard Times – Out Into Nothing
Darren Hoff & The Hard Times – Stop Breaking Down
Darren Hoff & The Hard Times – Oh Midnight

Darren Hoff & The Hard Times on myspace, Buy Darren Hoff & The Hard Times

Reckless & Ragged: Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC  3/5/2010

People who follow the Texas/Red Dirt music scene are familiar with the friendly “rivalry” that exists between Reckless Kelly and Cross Canadian Ragweed. The pranks these two bands have played on each other range from the harmless to the down-right disgusting. Through all of the jokes, they are the best of friends in music, having played together at countless music festivals and charitable events. When it was announced that they’d be making a run together through the southeast, I was pumped to see a date in Charlotte.

Reckless kicked off the evening and played for a little over an hour. Their new album, Somewhere In Time, was released last month. It is made up entirely of songs written by Pinto Bennett, the songwriter from Idaho who had a huge influence on the band in their early days. The set list consisted of a few tunes from the new album, including personal favorites Little Blossom and Pure Quill as well as some of their older songs, Baby’s Gone Blues, Drink Your Whiskey Down and Nobody’s Girl. They closed their set with an excellent cover of Alejandro Escovedo’s Castanets. This song has been in the rotation for the band for a while, but they’ve not got an awesome jam at the end that puts a great exclamation point on their set.

Ragweed was up next and the crowd was ready. They have built a nice following in the southeast as evidenced by the size of the crowds at their concerts here. I’ve seen them a handful of times and the crowds here are larger each time. The one thing that stood out to me was their sound – it was loud and just plain awesome. They are really on top of their game right now. Front man Cody Canada kicked it off with what they call the “Trifecta”, three songs (Overtable, Overtable Interlude and Pretty Lady) that are all strung together on their new album, Happiness and All The Other Things. A highlight of the show was the cover of Rosalie, a song written by Randy Pease about his beloved guitar. Randy was an integral part of the original Oklahoma red dirt music scene where Ragweed got their start. Cody explained that their next album, their last with Universal South, will be made up of songs written by their old Oklahoma friends (Medicine Show, Mike McClure and the Great Divide, etc.) so that their friends will get the royalties. About midway through the set, Cody Braun, Reckless’ fiddle player, came out to join in on Anywhere But Here. I wasn’t sure how a fiddle would go with Ragweed’s sound but I must say it was pretty cool. Braun came back out to join on Bad Habit, a song requested by someone in the crowd but Canada said he didn’t know the lyrics. He wasn’t lying as he completely forgot them halfway through the song. He played it off nicely and moved on. Another great moment came next when Braun brothers Cody and Willy covered Buddy Miller’s That’s How Strong My Love Is. Later, both bands were on stage for Ragweed’s Time to Move On, which included a great guitar solo by Reckless’ guitar player David Abyeta. The fun continued with the Ragweed classic Boys From Oklahoma and then Crazy Eddies Last Hurrah, a Reckless song that has been covered a lot by Ragweed. This version included Willy Braun on lead vocals with both bands playing. The night ended with a cover of Chuck Berry’s Promised Land, a song you might not think you’d ever from either of these bands. However, they pulled it off nicely.

Overall, just an awesome night of music from two bands that know how to play great music live. One of the cool things that Ragweed does at most of their concerts is offer a USB wristband that contains songs from the show. Absolutely brilliant – it’s very popular among fans and it’s another way for the band to get their music heard. I’ve included a couple of tracks from the show – enjoy.

Cross Canadian Ragweed – Dimebag
Cross Canadian Ragweed – Time To Move On

In recent weeks both Micah Schnabel (Two Cow Garage) and his father John have been caught on stages sporting the super hip and extra snazzy ninebullets.net tshirt.

I know that with this relevation you’re wondering where you can get yours. Don’t be fooled by the imitators which do not exist! The only place to get the officially sanctioned super hip and extra snazzy ninebullets.net tshirt is from this here web site and more specifically in this here post (or one of the 10 others from the past). As an added bonus each order comes with a few stickers and the satisfaction that you contributed to my whiskey fund at SxSW. So get to ordering kids. I leave for Austin next Wednesday and we don’t want me to be sober.

Sizes

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Autopsy IV here, bogarting Romeo’s Top 5 gimmick again. I just can’t help it. Last time I hopped on this gravy train I did the top 5 guilty pleasures. In that post I said, “our Guilty Pleasures do as much to define our musical personality as the bands’ t-shirts we proudly display.” That line and a few whiskey drinks one night got me to thinking about my life and music’s role in it. When I really think about it, there are moments that changed my musical trajectory, and in those moments there is a song. A moment, a song and a new path. I am looking for the 5 songs that shifted you musically over your lifetime and made you who you are. Furthermore, I want to know how it changed you.

At the risk of over-romanticizing this topic, these are my who’s and how’s:

Michael Martin Murphey – Wildfire: This is the first song that ever created an emotional reaction in me. I don’t recall how old I was, but it was pretty young yet I remember it clear as day. I had been put to bed by my parents and they were listening to that album. It was the first time I truly recall listening to the lyrics of a song (now, i am totally a lyrics guy), and I cried for that lady and that horse that night.

