A little bit of All Right

As an Austinite, it’s my good fortune to enjoy a lot of good music any time of the year. So, waiting until the last few hours of SXSW to enjoy a few of Alejandro Escovedo’s friends at one of my favorite venues, the Continental Club was a good way to prep for the long anticipated Baton Rouge Blues Festival in April.

Big Sugar rocks that NOLA vibe with a funky, reggae beat, definitely all right.  The Iguanas are another LA favorite at the CC.

LP3 and the Tragedy brought their So Cal Americana sound  with strong harmonies from Louie Perez III on lead guitar and Ruby Rosas on bass, rocking a nifty green sequined dress.

LP3andtheTragedy I was on my way out and didn’t catch much of their act, but I liked what I saw.

The band I enjoyed the most was an indie punk band from Kansas City, MO – Pedal Jets.  Always a sucker for power chords and Iggy Pop vocals, I can appreciate these seasoned stage warriors hitting their stride 30 Pedal_Jetsyears after their debut in 1984.   From their website:

Originating in Lawrence, Kansas in 1984, the Pedaljets returned to the studio in 2012 to start work on the critically acclaimed “What’s in Between.” The album was mixed by John Agnello (Okkervil River, Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., etc.) at Headgear Studios, Brooklyn and packaged in the inventive design-work of The Sea and Cake’s Archer Prewitt, each song is at once vintage Midwest in-your-face rock and a totally new approach to what is timeless, resonant and beyond conventional formulaic alternative pop and rock. The guys have learned something after all these years. What the hell… From their beginning, the Pedaljets toured the country nonstop, often opening for the likes of Hüsker Dü, Flaming Lips, The Replacements, Meat Puppets, and other usual suspects of 1980s alternative/punk America, releasing two albums—Today Today (1988) and Pedaljets (1989), both albums receiving solid national attention and acclaim.

I look forward to seeing them again, maybe in Kansas City, a cool town with a great art scene.

Diving into SXSW at South Congress

Back in my old neighborhood, enjoying the music with those who dared not venture downtown. I was certainly in my demographic, probably mostly locals out for a spin. Starting with a glass of white Bordeaux at Enoteca and stopping in at Perla’s helped keep us cool between stops. Alejandro Escovedo is always worth fighting the crowd to see. Forgive the shaky video, it’s worth hearing a snippet of Alejandro and the Orchestra.

Shown in the gallery of photos below, Sophia, a young violinist, stood in front of Vespaio playing for contributions to MS research. Her mother has MS and Sophia will ride from Houston to Austin to raise money with the hope of contributing to a cure. Please check Sofia’s website for information on how to contribute to efforts to combat Multiple Sclerosis.