Friday's Report (from deep in the heart of Texas) #3

I have often heard comparisons between country music (real country, not the pop country schlock that Nashville is expelling out its anus these days) and punk music (again, talking about real punk, not the poser pop punk drivel that abounds these days). The comparisons ring true in many ways. Both genres are gritty and honest and rebellious. Johnny Cash probably comes to mind most when thinking of a country artist with punk tendencies. Social Distortion’s cover of Cash’s “Ring of Fire” sounds as if it were meant to be punk. And when Cash covered “Thirteen” and “Hurt” they sounded just as natural coming out of his mouth as they did from Glenn Danzig and Trent Reznor.

So considering the closeness of punk and country, it only seems natural that the band I went to see last Thursday night at Trophy’s Bar and Grill should combine the two so expertly. ConvOi! has a very straight forward concept; they do punk covers of country songs and country covers of punk songs.

When I walked into Trophy’s (with my 79 year old father who was visiting from Philadelphia, who thought the whole scene was a hoot by the way) they were in the middle of their country version of “Too Drunk To Fuck.” Were I to not have known that this was originally done by the Dead Kennedy’s I might easily have believed it was always meant to be a country tune. It has drinkin’, fightin’, and guns in it. Aside from not mentioning a dog and a pick-em-up truck, what’s more country than that?

On the other side, ConvOi!’s cover of Johnny Russell’s “Red Necks, White Socks, Blue Ribbon Beer” is a veritable cover song masterpiece. The true brilliance of this song is that they set the lyrics to the music of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.” When the first chords start playing it is easily recognizable but when lead singer Matt Jones starts in with the lyrics your surprise turns to deep appreciation.

Bassist George Schinler is the man behind the crossover arrangements and deserves a ton of the credit for the seemingly easy transformations of these songs. But drummer Marc Nelipovich and guitarist Hunter Powell also deserve much praise for their ability to change genres so flawlessly song to song.

Other highlights included Shania Twain’s “I’m Gonna Getcha Good” which, when you really listen to it, is somewhat disturbing no matter the genre, and The Clash’s “London Calling” which was done in a Tejano style with much of the song sung in Spanish.

But the best part of the whole experience was that there were at most maybe a dozen folks in the joint. And despite this rather meager turnout, ConvOi! played as if they were headlining the ACL Music Festival (That’s the Austin City Limits Music Festival for you Yankees out there). They were energetic during the songs and full of banter in-between them. And as any good country/punk show should be, it was loud as hell.

So check them out at the myspace (http://www.myspace.com/convoi) but if you really want the most bang for your entertainment buck grab a Lone Star Beer and check them out live.

Friday's Report (from deep in the heart of Texas) #1

So SXSW was last week down here in the 512. Seeing as how I didn’t go to any official SXSW shindigs I don’t have much to say on the subject. Let’s just say I was at one point wearing a glow stick necklace thingamabob. Yes, beer was involved. Followed by roller-skating. Which doesn’t sound like a good combination, but I came away unscathed. And my daughter finagled two free cd’s out of struggling bands who could’ve probably used the gas money had they been able to sell the cd’s instead.

I did however eat a lot of brisket over the same seven day span. My barbecue purveyor of choice these days is Mann’s Smokehouse. (Those of you who know me, please don’t be alarmed. The Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX is still my favorite. But it is a 45 minute drive away.) The owners, Jim and Sallie Mann, (no, photography buffs, not Sally Mann) always greet you with big smiles and a friendly word. They make over a dozen homemade sides a day, which makes it very hard for me to choose just two. But the real reason to go is their brisket.

To properly judge a barbecue joint in Texas, you have to try the brisket. Ribs, sausage, and various feathered creatures are tasty as well, but brisket is what Texas barbecue is all about. And Mann’s passes the test with flying colors (which is a strange phrase that apparently derives from the practice of hanging colorful flags on sailboats in a race. I learned this through the magic of the global interweb, so who knows how accurate it is). The brisket has a beautiful smoke ring that shows it has been slow smoked for many many many hours. And juices flow out with each pass of Jim’s blade. There is lots of lovely fat on there that Jim will cut off for you but I prefer to keep on. I read a Texas A&M study that said brisket fat was actually good for you and I believe them. Sauce is served the proper way, on the side. If the brisket is truly Texas standards good, you shouldn’t need any. And at Mann’s, you don’t.

I have never been totally comfortable with the phrase “melts in your mouth” when used in reference to food unless you’re talking about ice cream or some other food that literally melts. But the brisket at Mann’s comes as close as I can imagine to melting as I’ve found. Chewing is still necessary, and enjoyable. The brisket is nice and smoky. And it isn’t overpowered by too much dry rub. Just enough spice to bring out the natural flavors of the meat. It’s delicious and (according to A&M) nutritious.

I do have one issue with Mann’s. I favor a more traditional approach to smoking meat. Meaning a big ol’ smoker powered by wood and wood only. Mann’s uses one of these new fangled gas powered industrial smokers. They use wood too. And they certainly make things easier on the pit master. But there’s no true replacing the heart and soul that go into more traditionally smoked meats. That being said, the true test is taking that first bite. And as I said before, Mann’s passes that test with flying colors.