■
The Battalion
Friday
December 8,1995
Aojgielife
3
Wm
Maps helpmusician
find more tkn roads
By Amy Protas
The Battalion
enneth Tramm did not use a scale
of notes when he was learning how
to play the guitar. Instead he de
veloped a map of notes. And that is
how Tramm, a 1995 A&M graduate
with a degree in bioenvironmental
science, came up with the name of
his band — The Maps, which is performing
at Sweet Eugene’s tonight.
After drummer Gabriel Cortinas, a se
nior marketing major, and Herb Mayfield,
a senior industrial distribution major,
joined the group, The Maps were able to
come up with what Tramm calls “jazzy,
bluesy, rock stuff.” The band’s influences
include Stevie Ray Vaughn, Pink Floyd,
and the Rolling Stones.
Mayfield said it is difficult to pinpoint
exactly what type of music they play.
“When people find out I’m in a band,
they always ask what kind of music we
play,” Mayfield said. “It’s hard to explain'
what it is. We write our own music. Not
very many local bands do.”
Kenneth Tramm
Tramm said he is happy Cortinas and
Mayfield joined the band.
“Around my junior year, I started the
band with some friends,” Tramm said. “I
had concentrated on school, then I wanted
’<«ix to play. It was more of people just doing it
for fun. Eventually, they wanted to concen
trate more on school. Because of that, I
was able to find the right people.”
The old band was called Kenneth
Tramm and The Maps. Tramm said the
■ new members are good musicians in their
own right, so he dropped his name.
The current Maps line-up has been
around since the end of the summer. But
ftli
■m
Tramm h a&Vn work i ng on writing the
band s songshigh school.
Cortinas is ^ a member of the band
Lewis. He said in two bands can be
pressing at times.
“Some weeketie^.g k j n( j 0 f hectic,”
Cortinas said.
“A couple of weekend ag0 Le W is and The
Maps played for a Habitat for Humanity
benefit. We had also played for the Miracle
Network that day. Luckilybands are
understanding and let me go both ways.”
Bryan-College Station may no t be the
music mecca Austin is, but Chinas said
audiences here are starting to mature.
“Right now, audiences are developing
much more,” Cortinas said. “As for alterna
tive music, audiences are getting larger.
They’re growing. We don’t really target a
specific audience, just hope anyone who
likes music will come out.”
Mayfield said the band is at an advantage
here because Austin is dense with bands. ^0^
“In Austin, bands are a dime a dozen,”
Mayfield said. “It’s good if you can get
known here and branch out.”
Mayfield said audiences here do not ^
have a great interest in the music.
“They aren’t there for the music,” May-
field said. “They are there to drink beer. Peo
ple will pay a lot for beer but won’t pay cov
er. It’s hard to get people who aren’t into
music to get away from [dance places].”
Tramm said The Maps have played at
such venues as Stafford Opera House,
Sweet Eugene’s and Kaye’s Cabaret.
“We get a lot of people at Sweet Eu
gene’s,” Tramm said. “It’s not exactly coffee
music, but it works. People play Jenga
while listening to the Maps.”
Kenneth Tramm and The Maps, the for
mer band, opened for Chris Duarte when he
played at Stafford Opera House, now called
the Dixie Theatre. Tramm said he hopes to
open for him again with the current band.
As for the future, Austin is appealing to
Tramm with its vast number of venues.
“I hope to move to Austin because that’s
where it’s at,” Tramm said. “I hooked up
with the booking agency, Popular Talent.
I’m really glad that happened.”
Mayfield said despite graduating next
year, he hopes the band will stay together.
“I’m going to graduate next semester,”
Mayfield said. “Ken is married, and Gabe
has a year left. We have offers to play in
Houston and Austin. And I wouldn’t mind §il
giving a music career a try. I don’t think my
parents would like to hear that.”
Big sister's wedding puts
relationship in perspective
Michael
Landauer
Agcielife
Editor
W hen I was in
kindergarten, I
could do 1,000-
piece puzzles.
In first grade, I
wrote a book about Mr.
Petty, the janitor at
our school. I even illus
trated it.
I was no genius, I just
had a big sister.
Michelle made me sit in “class” with her
stuffed animals and dolls before I ever
went to school.
I did pretty well in the class (my broth
er always skipped), but I never made the
best grade in the class. My sister gave that
honor to the gorilla, always saying that it
would keep me humble.
But I never became humble until the
rest of the kids caught up to me in school
— I guess I evolved quickly into the slack
er that I am today.
Michelle did her best to give me a a
head start, and I’ll always appreciate how
much she taught me.
Yesterday, I got an invitation to her
wedding, which, among other things,
means I’ll have to invite her to mine.
But the whole wedding-planning
process has me feeling as though I live
with Steve Martin in Father of the Bride.
I’ve seen my parents become more and
more insane.
Just last week, dad suggested that we
have the reception at the Steak Pit and got
arrested for removing the superfluous
buns from a hot dog bun package.
Mom and Michelle are battling over
every detail, which wasn’t in the movie,
but it isn’t too much of a surprise for my
family. After all, things need to be planned
perfectly for my only sister’s wedding. Will
the napkins be rolled up or folded? This is
something they need to spend two hours
on the phone arguing about.
Hut one part of Father of the Bride was
never played up - the little brother.
He was much too young to realize any
thing except that big sis’ was leaving
home. In many ways, I am happy that my
sister waited until she was 25 to get mar
ried because I can relate to her marriage
on a different level.
When we grew up together, she was too
old for me to relate to. She tried to take
care of my brother and I when w e were
young. When I was six, she used to open
her “restaurant” every Saturday morning
and serve my brother and I breakfast as
we watched The Smurfs.
Years later, when she was starting high
school, Michelle talked Mom out of serving
us breakfast. She said women should not
wait on men and insisted that we were old
enough to take care of ourselves. She was
right, and Mom had more free
time to go back to work.
My sister went off to A&M and
became a liberal. Then she
moved up to Chicago and became
a communist — or something.
We’ve had many close mo
ments, but with all of our differ
ences, I started to wonder if our
closest moment came and went
with me finishing as salutatorian in her
preschool class.
She’ll be home for Christmas — and
that wedding thing — but odds are good
that she won’t make me breakfast.
But that doesn’t bug me because odds
are also good that I’ll never have a bigger
supporter — someone who really believes
in me. Someone who has encouraged me to
do for myself.
I guess big sisters work in mysterious
ways with their little brothers. They are
subtle with advice, and they are the test
ing grounds for our parents.
■H
Yesterday, I
got an invita
tion to her
wedding,
which, among oth
er things, means I'll
have to invite her to mine.
When we were kids, I always told
Michelle that Mom and Dad loved me best.
As the communist child who moved to an
other state, Michelle was making it easier
for me to make ground on my assertion.
But I never saw my parents stop loving
her, and the more I saw my sister grow
into an independent, intelligent, successful
woman, I couldn’t help but realize that I
love her, too. Not as a big sister who tries
to take care of her little brother, but as
someone who taught her little brother to
take care of himself.
The kid in Father of the Bride was sad
when he realized his sister was moving
away from him and making a family of her
own. I guess I’m lucky enough to see
Michelle’s wedding in a different way.
When she walks down the aisle, she
won’t be leaving my family. She’ll be mov
ing into another aspect of life that I don’t
know about yet. Kinda like how she knew
about school before I did.
And all I will be able to think about is
how much she has taught me — and how
much I still have to learn from her.
A big sister’s work is never done.
Michael Landauer is a junior
journalism major
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