Elaine Greer (center) with her band (Photo by Frankie Marin)

Elaine Greeris a name that many people in Houston remember fondly.  Greer, made a name for herself as a powerful singer songwriter in Houston, releasing many low-fi CDRs before heading off to Austin a few years back.  Before she her departure, she decided it was time to move up a bit and enter the studio.  The resulting EP, Making Plans and Going Places, far exceeded anyone’s expectation.  Greer took advantage of the larger palatte  offered by the studio and dramatically expanded her sound in a way that never overshadowed her rich voice and intelligent songcraft.  Now, Greer (who also plays with Austin’s Sour Notes) returns to her hometown to celebrate the release of her second studio release, Annotations.  We caught up with Greer recently as she prepared for the album’s release.

FPH – It’s been a while since you moved to Austin. Why the move? How has that change of city worked for you? How has that city changed your approach to music and song craft?

Greer – I had several initial reasons for moving. I’d lived in Houston for my entire life, and I knew that I didn’t want to stay there forever. There were many personal reasons involved in the move as well. At first it was a bit rough being in a new city, however, I now couldn’t be happier with the decision. I feel like music in Houston has changed a lot from what it was back when I was active there. I’m just starting to really get involved with things here in Austin; it’s a bit harder to tap into, but now I’m seeing that there are actually lots of opportunities, bands to play with, and audiences to reach. I don’t think living in Austin has changed my approach to music too much, except that I am exposed to a lot of different styles and genres all the time…I think in the last album I definitely branched out as far as experimenting with different sounds and structures.

FPH – How do you see Houston and Austin’s scenes now that you’ve experienced both?

Greer – Well, there are the obvious differences between the two, like how Houston’s scene is smaller with less bands and less people. That’s one of the awesome things about Houston. In Austin, there are so many bands that there’s no possible way to know them all! But, it also means more bands to play with, who probably have a different group of people coming to their shows. It’s harder to overplay in Austin because there are so many niches. I think for where I’m at now, Austin is a good place to be, but a few years ago I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere other than Houston.

FPH – You joined the Sour Notes when you moved. How did you join? How has that affected you as a player, performer,and songwriter?

Greer – I knew Jared (singer/songwriter of The Sour Notes) before moving to Austin; one day I ran into him and he asked me to sing on one of their albums. One thing led to another: he asked if I’d want to go on tour with them, and I said yes. I’d never been on tour before! I was in the band for a while, quit for about a year, and am playing with them again now. I don’t think it’s changed me much as a songwriter- I am a very private songwriter, and my songs are very different from Sour Notes songs. Performance wise the two bands always have completely different vibes. It has helped as a player in several ways though; I feel that having to play different styles that I wouldn’t usually play has helped to expand my musical horizons. Also, between the two bands, I am playing pretty much every day which keeps me on my toes. And now Jared is playing in my band too!

FPH – This is your follow-up to your EP. How was the recoding and writing of this different from your last EP?

Greer – At the time when I recorded the EP, I was playing with a steady band line up and that affected the song arrangements quite a bit. We went in and started the recording as a band, beginning with drums, and layering from there. The more recent album was approached in a much more solitary way. I had no band at the time that I started it, and wasn’t even sure what songs would end up on the album. I recorded with Steve Christensen, beginning in his apartment (“The Treehouse”). We recorded guitar and vocals before everything else. Next we had Ryan Odom come in and play drums. With these tracks, I recorded keyboard, harmonies, etc. Bass came in later. It was a slow layering process, starting from the stripped down song. Drawing it out helped, however, because it gave me more time to ponder the arrangements and know how I wanted things to be.

FPH – I saw on your site that you originally expected to release this back in February. What happened?

Greer – Hmm….Life happened I suppose! Things took way longer than expected on all fronts. I also wanted to wait for the right time to have a release; I wanted to wait until I felt like I had some momentum behind me. I’m glad I waited, because now we’re touring to support the album and I feel like I’m in a better place to really push it.

FPH – Are you working with a label or will it be self released?

