Rodney Gibbs: The big news is Jeffrey and Joe showed up from Brave Combo. Hi!
Jeffrey Barnes & Joe Cripps [in unison]: Hello!
Rodney: Hey, they're in.
Joe: We're here.
Rodney: They were honking on the road, they said.
Joe: Yes, right up Lavaca. If you heard us around Sixth Street, Seventh Street, that was us.
Rodney: [laughing] And they're drunk, so it's really...
Joe: We are. [laughs]
Rodney: ...it's embarrassing. Thanks for coming.
Joe: Thank you. Thanks for having us.
Rodney: Yeah, you got your show tonight at Liberty Lunch.
Joe: Liberty Lunch.
Rodney: And, uh, with the folk dancers?
Joe: Folk dancers, and they should be hitting it about right now, actually, starting up the instruction.
Rodney: And what do they do, to innocent victims?
Jeffrey: Well, teaching people international folk dances.
Rodney: Oh!
Jeffrey: It'll be, you know, organized group dancing, organizing one's movements with others.
Rodney: Wow. Always a lot of fun.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Rodney: And then you have the songs to go with it, and all.
Jeffrey: Yeah.
Joe: Yeah.
Rodney: Well, they're going to stay and talk for a few minutes, but we're going to start off with a song. This is from a new import of theirs -- well, I guess it's imported, it's definitely on Japan.
Joe: Yes.
Jeffrey: Yes, it's just very recently.
Joe: Probably would have a hard time picking that up around here right now.
Rodney: Right. Well, you want to tell us about it?
Jeffrey: This is called Allumettes, which is a French word for matches, and we recorded this one with Lauren Agnelli, who is a singer with the Washington Squares, sort of a post-modern folk group out of New York but now she plays with the Dave Rave Conspiracy, but we made this record with her as vocalist. It has a lot of, sort of romantic music on it.
Rodney: Oh, good.
Jeffrey: Including this one, which is a tango.
Rodney: Oh, good. And you've got the lyrics in Japanese and in English.
Jeffrey: Uh-huh!
Rodney: All right!
Rodney: Well, let's start off with this. This is the first cut, called "Kiss of Fire" by Brave Combo and Lauren, Angenelli?
Jeffrey: Agnelli.
Rodney: Agnelli, sorry. And, uh, Joe and Jeffrey will be here for a little bit, so, and we'll give away a pair of tickets shortly, so keep listening. Here we go with a new new one from Brave Combo (if I can figure this equipment out...).
[Plays "Kiss of Fire"]
Rodney: All right, they tell me that's the world premiere, or the States premiere of uh that Brave Combo bit with Laura Angnelli (ah, that's _tough_ for me!) This is a Japanese import, and -- what's the title? -- I lost the title.
Jeffrey: It's called Allumettes.
Rodney: Right, oh...so you, you played with her at...
Jeffrey: Like AllumetteS.
Rodney: ...you played with her at the Democratic Party in New York a couple of years ago, right?
Jeffrey: Yeah, uh-huh.
Rodney: Yeah, with Ann Richards. So she's been around with you before.
Jeffrey: Mmm-hmmm.
Rodney: So, what else has been happening with Brave Combo?
Jeffrey: Oh, Brave Combo's working on a polka record, on a new polka record [Polkas For A Gloomy World].
Joe: We certainly are.
Jeffrey: And it's, it's just about done. It's, uh, maybe will be out, maybe in May?
Joe: Hopefully in May.
Rodney: And Americans will be able to buy this one?
Jeffrey: Yes.
Joe: Real, live Americans.
Rodney: Wow, that's great. What, um, so just a smattering of all kinds of stuff? Covers and originals?
Jeffrey: Yeah. It'll be, yeah, both of those things. [Rodney laughs] Polkas and waltzes...
Joe: Polkas and waltzes -- and, uh, I don't know the ratio, but definitely originals. Jeffrey -- I just heard Jeffrey's, uh, one he did on it, today, he mixed it yesterday and I was quite happy with it, Jeffrey, I must tell you on the air here.
[Rodney laughs]
Jeffrey: Wow.
Joe: It's, it's, you'll have something to look forward to, folks.
Jeffrey: Thank you, Joe.
Joe: Sure.
Rodney: Is this coming out this spring, you think?
Joe: I think, around May, hopefully, sometime.
Rodney: Rounder, Rounder's gonna produce...?
Joe: Probably Rounder.
