ABOUT
R. C. BANKS
If experience
is indeed the best teacher, then R. C. Banks has earned a Ph.D. in real American
music. From the time he hit his first stage with his accordion at the age
of six in his native Lubbock, TX, Banks has cut a swath across the Southwest
in a succession of bands playing a kaleidoscope of styles, often at the
same time. Along the way, he has worked with such folks as former Small
Face Ronnie Lane, a then 14-year-old Charlie Sexton and Austin legend Harvey
"Tex" Thomas. His
songs have been recorded by Lane, Joe Ely - both on his own and in an as-yet
unreleased duet with Linda Ronstadt - Charlie and Will Sexton, "Long
Black Veil" co-writer Mary John Wilkins and Texas country-folk thrush
Kimmie Rhodes. Yet he has remained one of the largely undiscovered treasures
on the lively Austin and Texas roots music scenes until now, with the release
of Conway's Corner on Loud House Records.
The disc has already been declared "one of the best albums I've heard
this year," by Australian critic and deejay Eric Black, who notes how
"every track on this album is an absolute gem." Likewise, Banks'
hometown weekly, the Austin Chronicle, named Conway's Corner
the #1 Texas Album of the Year, while critics have been running to the kitchen
to cook up superlatives to describe its multi-stylistic, soulful musical
stew and encapsulate the richness and heart that pervade the disc.
Austin American-Statesman critic Michael Corcoran likens Conway's
Corner to a pot roast "that's sizzling with all sorts of chopped
up ingredients like carrots, kale, onions, bell peppers and celery, plus
a few bones of mysterious origin for a flavorful twist." He declares
the tasty platter "one of the most invigorating CDs to pull up a chair
and twist one off in a long time." Similarly, Rockzillaworld
warns diners, "It isn't Lean Cuisine, friends, it is a smorgasbord
of pickled pigs feet and hard boiled eggs, of collard greens, black-eyed
peas, blood sausage and Tabasco sauce. If you're ready for a down-home, poor-folks Southern musical banquet,
dig in."
Or in other words, Conway's Corner is a delicious musical repast
that is ruggedly nutritious if also a bit dangerous - as the best genuine
American roots music should be. It's rocking roadhouse Southwestern soul
that is "a no-frills celebration of the good times, hard knocks and
broken hearts of a Texas Saturday night," says the Austin Chronicle.
And if anyone knows the ingredients for a musical stew that transforms Saturday
evening into the night of your life, it's R. C. Banks. After all, he's been
doing just that for nearly four decades. Starting out with accordion lessons
and performances at age six, teethed on his parents' affection for Lawrence
Welk and the Ray Conniff Singers, Banks also lived and heard the music from
the other side of life during his summers working as a cowboy on his grandfather's
ranch outside Clovis, New Mexico. Then, on the radio, he heard Elvis for the first
time, followed soon after by Ray Charles, which was a major revelation.
"I knew he had something I wanted and that I wanted to be part of,"
says Banks.
In junior high in Lubbock, he began playing baritone sax in school bands
while also borrowing a guitar and amp from a friend down the street to start
his first rock 'n' roll group. Banks took up trumpet in the show band he
played in during his college years at Texas Tech while digging on blues
acts like Memphis Slim and the Butterfield Blues Band. His group Street
Theater landed in Los Angeles for a stint, and later Banks played Louisiana
music with some expatriate Cajuns in the Colorado Rockies before moving
to Austin.
Once there, Banks embraced the eclectic roots music styles that Austin music
is known for. Throughout the 1970s, he played in such reliable club acts
as Showdown, The River City Rockets, The Blue Beats and The Texas Sheiks
at such seminal Austin music joints as The One Knite, The Rome Inn, Soap
Creek Saloon and the original Antone's nightclub on Austin's Sixth St.
At the dawn of the 1980s, Banks hooked up with singer and songwriter Harvey
"Tex" Thomas to form The Danglin' Wranglers. The band's renegade
country Sunday night shows at Hut's Hamburgers are legendary as some of
the finest nights of music ever in that very musical city. He followed that
with a stint in the Groovemasters, which introduced a teenaged Charlie Sexton
to the Austin scene, and playing with his pal and Loud House Records label-mate,
accordionist Ponty Bones, in The Squeezetones.
Banks
then took his own accordion back up to form Zydeco Ranch and explore his
love of Louisiana music while also playing with famed British rocker Ronnie
Lane, who had relocated to Austin. Along the way Banks started releasing
records of his own as well as waxing three albums with Zydeco Ranch.
The sum of all this considerable journeyman experience has imbued Banks
with a musically rich palette that makes him "about as close as anyone
in the state to what a space alien would call a Texas musician,"
notes Jim Beal, Jr. on the San Antonio Express-News. With Conway's
Corner, Banks' fourth album, rapidly winning international acclaim,
one of the best-kept secrets in the Lone Star State is now being recognized
an avatar of genuine Texas music. As Michael Corcoran urges in the Austin
American-Statesman, "Do Banks a favor. No, do yourself a favor
and buy this."
Tracks
1. I Got Love 2.45
2. Courthouse 3.48
3. Walkin' on Air 3.54
4. Jenny Jones 2.10
5. Lonesome Texas 2.48
6. More Than the World to Me 4.29
7. Great Scott's BBQ 4.22
8. Those Days Are Gone 4.26
9. Now's the Time 4.24
10. Pecan Trees 3.38
11. Until the End of Time 3.53
12. Bangin' a Gong 4.03
13. South Plains Panhandle Fair 3.48
Buy Conway's Corner now from
Amazon.com
Lone Star Music
CD Baby
R. C.'s songs have been recorded by such artists as
Joe Ely
Linda Ronstadt
Charlie & Will Sexton
Kimmie Rhodes
Marijohn Wilkens
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R. C. BANKS
CONWAY'S
CORNER
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
AUSTIN CHRONICLE
#1 GROOVE MAGAZINE, AUSTRALIA
#9 MELBOURNE SUNDAY HERALD, AUSTRALIA
#9 RHYTHMS MAGAZINE, AUSTRALIA
TEXAS ALBUM OF THE YEAR
AUSTIN CHRONICLE
Rave
reviews at home and abroad for R. C. Banks!