Greer – Self-released. I’m going to start working on a new album in August when we return from tour, so maybe I can finally release that one on a label! Just maybe…

FPH – You’re doing a pretty mileage heavy tour for this album. Is this your first tour? Will you be playing solo or will you be performing with a backing band?

Greer – This will be my second tour, but my first tour with my own project. Since we’re going with The Sour Notes, I will be playing twice every night (yikes!). I think it’ll be a lot of work but also really fun. We wanted to cover as much ground as possible over a short period of time, since there will be 8 of us and that’s a lot of work schedules to juggle. I’m bringing the band with me!

FPH – Are you excited about the tour? Has playing with the Sour Notes changed how you approach your solo performances or the stage in general?

Greer – Of course I’m super excited. I think we have a lot of promising shows lined up. From here on out I want to go on tour a lot more; I’ve finally found a band line up who are into the idea of touring. I don’t think playing with The Sour Notes has changed my performances much; the 2 kinds of performances are completely different experiences. It is the experience of being on stage as a player vs. being on stage as an artist/songwriter. One is way more personal and intimate. Jared and I kind of switch places for the 2 different bands; when I play with The Sour Notes I try to play what’s best for the song or do what his vision is. My own songs mean something personal to me, so performing them onstage is more intense. Also my music is quieter with a more lyrical focus, while The Sour Notes music is louder and more rockin’.

FPH – It’s been a long time since I interviewed you. I think maybe you were just kind of getting recognition in Houston at that time. How have you changed in these years as an artists and what artists over these years have affected that change?

Greer – Well, I guess my approach to things has changed a bit as I’ve gotten older. When I first started playing, I was really young and therefore didn’t have much direction, it was just trial and error to see what worked and what didn’t. I guess it’s still a bit like that, but I feel like I’m getting more of a grasp on what I want to do and what my strong suits are. I think it’s a constant growing process and I still have a long ways to go! As far as artists that affected the change…I’ve always listened to a ton of female led bands and songwriters. While I was working on “Annotations”, I was really into Camera Obscura, Still Corners and other kind of dreamy sounding stuff. I now play electric guitar at most shows instead of acoustic and am more open to effects where as I used to try to keep things super organic. I’m also starting to focus way more on lyrics; trying to keep subject matter cohesive instead of jumping all over the place!

FPH – Explain the crossroads of Broadway and Punk Rock for us.

Greer – Ha! Well, my dad listened to a lot of show tunes so I was exposed to it a lot growing up. I knew all the words to Grease and Rent and Phantom of the Opera. I still love that stuff. When I first started getting really into music I was into punk rock; I had pink hair and went to shows and crowd-surfed! I learned how to play guitar playing power chords and trying to start punk rock bands will all of my middle school friends but that didn’t work out incredibly well. I think I was drawn to it because it felt free and passionate.

FPH – A few songwriting questions. When you are working on new songs, how much does the particular instrument you are playing or imagining affect the song? How do you know a song is done? How do you know the song is a dead end? Do you ever find yourself second guessing yourself and, if so, why? What do you think is the mark of a good songwriter?

Greer – Hmm, this is a tough question, because I approach songwriting in several different ways. Sometimes I’ll start on a certain instrument, have a melody or change that I like, and lyrics come later…sometimes I have a lyrical idea and have to find the right instrument home for it. It really depends. I write a lot on piano, but have for some reason not incorporated those songs into the live shows yet…I want to do so in the future. On several occasions I’ve started writing a song on piano and then decided to play it on guitar instead for convenience purposes. I’m really bad at finishing songs; it’s something I just have to kind of force myself to do, because I never feel like I’ve found the most perfect ending or bridge or outro or words. I change songs constantly, sometimes completely rearranging them a year later. As far as dead end songs, I’ve had more than I could ever remember that never made it to the later stages. If I’m bored with the song, I can be quite certain that everyone else will be (I think at least). I think everyone second guesses themselves at times and of course I do! Sometimes I’ll really like something and have to wonder if it’s completely stupid or sounds terrible but at this point I figure it’s better to throw it out there and see how it goes. I think the mark of a good songwriter is being able to write something that resonates with someone for some reason or another, be it in progression or instrumentation or arrangement or lyrics or even the way it’s executed.

