*REPORT FROM THE INFIELD:Rhythm Tramps Hit Town

*TERESA JAMES VIDEO

*Hippies.TV

*WEEKLONG MUSIC CALENDAR

 

MArlo looked up from her computer and said, "We should go shoot Teresa James in a couple weeks when she's here!"

 

I reassured her, "There's no reason to kill Teresa. Sure, I've loved her since we were teenagers, but I know that she'll never be mine."

 

"No, no, no! We should videotape her when she plays at a place called The Howling Coyote on August 11th!", MArlo reassured me.

 

Cool!

 

We had played Terry & Teresa's new CD (The Bottom Line) in the car while we were on the road for nine months last year, and MArlo had really dug it.

 

"Yeah," I said, "Wilson is a great bass player, producer and writer! He's always been an idol of mine"

 

Terry Wilson and I go back, too - almost as long as I've known Teresa! We played gigs together in seperate bands when we were teens. It was like Roger and I - both bass players, so we never played together until I switched to part-time guitar. Oddly though, there was a period (1978-9) when Terry, Roger and I did a bunch of gigs together in the same band -  with Billy Block AND Tony Braunagel on drums and a sax section - one of our early 'Guy Schwartz & The Zap Rhythm Band' (prototype for the new jack hippies to come) experiments, when I first tried playing guitar so we could do our songs together.

 

In eastern Tennessee, I told MArlo about my history with each of them. They are married to each other and bandmates and best friends now, but I knew each of them 13 years before they new each other. Teresa's history playing with Stevie Webb, Tony Taboada, Orville Strickland and so many more. Wilson's history (much of it shared with Tony Braunagel & Jimmy Don Smith) with Bloontz, Johnny Nash, Crawler...

 

Driving through New Mexico in December, MArlo said that she had met Teresa only once - years ago at a college music convention where college kids gather and hear (or hear about) lots of acts they can hire for their school's entertainment calendar. There are plenty of bands at these conventions, but they're mostly places for suits and young/future suits.

 

MArlo sure took that 'Bottom Line' CD out often while on the road...

 

Terry & Teresa have been in California a long time, and Terry was in London, New York and everywhere else for years before that, but it's always a homecoming when they play in Houston. There are west Houston James people, and Deer Park Wilsons - and lots of great local musicians. This crowd was filled with the likes of Tommy Dardar, Teri Green, Rock 'Dr. Rockit' Romano, Shannon G (Roger and me, too!). Houston songwriter Danny Everitt (whose new 'Cold Wind, Cold Rain' CD was produced by Terry) did a fine solo opener, slowly turning a loud crowd into a bunch of quiet listeners. The Blues Society was well repped, and KPFT was represented as well with The BluesHound and Baby Girl following the band around the state, Nancy Menefee in the house, and news anchor MArlo there with me to videotape.

 

The Howling Coyote was comfortable for music, whether one was there to listen or perform. Laura & Mitt, the owners, are true music fans who support the musicians in a big way. Everyone from Leon the soundman to Chris the doorman was accomodating and friendly! Good sound system and enough lights for us to videotape without bringing in the harsh video lights.

 

So - It was only the first two songs, and the mix AND edits are rough, but I've just uploaded an 8 minute piece of Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps gig at The Howling Coyote last Saturday night to my YouTube page, where my (name/extention) is /siriushippies

 

At that www.youtube.com/siriushippies site, there's more of our video featuring a lot of our friends, including Billy Joe Shaver, Steel Train and Hamilton Loomis. At www.hippies.tv,  there are a couple dozen of the old episodes with everyone from Carolyn Wonderland to Little Joe Washington & Mr. Scarface. Plenty of New Jack Hippies stuff on all of the sites.

 

This Teresa & Rhythm Tramps stuff is just the first two songs (they we're even sound checked or warmed up yet) with an introduction from The BluesHound, but when I'm not working on our new CD, I'll be working on this thing all week long (Roger and I have already done a rough audio mix of the whole 2 and a half hours), to put together a whole Hippies.TV episode for September airing!

 

SPEAKING OF Hippies.TV

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Good shows the rest of this month

(at 10pm Fridays on Comcast Cable Channell 17,

Kingwood Cable Channel 98 and TVMax95).

