“Rain hissed on the freeway. It ate
the old warpaths, ran into the ditches. Soaking. Spreading.
Penetrating.” Tom Robbins, Another Roadside
Attraction
Mitch Hedberg once said “My fake
plants died because I did not pretend to water them”
Greetings from the land of the big
mañana.... The hissing of summer lawns signals a change in
the weather. We've been blessed with a March that came in like a lamb
and went out like a.... lamb. April has been borne of the Zephyr.
Gentle and serene.
The lack of southwesterly haboobs has
given us a much needed respite from the usual sandblasted spring
weather pattern. You don't need a weather man to know that even under
optimal conditions, New Mexico is dry as a bone. Unlike Californios
(or future New Mexicans as they're known in Santa Fe) we figured out
(more or less) how to get by on meager rainfall and below average
runoffs.
All day I've faced the barren waste
without the taste of water... cool, water. The Gaia Theory observes
that species thrive which live in harmony with their natural
environments, while those that do not are eliminated. Humanity is
the dominant species and we're living in disharmony with our
environment.
These crackers are making me thirsty.
“Hold mighty man, I cry, all this we know. He spreads the burnin'
sand with water, he's the devil, not a man” I'm here to tell you
now each and ev'ry mother's son, You better learn it fast; you better
learn it young, 'Cause, the big monsoon it never comes and It's a
hard rain a-never gonna fall
We Ain't Done Dancin'
Unbeknownst to many, a viable music
scene has taken root in Las Cruces and there's talent-a-plenty to be
found in “a place hysterically optimistic politicians call, the
Borderplex” This movement for the most part revolves around The
Doña Ana Music Night Union or DAMN Union, a collective fashioned
from the members of Music Night, a weekly happening at The Farm in
Las Cruces.
DAMN Union consists of Danny Graves and
Aaron Ransbarger, both former members of The Rawdogs, one of the few
Las Cruces musical aggregations that aggressively pushed the
proverbial envelope beyond the ordinary. The city of the crosses, is
for the most part a burg given to the all the comforts of convention.
All of which made The Rawdogs stand out like Don Schrader walking
down Central Ave. in Albuquerque.
Audra Rodgers, David Tucker, Joe
Hecker, Larry Ramos and Neeshia Macanowicz make up the DAMN Union
roster on any given night. Singer/Songwriter, Sean Lucy (picture
Fast Heart Mart, had he been raised in the desert Southwest instead
of Virginia) joins in every now and then. Lucy is a prolific
musician with eight albums to his credit (all are available on
Bandcamp) Sean Lucy's albums “King Clone Creosote” & “Neon
Angel in the Halls of Heartache” combines the musical forces of
both Sean Lucy's Family (a collective not unlike the DAMN Union) and
those of DAMN Union regulars, Danny Graves, Aaron Ransbarger, Audra
Rodgers, Larry Ramos. Duke City drummer Kris Kerby ( I Cum Drums,
Tendorizor) took part in the “Neon Angel” sessions.
DAMN Union has two albums out on
Bandcamp, Take Me With You (2013) and Blacktoe Sessions (2014) on
which they revist two Rawdogs classics, “Say You Mine” (also
known as Violent Hand) and “Her Face”, but sadly not their
languid yet powerfully ominous signature tune, “Cold Iron”.
Aaron Ransbarger, a multi-instrumentalist (as are all the members of
DAMN Union) has a singing voice that draws your attention like
magnets draw metal flakes. That voice is in full effect on both DAMN
Union albums, though the lead vocals interchange between Ransbarger,
Danny Graves and Audra Rodgers.
Danny Graves has an album out on
Bandcamp as well, “Dan and the Working Band” which he describes
as “a mash up of horrible and beautiful emotions.” It's a concept
album not unlike Van Dyke Parks' Song Cycle album and much like that
1968 classic, Graves reminds us that “To get the most, one has to
listen from start to finish”
I've always said the same about this
very podcast. For full effect, listen all the way through. Rustic
country and heartland rock, dry as dust vocals infused with a rootsy
feel more western than country. Throw in some tunes from Cruces
stalwarts such as CW Ayon, The Raggies, Dusty Low and the results are
far from your standard ranch stash.
Aaron Ransbarger & the Damn Union
Violent Hands (Say You Mine)
Janos- Coyotes
Sean Lucy & the Damn Union-
Everybody's Got to Live
Dusty Low- Hey Ya'
Soulshine- Sweetest Thing
CW Ayon- After While
Chicken Lunch- Take Me Back to
Lordsburg
Danny Graves & the Damn Union- Ella
Aaron Ransbarger & the Damn Union-
Turn Away
Janos- Tom Petty
Sean Lucy & the Damn Union-
Bordertown
The Raggies- Mujeres de Juarez Blues
Dan Bern & The Bends- Fiesta Time
Rawdogs- Whiskey
Danny Graves & the Damn Union-
Blackbird of Cheyenne