FPH – What do you think is that one thing that makes a song strike a chord with a listener and why is it songs have that affect on people?

Greer – I think people are always trying to find something to relate to or something that moves them away from everyday monotony. As humans I think we often want to feel that we aren’t alone in things we are feeling or going through. Different songs will probably strike chords with different listeners since we all have different experiences and things that are important to us, but in the end that are the central common themes that are repeated over and over again in songwriting because nearly everyone can relate. It’s a magical thing really.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/24947009[/vimeo]

Elaine Greer performs Friday June 24 at Fitzgerald’s downstairs with Hearts of Animals and Trio Musette (a new Geoffrey Muller project!) 8$, 8 PM, All Ages

Elaine Greer is someone readers of this newspaper and blog should be quite familiar with (See our profile of her from March 2024). She’s one of Houston’s best singer songwriters – packing a sharp gift for melody in one holster and strong and distinctive voice in the other. If anyone’s work in Houston has been long overdue a proper CD release, it’s Elaine Greer’s! Thankfully on Thursday at Mango’s Elaine is finally letting the hen out and releasing her first proper CD – a six-song EP “Making Plans and Going Places.” The songs should be quite familiar to fans who’ve kept up with her live performances and many will be excited and surprised at how Elaine approached the songs in the studio.

Thrilled about the imminent release we sent Elaine the death metal questions you saw on the homepage (link) then figured – oh, what they hey – we may as well actually ask her some real questions too. Thankfully Elaine was gracious enough to reply to both sets of questions.

FPH: How was this whole process different than the CDRs of your work that you’ve released before and sold at shows?

EG: Well, I didn’t want to stray too far from that and risk the CD not sounding how I’m used to sounding. I think the biggest change is simply the instrumentation. In my past recordings I would add on as much as I could, but a lot of the things on the CD now weren’t a possibility. And of course, quality wise, this CD shouldn’t even compare to the home recordings, all of which were done with one crappy USB microphone! Process wise, it was initially strange for me just sitting there waiting while someone else recorded parts, but I think I got used to it pretty quickly!

FPH: I really like the production on the album. It’s rich but not overbearing. My favorite example is the string arrangements on Under The Radar they’re just this perfect touch. Who played the strings and who arranged them? Also, where was this recorded? Did you have a Producer? How was the recording process like? Who were the players and what did they bring to the process?

EG: The strings on Under the Radar were played by Gillian Williams (cello) from News on the March, and Brian Howe (violin). The arrangements were constructed by Harrison Speck and myself. For Under the Radar, we sat down with a keyboard and used the fake string sound to figure out something that would sound good, and then he made our dinky keyboard sketch into some readable sheet music! For Wild Things, I have to give all of the credit to him as far as the string arrangement goes. Some of it ended up being cut out in the mixing process. Nearly the entire CD was recorded at Master Bedroom Studios (the studio of Joe Weber from NOTM), but the horns parts were recorded by Harrison Speck (trombone) and Amber Nepodal (trumpet) in Austin and sent to us in Houston. There was no producer; I kind of had rough ideas for how I wanted the songs to sound, but nothing definite. I wanted to ideally reach a mix between the simpler more vocally based home recordings and the more upbeat live band sound we had at the time. All of the different people who played on the CD brought something different to the table and I think that’s what really affected the end result. Other than the above mentioned players, there was Travis Smith on bass, Andrew Ortiz on drums, Lucas Gorham on lapsteel, Austin Sepulvado on guitar, accordian, and backing vocals…I played a bunch of piano and keyboardy bits, bells, and omnichord…Joe Weber and Harrison Speck played a couple of keyboardy bits…you get the idea! I went in first to lay down the acoustic guitar tracks, followed by bass and drums, and from there it was just a slow building process to what it is now.

