Bad Bax's Bad Bax Trollin' is a Jim Mason-produced cassette version of Ghost Train, a CD that should be released in the not-too-distant future on the independent Texas Rose Records imprint. On it, lead guitarist/vocalist Scott Baxendale (a custom-guitar builder whose instruments are in the hands of such folks as Willie Nelson and James Burton) spreads his bluesy guitar across originals like "Skank Dog" and "Pink Sugar" and covers of Willie Dixon's "Hip Shakin' Woman," John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" and Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary." These influences are familiar, and Bad Bax's reverent approach ensures that nothing startling happens here. Overall, Trollin' is a solidly played, competently rendered journey through well-mapped territory (JSB Music, 1658 W. Kentucky Avenue, Denver 80223). Add together the band moniker Indica Gypsys, the CD name Slippin' Down a Fairytale and disc-cover art that features Fillmore East lettering and a peace sign, and you come up with hippie music, right? Yes and no. Lyrics such as "Incense smoke is in the air/Suits and ties ain't got a prayer" (from "When Will It End") are the order of the day, but the music isn't quite as wanky as you'd expect. Producer Dave Beegle gives a certain heft to the proceedings by using his guitar to supplement bandmember Bob Green's on several tracks. But even his fine fretwork can't quite disguise the flighty nature of songs such as the title cut, a "Stairway to Heaven" wannabe in which vocalist Seth Strickland wails, "Did I not warn you not to look inside my heart?" You did--and thanks (Hapi Skratch Records, 2100 West Drake Road, Suite 280, Fort Collins 80526).
On January 31 at the posh Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles, comic Elaine Boosler hosted the 1996 Pollstar Concert Industry Awards show, sponsored by Pollstar magazine, a respected music-biz trade publication--and among the winners she congratulated were two from Colorado. Red Rocks amphitheater was dubbed "Best Small Outdoor Concert Venue" for the seventh time in the last eight years--an indication that the declining business at so-called sheds (documented in "The Shed Spread," October 3, 1996) hasn't dimmed the enthusiasm of movers and shakers for this beautiful place. Also acknowledged was Doug Kauffman, head of nobody in particular presents, who was named "Independent Promoter of the Year" over nominees from around the country. As Kauffman notes, "The awards were almost ten years to the day from the first show I ever did--so it was a good way to celebrate ten years in the business." He adds, "What made it even better was that they gave me my own theme music: Chuck Berry's 'No Particular Place to Go.' I got a huge kick out of it."
Colorado Springs-based Mark Junglen may be a rock-and-roller, but he's not into three-minute pop songs. "Stalingrad--A Rock Concerto," his first foray into the classical realm, was world-premiered by the Volgograd Philharmonic Orchestra in the spring of 1995 ("Rockin' to Russia," April 19, 1995). Now, on Saturday, February 8, at the Smokebrush Center for Arts & Theater in the Springs, Junglen and his longtime band, Former Fetus, will debut a new rock opera titled, appropriately enough, "Former Fetus." Junglen provides an overview of the plot: "It's about a fetus that becomes aware in the womb. And during one of its dreams, a voice tells it that it's about to be aborted. So it decides to escape and goes out into the world, and he eventually becomes the leader of mankind. Then the rapture comes, but because he was never officially born, the fetus can't ascend. So he has to sit in witness over a world without good." This esoteric tale is hardly upbeat--"It has a tragic beginning and a tragic ending," Junglen concedes. But, he goes on, "it's loud and it doesn't stop." The AUTONO opens the performance with an unplugged set; call 719-634-5909 for more information.
More rapture. On Thursday, February 6, Everything does it all at the Fox Theatre; and Huun-Huur-Tu, the throat singers of Tuva, dig deep at the Boulder Theater. On Friday, February 7, Gladhand slaps backs at Area 39, with Martha's Wake; the Zukes of Zydeco host a Mardi Gras festival that also features Hazel Miller and the Velveeta Sisters, a recent Westword profile subject ("Twisted Sisters," October 3, 1996), at the Boulder Theater; Evie's Edge, Turnsol and Wrath of Sharon get even at Cricket on the Hill; Shawn Strub steams up Stella's Coffee Haus, 1476 South Pearl; and the Spencer Bohren Trio provides three times the fun at the Swallow Hill Music Hall. On Saturday, February 8, 16 Horsepower unveils its new lineup and material from its upcoming album (see Feedback, January 9) during two shows at the Bluebird Theater; the Jinns and the Throttlemen accelerate at the 15th Street Tavern; Stanley Milton's Mean Streak flares up at the Skyline Cafe; and Tom Russell climbs to Swallow Hill. On Tuesday, February 11, Silence celebrates the release of a new CD, Sign of a Time, at Sing Sing, 1735 19th Street, and Hamster Theatre, a project fronted by former Denver Gentlemen member Dave Willey, bows at the Boulder Public Library (call 441-4492 to learn more). And on Wednesday, February 12, Mike Serviolo makes his guitar talk at Seven South. And it's got a lot to say.
--Michael Roberts
Backbeat's e-mail address is Michael_Roberts@ westword.comMichael_Roberts@. While you're online, visit Michael Roberts's Jukebox at www.westword.com
