Volume 14 – #7 – July 2011

Brave Combo lives in Denton, Texas. It’s a town chock-full of music. At times it seems like every other resident either plays an instrument, sings or writes songs. There’s at least one band per block (local ordinance requires it) and the downtown area is literally overflowing with groovy vibes on any given night. The University of North Texas lures jazz and classical students, for sure, but the town’s musical creativity goes way beyond that. Even Pat Boone lived here for a while, as did Don Henley and Roy Orbison. There was significant international underground acknowledgment of Denton as an artist’s oasis a couple of years ago, primarily due to all of the house parties and barnyard concerts within the city limits, and then things really seemed to explode. Local bands and singer-songwriters were suddenly playing festivals in Europe and getting decent college radio airplay in the USA. Regionally, including Dallas and Fort Worth, almost all the hipster media now confirms that our funky little town is the barometer of cool, even when the temperature outside has topped 100 degrees for over 30 days straight. We are the toasty top of the golden triangle! Like Broadway, Branson and Berlin combined! Well, not exactly, but the oldest head shop in Texas is still open, right there on Fry street, where it’s always been. This is such a unique place, many Dentonites don’t know what the outside world is like anymore, except for driving to Dallas or Ft. Worth to shop at Whole Foods or see an a non-mainstream movie. Can you believe that we don’t have a Whole Foods or Central Market? That’s insane. For all the alternative music that’s available you would think that everything else would follow suit, like interesting movie theaters and progressive places to dine out and buy food, but we’ll just have to settle for a whole bunch of music (and hookah bars). Anyway, within this milieu of sound is a healthy young punk scene, of course. And most loud-fast-and-in-your-face followers around these parts would agree that The Wee-Beasties lead the pack. Brave Combo even judged a talent show at Denton High some years ago and I believe we found The Wee-Beasties a beastly talent even then. Hell, they may have won. Anyway, Richard Haskins, their volatile singer and driving force approached me recently and asked if Brave Combo would be interested in doing a dual vinyl release with the WBs. For some reason, I didn’t hesitate. Actually, it was for several reasons. Brave Combo hadn’t put out anything on vinyl for a few decades and since turntables have radically reappeared, with more and more artists offering that listening experience, it seemed like the right time. Plus, part of the fun (or frustration) of making vinyl records was the challenge of making vinyl records sound good. I was curious to see/hear if the process was more reliable now. So, Brave Combo and The Wee-Beasties each contributed two songs. I didn’t have the time or desire to get too involved in anything other than submitting the tracks and happily left the mastering, package designing and errand running up to Richard and his crew. Two months later the finished discs arrived. I dropped one on the turntable and there it was; the sound of Brave Combo on vinyl. It’s great, like the real thing, you know. The two Brave Combo songs are called, “What Do You Want?” and “Zombiefied.” You can hear a snippet of each here.

MUSICAL TIDBIT OF FUN. I understand Brave Combo alumnus, Bubba Hernandez, has been playing bass with The Wee-Beasties. See it all comes around. Don’t worry.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE BEGINNING (OF THE END). The Compact Disc (CD) was the first step in diminishing the hassle of listening to music since the cassette was introduced, but it also diminished the importance of recorded music, making mainstream music super-accessible, and all but burying everything else. Digital downloads have taken everything one step closer to the edge of nothingness. When vinyl albums disappeared in the mid 1980s a lot of stuff never made it to the CD format. I still find many of the new BC songs from old record albums. The CD reigned for about 20 years, then it became a hassle, compared to downloading 5000 songs into an iPod. And, oddly enough, no one seemed to care that iPods sounded only a little better than transistor radios from the 50s. Convenience was winning the war, but a small group of audiophile soldiers refused to let sound quality totally die. Vinyl has returned in a semi-big way (compared to zilch) and digital sound has improved, as well. But the landscape is a big mess. Everything that was ever recorded is now available in a variety of formats, ready to avalanche down on you at the click of your mouse, so one is free to wander down aisle after aisle in a million virtual music sites. For a fact, I’m discovering new sounds so fast I can’t keep up with myself. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a TWILIGHT ZONE episode where my screaming face is spinning on a turntable as it’s being flushed down a toilet full of spinning water as the house, itself is spinning from a tornado, which is barely spinning, actually, since it, apparently, can’t rain here anymore. Texas has a heat dome over it because God is mad that yet another yee-haw Texas governor might be running for President. He (God) is trying to scramble our brains like skull eggs so we Texans become less of a threat. Jeez, this is a ridiculous time to be alive. Humans are generally a mess. I know, because I am one. My cats and dogs are messes also, but, although it seems they can lie down wherever they choose, they can’t tell lies. Their selfishness is quite honest and to the point. They want what they want and they usually want it now. Humans are just smart enough to manipulate the world to make it either a little better or a little worse all the time. As a human I will now do my part to make my world a little better by feeding a cat and letting a dog outside to run around and bark. Brave Combo, my band, plays live shows, in addition to making fine recordings which are now available in myriad formats. A live show is where we show up in person, set up our gear and play and sing to anyone else who cares to show up. We’re known for making a lot of sound. You should check us out. Look over our itinerary several times a week and imagine the unimaginable.