FPH: These songs have been kicking around for a while now and for the most part the arrangements have been pretty set in stone for a while so while recordings don’t vary much structurally, there is a lot more lush palate you are working with in the studio in terms of instrumentation. How did you approach figuring out just what you wanted to add, what you wanted to change, and what was too much?

EG: This was actually something I mulled over a lot before and during the recording process. I knew the kinds of sounds I wanted, but I initially didn’t know where or how to incorporate it…which resulted in the recording happening in a system of layers. We would record the parts we already had, and then record new alternatives, and in the end it was kind of a trial and error/elimination process. There were definitely a couple points where things started sounding really cluttered and confusing, but in the end I think it all got sorted out!

FPH: Were there any unexpectedly happy surprises in the process?

EG: Oh definitely. Lots and lots of them. I was super excited about the string and horn parts, and I’m really pleased with the outro of Ancient History and the big build up at the end of Under the Radar. After Lucas recorded lapsteel on Wild Things, we all kept listening to it and being like “Whoa that part’s neat!” I was also glad to be able to incorporate some pretty dreamy instruments, and now have a new love for glockenspiel and omnichord.

FPH: How did you approach your vocals on the CD compared to your live performances. Did you find your phrasing change in the studio or was it pretty much just how it came out?

EG: Well, in general I think I tend to sing louder and more enthusiastically in the live setting, especially with the band…mostly to match the volume of the situation. On the recording I wanted it to be more of how I would naturally sing the song, even if only to myself. I get really nervous about recording vocals around other people, especially harmonies and “oohs” and “ahs”. So I had to do a lot of those when there was no one else in the room, but I guess in the end however it came out wasn’t completely planned. A couple little changes had to be made, such as having overlapping lines on Under the Radar. The reason is that the song is faster now than it originally was when I wrote it, and I had trouble fitting all the words in! Not to mention that some of the songs on the CD were first (home) recorded 6 months-a year ago…sometimes I start singing them a little differently throughout time without even realizing it.

FPH: I see Michael Rodriguez did the cover art. How was it working with him and getting the look that conveyed what you wanted for the CD?

FPH: Was there anything you wanted to add that just wasn’t able to make it on the CD?

EG: Yes, but I think that would always be the case. I originally had recorded a piano song that was supposed to be on the CD, but it ended up getting ignored and was never finished. I would have liked to have a piano based song, and I didn’t quite do as many crazy vocal harmony parts as I would have liked to. But hey, I’ll save all that for the full length.

Elaine Greer CD release party with News on the March and One Hundred Flowers. $8 includes copy of disc. 9 p.m. Thursday @ Mango’s.

See here is the thing about SXSW, sure you have all the issues revolving around this big overblown marketing beast where small independent bands scream to be heard above the fray, but forget that. Put that aside and what you have at SXSW is this crush of humanity descending on our proud state capital every year to hear some great music and have a great time. I mean look at this fellow below.

Chris Gray – Responsible Writer
Yes, that’s our dear friend Chris Gray of the Houston Press working hard like the excellent writer he is. He’s got his press badges, his wristbands, and he blogged extensively throughout. Well, not us. No sir we are down in the trenches with you plebeians. While Chris was jumping from show to show in the evening, we had to pick our shows*, pay for each one, and drink like fishes at our homebase bar on 7th. While Chris was blogging extensively we were either too hungover to type in the morning or threatened with death for typing too loud at the early hour of 1PM. While Chris was bringing you the latest and greatest bands, we were discovering new uses for Guideon’s Bible that probably would fall under sacrilege in most denominations. So, no, you are not going to get the full SXSW musical experience here. Neither will you get a run down of all the silliness, weirdness, drama, and genuine party call me insanity of the weekend – this ain’t no personal blog. But here is a quick recap of what I got to see from Thursday and Friday. Blogger is being weird right now so Saturday’s recap will have to wait.

