Heck Yeah!

W. Gardner Selby on MSNBC with some guy called Brokaw.

The Tribulation Time Will Come

Ironic that just after moshing with Peter Blackstock, we learn that his No Depression magazine is being shuttered after the next issue. ND was born the journal of the alt-country universe. It's name was an homage to the Carter Family song made famous to a new generation by Uncle Tupelo. It later broadened its theme to try to encompass all flavors of Americana, and each issue is filled with stories, and reviews, and ads addressed to bluegrass, alt-country, country, and other inidgenous musical flavors.

ND is the only magazine I subscribe to; have from the (nearly) the beginning. To be honest, I get it for the ads as much as anything else. Each month, I dog ear the pages hawking the CDs I want to buy, then supplement that with the reviews and other stories.

RIP No Depression.

I'm going where there's no Depression

To a better land that's free from
care

I'll leave this world of toil and trouble

My home's in heaven

I'm going there.

Last Reviers Post - Again

I didn't mean to post again, but I just discovered on the web excellent pictures that chronicle the events of night 1 of the Reivers reunion. Early on, an exuberant fan is caught in post-song ecstasy. Later, a series of photos (this one, and this one, and this one, and this one) captures the ritual arm waving and head thrashing to set-closer Secretariat. Man, those fans are insane.

Spare the Rock Goes Big Time

Our friends at Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child have hit the big time. They can now be heard on 93.9, The River in Northhampton, MA and Brattleboro, VT.

Spare the Rock is the creation of Bill Childs, a former colleague at UT Law and the firm. Each Saturday morning he and his daughter Ella spin tracks of music that might appeal to kids and adults alike. For some time they have been on Valley Free Radio, which had a very unreliable webcast. Now that they are on the River, we hope to be able to put them on every Saturday morning.

Last Reivers Post

OK: here it is, the last Reivers post. DKP wrote an excellent review of the reunion show on popmatters.com. The one thing missing from the review was the sentiment that Dave pinpointed after the second (and last) show: the reunions brought closure. I am not quite sure the circumstances, but I think I among many others missed the last Reivers show back in 1991. I have long thought that I was at a Grains of Faith show that night. In fact I thought, erroneously, that the GoF show was their last and I had been forced to make a choice between favorite bands. Not so, say the experts, but I do recall feeling bitter about not seeing the last show. No longer.

Reivers Review (Not Mine)

As I ponder how to desribe this weekend with words, the Statesman has a terrific review. One addendum I'll offer: the knowing, meaningful smile between and among band members was always one of the things I liked best about my favorite bands, particularly the Reivers and Grains of Faith. It suggests something special exists between them of which we share only a tiny part. Which somehow makes the part they are sharing, the music, all that more meaningful.

Reivers Update: (Most of) In Your Eyes Live

Reivers Reunion Part XLII

KUT has posted the audio of the Reivers' appearance yesterday for those who (like me) could not listen live.

Reivers mania is building. One day until the first show! We're gonna party like it's 1991.

Taking on the Old Master (in Scrabble, Jr.)

Reivers (Zeitgeist) Reminiscing Part II

Speaking of the "last night" of the Continental Club, Peter sends along this set of photos from that fateful night in 1987. Dee Miasma speculates that in the first photo the curly haired guy in the second row between Cindy and Kim is yours truly.

Reivers Reunion Part III

Michael Corcoran captures the zeitgeist of the Reivers, c. 1985 in a column Friday:

Talk about chemistry; the interplay between John Croslin's deadpan growl and Kim Longacre's angelic harmonies sounded like a merger between the Velvet underground and the Mamas and the Papas. Bassist Cindy Toth, so shy offstage, would lose herself in the rhythms, while Garrett Williams, more musician than drummer (though he could smack the skins with the hardest of rockers), pulsed in tune with Croslin's muscular guitar. This was a dynamic band of four individuals — two men and two women — who melted together in song.

Corky also tells the story of the last night of the Continental Club, something I've been struggling to put to words. It was an epic night. Although I missed chunks of the show after a friend got tossed for barfing on the dance floor (unrelated, I am sure, to the "We Merve Sinors" sign over the entrance), I was able to talk my way back in the back door to see some of the Zeitgeist show. Delerium was the order of the day, as it often was during packed Zeitgeist shows. I pushed back up to the front, and just floated wherever the crowd allowed. So long as I never got too far from Kim Longacre.

Reivers Reunion Part II

Dave posted this comment on the earlier post, and I thought it worth repeating here. The list reads like a dream Saturday night from 1989. I might have followed Araby with Sound and the Fury, not for literary reasons, but because I used to thrash to those two songs harder than any others.

Too many folks around here either lost the old Zeitgeist/Reivers LPs in a flood, or never heard 'em (!).Here's a 20-song comp I made for some friends this morning (had to include all the hits, so no room for too many deep cuts). Man these songs sound good:

Second Chance
Araby
Freight Train Rain
Blues Eyes
Translate Slowly
Electra
In Your Eyes
Ragamuffin Man
A Test
Lazy Afternoon
What Am I Doing?
Star Telegram
It's About Time
On Green Dolphin Street
Your Secrets Are Not Safe
Dragonfiles
Over And Over
What You Wanna Do
It's All One
Walking The Cow

Yum

Had the best meal of our lives last night at Citronelle. It's hard to say, but perhaps the best part was the mini lobster burger. Citronelle was ranked best restaurant in DC by Washingtonian Mag, and we are here to tell you the ranking is well-deserved. Yum.

Alpha Male

Victor expressed his dominance by plopping down on Sadie's bed this week. Sadie couldn't help but join him.

Predicting Perils

W. Gardner Selby has a column this week on the perils of prognosticating primaries (with a Texas twist, natch). Of course, even micro pundits such as yours truly (see Horse Race) need not be reminded how wrong polls can be. Although we predicted that Obama would win South Carolina, we never suspected he would double Hillary's total.

Which brings us to this possibility: we could be in a primary that matters. Seems like decades since that has been true. But this year, Virginia comes just one week after Super Duper Tuesday. And with no candidate likely to have sewn it up by then, the campaign will turn to the Old Dominion (among other places). Which means I will need to decide something, I suppose.

In Texas this week, I saw several Obama ads, which I have to admit were inspiring. Sad to think I can be swayed by a 30 second spot, even one featuring Larry Tribe, but I thought the commercial did a nice job of positioning Obama as politically transcendant.

In the end, I will almost surely vote on one criterion: electability. I am not nearly as dour about the candidates as Debris (though I am equally glad to send Rudy back to private life). So what matters to me is who will beat the McCain juggernaut in November? That requires some predicting, unfortunately. And we know how well that goes.