Austin Band Source
Featured Artist April 2006

Each month, we feature one Texas band that deserves notice.  For April we've selected the Spitfire Tumbleweeds from Denton.

The way to write American music is simple. All you have to do is be an American and then write any kind of music you wish. ~ Virgil Thomson

As with most bands, the Spitfire Tumbleweeds began as a couple of friends playing a few songs together.  But what resulted was far from typical.  Gathering members from other successful local bands, this Denton group emerged on the scene with a sound like no other and you can bet they won't be outside the spotlight long.

Fronted by lead vocalist Scott Porter, this Texas sized band emits energetic harmonies that directly challenge every band that came before them.  WIth Justin Collins evoking music from such "instruments" as sheet metal, cowbell, and even a disc brake, the Spitfire Tumbleweeds somehow manage to tear through musical boundaries while producing a sound that true Texans and music fans everywhere can immediately identify with. One listed to their debut album King James Version, and I was entranced.

For those of us who bleed acoustic twang but find ourselves drawn to the raucus guitar solos of rock and metal, the Spitfire Tumbleweeds are the embodiment of juxtaposed sounds and feelings. Part country, part rock, and all Texan, I've yet to find a listener who isn't strangely captivated with their Willie Nelson meets Headbangers Ball musical sound.

Spitfire Tumbleweeds is Scott Porter (vocals/theramin), Kody Jackson (Guitars/vocals), Cory Ward (Bass), Warren Jackson Hearne (Banjo/mandolin), Alex Maples (Drums), Justin Collins (Percussions/vocals/sheet metal/ cowbell/ disc brake), Aaron White (Pedal Steele/12 string electric/6 string electric).

Don't miss their upcoming shows in the Denton are:
Noon April 27th at the Fry Street Fair
3pm May 6th at Lucky Lou's Mudbug
8pm May 20th at Wine² Festival

And be sure to check them out at www.spitfiretumbleweeds.com and www.myspace.com/spitfiretumbleweeds.

Dallas Observer
Sam Machkovech
October 13th, 2005

Spitfire Tumbleweeds
King James Version (TXMF)

Is there a hidden swampland in Denton from which country-loving musicians sprout out of the murky water with banjo already in hand to rock out under the moonlight? Doubtful, but Spitfire Tumbleweeds make a case for such a Weekly World News-worthy scenario with their impressive debut record, King James Version. The Denton collective gathers members of local post-punk and space-rock bands like Record Hop, jetscreamer and Super Love Attack to create a sound entirely unlike their brethren, where electric guitars, mandolins and slide guitars do-si-do around a campfire while tucking Black Sabbath tees underneath their country-cut long-sleeve shirts. The slide-and-mandolin beauty of "Harvest Hymn" and the murky, murderous stomp of "Badlands (Pt. 2)" will give country music haters something fresh and interesting to chew on, and lead singer Scott Porter unleashes a surprisingly strong howl on KJV, though he hides his vocal talent in the mix by singing through what sounds like a CB radio--what gives?--and when guitarist Kody Jackson sings, he sounds like a sadistic cross between a crazy fogey lost in the woods and the lead singer from Crash Test Dummies. Either of those would prove annoying if the musicianship behind the affair wasn't so thick, as the eight-piece whips up rocking guitar solos, squealing theremins and soulful pedal steel sermons that are as fit for a Western movie soundtrack as they are a horror flick. Yee-haw and fuck yeah, guys.

North Texas Daily Online
Tumbleweeds play Texas tunes
What began as a few songs between two friends in Fort Worth has grown into something of a serendipitous "super group" of musicians, hand-plucked from some of Denton's finest bands.

The Spitfire Tumbleweeds family boasts eight members from a collective 15 bands in Denton (a number that is hard to pinpoint given the revolving door nature and unstable turnover rate of the musical landscape).

In 1998, Scott Porter (vocals and theremin) and Kody Jackson (vocals and guitar) moved from Fort Worth to Denton "with the distinct purpose of playing in bands, trying to get started in the lifestyle of working musicians," according to Porter.

At the time, they had a handful of songs that they were toying with, but got sidetracked by the onslaught of band opportunities in Denton.

"The Weeds were what we were supposed to be doing the whole time," Porter said. "That's why we moved up here. We were going to play together, and it was these country-type songs that we had going."

Both wound up playing with the Fabulous Badasses and Shark Versus Samurai. In addition, Porter performs in Record Hop and Blues Deportation, and Jackson also plays with the Big Ol' Bastards.

"We ended up being in rock bands for a couple of years and then just kind of on the fly got offered a show and put the Weeds together accidentally," Jackson said.

Slowly, the band began to take shape as the pair made their way in to the Denton music scene playing with their other respective projects.

"We were finally getting to do this project right, [what] we started in Fort Worth," Porter said. "We were meeting people that we thought would be a good fit. Before we even knew each other, we would see each other at the bar. I'd probably seen half these guys' bands 20 times before we started playing together.

"Things began to pick up when Warren Jackson Hearne (and the Merrie Murdre of Gloomadeers) asked the guys to open for his band a couple of years ago.

