TAOS NEWS, Aug. 9, 2007 [LINK]
Thursday August 9, 2007 - The Taos News
By Deonne Kahler
Texas Sapphires take a youthful look at an old school tradition
Punk and country collide this weekend when The Texas Sapphires take over the Sagebrush Inn Friday and Saturday night (Aug. 10-11). The sound is old-school country and bluegrass with pedal steel, flat-picking, and fiddle, but with a decidedly nontraditionaltwist. Andy Turner, writing in the A mericana bible No Depression magazine, said Austin's The Texas Sapphires boast "addictive harmony vocals... a sweaty, tattooed take on classic country, and some great songs."
The core of the five-piece alt-country band is Billy Brent Malkus and Rebecca Lucille Cannon. (Apparently triple names are big in country music.) Malkus writes tight, catchy tunes that come in all flavors of country beats, suitable for two-stepping, waltzing, and shuffling. His lyrics shine with a clever intelligence, like this sample from "Dirty Tattered House Shoes:"
Now that you're gone
It's such a good thing
There's a shine upon my floor
As these dirty tattered house shoes
They keep walkin' back and forth
Down the hallway to the bedroom
I'm just soaking up the sun
From reflections on the hardwood
All thanks to what you have done
Malkus used to be a hog farmer in Chesapeake Bay, but then something drastic must have happened because in the 1990s he left the farm for the city, moving to Baltimore and immersing himself in the punk scene there.
Cannon, whose vocals have been compared to punk goddesses Siouxsie Sioux and Patti Smith, also did a stint in the anti-country music scene, when she fronted Austin's pop-punk band Sincola.
Nowadays she sounds quite a bit less Siouxsie Sioux and a lot more Kitty Wells, but you can still hear an edgy bite underneath all that country sweetness.
In addition to Malkus and Cannon, the band is rounded out by Bobby Daniel on bass, and Bob "Slim Bawb" Pearce on banjo, mandolin, resonator, and steel guitar. The band has attracted a lot of attention, and once you hear them it's easy to see why.
The great producer and pedal steel player Lloyd Maines produced the band's debut album, "Valley So Steep," and the band has opened for, among others, Dwight Yoakum, an older but no less committed acolyte of old-school country with a fresh, modern sensibility. The Texas Sapphires was also named Best New Band at the 2006 Austin Music Awards, as well as Best New Local Act in the 2006 Austin Chronicle Critics Poll.
The band just left on tour to promote its soon-to-be-released live record "Roadhouse Gems Live," and we're lucky enough to be a stop on the itinerary. The best part is that the show is free, so there's absolutely no reason why you should miss it. Polish your boots and come on down.
The show starts at 9 p.m., and there is no cover.
The Sagebrush Inn is at 1508 Paseo del Pueblo Sur Call (505) 758-2254. Visit online thetexassapphires.com to learn more about the band.