Virgil

Stumbleweeds (the)

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The Stumbleweeds - Evil On Your Mind
The Stumbleweeds - Evil On Your Mind
The Stumbleweeds – Evil On Your Mind

The Stumbleweeds – Evil On Your Mind

Spinout Records
Evil On Your Mind – Baby I Still Love You – A Girl Dont Have To Drink – Had Enough – Saving My Love – Only Mama – Hard Times Ahead – Running Out Of Money – Look Out Heart Doggone Thing – My Baby Just Walked Right Out On Me – The Trouble With Girls – I Love You Because – Pennsyltucky – Tearin’ Up The Town

The Stumbleweeds are back with their second release! Good news isn’t it? You bet. I really enjoyed “Pickin’ and Sinnin'” their first album. It was everything one could expect from a band that plays 50’s rockabilly mixed with a good dose of Honky Tonk (or vice versa). And Lynnette’s voice was probably one of the biggest surprise. A real country female singer, influenced by her predecessors (Patsy, Charlene and Wanda) but in no way an imitation. A few years later and after some line up changes (Lynnette is the only member remaining) they issue this 15 songs record on Spinout Records. The sound changed with the line-up and they now tends to play a more 60’s influenced country style of music.

The album opens with a great rendition (man, that slap bass sound !) of “Evil On Your Mind” (Harlan Howard via Jean Shepard). Six songs you’ll find here has been sung one day or another by Wanda Jackson or Jean Shepard. But even the mood of the day is 60’s honky tonk with twangy telecaster, you can’t take the rockabilly out of that girl and their version of Janis Martin’s “Hard Time Ahead” is here to proove it. Guitar player Denis Kelly is probably one of the best kept secret in the country guitar world. He can play straight Honky Tonk riffs, Bakersfield and is not afraid to add a little bit of rock from time to time (“Pennsyltucky”) and some blues for good measure. Lenker’s own “Baby I Still Love You” and “Doggone Thing” could have been written in the 60’s. They both have great music (uptempo beat for “Baby” and classic Honky Tonk for “Doggone…”) and fine lyrics and they stand proudly among their elder. John Fuller (remember “Nashville To Nashua” on their previous effort) contributes 2 songs : the unusual (but great) “Running Out Of Money” and “Tearin’ Up The Town”. Ex-Stumbleweeds Mike Feudale returns to write “Had Enough”. This could be “one-more-country-song” but Lenker’s voice and Kelly’s guitar make all the difference. Another contributor to “Pickin’ and Sinnin'”, Chris De Barge, returns with “Pennsyltucky” another good one with change of pace for the refrain.What you have here is a great modern country album that didn’t sell his soul. Even the covert art is perfect and matchs totally with the music.

Cheaterslicks (the)

The Cheaterslicks - Rev Up, Burn Out
The Cheaterslicks - Rev Up, Burn Out
The Cheaterslicks – Rev Up, Burn Out

The Cheaterslicks – Rev Up, Burn Out

Western Star WSRC 046 [2010]
Hotrod King – 20 Days a Drunk – I Just Can’t Win – Rumble Of Thunder – You’re Untrue – Cry & Moan – Gimme Just a Little Bit – You’re Still Torturing Me – Hard Working Man – Can’t Hardly Stand It – Well Of Tears – Nobody’s Guy – Mother Truckers – Big Love Guarantee

This platter is one of the most exciting thing I’ve heard in 2010. You seldom find a debut album as good as this one (but the members of the band are all experienced musicians having played with The Prowlers, Kill Van Helsing and Empress of Fur).
Listening to “Rev Up, Burn Out” the names of Brian Setzer’s 68 Comeback Special, Mike Ness, The Blasters, the Reverend Horton Heat, Ronnie Dawson, The Paladins and the Nervous Fellas came to mind. Yes, it’s that good! The core of their music is made of high octane gritty rockabilly always delivered with the good drive, powered by a fantastic slap bass and appropriately recorded by Alan Wilson.
But they’re not happy to stick to just one style. You’ll also find more traditionnal rockabilly, country oriented songs (“You’re still torturing me” that could easily be on the latest Jack Rabbit Slim) and a couple of rockin’ blues numbers too, like “I Just Can’t Win” that features an harmonica or “Hard Workin’ Man” with its Howlin’ Wolf / Captain Beefheart flair (not only for the title but also for the overall feel). One will also find songs that border on psychobilly.
Another great release from Western Star and a band to follow closely.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Lil Esther (Bugaloos, Jess and Jill and the Sinners, Tinstars…)

