0115 page 9-11 new · kickstarter volume 9was financed by kickstarter (internet-based...

1
10 BUDDY JANUARY 2015 else as a band,” Rusty empha- sized. “It was only to help Preston financially. At the time of the reunion, I was in San Francisco where my construction company was building a Tilley’s store at a huge mall in south San Fran- cisco. We were about halfway through the build when we de- cided on the show for Preston. I flew in from the west coast and Point Blank rehearsed for a week in preparation for the date. The day after the show, I headed back to San Fran for another three months.” Rusty’s decision to record the show multi-track for “posterity” was to prove pivotal to the next chapter of Point Blank history. Unbeknownst to the mem- bers of Point Blank, they already had a well-established and loyal fanbase in Europe, where Point Blank never got around to tour- ing during their first run. Oddly enough, it seems that for many Europeans, particularly for the partners at the French record label, Dixie Frog, Southern Rock never died. Fans flock to hear surviving Southern rock bands as well as the countless tribute bands playing the genre, and in the case of Point Blank, there was a veritable hunger for anything the band could produce. When Dixie Frog found out that there had been an actual reunion and that it had actually been recorded, they couldn’t be satisfied quickly enough. Rusty had returned to work in San Francisco when Phillip called, saying, “You’ve been talk- ing to those guys in France (Dixie Frog) and they just got a hold of me and said that you told them you had recorded it and now they’re freaking out, they want it.” “So we listened to it (the live recording),” Rusty said, “and it was like WOW, that sounds pretty good. So, we decided to go ahead and get serious about mixing it and producing it, and that’s the record (Reloaded). Once they found out about it, three hours later, we had a record deal and a European tour. We didn’t do anything. I mean, all we did was send the CD off and let them listen to it…It was just a rough mix and Dixie Frog called and wanted to know if we were inter- ested in doing an album deal, and so while we were talking about that, the Sweden Rock Festival called and said they wanted to know if we wanted to play. I was sitting there with Phillip while he was talking to them and he said, “Yeah, maybe, depending on the money and he went, uh, hang on a second.” And he looked up at me and asked, “Would you go to Swe- den for $15,000?” I said, “Hell, I’d go to Midlothian for $15,000.” The band was astounded. “Wow, the magic is still in this band,” Rusty remembered feel- ing. “You know, it’s the chemical reaction and when you get those musical personalities together, and then it was like - wow, we have fans in Europe? We didn’t know we had fans in Europe. We had never touched into that. You know, the band had been broke up for 25 years. “I’m glad I decided to record the show multi-track as it be- came the catalyst for the Reloaded record and subsequent record deal and European/Scandinavian tour and of course, the reforma- tion of Point Blank.” Reloaded POINT BLANK RELEASED the live recording of that benefit show, Reloaded (Dixie Frog) in 2007, followed by their first per- formance at Sweden Rock Festi- val, and a subsequent tour of France, Belgium, England, up to and including The Rockpalast Show in Germany. Mouse Mayes (BUDDY Texas Tornado 1987) came on board in 2008. Since then, the band has returned to Europe five times to their newfound fans who treat them like Southern Rock royalty. Rusty continued, “We’ve come to find out the guys that write for the bands at Dixie over there… they were very very VERY into Southern Rock, more so than they are here-they live for it. Well, while doing interviews with them-it was kinda eye opening- we found out that not only did we have fans, but the loyalty we had in the fans there. They said that we gauge every southern rock band according to three different records. One was Lynyrd Skynyrd, another was the Allman Brothers and the third one was Point Blank. And they said, your first album is kinda like the top shelf for us. That for new southern rock bands they have to kinda lean into that. We never considered ourselves southern rock. We’re Texas Rock ’n’ Roll. Texas blues rock. Kick your ass rock ’n’ roll, we weren’t very friendly about it.” “A German interviewer said something about how we didn’t use any Confederate flags, be- cause apparently every band that goes over there has a fuckin’ Confederate flag,” John recalled. “And I said, “Actually, we are from Texas and we’ve got a flag of our own to be proud of.”” Reloaded was followed up by the group’s first studio album, in 27 years, 2009’s Fight On! (Dixie Frog) with its strong songwriting, punchy musicianship and unde- niable passion, as in the case of the instrumental “My Soul Cries Out,” Rusty’s moving tribute to his father who passed in 1995. Filling out the current lineup are bassist Kirk Powers, who brings formidable chops honed from years of studio session work, Austin Hall of Fame keyboardist Larry Telford, and Houston drummer Greg Hokanson, who was strongly referred by Billy Gibbons. Volume 9, (Fairway Records) their latest CD, is impressive in its depth and breadth, with driv- ing Texas rock and blues, lots of soul, some hints of reggae, as well as a mellower, southwest- ern C&W approach, as in “Amigos,” which wistfully remi- nisces about compadres, some of whom have passed. (Bill Randolph died June 19, 2001, from a heart attack, Phillip Petty died from cancer on June 7, 2010, Kim Davis died on October 18, 2010, and Michael Hamilton, who played keyboards for the group, died, also from cancer, on May 13, 2011.) Kickstarter VOLUME 9 WAS FINANCED by Kickstarter (internet-based crowdfunding), which pleases them immensely. “There comes a point in your life,” Rusty explained, “there’s not a record label that’s