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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1990)
The Battalion LIFESTYLES Thursday, September 20,1990 A&M readies for Twang Twang’s By JOHN RIGHTER Some bands are inseminated in the recording studio, born of gad- getry, gimmicks and tedious produc tion. Others find life within the end less, often fruitless, cycle of club shows. Twang Twang Shock-A-Boorn, Texas’ latest band craze, broke out a slightly different way — on the cam pus of the University of Texas at Austin. Bypassing the logical, methodical route of lengthy practice sessions and small club prostitution, one year ago today Twang Twang simply packed it up, went to the campus’ West Mall and started playing — acoustical and anything, fusing jazz, blues, reggae, funk and folk into its set. The attracted listeners, including students and professors, immedi ately bonded with guitarist David Garza, stand-up bassist Jeff Haley and percussionist Chris Searles’ brash, spontaneous playing style. Haley says the campus perfor mance was a logical beginning. “We’re college age, so playing at college only made sense,” Haley says. “There’s a natural relation the re.” The free outside performances also helped, Haley says. “People who wouldn’t have gone and paid to see us at first,” Haley says, “got to hear us for free. They saw we were safe and liked it. We weren’t a gamble.” Obviously not, since Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom (the name, penned by Searles, represents the sound of the group’s three instru ments) has replaced Poi Dog Pon dering as Texas’ musical buzzword. The most recent sign of the group’s bullish success is a second pressing of their tape, Me So Twangy, a regional best seller with over 4,500 units sold. Other signs in clude performances with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michelle Shocked and They Might Be Giants, as well as a standing ovation at this spring’s South By Southwest festival. Twang Twang’s climb is currently teetering on several intense courtships with major labels. The relatively painless rise to their pre sent height has been without the normal heartache and struggle en dured by every other new band. Almost the moment the group de clared themselves Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom these new kids (Ha ley is 20, Searles and Garza are 19) were a rage. In the competitive con fines of band-stuffed Austin, their unprecedented rise is both marvel led and scorned. “There’s a lot of resentment,” Ha ley says in reference to what Garza has labeled “Austin backbiting.” “I haven’t figured out yet how to deal with it. I guess if I was in these other groups’ shoes I might react the same way. “It surprises David, cause he’s from Dallas and the bands support each other there. It really doesn’t surprise me. ” The group’s success is actually not too difficult to understand. In an era of over-engineering, sound walls and onstage gimmicks, Twang Twang represents the antithesis of the musical fascimile. The average music fan, whether young or old, or thodox or revolutionary, can appre ciate Twang Twang’s honesty and originality. Buoyed by Garza’s snappy songs that stir between social conscious and intelligent slapstick, Twang Twang’s energetic format and warm audience rapport are the real secret behind its success. Also, the band makes a genm attempt to relate to its audiein which in the case of A&M meam trip to Kyle Field for Saturday'sfoi ball game. For three ex-t-sips,ths fan commitment. Twang Twang Shock-A- will perform Saturday night in Ri tier Theatre 30 minutes after football game. If you desire aTw; Twang taste test, the band will form a quick stint Saturday in MSG Flag Room between 2 and P-m. 4 ickets lor tlit’ Nf St. 1 own Hi Q^priS I S3W show are $5 and are available atil MSG B ox ()ffice and at the door. Members of comes a stror It’s the sniffling, sneezing / coughing, A aching, ^ stuffy head, fever, so you can’t rest season By ERIKA GONZALEZ-LIMA Do you have the “allergic salu te”? You do if you rub an itching nose with the palm of your hand. It causes a crease mark on your nose and dark circles under your eyes. About 50 million Americans suffer from at least one allergy, an immunological hypersentivity to a substance. Exposure to aller gens may occur through con sumption, inhalation, injection or skin contact. Allergies seem to run in fami lies. A child with one allergic par ent has a 30 percent risk of devel oping an allergy (although not necessarily toward the same aller gen), while a child with two aller gic parents runs a 60 to 70 per- centrisk. Allergens exist in many forms: house dust, drugs, insect venoms, foods, plants (such as poison ivy) and a type of fungi known as molds. Their symptoms depend on which area of the body is af fected. In the skin, hives and eczema (dermatitis) appear. In the diges tive system, abdominal pain, con stipation, diarrhea and nausea appear. In the lungs, coughing and shortness of breath (allergic asthma) are common. The most frequent type of al lergy, affecting 25 million Ameri cans, is hay fever. Hay fever, also called allergic rhinitis (from Greek meaning inflammation of the nose) can be produced by air borne irritants such as molds, pol len and dust. Symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, swelling of the nasal passages, watering and itching eyes, itching nose and throat and inflammation of the membranes around the eyelids Causing red- rimmed eyes. