Salesman is fairly new to Austin, but with the release of their latest album SWEETHEARTR, they could make a solid dent in the music scene. The album is melodic and mellow, but with slight blues and psychedelic touches that add punch and melt into a fluid haze with a hint of Nineties alternative. While their current lineup hasn’t quite solidified, their moody and mesmerizing sound drenched in harmonies plays beautifully and would stand well alongside other locals like Haunting Oboe Music or Prayer for Animals. Catch them this Saturday, January 31, at the Mohawk, with a Shandom Sham and A Sideshow Tragedy. Salesman goes on early at 9:00pm, but if you arrive before 10:00, you can pick up a free copy of SWEETHEARTR!
Profile: Salesman
Year Formed:
2007, back in CO
Members/Instruments played:
at the moment it’s
Devin J Fry – guitar, vocals, Jameson
Clayton Lillard – drumset, ladykilling
on SWEETHEARTR we also had Danny Pruitt – bass, Garrett Hellman – guitar, and Ben Laussade – drums. any one of them could reappear in the lineup at any moment once they get paroled.
Former Bands/Side Projects:
Devin does bass and lonesome wails for the Hot Pentecostals, Austin’s best and only country band. they’ll have a new record soon. Clayton plays with Shy One Horse, and does a good amount of session work on the side.
Albums:
Salesman – August 2007
White Eyes EP – Spring 2008
SWEETHEARTR – January 2009
Influences:
having only one dollar, dollar bins, and in spirit, the Panasonic Panapet (TM).
Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:
when our last EP came out, a burly scientist said it was “too quiet for science.” so with SWEETHEARTR, we kicked it up a notch to try and crack that market.
Favorite local bands:
Hot Pentecostals, Hotel.Hotel, The Golden Arm Trio… Hacienda… The Bellfuries… Brazos. I like the Unfortunate Heads’ recorded stuff, haven’t seen them live yet, but plan to.
Favorite local venue:
Ballroom of the Howard Johnson.
Upcoming shows scheduled:
Mohawk – January 31, 9pm. we play early, at 9. at this show we’ll be giving away free copies of SWEETHEARTR to everyone who arrives before 10 pm
Moose Lodge Benefit – Valentine’s Day
Hole In The Wall – Feb 22
Trophys – Feb 25
Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see:
Unfortunate Heads at Carousel Lounge Jan 30, Thee Oh Sees for SXSW (at least 3 times)
Some of your favorite albums from the past year:
Pattern Is Movement “All Together” is an incredible record made by two beautiful men. it came out on Hometapes last year.
other than that, we’ve been bin-digging at Antone’s. The Louvin Brothers, The Pilgrim Travelers, Ray Charles, Bobby Vee, John Fahey…
Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:
Sparklehorse.
Austin Sound questions:
We have trouble with the copy editing too, but what happened to the “E” in SWEETHEARTR?
it was stricken in committee to make the name of the record more Google-able.
we recently had 5,000 matchbooks printed with the words SALESMAN>SWEETHEARTR. maybe you’ve seen some of them around town. I spent twenty minutes on the phone with the printing press rep, explaining that it wasn’t a typo.
yes and please, all of you. take up arson and smoking, and take some of these matches off our hands. we can’t smoke that many cigarettes ourselves.
So what are you guys selling?
a salesman sells. for awhile there it was felt, like for pool tables. hundred per cent wool only of course, none of these poly blends. a good felt will bring the real players to the table. those were high times. more recently we’ve found ourselves stuck in a sour deal over some Red River condos… now it’s v-neck t-shirts, matchbooks, and compact discs, just to get by.
Song Introduction:
“The Animal Kingdom” is sort of our hellish hayride song. it’s been around for three years in one form or another. except for that last lyric, which I dreamed one morning last fall before waking up and deciding to record this version.
“Great White” is a love song, all dry and crackly, full of hometown. when we play it live, we slow it down to a crawl, like some slow moving desert-going shark that is dangerous and not at all imaginary. these songs are both from SWEETHEARTR.
Sound Off:
“Honey baby sugar dove sweet we’re going to make out fine. Nobody’s going to hurt us one tiny bit… Just you sharpen up that razor and I’ll start at one ear and you at the other.” Kenneth Patchen, The Journal Of Albion Moonlight
Mp3s from SWEETHEARTR:
The Animal Kingdom
Great White
Website:
Myspace