Thursday 19 April

Consider this a stand-in for all lame SXSW bands
Let this band take the place of all awful and middling bands of SXSW. Ya see, for all the good that you can find at SXSW, you can find something terrible. Now granted, the “Texas Rock” stage on 7th street is the worst crap you will ever hear at SXSW no matter what year it is and even these guys above couldn’t hold candle to that shit but in their own bar band/blues rock tropes kind of way they were pretty unbearable.

Elaine Greer’s death metal set at Casa de Gallo
Next stop was Casa De Gallo and when I got there I had JUST missed Giant Princess play. The setting was pretty nice – a small little home in an obscure street on the east side and there was a good representation of all your music friends relaxing while enjoying some food and music. Elaine Greer played a great set with Travis on bass being his usual jovial self and Austin lending his skills on guitar, accordion, and backing vocals. The room sounded great, the band delivered, and Elaine’s voice carried all the melody, wit, and intelligence of her songs with a charming grace. Of course, if you’ve read my columns or blogs, you’d know that this is nothing new. Buxton was to follow Elaine Greer but I had to leave to catch an old friend from Austin. No worries, you know as well as I that it’s an easy bet that Buxton would take no prisoners. Need proof? That new single they have coming out KILLS! When it comes out buy a copy, then you will truly know of this band’s might.

Friday 20 April

Friday ended up being my Battan Death March. Let’s just say, I paid for Thursday all of Friday and leave it at that but, using every possible method available to me, I plugged through. Still we did see some good bands along the way.

Jana Hunter
After that is was a race across town to see Jana Hunter at Domy books. I’d missed her Tuesday so I was glad to find that Domy was running a bit behind schedule. I mean c’mon you know Jana: that singular phrasing, that jangly guitar, the slow spacious emotional songs. Much like Lou Barlow’s set the prior night, Jana hailed in the cooler evening weather playing her haunting music as the sun began to fall and birds flew across the sky overhead. I couldn’t have asked for better.

*My band didn’t apply this year and so I didn’t ahve wristbands like I did last year.

The Assholes opened sounding a lot like the bands I had in high school after hearing the Circle Jerks and Black Flag only better, faster, and funnier. Imagine a guitarist that looks like Stephen King and a small bald big eared dude playing songs like “Stupid Fuck” which consisted of those two words repeated over and over in rapid fire succession for about 30 seconds. Oh lordy, who knew Assholes could be such geniuses?

Satannibis was a three piece consisting of a drummer surrounded by sludgy dirty bass and guitar ( I think that was Dissent’s white Epiphone wielding guitarist). The great thing about them was the drummer; he played not with a straight punk 1-2 1-2 but had a brutal yet loose and jazzy style that was totally unexpected.

Battle Rifle was likely the most droll band of the evening. Opening their set, the guitarist announced with a smile, “We’ll make this quick; I have a fight to watch.” which was met with a “De La Joya’s going’ down!” from the audience (likely those charming smart-asses the Hypocristinas) which in turn led to a a hilarious back and fourth between the band and the audience. The music was no less brilliant with the brutal assault led by the drummer’s sharp fast blast beats – that guy was a freaking machine! Likely the only band I’ve heard recently that could make a 20 second song sound epic.

The Ale Gore followed. God bless their little souls but they looked like everyone’s favorite nerdy friends led by a lead singer who looked like Jeff Goldblum gone hardcore – with as bizarre results as you would expect. Oddly though, despite his awkwardness, he was actually was a pretty good frontman who put himself fully into what he was doing and to solid effect and the band was, for the most part, pretty dead-on with the exception of the drummer whose single kick drum style left you pining for the double-kick assault you expect with this kind of music. That aside, the only real issue with them was that they simply played too long. This stuff works great in 15-20 minute blasts max but their set may have gone 5 minuted too long which, in hardcore, is an eternity. Nevertheless. they were pretty fun.