laying money around for your record- ing and your production and the copying and all the artwork… Only problem when you had a record label, they had a chain around your neck if they’re go- ing to give you any money. (With Kickstarter), it’s like “Why don’t we go to the fans, let them be the record label, see if they want to do it?” The Kickstarter thing was real good,” Rusty continued. “It re- stored a little faith in humanity that people you don’t even know put money towards your cause and you need that kind of sup- port mechanism, plus, you get to control your own money. Record labels will spend thousands of dollars on needless garbage and ROCK you have to pay it. And in this case we scrimped and sold bottle caps; and, God, we just had to make it work and we made it work the best we could, and it turned out really nice.” “We got to make enough money to buy two HoveroundsJohn added. “Because pretty soon me and Rusty’s gonna be comin’ in on those little hovercrafts. “We’re just taken on a new agent right now (Greg Stead of Chicago’s GLS Booking Agency). It’s been kind of tough because we’ve just been trying to do it ourselves. Sometimes, we’re just kinda touchy about Point Blank…It’s our baby, even though it’s 40 years old.” 40-year partnership WITH 40 YEARS UNDER THE bridge, the two principals of Point Blank are far from the rowdy 20-something youngsters that left the Metroplex with only the clothes on their backs. But the years have tempered them and it’s with that perspective that Rusty and John have gleaned some valuable life lessons. Rusty: “The biggest life les- son in the music business is: Practice. Play better. Make sure that it’s a nightly deal and every day you try and play better than you did yesterday. “And, whether you make it or not, don’t matter. It’s the work ethic. “Like, this is not a dress re- hearsal, it’s the big time. No matter how big your big time is, play it as the big time. It’s all about attitude. If you can play and you can do everything else, then your attitude is what’s go- ing to be the vehicle that will drive your talent to a gig. Be tight, be rehearsed. Being aware of what everybody in the band is playing and not just what you do. It’s like we’re all snaps on 501 jeans.” John: “It’s like a sport, like baseball or football, or basket- ball and if one guy didn’t do his job, it brings everybody down. You do your job and try to help everybody else to make sure they get their job done. “It gets to be natural after a while. You play together so long, I know what he’s gonna play almost before he does it some- “They said that we gauge every southern rock band according to three different records. One was Lynyrd Skynyrd, another was the Allman Brothers and the third one was Point Blank. And they said, your first album is kinda like the top shelf for us. That for new southern rock bands they have to kinda lean into that. We never considered ourselves southern rock. We’re Texas Rock ’N’ Roll. Texas blues rock. Kick your ass rock ’n’ roll, we weren’t very friendly about it.” –RUSTY BURNS times, not note for note, but I know where he’s going. Cuz Good God, I’ve been next to him for 40 years. Most people aren’t lucky enough to get to do that. You can be as good individually as you want to be, but you’re not ever going to be as good as you can be till you share it with some- body else. You feed off each other. When I’m hot, he’s smok- ing and it fires me up. And it’s the same way with the other five guys.” Rusty: “I think one of the biggest lessons we probably came to realize is if you’re in the middle of your third record with a ma- jor record label, you’re starting to kinda feel pretty good about yourself, and you kinda start thinking that kind of stuff may happen forever – it doesn’t. There comes a time when the reality of it all sets in and you realize that wow, you’re just an- other one in a long line of guys that almost made it –you’re just another average Joe. Unless you’re going to rely on your talent, but as far as you’re looked at in this business, they’re looking for the next 23 year old with a 28 inch waist. They’re not looking for guys that are good. Good never got you very far. But putting some makeup on and spitting fire and drooling blood on stage can sell out and still do it. “But we weren’t into the the- atrics; we were about the music. We never cared about being the big dog or the big fish in a little pond. Just put us on a big stage and we’ll go out there and see where the music goes.” “And have the goals changed for these august professionals? “Same as always for us,” John insisted. “Make a living for our- selves and care for our families. We’ve had the limo rides, and promo and press parties- now we are about making our music and pleasing our fans!” “Back then, (the goal) was to have a band that would lay down a layer of musical strata that was legitimate and reputable,” Rusty offered. “I wanted PB to be taken se- riously which was quite difficult if you weren’t from NY or L.A. My goal now is to play until I’m dead while still enjoying it like I was 19.” Even as they look forward to a musically and emotionally rich future, they still can’t help but reflect back on the pivotal events of October 20, 1977. “A lot of our dreams crashed that day,” Rusty mused. “It might have been the difference between us maybe having been a head- liner at the Texxas Jam instead of an opener act (Point Blank played at the 1979 and 1982 events). It’s just that one miss of an inter- section… “Either that or we could have just been in the airplane and crashed and we would have been the biggest thing. Dallas would have even liked us. It doesn’t matter. “All that matters is that we have some more gigs coming up soon and we are blessed to be on the cover of BUDDY magazine with you, brother.” The new lineup includes Michael “Mouse” Mayes, Greg Hokanson, Kirk Powers, Rusty Burns, Larry Telford, John and O’Daniel: Point Blank

