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| The Gourds are __________? a) Americana barn burners b) Front porch, back porch, scorch porch c) Alt country movers & shakers d) None of the above e) Tired of these clichés (Answer: f) f) The Gourds: Hometown: Austin, TX. Band Colors: Green & Yellow Mascot: Personified Ram w/ pistol & guitar Motto: press a half-dollar against a wound to stop the bleeding Win/Loss/Tie: 856-137-5 Roster/Line-Up: Kev Russell - Guitars, Mandolin, Singing Jimmy Smith - Bass, Guitars, Singing Claude Bernard - Accordion, Guitars, Keys, singing Keith Langford - Drums, Percussion, Harmonica Max Johnston - Fiddle, Banjo, Lap Steel, Guitars, Mandolin, Singing Formed Sept. 1994. The Gourds began releasing recordings and touring extensively in 1996. These high school graduate or equivalent Caucasian heterosexual males are largely found in the Texas/Louisiana region, though they are migratory. And, they can range as far west as Los Angeles up to San Francisco and Seattle; as far east as Atlanta, down into Florida, up to DC, NYC and even Boston. There have been sightings throughout the Rocky Mts. from Glacier down to Flagstaff, over to the Midwest, Minneapolis, Chicago and St. Louis, by the way. The Gourds have played their music far and wide all across the USA. A closely related family of friends, they vary greatly in appearance, but are kindred in spirit. They have short antennae and large hearing organs above their abdomens. Good fliers, though wingless, they can serve as food for much larger mammals. Mostly nocturnal, they spend much of the day in hotels, vans, crevices and damp places, feeding mostly on cow, fish, fowl, pig, juices sucked from roots or the blood of rams. |
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| "Austin's best band six years running, this five-piece refuses to be pegged, so don't even try…" Micheal Corcoran AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN "… cold-beer drinkin’, joint-ash-flickin’, cracker-ass kickin’, string-thing playin’…the Gourds play with rock-god abandon." Tom Cheyney LA WEEKLY "From their pre-Bubba Sparxxx bluegrass sendup of Snoop Dogg’s "Gin and Juice" to their country Celtic Cajun songs accompanying a documentary about growin’ beards, Austin’s brilliant Gourds are all about wrapping the traditional in the eccentric and unexpected." Richard Gehr VILLAGE VOICE …rock and roll that’s utterly free of empty gestures and extraneous posturing…" Scott Schinder TIME OUT NY "…livelier music than your favorite bar band and more memorable lines than a lounge lizard, and they keep getting better." Jason Gross NO DEPRESSION "A band so beloved that their Yahoo list fans are currently recording a tribute album to them, the Gourds embody the Austin mystique." Margaret Moser AUSTIN CHRONICLE "They don’t merely drift from country rock to bluegrass to gospel---they toss all those styles together, with no apparent self-consciousness or calculation." Peter Margasak CHICAGO READER "The Gourds… handle everything from Let It Bleed-style sloppy-tonk to Texas-style rock with equal aplomb." John Nova Lomax HOUSTON PRESS "…cult-heroic band out of Austin, Texas, dares to mix literate tomfoolery and solidly-made roots music, sounding at various times like smart Texan twang king Doug Sahm and the absurd desert poet Captain Beefheart." Josef Woodard SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS Kay Clary Commotion PR Nashville, Tenn. 615-467-6677email kay@commotionpr.com~ |
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| THE GOURDS UNLEASH A FRESH BATCH OF ‘HITS’ AND NEAR-MYTHS BLOOD OF THE RAM MARKS BELOVED AUSTIN BAND’S ELEVEN THIRTY RECORDS DEBUT AUSTIN, TX (September 16, 2004) -- Roots-rock wonders The Gourds proudly announce the impending release of Blood of the Ram on the Eleven Thirty Records imprint (distributed by Red Eye). Due in stores October 19th, the delightfully un-hinged Austin-based quintet offers a baker’s dozen more examples of the brand of pan-genre Americana romps that have made this combo’s music the first call for discerning (if somewhat twisted) listeners throughout the known universe and the Oklahoma panhandle. Comfortably sloppy yet invariably guided by an unerring organic compass to the nearest deep-pocketed groove, The Gourds have achieved a group sound that is bold, distinctive, unmistakable--even as it criss-crosses the catholic paths of such revered fellow-travelers as Los Lobos, NRBQ, The Band, Captain Beefheart, The Pogues, the late, great Doug Sahm and (of course) Your Favorite Band... ...Which they may well become, if they’re not already there. Co-founders and principal songwriters Kevin Russell (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Jimmy Smith (vocals, bass) have each provided varied, celebratory six-packs of brand new tunes, with Max Johnston (vocals, all-things-stringed) kicking in a choice biscuit of his own. Hard-riding tub-thumper Keith Langford and accordion/keys wiz Claude Bernard continue to round out this sterling crew. Lyrics featuring dizzying word play, addle-pated neo-mythology, loopy fever dreams and enough references to artery-clogging foods to make a cardiologist blanch are delivered with endearing, Band-esque imprecision, fueled by intricately-layered musicianship and poured over relentlessly swinging bottoms so fat they’d need church pews to park in. In short, "Blood of the Ram" continues to expand and hone (but not TOO finely) the freewheeling, good-timey party fare that has been the hallmark of The Gourds over the course of their decade-plus career. The band’s exhilarating, hilarious ‘hick-hop’ deconstruction of Snoop Dogg’s deathless "Gin & Juice" in 1998 was (and remains) a minor sensation in its own right, but as with Los Lobos’ popular association with the "La Bamba" single and soundtrack, it’s become a double-edged sword that grossly limits the public-at-large’s perceptions of what these world-class mind-benders are sporting in their seemingly bottomless trick bags. Although clearly informed and inspired by classic rock ‘n’ roll, country, funk, soul (check out Kev’s chicken-skin-popping salute to the Right Reverend Al Green on the Memphis-bound "Escalade"), Cajun, Celtic and folk musics, The Gourds tap into tradition with the flair and daring of world-class chefs; what’s gone before is part of a cookbook, not a museum. And their recipes are served up fresh, hot and just a tad bit stanky. The world being what it is, you just gotta know that -- one way or another -- you’re in for an ass-kicking. Let The Gourds do it; you’ll thank ’em for it. For more information: COMMOTION PR Ph. 615. 467.6677 Kay Clary: kay@commotionpr.com Donica Christensen: donica@commotionpr.com |
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