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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1994)
ptember 1,1994 iiirsday • September 1, 1994 Aggielife The Battalion • Page 3 ges ice Parten N idents are occur- iway 6 frontage esult of convert- ds to one-way he highway last .ccording to a re- e Texas Depart-; sportation. - s on frontage ed from 92 acci- een September :h 1993, to 62 ac- ig the same peri- gear, which is a jcrease. ms, a Texas De- Transportation er, said the de- i welcomed sur- v that research a 20-percent de-,;; accident rate ccidents, Pages ‘95 ipping Daisy performs at Stafford Opera House. Members are (from left): Wes Bergyren - guitar, Bryan Wakeland ternative bands to play in Bryan-College Station. drums, Tim Delaughter - vocals, Mark Pirro - bass. Tripping Daisy is one of the popular File Photo TheBattauw in time for com es,” Donathan said, ses for the facility ee Center, PageS HE FALION ; an ad, phone 5-0569 DN lief )pinion editor E, Photo editor L Sports editor ?K, Aggielife editor No, it’s not Seattle. And no, the xt Nirvana or Pearl Jam is probably it going to come from Bryan-College -ation. But believe it or not, there is blooming music scene in Bryan-Col- ge Station. Whether it’s the country rang of Clint Black or the psychedel- alternative rock of Tripping Daisy, g-time performers are making their ay to the area. With country and al- rnative rock leading the way, the nes of the town are turning the ene around. Country/Western y Christi Erwin he Battalion Most people are not surprised that )untry performers attract large audi- aces in Bryan-College Station. McCrea Miller, senior agricultural agineering major, said he enjoys the mntry performers who frequent this rea. Miller said country artists come to ryan-College Station because they now there is a demand for their mu- “The cool thing about country music n College Station is that if you want o see someone you like, they’ll proba- ly play here at some time during the r ear,” he said. “But if you want to see 3 earl Jam or Nine Inch Nails, there is 10 way they’ll come to this small own.” Sheila Walker, program supervisor if College Station Parks and Recre- ition, books entertainment for Wolf ■ ) en Creek Amphitheater. She said luccessful rock bands are too expen se to bring to this area. “Big rock ‘n’ roll bands cost too nuch,” she said. “Country music is nore affordable.” The large demand for country music n Bryan-College Station is another eason the amphitheater presents ;ountry concerts, she said. Notable country performers set to lerform at the amphitheater include Iteve Warmer, Robert Earl Keen and )avid Allen Coe. The Texas Hall of Fame in Bryan also finds that country music is in ireat demand in Bryan-College Sta- ion. Derek Emola, manager of the Hall if Fame, credits much of the Hall’s 15- rear success to its live entertainment. [ Earl Thomas Conley, Rick Trevino, ioy Howdy and Tracy Byrd will be lerforming at the Hall this year, he aid. “We are not a come-and-go bar,” he aid. “We’re an Aggieland tradition.” Brandon Overton, a sophomore Agricultural engineering major, said -he best concert he ever attended was jvhen country singer Chris Ledoux >layed at the Texas Hall of Fame. “I was right there, face to face,” area listen to country music. “People feel comfortable listening to us for long periods of time,” he said. “They don’t have to keep changing the station to hear music they like.” Jason Hightower, promotions direc tor of KORA 98 Country, said Bryan- College Station simply has a good market for country music. “Country music is king,” he said. “In other markets as well, the top sta tions include country stations.” ffltcrngtive Rock By Jeremy Keddie The Battalion Stephanie Dube, Slacey ; esser, Angela Neaves, Susii 1 Islam, lennifer Montiel, oby, Tim Moog, Gina I Erwin, lennifer Gressetl, ■ ta, Aja Henderson, Erin Hill George Nasr, Elizabeth Oakley belle Oleson during the fall and spring cept University holidays and rllege Station, TX 77840. Donald Building, Texas A&M s A&M University in the n. Editorial offices are in Newsroom phone number is dorsement by The Battalion, assified advertising, call SAT e 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday >1 year and $50 per full yea'- Chris Ledoux Overton said. “I didn’t have to watch brought a movie screen, and I had Plenty of room to dance.” Bobby Bell, program director of Ag- |ie 96, said people like country be- ause they can sing along and under- itand the lyrics. “Country music is what rock and 'oil was in the ‘60s,” he said. “It makes i statement.” As for music on the radio, the FM lial is dominated by country. Bell aid these stations are successful be cause the majority of people in the With what may apparently feel as a domination of country-western music in the Texas A&M community, it