Ratt – Round and Round: This was the first song that ever gave me a musical identity. I can remember hearing this song for the first time clear as day. I was lying on the floor watching Solid Gold and Ratt performed “Round and Round”. I was 11 years old and I immediately I knew that metal was my calling.

Dead Milkmen – Big Time Operator: This song came to me as I was entering the eighth grade and in the midst of forming both my real identity as well as a musical one. I’d already started listening to the Dead Kennedy’s and a collection of other “skater music” at the time but I still wasn’t sure if I liked the music or if I liked the idea of it. Enter the Dead Milkmen and I was sure. To this day, I don’t think 6 months pass that I do not listen to one of their albums.

The Violent Femmes – Kiss Off: Really, I could have chosen any number of Femmes songs for this post but I think Kiss Off does a really good job of paraphrasing being a teenager and it always (and to tell the truth, still does) resonated with me to the core. I’ve said this before and I’ll reiterate here, if I ever have a child I’ll give them the entire Femmes discography on their 15th birthday. Honestly, from 15 to 23 the music of the Violent Femmes was as good a friend to me as any person.

The Drive-By Truckers – Sinkhole: This song was the one that sent me on my current music trajectory which ultimately gave birth to this web site and everything that I am doing today. So, currently you could say it’s changed my life more than any other on this list.

ROMEOSIDVICIOUS’ TOP 5 and Mix-Tape:

The Cure – All Cats Are Grey: I took some liberty with the “songs that changed you” idea and this song is one that was playing at a time I realized I had changed. Actually the whole of Faith was on repeat for most of the night. The night in question was the night before someone I was madly in love with left for college. I was older by a couple of years, had a job, and all that good stuff. She was destined to do more with her life than me. We were going to keep seeing each other after she left since it was only an hour’s drive but that night, the last night before she left, after I snuck into her room to spend the night, breaking her parent’s rules for the first time ever, I realized it was our last night together. We spent more nights in the same room over the next couple of years but not together like we were before. I remember this song playing as we lie, half awake, in each others arms making promised we knew we would never keep.

Leonard Cohen – Who By Fire: This is one of the songs that helped shaped my musical tastes. I won’t go into all the history but growing up I was allowed a very limited set of genres in the house and upon discovering other kinds of music sort of went crazy. When I first heard Mr. Cohen singing Who By Fire I am pretty sure I was high on substances best left unsaid and damn sure I was coming down. It fit perfectly at the moment and took me out of my comfort zone of hardcore punk and opened my eyes to another world of music.

Social Distortion – Sick Boy: I heard this one in 1990, the year I got my first tattoo, and it led me to the shady back-alleys of punk rock. Much to the dismay of many a friend and most of my family this song was what set me down the path that world wind through punk, industrial, goth and eventually to where you find me today: ashamed of none of the music I listen to and still playing it all way too loud for the neighbors and sometimes too loud for my kids.

Minor Threat – Guilty of Being White: This song didn’t so much change me as it helped me realize that the whole “politically correct” movement was a farce. I was entrenched in punk by the time I came across Ian MacKaye and the joy that was Minor Threat. While I lived, admittedly superficially, to piss off “the man” I was also sucked into not offending anyone if they were different from me. So pissing off
rich white dudes was alright but I wouldn’t offend a black dude or a Mexican and so on. This song finally helped me realize that if I was going to be a misanthrope then that’s what I should be and I should stop worrying about being white because, you see, my desire to not offend didn’t come from caring that people were different but from a deep belief that somehow those with a different skin color were worse off than me. Thanks, in part, to this song I was able to shed my, so-called, reverse racism and just be a misanthrope altogether. Thankfully I have since outgrown misanthropy.

Lucero – Tonight Ain’t Gonna Be Good: Good ol’ Lucero. This was the first song I heard by them and to be honest it’s what led me to where I am today musically. Yes my tastes are eclectic but you won’t find me without some good old alt country nearby. While Uncle Tupelo was busy making a name for themselves and breaking up I was busy listening to GBH, Screeching Weasel, The Hates, Fear, All, TSOL, and so on. I
missed the alt country revolution entirely and it wasn’t until a kid I worked with turned me onto Lucero that I finally caught up.

So there you have it. A couple that are not really on topic, a couple that I might have shared too much on, but that’s my list for this week.

What are yours?

Friday night ninebullets and Aestheticized are teaming up to bring Jon Snodgrass and Cory Branan to The Emerald for a night of loud music and whiskey. For yours truly, I’m viewing this as my official SxSW primer, so expect ridiculousness and I hope to see some of y’all out there.

Scott Harrell is a regular writer for many a publication here in the Tampa area as well as a member of Nessie, one of the opening acts Friday night. When he offered to write a piece about his experiences with Drag the River for ninebullets I was beyond flattered. It was one of those ‘ninebullets is starting to make it’ moments for me. Anyhow, I jumped at the opportunity.

Please enjoy his piece and come out to the show Friday night. I’ll let you buy me a “have a good trip” drink.