The last band I saw at Noisefest was Insecticide. I will admit it, I feel pretty stupid having never seen these Californians before this show. They’ve been doing this for 20 years and the kids all knew the songs and why wouldn’t they? They were brutal uncompromising metal in all it’s glory! The guitarist would blaze through solos with as much joyous ass-whoopin’ as the best 20 some odd hotshot. The bassist meanwhile was a show unto himself – pure showmanship and without compromising the music (to borrow a quote from Andrew Moccasin). In fact, I was so enraptured in their performance, that I let my hardcore guard down and forgot to pay attention to my peripheral vision; there to my right was a body hurling in my direction. Thankfully the person’s winter wear made for a blow as soft as a pillow but unfortunately it did knock off my glasses and, focusing more on my glasses than my balance, I fell flat on my ass. Classy! No problem though, everyone gave me a hand up and it was back to Insecticide in all their awesomeness!

Meanwhile, over at Rudyard’s it was a totally different scene – the poppy indie-rock scene. Sadly, I missed Phillip Foshee but I did manage to catchElaine Greer. Beyond her trusty bass wielding sidekick , Travis, she was also assisted by Austin (News On The March/Humanicide), and Andrew (Wild Moccasins). Elaine was at her best. Hell, better than that. She whipped out a new song that I thought simply killed. Andrew kicked-in with this chugging locomotive beat while Austin laid down this lovely guitar line and Elaine’s vocals carried the whole thing home. The song suddenly seemed to end as Elaine let a few chords ring on her guitar and the band then went into this lovely coda that was epic and heavy. Amazing stuff but unlike the participatory Hardcore crowd, people here were sitting on the floor or sitting in chairs like it was a poetry reading. Good god people! How anyone could sit through this, I have no idea.

Austin’s Unbearables were a solid ensemble featuring two keyboardists, two wind players, bass, guitar, drums and one extra vocalist. The songs were sweet but the really nice thing was the leader of the band was sharp enough to leave the individual players room to move. The best songs were those in which the bassist would lay down a solid and dirty bass line with the drummer behind him laying down the backbeat. With that backdrop, the wind instruments (one woman of a flute and the other on trumpet, sax, and clarinet) would play off each other with a lovely psychedelic trippiness. Excellent stuff.

News On The March, whose EP release was being celebrated, stole the evening. If I had any issues with News on the March’s Halloween show, I wasn’t going to find them here. There the band’s performance was constantly stepping over the music but here there was no sign of that. Here was a band fully focused on its music and delivering the goods. A lot of credit needs to go to soundman Joe Olmelchuck because to really appreciate News On The March live you want to savor it all and here the sound was pristine bringing out the glorious harmonies, rich cello, and those jangly melodic guitars. It was simply the perfect way to absorb the richness of what this band had to offer. And guess what? People finally got off their asses!! When Geoffrey of Sideshow Tramps started dancing with a woman in the audience it was the perfect expression of the joy that that band can bring to your soul.

Links:
More Photos on My Flickr

News On The March EP Release Pics (Link)
Noisefest Pics (Link)

Bands:
The Assholes (none, sorry)
Satannabis
Battle Rifle
The Ale Gore
Insecticide
Elaine Greer
The Unbearables
News On The March

Opening was local chanteuse Elaine Greer who played a great set backed up by bassist Travis Smith and the multi-talented Austin Sepultavo. The former I think is likely the world’s happiest bassist – bouncing on the stage with a “look at me Ma” glee. Austin meanwhile is the Swiss Army Knife of sidemen employing guitar, lap steel, and accordion as well as taking backing vocal duties throughout. Elaine performed a set of her folky pop with a sweet voice and a charming disposition. She goes on stage and sings her songs with a combination of humility and joy that immediately draws you into what she’s doing. Combine that with music that is lovely and smart and you have a winning combination. It was a sweet show even if we never figured out just what the hell those weird sounds were that rose from the PA at inopportune moments.

