January 2012

The Free Bird Project

Jeff Austin

Yonder Mountain String Band, 30db

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The first time I met Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band, I gave him a couple of mix CDs as a friendly how-do-you-do over drinks at a great SF watering hole called The Connecticut Yankee. He mulled the track listings over for a minute and then said, “I’m going to listen to these in my car and think of you erotically.” Keep in mind that we’d just met a few minutes earlier, but this kind of thing seems par for the course with a natural born jester like Austin. His mischievousness comes through loud and clear in this shot from Chad Smith.

Jeff Austin by Chad Smith

Are you interested in giving Dirty Impound the finger? Are you in a band? Well, we wanna see whatcha you got, cowboys (and cowgirls)! Send us your birdie pics and we’ll add them to our archive and make sure folks know you cared enough to raise a middle finger for rock! Send pictures to freebird@dirtyimpound.com

We'll Do It Live

Jackie Greene

01.28.12 | Santa Cruz, CA

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A couple things these shots, expertly captured last weekend at the Catalyst Club by pro lensman and DI regular Jay Blakesberg, make clear: 1) Jackie Greene is a very photogenic dude, and 2) One doesn’t need to hear a note to smell the rock ‘n’ roll funk wafting off this band. Greene and his talented, ever-more-in-tune with their leader band offer up a classic, rib-sticking sort of music, something akin to what the early 70s Dead accomplished or Little Feat in the time of Lowell George, but devoid of nostalgia, in love with something more enduring and bedrock that ties what Greene does to a larger, happy tradition without actually reproducing it in his own music. We’re gonna chat with Jackie on the Impound this year, but for now y’all can drink in the fun that went down last Saturday (and check out Jackie’s tour schedule in February and March to see if you can catch the real deal in the flesh).

In Your Eye

you gotta see this

Red Fang

Hank Is Dead

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Not every band should make videos. A few minutes trolling the abyss on MTV/VH1/CMT will affirm this truth. But motherflucking Red Fang has the touch. Not only do they rock your balls into a firestorm, they’ve got a shameless, do-anything-it-takes attitude in their videos that’s goddamn charming. Case in point, this new one that starts with an awkward shower scene worthy of an 80s teen flick and culminates in an air guitar competition they judged in their hometown of Portland, OR. And if you haven’t already checked out their latest album, Murder The Mountains, well, we’re a little disappointed in you. It was one of DI’s 20 Favorite Albums of 2011 – pure hard rock mightiness.

The Free Bird Project

Diego's Umbrella

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Gypsy Pirate Polka. It’s as intriguing a soundbite for a band as we’ve ever encountered, and Bay Area-based Diego’s Umbrella live up to the descriptor with a cavorting, scoop-em-all-up energy that compares well with kindred spirits Gogol Bordello. The band is currently on tour, hitting Santa Barbara and Solano Beach in their native California this weekend and picking up the trail again in early February. Here’s their live schedule, and do yourself a favor and check these guys out. Anyone who flips us off with this much flair is fully worthy of DI’s support!

Diego's Umbrella by John Margaretten

Are you interested in giving Dirty Impound the finger? Are you in a band? Well, we wanna see whatcha you got, cowboys (and cowgirls)! Send us your birdie pics and we’ll add them to our archive and make sure folks know you cared enough to raise a middle finger for rock! Send pictures to freebird@dirtyimpound.com

Hey Shredder (bass edition)

7 questions for the low end

Freekbass

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Freekbass by Michael Weintrob

Sometimes a name nicely sums things up. Such is the case with Freekbass, whose moniker instantly alerts one to his roots in low end sorcery in the tradition of Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham and other superhero bassists. In fact it was the Rubber Band man himself who gave Freekbass his stage name. However, even without the direct anointing, it doesn’t take long for anyone well versed in funk-lo-pedic knowledge to recognize this Cincinnati born as a natural at cosmically dappled space rock grooveology. A regular on the festival circuit, Freekbass is dazzle on two legs, adding flair and fire to whatever he lays his instrument to. He’s released educational DVDs, released a quartet of quality solo releases, collaborated with legends (George Porter Jr., DJ Logic) and quality freaks (Dead Kenny Gs), and is soon hitting the road again with Freekbot, his collaboration with DMC USA DJ champion and producer Tobotius (find dates here). When other players see Freekbass head to the stage they almost always grin, suddenly alert and ready to get into shit, splashed awake by a player who doesn’t sleepwalk through any musical engagement.

read on

Mix Tape

Poundings LXXI

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Indulging a classic rock jones this week with an assemblage designed to make you feel like you’re tooling down a sunlit highway in an American muscle car, a warm hand on your thigh with comely good times grinning at you from the passenger seat. But first, a dirty blues rumble from our favorite Johnny Otis obscurity…

Poundings LXXI from dirtyimpound on 8tracks.

If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.

track listing