Rodney: Wow. Well, I heard Carl was on NPR a while back, because you did that record with Tiny Tim recently.
[murmurings]
Rodney: Tell us about that. How'd you get in with Tiny Tim?
Jeffrey: Oh, we've been working with him for a [laughs], a number of years. He was first brought to us by a promoter named Big Bucks Burnett, who owned a record store in Denton, who's kind of head of his fan club, I think. And, he brought him to Denton and we had a chance to record with him and we jumped at the opportunity, because he's a complete original.
Rodney: Right.
Jeffrey: You know, and he's a walking library of old popular songs.
Rodney: Yeah, he knows, he has a real encyclopedic knowledge.
Jeffrey: It's wonderful, it really is wonderful.
Rodney: I guess people don't realize that about him.
Jeffrey: No [laughs].
Joe: He is like the Guinness Book of Records for something like playing songs from memory back-to-back.
Jeffrey: Back to back without repeating.
Rodney: Right.
Joe: Yeah, something like that.
Jeffrey: He can do that.
Rodney: Didn't he also eat a box of Rice-a-Roni dry one time?
Jeffrey: That's what he, he claimed to.
[Joe giggles]
Jeffrey: We went to dinner with him once and he says, he said that to Carl, Carl says he says that, and Carl said, "Well, why did you do that, Mr. Tim?" and he, says, "Well, Mr. Finch, I really don't know." [laughs] Well, I don't know, I've, I've uh....
Rodney: He's a puzzle.
Jeffrey: He's a very original person.
Rodney: Well, you have a video out, too, right? Here in Austin? That, uh, the artist from Eyebeam did?
Joe: Sam Hurt, right.
Rodney: Right, yeah. And that's showing on Austin Access.
Joe: Right, he and Chan Chandler, uh, his partner, came out and, shot some shows, and did a thing to the Hokey Pokey, our last EP.
Rodney: Oh yeah, how's that going, the EP, are people responding well?
Joe: Seem to be, seem to be.
Rodney: Yeah? So everyone's dancing?
Joe: Everyone is, we've noticed, uh, definitely more organization as we go around the country now, in people's dancing.
Rodney: Oh, really?
Joe: People getting together in the middle of the floor and not just kinda wiggling around independently, but organizing themselves...
Rodney: Right.
Joe: ...and synchronizing their movements.
Rodney: Oh.
Joe: Not unlike what will be going on tonight at Liberty Lunch!
Rodney: Right.
Joe: How do ya like that one? [laughs]
Rodney: You guys are pros, I tellya. Well, what's this? You have another import record that we have cued up. What is this?
Jeffrey: Oh this is, uh, an album we did in collaboration with a Japanese ondo artist, named Kikusuimaru. He's the most, maybe, iconoclastic and far-out controversial ondo artist who is.... Uh, that's like summer festival music around the Osaka area which is of course, where it's been hit by the earthquake and, of course, we give out good thoughts and hopes to them.
Rodney: Yeah, you've probably got a lot of friends....
Jeffrey: Uh-huh.
Joe: Yeah.
Jeffrey: We do. We have a friend in Kobe. And we hope to find that he's okay.
Joe: Yeah, we played Kobe and it's a beautiful place and Kyoto is near there, which is also where a lot of the old temples, and stuff are and those were both kind of the hardest hit areas, I guess, so, we'll wait and see what's been done or who's okay when we get there next time, sometime.
Jeffrey: But, maybe coincidentally, the song that we'd like to play is the theme song from a, from a samurai television show, which is kind of their equivalent of our Westerns. And the title is, "Ah, Life Has Many Tears."
Rodney: All right. And what's the name of the album?
Jeffrey: The album is Kikusuimaru Meets Brave Combo.
Rodney: [laughing] Here we go. Judge for yourself!
[Plays "Another Heart Breaks From Tradition']
Rodney: More Brave Combo that you can not hear in this country, normally. And tell us again, what was that?
Jeffrey: Uh, I made a mistake, okay?
Rodney: [laughs] Yeah?
Jeffrey: That wasn't "Ah, Life Has Many Tears," that was "Akebono, Sumo Champion." Akebono was the first non-Japanese sumo champion, a number of years ago, I can't really, don't really know when. He was a great big Hawaiian guy who has since been defeated.
Rodney: Uh-huh.
Joe: Yeah, the Japanese people weren't happy about that.
Rodney: Right.
