And, no, we don’t mean the square downtown. In addition to Californian-via-Fort Worth filmmaker Jesus “Chin” Beltran (see our story last week, “Sundance Kid”), whose short film, The Grass Grows Greener, will screen at the vaunted film festival run by Robert Redford, another Fort Worth artist will be in Park City, Utah, for the annual celebration of independent film. But don’t go looking for ’em in a theater.
Calhoun was hand-picked by a big cheese at the Sundance Film Festival to perform as part of ASCAP’s Music Café, a daytime series that goes on all week. On the weekend of Jan. 26, two days before the festivities wrap up, Tim Locke’s quartet will play the rather cheesily named Star Bar on Main Street in the heart of the Hollywood hobnobbing. The event isn’t open to the public, only credentialed insiders. A veritable Who’s Who of indie rockers and legendary hipsters have played past Music Cafés, including Rufus Wainwright, The Dresden Dolls, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Nellie McKay, Kings of Leon, Ben Kweller, Imogen Heap, Bruce Hornsby, Suzanne Vega, Rickie Lee Jones, Emmylou Harris, Guy Clarke, Joe Jackson, The Old 97’s, Peter Gabriel, Damien Rice, Patty Griffin, Jason Mraz, and The Brazilian Girls. Not bad company, eh?
The Music Café, according to www.sundance.org, is a showcase of “the exceptional talent of new artists, top names, and emerging artists, and is a place where independent filmmakers can meet and interact with film composers and songwriters to encourage collaboration amongst all of these talents.” There is no selection process. Calhoun, Locke told me in an e-mail, was simply the beneficiary of serendipity. Apparently, a fan who works for the festival turned her co-workers on to Calhoun by playing the band’s recently released, eponymous album in the office. “I offered to mow her yard,” Locke said. “The band is super-excited.”
Ever the industrious businessman, Locke is working on scheduling some other dates in the area. I’ll keep you posted on the fallout and, more importantly, the number of aspiring actresses who throw themselves at our local boys. … In keeping with the theme of national acts or acts from Texas who have national profiles, here’s a non-definitive list of my favorite albums and songs of the year, in no particular order: Fort Recovery, by Centro-matic; Age of Winters, The Sword; The Trials of Van Occupanther, Midlake; Okemah and the Melody of Riot, Son Volt; The Last of the Jewish Cowboys: The Best of Kinky Friedman, Kinky Friedman; Calhoun, Calhoun; and Magic Potion, The Black Keys. Songs: “Sold American,” by Kinky Friedman; “Roscoe,” Midlake; “The Empire Strikes Backwards,” Bad Plus; “Thermatico,” Centro-matic; “Lazy Bones,” Sorta; “Implosion,” Killing Joke; “Jet Pilot,” Son Volt; “No Good Here,” Tim Fite; “Tender,” Black Tie Dynasty; “Wolf Like Me,” TV on the Radio; “Kick-Drum Mind,” Calhoun; and “Store-Bought Bones,” The Raconteurs. Comments, questions, recommendations, and hate mail are, as always, encouraged.
My definitive list, under Associate Editor Anthony Mariani’s name, will appear in the Feb. 7 edition of The Village Voice’s 33rd or 34th annual Pazz & Jop critics’ poll. See www.villagevoice.com for more.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
