After the parade is the big concert in a big fenced in parking lot and this year it featured  some of the best of Dallas’ alt-country-roots rock scene. The O’s, The Drams, Eleven Hundred Springs and The Old 97s.

The crowd was kind of thin but you could no doubt chalk that up to the weather- it was  cold, windy and the cloud cover was threatening drenching rain at any moment. Still, for the faithful that did show up, it was as fine a day of music as a drunken partier decked out in a spray painted fake beard, 2 lbs of beads and a big green hat could hope for. And I saw more than a few of those.

We arrived shortly after The O’s started their set. The O’s are Taylor Young on guitar and John Pedigo on guitar and banjo. They’re probably the best new band in these parts despite their just being two guys. They write great songs and play them very nicely- you can check out a few of them on their MySpace page. They also managed to play the very best song of the day-a cover of The Pogues’ "Body Of An American." It was the perfect song for the occasion and they nailed it.

The crowd had grown some by the time Slacker Country favorites The Drams kicked things off with a fine cover of Neil Young’s "Come On baby Let’s Go Downtown."

They played their best stuff from Jubilee Dive and a few new songs like "Man Of Note" and "Doesn’t Bother Me." They also did The Jayhawks’ "Real Light" and Chad Stockslager’s "Homemade Biscuits" and got a pretty good call and response from the crowd on that one.

Eleven Hundred Springs sounded as good or better than ever. They’re always in their element at these things as much as in a loud bar. I missed a good deal of their set but what I saw killed.

Matt Hillyer’s got to have the coolest guitars around.

By the time the Old 97s came on there was a pretty respectable sized and largely inebriated crowd.  They opened with "Won’t Go Home No More" and pretty much covered their entire span- from "Doreen" to "Dance With Me." They came out for an encore of Jimmy Dale Gilmore’s "Dallas" and closed with a stomping "Timebomb."

After that of course it was time to hit the bars. Weren’t The King Bucks playing at The Dubliner or something?

Thanks to Michelle for the pics!

Ever since I moved to Texas, I’ve always had a difficult relationship with country music. There’s country music that I just can’t seem to get enough of – like Johnny Cash or Robert Earl Keen or Gram Parsons or any number of genre defying “alt country” acts; but then, on the other hand, it can very easily cross that thin, abstract line that separates “good country” from country radio pop, or that special Texas-centric brand of dreary redneck country or anything that twangs without any sense of fun or adventure.

But that being said; there’s also a particular kind of straight up, no apologies country music that’s all about having a great time.

Eleven Hundred Springs plays that kind of country.

If there’s one thing these guys always seem to bring, it’s a damn good time. They brought that and even more to the show at Lee Harvey’s Saturday night.

For one thing, to be redundant, it was at Lee Harvey’s. On a good night, when the weather cooperates, Lee Harvey’s is pretty much the best venue in town. The weather cooperated Saturday night. It cooperated in a big way.

The firepits were blazing even though it was a pretty mild night. That put a little woodsmoke in the breeze. It had that perfect Texas spring night vibe. Then there was the crowd. As is usually the case with ELH, cowboys and hippies, drunks and stoners and even the usual crowd of downtown urban dwellers all came, mingled and a bunch of them even brought their dogs.

There were a lot of dogs. That’s another one of my favorite aspects of Lee Harvey’s, the dog friendliness of it.

The band was clearly into it as well. They played their time honored Bob Wills and Johnny Cash covers, a bunch of old favorite originals and some new stuff too.

It’s been a long time since these guys released a disc, 2004 in fact. But they’ve been playing all that time and it shows.

I’m pretty sure those were some new guitars Matt Hillyer was slinging and that high lonesome thing he does with his very distinctive voice was sounding better than ever. The new songs they played were great on first listen, so that new disc they say they’re going to be recording later this spring could be very promising.

It was sure good to be at a Lee Harvey’s show again. The place has improved since my last visit there – they’ve added a new patio bar to the right of the stage. Other than that, and the bigger than typical crowd, it still had the laid back atmosphere and great music that make it such a cool place to hang out. And with free parking, moderate bar prices, the downtown skyscrapers looming on the near horizon, perfect weather, Eleven Hundred Springs and, of course, the dogs- where, in Dallas anyway, would have been a better place to be?

