It’s Stan Rogers meets Van Halen
Published 10:04 am Friday, April 17, 2009
Tanglefoot will perform in concert Saturday night at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. The concert has “can’t miss” written all over it for the band’s fans: The band is disbanding.
“For everything there is a season, and 2009 will be the last for Tanglefoot. It’s been 25-plus years, and we’ve had a tremendous run,” the band announced earlier this year.
No more Tanglefoot? No more folk songs and stories? That will take some adjustment by the band’s loyal fans.
“Stan Rogers meets Van Halen” is how one fan described them, and Tanglefoot is indeed a mix of “sweeping Canadiana and rampaging enthusiasm,” according to their publicist.
Perhaps best known for their exquisite vocal polish and relentless energy, they’re also a band with substantial instrumental agility and are a noteworthy group of songwriters.
“Masters of the storytelling tradition, (with) elegant, sensitive musicianship and an impressive range of talent”, according to BBC Yorkshire, while Robert Reid of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record called them “Canada’s most accomplished musical mythologizers.” Their a capella song “Vimy” (The Music in the Wood, 1996) led to their taking part in the dedication of the restored memorial at Vimy, France.
The band was named the top Canadian folk group in 2007.
Their appearances at the Paramount Theatre in Austin have been wildly popular through the years.
“They are very popular here,” said Scott Anderson, Paramount Theatre manager. “They have performed here three times in the past.”
The band takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
All seats are $18.
Trace Bundy back in town
Acoustic Guitar Magazine declared Austin native Trace Bundy the most promising guitarist in 2008.
Bundy was also the magazine’s top choices for “Best Fingertip Guitarist” honors.
Bundy will perform his solo show at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.
“After briefly introducing himself, Trace began to play guitar in ways I have never seen before: Rapid strumming with single notes still ringing clearly, lightning fast harmonics, passages played entirely by hammering on and pulling off, slapped strings, and just about every other special technique you can think of, all executed with outstanding control. In fact, if you were to close your eyes, you probably could have sworn that there were multiple guitars playing at once, such was the complexity of the music,” raved music critic David Wilson.
Bundy, the “acoustic Ninja,” is the son of Al Bundy and Linda Carpenter. He left Austin when he was in the fourth grade and moved with his family to Colorado.
He has been on-the-road as a solo act for a decade, and the awards keep piling up.
He was one of a select few guitarists to perform at Muriel Anderson’s All-Star Guitar Night at Anaheim, Calif. held during the 2009 NAMM International Music Products Association Show.
All tickets are $12.
The Paramount Theatre box office is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information, call Anderson at 434-0934 or go online www.paramounttheatre.org.