Upload: others

Post on 25-Aug-2020

0 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: 0115 PAGE 9-11 new · Kickstarter VOLUME 9WAS FINANCED by Kickstarter (internet-based crowdfunding), which pleases them immensely. “There comes a point in your life,” Rusty explained,

10 BUDDY JANUARY 2015

else as a band,” Rusty empha-sized. “It was only to help Prestonfinancially. At the time of thereunion, I was in San Franciscowhere my construction companywas building a Tilley’s store at ahuge mall in south San Fran-cisco. We were about halfwaythrough the build when we de-cided on the show for Preston. Iflew in from the west coast andPoint Blank rehearsed for a weekin preparation for the date. Theday after the show, I headed backto San Fran for another threemonths.”

Rusty’s decision to record theshow multi-track for “posterity”was to prove pivotal to the nextchapter of Point Blank history.

Unbeknownst to the mem-bers of Point Blank, they alreadyhad a well-established and loyalfanbase in Europe, where PointBlank never got around to tour-ing during their first run. Oddlyenough, it seems that for manyEuropeans, particularly for thepartners at the French recordlabel, Dixie Frog, Southern Rocknever died. Fans flock to hearsurviving Southern rock bandsas well as the countless tributebands playing the genre, and inthe case of Point Blank, there wasa veritable hunger for anythingthe band could produce. WhenDixie Frog found out that therehad been an actual reunion andthat it had actually been recorded,they couldn’t be satisfied quicklyenough.

Rusty had returned to workin San Francisco when Phillipcalled, saying, “You’ve been talk-ing to those guys in France (DixieFrog) and they just got a hold ofme and said that you told themyou had recorded it and nowthey’re freaking out, they wantit.”

“So we listened to it (the liverecording),” Rusty said, “and itwas like WOW, that soundspretty good. So, we decided togo ahead and get serious aboutmixing it and producing it, andthat’s the record (Reloaded). Oncethey found out about it, threehours later, we had a record dealand a European tour. We didn’tdo anything. I mean, all we didwas send the CD off and let themlisten to it…It was just a roughmix and Dixie Frog called andwanted to know if we were inter-ested in doing an album deal,and so while we were talkingabout that, the Sweden RockFestival called and said theywanted to know if we wanted toplay. I was sitting there withPhillip while he was talking tothem and he said, “Yeah, maybe,depending on the money and hewent, uh, hang on a second.”And he looked up at me andasked, “Would you go to Swe-den for $15,000?” I said, “Hell,I’d go to Midlothian for $15,000.”

