Tampa Calling

Here’s what I have running in the new Creative Loafing:

• Spring Arts preview: Bruce Springsteen, Ani DiFranco, Alejandro Escovedo, They Might Be Giants, and more.

• Local artists Rebekah Pulley, Shawn Kyle Beauville, and others prep for showcase in Austin, Texas.

• Geri X returns from Wisconsin with new album and a performance at Kelly’s Pub; The Postmarks back in Ybor City for a gig at New World Brewery.

• Bret Michaels (yikes), Richard Shindell, Earth Bombs Mars and more in Music Week.

• A review of the outstanding new compilation album Cheatin’ Heart: Tales of Lies & Love.

• BAR TAB: Surviving Gasparilla.

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Since launching his solo career (with backing by The Nationals) a decade ago, Tampa’s Ronny Elliott has garnered glowing reviews from across the globe in publications like Billboard and Rolling Stone Germany. His 2005 release Valentine Roadkill landed in venerable British music mag Mojo’s Top 10 Americana albums of the year. The publication also profiled Elliott, noting that his “story-telling songs are as brutally honest as his attitude to his career is cavalier.”

Elliott released Jalopypaint last month and I four-starred it here in the Jan. 9 issue of Creative Loafing. Other publications have also taken notice. The album ranked No. 16 No. 5 in the year-end tally of No Depression contributing editor Joe Nick Patoski — but was removed from didn’t make the final list, probably since the disc officially came out in 2008. Or maybe No Depression founders Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock made an executive decision to ax the selection based on their past experiences with Elliott.

UPDATED Jan. 31: See Blackstock’s comment posted below.

The most widely read mag devoted to alt-country (full disclosure: I’ve written for them), its editors were famously embarrassed several years ago by Elliott’s song “South by So What.” A send-up of the annual South By Southwest music conference held in Austin, Texas, it includes the zinger: “Those jerks from No Depression are an arrogant bunch.” Elliott wrote the lyric following an unpleasant meeting with Alden and Blackstock in Austin. Robbie Fulks called it the “singularly most suicidal line” he had heard, reported Mojo.

Elliott performs Saturday at Dave’s Aqua Lounge in St. Petersburg as part of One For the Road 3. The concert will raise funds for local artists like Elliott scheduled to perform in March at Florida Bandango, a showcase organized by WMNF music director Flee that takes place in Austin the afternoon before the official start of SXSW. Chances are, Alden and Blackstock are on the guest list. An alcohol-fueled confrontation between No Depression’s editors and Elliott would be priceless.

In related news, a review of Jalopypaint ran last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican:

Here’s another ace album by one of the free world’s most unjustly overlooked songwriters. As usual, this Tampa, Florida, roots-rocker fills the disc with wonderful story songs dealing with his heroes, a few villains, and objects of his lust. There’s lots of history, a little politics, and plenty of brooding about his life and career.

Click here (and scroll down) to read the rest of the review.

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Here’s my account of Saturday’s Gasparilla Parade of Pirates. It will run as as a Bar Tab column in the Creative Loafing that hits newsstands Wednesday. Pictures taken at the event by a co-worker should appear here tomorrow.

Pictured left to right: Me, Lola and Lyndsay.

Just another day of debauchery.

There are few things more horrific than being in the midst of 400,000 drunks. Positioned near the corner of Bayshore Boulevard and Willow Avenue Saturday afternoon during the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates, I can’t help but think that this might be the closest many of us will ever come to entering a war zone. It’s chaos on a greater level than I can typically handle. Fortunately, I have achieved a perfectly calibrated buzz: It minimizes my claustrophobia and creates a sense of euphoria that allows me to tolerate the fat, beered-up beast who just bumped into me — again.Tampa’s most depraved annual tradition, the Gasparilla day parade is an event so hedonistic and ugly that it should probably be banished to one of those backwoods clearings up in Zephyrhills where 98Rock formerly threw its equally wanton Livestock orgy — far away from the eyes of polite society.

Instead, for the past century, Tampa civic leaders have marched the swashbuckler-honoring bacchanal right through the city’s oldest, richest and most venerable neighborhood. And I like that. There’s something perversely appealing about witnessing the affluent members of South Tampa subjected to all manners of alcohol-fueled savagery. I also enjoy watching those pillars of the community who embrace the day of debauchery — the prosperous dirty old men who stumble and lurch across their roped-off Bayshore lawns, leer at the young gals in bikini tops walking past, and then when the old lady isn’t around, offer the loaded coeds sets of monster-sized beads in exchange for a quick flash of perky boob.