Texas
can do without style frontiers. Wherever bands are able to cater for
Blues, Polka competitions and accordion duels, the critics can only
do a runner. R. C. Banks and Ponty Bone work out of Austin, and a decade
ago, both of them played in The Texas Slim Chance of the unforgotten
Austinite by choice, Ronnie Lane. Banks hails from Lubbock, he plays
a dirty R&B guitar, organ and accordion. Also, he rasps a rough
but heartfelt Blues rock, sings ballads, waltzes and good time-Country,
sometimes politically inclined: "Courthouse" for instance
criticizes the Americans´ alleged happy-to-sue mentality, musically
inspired by Dylan's "Maggie's Farm", in "Great Scott's
BBQ" sings about the joys of the Texan cuisine: "I'm talking
about potato salad" - and the girlie choir can only sigh "Yum
yum!".- Ponty Bone plays exactly what his friend and fellow Flaco
Jiminez out of Ry Cooder´s clan likes to call "Soul Accordion",
and he sings well, too. Apart from happy-go-lucky Rhumbas, Shuffles
and Polkas, he lets his band The Squeezetones take turns alternatively
as a coffeehouse combo, as The Sir Douglas Quintet or as Booker T. and
the MGs which, thanks to the Hammond organ work by one R. C. Banks (!)
works convincingly.
- Good Times
There
are two kinds of pot roast-one that's just meat and one that's sizzling
in all sorts of chopped up ingredients like carrots, kale, onions, bell
peppers and celery, plus a few bones of mysterious origin for a flavorful
twist. R. C. Banks is, musically, the second kind. The Austin music veteran
throws all sorts of nasty licks, like sweaty harmonica blasts and accordion
notes that are almost drunk in their yearning, over his Waitsian observations
on the new "Conway's Corner."
Structurally and lyrically, blues ballad "More Than the World To
Me" is a musical figure eight, but there's so much invention between
the notes that it sounds like nothing you've heard before. "If
you know what love is, then you know what's right," Banks growls
on "Now's the Time," sounding very much like he knows what's
right. On "Pecan Trees," he sings about a girl who passes
the tip jar without being asked and it sounds much more romantic than
if he described her eyes as precious stones.
Do Banks a favor. No, do yourself a favor and buy this, one of the most
invigorating CDs to pull up a chair and twist one off in a long time. - Austin American-Statesman
Conway's
Corner,
which incorporates blues, zydeco, roots rock, country and conjunto music,
is an excellent example of the hybrid creation that the best Texas music
has become. - Rockzillaworld
If
you're the type who bets on everything, including what genre of song
a musician will play next, you might well lose money betting on R. C.
Banks. The San Marcos based guitarist, accordionist, singer and songwriter
has long been one of the most eclectic and most in-demand in Texas.
Banks has shown the proclivity and the talent to move easily among blues;
Cajun, zydeco, country and whatever else moves his spirit at the moment.
With several solo albums to his credit, Banks has deftly mixed and matched
and left his mark on whatever he plays. Banks and his new band are working
with a new Banks album, "Conway's Corner," which showcases
a more introspective part of the man's character and music. - San Antonio Express News
Usually
when I listen to a good new CD, I can find a maximum of 3 or 4 good
songs acceptable to be broadcast; the problem is totally different
with him: I have to find the ones I will not broadcast. This CD is one
of the very good surprises of the new year. -
ISA Radio, France
The
music on Conway's Corner hits me 100%!!!... true/honest/real'n very
down to earth…yeah REALLY my thing. Lord
Dittmar - Berlin, Germany
WOW!
Great CD, really like the different feels on it. Had to make room for
it in tomorrow night's show. It's too good to leave till next week.
101 FM/Blue Country - Queensland, Australia
Think
it's great. Raw, sloppy, and tight! - Rhythms Music Magazine - New South Wales, Australia
Recorded
in Austin, this is a great, rockin' blues album. This Lubbock native,
R. C. shows off not just his vocal skills but also guitar, harmonica,
accordion, and Hammond organ. GREAT!!! -
KEOS 89.1 FM - College Station, Texas
I
love his songs, especially his blues titles.
- Radio Rhein Welle 92.5 Germany
Long
awaited release from R. C. Banks greatly surpassed the pre-release claims
of greatness, which has flown through our hands. Raw and rootsy and
wonderful, a friend from Germany was listening to it with us when it
arrived and he said, 'this could get very big, you know'. We know. - Local Flavor
- Corpus Christi, Texas
Read Roland
Schmitt's
DAS ROCKMAGAZIN
full
length review in German
Recorded at Arlyn Studios
November 2000
Produced by Booka Michel
Andre "Screaming Lizard" Zweer
Judy Kircshner
Artists featured on the CD include
R C BANKS
GUITAR
ACCORDIAN
HAMMOND B-3 ORGAN
HARMONICA
MIKE ROBBERSON
BASS
WOODY PRICE
STEEL GUITAR
JIM STARBOARD
DRUMS
BOOKA MICHEL
PERCUSSION
BEVIS GRIFFIN
DE LEWELLYN
BACKING VOCALS
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