http://www.myspace.com/prototyperocks
San Antonio's Music Blog - Est 2005
May 31, 2010
SA Dub’s 1st Anniversary @ Nightrocker Live, Fri. June 11
Great article on 'music made to be felt'...
http://www.sacurrent.com/music/story.asp?id=71229
Courtesy Tommy Newman, The Current
http://www.sacurrent.com/music/story.asp?id=71229
Courtesy Tommy Newman, The Current
Step Aside @ Riley's on the Backbone, Sat. June 12
Too Broke for Austin's Rot Rally?
Join Riley's On The Backbone & Step Aside & Get Down w/ The Blues!!!
Tonic Bar's Toga Wine Party, Sat. June 12, 9pm-2am
This is a Toga Party People!!!! Wear your toga and compete for a $25.00 bar tab!!! Wine Tasting with Gilbert on the patio... Enjoy $2.50 Bud Lt Pints, $3.00 Dripping Springs Vodka, & $3.00 Starf**ckers
Pop Pistol's BBQ, Sat. June 12
http://www.myspace.com/poppistol
Pop Pistol will embark on their first tour of the mid-west this Sunday, and are asking for your support from 12p-4p to raise funds! Proceeds will help with new tires and gas for a safe journey. On the menu: Beef/Veggie burgers w/ trimmings, chips and mama's potato salad. Come enjoy lunch and some sun in the yard! Presale tickets are available all week, so please message us if you'd like to reserve your plate. Thank you!
The Killing Floor and Mind Frame @ Gold Crown Billiards, Sat. June 12
TKF's new drummer Moses (aka Moy) has been polishing his chops for this show! Brilliant Latin player, come check him out along with long-time friends, Mind Frame!
http://www.myspace.com/thekillingfloor
http://mindframerocks.com
May 30, 2010
BIG UPS for all who attended this show! $200 donated directly to the 'Stand up and Shout' Cancer Fund!
http://www.ronniejamesdio.com
CRACKER @ Jack's Patio Bar, Fri. June 11
Interview courtesy of Anthony Castilla and Johnny Hickman (co-founder and lead guitarist) Thanks to you both!
http://www.myspace.com/crackerhatesmyspace
Doors @ 8pm, 15+, General Admission $13-$15 through Front Gate Tickets.
1. What songs can we expect at the show on June 11?
JH) Well, we don't use a set list like most bands do so anything can happen. The Crumbs (hard core Cracker fans) as they refer to themselves really like that. We do play our radio hits like "Low", "Teen Angst" (What The World Needs Now) and "Eurotrash Girl" every night though. We love those songs too and they've been very good to us over all the last 20 years. Those songs still get played on the radio along with our new ones from, "Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey". I think that bands who are lucky enough to have had hits and don't play them live are just being self indulgent. We are there to make everybody happy, ourselves included.
2. What are your thoughts on today’s music scene?
JH) My tastes run from old school to brand new and everything in between. There are always stylized, hipster musical trends popping up, sometimes they're interesting and sometimes they're nonsense, disappearing as fast as they arrive. But regardless, there are one or two great new bands breaking through every year and there always will be. You just have to poke around to find them at first.
3. Cracker is obviously known for "Low" and "Euro Trash Girl". What songs can you point to that new fans may enjoy?
JH) Well it's different with everyone. We never know which ones people are going to grab on to. I'm just very happy that our newest album is getting A+ reviews and some radio airplay. Of course we sell our new CD at our shows and fans are already singing along to new songs like "Yalla Yalla" "Friends" and "Hey Brett!
4. What are your influences and backgrounds?
JH) That would be a long list and with different artists and bands for different things. We love The Kinks for great riffs and song writing, The Rolling Stones for the same reason. I also really like great guitarists like Billy Zoom from X and some of the crazier country pickers like Jerry Reed. Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top is one of my favorites too. His guitar riffs are pure Texas magic. And speaking of Texas, I've had the honor of sitting in many nights with the great Reverend Horton Heat on this tour. I play harmonica and we go guitar to guitar and do some "chickin fightin" as we call it. It's a blast. The Rev is a fantastic guitar picker and with Jimbo on bass and Paul on drums they are unstoppable.
5. What sacrifices have you made over the last 20 years to keep this going?
JH) It's a trade off. We love what we do but being away from friends and family so much makes for a lonesome existence when you've been doing it for 25 years like most of us have. Hotels rooms, bars and stages are our homes and we know them better than any of our real homes.
6. How did you guys meet?
JH) David Lowery and I met in Southern California as teenagers. This was back in the time of the original punk and new wave scenes and we each had our own bands. He showed up at a party at my apartment with an armload of the coolest and latest records from the UK. We hit it off pretty quickly and stayed in touch after he moved north to go to college at U.C. Santa Cruz. After his band Camper Van Beethoven broke up after 7 or 8 years he called me up in Bakersfield where I was playing in country bands and writing songs like "Mr. Wrong" and "Lonesome Johnny Blues" which eventually became Cracker songs. We hung out for a few months working on music together and very casually began planning a new band. Luckily for us it succeeded almost from the get go.
7. Are there any guilty musical pleasures on your I pod?
JH) I love Dead Can Dance who are very atmospheric, sort of celtic meets middle east...very goth and hypnotic. Sometimes I need to listen to non rock music to relax and clear my head on the road.
