NEW MUSIC

I bought this record about a month ago and it has been in heavy rotation ever since. In addition to my love of fast paced, melodic, indie rock I have a special place in my heart for the kind of music I grew up with. It's country from the old days. Roots music. Americana. Country with a difinitive western influence that is nothing like and should not be associated with what most people know today as country music. It was music that told stories about life, love, hardship, journies and home. The music told every bit as much of the story as the words did. It was music that was born and raised in dancehalls, honkeytonks and beer joints from Texas to California. And those are the same places it survives today. It uses instruments like the fiddle and steel guitar which have been all but lost in today's version of country music. Eleven Hundred Springs is a band from Dallas that is definitely keeping the old traditions alive. With infuences that seem to range from the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens to the western swing sound popularized by Bob Wills they run the gamut of what was and can still be great about counrty music. I saw them live for the first time the other night and was amazed. They opened with an old tune called San Antonio Rose and continued seemlessly mixing old classics with their own new version of western music. Everyone danced. Everyone sang along. And everyone had a few drinks along with the band. It was a great night to be a Texan and a lover of Texas music. And if any of you are still a little skeptical about the coexistence of my love for indie rock and this type of music you should know I'm not the first to feel this way. Mark Reznicek is the drummer for Eleven Hundred Springs. He used to drum for another Dallas based band called The Toadies. They did alright for themselves back in the '90's in the world of rock 'n roll. So if you're interested you can check these guys out here or here. Let me know what you think.

"... you don't like my music
You don't like my song
You say you want to party
You say you want to rock 'n roll
Well that carbon copy music
Don't mean a damn to me
Hank Williams wouldn't make it now
In Nashville, Tennessee."