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by Kevin Schooley
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Tuesday, June 02, 2009
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Mastodon, Pasadena Napalm Division, Supersuckers, and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears keep the sound fresh and the energy alive.
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!
(Los Highway/UMG, 2009)
 Ain’t nothing like an old soul. Even with the kids today and their “ Screamo” bands and “Hot Topic” fashions, there remains a truly refreshing flashback to how it should be done, and it comes howling out of the Cap City in the form of Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. After years of steady gigging, this group is clearly ready to throw down and make asses shake and rafters rattle. This is especially clear on their full-length debut on Lost Highway Records, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!, a record featuring the expertise of Spoon’s Jim Eno behind the boards. These youngbloods are primed, and the full-bodied sound of this rock, blues, & boogie big band hits like a triple shot of bourbon on an empty stomach.
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by Robert Morrow
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Thursday, May 14, 2009
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Rick Perry is the biggest fraud and phony in American politics today.
 On April 15, Rick Perry had the nerve to speak at Tea Party rallies in Austin, Arlington, and Ft. Worth, where the public came out to protest high taxes and big government programs draining our economy. Yet, as governor, Rick Perry strongly promoted a new business margins tax (small-business killer) that came into effect two years ago, and he has done nothing but promote BIG government for nine years.
Rick Perry has pushed through a gargantuan toll road taxing and spending scheme, and the biggest tax increase in Texas history. Billions and billions of dollars of tax revenues, all for his special interest toll road friends.
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by Thom White
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Monday, May 04, 2009
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The first in a series of interviews with Austin business owners and entrepreneurs.
 I’m here with Harlan Dietrich, who is the co-owner and manager of Brave New Books, which is a unique bookstore here in town. What’s different about Brave New Books compared to other bookstores in Austin?
Brave New Books is cut from a little different cloth. We aren’t a mainstream box bookstore that you would find that has your typical array of bestsellers. The normal format for a bookstore is something we don’t try to follow. In fact, we sort of take the opposite business model, and the less you’ve heard about it, the more we want it in the bookstore. So, the “least-sellers” is what we focus on, and this is because we specialize in suppressed information.
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by Scott Unzicker
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Friday, May 22, 2009
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Are new noise ordinances shutting down outdoor live music?
 Navigating the intricacies of Austin’s archaic zoning and permitting ordinances is not for the faint of heart, nor soft of brain. It is a convoluted topic. It is a dry topic. It is a bureaucratic entanglement of heroic proportions. However, in order to arm oneself in the fight to maintain Austin’s tenuous claim to the title, “Live Music Capital of the World,” one must have a fundamental understanding of the ordinances governing the venues that host outdoor music.
All the clerical rigmarole regarding zoning has been dragged into the limelight of late following the decision of Fred Nelson, owner of Freddie’s Place on South First, to cancel his restaurant’s entire live music calendar this year because of a noise ordinance violation warning by the Austin Police Department on Friday, April 10. The restaurant simply couldn’t afford the $500 fine if the cops came back a second time, and they sure didn’t want one of their employees carted away after a third call. The first casualty in a conflict frequently becomes a rallying cry for those on the losing side, and the death of music at Freddie’s was no different.
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by Thom White and Karl Rehn
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Monday, May 11, 2009
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Before you ever pick up a gun, here are some things to know.
 Like any powerful tool, the pistol can be used negligently when one does not have the right training and knowledge of gun safety. The precautions and admonitions summarized below may “go without saying” for many readers, and are considered “common sense,” like most safety advice. Before one picks up a gun, you should be prepared and be aware.
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by Kevin Schooley
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Saturday, May 02, 2009
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The Service Industry, Moonlight Towers, and Rockland Eagles show Austinites how to rock locally.
Rockland Eagles
Osaka Cocka Rocka
(Almost There, 2008)
 To paraphrase Eddie Spaghetti, lead singer and bassist of the Supersuckers, “You gotta do your part on behalf of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Record.” This insistence is not lost on the warriors in Austin’s rock brigade. With the vinyl platters of the Ramones, Kinks, Cheap Trick, oozing from their collections, locals Rockland Eagles crackle on Osaka Cocka Rocka in a celebration of all that is Big Rock. Lead singer and guitarist Mark Hutchins spouts off about the great rock pastimes of “hanging with your freak friends,” and being “big in Japan” (who isn’t?) in a gleefully cheeky manner on songs like the title track.
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