Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Lincoln Durham + Lucas Gorham + Hometown Hoedown + Waterparks + Cashus + The Witherees + The Snow Indian + More

Hey, folks — hope everybody’s been having a good Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/etc. these past few days… I’ve been doing the family thing, myself, only leaving the house briefly today to catch Miss Leslie at Cactus and to check out Pop Shop Houston over at Silver Street Studios (which is also happening tomorrow, too, btw).

Beyond that, I’m a homebody at the moment, but there’s still some excellent stuff happening tonight. Here we go:

Lincoln Durham/Lucas Gorham @ Fitzgerald’s
First up, Fitzgerald’s has a very cool, kinda-abbreviated lineup of rootsy-but-not-country musicians, with headliner Lincoln Durham and local boy Lucas Gorham. I’ve only heard a little bit from Durham, but I like him quite a bit already; he’s gritty and bluesy, with a rough-edged voice, a serious tinge of gospel running throughout, and an undeniable darkness to it all. What I’ve listened to so far from this year’s Exodus of Deemed Unrighteous is pretty damn great.

And then there’s Gorham, who rocks the hell out of a lap steel and has a soul-torn-free, grab-you-in-the-gut blues delivery that’ll make your jaw drop. I’ve seen him in a few different forms over the years, most recently with soul-blues band Grandfather Child, and he’s freaking awesome every time. (BTW, I can’t help but crack up at the similarity of the two performers’ names, but that may just be the pecan pie talking.)

Hometown Hoedown 7, featuring Blackmarket Syndicate, Molotov Compromise, KTCM, Fuska, Days N’ Daze, & Gnar World Order @ Walter’s ($7; 7PM)
Over at Walter’s tonight, then, there’s a pretty badass slate of punker-than-punk bands, with the brightest light in the bunch being headlining band {Blackmarket Syndicate}. I’ve raved about these guys plenty of times, but I really, truly mean it; they are just full-on amazing, old-school-influenced punk that brings to mind The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers while somehow sounding distinctly Houstonian.

Plus, there’s cool-ass anarcho-folk-punks Days N’ Daze, who I also happen to like a whole hell of a lot, and a bunch of other folks I’ve heard good things about for years, like {Molotov Compromise} and {Fuska}. Go mosh; y’know, like the Pilgrims did.

Myka Relocate/Concepts/Invent: Animate/Waterparks @ Fitzgerald’s
The other floor of Fitz has a decent-looking bunch of mostly-local alt-rock/pop-punk bands, headed up by decent melodic deathcore band {Myka Relocate}. The real highlight for me, though, is fun, irreverent pop-punk trio(?) {Waterparks}, whose EP from last year, Airplane Conversations, was a whole hell of a lot of fun.

They’ve got a new song up now, “New Wave,” and it’s equally fun, with plenty of whoa-oh-ohs and distorted-yet-melodic guitar lines. Check it out:

Glish/Violent Youth Subculture/Cashus @ Montrose Proper (1505 Westheimer; $5)
Okay, so I haven’t heard any of the bands playing at Montrose Proper tonight — hell, I’d never even heard of the venue ’til a couple of weeks ago, although it sounds cool, esp. the bit about it being meant to benefit autism awareness programs. However, I do know the band(s) two of the three groups on the stage tonight used to be in.

See, as recently as, oh, last year, there were two really, really excellent bands floating around town, {excuseMesir} and {Ruiners}. Both shone awesomely bright, each released a damn promising EP…and then both imploded, leaving me bummed. It turns out, though, that the folks in those bands have been trying to stay busy, and they’ve formed new bands out of the wrecks of the old — Violent Youth Subculture is made up of ex-members of excuseMesir and oddballs {MOTHS}, while Cashus is comprised of ex-members of both Ruiners and excuseMesir. So again, no clue what they sound like, but I’m digging their respective pedigrees…

The Witherees/The Snow Indian/Lovable Old James/Love Knife @ Rudyard’s (free!)
And lastly, for the late-nighters, Rudyard’s has some cool, kinda-folky-type people playing, and they’re people I like. In particular, I like indie-folk-pop duo {The Witherees}, who make me think of The Mountain Goats and Jonathan Richman in the best way possible, albeit with more of a country twang than either. {The Snow Indian}, for their part, are another folky duo, but they veer over into the punk-rocker-gone-country vein, with a loose-limbed, not-quite-sober vibe to the whole thing. Oh, and it’s good.

Runners-Up:
Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man/Sister Sister y Los Misters/Allen Oldies Band @ The Continental Club
Common Ignorance/Bastard Cult/Stagnant Youth/United Races @ Mango’s (free!)
Holiday Horror: Ceeplus Bad Knives Sagittarius BDay Bash, featuring Dead Roses, Cunt Killer, Joey Buttons, Robert Disaro, Damon Allen, Ms Body Music, Calero, Rad Rich, Mayor Innate, R Sparrow, Tempel of Knives, & B-Boy Craig Long @ Eastdown Warehouse (850 McKee; 8PM-3AM)
Blaggards @ Ashford Pub
Only Beast/THRILL @ The Big Top
Paul Van Dyk @ Stereo Live