Island Moon July 21, 2010PA 6

Attention all cover band: Don’t call me...

Looking back at the past couple of weeks, it seems that all I have to talk about are the shows I’ve seen at the Back Porch. I can live with that. It’s not that I haven’t looked elsewhere, I have. And, I have gone to other venues and seen some pretty good acts but they just didn’t make the cut this time. I’ve been asked lately why I don’t review more cover bands. The an-swer is that I prefer not to review cover bands because there’s not a whole lot to say other than they sound-ed just like the record if they’re good or they really trashed the song if they’re bad...neither report is news worthy. It’s another story if they make the song their own (as thousands of art-ists can and do) instead of merely duplicating it, but most cover bands are only into playing it exactly like it originally sounded. Gen-erally speaking, the acts I choose to tell you about and that meet my loose criteria are playing music that’s not predictable crap and is creative and passion-ate. I guess this is largely the reason that I end up at the Back Porch so often...that’s what they mostly do there. Plus, it’s only three blocks from my house. Enough of that, let’s roll...

Revised Port A Sound Ordinance is a done deal...

Having passed its third reading at the Port Aransas City Council meeting on July 15th, the revised sound ordinance is now a done deal. Mayor Keith McMul-len tells me that this version is designed to be a com-promise between all parties concerned. Mayor Keith had this to say, “The City of Port Aransas has made several modifications to the noise ordinance in recent years.  Live music is an important part of life in Port A.  Residents and tourists alike enjoy a wide variety of music at indoor and outdoor venues around town.  The challenge has been and remains to balance the appeal of outdoor music with the rights of surround-ing property owners.  The creation of the Music Over-lay District will restrict the loudest music to commer-cially zoned areas of town”.

This is why we pay lawyers...

Here’s the legalese: “Section 1. Amendment. Section 10-57(1) Port Aransas Code of Ordinances is here-by deleted in its entirety and is replaced by the fol-lowing:10-57(1) Radios, phonographs, musical in-struments, etc., [commercial setting].a. The Conduct: The playing of any radio, phonograph, musical in-strument, or similar instrument or apparatus, whether with or without loud speakers or amplifiers, in or on the premises of a commercial establishment in such a manner or with such volume that the decibel level of the noise generated by such conduct at any location on any property other than the property on which said commercial establishment is located (the “receiving property”) exceeds the allowed decibel level herein-after established: (a) between the hours of 12:00 noon and 12:00 midnight if the commercial establishment is located within the boundaries of the Music Overlay District, hereinafter established, or between the hours of 12:00 noon and 10:00 p.m. if the commercial es-tablishment is located outside the boundaries of the Music Overlay District, Monday through Saturday or (b) at any time of the day on Sunday.”

Let the sleepers sleep & let the rockers rock...

Also, one of the revisions took the power of com-plaint out of the cops hands and mandates that they can only respond to loud bands when there is a complaint called in and now must measure the deci-bel level from the complaining parties property line. Again, the legalese: “Com-plainant. A prosecu-tion of a violation of

By Ronnie Narmour

ronnienarmour@gmail.com

Three Chords and the Truth

this subsection may only be based on the complaint of a person who is an owner or lawful occupant or possessor of the receiving property, i.e. the property on which the noise is measured.” So, if everyone con-cerned complies with these new revisions, the sleep-ers can sleep and the rockers can now rock in harmo-ny. It seems pretty fair to me.

Jesse Dayton

Jesse Dayton (Austin, TX) played the Back Porch on July 9th. This show and this artist completely floored

me. Often referred to as “the best kept secret in country music” Jesse Day-ton is one turbo-charged fireball of energy. Original-ly from Beaumont, Dayton came out of the shoot as a rock-a-billy phenom with his early band, The Road Kings, drawing from such Gulf Coast influences as Cookie and the Cup-cakes, George Jones, Jer-ry Lee Lewis and the Big Bopper. He has worked with such musical luminar-ies as Waylon Jennings, Ray Price, The Super-suckers and Chris Isaac and was commissioned to write and perform for the Rob Zombie film Hallow-een 2. A regular at Aus-tin’s famed Continental

Club, Jesse Dayton is one gone cat with enough soul to own any stage on the planet...and when he played the Porch last week, he put on a performance stron-ger than any I’ve ever seen there (short of Billy Joe Shaver, of course). If it seems like I’m gushing with the force of a Gulf oil spill, I am...Jesse Dayton is that good.

It’s a South Texas melt down...

