The return of Texas Terri

February 25^th at the Redwood Bar saw the return of Texas Terri Laird to Los Angeles. A fierce mixture of Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop and Wendy O Williams rock ‘n roll charisma, Texas Terri made quite a name for herself in the Hollywood scene with her bands the Killer Crows, Texas Terri & the Stiff Ones and Texas Terri Bomb before she moved to Berlin in 2006. With a number of European tours under her belt, Texas Terri had already achieved genuine rock star status in Germany, so the move wasn’t too unexpected. All of which made Friday night’s homecoming all the more compelling as Texas Terri played to a sold out Redwood crowd supported by local bands Million Kids and A Pretty Mess. The L.A. version of Texas Terri bomb is an all-star assembly of great local musicians including Kevin Tyler Preston and Aaron Minton from Prima Donna, Meghan from A Pretty Mess and Roy Morgan from the Neurotics. The band knocked out a great set that featured covers like the Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog", the Dead Boys "Sonic Reducer" and Texas Terri originals like "Oh Yeah". Seen rocking out in the audience were Swords of Fatima drummer Nick Scott, Electric Children front man Eddie Lopez (pictured above with Texas Terri), Niceness In the 90's author Jim Miller, former Hormones and Napalm Star front man Tim Napalm Stegall and Caron Maso from the 80's group the Little Girls (whatever happened to them?).
Texas Terri Bomb play again Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Dawg House in City of Industry and again at the Redwood Bar on March 4th with Vicky & the Vengents, Long Neck Goose and Crazy Squeeze.

Down and Out in downtown L.A.

Downstairs from the Alexandria Hotel on S. Spring St. there was a bar called Charlie O’s. I had been to Charlie O’s a couple of times and found the place to be dank, dark and more than a little bit scary. That was just the year before last but more recently the place has undergone a bit of a facelift as well as a name change. Charlie O’s is now the Down and Out and while they have other events on different nights, Thursday night is the rock night that is put together by LA’s most amiable curmudgeon sound guy Dirty Ed and Jimmy James from Barrio Tiger, called No Future Thursdays. Only on it’s second consecutive night, No Future Thursday presented on February 24, a night of fine rock ‘n roll featuring Downtown Union, Million Kids (who are just EVERYWHERE these days) and Brainspoon. I came in towards the end of Downtown Union’s set and spent a good portion of Million Kids set interviewing Kamikaze for the next print issue of Baby Jeepers. I was able to hear the Kids X cover "Los Angeles" from the smoking patio, which always gets a great response. The Kids closed out with a cover of the Circle Jerks "Wild In The Streets" that got the small crowd up on its feet. Brainspoon finished up the night with a set of their own catchy heavy rock tunes. Singer Daphne Vandervalk is a spirited front woman and guitarist Michelle Balderama simply shreds on guitar. Brainspoon’s set inspired some crazy dancing in the audience and left their fans wanting more. On the screen behind the stage, the camp classic Russ Myer flick Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was projected during Million Kids set and the 1970 gang exploitation movie Boulevard Nights was screened during Brainspoon. I give who ever pops in the DVDs props for having good taste in B movies. The Down and Out is just a hop, skip and a jump from the Redwood Bar and it’s certainly nice to have some more choices in the neighborhood.