Lil Esther
Lil Esther
Lil Esther

Lil Esther

Another old interview I did a couple of years ago for Jumpin’ from 6 to 6, but there’s too many good informations in that one, and Esther is one of my favorite singer, that I ddn’t want it to be lost. 

What kind of music did you grow up with ?
Lil Esther – I grew up with different kinds of music.. When I was a “Lil” girl my mother always listend to Country music, Rock and Roll but also A lot of Hawaiin music. Later her musical changed. She started listening to a lot of rhythm and blues and some soul music I think as a child you just listen to what your parents plays you know? But I have to say I always liked what I had to listen too! It influencend my musical taste for sure…

Was your family musically inclined?
Lil Esther – Yes indeed there where! My grandfather was a bit of a famous guitarplayer here in Holland in the late 50s till the 80s. He was a brilliant schooled jazzguitarist, who played in all the fancy Theatres jazzclubs and other venues. He also aranged a lot of music for very know BEAT bands as the Golden earing(RADAR LOVE FAME) and indo rock female star Anneke Gronloh. When he became older he started to give guitarlessons. And when i was 17 I took some lessons too… His wife (my grandmother) played the violin in all kind of big orcherstras. My mother played steelguitar in a hawaian band. Her dad taught her to play it. My sister plays piano. And we start singing harmony the moment we could talk!

The Bugaloos with Lil Esther
The Bugaloos

How did you come to discover “roots music”?
Lil Esther – Well, as I said I always liked the music my mother listening to a whole lot when I became older I became more interested and curious about the roots of this music and soon discovered it and decided to dig a litte deeper.

When did you start to sing and when did you consider joining a band?
Lil Esther – I started sing on a very young age.. Me and my sister must have been 6 or 7 years old when joinend a harmony-choir We did this for years! And we even recorded an album with Dutch folk songs on it ! Hahahaha at the age of 19 we considered the option to form a band. So we asked another friend (Marga) to join us. We met the other bandmembers at Local R.a.B clubs. Ed the drummer is married to my sister. We were influencend by 50s harmony vocals girl bands.

Were you in other band before the Bugaloos?
Lil Esther – No.. The Bugaloos was my first band…

Maybe all of our readers don’t know The Bugaloos, can you tell us more about this band?
Lil Esther – The bugaloos was a 6 piece band bass-drums-guitar line up And 3 Girls singing. We did all kinds of styles RAB, jazz, western swing and some Les Paul & Mary Ford stuff. A lot of Miller sister, Davis sisters, Nita rita and Ruby, Everly brothers, Louvin brothers just to name a few…

Jess and jill and the sinners
Lil Esther with Jess and Jill and the Sinners

The next band you’ve played with was “Jess’n’Jill And The Sinners”. A word about that. Did you release anything?
Lil Esther – Aahh.. Jess and jill and the sinners. That was Peter and Tjarco from the Tinstars and Jan from the Chesstnuts(and later the barnstompers). And Marga from the Bugaloos, she was replaced by Diane. It was mostly straight r.a.b Harmony stuff but it was so much fun to do. We did some great gigs but Tjarco and Peter were to busy with the Tinstars at the time so the band just faded away you might say. It was in France I met Don cavalli he was on the same bill.

You also made a short stint with The Ranchgirls & The Ragtime Wranglers…
Lil Esther – Yep! Jelle the Ranchgirl guitarist was in The Bugaloos. They asked me to join them and I did that for a year or so It was great fun! Miss mary ann is a dear friend of me.

