Kevin Russell has played SXSW promiscuously, as a member of the Gourds and now Shinyribs. But you never forget your first time.
Russell played the second SXSW in 1988 with his punk/ new wave band Picket Line Coyotes. They were from Shreveport and SXSW’s then-booker Louis Meyers managed a band (Killer Bees) whose members were from there, so they got in without even having to apply. Since there had been only a “secret” SXSW before, Russell was thinking the ‘yotes would be playing a big outdoor music festival. Instead, they got Thursday night at Joe’s Generic- Sixth Street’s grimiest blues bar. After the set, the band was accused of stealing the dive’s Jim Morrison velvet painting. “We didn’t, but the management thought we did, so we got the hell out of there,” Russell says. Dinner was bologna sandwiches in the van parked on Sixth Street (ah, the early years).
“We had no money and no hotel, so our plan was to camp somewhere,” Russell says. They met a cat named Mesmo the Mesmerizer, who suggested they camp out at Pale Face Park. But the directions were given by a guy named Mesmo, so the group got lost and found an alternate place to camp on the way.
“Our drummer, David Green and bass player Joey Percival pitched a tent behind the van,” Russell recounts. “Me and Rob Bernard would sleep in the van. We made fun of Joey for walking around in the dark picking up leaves and limbs covering the tent with them. It seemed ridiculous. But, he said, ‘ya never know.’”
At around 3 a.m., Russell and Bernard awoke to flashlights in the face. This never ends well. The cops pulled the two guitarists out and put them up against the hood of the van. “They thought we were outlaws,” Russell says, “and they were yelling at us. ‘What the hell are you doing sleeping in a neighborhood?!’ Russell and company set up in the Southern hills between 360 and 71, not knowing a housing development was just a block away. “A couple of them walked around behind the van and we expected them to return with David and Joey in tow. But, alas, Joey’s camouflage worked. They completely missed the tent.” That probably would’ve gotten the four a night in jail, especially after the requisite search. “They told me and Rob to get in our van and get the hell out of town.” The patrol car followed the Coyote carrier a little ways up the highway then turned. “We immediately headed back to the camp site where we found Joey and David all packed up and waiting for us. They jumped in and we drove to the SXSW hotel parking garage where we slept until sunrise.” The next day, Russell and Percival drove back to Shreveport, while Bernard and Green stayed for the party, having found a floor in a room of the host hotel. In the early years of SXSW, the meeting room sides of the suites often found broke and stranded bands crashed out on the floors. “I never did find out how they got back to Shreveport,” Russell says of his bandmates.
“Holy shit, that’s Peter Zaremba!”
Overheard at SXSW ‘89
1. “Do you know where Saturday’s day party is?”
2. “Austin learned its lesson from the Armadillo. No way they’re tearing down Liberty Lunch for an office building.”
3. “I’m in such a hurry I’m gonna have to grab lunch from a food truck. Where’s the nearest construction site?”
4. “Let’s just take a cab to Salt Lick. How much could it be?”
5. “So, besides the Austin Music Awards, what else are you excited about this week?”
6. “SXSW is a good idea, but they’re going to need to rely on the revenue from the Austin Chronicle to survive.”
7. “They need to get someone hip, with an opinion, to keynote. Someone like Michelle Shocked.”
8. “It’s so great SXSW happens during Spring Break. No college kids in town!
9. ”Let’s share a room at the San Jose, not to save money, but so we can take turns standing guard.”
10. “Listen, we can watch Mojo Nixon for free tonight, or pay to see him at the Erwin Center next year.”
12. “Some schmuck just handed me a cassette. Hasn’t he heard of CDs?”
13. “Look at poor Hugh Forrest, sitting there. They’re gonna need to find a way to keep him busy.”
“We paid $10 for this wristband, mister, so you better believe we’re getting in to the Gunbunnies!”
“This is insane. I had to park way over on 9th Street.”
I see my band listed in the ad: Gunbunnies. We played all over the place with PLC. I still stay in touch with Kevin. One of the best songwriters I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. The Bunnies opened for the Reivers at the Ritz that year and got signed to Virgin. Jim Dickinson was at the show and ended up producing the record. That was a memorable SXSW.
Flock of Seagulls was the talk of that SXSW as they made their mark as being a Flock of A-holes for acting like they were Superstars and alleged to be pushy and rude to everyone they encountered.