On Kickin' Back, singer-songwriter Rick Smith covers a lot of ground: It's ostensibly a country record, but some songs feel more folk than C&W, and the presence of instruments like a bouzouki (on "Galway Train"), a didgeridoo (on "Goyahkla") and a muted trumpet (on "Isn't It Like the Moonlight") stand in the way of pigeonholing. Smith is most effective on light numbers such as "Find the Fiddler" and "She Doesn't Look as Good This Morning (As She Did Last Night)." Unfortunately, he has a maudlin streak--"Mitten in the Snow" made me think of Harry Chapin, something I don't ever want to do again--but "Loraine" proves that his ambitious stuff can sometimes work, too. A mixed bag, but a fairly interesting one (Kick Some Pigs Recording, 825-0195). Mary Flower is a more consistent performer, and on Rosewood & Steel, she proves it anew. Her version of the blues isn't going to earn the "gutbucket" descriptor; she's a Caucasian gal, and she sounds like it. But she can write a good song (witness "Your Baby Gave You Nuthin' but the Blues") and she's got great taste in covers; I especially liked her take on Skip James's "Cypress Grove Blues." The supporting cast ain't too bad, either: Among those making appearances are Spencer Bohren, Amos Garrett, Paul Geremia, Steve James and John Magnie. Impressive (Bluesette Records, P.O. Box 102222, Denver 80250-2222).
Those of you who figured you'd never have a chance to hear a song by the Hate Fuck Trio on national television are wrong. On Sunday, October 27, at 11:35 p.m., on KMGH-TV/ Channel 7, the Trio's "Bottle Up" can be heard on Dangerous Minds, an ABC-TV spinoff from the Michelle Pfeiffer film that stars Annie Potts. According to the band's Jon DeStefano, "It's playing in the background of a scene where some kid loses it. I don't know why he loses it, but he does." The group won't receive a credit for its contribution to high culture, but that's probably just as well, since network censors would certainly have objected to any spelling of its name that didn't include asterisks. But at least the Trio's moniker will be front and center on its debut full-length, financed by Seattle's Shaky Records; it's called You Know, for Kids (a reference to the Coen Brothers movie The Hudsucker Proxy), and it's due to be issued just before Christmas. (A release party at the Bluebird Theater has been tentatively scheduled for December 21.) In the meantime, DeStefano plans to enjoy the $1,200 the act was paid for the use of its song. "That's the best part of it," he says. "We really needed the money."
For years with Babihed and his current band, New Country Boy, Jim Foltmer would announce from the stage, "The more you drink, the better the show." It's a gag line he now regrets. "I'd been having some intestinal problems," he reveals, "and after some pretty unpleasant tests, the doctor said to me, 'If you don't stop drinking, you'll be dead in ten years.' So I'd like to tell everybody that drinking in moderation is okay, but do it too much and you might end up like me." Foltmer's first sober gig is Sunday, October 27, at the Ogden Theatre; buy him a seltzer and wish him luck.
Changes in the Heart, the new CD from Denver singer-songwriter Richard Dean, includes a lot of familiar names on its liner notes: Tim O'Brien, Mollie O'Brien, Celeste Krenz, Bob Tyler, Randy Handley and special guest slide-guitarist Sonny Landreth. Krenz will be present for the disc's album-release party, Friday, October 25, at the Swallow Hill Music Hall. The Celtic band Solas is also appearing in concert on Friday, but not at the Bluebird, as advertised; the show has been moved to Cameron Church, 1600 South Pearl Street, at 8 p.m. Please don't get your Irish up, all right?
No blarney. On Friday, October 25, Sugar Bear gets sweet at Brendan's, and Michael Hedges plays for the first of two nights at the Boulder Theater. On Sunday, October 27, Joe Christ makes his triumphant return to the Lion's Lair. On Monday, October 28, the Roots, supporting a first-rate new album, illadelph halflife, sink into Club Mecca. And on Tuesday, October 29, Steve Wynn, of Dream Syndicate fame, drops by the Mercury Cafe, and the Bluebird is the place to find Michelle Shocked. Do your best to calm her down.
--Michael Roberts
Backbeat's e-mail address is: Michael_Roberts@ westword.comMichael_Roberts@
