Yee haw! Last night (or really this morning) Southern Culture on the Skids returned for a trio of shows at Austin’s Continental Club (another story in its own right). They’re always a great fit for this city and the venue with their blend of Rockabilly, Surf Rock and humor about White Trash stereotypes.
SCOTS telling the crowd how much better day-old banana puddin' is
This year they came to Austin to promote their new live CD Doublewide and Live which I felt was overdue. Then again, as much as I’ve always wanted to preserve the energy of their live show, you won’t receive the whole experience since there’s a visual element to enjoy. SCOTS’ stage show isn’t as elaborate as the Aquabats but Rick, Mary and Dave have their redneck personas to entertain the audience between numbers.
Singer/Guitarist, Producer, avid Mac user and proud new father Rick Miller
SCOTS broke out the hits as soon as they hit the stage peppered with many more instrumentals than I’m used to them doing (I’ve seen them three times earlier). The best one was a long tribute to Link Wray who was a fellow North Carolinian. For their encore, they did “Eight Piece Box,” their best song about fried chicken (food is a common theme for SCOTS: “Biscuit Eater,” “Fried Chicken and Gasoline” and “Banana Pudding” are crowd favorites). Rick and Mary invited some of the drunk women on to the stage for the song. Not always a wise choice because I got tagged on the head by some of deep-fried skin. Good thing it was cold Golden Chick, not steaming hot KFC or Popeye’s.
Singer/Bassist Mary Huff, the de facto mascot.
When the show let out (2 am), I had the good fortune of getting to talk to Rick for a few minutes. I didn’t trouble him for a picture because he’s still pretty excited about being a dad for the first time (his son is only a few months old and on tour with them). He remembered me a bit from several years ago (the perks of being an Apple employee) but he was wonderfully gracious to answer my questions about his studio, his work with the Fleshtones and how his Mac is integrated into his predominantly analog gear to make finished productions. Thankfully I was able to return the favor with his inquiries about hardware solutions for the future. He was very happy to know that Mac OS X addresses the usage of multiple processors so he could upgrade in the near future. I finally have business cards again to share should he have a question on tour.
Lately, Southern Culture on the Skids is on the smaller Yep Roc label yet it shouldn’t stop you from checking their latest release. It’s a solid starter kit for newbies. Their live show is also a must to see because it’s genuinely entertaining for many reasons, not just the so-called ironic angle.