 

AUG17 - Three Years Of Music

              Live performances from the first 3 years of SOUTH BY DUE EAST

              Starring over 40 local artists

   Slapshifter - 2004 - Renee's rockers
   The Mirrors - 2003 - old-school Greg Ashley
   CitiZEN Change - 2004 -Galveston Island hip hop band 
   Tony Xpress - 2003 - reggae music 
   Chango Jackson - 2004 -pop punk pranksters en espanol 
   sandy hickey & the Soul Providers - 2005 - providing soul 
   congas by carlos - 2005 - musicians beat out the rain 
   friends of the enemy - 2005 - hip-hop boyz rag on guy 
   Dead P.A. - 2005 - techno duo burn it down 
   los Skarnales - 2003 - best front man in Texas 
   Conscious CoCreation - 2003 - trip-hop jam band 
   Justin Nava - 2003 - 6West Rocker goes solo accoustic 
   Jennifer Grassman - 2005 - sultry songstress 
   LunateX - 2004 -electronica vets 
   Drop Trio - 2004 -keyboard-based jazz & funk 
   Rusted Shut - 2005 - bluespunk tribute to Lightn'n Hopkins 
   Irene - 2005 - Los lonely boys with metal balls 
   Jimmy Deen - 2005 - rat-attude rock n'roll 
   Alex Wukman - 2003 - poetry 
   Red Wave/Sound Patrol - 2003 - The wisdom of Ragah-El 
   Tracy - 2003 - poetry 
   David LeJeune - 2003 - political commentary 
   Last Soul Descendents - 2004 - electronica vocal group 
   The Hightailers - 2004 -Gulf Coast Rock 'n Roll 
   Fahl & Folk - 2004 -killin' women and other folk songs 
   Vertigo Blue - 2005 - electronica from Area 51 
   Opie Hendrix - 2004 - country punk 
   New Beatnik Revue - 2004 - poetry & music 
   Lyric Osiris - 2004 - improv poet 
   De Sangre - 2004 -heavy metal hip-hop en espanol 
   Mark Zeus/Thunderboltz - 2005 - rockin' americana 
   rosta jazz avengers - 2004 - improvisational jazz duo 
   Muzak John - 2004 -theatre of the absurd artist 
   Hollister Fracus - 2003 - northside heavy metal 
   K'monte - 2003 - singer songwriter 
   Guy Schwartz & The New Jack Hippies - 2005 - 
   Gloria Edwards - 2003 - the queen of texas soul 
   Sonny Boy Terry - 2004 -gulf coast blues 
   Q.U.E. - 2005 - trad. rappers 
   Carrie Ann Buchanan - 2004 - folk music sweetheart

 

AUG24 - Billy Block's Western Beat Houston

              Live performances starring Buck Jones, Danny Everitt,

              Scott Daniels Band, Chris Knudsen, Jen Rathbun,

              Guy Schwartz & The Western Beat Hippies

              Hosted By Billy Block & Guy Schwartz

 

AUG31 -  (Guy Loves)

                   WOMEN at SOUTH BY DUE EAST 2007

              Starring 10 local artists

              Connie Mims,  P.J. Flowers Band, Hilary Sloan,

              Suzanne Pratts, El Gato Negrito, Patty Bullet, Marie Brown,

              Ju Ju Eyeball, Inertia Justice, The Madisons

 

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WEEKLONG MUSIC CALENDAR

Courtesy of the BluesHound & Baby Girl and KPFT-FM90.1

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TUESDAY August 14

• Armadillo Palace Cody Kouba & Wayne Hubbard (acoustic)
• Baker Street Pub (Willowbrook) A-Rival
• Big Easy (The) Jeremiah Johnson (acoustic)
• Bohemeo's jazz jam
• Bojangle's (Seabrook) open mic & Annette Metoyer (featured artist)
• Claudio's Piano Bar (Kemah) - Phil Johnson & Daniel Rose
• Continental Club The Goodtrain Sessions (9 pm)
• Corner Pub (The) (Conroe) open mic (8 pm)
• Cosmos Bayou City Showcase w/Mark Zeus
• Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Rush (7:30 pm)
• Hideaway (The) jam w/Rick Lee & the Night Owls
• Katie's Bar & Grill (Bacliff) The Groove Kings
• Last Concert Café Scott Daniels Band (9:30 pm)
• Magnolia Bar & Grill The Guzzlers (7 pm)
• McGonigel's Mucky Duck Songwriters Night w/Shake Russell/Kelly McGuire/Heath Wright (8 pm)
• Poor Michael's on The Strand (Galveston) Gary Lee & Tommy Procter (8 pm)
• Sambuca Restaurant Shape Shifters (unplugged)
• Shakespeare Pub (The) Steve The Chief's C&W Revue
• Sherlock's Pub (Clear Lake) Obsolete August
• Sherlock's Pub (Westheimer) Shinolah
• Super Happy Fun Land The Lonely H
• Tailgate Bar & Grill (Washington Ave.) open mic (8:30 pm)