Download an mp3 from this CD

“Why You Been Gone So Long”

OK, so it’s been almost one year to the day since Eleven Hundred Springs released “Bandwagon” on Palo Duro Records – their biggest label release to date.  That seems like as good a time as any for a review that’s glaringly missing from these pages.

While Eleven Hundred Springs’ records have never really conveyed the sheer twangy exuberance of their live shows, “Bandwagon” successfully straddles the line between the hard electric country sound of the band on stage and the mellower acoustic sound they tend to employ in the studio.

Their 2002 release, “A Straighter Line,” has become something of a local classic and offered a glimpse of their songwriting talent – but the acoustic, laid-back sound never really displayed the bands full potential.  The same can be said for their follow up EP, “Broken Dreams,” which featured Dallas music icon Kim Pendleton (Princess Tex, Vibrolux) as a guest vocalist- it fell nicely on the ears, especially the excellent cover of John Prine’s “Illegal Smile” but full scale outlaw honky-tonk it wasn’t.

On Bandwagon, they’ve taken four songs from “Straighter Line” and polished them up a bit, cleaning up the production and amping up Matt Hillyer’s vocals a couple notches.  Mixed in with some new originals, a reworking of "If I Was A Candle" from "No Stranger To The Blues" and a couple of fine covers, the result is a cleaner sound, driven primarily by Aaron Wynn’s pedal steel, Chris Claridy’s acoustic guitar work, Matt Hillyer’s highly listenable, expressive voice, and backed up with Steve Berg’s bass with former Toadies drummer Mark Reznicek on percussion.

Founding members Hillyer and Berg started Eleven Hundred Springs from the semi-legendary local rockabilly act Lone Star Trio.  I can still remember seeing a skinny, high school-age Matt Hillyer with that big Gibson hollow body, resuscitating old chestnuts like Hank Williams’ “Kaw-liga” by putting them to a very authentic rockabilly beat.
That same genuine love of old school roots music permeates “Bandwagon,” but make no mistake, Eleven Hundred Springs are no mere novelty nostalgia act.

Sure, they’re derivative – the way all alt country music is, practically by definition, but they’re good derivative.  In fact, their real strength lies in their ability to make timeless music that sounds fresh and vital and stamp it with a signature sound that’s original at the same time.

Highlights on "Bandwagon" include the opening track “North Side Blues”- with its Doug Sahm-flavored Tex-Mex arrangement, the reworked versions of “A Straighter Line,” “Thunderbird Will Do Just Fine,” “See You In The Next Life,” “Longhaired, Tattooed Hippie Freaks,” and the new, Aaron Wynn-penned “Hank Williams Wouldn’t Make It Now In Nashville, Tennessee.”

That last title is also a recurring theme on the disc; they state their case both stylistically and lyrically as they toss off shout outs to the likes of Johnny Paycheck, Gram Parsons, Sir Douglas, and Hank, artists that have clearly left an imprint on the bands sound.

While all of those songs are great – as is most of the rest of "Bandwagon," the true high point is a cover of Mickey Newberry’s “Why You Been Gone So Long” featuring the voice of the late, great Ronnie Dawson in a duet.  Hillyer and Berg’s affiliation with Dawson goes back to their Lone Star Trio days and the story goes that the vocals were recorded in 1993 by Berg, at a warm up session for a gig, on a whim.  Putting these two classic voices together was a brilliant idea and with the great bass line that drives it, it not only makes for one of the catchiest country songs in a long time, it’s as fitting a tribute to the Blonde Bomber as I can imagine.

"Bandwagon" closes with another previously recorded song, the traditional folk-bluegrass standard “Rock Island Line” which also appeared on their now out-of-print “Live At Adairs.”  It’s been one of their live show staples and they give it a lot of polishing here.  Starting slowly, with a gentle acoustic guitar, then building in tempo with a terrific vocal by Hillyer, it’s a great closer, but again, it’s not the rousing stomper they play live.

Eleven Hundred Springs is still best experienced on stage.  They’ve played constantly since their inception and through lineup changes and they’ve honed a great stage presence that never fails to please the crowd, whether they’re playing a rock club, honky-tonk, or outdoor festival.

One thing they seem to always remember is that great music, whether it’s rock, country, or blues, is primarily about having a great time.  "Bandwagon" is infused with that good time spirit while still showcasing the bands ability to write meaningful songs that will, no doubt, earn a place in the canon of Texas music.

And if you’re a new convert to the band, it’s the next best thing to the show.