At about 11:30 the Papermoons took the stage and it seemed that everyone was downstairs prompting Matt to shrug an “Oh well” before launching into the set. He needn’t have been worried as the second the first notes hit, as if by magic, the entire room was filled. And what a set! The last time I saw them at the Mink Backroom the sound was somewhat dodgy (at least from where I stood) but this time the sound was perfect with the drums sounding gorgeous, the guitar painfully beautiful, and the vocals soul-melting. And you wonder why I abhor large venues? Here is why you can’t beat the intimacy, immediacy, and connection of a small room like that of the upstairs at Boondocks. Here you could simply submerge yourself in the songs and sing along (though in my case, singing very quietly since the songs are too good to ruin with my singing). And the crowd ate-up what they had to offer which was most of their short catalog. Matt’s ability to play little loops and similar small touches with his delay pedal at times was a detail I’d missed previously but, perhaps because I’m now so familiar with the new album, I was quite taken by it this time. That kind of texture I’d always figured was a nuance only to be found in the studio but Matt clearly is a clever enough guitarist to pull it off live. That kind of attention to sound is what makes this simple duo so much more than many larger ensembles. It’s the sound of two people who are of one mind about the music they are creating and have carefully thought about what they are doing. If Buddha were in the crowd, he’d likely say they have achieved “the true Dharma eye…the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters” and found himself singing and clapping along with the rest of us as they played an encore of “Bad Nope” from their 7″ debut. Mind you, the crowd wasn’t just singing and clapping along, they were hitting all the stops just right which prompted Elaine Greer to turn and say in jest “Nah, we’ve never heard these songs before have we?” Nope, Elaine, why would you think that?

Go n-éiri an bothar leat, Papermoons.

Austin Sepultavo
the Swiss-Army Knife of sidemen.

Ben Murphy of
Bright Men of Learning & Tody Castillo
joins in on Lazy Bones.

LINKS:
More pictures on my Flickr (Link)

Elaine Greer on Myspace (Link)
Papermoons on Myspace (Link)
Team Science Records (Link)

Roll Call!

Elaine Greer – Elaine, backed up by members of News on The March, The Wild Moccasins, and some guy who really really loved eating Ruffles, played sweet songs that bounced on the stage with the same joy you’d get from the first day of spring after a long hard winter. Given how long it’d been since I’d heard her play live, unabashed happiness is about how I’d sum up my reaction.

The Wild Moccasins – Good golly these folks must have been practicing like brutes because, if they were a really good band before, Sunday night they were a great band. Sure they have always been able to knock out great songs and rile up even to most timid wall flower but this time they took the performance and amped it up like never before – with a wild exuberant energy that crescendoed in a killer tsunami that left some gear a bit worse for wear. They were, simply put, the unstoppable bad-ass party train.

News On the March – First off props to Terry, Walters’ soundman. This is the third time I’ve seen News on the March but this is the first time I’d heard them and by that I mean this is the first time I’ve heard them with great sound. No thin mix here. No, the cello was clearly audible, the bass full, the harmonies crystal clear, the drum powerful, and the guitars were there in all their jangly glory. It’s amazing what a difference it made for a band like this. Bands as good as this deserve a good soundman and Terry delivered in spades (actually he’d done so all night). Their performance was so good that it even sparked Roy Mata to initiate a small appreciation thread on Hand Up Houston via his cell phone. But here is what you need to know about News On The March – they marry that lonesome wail of a good country song with the sweet psychedelic pop of a Brian Wilson and they do it to great effect.

The Eastern Sea – Austinites who played their indie pop beautifully but also with a sharp wit and good humor. When guitarist Matt Hines put his tongue in his cheek and made with the guitar theatrics you weren’t sure whether to laugh or to give him the Dio devil sign. All band silliness aside – they played some great songs that kept me from observing my bed time. Well done lads; come on back to Houston anytime.

Lastly, next time you are at Walter’s ask Roy to tell you the story of the poor sap who got caught after stealing money from the tip jar. Comedy gold I tell s ya.

Behold! Elaine Greer and the Capo of Power!

Zahira is so not letting that mic get away!

And lo the moccasins did run wild!
Andrew Lee opening a can of whoopass!

News on the March with their
patented microphone condom.

Austin may seem all cute and cuddly in NOTM
but he also rips skulls off with
grindcore masters Humanicide.

