video: Drive By Truckers

One of my favorite songs of 2008 is "Self Destructive Zones" by the Drive By Truckers. Mike Cooley rules. This video of an in-store* performance shows a lot of the back of some dude's head, but the audio quality is pretty good.

* do they still have in-stores? Hell, do they still have record stores? (sob)

THIS is American Music Revue

cool-assed poster

another cool poster

What ever happened to the THIS is American Music tour/concept? For those who are unfamiliar with it, it was a brief 5 date tour Nov/Dec 2007 that featured The Drams, Two Cow Garage, Glossary and Grand Champeen. Sounds pretty fuckin' kickass, right? Hell yeah it does. Now I didn't get a chance to actually see one of the shows (since they didn't come within 300 miles of my town), but I think it involved mini-sets by each band (each band played 2 of these 20 minute mini-sets per night I think?) and a big monster jam at the end (which, unlike the lame-o monster jams at big events like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, actually rocked pretty good from what Iunderstand (see video below)). These are 4 great bands that all fall directly in the cross-hairs of what Tallboy is all about (though Grand Champeen may be more toward the indie-rock side of things, though they definitely rock hard). There was talk of the tour reconvening in Spring 2007, but that never happened and there's been no more mention of the THIS is American Music thing. Can anyone shed any light on the topic?

I can't get this damn computer thingy to embed myspace videos, so here's a link to Tequila Brad again for a TIAM show-closing superjam on Petty's "American Girl." Damn that looks like fun, doesn't it?

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=22938489

Their myspace page hasn't been touched in over a year, but here it is: www.myspace.com/thisisamericanmusic

Band You Need to Hear: Stickpony

Stickpony (Austin TX)

I've never seen them and they kinda broke up a couple years ago, but that doesn't mean you don't need to check these guys out. While it's obvious they're influenced by both country and punk, these guys are (were) a straight up rock band (in the best sense of the word). For me the highlight of the band's self-described "garage country" sound is their album "Underneath the Beerlight." This falls right into my "undiscovered gem" category of albums (and it's conveniently available for free download from the band itself at http://www.stickpony.com/. Oh shit, I just checked - the website is no more. Shit. So I'll try this Imeem thing (below). Or check out them out on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/stickponyaustin ). The production values are raw to say the least, but the music stands out in spite of it. Great fuzzy guitar tone. Check out these hard-rocking tracks: Things You Do, Texas Tabloid, Paycheck. And singer/guitarist Brit Jones's lyrics shine brightly on the slower numbers as well.

Stickpony - Underneath the Beerlight (2004)

Video: The Drams "Cortez the Killer"

Damn, I guess I can't embed videos from myspace. That kinda sucks. But the link below will bring you to an absolutely smoking version of "Cortez the Killer" by The Drams. I'll tell you this: When Brent Best sweats rock and roll comes out.


http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=6363569


The guy who filmed this video, Tequila Brad, has some other good videos as well.