The band was astounded.“Wow, the magic is still in thisband,” Rusty remembered feel-ing. “You know, it’s the chemicalreaction and when you get thosemusical personalities together,and then it was like - wow, wehave fans in Europe? We didn’tknow we had fans in Europe. Wehad never touched into that. Youknow, the band had been brokeup for 25 years.

“I’m glad I decided to recordthe show multi-track as it be-came the catalyst for the Reloadedrecord and subsequent recorddeal and European/Scandinaviantour and of course, the reforma-tion of Point Blank.”

ReloadedPOINT BLANK RELEASEDthe live recording of that benefitshow, Reloaded (Dixie Frog) in2007, followed by their first per-formance at Sweden Rock Festi-val, and a subsequent tour ofFrance, Belgium, England, up toand including The RockpalastShow in Germany. Mouse Mayes(BUDDY Texas Tornado 1987)came on board in 2008. Sincethen, the band has returned toEurope five times to theirnewfound fans who treat themlike Southern Rock royalty.

Rusty continued, “We’vecome to find out the guys thatwrite for the bands at Dixie overthere… they were very very VERYinto Southern Rock, more so thanthey are here-they live for it.Well, while doing interviews withthem-it was kinda eye opening-we found out that not only didwe have fans, but the loyalty wehad in the fans there. They saidthat we gauge every southernrock band according to threedifferent records. One wasLynyrd Skynyrd, another was theAllman Brothers and the thirdone was Point Blank. And theysaid, your first album is kindalike the top shelf for us. That fornew southern rock bands theyhave to kinda lean into that. Wenever considered ourselvessouthern rock. We’re Texas Rock’n’ Roll. Texas blues rock. Kickyour ass rock ’n’ roll, we weren’tvery friendly about it.”

“A German interviewer saidsomething about how we didn’tuse any Confederate flags, be-cause apparently every band thatgoes over there has a fuckin’Confederate flag,” John recalled.“And I said, “Actually, we arefrom Texas and we’ve got a flagof our own to be proud of.””

Reloaded was followed up bythe group’s first studio album, in27 years, 2009’s Fight On! (DixieFrog) with its strong songwriting,punchy musicianship and unde-niable passion, as in the case ofthe instrumental “My Soul Cries

Out,” Rusty’s moving tribute tohis father who passed in 1995.

Filling out the current lineupare bassist Kirk Powers, whobrings formidable chops honedfrom years of studio session work,Austin Hall of Fame keyboardistLarry Telford, and Houstondrummer Greg Hokanson, whowas strongly referred by BillyGibbons.

Volume 9, (Fairway Records)their latest CD, is impressive inits depth and breadth, with driv-ing Texas rock and blues, lots ofsoul, some hints of reggae, aswell as a mellower, southwest-ern C&W approach, as in“Amigos,” which wistfully remi-nisces about compadres, someof whom have passed.

(Bill Randolph died June 19,2001, from a heart attack, PhillipPetty died from cancer on June7, 2010, Kim Davis died onOctober 18, 2010, and MichaelHamilton, who played keyboardsfor the group, died, also fromcancer, on May 13, 2011.)

KickstarterVOLUME 9 WAS FINANCEDby Kickstarter (internet-basedcrowdfunding), which pleasesthem immensely.

“There comes a point in yourlife,” Rusty explained, “there’snot a record label that’s layingmoney around for your record-ing and your production and thecopying and all the artwork…Only problem when you had arecord label, they had a chainaround your neck if they’re go-ing to give you any money. (WithKickstarter), it’s like “Why don’twe go to the fans, let them be therecord label, see if they want todo it?”

The Kickstarter thing was realgood,” Rusty continued. “It re-stored a little faith in humanitythat people you don’t even knowput money towards your causeand you need that kind of sup-port mechanism, plus, you get tocontrol your own money. Recordlabels will spend thousands ofdollars on needless garbage and

R O C K

you have to pay it. And in thiscase we scrimped and sold bottlecaps; and, God, we just had tomake it work and we made itwork the best we could, and itturned out really nice.”

“We got to make enoughmoney to buy two Hoverounds”John added. “Because pretty soonme and Rusty’s gonna be comin’in on those little hovercrafts.

“We’re just taken on a newagent right now (Greg Stead ofChicago’s GLS Booking Agency).It’s been kind of tough becausewe’ve just been trying to do itourselves. Sometimes, we’re justkinda touchy about PointBlank…It’s our baby, eventhough it’s 40 years old.”

