Twine Time

Sonic Trio bring their “Sideshow” to Houston

Mark Williams
Music Editor

When I spoke with Twinemen drummer Billy Conway by phone on Monday, he and his bandmates -- singer-guitarist Laurie Sargent and sax player Dana Colley (along with satellite bassist Jeremy Curtis) -- were driving through Tennessee, heading for the next stop on a nearly yearlong tour to promote their new CD, Sideshow, released in January on the band’s independent Hi-N-Dry imprint label. 

Conway evidently leads a blissfully sheltered life far away from modern commercial radio -- as he seemed both baffled and horrified by what he heard. “There’s a song on right now about a guy who hates everyone and wants to kill ‘em. I think it’s a country song.” Then it’s probably something by Toby Keith -- and is probably the kind of song that should be pulled after the horrific events in Fulton County, Georgia last weekend. But such is life and death and FM radio.

While there’s no killer cowboys featured on Sideshow, the music certainly does have its own edgy heart of darkness -- songs steeped in both protest and paranoia…you know, like any meaningful rock and roll; it’s a kind of modern rock that truly reinvents musical genres -- especially the blues. The blistering blues-rocker, “The Definition of Truth” “echoes the…distortion rampant in our corporate-ruled culture”; meantime, another track, “I Slept Through It”, is a tricked-out protest song that takes on the war with a trip-hop groove.

“In My Head” is a surprisingly tender slow dance gently driven by stacks of sax, while “Twilight” is the true ballad of the bunch -- “a beautiful, sad story of star-crossed lovers” that is probably more of a fond remembrance of Morphine singer Mark Sandman, whose unexpected onstage death in 1999 led to what would become Twinemen. 

The trio, who made a swing through Austin two nights ago to play a show at South By Southwest (SXSW), brings their Sideshow to Houston tonight (3/18) for an all-ages SXSW Overflow event at the always joyous Supper Happy Fun Land (2610 Ashland Street, 713-880-2100). Doors open at 5PM while the show begins at 7PM. Twinemen are scheduled to play at 10PM. Also scheduled to appear: Shaved Marmasets at 7PM; Understanding New Architecture at 8PM; Mad Mike & Crakrock at 10PM; and the Slurpees at 11:30. Of course, all this scheduled information is very subject to change, so keep that in mind.

Sideshow by Twinemen is now in stores nationwide and available on all major digital downloading sites; in addition, the CD will be available at tonight’s show. Order it off the internet at www.hi-n-dry.com.

THE LAST ROUNDUP: Rodeo Houston circles the wagons and puts out the campfires for another year this weekend. See a piece of Southern Rock history tonight (3/18) with a set from the reconstituted Lynyrd Skynyrd -- and feel free to yell out “Free Bird” ‘til you go hoarse. Meantime, a pair of Texas boys round out the final rodeo performances: hometown songscribe Clint Black takes the rotating stage on Saturday, followed on Sunday by Beaumont-born Clay Walker…

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