Saturday night I broke routine and followed my musical nose to the upstairs of Rudyard’s to catch The Small Stars.
Imagine, if you will, seven caricatures from some cheesy out of the way casino/lounge act in Reno, Nevada and you will begin to understand what The Small Stars are all about.
It’s pure “shtick” and they do it well. In fact, they do it VERY well. You see, they’re not just a bunch of hacks with a comedic idea, they are each skilled musicians and what they accomplish as an ensemble is nothing short of flabbergasting.
Featured in the band is Austin guitar legend Landis Armstrong (aka Richard Steele) from such noteworthy musical projects as McLemore Avenue and The El Orbits.
Cynthia jokingly suggests I have a big ole’ man crush on Landis. I suspect she’s right. He’s a nice guy and an amazing musician and whenever he performs in town I try to make it a point to go see him.
Oh Landis, if only someone could tame him…
The front man for The Small Stars goes by the stage name of Guy Fantasy. His real name is Miles Zuniga and is most famous for the song “The Way” he wrote and performed with the one hit wonder band Fastball in the 90’s. He’s incredibly funny and reminds me is subtle ways of a musical Bill Hicks.
On of the more entertaining characters is Vic Odin, the “manager” of the band who has some GREAT songs he sings and cracks me up when he’s running around the performance venue with his bullhorn.
All in all, a very enjoyable evening.
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I saw Zuniga et. cie. do an accoustic set at the Duck during the “The Way” period. Liked them. The Way wasn’t that different from the rest, but somehow it became “the hit”.
We saw One-hit wonder Jill Sobule (“I kissed a girl”) open for Billy Bragg. She’s good, and most of her stuff isn’t like her one hit.
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