Video Du Jour: Sideshow Tramps

You gotta hear this band from Houston, Texas: the Sideshow Tramps. Made up of some of city’s finest musicians, the band raises a raucous good time any place they set up. If you’ve only heard about Texas music but never really heard any, the Sideshow Tramps will be your wildest dream – and more.

As the band’s press release says: “The Sideshow Tramps exist for those who wish that the Sex Pistols, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin had formed a band together with Bob Dylan and Tom Waits.” I saw them open last year for the Texas Tornados, and they pretty much torched the stage.

If you’re in Austin around New Year’s Eve, you can catch ’em at La Zona Rosa with Shovels and Ropes (from North Carolina) and headliner Hayes Carll.

YouTube: “Lady Vodka” by the Sideshow Tramps

Sideshow Tramps official website (where you can get a free download)

Live: Ian McLagan & the Bump Band, Houston

A few million people in Houston were holding their breaths Thursday night for a cool front.   Rock and roll legend Ian McLagan and his Bump Band arrived in advance of the front, bringing the cool to a sweltering city.  Performing against the backdrop of skyscrapers and fountains, McLagan and the Bumps rocked Discovery Park with a handful of gems from the Small (and plain old) Faces and some glittering gems from McLagan’s solo career.

“Never Say Never,” the title song of the newest album, was a highlight, as was the rocker “You’re My Girl.”  The Bump Band is a crack band that even leaves behind peers in Austin – McLagan’s adopted home town.  Comprising “Scrappy” Jud Newcomb on guitar, bass player Jon Notarthomas and drummer Don Harvey, this awesome lineup is professional but loose, appropriate for the bandleader’s boozy-bloozy goodtime tunes.