is easy to overlook the alternative scene. And the best way to stay informed with this particular scene is reading the kiosks on campus. The round bill board structures, which can be found in various locations on campus, list and update artists who, frequently come to town. These artists are most commonly featured at three establishments in the area: Stafford Opera House, 3rd Floor Cantina and Sweet Eugene’s House of Java are in the local leading edge of the alternative music scene. Each establishment personifies its own unique atmosphere, and artists commonly play at more than one of the clubs. Many students have said that the local alternative band scene seems scarce and almost non-existent at times. However, by regularly reading local newsletters and contacting clubs, one will notice there is in fact a scene for alternative music in the area. The lack of bands may be affected by the attraction of the area. The own er of Stafford Opera House, T.C. Nguyen, said he notices bands tend to move to Austin as they become more successful. “If you want to be in the center of music, it’s the place to be,” he said. Nguyen also attributed the difficul ty of booking bands to the magnitude of their popularity. He said as bands become bigger, it is difficult to book them in such a small place. “By the time they get well-known enough, they cannot play in a small club,” Nguyen said. Although Nguyen explained his dif ficulties in attracting national acts, bands such as Tripping Daisy and Gin Blossoms have played Stafford Opera House in the past. Most importantly, Nguyen said, Stafford attempts to attract crowds from all different walks of life. “It sometimes helps us and some times hurts us,” Nguyen said. Upcoming acts this fall will include Jawbox, Lungfish, and Chris Duarte. Functioning previously as a bootleg bar and an attic for a furniture ware house, 3rd Floor Cantina also tries to cater to all types of music preferences. William Bennet, managing partner of 3rd Floor, said the music they fea ture is eclectic, meaning all varieties, although he tends to book alternative music on Thursday nights. “When booking bands, it’s not so much the style of music, but rather bands which are on the cutting edge,” Bennet said. The live music venue has featured artists such as Bo Diddley, Jo Ely, and Karan Chavis. Bennet said he is hop ing to have at least one national act a month, and plans on Cowboy Mouth performing later this semester. On the smaller scale, and an alco hol-free establishment, Sweet Eu gene’s House of Java provides a more personal atmosphere with the artists. The coffee house books open-mike acts every other Tuesday and regularly schedules music on Fridays and Satur days. “We’re just looking for unique acts,” Aaron Brown said. This weekend Sweet Eugene’s will feature a belly-dancing troop, The Ara bian Knights. Rqp/Hip Hop By Rob Clark The Battalion Despite the enormous popularity of country and alternative music, the booming sounds of rap are beginning to be heard in Bryan-College Station. Whether it be the gangsta rap of Ice Cube and Snoop Doggy Dogg or the jazzy vibes of Digable Planets and A Tribe Called Quest, local record store employees say rap is one of their strongest sellers. But staying power seems to be the problem for rap albums. Rob Tizard, assistant manager at Marooned, said rap albums sell ex tremely well at first but fade quickly. “It goes like ‘bam’ at first,” he said. “They sell a lot at the beginning when they are released, then it just fades and sits around for a while.” Tizard said anticipation for Snoop Doggy Dogg’s album “Doggystyle” was enormous. “Two months before it came out, people were asking about it.” he said. “And right when it came out, it did re tire that Snoop Doggy Dogg ally well. There was a huge rush to buy it.” Tizard said the two most popular forms of rap are the hard-core gangsta style and what is commonly classified as alternative rap. This usually in cludes groups like A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, De La Soul and US3. While rap does sell well, it is a rela tively new force in music sales. David Meadows, manager at Camelot Music, said although there isn’t as much rap to choose from as other genres, it still holds it’s own. “We have two racks of rap CDs and six of country,” he said. “But we have more sales out of those two racks of rap than of any two racks of country.” As for local rap performances, the choices are few and far between. Ti zard said past violence at rap shows around the nation cause a fear of fu ture incidents. Stepping up security because of the threat of gang violence can cause local clubs to not pursue booking rappers, he said. T.C. Nguyen, owner of Stafford Opera House, said in the past he has tried to book Public Enemy and Ar rested Development, but they