Spark Plug Night at the Crest

Friday, February 18 I finally made it out to Torrance’s premier venue the Crest to catch Spark Plug night. Spark Plug is the on line and print fanzine successor to last year’s re-boot of Flipside, Flipside 2010. The Spark Plug folks have been doing regular gigs here since late last summer and I’ve been very curious about the place. The line up that night consisted of Sassafras, Million Kids, Standard & Poor, Electric Children and a special farewell appearance by Gary 84, a band that features members of Million Kids and the Hi-Z’s.
Sassafras kicked things off with a loud and exhilarating set. Sassafras have recently stripped down to a two-man line up with Sailor Alexander on guitar and vocals and former Inazuma drummer Teppei. Sailor played all the instruments on the band’s debut self-titled CD and Sassafras has a brand new album on the way. Million Kids rocked the house next and Gary 84 squeezed in a couple of songs in between the Kids and Standard & Poor. Standard & Poor features long time White Flag drummer Trace Element playing a lot of old school punk including a little riff of the Sex Pistols "Pretty Vacant" and a full on cover of David Bowie’s "Suffragette City." Electric Children closed out the night with selections from their upcoming full length Fantasy Land. Electric Children’s front man, Eddie Lopez has been threatening to do a Leaving Trains cover set for quite some time now. We’ll all just have to stay tuned for that.
As for the place itself, while it is a bit of a drive from Los Angeles (20 miles and 30 minutes from my beloved Silver Lake), quite a few brave souls did venture out to Torrance on what was a considerably rainy night. For those who don’t know where Torrance is exactly, it’s out by Redondo Beach, Lawndale and Gardena in the South Bay. I had heard that the Crest had undergone a remodeling and I’m told it’s an improvement. I’m just unsure of why anyone would intentionally make their venue look like a Shakey’s Pizza, but to each his own. But I will say that the (literally) dozens of flat screen TV’s that line the inside walls of the place does tend to give the stage area a bit of a Best Buy vibe. On the plus side, it’s free and the beers are reasonably priced.

If you happen to have a designated driver, check out Spark Plug night at the Crest and by all means check out the latest issue of Spark Plug at sparkplugmagazine.com

Niceness In the '90s

I have photos published in this memoir written by Jim Miller. This book was reviewed by Eddie Lopez and the article will appear in issue #10 of the print version of Baby Jeepers. There will be a book release/signing party at La Luz De Jesus on March 23rd. Here's the official press release:

KURT COBAIN, COURTNEY LOVE, L7 AND LOS ANGELES GRUNGE SCENE OF THE 1990S COME TO LIFE IN JIM MILLER'S PERSONAL MEMOIRS

Book Release Event At La Luz De Jesus Gallery In Los Angeles March 19th

Niceness In The '90s: An Indie Music Memoir By Jim Miller Pre-orders Online Now

February 15, 2011 (Los Angeles, CA) – Niceness In The '90s: An Indie Music Memoir by Jim Miller will be released by Pleasant Peasant LLC publishing on March 23, 2011.  La Luz De Jesus will host a book release event March 19th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm (4633 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90027-5413, T. 323-666-7667).  Jim Miller will be available to sign books and answer questions.  Anyone mentioned in the book by name that comes to La Luz that night will receive a complimentary copy of the book.  Event is free and open to the public.

At its core, Niceness In The '90s, is a behind the scenes, club level look at the rise and fall of the music phenomenon known as grunge. This very personal memoir chronicles the life of a touring guitarist and songwriter during the late eighties and early nineties. Although the book spans the years 1985 to 1996, most of the action takes place during the years 1989 through 1992.

Fellow musicians and L.A. denizens come to life in chapters with largely self-explanatory titles like Jane's Heroin Addiction (detailing how Perry Farrell formed Jane's Addiction and who Jane is); L7 Hole Tad Nirvana (recounting how those bands were perceived at the time); Rock For Choice; Kurt and Courtney.  "Anyone interested in the early days of grunge music should find this book a quick read, chock full of grunge action," Miller explains. He adds "2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of Nirvana's Nevermind. It's a good time for older hipsters to look back and for younger hipsters to discover what all the fuss was about."

Jim Miller was born in Chicago, IL on August 9th, 1960.  He was raised just six blocks from White Sox Park on the city's South Side. He was a touring guitarist and songwriter in the Los Angeles bands Black Angel’s Death Song and Trash Can School in the early to mid nineties. In the latter half of that decade he was a band manager and a promoter for the legendary downtown L.A. dive, Al’s Bar. Jim currently lives with his guitars (whom he still loves very much) in Atwater Village, CA.