The band’s stage plot at the Back Porch boasted the luxury of Nathan Fleming on pedal steel, Frank Cavitt on piano and Eric Tuck-er on drums. Also, he had none other than the rock-a-billy legend and Sun Records alumni, Billy Dee Ri-ley playing bass and singing that evening. (That in it’s self puts this show on the next level.) When Dayton took the stage, he played for over three hours straight with-out a break and only seemed to gain momentum as minutes turned into hours. I only heard him complain once about the blistering heat on this South Texas out-door stage in the middle of July, but by the time Day-ton was through, the whole place was on melt down, and not from the heat. Trust me; this is one power-house act that you shouldn’t miss anywhere, anytime.

The Stone River Boys

The Stone River Boys (Austin, TX) played the Back Porch on July 16th. The band features the talents of two of the most well-traveled roots musicians in the business, guitarist Dave Gonzalez, formerly a driv-

ing force in the Ha-cienda Brothers and the Paladins, and vo-calist Mike Barfield who is referred to as “The Tyrant of Texas Funk” and onetime leader of the Texas roots band, The Hol-listers. This band is a hybrid blend that takes you to the place where roots generated country music meets R&B.

Together, Barfield and Gonzalez have fashioned a gutsy crossbreed of country and R&B they’ve la-beled “country funk.” There has always been a nat-ural connection between the sounds of country and R&B. As Barfield explains, “There’s a picture of Sol-omon Burke and Joe Tex, and maybe James Brown, and they all had cowboy hats on. A lot of those soul performers will talk about how they used to listen to the Grand Ole Opry. Some R&B songs, especially the ballads, are very close to some of the honky-tonk ballads. To me, it’s all very similar.”

This is where country meets R&B

Dave Gonzalez gives his take on the band, “I feel really refreshed. We have a differ-ent take on the country side of things. Mike is a Gulf Coast coun-try Texas boy, and at the same time he’s got this funky up-tempo R&B thing go-ing. I’m work-ing a new style of guitar that I’ve always loved, but I’ve never had the opportunity to play it. People are saying they love the new band, and they’re glad to hear me playing a lot of guitar again. The Stone Riv-er Boy’s show at the Porch was awesome. Picture the likes of Delbert McClinton singing country. Mike Barfield somehow puts out a country twang to a soul man’s beat. He slides and glides around like James Brown and sings with the authority of Johnny Cash. I was totally impressed and can’t wait to hear more from these guys.

Two Tons of Steel

Two Tons of Steel (San Antonio, TX) played the Back Porch on Saturday, July 17th. This band is led by, Kevin Giles, who slings his guitar and moves

around on stage like Dwight Yoakum on pep pills. As I’ve said be-fore, he’s kind of like across between Buck Owens and El-vis Presley with a dash of The Ramone’s thrown in... but with duct tape on his boots (in this case, his flip flops). Giles was accompanied on stage by guitar

demon, Dennis Fallon, Chris Dodds on drums and Chris Rhoades on upright bass. Two Tons is one of Texas’ favorite sons and has held court every Tues-day night at Gruene Hall for more than a decade.

The GaffBeer ● Pizza ● Belt Sander Races (361) 749-5970

Live Music TonightWednesday, July 21Music Industry Mixer @ House of Rock Le Freak @ Brewster Street

Thursday, July 22ndCody Angel @ Back Porch Emory Quinn @ Executive Surf Club Asylum St. Spankers & HOBO @ House of Rock Brandon Rhyder & Rodney Parker @ Brewster Street Stuart Michael Burns @ Tarpon Ice House Emily @ Hooks Bar-B-Q

Friday, July 23rdTejas Brothers @ Back Porch Blindfold @ Tarpon Ice House Supervillains & Equal Parts @ House of Rock Norm & Amanda @ Hooks Bar-B-Q Oso Texas @ Brewster Street Indianola Railroad @ Executive Surf Club Ray T & the City Crew @ The Flats Lounge

Saturday, July 24thGary P. Nunn @ Back Porch Goodnight Avenue @ Tarpon Ice House Sing-Along Piano Bar @ Brewster Street Mark Monaco @ Executive Surf Club Oso Texas @ Brewster Street Phantom Rockers, Avenue Rockers, Johnny 5 & Sex Riot @ House of Rock Norm & Amanda @ Hooks Bar-B-Q Secondhand Serenade @ Concrete Street Sunday, July 25thRock the Bay 2010 @ Concrete Street Emily @ Hooks Bar-B-Q

