Austin Sound

The Lonesome Heroes are a wandering lot, so maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised that it took them about three years to make a video for “Don’t Play to Lose.” We give them a pass on the old tune, though, because the video is pretty great. How can you not love two adorable kids escaping from some hardcore bikers and bouncers?! It’s like Goonies II: Goonies in the City! Or something. Kudos to Daniel Stolzman of Frameless Films for directing the video, and to Rich Russell and Landry McMeans for wherever they dug up their younger counterparts. As for the Heroes themselves, they’ll be back in town after last month’s trek up into the north east for a gig at the Continental Club on Saturday, January 16 with Lil’ Cap’n Travis and Grand Champeen. Check out the video below:

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.

The Lonesome Heroes make a kind of country cut with a little psychedelic dripping, courtesy of fronters Landry McMeans and Rich Russell. When you think McMeans and Russell, think ham and cheese, or better yet, peanut butter and jelly, endlessly complimenting each other throughout the album making it crunchy on the lips and filling for your ears. With rough guitar distortion, McMeans’ Texas trill, and Russell’s drier vocals, the group’s debut full length flourishes in its ability to be a guiltless revelry that extends beyond alt country. Evoking sounds from the Cowboy Junkies to a twangier/funkier version of Alison Krauss the album draws the listener in with ease.

For the past half-year, the Lonesome Heroes’ Rich Russell has helped wrangle some of the best and most diverse acts in town that might be even marginally construed as country for the weekly alt. country nights at Headhunters. While the Red River club was an odd location, the Wednesday night affairs were a huge success, and now have a new, and probably more appropriate home, at the Hole in the Wall.

The shows continue this week with another great lineup that includes the Lonesome Heroes, Tom Vanden Avond, The Archibalds, and Leatherbag, with Roger Wallace getting things kicked off at 8:00pm.

You may or may not have heard of the movie School of Rock, starring the so-called “Jack Black,” scare quotes very much intended for the name is as obviously spurious as Costanza’s legendary porno moniker, “Buck Naked.” In S/O/R, the main character, played by Mr. Black, sketches out what purports to be the entire history of rock and roll on a blackboard, for the edification of schoolchildren. Implausible as it sounds, his history is fair, intelligent, and mostly complete, but there’s at least one noteworthy genre that fails to get its chalky due, and that is the one variously referred to as Cosmic American, Space Country, and Psycountry (for Psychedelic Country) and whose most perfect exemplar is probably David Crosby’s 1971 “If I Could Only Remember My Name.” It’s a niche with strong Austin roots, from the 13th Floor Elevators through the Cosmic Cowboys of the ’70s to current AustinSound.net (or, at least, B.D. Fischer) faves Lomita. Space country (my favored term) relies on the surprising sonic similarity between the slide guitar of traditional country and the various effects and distortions of traditional psychedelia � if that term makes sense, talking now about progenitors like the Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, and Ziggy Stardust all the way through My Bloody Valentine, the various incarnations of Dean Wareham, The Verve, Halley, Explosions in the Sky, etc. etc. That similarity itself reflects a mutual thematic focus on isolation and loneliness, from the outlaw Cosmic Cowboys fighting one-man wars against the Nashville machine to Major Tom drifting into space by himself, sending his best wishes back to his wife.

10/30/06
Long home to the hardcore bands that have helped define the Red River sound, Headhunters will be switching things up a bit on Wednesday nights to help showcase the broad spectrum of Alt. Country in Austin. Although that term has lost a lot of its meaning since the early 90’s and become saturated with rather generic rock bands that want to show their country roots (now that it pays), one look at the eclectic lineups that Headhunters has put together seems to give credence to their use of it. As the press release for the event states: “many bands that fall under this genre are scattered everywhere and nowhere amongst the many Rock Clubs, Coffee Shops, and Honky Tonks of this town, squeezed between bands that don’t necessarily have any connection to the music they make, and isolated from other Alt. Country acts of this vibrant city. The Alt Country Showcase seeks to provide a space for a cross pollination to occur between these acts that will flourish into a larger and stronger Alt. Country community in Austin.”