Jeffrey: Yeah, but Kikusuimaru wrote this song as actually as a Kiku, as an Akebono fan, because he likes him so he wrote this song about him. [Joe laughs]
Rodney: Wow, it's kind of weird of Brave Combo, that, uh, a lot of bands that have this super-stardom, I've heard allude to you a lot, which -- obviously you guys are really big but not -- but not quite that big, like, Tom Waits and David Byrne, and stuff. Do you ever interact with them or get anything directly, or just, do you pick up on that, ever?
Jeffrey: Oh, well....
Joe: We've learned how to access some of their bank accounts.
Rodney: Oh!
Joe: No, no. [laughs]
Rodney: [laughing] Very clever!
Joe: No, we've done a few things, we've uh, of course the band has periodically been associated with David Byrne, in one thing or another, whether it be, his wedding, which Brave Combo played. [To Jeffrey] I guess you know more about that, that's before my time.
Jeffrey: Oh, yeah...
Rodney: Uh-huh.
Jeffrey: ...played his wedding reception. [laughs] That's got us a lot of wedding receptions!
Rodney: [laughing] Oh really?
Joe: Did the music for True Stories, uh, opened up for him in Dallas a couple of years back, things like that. Uh, Tom Waits?
Jeffrey: Tom Waits, never met him, but he, he's said some nice things about us. And we'd like to say some nice things about him, too. We...
Joe: Yeah, he's a helluva guy! [laughs]
Jeffrey: We think he's swell! We like him, too.
Rodney: They Might Be Giants were here recently and they dedicated a song to you.
Jeffrey: Well, them, too! We like them, too!
Rodney: [laughing] Aw, you're just kissing up to 'em! You don't mean it, you don't mean it.
Joe: That's very nice of them, I heard about that, I did hear about that up in Denton. [To Rodney] I think you told me that.
Rodney: Yeah, I think so.
Joe: And, uh, that was a very nice thing to hear. It's always nice to hear things like that, you know when you're, you're kind of out there in, well, we're in Denton, you know, which is nice...
Rodney: It's much bigger than I thought. I went through there recently...
Joe: Yeah, sure...
Rodney: And you have the best used bookstore, and record store.
Jeffrey: We do, we do.
Rodney: That is incredible!
Joe: Oh yeah, right down on the square.
Rodney: Yeah.
Jeffrey: Recycled. [Recycled Books Records CDs on Locust]
Joe: Well, if you ever go to Denton, and you go there, it's right on the square, and our rehearsal room and all is right down in the same building.
Rodney: Oh, really?
Joe: So we can just go upstairs and buy books and records. It's really nice.
Rodney: I noticed walking on the square that all the little shops, little antique shops, and the records stores all have something of Brave Combo -- either a poster, or a few tapes for sale...
Jeffrey: Mmmm.
Joe: Yeah, we service the area. We're our own best distributor.
Rodney: And you're doing the uh, you do a Christmas show at the courthouse there?
Jeffrey: Every year. For two consecutive years, now.
[Rodney laughs]
Joe: Every year for the past two years we've done that.
Rodney: Since 1992!
[Joe laughs]
Rodney: Wow, what a service record you have! [Joe laughs] Well, let's give away a pair of tickets. If you want to go see Brave Combo...uh, big show at Liberty Lunch! Should we ask -- do you have a question or anything? I don't know, it's always fun to torment people.
Joe: Oh, like a little contest? Wow. [To Jeffrey] Oh! Your coyote question! I like that one.
Jeffrey: Ohhh! This is a hard one. [Joe laughs] There are...coyotes...in...every state in the United States -- and by the way, they're growing, the population -- um, there are coyotes in every state but two. We'll give you Hawaii and tell you the other one isn't Alaska, and see if anybody comes up with the right state.
Rodney: Oh, great.
Jeffrey: If that's too hard, we'll come up with something else.
Rodney: Yeah, but we'll try this first.
[Joe giggles]
Rodney: So if you know which state does not have coyotes, right?
Joe: And this is the last time we checked, I mean, mmm-hmmm.
Rodney: Right. They could have imported some, right?
Joe: Yeah, so....
Rodney: All right. Well, call us up at 495-KVRX, 495-KVRX, and we'll give you a pair of tickets to see Brave Combo tonight. And then, you wanna play another song from this? That, um, samurai song?
Jeffrey: Yeah, we would like to play this. "Ah, Life Has Many Tears." And it's a, like I say, it's like a Western, a Japanese Western, played like James Brown.
