I’ve not seen This Is Not A Robbery, a new documentary directed by Lucas Jansen and Adam Kurland about J.L. “Red” Rountree, a former successful Texas businessman and devoted husband and father who began robbing banks when he was 87 by walking into them, placing an envelope marked “robbery” between him and tellers, and demanding cash.
He could have retired somewhat comfortably but became a serial bank robber merely for some thrills. Though, as I’ve said, I have not seen the movie – it screened at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival (Robert De Niro’s festival) – I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp of “Red,” mainly because I’ve heard some of the score. Arranged and performed by members of Oliver Future, including former Fort Worthians Sam Raver and Jordan Richardson, the music to This Is Not A Robbery paints the portrait of a somewhat melancholy codger with a restless heart and a quixotic bent.
Produced under Oval Office Productions, a company founded in 2006 by Richardson and Jesse Ingalls, the score incorporates a lot of sad, incredibly catchy piano melodies and touches of high, lonesome, whistling-on-the-wind homages to Sergio Leone, the consummate composer of the definitive spaghetti westerns from the 1960s. Like Oliver Future, Oval Office also is based in Los Angeles, ground zero of the filmic entertainment industry and no better spot for the company to get into more filmic work such as scoring movies and arranging, performing, and recording spots for TV shows and commercials.
Based on the music to This Is Not A Robbery, Oval Office is going to be inundated with work, which won’t put Ollie Future on the back burner but simply provide some supplemental work and income. Check out www.myspace.com/ovalofficemusicproductions. … I’ve yet to go to a show at the Exploding House, but the environs alone should make for hearty hot rocking – the joint is in the backyard of some dude’s house at the corner of Hemphill and Page streets on the South Side and follows the M.O. of X-treme Dudes Manor and Highland House in Denton and, according to www.myspace.com/theexplodinghouseftw, The Dreamhouse in Arlington, House of Wylie in Bloomington, Ind., the Phoenix House in Tulsa, and many more. I guess you could say that Exploding House is like its neighbor, 1919 Hemphill, but way less formal, which is really saying something because 1919 is as anti-formal as can be. Swing by this Saturday for a show by three local punk-rock bands: Female Snake, Division of Power, and Rocket For Ethiopia.
… Now that our annual Music Awards are under way, TXA-21 has begun broadcasting performances of select nominees as part of the station’s weekly Soundcheck segment. Last week’s inaugural band was Calhoun. Future performers include Black Tie Dynasty, The Burning Hotels, Telegraph Canyon, and a band yet to be determined. The last segment will air the Friday before our big, 30-plus-band showcase on Sun., June 22, in downtown Fort Worth. Check out http://cbs11tv.com/entertainment. …
Correction: In a recent HearSay column about The Toadies’ new record, an additional person was wrongly credited for producing the record. The sole producer is David Castell. HearSay regrets the error.
Contact HearSay at hearsay@fwweekly.com.