8. Your worst gig and your best gig?
JH) The worst may have been the first ever Cracker gig, Los Angeles 1991. Accidently listed in the L.A. Weekly as "Crapper" 15 people showed up on a Tuesday night. The club did not pay us or give us any beer so I stole 3 for us from behind the bar and got thrown out of my own gig! We were great though. One of the best was Bilbao Spain early this year. Sold out show with a line down the block. Beautiful Spanish girls galore.
9. Have you met any of your heroes or influences along the way?
JH) Sure. John Doe from the band X comes to mind. He came back stage one day at a festival and told David and me how much he liked our records. A few years later I ended up sitting in with him a few times, playing guitar at his solo acoustic shows. Last year he sang a song with us on our new record. Willie Nelson once sat in with a former band of mine too. I met the late, great John Lee Hooker once and that was beyond cool.
10. Any advice for original bands trying to “Crack” into the music business?
JH) Yes. Don't expect anyone to do it for you. These days you have to be a hustler no matter what level you and your band are at. There is barely a music business anymore unless you're talking about American Idol style fake 15 minutes of success. If you want to do this for a career you have to pay dues just like they always say. Promote yourself, go play as much as possible and don't expect it to be easy.
11. Cracker played on a Led Zeppelin Tribute album is that right?
JH) Yes. It was done by Zeppelin's record label but Page and Plant oversaw a lot of it. We got a gold record from it to put next to our own that we earned over the years. Nice!
12. What’s life like off the road versus on the road?
JH) Life on the road is just non-stop activity and although highly enjoyable, it's also pretty exhausting. Most of us have families and so we spend as much time as we can with them when we go home.
13. What are your favorite pastimes or hobbies while on tour?
JH) I start each day with yoga, tea and meditation and end them with a loud guitar, a whiskey and signing autographs. There isn't much time for anything else but that's just fine with me.
14. Anything you guys would like to add?
JH) Just one thing. As I said, David and I met as teenagers in California but we were both from military families and David was actually born in San Antonio so Texas is one of our home states.
http://www.myspace.com/crackerhatesmyspace
Doors @ 8pm, 15+, General Admission $13-$15 through Front Gate Tickets.
1. What songs can we expect at the show on June 11?
2. What are your thoughts on today’s music scene?
3. Cracker is obviously known for "Low" and "Euro Trash Girl". What songs can you point to that new fans may enjoy?
JH) Well it's different with everyone. We never know which ones people are going to grab on to. I'm just very happy that our newest album is getting A+ reviews and some radio airplay. Of course we sell our new CD at our shows and fans are already singing along to new songs like "Yalla Yalla" "Friends" and "Hey Brett!
4. What are your influences and backgrounds?
5. What sacrifices have you made over the last 20 years to keep this going?
6. How did you guys meet?
7. Are there any guilty musical pleasures on your I pod?
JH) I love Dead Can Dance who are very atmospheric, sort of celtic meets middle east...very goth and hypnotic. Sometimes I need to listen to non rock music to relax and clear my head on the road.
8. Your worst gig and your best gig?
9. Have you met any of your heroes or influences along the way?
10. Any advice for original bands trying to “Crack” into the music business?
11. Cracker played on a Led Zeppelin Tribute album is that right?
12. What’s life like off the road versus on the road?
13. What are your favorite pastimes or hobbies while on tour?
14. Anything you guys would like to add?
JH) Just one thing. As I said, David and I met as teenagers in California but we were both from military families and David was actually born in San Antonio so Texas is one of our home states.
May 29, 2010
Audiomouth @ Scout Bar's 2nd Anniversary Weekend, Fri. June 4th
http://www.audiomouth.com
SCOUT BAR'S 2-Year Anniversary Weekend featuring SA's Premier High-Energy Rockers, AUDIOMOUTH. FREE/NO COVER til 11pm. $2 Coors Light & $2 Jager all night. Prize Giveaways - everyone is a winner: t-shirts, dvds, cd's, ticket balloon drops..."live remote" from 99.5 KISS & Randy Bonillas. 18 & up. Show starts @ 10pm
First Friday at Nightrocker Live with Ledaswan, When Words Attack and The Night, Fri. June 4
The Midnight Gallery Presents, Alissandria Munoz. Solo Exhibit Opening. Curated by Alex Rubio with music by Ledaswan with When Worlds Attack and The Night. 605 San Pedro Ave. 78212. Doors open at 8pm. Exhibit Opens at Midnight. Open till 2am.
http://web.me.com/nightrocker/nightrocker.com/Welcome.html
Afterburner (under new ownership and kickin' ass!)
6516 W. Military (Across from Lackland AFB)
210-673-3700
Young Machines @ Jiggers, Fri. June 4
$5 gets you in the door, 21 and up only with special guests Our Sleeping Giant and The Phantomatics.
http://apps.facebook.com/reverbnation_fb/artist/youngmachines
May 28, 2010
Flesh Electric @ Nightrocker Live, Fri. May 28
http://www.myspace.com/fleshelectric
If you can't make it out, check the show online:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/flesh-electric
If you can't make it out, check the show online:
http:
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