Gasparilla is an outing rife with madness and uncertainties — worsened by the poor cellphone reception most people experience there. Plans are inevitably broken. Groups get separated. That’s why you just gotta go with the flow: Attend whatever parties you can, stick with your ride home, and keep plenty of cash for a cab stuffed in sock or bra just in case you find yourself passed out on a stranger’s lawn at 3 a.m.

I also have come to understand after years of Gasparilla-going that if you’re hanging with a large contingent of women — or guys like my pal Sal who refuse to piss in the bushes — a substantial part of the day will be spent seeking out restroom facilities. That’s just the way it is.
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I’m scheduled to interview Ani DiFranco (pictured in front of the Capitol during the 2004 March for Women’s Lives rally) on Friday to advance her March 11 date at Tampa Theatre. She’s touring in support of her excellent two-disc retrospective Canon (scroll down for my review).

Post a comment if you have a question I should ask her, or could suggest something I might say to the singer/songwriter that will flatter her and help me nail the greatest DiFranco interview ever. Assistance would be appreciated. I’m a bit awed by her, and will need to be thoroughly prepared unless I wish to come across like a stammering, fanboy hack.

In addition to DiFranco, there are scads of praiseworthy artists playing the area in the next several months. Many of the acts will be spotlighted in Creative Loafing’s Spring Arts issue that hits newsstands Wednesday. Pasted below is our latest list of Upcoming Concerts, which can be found here on a weekly basis.

FEBRUARY
14 Scott Imrich w/Brian Repetto Kelly’s Pub
14 The Association Largo Cultural Center
14 Win Win Winter w/Beauvilles/DJ Mega Push Ultra Lounge
15 Kymani Marley Jannus Landing
15 Trisha Yearwood Ruth Eckerd Hall
16 Wanda Jackson w/Unknown Hinson Skipper’s Smokehouse
16 Loretta Lynn Cypress Gardens
16 Geri X w/Will Quinlan/Have Gun, Will Travel/Richard Buckner Kelly’s Pub
17 John Tesh Ruth Eckerd Hall
18 Van Halen w/Ky-Mani Marley St. Pete Times Forum
19 Engelbert Humperdinck Ruth Eckerd Hall
20 Stevie Coyle The Craftsman House
20 Poison the Well w/The Chariot/Dance Gavin Dance State Theatre
21 Kenny Drew Jr. Trio Palladium Theatre
21 Gordon Lightfoot Tampa Theatre
21 Sherwood w/Houston Calls/The Higher/Soulfound/Geri X Orpheum
21 Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons Ruth Eckerd Hall
21 Summerbird in the Cellar w/Mouse Fire/DJ Maynard Push Ultra Lounge
22-23 JJGrey & Mofor Skipper’s Smokehouse
22 Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams Holley Hall (Sarasota)
22 Michael Buble St. Pete Times Forum
22 Nervous Turkey Kelly’s Pub
23 Lucero State Theatre
23 Spooky Greenhill Kelly’s Pub
23-24 Anne Murray Ruth Eckerd Hall
24 Paul Thorn Skipper’s Smokehouse
26 Keb’ Mo’ Tampa Theatre
26 Cobra Starship w/Metro Station/The Cab/We the Kings State Theatre
26 AutoTrain Kelly’s Pub
26 Southern Culture on the Skids Skipper’s Smokehouse
28 Candy Bars w/Trés Bien/Stavros Push Ultra Lounge
29 Pat Green Dallas Bull
29 Deejay Young Blake High School

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Considering that south and downtown Tampa will be transformed into a sprawling, outdoor saloon on Saturday in honor of that ol’ swashbuckler Jose Gasparilla, I’ll be there doing some intensive reporting for my upcoming Bar Tab column.

I live in South Tampa so the revelry will be taking place all around me, with the festivities starting at my apartment around 10 a.m. It’s going to be a long day of laughing at intoxicated idiots, scanning the crowd for topless UT hotties, maintaining a steady intake of alcohol (in order to stay sane), and finding places to piss that don’t lead to: arrest, gunshots from a grumpy homeowner, or a poison oak rash in the worst possible of places.

Last year at Gasparilla, I wandered into a party around nightfall held in one of the condos that overlook Bayshore. The dudes hosting the bash were friends with a couple of the girls we knew. We arrive at their penthouse and the place is packed. All kinds of party favors are being consumed. Standing behind the bar is a well-endowed blond in nothing but a red thong and black, stiletto heels serving free cocktails.

