FENDER BENDER, RETURN OF THE KINGS AND TOTAL DAMNATION
by Mike Sheahan

Greetings and welcome to the first issue of the Durango Telegraph and, thus, the first installment of this little thing we call “The Goods.” In this column, I will go to great length, sparing no expense, to inform you of all the week’s events, concerts, movies and high school keggers that I think are the most happenin’. It’ll be a must see/must
do list if you will. I’ll tell you about things here in Durango and the Four Corners. I’ll give you road trip ideas. I’ll even tell you about a tractor pull in Istanbul if I think it’s happenin’
enough. If legendary rock ’n roll act Bon Jovi is playing in Truth or Consequences, N.M., you’ll read about it here. The idea is to keep you, the reader, informed and entertained.

This week it’s all about music because, by golly, there’s a ton for once.

They’ve been called Durango’s best wedding band, and by now their shows (and after-show parties) have reached near legendary status in some circles. I’m bustin’ at the seams to announce the triumphant return of the Lawn Chair Kings! After a break while the band found a new drummer to fill the enormous clown shoes left behind by the departed Matt Joyce, LCK will once again take the stage at Storyville on Friday, Aug. 23. The Lawn Chair Kings play an energetic, fun-filled brand of country and surf-informed rock that’s sure to make you shake yer rump. According to LCK frontman Eric Jones,
the addition of new drummer Eric Hopper makes their sound “heavier, a little more rock ’n roll than country.” He also added that the new LCK soundwas more “professional.” In spite of that fact, I’ll be in the audience Friday night waiting for my personal favorite tune, a punked-up version of “Let It Be.” Showtime will be around 9:30ish, and cover should be around 5 bucks.

When I lived in Washington, I had a friend who would, from time to time, invite me for a weekend at her parents’ cabin in the mountains. They were exceptionally fun weekends, with boating
in the day and barbeques at night. Near the end of these evenings my friend’s father would regale us with beery stories of his long
passed youth which always ended the same way: a drunken
demand to “Get my Freddy Fender tape!” We’d all howl with laughter as Russell would only half-jokingly twirl his wife around the fire to the tune of ‘Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.’
Whatta riot!!

It is on the basis of this memory alone that I recommend you trot on down to the Sky Ute Casino on August 24 to see Mr. Fender himself. In a nearly 50-year-long career, Fender has done pretty much everything. He’s been a teen idol, played country, blues and
Latin music, plus starred on TV and in movies. He’s even written some pretty famous commercial jingles. Does “Have a Coke and a Smile” ring any bells? I am most familiar
with his work in the Texas Tornados, though. Along with the late Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, and Flaco Jimenez, Fender created a texmex country rock that was entirely original. Although the Tornados only released two albums, they remain an important chapter in Texas Rock history. I probably won’t be in the audience that evening but I do
know a beer drinking Freddy Fender fan I’ll be calling. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show.

Swing music has been pillaged in recent years by wannabes and washed up rockers (Brian Setzer, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy) in an effort to capitalize on a craze. The members of Hot Club of Cowtown thumb their noses at these pretenders and will prove it to us on Sunday, August 25. The semi-acoustic trio will perform at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College in support of their soon-to be-released CD
“ghost train.” Their songs truly do swing and the lyrics have a sense of humor not often found in any genre. I am a little skeptical of the venue, since
there’s no dance floor to speak of and it’s a little, oh, stodgy, but go anyway as this is probably your last chance to see them in Durango. Tickets are $10-$15. Show time is 8 p.m.

More great music returns to Storyville on Monday, August 26 with Texas’ The Damnations. I’m sitting here trying to come up with a clever string of three or four words to describe the Damnations sound, but I can’t. It’s neo AND traditional country, it’s punk, it’s bluegrass. I’m mean, what kind of band covers Doug Sahm and the Minutemen on the same disc? The disc I speak of, “Where It Lands,” the band’s most recent. It’s their third full length release and finds them playing at a breakneck pace. Geetars and banjo’s get
hammered to the breaking point and Sisters Amy Boone and Deborah Kelly provide vocals that grate and soothe at the same time. Here’s the real reason to see The Damnations. It seems they were originally scheduled to play here a few weeks ago, but car trouble prevented them from showing. They then split to Alaska for a mini tour of the frozen tundra. The night before they play here they are performing in Berkeley. That’s a damn long way to drive for a show here in Durango, and it’d be a shame if only ten
of us showed up. BE THERE!! Tickets are $5 and show time is 9:30 p.m.

There you go. If this list doesn’t leave you exhausted and broke, I haven’t done my job. Ya know, one of the biggest complaints I hear from my fellow Durangites is “there’s never any good music in town.” A guy named Bob Mould once said “You can’t go if
you don’t know, you can’t know if you don’t go.” I’ve done my part. If you have an event coming up that you think I should know about drop me a line at mpsheahan@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK: Festival with the hippies!!