In those bands you were singing in harmony or duets, how and when did you think about going as a solo act?
Lil Esther – Well, I did some recordings with Tjarco and some members of The Barnstompers which came out on goofin records (Jelle ragtime wrangler arranged that for me) and we wanted to do something with this band so we practised in the barnstompers studio for a while but once again both bands were busy at the time. One day someone wanted to book me for some shows so I used the Tinstars as backing band! Hahaha it worked out pretty well and they tried to get rid of me after that but as we all know now they didn’t succeed…

On the new album, that should be out real soon, Don Cavalli, Robert Williams/Big Sandy and John Lewis wrote songs for you. Tell us more about this collaboration.
Lil Esther – Fabrice is a very good friend of me, he played with The Tinstars several times. He wrote a whole lot of songs for me. Same with Robert, he wrote me 2 songs a long time ago. We recorded them for Rarity but the Tinstar boys didnt Want to go back to the studio to finish them so the deal went sour. Big Sandy recorded them himself but a bit different. Then Empire stepped in so we started the whole recording process again. Both songs are on this new c.d “Love That Man” and “Confusin love” ( the original demo is fantastic!).
I know John Lewis at least 20 years. The Bugaloos played with the Rimshots A WHOLE LOT! John also wrote the Liner notes he is a very dear friend.

Lil Esther Mary Ann
Lil Esther with Miss mary Ann when she replaced Caroline in the Ranch Girls around 1998-1999

Recently, Carl Sonny Leyland wrote a couple of songs for you too…
Lil Esther – Yes he did! 2 fantastic songs we are going to work on soon for an upcoming project. I am real proud he did, I like carl a whole lot! I like his voice very much. On the demo he plays guitar(lead and rhythm) and every Leyland’s fan would love to have/hear them!!

Do you write songs too?
Lil Esther – Nope! I didnt even tried it..! hahaha

Wasn’t that too hard to bring the Tinstars to the studio, as they’re not really known to be studio freaks?
Lil Esther – Are you kidding me?? You know the TINSTARS right?? I had to beg… Blood sweat and tears it cost me! serious!
But it was worth it. Hahaha I am very pleased with the end result and it seems they liked it as there are plans to go back in January to record the new Tinstar album.

A word about the guest players on the cd…
Lil Esther – Let’s see… Arnold from the Bluegrass Boogiemen is on mandolin. A friend of us Ronald Visser plays piano on some tracks. Fiddle is played by a fellow named Joost Van Es (plays with the Hillbilly Boogiemen sometimes) The harmonica is played by our steelguitarist (who plays a lot of instruments pretty good) and the harmony singer is Tinstar Rick. And I sang some harmony with my sister and myself!!

What kind of stuff are you listenin’ right now? What is the last record you bought?
Lil Esther – I mostly listen to Kay starr at the moment. Various girl stuff. And the Carl Sonny Leyland songs of course! Oh! and the Starday recordings of Roger miller on Bear Family.

A last word…
Lil Esther – I’m very pleased that i could do this interview! And I am exited about my new c.d. And there are some good shows coming up. So things looks good for me.

Kid Rocker and the Phantoms

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kid rocker
kid rocker
Kid Rocker and the Phantoms – She’s the Girl

Kid Rocker and the Phantoms – She’s the Girl

Crazy Gator CGR45001 [1995]
She’s the Girl – I’m On the Prowl

At only 14, Kid Rocker (real name Dean Micetich) was a teenage sensation when he appeared on the rockin’ scene in the mid 90’s. On this single, he’s singing and playing lead guitar backed by Mouse Zinn (Red Hot’n’Blue, Space Cadets, Switchblade) who also wrote the two songs, Les Curtis (Bob and the bearcats) on drums and Mo Kabir (Sugar Ray’s Flying Fortress) on double bass.
The result is an excellent single with a frantic rocker on side one with good backing vocals and a slower and more threatening tune on b-side, typical of the sound one can find in many bands of that period.

Kid Rocker and the Phantoms - Ready to Go
Kid Rocker and the Phantoms – Ready to Go

Kid Rocker and the Phantoms – Ready to Go!