The details of that night are rather foggy and probably not fit for sharing online … But let’s just say I had a good time.

Top 10: Songs for Gasparilla

1. “Fight For Your Right (To Party),” Beastie Boys

2. “Wild Wild Life,” Talking Heads

3. “Killer Parties,” The Hold Steady

4. “Party People,” Parliament

5. “You Can Leave Your Hat On,” Randy Newman

6. “Here For the Party,” Gretchen Wilson

7. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” Elton John

8. “Party Like a Rockstar,” Shop Boyz

9. “I Like Beer,” Tom T. Hall

10. “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” Jimmy Buffett

WHAT DID I MISS?

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The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has unveiled another fierce lineup, making me already wish I could spend the entire 10-days there rather than choosing between weekends (April 25-27 or May 1-4).

The big news is the return of the Neville Brothers to their traditional closing slot on Sunday, May 4. The biggest “get” for the fest is Stevie Wonder, who finally returned to the road last year but skipped Tampa.

Also scheduled to appear: Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Santana, Maze feat. Frankie Beverly, Sheryl Crow, Widespread Panic, Dr. John, Al Green, Diana Krall, Keyshia Cole, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Raconteurs, Irma Thomas, Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, Randy Newman, Betty LaVette, Derek Trucks Band, John Prine, Richard Thompson, Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Bad Plus, Galactic, Trombone Shorty, Cassandra Wilson, Keb’ Mo’, Delbert McClinton, Hot 8 Brass Band, Tower of Power, Kermit Ruffins, Papa Grows Funk, The Lee Boys, Marcia Ball, Bobby McFerrin & Chick Corea, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bela Fleck, Sonny Landreth, Rebirth Brass Band, The Radiators, Steel Pulse.

Click here for a complete day-by-day schedule.

My column “The Boss makes music event of ‘06,” concerning Bruce Sprinsteen’s spectacular post-Katrina performance, is posted here at the Jazz Fest’s official website.

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A link to the locally-produced Southeast Music Alliance’s SMAsh Radio is now posted at Creative Loafing’s website in the section titled Blogs & Podcasts.

The latest episode “features Barely Pink, History, Summer Birds In The Cellar, Mouse Fire, Acho Brother, The Clarks, Flexxehawk, a track from the vault, news, shows and more!”

No other program does such a regularly thorough job highlighting the region’s deep pool of unsigned talent. The show is peppered with humor and updates on where the bands can be seen performing, plus various other info regarding the local scene.

Click here to listen/subscribe.

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Here’s what I have running in the new Creative Loafing:

• Interview with Andy Hull, frontman of Atlanta indie-rock outfit Manchester Orchestra

• Wu-Tang Clan and OneRepublic are coming to town

• So is Matchbox Twenty, David Allan Coe and Xavier Rudd in Music Week

• Pink Floyd, Helio Sequence and more CD reviews in Spins

• BAR TAB: The Best Things in Life … Hustling Through Green Iguana:

“The gal who helped me order the rum-and-cokes appears in the VIP area. Our eyes meet, and she walks over to thank me again for the glass of wine. The fourth cocktail has kicked in, and this might have something to do with our abbreviated conversation.”

• I also contributed essential Mitt Romney info to the cover story Game On, Florida! (scroll down)

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In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day:

1. “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke

2. “What’s Going On?” Marvin Gaye

3. “Strange Fruit,” Billie Holiday

4. “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” James Brown

5. “Fight the Power,” Public Enemy

6. “Respect,” Otis Redding/Aretha Franklin

7. “To be Young, Gifted and Black,” Nina Simone

8. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Gil-Scott Heron

9. “War,” Edwin Starr

10. “The Message,” Grandmaster Flash

WHAT DID I MISS?

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This YouTube entry from an unidentified venue dated “4/7” finds Tennessee roots rockers Lucero turning in a rousing performance of “I Don’t Wanna Be The One.” Ben Nichols is in fine voice as he delivers one of his better kiss-offs. Sporting the straggly beard of a road warrior and cut-off sleeves that reveal his ample tattoo collection, the singer/guitarist exudes pure rock ’n’ roll charisma.  The song is track No. 2 on Lucero’s excellent 2006 album Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers. The Memphis, Tenn.-based band returns to Tampa Bay for a performance at State Theatre in St. Petersburg on Feb. 23.

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