Hidden Empires

Well... don't know if I could make any kind of pun out of that or if you read the title and wonder what the fuvk I am hinting about.


So, I know this guy. He plays guitar. He lives in Austin. He's in a band. Stop me if you know this one...

Actually my wife and I have known David Smith for about 10 years. David has a mind like a steal trap and a memory like an elephant so I am pretty confident he could tell you the day, date, AND time he met me. It was at a large insurance companies call center her in Austin for sure though.
David found out I like to go out and check out bands and take pictures. He even told me he has some friends in a band...(we all live in Austin and I though we all had friends in bands). David proceeds to tell me about this awesome band his friends have and I should go see them. Move forward a year or so and I am at a show at The Dirty Dog at the behest of the great MC Overlord (R.I.H.). While checking out his show there is this cool local band opening - Fremen. As I am listening and watching them David comes out of the crowd yelling at me - it was loud - "DUDE! This is the band I was telling you about. These guys are great. I know them." It was true, he knew them, they were great and I wrote a pretty cool blog post about the Fremen. The will always be my favorite Sunday morning hangover music.

Enough of the back story. Move forward in time ~~~~~~~ I am at my second home and the best damn sounding small venue in Austin, The One 2 One. There is someone I know on stage - seems like this is a recurring theme, and as I am enjoying the band finishing up their set (a blog about the live performance of Sim Ross to come shortly) who comes up to me out of the crowd...yeah! David Smith. "Dude! Will! Good to see you. What are you doing here? Are you gonna stay and watch my band?" It happened just about as fast as you read that too. Of course I will stay and watch your band. I would be a shitty blogger and lover of the Austin music scene if I didn't.

So up onstage I witness Hidden Empires (https://www.facebook.com/HiddenEmpires/). Two lead guitars trading off rhythm licks, lead singer and bandleader doing keyboard duties, bass and drums. with what seems like the guitars and keyboards all trading off vocal duties, Hidden Empires is a hidden gem in Austin music. Time and again I have used the term "that Austin sound". It's true, it does exist. You can hear it squarely in every chord and note played and sung.

Hidden Empires was bodies grooving on the dance floor, people swaying to the music good rock, Americana good. I am sure you could come up with some more descriptors on them, but it is so much easier if you get to experience all that Hidden Empires has to offer live.

I will happily say that I was not only taken back by the surprising expertise my friend David had on the guitar, but the bands whole performance sound and vibe. With one performance I knew I had to invite them on to come sit down and do an interview with me on my video blog Three Beers and a Whiskey. About an hour after I requested them come sit with me I got the enthusiastic HELL YEAH from the band












I will leave you with this glowing endorsement of the band.

My wife trusted me to book a band on the video show for an interview after one performance. After they did our video blog she was so blown away and impressed my wife had us out the door from a downtown venue we were hanging at a month later and there we were, in front of Hidden Empires for her first experience seeing them live. It was even better than the performance on our show. Don't be foolish, put Hidden Empires on your list of good, fun Austin music to go see and experience.

Laters

Over the Rainbow

Yes, the title has nothing to do with the fact this is a year end review...it just came to mind while I was writing.

It was another fun year for Live Music In Austin. As I look back I once again surprised myself at what I saw and where I went. Made new friends, listened to new music, and enjoyed some favorites.

I saw 47 bands from January to December. 32 brand new bands I have never seen before! That was a surprise. Of the 15 venues I lurked around, 6 were brand new places to me... Meh! I have worked harder and been to more new places before. But the question remains...How many new places did YOU go to last year where you had never set foot in before, to enjoy some live music?

I only saw two bands multiple times last year.

Apparently the One2One   (http://www.one2onebar.com/) remains at the top of my list as most frequented, with The Rattle Inn (http://rattleinnaustin.com/) coming a very close second - and it was new to me!

As I look back, I realize this is the first year where I have not done any photo or review of a national touring act. There were definitely some touring bands I saw, but SXSW always brings new faces.







It was a great year for a variety of music again. From some metal sounds at The Dirty Dog (https://www.dirtydogbar.com/) of Silvertongue Devil  (https://www.facebook.com/silvertonguedevil666/) and Fear Control (http://www.fearcontrol.net/) to the country sounds of the Zach Willard Band (http://zachwillardband.com/) at Wagners Backyard   (http://www.wagnersbackyard.com/) and The Cody Bryan Band  (http://www.codybryanmusic.com/) at The Rattle Inn. There was the Pop/punk music from   Forever Starts Today (https://www.facebook.com/FSTofficial/) at The Lucky Lounge (http://www.theluckylounge.com/) and the scandalous sounds of The Dead Love Club  (http://deadloveclub.com/) at The Mohawk (https://mohawkaustin.com/). A lot of American type sounds with The Warplanes (http://www.thewarplanes.net/) at the One 2 One to wild hip hop of Boombox ATX at the same place.






















So to sum it up, I averaged experiencing just a hair over 2 new bands every 3 weeks, 1 new venue every 2 months. I averaged listening to live music every 10 days and I was at a venue supporting the live music scene better than every 2 weeks as well...and you know what, I did pay to see some of these bands. If I got in for free, I spent my money at the bar, bought a CD or a hat. Better than that most of the shows were FREE.

 

I will tell you this, if you are gonna spend money at the door to see a band, the One2One remains my hands down pick for supporting live and local with the best sound system, and 100% of the door goes to the band(s)!

