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vinylux records

Biller & Horton

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Biller & Horton – Texotica

Biller & Horton

Vinylux V0007 [2005]
The Sneak-A-Roo – Deep Eddy – Tiki, Tiki – Blackberry Bounce – The Devil’s Birthday Party – Whispering Palms – Grease Fire – Slippin the Mickey – The New Thang – Dutch Treat – Mood Music for a Tropical Depression – Adam the Inkman – Texas Twilight

Texas guitar slingers Dave Biller and Bobby Horton teamed up to record this all-instrumental album titled Texotica (for Texas and Exotica) for Vinylux records in 2005. Biller plays the guitar, and Horton takes the steel on most of the track except for a couple of tunes where Horton plays the lead guitar and Biller switches to electric bass. Bobby’s brother, Billy, plays the bass (and records the whole thing), Biller’s wife Karen plays the vibes, T. Jarrod Bonta plays some piano, and Buck Johnson is on drums.
It’s a varied mix of styles. Hence you’ll find Hillbilly swing (The Devil’s Birthday Party with Erik Hokkanen on fiddle, blackberry Bounce), some influences from Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant (The Sneak-A-Roo), jazz (Dutch Treat) and some blues oriented stuff (Slippin’ the Mickey, which I suspect is a reference to Mickey Baker, Texas Twilight). Also, plenty of songs justify the title and songs like Tiki Tiki, Mood Music For A Tropical Depression, and Whispering Palms sound like Hawai/Exotica/Martin Denny all rolled into one with a dash of Les Paul for the former.
This album will ideally find its place next to Biller and Wakefield’s or John Munnerlyn and Lee Jeffriess’ one.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Two Timin Three

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Two Timin Three

The Two Timin’ Three – Where Did You Sleep Last Night?

Two Timin Three

Vinylux V0010 [2009]
Black and White Baby – No Thru – I’ll Be True – Love Sick Lullaby – Lonely, Lonely, Lonely – Your New Flame – Since I Found Love – Where Did You Sleep Last Night? – It’s All your Fault – Marie – Got You Figured Out – Just One Wink – Through Foolin’ Around – One Red Rose – No Good Man

“The newcomer that impressed me is the Two Timin’ Three!!! Shane, Jeff, and Eric are an excellent rockabilly trio from Austin, Texas, who write and perform in the highest quality.” That’s what Sean Mencher answered in 2006 when asked if a band recently impressed him.
The Two Timin’ Three was founded in Boston, in late 2003, by stand-up bassist Shane Kiel and lead guitarist Jeff Herring. They tried various vocalists before meeting Eric Laufer.
They carried on the long tradition of drummerless Rockabilly, but the Two Timin’ Three were not your run-of-the-mill Rockabilly band. Laufer’s voice was enough to distinguish them, being able to sing with a soft crooning one minute and calm-down menacing the other. Herring’s guitar showed that his influences went far beyond Scotty Moore and Grady Martin, contrary to many aspiring Rockabilly guitar players. One can hear a healthy dose of Jazz and some traces of Chet Atkins and Les Paul in his style. Shane Kiel’s solid slap provided a solid backbone for the band. It’s no wonder that sharing a similar musical background, the band would cross paths with Sean Mencher, who produced this album and Lance LeBeau, who recorded it.
All songs but two (Mencher’s Your New Flame and Cindy Walker’s It’s All Your Fault) are originals. They showed a high level of maturity, with special care to write melodic songs. They mainly played mid-tempos, which allows the singer and the guitar player to ‘breath’ and fully develop their melodies.
Another excellent album followed in 2006 (Payin’ the Price), then the band added Patrick Morrow on drums and became the Two Timin’ Four, thus expanding their musical scope.
Sadly, on September 4, 2008, Eric Laufer was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was only 25.
On a lighter note, I remember the Two Timin’ Three’s performance at The Rockabilly Rave. It was in the afternoon, not on the main stage, but everyone present was blown away by the energy of these three young men.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis