Ponderosa Stomp Rocks SXSW and Looks Forward to Memphis

Press release
Source: conqueroo/Cary Baker

The line outside the Continental Club stretched down the block last Friday night, as the Ponderosa Stomp SXSW Showcase -- part of the Louisiana Initiative at SXSW and sponsored by Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company and the New Orleans Musicians Gig Fund, via a generous grant from Rolling Stone -- took a packed house on a whirlwind trip to the Gulf Coast. A veritable dream team of Mardi Gras Indians, swamp poppers, garage rockers, rockabilly heroes, soul singers, and R&B shouters were on the bill for the party, a sneak preview for the Ponderosa Stomp, scheduled for the Gibson Guitar Factory in Memphis, Tennessee May 8, 9 & 10.

Spanish moss hung from the microphone stands as Shreveport, Louisiana native DJ Fontana -- best known for pounding the tubs on Elvis' early sessions, recorded a half-century ago this year -- took the stage with dueling guitarists Charlie Sexton and CC Adcock, bassist Kenny Bill Stinson, and a variety of vocalists, including swamp pop godfather Warren Storm, who belted out a vicious version of "Hound Dog" to a rapt audience, before fellow swamp popper Tommy McClain served up his own hits, including versions of "Sweet Dreams" and "Before I Grow Too Old."

"Gulf Coast sentimentality endure the winds of change as artists from New Orleans to Galveston [worked] to preserve long-standing traditions threatened by hurricane and physical displacement," wrote the Austin Chronicle's Robert Gabriel. "Guitarist CC Adcock cooked up a roux of swamp stomp as he shared the lead with Steve Riley on accordion and songwriter Dave Egan on keyboard. One by one, a slew of living legends graced the Continental stage with a half century's worth of deep emotional entrapment. Admirers swooned, couples danced in warm embrace, and special memories resurfaced with an emphasis on shared communal mores."

Next, the Empress of Gulf Coast Soul brought the crowd to its knees with "You'll Lose A Good Thing" and "Oh Baby (We've Got A Good Thing Goin')," prompting New York Times music critic Jon Pareles to write, "At times, SXSW can be like a musical museum -- a good one. One program... organized by the musical archivists beyond the Ponderosa Stomp, included Barbara Lynn from Beaumont, Texas. She sang her R&B hits from the 1960s with soulful authority while plucking fierce, twangy leads on her left-handed electric guitar."

Unforgettable musical moments followed: Funk master Eddie Bo dropped classic hits like "Hook & Sling" and "Check Mr. Popeye." Decked out in trademark Mardi Gras beads, New Orleans native Al Johnson declared "Carnival Time," and Houston soulster Archie Bell admonished Clifford Antone, Ray Davies, and the rest of the audience to "Tighten Up," all backed by Lafayette, Louisiana's astonishing Lil Band O' Gold, which featured Adcock, Lil Buck Sinegal, and scronk saxophonist Dickie Landry. Excello bluesman Classie Ballou wrought the breathtaking "Classie's Whip," then played back up for Roy Head, whose show-stopping performance truly pushed the crowd over the edge. When killer Gulf Coast garage rock acts the Bad Roads and the Zakary Thax closed the night, the audience was panting from exhaustion.

"New Orleans' loss was Austin's gain," John T. Davis of the Austin American-Statesman reported. "From the ceremonial entrance by Kevin Goodman and his Flaming Arrows tribe of Mardi Gras Indians to Roy Head's white-hot four-song mini-set not long before midnight, the Ponderosa Stomp was a nonstop exhibition of funk, soul and sweat. Head set the tone early on, according to a witness outside the Continental who recounted that the singer showed up at the door with four women on his arm and a glass of whiskey in his hand and announced, 'I'm Roy Head, and I'm here to rock!' The hits, as they say, just kept on comin'. [Archie] Bell didn't have to open his mouth to incite the capacity crowd to do the 'Tighten Up' -- the indelible dot-dash-dot opening riff did the trick for him. [Al 'Carnival Time'] Johnson proved a one-man Mardi Gras encore. Guitarists Classie Ballou and Lil Buck Sinegal made 200 instant fans on the spot. And Lil Band O' Gold supplied all the grease and groove any bandleader -- or dirty-bopping audience member -- could ask for."

Less than 12 hours after the Continental Club showcase ended, the Ponderosa Stomp Gulf Coast Revue was at it again, performing an abbreviated showcase at a Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company-sponsored party and silent auction at Opal Divine's on Saturday afternoon.

Wrote Lynne Margolis of the Austin American-Statesman, "Watching the Ponderosa Stomp legends of swamp pop at an Opal Divine's gathering Saturday... the realization came that one thing we'll never see at South by Southwest is manufactured pop. No Britney Spears. No American Idols. And that, above all, is what keeps it cool. There's room for old vets living on past glories, still respected as long as they can still groove (and most of 'em still can, whether their heyday was in the '80s or the '60s or the '50s). There's room for 6-year-old drum prodigies, à la Classie Ballou's great grandson, who played during Ballou's Stomp set Saturday and signed his first autographs afterward."

This May, the Ponderosa Stomp -- on the road since hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast -- is setting its sites on Memphis. Now in its fifth year, the event, an offshoot of the Mystic Knights of the Mau Mau (a social club-turned-501c3 non-profit organization) has been re-organized as a fundraiser benefiting the New Orleans Musicians Clinic and MusiCares.

Tickets for the 5th Annual Ponderosa Stomp are available for $40 per night at www.buyolympia.com/events/index.php?details=170 . More than 60 legendary artists -- an all-time record -- will perform on three stages over a three-night period, while the Stomp will also feature ancillary events including a DJ Night, a Record Show, and more. Information about the line-up and the venue can be found at www.ponderosastomp.com.

The Mystic Knights of the Mau Mau are also presenting monthly concerts at the Circle Bar and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, both located in New Orleans. The non-profit, volunteer-run organization, founded by a group of rock'n'roll fanatics to celebrate the pioneers of blues, country, swamp pop, jazz, soul, and R&B, has presented more than forty shows, helping to resurrect the careers of dozens of "lost" musical legends, including Howard Tate and Jody Williams, over the past five years.