Two other Fort Worth acts that I’ve neglected to tell you about are scheduled to perform sanctioned showcases at SXSW. The first is R&B crooner and multi-instrumentalist Keite Young.
As sweet as D’Angelo and as bombastic as Rev. Al, Young is preparing for the release of his national debut, The Rise and Fall of Keite Young, in June on Hidden Beach Recordings, home of Jill “A Long Walk” Scott and smooth saxophonist Mike Phillips. Young is 27 years old and got his first taste of the big time in the late 1990s, when he, his mother, and father performed in fellow Fort Worthian Kirk Franklin’s band on the legendary gospel artist’s Nu Nation Tour.
Young will be performing at 11 p.m. tomorrow (Thurs.) at Club One 15, 115 San Jacinto Blvd. Rise and Fall is getting a healthy push from Hidden Beach, suggesting that the record is good and has the potential to crack the Top 40. And speaking of cracking stuff, the other Fort Worth act in Austin for South-by is rapper Big Ben, who looks like he could crack some skulls. He’ll be performing at 10:20 p.m. (not 10:19, not 10:21, but 10:20) on Sat. at Visions, 614 E. 6th St., as part of a showcase called – oddly enough – “Dallas Nite.” Ben has worked with some mighty big names, including Lil’ Keke, Too Short, The Hot Boys, Lil’ Flip, and Devin the Dude. Visit MySpace.com/KeiteYoung or, for Big Ben, MySpace.com/3big.
Full Disclosure
In last week’s column, we mentioned that local management company Firelight Music Group and local clothier Vatican Apparel are presenting a Fort Worth showcase in Austin at Darwin’s Pub on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Well, looks like the Weekly will be joining Firelight and Vatican as a co-presenter-slash-sponsor. Just wanted to make sure y’all are aware, though it’s not like we go out of our way to avoid plugging our own events and causes. (Exhibit A: our annual Music Awards.) The Cowtown bands slated to perform at “Fire and Brimstone” are Calhoun, Stella Rose, and Holy Moly, plus Austinites The Frontier Brothers. Visit MySpace.com/FireAndBrimstoneFW.
If You’re Going to Austin …
You probably won’t need to wear flowers in your hair, but if you are going and you intend on seeing Fort Worth bands, well, you should already be there, even if the ink on this column is still fresh. Of the handful of Cowtown bands playing sanctioned showcases, almost all of them are gigging either Wednesday or Thursday, leaving primetime, Friday and Saturday, to the pros and/or Dallas groups. Other than the aforementioned Big Ben, no Fort Worth acts are performing on Sat., and, on Fri., the only Cowtown artist slated to play is Bosque Brown – on the 18th Floor at Hilton Garden Inn, which, though I haven’t been there, I bet is about as far removed from 6th Street and all of the SXSW action as West Seventh Street in Fort Worth is. The Theater Fire, Black Tie Dynasty, and Young are playing tomorrow (Thurs.), and Best Fwends are tonight (Wed.). But if you’re reading this, you’ve probably already missed that show.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