Crazy Gator CGRLP001 [1995]
Ready to Go! – Crazy Joe – Crazy Little baby – You Know That I Love You – Watch Out! – She the Girl 2 – If You Tell Me Now – Everybody Rock – Once Bitten, Twice Shy

This 10″ album was released shortly after the single with the same line-up and still with Mouse writing all the material (except for one song penned by Kid Rocker). Being a huge fan of Red Hot’n’Blue, I won’t complain.
This mini-album is made of more or less the same style that you find on his single but with nine songs it’s no surprise to find a little more diversity with some hillbilly and a good dose of rockin’ blues and Watch Out! that evokes Johnny Kidd’s Casting My Spell.
There’s also a couple of guests to expand the sound of the band, with Philip Carramazza on sax (You Know That I Love You and a new take of She’s the girl) and Phil “Hot Lips” Rawson on harmonica (Everybody Rock ) as well as Elaine Rawson on percussions.
The good thing is that despite having Mouse writing all the material and the fact that both both Rawson and Carramazza played with Red Hot’n’Blue, Kid Rocker has enough personality in his vocal and his guitar play to develop a sound of his own. One can feel that Mouse helped him to find his style, rather than model him to suit their own style.

Kid Rocker
Kid Rocker

White Lines (the)

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The White Lines - Rockabilly Fever
The White Lines - Rockabilly Fever
The White Lines – Rockabilly Fever

The White Lines – Rockabilly Fever

Rebel Music RM 5002 [2003]
We Do The Bop – Drivin´ Down The Highway –  Thinkin´ Of You – Rock ´n´ Roll Satisfies Your Soul – Fall In Love – Rockabilly Fever – Last Day – White Line Boogie –  Immer Zu Spät – Tell Me Pretty Baby – Rockabilly Beat – Once Again

Nothing exceptionnal or revolutionnary here but a solid album of Rockabilly influenced by Sun records. On this album, made of self penned songs, the German quartet (Bernd Tesch: Acoustic Bass, Lead Vocals,Carsten Tesch: Lead Guitar, Olaf Tesch: Rhythm Guitar and Ralph Jensen on drums) sound is not that far from what you could find in England with bands like the Crawdads or the Slingshots.

Firebird

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Firebird - Buildin A Hot Rod
Firebird - Buildin A Hot Rod
Firebird – Buildin A Hot Rod

Firebird – Buildin A Hot Rod

Independent release
Buildin’ a Hot Rod. Always Rockin 88. Local Honky Tonk. Lonely Hotel.Well All Right, Well OK. Vampira. Fire Up the Motor. If I Ain’t Got You. Knock Knock Knockin. Itchin’ Scratchin. Hot Rod Woman. Cryin’ I’m So Blue. Back Door Slammer

Australia have always provided some good rockers and quality bands and this trio will not contradict this assertion. It should be said that the three blokes have already some solid experience : Chris Nomad the double bass player and singer theethed with the Hilbilly Hellcats in Los Angeles, Pete Belair received the “Tamworth Golden Guitar award” at the age of 18 years and Matt De Ville is a hard-hitter (of drumskins of course!).The arsonist name of the band (even if it’s a bird story) and the title of their first album “Buildin’ a Hot Rod” summarizes the situation rather well. A hot-rod is an home-made powerful but bare vehicle and that is what this band and first album are all about : some 13 self penned and produced songs are the body of that firebird hot-rod and the roaring engine is made up of without tricks energy and power but with the “guitar/bass/drums” simple but fully tried and tested old magic formula. This formula had already been exploited in the early eighties by the Stray Cats and more recently by Brian Setzer with his “68 Comeback” which is without any question a reference of the Firebird trio. It sounds clear listening to the first eponymous track. Another influence may also be The Paladins and other energetic bands as Batmobile. The guys have suckled both from the pioneers breast (some Cochran, Elvis and Sun sounds like their “love my baby inspired” “Back Door Slammer”) but also from the bosom of modernity and their rockabilly, blues, honky-tonk songs are wrapped up in electricity and mighty slappin bass even sprinkled with some psychobilly (“Vampira”). To summarize this more than promising first album I could say “It smells good fatty motor oil”
Check their site at www.firebirdtrio.com

Dave “Long Tall” Phisel

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