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Had to share with you my favorite Christmas song – “Gumdrop,” Brent Best’s sweet tale of  Christmas joy and domestic violence.  Also, a brilliant take on the classic Clement Moore poem “The Night Before Christmas.”  I grabbed this years ago off a Slobberbone fan site (sorry, don’t remember who posted it) and I dust it off every year to remind me of what Christmas is really all about.

I can’t believe this has never been released on an album. . .

Click on the pic to download . . .

So I get Ronnie Fauss’s  EP, New Songs for the Old Frontier (FTG Records), in the mail today.   I play it a couple times and immediately fall in love with it.    Then I play my favorite track (favorite so far – these things change) for Bucky. 

“How do you like my new favorite song?:” I ask him.

“It’s good!” he says.  ‘Is that Jeff Tweedy?”

“Nope,” I reply, smugly.  “It’s someone you’ve never heard of.”

“Yeah?” he says.  “Sure about that?  ‘Cause it sounds like Pre-

Wanker Wilco.”   Or Tweedy with Uncle Tupelo.

This is high praise from Bucky.  Just saying.

So yeah, neither Bucky nor I had heard of Ronnie Fauss but, one quick listen later, we’re both fans.  Listen here and you’ll see why.

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It really hasn’t been all that long since Slobberbone broke up. Just a few years.

And you could make the argument that they didn’t really break up at all, just went through another personnell change, changed their name to The Drams and tweaked their sound a little.

So why did Tuesdsay night’s show at Dan’s seem like such a return to a time long ago?

They were billed as Whiskey Glass Eye, the world’s premiere Slobberbone tribute band but there wasn’t a person in the jam packed club that night that didn’t know it was a reunion show. Brent Brest, Jess Barr, Tony Harper and the return of Brian Lane (with Scott Danbaum sitting in on about half the set.)

And there I was feeling all nostalgic and shit.

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47 Drams – Straight To Hell

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What can I say- that Tequila Brad sure knows how to throw a damn party.  Saturday night at Dan’s Silverleaf was a total liquor fueled, pull-out-all-the-stops, crank it up and rock this place throw down. With cake.  Todd Mankin and his band started things off.  We got there in the middle of his set and he was already in full rockin’ mode.  He’s got a great voice, some good songs and a kickin’ band behind him. He closed his set with Ted Nugent’s Stranglehold.  Austin’s Band of Heathens were up next. I’ve heard their fine debut CD, Live At Momo’s- and it’s good, but I was still surprised by the full force of their set. Continue reading

Brent Best’s show at the Barley House Sunday night was heavy on audience participation even if it was a little light on audience. While it was a pretty sparse crowd that showed up at least it had the advantage of being a pretty attentive group.

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We all have our favorites – those bands that are just special to us for one reason or another.  It’s probably no secret to regular readers that we here at SlackerCountry.com are partial to The Drams and, of course, Slobberbone.  And, although jitter has seen them live many times, this past weekend was my first experience when they played a set at Boulder, Colorado’s Trilogy Wine Bar on Friday and a longer head-lining set at Bender’s Tavern in Denver on Monday.

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I’ve waited a while to write this one, I guess I didn’t really know where to start.

I’ve been watching The Drams progress steadily from that first Dallas show at their home-base, The Barley House, up to a recent Labor Day appearance in a crowded, trendy uptown pub and there’s been a definite arc to their sound that bears noting.

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When Slobberbone released their fourth album, "Slippage," in 2002, it was apparent they were trying for a new direction.  The sound was leaner, tighter, and more produced.  Where they once chiseled out a unique alt country sound with banjos, mandolins, and even the occasional fiddle backing up fiery electric guitars, on "Slippage" they stripped it down to the bare essentials and turned up Brent Best’s lead vocals. 

The result was an unabashed rock and roll record that left many long time fans scratching their heads. While the record sounded different, the live shows still sounded like the old Slobberbone.

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It was a sad day for Texas music on March 13, 2005. That’s when people from as far away as Europe crowded into a sold-out Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton to bid farewell to the State’s reigning ‘best bar band’.  That final show was short on covers and long on remembrances, for the band and the audience alike.

They resurrected a “Barrel Chested” era documentary film to kick off the night, standing quietly onstage while the film rolled on a screen set up near the entrance.  Then they played for a little over two hours.  While the album of the night seemed to be their second release, “Barrel Chested”, they managed to cover their entire career, but went sparingly on their last and most over-produced record, “Slippage”.

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The Granada Theater in Dallas celebrated its one year anniversary Friday, August 19, with a near capacity show featuring The Gourds, The Bottlerockets, and The Drams. The Granada’s been around a whole lot longer than one year; but a year ago it was launched as a strictly live music venue.

They did a great job of refurbishing the place, leaving the murals and ornate, carved wood molding intact, and installing a state-of-the-art sound system. The Granada now boasts the best sound system of any venue in Dallas. And if you don’t mind parking two blocks away on the street or shelling out 10 bucks for the close-in lot, which was free a year ago, then you really can’t beat it.

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