A few club owners had tried indie-rock in the Stockyards before, but it never really took off until Todd Osborne created The Basement Bar in the late ’00s. Osborne, who died Monday of natural causes at the age of 41, was an integral part of Fort Worth’s transformation from boot-scootin’ and cover songs to a city where original, progressive local music is cherished. The Basement is the only address within many blocks of the historic district where you can see shows by Oil Boom, Foxtrot Uniform, Patriot, Guthrie Kennard, Jack Thunder & The Road Soda, Year of the Bear, and dozens of other marquee original local artists. And acts from beyond the great 817 have also been welcome.
Ghostlight Concerts (né Blackbox Presents), one of the biggest booking agencies in North Texas, got its start in 2012 at The Basement. Osborne, said Ghostlight co-founder and co-owner Aaron Knight, “was very supportive of the scene and the up-and-coming bands, in particular. He believed rock shows could work in the Stockyards and did everything in his power to make it happen. He believed in us, what we stood for, and I’ll never forget that. … He always had that look in his eye that … made you feel welcome.”
A memorial service is being planned.
Matt Vickers Benefit
Matthew Vickers, co-founder with Evan Henry of Dallas Distortion Music, a concert promotions company and record label, isn’t one for Fort Worth-Dallas-Denton arguments. He sees the entire region as one big happy family, and the Fort Worth guy is as much a regular at Dallas joints as he is at Lola’s Saloon or The Where House. To help raise money for Vickers, who was seriously injured in a car accident late last month, his Fort Worth friends are putting on a benefit concert Friday, May 9, at The Where House (2510 Hemphill St.) on the Near Southside. The bill includes progressive punks Spacebeach, garage-rockers Doom Ghost, punky bluesmen Jack Thunder & The Road Soda, and the trippy-dippy Tidals. All proceeds from the $5 cover will go toward Vickers’ recovery efforts.
Donations also can be made via Crowtilt.com. As of this writing, a little more than $2,800 has been generated, and there are only eight days left in the campaign.
According to a Facebook post dated April 13 by Vickers’ cousin Lauren Jernigan, the promoter/label exec is “starting to respond and become more alert” –– Vickers had been in a medically induced coma since being tossed from his vehicle late at night on Monday, March 24. The prognosis, said DDM mate Henry in an interview with Central Track, is “decent,” but Vickers’ rehabilitation will likely be long and expensive.
Frequencies Is Back
Every year as part of the Weekly’s annual Music Awards, we invite a few nominees into Eagle Audio Recording on the Near Southside to lay down tracks for a compilation CD that we sell for charity. Through the sale of our three previous Frequencies discs, we’ve raised nearly $7,000 for our charity sponsors, the Tarrant Area Food Bank and SafeHaven of Tarrant County. Recording for Frequencies, Vol. 4 will happen this weekend, and check out all the cool bands we’ve got lined up: Son of Stan, Ronnie Heart, Slumberbuzz, FOGG, The Fibs, Jetta in the Ghost Tree, Mills & Co., Huffer, Tidals, Shadows of Jets, Lazy Summer, Leon Bridges & The Texas Gentlemen, and The Royal Savages. The CD –– and the Music Awards ballot –– will be out by mid-May. Mark your calendars.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
Sincere thanks for the pieces on Todd Osborne and Matt Vickers. The Weekly has always done a great job at conveying the sense of camaraderie that exists on the local scene, a lot of people here reeling from these recent events.
Yo! The date is wrong on Matt’s benefit show! It IS on Friday, however it is the the 9th. If you can, please edit so everyone is on the same page. Thanks a million!