40-year partnershipWITH 40 YEARS UNDER THEbridge, the two principals ofPoint Blank are far from therowdy 20-something youngstersthat left the Metroplex with onlythe clothes on their backs. Butthe years have tempered themand it’s with that perspectivethat Rusty and John have gleanedsome valuable life lessons.

Rusty: “The biggest life les-son in the music business is:Practice. Play better. Make surethat it’s a nightly deal and everyday you try and play better thanyou did yesterday.

“And, whether you make itor not, don’t matter. It’s thework ethic.

“Like, this is not a dress re-hearsal, it’s the big time. Nomatter how big your big time is,play it as the big time. It’s allabout attitude. If you can playand you can do everything else,then your attitude is what’s go-ing to be the vehicle that willdrive your talent to a gig. Betight, be rehearsed. Being awareof what everybody in the band isplaying and not just what youdo. It’s like we’re all snaps on501 jeans.”

John: “It’s like a sport, likebaseball or football, or basket-ball and if one guy didn’t do hisjob, it brings everybody down.You do your job and try to helpeverybody else to make sure theyget their job done.

“It gets to be natural after awhile. You play together so long,I know what he’s gonna playalmost before he does it some-

“They said that we gauge everysouthern rock band accordingto three different records. Onewas Lynyrd Skynyrd, anotherwas the Allman Brothers andthe third one was Point Blank.And they said, your first albumis kinda like the top shelf forus. That for new southern rockbands they have to kinda leaninto that. We never consideredourselves southern rock. We’reTexas Rock ’N’ Roll. Texasblues rock. Kick your ass rock’n’ roll, we weren’t veryfriendly about it.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

–RUSTY BURNS

times, not note for note, but Iknow where he’s going. CuzGood God, I’ve been next to himfor 40 years. Most people aren’tlucky enough to get to do that.You can be as good individuallyas you want to be, but you’re notever going to be as good as youcan be till you share it with some-body else. You feed off eachother. When I’m hot, he’s smok-ing and it fires me up. And it’sthe same way with the other fiveguys.”

Rusty: “I think one of thebiggest lessons we probably cameto realize is if you’re in the middleof your third record with a ma-jor record label, you’re startingto kinda feel pretty good aboutyourself, and you kinda startthinking that kind of stuff mayhappen forever – it doesn’t.There comes a time when thereality of it all sets in and yourealize that wow, you’re just an-other one in a long line of guysthat almost made it –you’re justanother average Joe.

Unless you’re going to relyon your talent, but as far as you’relooked at in this business, they’relooking for the next 23 year oldwith a 28 inch waist. They’re notlooking for guys that are good.Good never got you very far.

But putting some makeup onand spitting fire and droolingblood on stage can sell out andstill do it.

“But we weren’t into the the-atrics; we were about the music.We never cared about being thebig dog or the big fish in a littlepond. Just put us on a big stageand we’ll go out there and seewhere the music goes.”

“And have the goals changedfor these august professionals?

“Same as always for us,” Johninsisted. “Make a living for our-selves and care for our families.We’ve had the limo rides, andpromo and press parties- nowwe are about making our musicand pleasing our fans!”

“Back then, (the goal) was tohave a band that would lay downa layer of musical strata that waslegitimate and reputable,” Rustyoffered.

“I wanted PB to be taken se-riously which was quite difficultif you weren’t from NY or L.A.My goal now is to play until I’mdead while still enjoying it like Iwas 19.”

Even as they look forward toa musically and emotionally richfuture, they still can’t help butreflect back on the pivotal eventsof October 20, 1977.

“A lot of our dreams crashedthat day,” Rusty mused. “It mighthave been the difference betweenus maybe having been a head-liner at the Texxas Jam instead ofan opener act (Point Blank playedat the 1979 and 1982 events).It’s just that one miss of an inter-section…

“Either that or we could havejust been in the airplane andcrashed and we would have beenthe biggest thing. Dallas wouldhave even liked us. It doesn’tmatter.

“All that matters is that wehave some more gigs coming upsoon and we are blessed to be onthe cover of BUDDY magazine withyou, brother.” ■

The new lineup includes Michael “Mouse” Mayes, Greg Hokanson, Kirk Powers, Rusty Burns, Larry Telford, John and O’Daniel: Point Blank