[Plays "Ah, Life Has Many Tears"]
Rodney: Wow, we finally got a winner, right there at the end! You guys want to tell what it is?
Jeffrey: Yes, it's Delaware!
[Joe laughs]
Jeffrey: Delaware. The first state.
Joe: The first state.
Jeffrey: Probably there's no coyotes because they'd have to cross Philadelphia or swim the Delaware River.
Rodney: Ah.
Jeffrey: Um. Probably.
Joe: So there you have it!
Jeffrey: They'll probably get over there pretty soon, too.
Rodney: Brave Combo is smart!
[Joe laughs]
Rodney: You heard it, it's true!
Joe: That's uh, "Brave Combo is smart", I like that.
Rodney: That could be your next album.
Joe: "Brave Combo is smart."
Rodney: [laughs] So, anything else coming up?
Joe: No! [laughs]
Rodney: You were going to go to Japan, right, but you're just going to stay home...
Joe: Nothing coming up... .
Rodney: ...you're going to call in your shows...
Jeffrey: We'll stay around close, within around a 300-mile radius until the spring thaw, and then maybe we'll kind of range out and we'll have a polka record for us to, you know, get out there and promote!
[Rodney laughs]
Joe: Yeah, there has been talk of a tour to Japan, but nothing is definite, but now, after this past week, much more in question when that would happen, or if.
Rodney: Yeah, I can imagine. And I heard Newt Gingrich has targeted you to have all your funding cut.
Joe: It's sad but true, and uh, fortunately us, and unfortunately for Newt, but we had to fax him today and let him know that we get no government funding and that his funding had been cut. We have cut, we're not paying out taxes this year! [laughs]
Rodney: Hey, they're drunk, you can't trust them! Well, uh, anything else you want to tell us? What stuff do you guys listen to? You, you travel a lot, so you must either be talkative or listen to a lot of music, or hate each other, I dunno.
Jeffrey: No, we, we like each other.
Joe: No, we like each other. We do a lot of listening and a lot of talking in the van.
Rodney: Uh-huh. Oh, I know what I was going to, you're doing a show in March with, uh, with -- can we say this? -- Teen Titans, is that right?
Jeffrey: Yeah, I think so, I believe that's correct.
Joe: I hear rumblings about this. Yes I do.
Rodney: Yes? Wow, that should be fun. That'll be a good pairing.
Joe: Yes!
Rodney: You've heard their stuff, and it's acceptable to you?
Joe: On tape! I've heard a tape only. And, yes, in fact, we even requested that bill, on the strength of that tape. So we're excited to see them.
Rodney: Wow. That's at La Zona Rosa on, I think March third? I think.
Joe: Uh...
Rodney: Sometime in March, early March.
Joe: Yeah, something like that.
Rodney: So, change the question, any bands you listen to lately that have turned you on?
Jeffrey: Hmmmm, let's see, what have we heard that's, that's knocked us out?
Joe: The Polka Shamrocks.
Jeffrey: The Polka Shamrocks.
Rodney: Who are they?
Jeffrey: Well, they're a polka band, a Polish-American polka band from, Chicago, perhaps? I think, I think, I don't know where they're from.
Joe: Maybe Pennsylvania.
Jeffrey: Yeah, I think they are from Pennsylvania. And, uh, they have, just, a woman vocalist who is, uh, just....
Joe: Perfect!
Jeffrey: Perfect! And not only that but, I think it's her brother who plays the keyboard and has incredible facility on the keyboard and on the accordion. But of course, you know, you have to go to a Polish grocery store in Chicago to get one of these records.
Joe: If you're in Chicago, go by Eddie Blazonczyk's record store.
Rodney: Oh, yeah.
Jeffrey: Bel-Aire.
Joe: Bel-Aire Enterprises.
Jeffrey: On Harlem.
Joe: Way south on Harlem, it's in, I think, Bridgeview, actually, a suburb. And he'll have some Polka Shamrocks albums. [no longer in stock] And he also has a convenience store, also.
Rodney: Right.
Jeffrey: Y'all write that down...
Joe: Write that down!
Jeffrey: ...and tell 'em we sent you.
Joe: Tell 'em we sent you, 'cause we go in there a lot. And usually they have vinyl very cheap now...
Rodney: Um-hmmm.
Joe: ...and they're, like, two dollars a record, or something.
Rodney: Isn't he the guy who tries to sell you his old vans, and stuff?