"We had an opportunity to open just as an acoustic duo for Warren Hearne, so we called some of our buddies like an hour before the show and taught them some of the songs," Jackson said. "Those people are still in the band.

"The rent-to-own members Jackson spoke of were drummer Alex Maples of Super Love Attack and Cory Ward of Record Hop and Current Leaves, who plays bass.

With a standard four-piece line-up, the band was technically in business. However, Hearne was so impressed that he came on board, bringing with him his banjo and mandolin. Brett Burrows from Porter and Jackson's first and now defunct Denton band, Raoul Duke (which Ward also played in), was asked to fill in on lead guitar.

Eventually, the Burnt Sienna Trio's Justin Collins added his vocals and what the band calls "percussions," with emphasis on the plurality of the word, which includes playing a piece of sheet metal and banging on the disc brake of a car with a ball pin hammer.

Current Leaves frontman Aaron White said he was looking for an outlet for his pedal steel playing, and the Weeds' assortment of instruments was a perfect fit.

"I think I saw a flier for them, and I was like 'what's this, there's another country band in town. I don't like it,'" White joked. "They were playing at Mable's, and Warren called me to see if I would play a solo because they were short an axe. I was playing pedal steel but not in a band, and I had no way to do it in Current Leaves. So I saw that as a golden opportunity," White said.

By March of last year, White had been officially added to the band's roster, and the Weeds have been playing to an increasingly rowdy crowd of Denton show-goers and fellow musicians ever since.

"When Aaron [White] and JC [Collins] and these other dudes that we respected and got to know and enjoyed their company seemed interested, it just really made sense for us to try to do this," Porter said.

The band's roots are not outside the realm of country music, due in part to some members being "raised in the sticks" and growing up listening to their parents' country records like ZZ Top, Willie Nelson and Asleep At The Wheel.

"Growing up in Texas, it's unavoidable," Porter said. "It's less of a country band and more of a Texas band."

"It's everybody's background music because it was all that was on the radio," White said.

However, the band's sound is not that of your traditional country band. The Weeds said it is country band with a Tom Waits, Nick Cave or the Jesus Lizard influence.

"This is not a Nashville sounding produced record.," Jackson said. "We're not country. We're western. True country fans don't like us much.

"After over a year of gigging in Denton and writing songs with the current line-up, the Weeds decided to cut a record. The band recorded their first album, King James Version, last October at The Echo Lab in Denton.

The band said that if you missed its official album release party at Hailey's last Saturday, you "missed a good show". However, you may get another chance to see the band play and celebrate the coming of the first album.

The band said fans can look for an "all-night, weirdo country throw-down" album release part at Dan's Silverleaf in the next couple of months.

Texas Gigs
March 21st, 2005

SXSW was nothing short of a freakin’ blast. Lemme break it down…

Best Performance - this is a tough one, but I gotta give the gold to Spitfire Tumbleweeds. Those boys tore things up at the Longbranch Inn on Friday…and I cannot wait to see ‘em live again!

Most Memorable Performance - This one is a tie between Sorta’s performance on Saturday at Opal Divine’s and the impromptu jam with Marcus Striplin, John Dufilho and assorted others. While Sorta commanded the stage a huge HUGE storm blew through….but the band played on like it was nuthin’.

Most Surreal Experience - shaking Bob Schneider’s hand…and no…I shall never wash it. Food intake - 3 meals total the entire 4 days…no time for eatin’… Booze intake - Bloody Marys - 3; Wine - 200; Beer - 2 Bands Seen - Cord / Mina Mauldin / Opie Hendrix / Johnny Goudie / Bob Schneider / Freeloader / Rose County Fair / Radio Nationals / Pleasant Grove / Peter Schmidt / Sorta / Spitfire Tumbleweeds / Slick 57 / The Boy Bathing / Todd Deathrage Hours of Sleep - 6 total in 4 days Overheard - Great inteview with Shane Bartell on KLBJ So so so so so much fun!

I’m going through the broadcasts and will letcha know when it’ll re-broadcast…now where the hell is my Advil…

Set List
Maltoro, Spitfire Tumbleweeds
Friday, January 21, at Double Wide
Sam Machkovech

Last Friday night at Double Wide looked more like the biker bar Reno's Chop Shop Saloon. That's because Dallas' Maltoro, featuring members of the now-defunct country-metal band Ghoultown, headlined the evening and brought their favorite roughnecks and rockabilly babes along for the ride. Sadly, those fans weren't much of an audience for openers Spitfire Tumbleweeds. When the Denton septet began, Double Wide again transformed, this time into Austin's Continental Club--country music this deep, rich and unique couldn't be in Dallas, right? Well, ST turns out to be one of the finest country bands I've heard around town, sounding as if Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds crash-landed in an East Texas forest, set up camp and jammed in a shack. The band pays equal tribute to Hank Williams III and Johnny Cash, but their biggest asset is cohesiveness. Aside from a couple of silly blues guitar solos, the guys keep a level head as banjo, mandolin, slide guitar and the surprisingly rich vocals of Record Hop's Scott Porter blend together like a dark, Southern stew. Despite a few fans, though, the crowd sat silent while awaiting their dark lords.