were too big to bring to the area. However, there have been selected rap shows in the area in recent years. MSC Town Hall brought Digital Un derground to Deware Field House in the spring of 1992, and Oakland rap per Spice 1 performed at the Lulac ballroom in Bryan in the fall of 1993. Tcchno/Doncg By Anas Ben-Musa The Battalion When it comes to techno/dance mu sic. it seems A&M students still love the oldies, especially ‘80s music. Most people wouldn’t consider mu sic from the 1980’s as old, but anyone familiar with the techno/dance scene realizes trends rise and fall quickly with this music genre. Yet, techno songs like Robin S with “Love for Love,” Staxx with “Joy,” and Crystal Waters’ single “100% Pure Love” have done well in Bryan-College Station. Although Tray Stout- meyer, the DJ for X- Treme, said that this form of tech no music is really just Top 40 mu sic. “It’s music sells,” Stout- meyer said. “It will be around for a long while.” There is nothing wrong with it, Stoutmey- er added, but techno music in Dallas and Houston is an under ground, pro gressive style of house mu sic. Stoutmey- er said he would love to play this type of techno, but many stu dents are not familiar with it and would rather dance to popular groups like Snap or Had- daway. But techno has changed drastically over the last few months, said Victor Martinez, an employee of Marooned Records. “It used to be lots of disco samples,” Martinez said. “Now it’s changed to trance, spaced-out music.” Martinez said one example of this new trend is the latest release from Anoesis. Watts Music Journal de scribes Anoesis as an “acid trance piece. . . sure to destroy what’s left of your brain cells.” Another development in techno is some of the underground, progressive house music that is filtering into the area. Stoutmeyer said he had a sam ple of “Tree Frog” by Hope for over a year and after lyrics and synthesizer chords were added, it became a very popular dance tune. Photo Illustration by Stew Milne/THE Battalion By Margaret Claughton The Battalion Many local music merchants say Bryan-College Station’s musical scope is widening, and the top two genres are still alternative rock and country music. Rob Tizard, assistant manager at Marooned records, said alternative music is their top seller and continues to grow in popularity. “We’re selling a lot of the newer al ternative stuff — the punkish type like Offspring and Green Day,” he' said. “The dance stuff and Texas folk like Robert Earl Keen sells too, but not as much.” David Meadows, of Camelot Music, said alternative music is also one of their top sellers but country continues to sell well. “It’s about 50-50 really,” he said. “Both the alternative and country scenes have been growing in the last few years and have begun appealing to more people.” Kevin Bomar, of Airplay Digital Recording, said rock and country are hard to compare in local popularity be- Todd Pipes, bass guitarist for Deep Blue Something cause people respond to them in different ways. “Rock outsells country locally in stores,” he said. “But when it comes to live performances, more people will pay to go see country. Country gets a bigger turnout.” Bomar said that although the local music scene offers few venues for rock performances, there are significantly more local rock bands than country bands. “I think this is because rock crowds like fresh material,” he said. “There is always another band popping up with their own style and writing their own lyrics. Rock fans like that variety.” Tizard said this trend toward origi nality and variety is similar to what’s happening in the overall music market. “Recently there has been more inter est in different style independents,” he said. “Small independent labels are pro ducing these new, out-of-the-ordinary bands and competing with bigger la bels.” Billboard magazine’s album charts show a significant number of small label bands competing, and sometimes beat ing out, larger label bands. However, no one type of music seems to have the market cornered, locally or otherwise. Music lovers seem to be drifting to wards more diverse interests rather than remaining loyal to one music genre. Meadows said this may be one reason for the new increased interest in sound tracks, which offer a variety of music and artists. “Soundtracks didn’t sell this well in the past,” he said. “Our top seller right now is the “Forrest Gump” soundtrack followed by “The Lion King.” I think people like the diversity they offer.” Andrea Schmidt at Musicland said “Forrest Gump” is their best seller as well, and agrees that the local market appreciates diversity. “In this town everybody likes every thing,” she said. “There are so many dif ferent types of people with different in terests it is impossible to say they have an overall favorite type of music.”
