A.V. Club: Best of the Decade
  • Todd Williams

The Independent

501 N I H 35
Austin TX 78751
512-485-3001
  • Sat Nov 7 8 pm, 10:30 pm,
    Asylum Street Spankers at The Independent

    These days, it's always a new conceptual gimmick for the Asylum Street Spankers, but it's smart to pick a strong theme when your act's an unwieldy hybrid of old-timey string band and spring-heeled variety-show comedy. The Spankers' last tour, behind the 2008 album What? And Give Up Show Biz?, affectionately satirized the life of a touring band, but this time they're taking on religion, apropos of the new God's Favorite Band. A mix of original and traditional material, the album is as musically accomplished as it is cheeky: It begins with an acoustic instrumental tribute to bluesman Blind Willie Johnson, then plunges headlong into gypsy jazz, folk spirituals, and even a Gershwin tune, with fiddles, washboard, and mandolin ablaze. To win tickets to this event, e-mail austinpromo@theonion.com

    The Independent 501 N I H 35, Austin, TX

These days, it's always a new conceptual gimmick for the Asylum Street Spankers, but it's smart to pick a strong theme when your act's an unwieldy hybrid of old-timey string band and spring-heeled variety-show comedy. The Spankers' last tour, behind the 2008 album What? And Give Up Show Biz?, affectionately satirized the life of a touring band, but this time they're taking on religion, apropos of the new God's Favorite Band. A mix of original and traditional material, the album is as musically accomplished as it is cheeky: It begins with an acoustic instrumental tribute to bluesman Blind Willie Johnson, then plunges headlong into gypsy jazz, folk spirituals, and even a Gershwin tune, with fiddles, washboard, and mandolin ablaze. To win tickets to this event, e-mail austinpromo@theonion.com

Updated 11/05/2009

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