In the days leading up to the 2008 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival, I'm going to be giving brief previews of the artists who will be playing the Austin Kiddie Limits stage. This is the second in the series (Buck Howdy with BB's preview is here).
So, first are the technical specs for Uncle Rock...
-- Official Website
-- YouTube channel
-- Myspace page
-- Zooglobble archives
Uncle Rock (AKA Robert Burke Warren), from upstate New York, plays all-ages roots rock. But he doesn't limit himself just to straight-ahead roots rock. His latest album, Uncle Rock U., shows Warren's willingness to assume character personas in song, play homage to James Brown, and generally have lots of fun. Given his background playing bass for the Fleshtones and portraying Buddy Holly in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, it should be a solid live show.
Uncle Rock kicks off the AKL stage on Friday at 11:30, and plays Saturday at 12:30 as well.
Uncle Rock - "Break A Few Eggs" (Live)
My favorite Uncle Rock video, plus one more from his latest album, is after the jump.
Austin Kiddie Limits 2008 Preview: Buck Howdy with BB
In the days leading up to the 2008 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival, I'm going to be giving brief previews of the artists who will be playing the Austin Kiddie Limits stage. I'm attending with Miss Mary Mack again this year, but as I'm planning my own schedule for the fest, I'm again facing the incontrovertible fact that I can't be in two (or even three) places at once. And I don't think anybody else has solved that problem. So for those of you wondering how in the world you're going to see Uncle Rock, the Old 97s, and Fleet Foxes Saturday at 12:30, I'll be giving just a little bit of information on the artists and bands playing down in that little AKL nook so you can plan your day accordingly.
First up, Buck Howdy with BB...
-- Official Website
-- YouTube channel
-- Myspace page
-- Zooglobble archives
Buck Howdy plays smooth Western swing -- the fact that the songs are sometimes about farting or the farm is just sort of a side note. Both Buck and his co-singer BB have great voices that meld really well together. And his fine album Chickens! (review) was nominated for a Grammy this past year.
So, yeah, this'll be a fun set. In fact, this might be one of the most country sets at the entire ACL 2008 festival.
Buck plays Saturday at 1:30, Sunday at 12:30.
Buck Howdy With BB, "Friends" (off Chickens!)
(One more video, from Giddyup!, after the jump.)
Austin Kiddie Limits: Schedule Set, Let Schedule-Balancing Begin.
A few weeks ago, the Austin City Limits and Austin Kiddie Limits lineup was announced, now comes the hard part -- figuring out what shows you're gonna see at this year's ACL Festival.
Austin Kiddie Limits lineup after the jump. Now updated for a totally revised schedule. Oh, and I hope you're not a big fan of both Beck andRobert Plant and Alison Krauss, 'cuz your Saturday night will now be fraught with confusion...
Austin Kiddie Limits 2008 Lineup Announced. Along With Some Other People.
Well, they've announced the Austin City Limits Festival lineup for the 2008 edition, and it's a doozy. Foo Fighters, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and Beck appear to be the 3 headliners based on the fact they're listed first, and there are a lot of bands on the undercard worth seeing (David Byrne, Neko Case, Gillian Welch, Mates of State are just some of the intriguing names on the list).
But this is Zooglobble, and so here I am with the Austin Kiddie Limits lineup:
Jambo
Q Brothers
Buck Howdy with BB
Uncle Rock
Big Don
Mr. Ray
The Jimmies
School of Rock
With the exception of Jambo, Q Brothers and School of Rock, all are new to the AKL stage. The lineup is a little more country (Buck Howdy), a little more hip-hop (Big Don, who was there last year passing out CDs, so that seemed to work out well for him), with perhaps the Jimmies trying to fit the large showmanship shoes of the Sippy Cups.
Austin City Limits Festival this year is Sept. 26 - 28.
Interview: Tor Hyams
I've been sitting on a bunch of interviews from my trips to Austin last September. With the music world once again congregating in Austin for SXSW, it's high time I transcribed and shared them with you.
Given the South By Southwest connection, I thought it appropriate to kick things off with Tor Hyams, who will be speaking at a kids music panel at SXSW Friday.
Among the many roles that California-based Hyams has is producing the Kidzapalooza stage at Lollapalooza and the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at the Austin City Limits Festival, not to mention the Little State stage at the Big State Festival. It was backstage at ACL 2007 that I caught up with Hyams and talked about producing those events and his thoughts about the future of kids music festivals.
Zooglobble: What's been the best part about the Austin Kiddie Limits stage?
Tor Hyams: The best part about the Austin Kiddie Limits is, I have to say, Austin. People are really different. There's no airs about anybody, they're very open and honest and willing to have a good time, and that makes what we do a lot easier.
You produce Kidzapalooza, Austin Kiddie Limits, and the kids stage at the Big State Festival. Big State is more country, while the other two are more rock. How did you decide who you would try to get for Kidzapalooza as opposed to Austin Kiddie Limits?
In Kidzapalooza, we go a little harder-edged. It's just a different energy to that place than here. This is more of a roots-rock kind of energy, where Kidzapalooza is more of hard-rock kind of energy. Some bands fit into both, like the Sippy Cups. Some bands don't work in both. For example, we had the Blisters, Jeff Tweedy's son's band, at Kidzapalooza, but they're from Chicago, and they're kids. It would've been hard to get them out here. I think they would've done well here, but it's just a different thing. So it's really who fits more the roots-rock mold or even country crossover acts do well, but Austin's such a dynamic city that I think you could any kind of act on stage here and it would work.
I saw a quote from Charles Attal, the head of C3 Productions who sort of described the festival circuit as a land grab -- there are a lot of opportunities in a lot of other places to establish these festivals. Do you think a kids stage is something C3 or other entities would be looking towards doing?
It's Never Too Early To Start Thinking About Summer Music Festivals
I've hear rumors of particular bands being booked for C3's twin titans of summer kid-friendly music festivals, Kidzapalooza and Austin Kiddie Limits, and some of those rumors would appear to be inching toward the realm of reality.
Austin Kiddie Limits has posted some new tracks on its Myspace page. New to the page are The Jimmies, Buck Howdy, Uncle Rock, and Mr. RAY. These artists would all appear to be on the bill for AKL, set for September 26 through 28. (Buck Howdy already has AKL dates on his live calendar.) And The Jimmies have a Kidzapalooza date set on their calendar. (Kidzapalooza is set for August 1 through 3.)
These aren't all the bands I've heard rumors of, so more will be announced at some point, to be sure. But, hey, it's only February -- ACL is 7 months away, after all. Now you can plan your summer 2008 road trips accordingly.
