THE DEAD SWEETHEARTS BALL KILLS 'EM AGAIN!

We held our 7th annual Dead Sweetheart's Ball on February 12.... and once again, it was a smashing success! And we once again topped last year's tally of 57, as we offed 89 this year! Kudos to those homicidal musicians and fans that helped with our little Austin honky-tonk Jonestown.

For you non-Austinites, here's what the hell I'm talking about: Teri Joyce's band, The Tagalongs, was originally called The Dead Sweethearts back around 1997-8. That band was: Teri, myself, Jim Stringer (guitar), Lisa Pankratz (drums), Brad Fordham (bass), and T Jarrod Bonta (piano). With the usual Austin band-shuffle that happens in our scene (everybody plays with everybody), the name eventually changed to the more accurate Tagalongs.

In 1998, after sitting around complaining about an updoming Valentines day, we decided to do an anti-Valentines night, in honor of the holiday's namesake -- a night full of songs about lovers killing each other, or dying for various reasons. We were all big fans of the "murder ballad" (as well as just being generally sick-humored individuals), a tradition of song dating back over 100 years, that is/was especially prevalent in country music, all the way up to today. In fact, I've written a few myself, and I've recorded two of them so far on my records -- "What Did I Do" on The Lowdown, and "Don't Nobody Love Me (Like My Baby)" on Hillbilly Heights.

The Dead Sweethearts Ball was originally held for the first couple of years at Ginny's Little Longhorn, but for need of a bigger dance floor (plus the fact that it seemed a bit disrespectful to do it there after Don died) we moved it to the Carousel Lounge. And it fits perfectly there, with the circus decor and limited lighting adding just the right amount of kitzch and creepiness to the occasion. There is also plenty of room for dancing (an abundance of waltzes in murder songs), and much more room for listening, drinking, and hanging out.

We do the night with a core band (the original Dead Sweethearts, occasionally over the years substituting players if needed), and invite several special guests up throughout the night to perform a killin' song or two. The Lovely Widow K keeps the tally board, along with methods of death -- number of people offed in each song, tick-marked off beside images of a knife, a gun, an exploding car, a hanging, a train wreck, etc. Yes, it's sick. And a helluva lot of fun.

This year's guests included Karen Poston, Susanna Van Tassel, Rick Broussard, Caroline Casey, Brian Rise, and The Hummingbirds. Karen gave us "Country Bumpkin", Susanna gave us "Philadelphia Lawyer", and Rick Broussard gave us an original re-written composition of "Cupid Draw Back Your Bow" that was hilarious and appropriately twisted. Brian blasted out rousing renditions of a few old-timers like "Polly", and Caroline roused us with a Louvin Brothers tune (whose title escapes me right now!).

We added a few extra twists this year, including the band dressing in funeral attire, and Widow K as the "anti-widow", adorned in a little pink velour number, with wine-red go-go boots, sweetly presenting the tally board while standing beside a vase of dead daisies as a table centerpiece. And musically -- we didn't stop with just the country this year! Probably the best moment of the night was the last song of the first set -- Teri, Caroline, and Haley (after wowing us with "Leader Of The Pack", with Karen, and complete with Jim's chopper-effects) left our jaws agape and holding our sides with a spot-on epic version of Julie Brown's "Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun", from 1984. Yes, Teri was actually pogo-ing, and T actually had his keyboard set to "synthesizer", possibly for the first time in the life of said keyboard, and Lisa said "Put down the gun and tiara and step out of the float!" into a megaphone. Wow! I've never seen such a spectacle -- the band was tight as a drum, the arrangement was perfect, and Teri performed it with a perfect mix of zeal, comedy, and musicality. Freaking awesome. Also going out of the "country box", Caroline belted out G 'n R's "I Used To Love Her (Him)", and Jim snubbed a few out with some original compositions, including his "In My Hand" from the CD of the same name, as well as a couple of new ones like "Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Was The Play?" and a song about a guy who accidentally murders his girlfriend's twin sister. And if you're ever at Ginny's on one of Jim's Tuesdays (he and I alternate weeks), stick around to hear him play his epic "The Confession", one of the best killin' songs I've ever heard.

All in all, a sick and twisted success once again! Thanks again to all those who came out to dance and witness the carnage -- we had our best crowd to date, in number (100+ coming through the doors), enthusiasm, and participation -- and to all the Dead Sweethearts and special guest Pallbearers and Covered Dishes. Hope to see all you sickos next year!

Roger