Lo, we of the Eastern Sea have
brought you glowing kick drums!

See the pained hands in the middle?
Seconds before this was taken,
lasers shot from guitarist Matt Hines’ eyes
literally melting somebody’s face off.

Links:

More Pics on My Flickr

Elaine Greer
The Wild Moccasins
News On The March
The Eastern Sea

Elaine Greer by John Van

There is a very exciting point in a musician’s career when, after a long time of working on their craft, they realize what they do has a value outside of their own bedroom. If you were at the Proletariat and saw Elaine Greer perform to a packed crowd last month opening for the Fiery Furnaces, you couldn’t help but feel the giddiness of a musician at that stage. Standing on stage behind her Telecaster, you could almost hear her take a deep breath before diving in. Greer’s songs drip with sweet and simple melodies that hum inside your head long after you first hear them. In her home recordings, the songs are intimate and have an understated beauty but that night, with a full band (The Holly Hall), the songs ripped with confidence and endless possibilities. Zahira Gutierrez’s lovely harmonies and Guitarist Nick Cody’s clean and melodic guitar lines played elegantly against Greer’s vocals while JD Tucker and Grant Hickey’s drum and bass added some limber rhythmic muscle to the songs – the crowd ate up every note. The wonderful thing is, be it solo or as a member of The Holly Hall, Greer is still at a point where she has only just touched the needle down onto the record’s groove.

Greer began playing piano at 5. “I was jealous of my sister taking lessons so, when the piano teacher came over to give her a lesson, I ran upstairs, locked myself in the room with the piano, and started banging on it to show them how great I was – it worked!” Eventually, like many kids, she grew to dislike the lessons and quit. “Well,” says Greer sheepishly, “until recital! When recital came up I’d beg my mom to be back in the class just to do the recital. That would drive her crazy.” She also had a fixation with Broadway no doubt inspired by her father’s love of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera. “He’d play it all the time and my sister and I would fight over who would be the girl but she’d always get stuck with being the guy.” Then, thinking about it, she laughs with a tinge of guilt, “I’m sure she still has bitter memories of that.” By age fourteen, she started writing songs but was too scared to show them to people. When she did work up the courage at around sixteen or seventeen she would do so only in the relative safety of her room and only while facing the wall.

Greer eventually did put aside her fears and joined The Bluebirds: “The songs were pretty raw and I wasn’t a very good singer yet, but Super Happy Fun Land let us play.” About a year after that first band’s dissolution, Greer teamed up with guitarist Nick Cody as an acoustic duo which lasted until last fall’s Westheimer Block Party. “We decided to add drums and bass just for the occasion. You know,” she says with glee, “It’ll be loud!” A few twists and turns later and that band coalesced into the band heard at the Fiery Furnaces show.

“We all had fun playing together, but from the beginning there was some turmoil within the band,” says Greer, “Nick and the others wanted to do their own things but at that point were still playing only my songs.” The solution was that Elaine Greer, the solo artist, and The Holly Hall, the band, had to become different entities. The Holly Hall would be more of a collaborative effort while Greer would be able to exert full control as a solo artist. In fact, Greer plans to release a solo EP later this year which will feature members of the Papermoons as well as other musicians. “It’s really exciting and I don’t want to sound like a control freak but I know how I want things to sound.”

When I ask her if this means she’s found her ideal voice as an artist she replies, “I don’t feel like I’ve found the perfect ‘Elaine Greer’ voice but I think musicians and artists are always looking for their voice or what they are trying to convey…I think it’s something that probably changes throughout life as a person has more experiences and different things become more or less important.”

So how does it feel to have moved from her bedroom to the stage? “It’s a good feeling to get that audience feedback – knowing people are enjoying it. It’s my favorite thing in the world so I like the idea that it makes someone happy. There is a satisfaction in playing alone in a room to myself – it’s extremely enjoyable and that’s how I write everything – but,” she adds with a gracious modesty, “I never expected people to like it.”