Tuesday, July 27thOpen Mic w/ Reverend Fred @ House of Rock

Wednesday, July 28thFive Year Anniversary Party w/

Sweet Daddy & Matt King @ House of Rock

Thursday, July 29thUncle Lucius @ Back Porch

Bowling For Soup, Dollyrots, Holy Moly @ House of Rock

Casey Donahew & Zack Walther @ Brewster Street

Ben Danaher @ Executive Surf Club Stuart Michael Burns @ Tarpon Ice House

Havana Daydream @ Hooks Bar-B-Q

Friday, July 30thDavin James

@ Back Porch Blindfold

@ Tarpon Ice House Five Card Draw

@ Brewster Street Bushbullit

@ Executive Surf Club DJ Johnny Hot Cakes & The Electrotypes

@ House of Rock Ray T & the City Crew @ The Flats Lounge

Richard Lockhart @ Hooks Bar-B-Q

Saturday, July 31stBig Frank Gomez @ Back Porch

Metal Shop @ Brewster Street Lyrical Bynge @ Executive Surf Club

Kevin Fowler & Roger Creager @ Concrete Street Evolution Mind & Machines @ House of Rock

Richard Lockhart @ Hooks Bar-B-Q

Sunday, Aug. 1stEmily @ Hooks Bar-B-Q

Tuesday, Aug. 3rdOpen Mic w/ Reverend Fred @ House of Rock

321 N

Alist

er Tarpon Ice House Port Aransas

They generally pull an average of 900 to 1000 peo-ple there every time they play. Not bad on a Tues-day night. They have ten CD’s out and released Not That Lucky in August, 2009, which was produced by one of the most in demand producers in the industry, Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks, James McMurtry, Joe Ely, Pat Green), and reached #4 on the Ameri-cana Charts. Their single Alcohol and Pills, a Fred Eaglesmith pen, is a mainstay on Sirius Radio and proved to be the show stopper at the Porch that night.

And we demand it...

There were a couple of noteworthy celebs at the Two Tons show. Austin based honky tonk-er, Bo Porter, was in town and sat in with the band for a jump swing num-ber. Bo will be back to play the Tarpon Ice House in August. This will definitely be a “Don’t Miss” show. Also, I no-ticed the famous lawyer, Wayne Wright, in atten-dance. Wright is in the process of re-

storing the historic Sisterdale Dancehall. He told me that it would be complete in a couple of months and I plan to go there and cover the grand opening.

Miss Neesie & the Ear Food Orchestra

Miss Neesie and the Earfood Orchestra (San An-tonio, TX) will make their annual sabbatical to the Island and the Back Porch on August 7. Expect noth-ing less than a night of booty shaking and zydeco mayhem. This is one band that pretty much demands that you get into the act. Look for conga lines led by their horn section and rattlers shaking at every table. A long time local fave in Port A, Ear Food’s history goes back to the days of Tortuga Flats. Each year the band descends on our little island with full entourage in tow. An Ear Food show is just plain fun as they run a musical spectrum from rocking roots to full blown zydeco. The band has been together for over 2 de-cades with few lineup changes.

DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW...

This nine-piece ensemble, with a four-piece horn section, is fronted by songbird, Miss Neesie, who is known to their legion of fans as The Small Ax. It’s hard to process where that big voice is coming from such a small frame. The leader of the band is none other than Jim Beal, Jr. who fulfills duties on bass and banter. Jim is a veteran music critic for the San Antonio Express-News and a KSYM-FM disc jockey on the Third Coast Music Network. Jim is a quick witted and sarcastic chap who is known on his home turf as Uncle Crusty. He is legendary in San Antonio to say the least. Jim’s also been one my best friends for over 30 years and I pretty much have stolen my writing style from him. With all the fiber in my soul, believe me when I tell you that this will be a DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT MISS SHOW.

And that’s the truth!

hooksbar bq & Grill

722 TARPON(361)749.FOOD

(361) 749-BEER (2337)

BACK PORCHSat July 24 GARY P. NUNNSat Aug. 7 Miss Neesie & EARFOODSat Aug. 14 SISTERS MORALES

July 23 & 30Aug. 6 & 7 Aug. 14

July 24 Aug. 13 Aug. 21

Two Sons of Steel at the Back Porch July 17th.

Jesse Dayton performed at the Back Porch July 9th.

Miss Neesie and the Ear Food Orchestra to play the Back Porch Aug. 7th

The Stone River Boys at the Back Porch July 16th.

Acoustic BreezeButch MorganGoodnight Avenue

Al Barlow & Michael Waid BlindfoldBo Porter