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether a person has a cold or hay fever. A cold or flu lasts about one week, while hay fever lasts as long as the allergen is pre sent. Testing for allergies involves injecting a small amount of a sus pected allergen into the skin. If a rash or swelling occurs within minutes, an allergic reaction is di agnosed. Another way of testing aller gies is to have blood samples ana lyzed. This method is more costly and is recommended only for people with very sensitive skin. Unfortunately, there is no cure for allergies. The best way to avoid allergies is to stay away from the offending allergen. When an allergen is identified as a food, drug or animal, this tactic works well. However, for those al lergens difficult to avoid, like mild hay fever, over-the-counter medications, especially antihista mines and decongestants, may be helpful. Antihistamines (Benadryl, Chlor-Trimeton, Allerest) block histamine, a chemical that is re leased during allergic reactions, but they may cause drowsiness. Decongestants (Afrin, Neo- Synephrine 12 Hour) dry up se cretions from sinuses and watery eyes, but they may cause irritabil ity, elevated heart rate and hyper tension. Allergy shots are another weapon in the allergy war. Immu notherapy requires commitment from the patient to follow the physician’s injection schedule and long-term treatment. According to the American Academy of Oto laryngologic Allergy, over 80 per cent of the patients who receive regular allergy shots experience significant improvement after four to six months of treatment. Immunotherapy may be used under the following circum stances: • When over-the-counter medicines do not adequately re lieve symptoms; • When the offending aller gen is difficult to avoid; • When allergic reactions oc cur throughout the year or last four to six weeks at a time; • When allergies disrupt work or activities; • When the allergy may be contributing to asthma or other chronic diseases. Nurses in the Treatment Room of the A.P. Beutal Health Center administer allergy injections for students following specific in structions from the students’ al lergist. Injections are given Mon day through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students are responsible for twinging the antigen and if they iring their own syringes, there is lio charge. Allergy syringes *(27 gauge, half-inch Tuberculin) can be purchased in local pharmacies without a prescription, and stu dents can store their antigen and syringes in the Treatment Room. There is a charge of $ 1 per injec tion when the syringe is not pro vided by the student. For more information, contact the Treatment Room at the A.P. Beutel Health Center at 845- 1567. Erika Gonzalez-Lima is the Health Education Cordinator at the Texas A&M A.P. Beutal HealthCenter and a health col umnist for Lifestyles. imii ’ ' r W i sBiS “Narrow Ma pense thrillers year. Written and of many films and “Running dicative of the pfier skills that Even thougl Orient Expres suspense and t tabu IA-JR ft* ■ H | ft mm ■ fUtr fmm 7m % *5 “Narrow N (known for hi fThe French < ddventure” an Caulfield, a Lo Also starring boles in “Fata Face”), who pc |fo a top-level m The movie h (late arranged 1 In the lounge, < (ilm back up t nake an impor While he m; up in the bathi her date she he (stops and listei talk to him. mmmmm t tr-tm *>*"*-*«?- mm mi s§i u 1 Preston Reed Battalion File Photl I Guitar virtuoso Preston Reed brings innovative style to B-CS| By JOHN RIGHTER For music fans who may not be ready for “Twang Twang Shock-A-Boom,” guitar virtuoso Preston Reed returns to Bryan-College Station Saturday night at the Front Porch Cafe. Reed, who performed last fall at the Texas Star Tav ern (renamed the Front Porch this spring), is an ac knowledged leader of the fledgling fingerstyle for acoustic guitarists. Hailed by Guitar Player as a musi cian of “exceptionally fine...com positional diversity and...guitaristic brilliance...,” Reed is acclaimed for his dexterous finger picks and innovative neck-slapping style. In the past few years, Reed has started receiving the critical recognition he has long deserved. Unfortu nately, in the vocal, group-oriented music industry, Reed’s solo acoustic set has him at a major disadvan tage. Lack of notoriety, though, has not resulted in a lack of appeal. Playing in a number of smaller cities, and subsequently smaller venues, Reed has worked hard, not only amazing audiences with his six- and 12-string acoustical pieces, but also with his warm rapport that in- ?A mi eludes impromptu guitar lessons and standup com* (He used to do music relief in comedy clubs, inc for Robin Williams and Billy Rafferty.) In a review of his 1986 release, The Road Lessty eled (a road that Reed must know), music critic 0™ M. Young named Reed “...my nomination forace-njj ber-one-bull-goose-hero of the acoustic guitar...® many people have heard of him because his style® between the cracks: He ain’t New Age, he ain’t folkf| ain’t jazz and he ain’t rock. Well, then what is he? W very fast. More orchestral than Stanley Jordan. E* Leo Kotke is probably the closest precedent, so lets!* him neo-Leo and start a new genre just for Reed.’ Certainly no classification is required to recomn this show. Reed is a true guitar hero and an expert in the 10 genre of guitar experimentation. Any guitarist who® been compared to Stanley Jordan, Pat Methenyl John Fahey deserves a checkout on those credent] alone. Reed is scheduled to perform at the Front Porch:] p.m. For more information, call 846-LIVE. : G. , Members of 1