No membership dues

Dead Love Club (http://deadloveclub.com).

I actually have caught this band twice. Once with some out of town family, the second at an after party show.

The first time was at the Dirty Dog. It was a jaw dropping, pants down kind of performance. The Dead Love Club is quite shocking in the party sense of the word. They are unexpected, tongue in cheek dirty, wear your leather chaps and put on your most scandalous lingerie. Whips, chains, and other miscellaneous accessories  optional. The crowd was completely excited and ready for the rest of the night once Dead Love Club bump and grinded their way through our ears.



























The Dead Love Club is an eighties throwback band. Your favorite party tunes set up with that live sound which is an eyeful. The male and female lead vocals are exciting and energetic. The live guitar and drums, along with the keyboards and DJ setup ensures the music doesn't stop at all.

The second time I saw the Dead Love Club was at an after party at The Mohawk for a touring band. And the crowd was totally into this performance. I am telling you, there were people in the crowd dressed in the most outrageous costumes. Celebrating the music like I haven't seen in a while from a crowd and with a sexy performance by the female lead singer, it was hot enough to warm your leather chaps! The mash-ups the Dead Love Club do of some of the greatest party songs ever, along with their own originals, is what you would want and need on any Friday or Saturday night. Because if you see this party band on any other night of the week, plan on staying late and feeling great, but not so much the next morning.


Remember, there are no membership dues for this club. All are welcome.


Laters

The child is beautiful

Simply stunning. Apparently the Super Water gave birth to a beautiful Hydrogen Child (http://hydrogenchild.com/). The sound is so full and amazing. The build up and the crescendos. The mix of the simplicity and technical  beats are smashing. The ONLY thing more stunning than listening to this song and watching the video is to see it performed live... breathless. Just close your eyes.

 

http://fourculture.com/video-premiere-hydrogen-childs-close-your-eyes/

 

I can not wait to share the review and photos of the bands stop in Austin, Texas at The Mohawk.

 

Laters

Whew!

2014 wrap up. I thought it was a quiet and slow year for Live Music In Austin, which looks to be slowly expanding to be Live Music In Texas....YAY!!! But I started to

review and here is what I found...

I saw 80 bands in total. 70 of them I have never seen before. The other 10 are bands that I will always make a point to go see and support here in Austin.

I wrote 42 blog posts. 33 of them were performance review based. The rest were multi part reviews, an album review, and a video post. Doesn't sound like much until you realize that is a show I am going to every 1.5 weeks!

Of all of my trekking around, 13 new venues were explored and talked about. Just a guitar string more than 1 per month.

So the best I can do (without getting crazy with hash tags and photos) is just a few photos from '14. In no particular order or reason, randomness. I will see you in 2015!

Laters

Something old, something new,

Something borrowed, something Baloo.

So I got to step foot into The Mohawk (http://mohawkaustin.com) finally.  Talk about an intimate set up, DAMN! As you walk up to the entrance the outside stage is to your left and to enter the club is to your right. The outside area is pretty cool, allowing for quite a few people to enjoy some live music. Big stage, lots of area for bodies to hang in.

Inside is where we were at this evening! When you walk in the door you have a modest size lounge area. The bar is directly in front of you, bathrooms to your left. Directly behind the bar you can see the stage through a large pass through opening. If you walk around the bar to the right you enter the inside part of the venue. The stage is to the left with the sound booth on the wall that is Red River. Again - here is a modest spot that allows for a decent crowd to enjoy the festivities on stage.

Tonight was the triple threat of MC Overlord, Michael Dillard, and Derrick Davis. This will be brief, but informative as I have written about these bands many times previously. I also posted several pics on my FB page that told the story of how much fun it was too be there. Mariza Cruz snapped some pics showing the crowd getting crazy for Derrick Davis.

MC Overlord (http://www.overlordmusic.com) was the first up. Not necessarily playing new tracks, but definitely a new set list. This set just shows the big man is still the boss man! Probably one of the most electric personalities to see live in Austin. The man can move like you wouldn't believe and conducts the band like a Maestro! The stable of musicians and talent that perform onstage with Overlord is always revolving and ever impressive. For this reason alone it is always worth catching an MC Overlord performance.

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Michael Dillard (http://michaeldillardmusic.com). I have been digging on the sound, voice, and talent of Michael for quite a few years now. His voice is unique and awesome and the song writing skills are astounding. Tonight was special as Michael (along with long time lead guitarist Ty Read) and the band performed all new tracks. Exciting exciting stuff! I happily quote Ms. Cruz when she described the new songs, "He sounds older and the songs and music are more mature." Watching a friend grow up and grow into their own over a few years is wonderful. Sharing those experiences with you and telling you to go see him perform live is my happiness. 

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Ahhh Derrick Davis (https://www.facebook.com/DerrickDavisBand). The most wonderful thing about Derricks performance this evening was sharing it with Ms Cruz. After bragging about his show and music, she got to see for herself, and was not disappointed. Here is a musician that uses the whole stage. Derrick moves with his music and enjoys being onstage. His grooves are infectious, his personality is enticing, and his voice is eerily familiar, but all his own. The most wonderful thing I brag about is his rendition of the Jungle Book classic 'I wanna Be Like You'. It is a crowd pleaser and a floor packer. Whether you can dance or not, it is an amazing version of a song that allows you inner child to just let loose on the dance floor. I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy this soon.

Laters