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WINDY AUSTIN AND THE HOT HOUSE TOMATO BOYSWindy conditions
BY KEVIN KINDER Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Sunday, November 12, 2006
During his career, Windy Austin has performed onstage thousands of times. Just don't ask him to recap any of them. There is a self-created veil of mystery about the shows. The singer, clarinet player and social commentator prefers to let people guess. " I've heard tale I've done crazier things than I know, " said the Springdale resident. " I've heard it's fun to watch. But I just entertain the band. "
Word about the shows has leaked out. Internet comment boards are rife with tales about amazing shows that were equal parts music and antics.
Just how out-there is an Austin show ? In the 1970 s, his band Zorro and the Blue Footballs were regular performers at the former Swinging Door club on Dickson Street. Legend has it that a streaker attended each show.Austin admits that there was a person who frequently appeared sans clothing. It was a roadie for another band, he insists." That was during different times .. It wasn't me. But we did crazy stuff back then, " he said.Wild and wacky as Austin's shows may have been, they were entertaining enough for musicians and celebrities such as former President Bill Clinton, Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman and classic rock legend Steve Miller to share the stage with him throughout the years.For almost 45 years, Austin, whose given name is Wendell, has been making crowds chuckle with his off-kilter songs and concert capers." It's the only thing I've ever done. I went professional at 14. I've never had a real job, " he said.
Nearing 60 years old, Austin still bellows into the microphone or beats a drum set as a traveling session musician. And with his recent return to Northwest Arkansas, his current band, The Hot House Tomato Boys, is back on Dickson Street.
First love Austin was born in California but spent most of his formative years in Fayetteville. He attended Fayetteville public schools and played cornerback for the high school football team. But music was always his first love. At the age of 5, he picked up his sister's clarinet. Although she was 14 at the time, Austin said he was instantly able to play it better than she could. It angered his sister, but he found his calling. As he grew older, he added other woodwind instruments and the drums to his repertoire. " I never took a lesson on any instrument. God gave it to me, or something, " he said. After graduating from high school, Austin continued his music studies at the University of Arkansas. After one semester, he decided he didn't want his musical education to come from a classroom. " If you're going to play music, you've got to go do it, " he said. So he went and did it. He joined a band called Big A and the Abilenes for a stint before forming Zorro and the Blue Footballs in the early 1970 s. Since then, Austin has written hundreds of songs ranging from frenzied rock to boot-shuffling swing to can't-print-the-song-titlein-the-newspaper crude.
While some fans have called the music redneck jazz rock, Austin shies away from labels." There is no category to fit us in. We don't believe in genres, we believe in music, " he said.Austin says his working catalog exceeds 700 songs. On any given night, he and The Hot House Tomato Boys may follow a song of their own with a riotous rendition of a James Brown song or a Jimi Hendrix tune with a jazz beat.While the band's catalog may be diverse, the songs Austin writes all follow the same vein: They are sarcastic, humorous and designed to be played live.And if there was an award for the least amount of time taken to write and record a song, he would win it, he said.While recording other songs in a Tulsa, Okla., studio, Austin was inspired by all the other bands who wanted to record the same song .. Led Zeppelin's " Stairway to Heaven. "He began spouting off lyrics: " The geek down the street, thinks he's pretty neat, when he plays ' Stairway to Heaven' .. A guy works on my car, picks up my guitar, and starts playing ' Stairway to Heaven. '"His bassist and guitarist chimed in with a jazzed-up version of the original Led Zeppelin song, and six minutes later, " They All Play ' Stairway to Heaven '" was recorded. Everyone's a TomatoLed Zeppelin frontmanRobert Plant is a fanof the song and just one famous name on a who's who list of musicians who are members of The Hot House Tomato Boys. Every time Plant and the Tomato Boys are in Dallas at the same time, Plant makes sure to rock with the band, Austin said. " He probably enjoys this more than he enjoys Led Zeppelin. But he gets paid a lot more [for Zeppelin ], " Austin said. Membership in Austin's two bands includes any musician who has appeared onstage with him during the past 30 years. Zorro and the Blue Footballs ended about 1990 when saxophonist Mike Mohney departed. Austin then began billing his backing band as The Hot House Tomato Boys. But the music .. and the musicians .. are interchangeable. Other famous members include Dave Matthews, Eric Clapton, Asleep at the Wheel, ZZ Top and more. " It's not a band, it's a living entity, " he said. According to Austin, former President Bill Clinton is a Tomato Boy, too. While serving as Arkansas' governor, Clinton played saxophone with Austin at Fayetteville's now-defunct Library Club. " Well, you know, he plays saxophone, and he's not bad. I think he was just blowing off steam, " Austin said. Austin is known to attract A-list musicians to his concerts. It's hard to tell who might show up. Onstage, spontaneity is as crucial to an Austin show as the instruments. No two shows are alike. While Austin may plan as many as the first three songs, the rest depends on the crowd or whatever he feels like doing at that particular moment. And there is no rehearsal, just improvisation, Austin said. " I haven't rehearsed for 30 years. I don't need to. It's all born on stage. That doesn't mean [the shows ] aren't tight. I've never heard anyone complain, " he said. When he does use the microphone, it isn't always to sing. Random comments are part of the act and so is repartee. Austin says he doesn't tell jokes because he can't remember any. Austin's presence in front of a crowd can be compared to the legendary weirdness of Frank Zappa, a band Zorro and the Blue Footballs toured with in the early 1980 s. Zappa once played a bicycle onstage, rhythmically plucking the wheel spokes. Austin has a few tricks up his sleeve as well. " He played bicycle, we play basketball, " he said. And when he says they play basketball, it means there is an actual basketball onstage. Although streakers are no longer a concert centerpiece, it's still wise to expect the unexpected. You just never know with Austin. ' Lucky accidents '
Austin's notorious liveperformances havetaken him places that few would ever dream of going. He toured with legendary bands and met a host of famous people. It also lifted him from the stage to the big screen.In what he calls " lucky accidents, " Austin was asked to be in several movies.The first was director Jonathan Demme's 1976 movie " Fighting Mad " starring Peter Fonda. The second movie role resulted from a Zorro and the Blue Footballs concert in Nacogdoches, Texas, that was attended by actor James Garner after he filmed a scene for 1982 's " The Long Summer of George Adams. " Garner, who played the lead character, insisted the band be part of the film. Although the band never made an appearance, Austin played solo clarinet in the madefor-television movie.
Those films led to other opportunities. A radio in the 1997 movie " Rancho Cucamonga " plays the entire " Romeo's Last Chance" album by The Hot House Tomato Boys. Austin was then asked to write the film score for " Toe Tags, " a slasher movie filmed in 2003 and distributed overseas. It features 13 minutes of what Austin calls " really cookin' music. "
After booking a series of Hot House Tomato Boy shows in Gulf Coast casinos in 2005, Austin was prepared to leave his Tulsa home and move south. But he never got the chance. Hurricane Katrina destroyed all the venues where he was booked to perform. At that point, Austin decided to come back home to Springdale.Since returning to Northwest Arkansas, Austin has performed steadily. For several months, he and the Tomato Boys played Saturday night gigs at the Wellhouse Tavern in Springdale.In September, Austin performed at Ride-N-Boogie, a motorcycle rally at Drake Field that coincided with Fayetteville's Bikes, Blues & BBQ.Austin says those were only warm-up sessions. His main goal has been a return to Dickson Street as a regular performer. A string of shows at Ryleigh's Boom Boom marked the first time in 15 years that Austin had a recurring gig in downtown Fayetteville. The set kicked off Oct. 21, and Austin will perform again Saturday and Dec. 16.For those shows, he will be accompanied by guitarist Lloyd Price and bassist Kevin Flint, who are both from the Tulsa area; drummer Big Dave McKnight of Fayetteville; and any other musicians who show up.Austin isn't sure of his next move. The band may release another collection of live material, and Austin will continue to tour. He may not know where, with whom or for how long, but count on finding him with a microphone in his hand." I'll always keep playing live. I'll probably die onstage, " he said.
