Few young artists have done as much to promote the local music scene as the Lonesome Hereos, who started up the Wednesday alt. country nights at the Hole in the Wall. Like the lineups that founders Rich Russell and Landry McMeans booked, the Heroes’ music has an eclectic roots range. There are touches of cosmic country and Sweetheart of the Rodeo in their psychedelic tinged, restless country tunes, but the real draw of the Heroes is excellent melding of Russell and McMeans in spirit and sound. McMeans dulcet twang and expansive dobro, and Russells’ more grounded drawl and guitar combine for a mesmerizing and beautiful exchange, while their songs evoke the open west Texas expanse of road and possibilities. With their latest album, Crooked Highway, they have assembled a stellar band of local luminaries, and you can see the songs come alive twice this week. The Lonesome Heroes play the Hole in the Wall this Wednesday with Tiny Tin Hearts and the Axons, and then will be dropping into Red River on Thursday, February 26 with Aimee Bobruk , Lee Barber, and Danny Malone for a show at Club DeVille.
Profile: The Lonesome Heroes
Year Formed:
2006
Members/Instruments played:
Rich Russell: Vocals, Guitar, & Steel.
Landry McMeans: Vocals, Lap Steel, Dobro, and Guitar.
Jim DeGregorio: Electric Bass
Jeff Johnston: Electric Bass, Saw, & Sax
Chuck Fleming: Drums.
Kullen Fuchs: Trumpet, Vibraphone, Accordion, Piano, & textures.
Jenni Whelan- Freedom (or French) Horn
A bunch of Lonesome Heroes sometimes include:
Judas Brooks: Spiritual Advisor/Guitar/Bass/Vocals (???)
Darren Sluyter: George Jones Impersonations/Electric Bass. (TX)
Cary Ozanian: Head Motorcycle Repair Guru/Drums. (TX)
Max Korten: Environmental Advisor/Bass/Vocals (CA)
Jeff Manson: Artist/Piano (CA)
James Moore: Ethnomusicologist/Guitar Maestro/Bass (NYC)
Nima Shirazi: Resident Rock N’ Roll Technician/Drums (NYC)
Sarah Stolack: Knitting Coordinator/Fiddle (TX)
Former Bands/Side Projects:
We’re an “Austin Band” so we’re all at least in 3 bands including:
Lil’ Cap’n Travis
Woodsboss
Chuck Fleming Band
Brother Machine
American Graveyard
Ron Scott Practice
Mario Matteoli
Ethan Azarian
Down Here Band
Tiny Tin Hearts
Ian Moore
‘Til We’re Blue or Destroy
Hillary York
The Low Lows
Albums:
Don’t Play to Lose, Floodwater Records 2006
Sunny Eyed Highway Songs, Self Released 2007
Crooked Highway, Self Released 2008
& Currently working on a Live Record for the summer of 2009
Influences:
Outlaws, Rusty Cars, & Sunsets.
The Weary Boys
Lil’ Cap’n Travis
Leonard Cohen
The Velvet Underground
Kris Kristofferson
Sebadoh
Yo La Tengo
Beck
Gram Parsons (and all of his bands)
Emmylou Harris
Magnetic Fields
Luna
Silver Jews
Gillian Welch
The Be Good Tanyas
The Weary Boys
Lil’ Cap’n Travis
The Handsome Family
Woody Guthrie
Galaxie 500
Smog
Little Wings
Johnny Cash
Hank Williams
Will Oldham
Clay Nightingale
Leo Rondeau
Ron Scott
Jan Bell
Willie Nelson
Patty Griffin
Strangest comment or comparison ever made about your music:
At the Rock Club: “I don’t normally like Country Music, but…”
At the Honky Tonk: “I don’t normally like Rock ‘n’ Roll, but…”
Favorite local bands:
Lil’ Cap’n Travis
Leo Rondeau
The Gary Newcomb Trio
Clay Nightingale
Wayne the Train Hancock
McMercy Family Band
The Stillwater Pioneers
Silver Pines
Favorite local venue:
The “World Famous” Hole in the Wall!
Upcoming shows scheduled:
Wednesday, Feb 25- The Hole in the Wall 10pm
Thursday, Feb 26- Club De Ville 10pm
Saturday, Feb 28- La Zona Rosa 10pm
We are hosting a Monthly Austin Music Showcase & Campout
@ Luckenbach, TX.
Sat March 14th w/ Leo Rondeau & Brennen Leigh
Sat April 18th w/ Shotgun Party &The Maybelles
Sat May 16th w/ Clay Nightingale & Lil’ Cap’n Travis
Shows over the next month that you’re excited to see:
Some Say Leland CD RELEASE- Salvage Vanguard Theatre, Tues, Feb 24
Lil’ Cap’n Travis, The Hole in the Wall, March 28
Herman Dune, SXSW
Leo Rondeau, Mondays at The Hole in the Wall
Woodsboss, Thursdays at the Continental Club
Some of your favorite albums from the past year:
Jan Bell, Songs for Love Drunk Sinners
Herman Dune, Next Year in Zion
Ben Kweller, Changing Horses
Ideal band (past or present) to open for on a national tour:
Past: The Flying Burrito Brothers (though it would be a really bad idea)
Present: An eclectic bill featuring:
The Magnetic Fields, The Lonesome Heroes, & Willie Nelson
Austin Sound questions:
What’s the loneliest thing about being a hero?
1) Our van only sleeps 4 comfortably
2) Waking up in the van…
a. On Dean Keeton outside of the Hole in the Wall
b. At a truck stop in Battle Mountain, Nevada
3) Not truly fitting-in to the Country Genre, but nonetheless heroically trying.
What’s your favorite stretch of Crooked Highway?
Hwy. 287 all the way from Texas to Jackson, Wyoming. Check it out… say hi to Sparky & Juby Hearts at The Buckhorn Bar for us.
Song Introduction:
Don’t Play to Lose-
It’s our mantra, and we have to keep on keepin’ on no matter what. Landry and I met in an abandoned nursing home in 2006. We were living with 20 other struggling musicians and we rode our skateboards in the house a lot to keep our spirits high. We turned it into our own castle of wrecks.
The song came together on a hung-over train ride home from a Toga party at Yale University. I was missing Austin and thinking about how simple country music can make something feel sometimes…
Sound Off:
The Lonesome Heroes is kind of a moving idea. We realize and revel in the clichés of life on the road. We live in a rusty old VW Van for three months of the year, and have way too much fun meeting all sorts of people along the way. Sometimes we have a 7-piece band, sometimes it’s just the two of us, sometimes we go camping for extended periods. People never know what to make of us when we pull up with a muffler and a Dutch oven strapped to the roof the van, but they’re usually smiling. We’ve played every sort of venue imaginable from Heavy Metal Clubs to fancy hotels, or real Honky Tonks to summer camps. All we have found is that people everywhere want to have fun and listen to music no matter what you call it, so we keep traveling a little further every year and make more friends. We really love Country Music, Indie Rock, and Art, and we try to make them all fit together.
P.S.
We are not hippies, just free spirits in cowboy boots…
Mp3:
Don’t Play to Lose
Websites:
www.thelonesomeheroes.com
Myspace
I LOVE the Lonesome Heroes!