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by Mike Sheahan
 This
week finds The Goods dreaming in bracket form and making breakfast
pancakes in the shapes of famous baseball players.You see, this
is by far my favorite time of the sporting year.Sure the Super
Bowl is a huge party, the World Series captivates the imaginations
of us all, and the Daytona 500 is watched by millions.But in
my mind, the beginning of the Major League baseball season coupled
with the culmination of the college basketball season –
aka March Madness – is as exciting as sports can be.
I might try to connect my near ecstatic sports enthusiasm to
the coming of spring and the sense of newness and renewal of
life, but really, I’m just ready to make a little dough
in my basketball pools and see my favorite baseball squadron
make good. The truth is, if you are looking for me this week,
just hunt down my TV and announce the fact that you have a pizza.I’ll
be on you like Oprah on a honey-baked ham.
Those of you looking for real, live, non-TV action might want
to head to Storyville tonight, March 20, to check out The Motet.A
longtime Durango favorite, The Motet is a jazz- and blues-informed
jam band that hails from Boulder and always packs them in. If
you like the jam-based grooves of bands like Phish or Widespread
Panic,then The Motet is for you.
On Saturday, March 22, The Diamond Circle Theater is playing
host to a “Survival Revival,”your chance to “party
in the face of madness.” Hosting this event is one of
my favorite local performers, Sand Sheff. The show doesn’t
stop withSheff and his band, but also includes the “Swarthy”
Bob Greenspan, the Catch It Quick Jugglers and the exotic dancer
Mon Alisa.This show is sure to be part barn-dance hoedown, part
vaudeville-esque variety, and part church-tent revival.
Many years ago, in another life, I expressed to a friend an
interest in learning about bluegrass music. The next day he
returned with a handful of albums: Bill Monroe, The Bad Livers
and a collection of songs by the Stanley Brothers. I was immediately
stricken by the high tenor of brother Ralph and loved the Stanley
Brothers’ mountain sound. It is because of those few albums
that I decided to acquire as much bluegrass and old-time mountain
music as I could.
Ralph Stanley began playing music in the mid 1940s and is still
going strong today, these days performing with his band, the
Clinch Mountain Boys. The touring juggernaut that is Ralph Stanley
(he has been doing nearly 200 shows a year) will be making a
stop at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis this Friday,
March 21. I keep bringing this show up because this really is
a chance to see a living legend right here in Durango. This
must-see show starts at 7 p.m.
Of course, I know that most of you will spend the weekend doing
the same thing I will be doing. You will have your ass on the
couch with a beer in one hand and your bracket in the other,
watching an endless stream of college basketball games. There
is nothing at all wrong with that, it’s what the Big Dance
is all about, just try not to forget that there is a huge world
out there with people like Ralph Stanley performing in it. You
can always catch the late Sportscenter.
 This
Week’s Sign That the End is Near: Just because you drive
a gigantic SUV doesn’t mean you are allowed to run the
streets with reckless abandon during a snowstorm. Sure, you’ve
got a four-wheel drive with a lifter and huge knobbies, and
we’re all very happy for you. But grandma’s Datsun
doesn’t have all that. Grandma’s Datsun has windshield
wipers that barely work, and she is having a hard enough time
negotiating the snow without having to deal with your tailgating
self.
This Week’s Album You May Wish to Own: One-time Pavement
frontman Steven Malkmus is back on the scene with his second
solo recording, “Pig Lib,” recorded with his backing
band, The Jicks. “Pig Lib” finds Malkmus exploring
territory familiar to Pavement fans but also embracing a wacky
almost jam-like sound that Pavement only hinted at. My big beef
with this record is that it sounds so derivative. “(Do
not feed the) Oyster” could’ve been at home on any
number of Frank Zappa’s records; “Dark Wave”
sounds like any of the edgier ’80s new-wave bands; and
Ray Davies’ fingerprints are all over the album. “Pig
Lib” is at its best when Malkmus sticks to what he does
best – Fairport Convention-inspired folk rock. “Vanessa
From Queens” and “Animal Midnight” both cook
along with pleasant hooks and interesting vocal lines. Malkmus’
latest effort is either a good folk-rock record or a bad hippie
trip-out record - it just depends on how you hear it.
mpsheahan@yahoo.com
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