1) Don’t have a cow, other club owners, but this is the first of two posts about MASS (1002 S Main), but I’m really only putting this Wayhomer Wednesday show in this week’s list because the venue is collecting supplies to send down to Houston to help out those afflicted by the hurricane. Don’t know what to bring? This NPR article has a list of helpful organizations, all of which can use financial assistance, in case you’re debating whether or not a person who lost a home to rising flood waters could use an old can of watercress or black olives you found in the pantry. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say no, probably not. But if you want to drop off some dry clothes, or cases of bottled water, or the sort of things you might need if you had been displaced by catastrophic rain and flooding, that would be nice. Also, this band called KYSER is playing from 6-8pm, and the cover to see them is only $3. This is video from Flower Mound-based anime studio FUNimation, in which a representative talks about how they will match your donations to help the relief effort:
2) Jason Eady’s back in town for a show Thursday night at Lola’s Trailer Park (2735 5th St). The country songwriter put out an new, eponymously titled record out back in June; in a phone interview for the story I wrote about him, he told me it’s his most personal one yet, and personally, I think it’s the most enjoyable to listen to out of his entire catalog. Just goes to show that when an artist genuinely works at his or her craft, great things can happen. Anyway, it looks like Eady is carrying the night on his own, scheduled to play from 8 to 11pm. Doors are at 7, and minors are allowed with a legal guardian; tickets are $10 in advance, (probably) $15 at the door. I hate it when Facebook invites are unclear about such things! Here’s a live performance of “Black Jesus” videoed at Cedar Creek Recording studios:
3) Okay, here’s the other one at MASS: Cut Throat Finches are releasing a new 12” vinyl single called “Welcome to 1979,” and they’re headlining the celebratory show along with Kevin Aldridge and the Appraisers, and Austin-based Brandon Callies and the American Revival, who are also releasing a vinyl record that night; in their case, it’s their debut LP. Both vinyls are on Hand Drawn Records, so if you buy one or both releases, you’ll be supporting local (or regional, in the case of Brandon Callies) artists AND a local business. Finally, if you remember a band called South FM, their frontman Paco Estrada’s new project, Heart of the City, opens the show, which is 18 and up and $10 at the door, or $7 in advance. Check out the official video for the first single off Brandon Callies and the American Revival’s debut:
4) Wow, tough call for Friday night shows, especially if you’re a fan of “roots”-influenced rock and roll. The aforementioned show at MASS is chock full of that sort of thing, but Austin’s Band of Heathens is up the street at Shipping and Receiving (201 S Calhoun). I’ll tell you this much: it’s not actually that far of a walk between the two venues, so you could actually catch some of both shows. The Band of Heathens show is opened by Austin-by-way-of-East-Texas country songwriter Jonathan Terrell. This BOH song is called “Hurricane,” and it’s about an old man bracing for bad weather in Louisiana, but the determination in the character seems like it might bring a little comfort to the people fighting floods down in Harris county:
5) Quaker City Nighthawks have a pretty big show on Sunday, as they will be one of the acts opening for none other than veteran SoCal punk rockers Social Distortion, who are headlining Billy Bob’s 5th annual Burning Bubba Festival. Ol’ Mike Ness will probably go deep with the Johnny Cash and Hank Williams covers for this one, which is always a treat – of course Social Distortion’s cover of “Ring of Fire,” released on the band’s 1990 self-titled album more or less catapulted them into the mainstream, but don’t be surprised if Social D plays some other classic country tunes along with their classic, mid-tempo, Orange County Punk. As for them local boys, QCNH will be donating 100% of their merch sales to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, so Sunday night will be an even better reason to grab one of their records or a shirt or air freshner or whatever other stuff they have for sale. Buy two, why don’t ya! Outlaw country troubadour Whitey Morgan is direct support, preceded by Quaker, Jade Jackson, and Jesse Dayton. The show starts with Dayton’s set at 5pm. Tickets are $35 at the door or $30 in advance. Here’s Social Distortion playing “So Far Away” from a show in Seattle this past April:
FULL DISCLOSURE/WRITER BIO ALERT: per editorial suggestion, in addition to writing about music and other shit for the FW Weekly, I am an investor in a venue/bar called Main at Southside, colloquially known as MASS. I also bartend there, as well as the Boiled Owl Tavern, a bar that also hosts shows a few times a month. And, since we’re on the subject of warning you against what may be perceived as my own icky, unseemly self-promotion and/or conflicts of interest, I play bass in the following bands: Oil Boom, Son of Stan, Darth Vato, and maybe, once again in the hypothetical future, EPIC RUINS. Sometimes I talk about one or more of those entities in this space, but I assure you that it has very little to do with my own vested interests; it just happens that the aforementioned venues and bands are part of the Fort Worth music scene, and this music scene is something I care very passionately about, as I have been part of it for the past fifteen years.
