The Pipeline

The Pipeline 01.19.11

by Dege Legg

LIM FEST
The scene was here long before any of us showed up; it'll be here long after we're gone. As long as there is one person in a back room writing a few tunes and playing them, it lives on. That's the little known secret of any music scene. Lafayette doesn't need to be Austin or Brooklyn or Chicago or any other freaking city. It'll be whatever it's meant to be. It's not about numbers. If you want big numbers, money, or pats on the back, move to bigger city, join a cover band or a 12-step group or get in a van and tour. Better yet, go sit on a mountain alone and shut the flunk up.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Written by Dege Legg

LIM FEST
The scene was here long before any of us showed up; it'll be here long after we're gone. As long as there is one person in a back room writing a few tunes and playing them, it lives on. That's the little known secret of any music scene. Lafayette doesn't need to be Austin or Brooklyn or Chicago or any other freaking city. It'll be whatever it's meant to be. It's not about numbers. If you want big numbers, money, or pats on the back, move to a bigger city, join a cover band or a 12-step group or get in a van and tour. Better yet, go sit on a mountain alone and shut the flunk up. And if you're around people who constantly mention the scene and their band in the same sentence, ditch them - they're self-serving idiots and should be avoided at all costs. They're no different from  narcissistic politicians referencing love of country, Homeland Security or the Patriot Act while attempting to garner your vote in service to their mephistophelian aspirations. Having said that, if you feel like hearing some kick ass underground Lafayette music - sans BS - make plans to go to Grant Street on Jan. 22. There'll be a ton of local bands gripping and ripping it at the first annual Lafayette Independent Music Festival. Bands playing the festival include FIGHTS, Freetown Hounds, ImagineIAM, El Domania, Diego Martin & 80 Proof, Jake Stephens & Backbone Stew, Machete, Johnny Blaze and Blazette, Prodigies of Peace, Russell Eastwood, Sunday Morning Headcount, Sean Bruce, Seven Horse Tango, The Botanist and The Viatones. It's an all-day show, running 2 p.m. 2 a.m. Cover is $10 at the door. Sponsors for the show include LafayetteIndependentMusic.com, Bodacious Productions, Discordia Merchandising, Machete T- Shirt Shop, The Skate Spot and Recycled Cycles of Acadiana, and Rock 93.7.
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PREACHING BLUES**
Robert Johnson is to the blues as Albert Einstein is to physics. He's the godfather of rock & roll. He laid the ground work for the intoxicated mythos that is the Delta blues - devil-obsessed, possessed, god-fearing, backroads tramping and crossroads rambling - it's all there. Born to itinerant sharecroppers on May 8, 1911, in Hazlehurst, Miss. Died: Aug. 16, 1938, at the age of 27, near Greenwood, Miss. Initially regarded by Son House as a subpar player, Johnson disappeared for a period only to return playing at a level light years beyond where he was only a few months previous, leading to speculation that Johnson had sold his soul to the devil in order to achieve his legendary mastery of the blues. Recorded in Texas in 1936 and 1937, Johnson's songs are his legacy, and the most striking historical documents of his existence. On Jan. 22, Acadiana Center for the Arts host 100 Years of Robert Johnson, a live retrospective of his music. Slide guitarist Scott Ainslie (who wrote a book on Johnson's slide playing), Mamou Playboys guitarist Sam Broussard and pianist David Egan will pay tribute to Johnson's music with live renditions of many of his greatest songs.

RAP HOP
Hip hop returns to Grant Street with another installment of Hip-Hop in the Flats. There will be an open-mic session before and after the main rappers spit. Performances by: GPC (Elespee Elohiem, Cali Obzvr, & Steve Skratchmo), FFC (Young Deede, Mabon Leslie Williford III, & Wesley Will), Smiley T., Bede & Tunez, Freeze Ent and Red Notice. Be there Jan. 21.
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HAMBONERS**
As of the past few years, seems like everybody wants to put on a hat, grab an acoustic guitar, and pretend they're a crazy hillbilly. Guess it makes people happy. The Jam Messengers are a two-man band from Brazil and Hawaii, cranking out John Lee Hooker-inspired roots-punk and trash rock. They play Artmosphere on Jan. 22. Jim Nobles opens the show with a solo-set of bluegrass inspired twang.
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RIFF RAFF**
If you like music mellow, as in way mellow, go check out the chill-folk of New Orleans' Hurray for the Riff Raff and Sam Dores and the Tumbleweeds. They all play Blue Moon on Jan. 23.

ETC
Redemption Hill, Oceans, Ayleron and This Horrible Machine play MVC all-ages club on Jan. 22The Pine Leaf Boys play the Blue Moon on Jan. 21Luke Winslow King, Julian Primeaux and His Royal Rowdy Company play Artmosphere on Jan. 21Debauche Russian Mafia Band, Caspian Hat Dance play Artmosphere on Jan. 22Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band play Blue Moon on Jan. 22Yvette Landry plays Café des Amis on Jan. 19On Jan. 22, Hadley Castille with Family n' Friends play Beau's Garage in Opelousas.