Joe: His old bus! He was trying to sell us his old bus. And he finally sold it to someone else, uh...
Rodney: Oh.
Joe: ...and everytime we go in, though, it's, like, his daughter or his, his wife...
Rodney: His daughter is...
Joe: ...are usually working because Eddie B. is a very popular polka artist himself and...
Rodney: Oh, okay.
Joe: ...and tours extensively, probably doing as well as anyone out there, his band.
Jeffrey: He must play two hundred and fifty times a year.
Joe: Oh, yeah, and he has his own record label, the Bel-Aire label and he puts out, like, maybe Polka Shamrocks may be on the Bel-Aire label. [LeMans Records, no longer in business.]
Rodney: Uh-huh.
Joe: And he produces a lot of that stuff. His recording studio is in the back of the convenience store, and all.
Rodney: Oh, wow.
Joe: And, uh, it is definitely worth checking out. If you're ever in, you know, go to Chicago, and, you know, it's a little bit out of the way, but...
Rodney: Mmm-hmmm.
Joe: ...definitely worth a trip. We go by there a lot and buy a lot of stuff.
Jeffrey: If you're interested in polka records, and polka recordings.
Rodney: That's the place to go.
Jeffrey: Yeah, and there's not very many places to go.
Rodney: Hmmm.
Joe: Not anymore.
Rodney: Well, let's leave 'em with a song, ah....
Jeffrey: Okay.
Rodney: Chris gave us this, is there something you want to hear off this?
Chris: Oh, ah, whatever.
Rodney: Whatever. Or, did you guys want to play something else?
Jeffrey: Well, um, gosh, I dunno. Is there something you want to hear on that one? What is on there, anyway?
Rodney: This is the Polka Comes to Your Haus compilation.
Jeffrey: Oh, well, you got, uh....
Chris: Texas polka...
Jeffrey: Uh, "Do Something Different"?
Rodney: Yeah, that's always a good one.
Jeffrey: Or, uh, are we going to play Brave Combo? Or are we going to play...
Rodney: Yeah!
Jeffrey: ...not necessarily, or are we're going to play whatever we want, huh?
Rodney: Not necessarily.
Jeffrey: Huh?
Rodney: Not necessarily, it's your choice.
Jeffrey: Well, in that case, what would you like to hear?
Joe: [to Chris] What did you say?
Chris: Oh, it's just Texas polka, so it's not...
Jeffrey: I think I might like to hear, uh, Polkacide play the "Butterfly Polka."
Rodney: All right!
Joe: Aww, that would be nice.
Rodney: All right, I need to, I need to get the CD.
Jeffrey: Okay, I'm sorry, there it is.
Rodney: He was holding the case, there. All right, so, Brave Combo tonight -- not too long, right, you guys are coming on pretty soon?
Joe: Probably, probably around ten.
Rodney: What number was that [song]?
Jeffrey: It was the last one.
Rodney: Last one, thirteen. All right. So it's Brave Combo tonight, first show in Austin this year, with Armadillo Folk Dancers, at Liberty Lunch, pretty soon, and, I'm sure it'll be a fair price.
Joe: A fair price!
Rodney: A fair price will be had.
Joe: Happy new year, everyone!
Rodney: Thanks! Thanks for coming by.
Joe: Thank you for having us, Rodney. Thank you for having this station in Austin. People are lucky.
Rodney: Yeah, it's going well, we're happy about it. So, here we go -- oh! I dunno -- you guys want to do a station ID real quick?
Joe: Sure.
Rodney: Okay, just say KVRX-Austin and anything else you want.
Joe and Jeffrey sing: KVRX-Austin
Joe: ...anything else, uh, everyone should listen to this station twenty-four hours a day. Are y'all on twenty-four hours?
Rodney: Nnn, well, more or less.
Joe: More or less! So if it's not, listen to the static! [laughs]
Rodney: You should say who you are, though.
Jeffrey: Oh, yeah
Joe: We're Brave Combo, we're..., I'm Jeff.
Jeffrey: And I'm Joe!
Joe: From Brave Combo!
Rodney: All right! [laughs]
Joe: Wait...I'm Joe...
Jeffrey: Oh, okay, um, I'm Jeff. Sorry.
Rodney: They've got it now. Brave Combo tonight, ten o'clock, Liberty Lunch. Texas Caviar is up next, but here is some Polkacide. Thanks a lot guys. Appreciate it....
Joe: Thank you!
[Plays Polkacide's "Butterfly Polka"]