Mid-90's Musical Memories

The other day I was scrolling through YouTube, trying to avoid the news and generally wasting time. Mostly looking over photography and travel videos, I was struck when the Algorithm served up this:

Mesmerized, I watched the performance feeling a particular wave of nostalgia. I never had the pleasure of seeing No Doubt in concert, but their breakthrough album Tragic Kingdom intersected my life in a powerful way, at an important junction.

We all have time periods that solidify our musical tastes. For most, it is our teenage years, when you are maybe 13 or 15 and just claiming your personhood. In my case, that was probably the peak MTV years, 1982-1984.

But another time period really embedded itself in my musical DNA, cultivated by a very odd mix of genres, geographies, and personal circumstances. It was 1994 and 1995.

So if you will forgive me, today I am going to indulge in excavating some very specific memories. Maybe 3 or 4 of you will relate…we’ll see.

To set the stage, I graduated college in 1994 and was beginning my career. I had a real job, a new apartment, and a new truck - all for the first time. I was living in a suburb of Austin, TX, commuting quite a ways to my office for work. Money in my pocket and free-time aplenty, I drifted around central Texas , trying to figure out what to do with myself. It’s an intoxicating time, being on your own and in “the real world”, still coasting on the college experience but also realizing that you are - like - an adult.

I began taking graduate classes at night and soon was on the road several hours a day, first commuting to work in one direction then heading to class in the other. Suffice it to say I had plenty of time in my truck, with nothing but a radio and CD player (a newly installed 6-disc changer with new speakers!) to keep me company. This was the time before podcasts, so it was music, talk radio, or nothing.

I chose music.

Being in the Austin scene afforded me quite an array of musical influences and I soaked things up. Many a weekend I would find myself in Waterloo Records perusing new releases or meeting friends at a local bar or venue to catch a live show.

So without further preamble, here are a few highlights from my memory banks. Musicians, songs, and albums that stuck with me during that 2-year period:

Of course, this being the nineties, grunge and grunge-adjacent music dominated the culture. It permeated the airwaves and probably damaged my hearing. I already mentioned No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom - a killer album. But I also have specific recollections of driving down I-35 with Interstate Love Song and Miss World playing.

We were past the first wave of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, where a host of imitators and sideline acts jumped into the mosh-pit. Some good, some bad, but all very loud.

Yet it was a weird time in general musically, a transitional period that actually didn’t seem to have a center of gravity. Shortly, hip-hop, boy bands, and the era of the Diva would come to dominate.

But I was in Austin, TX. The Live Music Capital of the World, home to SXSW (at its peak) and Willie Nelson. Accordingly, I was going to drink from the firehose of regional artists and Texas Country.

It’s hard to imagine the splash made by the Mavericks and their album What a Cryin’ Shame made in 1994. Their sound was original and country-adjacent, charting a new path that few musicians subsequently took. I was fortunate to see them at their peak at a session at SXSW, at the now long-gone venue La Zone Rosa.

And it was there, as part of a stellar lineup that I’ll never forget, that I was exposed to Flaco Jimenez. Flaco was already a legend, a member of the Texas Tornados. But his solo album stuck with me and surprisingly became a frequent staple in my CD player. Not knowing what to expect, he came out with his accordion and nearly upstaged the rest of the artists, particularly when he performed his collaboration with Rodney Foster…Jealous Heart.

I can’t actually recall when I first saw Junior Brown. It was either at that La Zone Rosa session or maybe solo at the world famous Continental Club. In either case, I vividly remember feeling the deep, body-twanging pulse of his sound, being amazed at his contraption of a guitar made up of a steel guitar and a traditional 6-string, and my jaw dropping when he vigorously cranks the tuning peg in Broke Down South of Dallas.

But if one single album acted as the soundtrack of this period in my life, it would have to be Robert Earl Keen’s masterpiece Gringo Honeymoon. Keen is a Texas institution, and the 90’s saw him at the height of his powers. His storytelling style, nasally voice, and yard-party vibe made his live performances must-see events. I probably saw him live around 4-6 times in a relatively short period.

The songs of Gringo Honeymoon in particular matched my life in numerous ways. It’s a wistful, nostalgic album…full of songs about travel, home, life choices, regret, and humor. To me, newly released on the world yet uncertain of my future, it felt like comfort food.

But Austin has broader boundaries than you might expect, it’s one of the things that makes the city a cultural icon. Beyond the expected country and rock, you could find jazz, blues, reggae, samba, and more. Many a night I would meet up with friends at an another now defunct music venue to catch the peculiar jazz band 8-1/2 Souvenirs. Their recently released album Happy Feet made it into my regular drive-time playlist. 8-1/2 Souvenirs are the kind of regional institution that locals love but go unnoticed by the rest of the world.

Finally, another local Austin institution enters the chat. Toni Price has been performing in and around Austin for decades, with a smooth voice and bluesy, folksy delivery. Her songs Hey and Tumbleweed are favorites of mine to this day.

And that’s where this time period of my life winds down. In the fall of 1995 I met my future wife (the Good and Patient Caroline - Official and Exclusive Spouse of The CD Dispatch).

On our first date we went to see Toni Price at the Continental Club, and my life shifted from one phase to another…

But I still recall fondly that brief period from 1994 to 1995, mostly carefree, exploring the world, and driving my Toyota through the Hill Country with grunge and country and jazz in my ears…

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I have created a Spotify playlist of some of the musicians noted above and others of the time period. Click the image below and enjoy:

Farewell photo

A little slice of life, until next time…

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Disclaimer:

All content and opinions are solely those of the author (Jack), and not representative of my employer, former employers, anyone in Congress, my family, former college roommates, Baptists, the good citizens of Colorado, or my dog Mabel.