Drag The River: Thanks, Guys

by Scott Harrell

The first time we played with Drag The River, back in–shit, what was it, the summer of ‘05?–I didn’t know much about ‘em beyond the facts that Chad from All was in the band, and they played what some people were calling country. But that was more than enough to inspire us to connive our way onto the bill with them at the Uptown Bar, a place we weren’t convinced we wanted to play again unless we were pretty sure it was going to be a good night.

It was a good night.

Sold out. No AC. What had to have been 150 people crammed into a space only slightly larger than your average walk-in closet, sweating out the beer faster than they could get it into their systems. But it was one of those nights where everything came together, the people and the mood and the music creating a vibe that just absolutely defied everything boring and ordered and responsible about being an adult, just completely negated it.

I remember running outside to throw up from the heat the second we were finished playing. I remember helping clean Will Quinlan up in the ladies’ room after some lady punched him in the face. I’m pretty sure I remember Gainesville’s Enablers killing it–was that that night? But what I remember most is being mesmerized by Drag, who weren’t anything so conceived or put together as a bunch of punk dudes playing country music. It was so much simpler than that, it might as well have been elemental. They were just expressing themselves; they were just doing what they wanted to do, and getting off on it, and everything else in the world could’ve fallen away and it wouldn’t have changed a note.

A few of us rode to the after-party in the customized furniture truck that took the Descendents and All through God only knows how many miles of touring, and everything was perfect.

In the four and a half years since that night, we’ve had the honor of supporting Drag, in whatever incarnation happened to be hitting the road at the time, on a handful of other occasions. (The second most memorable involved Ybor City’s New World Brewery, Columbus, Ohio’s marvelous Two Cow Garage, and about 20 folks ganging up on the mics to cover “Can’t Hardly Wait.”) I wouldn’t say we’re tight or anything; maybe a few e-mails here and there during the months between shared bills.

Every time Jon or Chad or the whole band comes to town, though, they remember. They ask after common friends, joke about common experiences. As someone who’s opened for everybody from cult heroes to arena has-beens, I know exactly how rare that is, how easy it is to forget that opening act they played with in St. Pete, how all the past bills can run together unless you’re careful not to let it happen. And I appreciate it. It expresses the loveliest side effect of playing original music: the communities of lifers that coalesce around the love of tunes and bars and beers and laughter and drama. It reminds me that, while I write music because I’m driven to, the friends and times that come with it are often every bit as important to me as the words and the chords.

And it makes me love and respect Drag all the more–after all, they could’ve been assholes, and I still would’ve been blown away by the tunes.

Scott Harrell plays in Florida bar-rock act Nessie. They’ll be supporting Drag The River’s Jon Snodgrass and Cory Branan at downtown St. Petersburg’s The Emerald Bar this Friday, March 12 along with Pensacola foursome Deadly Fists of King Fu.

Jon Snodgrass – Brave With Strangers
Jon Snodgrass – Br00tal
Jon Snodgrass – Old Sad Songs (Lucero cover)

Cory Branan – Skateland South
Cory Branan – Daddy Was A Sky Writer
Cory Branan – Yesterdays

Someone Else’s Song is an occasional reoccurring piece here on ninebullets feature cover songs performed by The Drive-By Truckers (Vol. 1 here and Vol. 2 here). The compilations are assembled by Smitty from the Drive-By Truckers mailing list using the numerous live DBT shows freely available on the internet.

I thought this would couple well with the Covers Mix-Tape post from this morning and we could call it an Under Covers Tuesday. Cheesy title or not, the music is ruling.

Here is the track list:

1. Shattered (Rolling Stones)
2. Hey Ya (Outkast) (w/vocals, not Booker T version)
3. Adam Raised a Cain (Springsteen)
4. Rebels (Tom Petty)
5. Blue Yodel No. 4 (Jimmie Rodgers)
6. Drunk (Vic Chesnutt)
7. We Will Rock You (Queen)
8. Troglodyte (Jimmy Castor Bunch)
9. Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
10. Before They Make Me Run (Rolling Stones)
11. Strutter (KISS)
12. State Trooper (Springsteen)
13. When I Ran Off & Left Her (Vic Chesnutt)
14. Free Fallin (Gov’t Mule w/Patterson on vocals)
15. Southern Man (Gov’t Mule w/Patterson on vocals)
16. Like A Hurricane  (Jason Isbell)

You can download the entire compilation here.

Awesome job and you might wanna start marinating on tomorrow’s Top 5 today. It’s gonna be Top 5: Songs That Changed You….don’t answer here. Just think about it for tomorrow.

Anyhow. Here’s the covers mixtape:

I got a big ol’ box from the fellas over at Spokane Valley Wear today which means I am flush with ninebullets shirts again. I have men’s and women’s shirts and I have a few in all sizes. If you want one they’re 20 dollars if you live in the United States and 25 if you live outside the US.

All proceeds from this round of shirt sales will go towards my ongoing war with sobriety and to buying band merchandise while I ‘m in Austin.

And don’t forget to send me a picture if you buy a shirt.

Sizes

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