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First off I have a correction from last months edition. Rodney Branigan will be at the Golden Light Dec 29th I apologize for any inconvienence.

In writing this column I write about bands and musicians that have just stuck out to me.

Bo Salling and the Brakes Are All Gone Band or BSATBAAGB as they are known in sticker effigy are definitely one of those bands.

They are one of the grittier bands that I have seen from Amarillo, not really fitting the mold of a “Texas Country” band like so many others.One label can be given to them though BSATBAAGB are great performers, they put every ounce of their energy into a show. Dancing and a good time will most often be seen when they are playing.
Their sets usually include a good number of originals as well as some interesting or off the wall covers. They are often seen playing at the Golden Light Cantina on 6th or OHMS downtown.

You can check out their music and future dates at www.brakesareallgone.com and www.myspace.com/bsatbaagb

Bo Salling and the Brakes Are All Gone Band is:
• Bo Salling: Vocals/Guitar
• Ryan Corpening: Lead Guitar
• Cliff Schraag: Bass
• John Lerma: Drums

I sat down with Bo at the Golden Light Cantina before a solo Tuesday night gig. It was a good conversation, But neither of us remembered much of it so this is our e-mailed interview.

THE INTERVIEW-

So where are you from originally?
Born, Corpus Christi- grew up in San Antonio. Moved to Lubbock to go to Texas Tech out of high school. Moved to Amarillo for a job upon graduating from Tech.

How did you first start playing?
My brother and I started banging around on toy instruments at an early age, often performing make believe rock shows to some of our favorite records for our parents and whatever company they might have had over at the time. So, at five my mom bought me my first REAL guitar and signed me up for guitar lessons-my brother, drums. I kept with the lessons for a couple of years, just learning the basics. I got into a lot of different instruments along the way, but I always seemed to come back to the guitar. I goofed around trying to put bands together in middle school and high school, but could never take anything serious enough at that age to really make anything happen. Not until college, when I really got consumed with going out, to see live bands play, did I ever think about doing it professionally, myself.

What was it about playing that made you pursue it?
It has always been a part of my life. I spent any spare time that I had growing up, either playing guitar or going to see somebody else that did. I am fascinated with music in general, all kinds of music. But I guess what made me pursue it as a profession was the interaction and amusement of entertaining the people around me. ultimately it was my friends that encouraged me to play out at public venues. It was with their support, that I spent the last couple of years of college playing acoustic around the Lubbock bar scene, that is known for spitting out some pretty big names in music .

I write music for the love it. I perform live to share it. ............ok, this is the part where I do my “shouts goes outs”.....or maybe when I shed a tear and say, “why do I do it?... I do it for the children!”

How did the band come together?
I pretty much blame this on Cliff, if not by some sort of Divine Intervention. -I moved to Amarillo for a job out of college and immediately found myself hanging out at the Golden Light where I got to see and meet so many incredible musicians at the time when 6th street was really booming. I soon met Matt Martindale and started playing acoustic shows there. It was around that time I met Cliff and John , when one night Cliff said “hey, we should get together and play some time.” I didn’t think anything of it, until I showed up to one of my scheduled acoustic gigs at the Golden Light, and there was a drum kit and a bass rig set up. I looked around for a band as If just maybe I showed up on the wrong night, and there was Cliff and John. Cliff smiled and gave me a thumbs up, we had a band. Things really clicked from the get-go, and we started playing shows immediately, none of this practice in your moms garage for two years crap. We were definitely rough around the edges, to say the least, and we knew we needed something else, like a real guitar player (& maybe just a couple of those practices in your moms garage.) We didn’t look to hard, nor did we ever practice. A couple of months later, out of thin air, appears Ryan who, had seen one of our shows and I’m sure was not thoroughly impressed. Although he was interested enough to sit in with us one night, when it all just happened. I remember looking back at John on the drums, while Ryan ripped some crazy twangy solo on an $80 Chinese guitar and a borrowed amp , and he had the same “holy crap” look on his face as I did. Nobody in the room was sitting down. It was then I knew this was going to work. It was also the first show we played where Cliff didn’t stop playing in the middle of a song and just wander off. We had a band, oh yes, we had a band.

Do you know, you have one of the longest acronyms ever for a band name?
Well, you know what they say....?

Tell me about some of the shows ya’ll have played?
I hear they are a lot of fun. “The kids really seem to like this stuff!” -The fact is we have been really fortunate to get to play all over the country, in every type of room you can imagine, as well as share the stage with some incredible bands. It’s not like us to worry about what the crowd is going to be like, you don’t want to prejudge that kinda stuff and you should never base your performance on those assumptions. We just try and go balls-to-the-walls every time we step onto the stage, and be thankful we are just playing. Don’t get me wrong, its the best when the crowd is really into it and everybody is sending out the same energy. but you can’t expect that, you have to create it.

Has the band had any XM Airplay, I hear ya’ll have kind of done well in that area?
“XM Radio has been vedy vedy goot to me!” -We are very thankful to any and all radio play we get. The fact is, we are not a “top-forty” music kinda band, so to have air play on FM is a privilege, especially for what standards those guys have to go by. The folks like XM radio’s X-Country give their listeners more artists, more choices, more music, plain and simple. Because of the great support we get from XM Radio and their listeners, we get heard all over the nation. Last year when we released our second CD “60,” we entered XM Radio’s X-Country’s “Top 50” list, and peaked out at, I think 11th. That was over a year ago, and I just heard us on there yesterday. XM RULZ!, did I spell that right?
We are also very grateful for our local radio stations, especially the college stations that the cool kids listen to. (I’ve been told we’re big in the Netherlands.)

So one thing about your music.. It seems like the band has a country/ cowboy Faithful crowd. But I wouldn’t really classify your music as country. I would say that the band is Americana. Would you say that?
“I don’t care what you call it, as long as you call it good.” - I think being from Amarillo (Texas), everybody is so trigger happy to label everything “Texas Country” music, which to me has taken a very satiated, homogenized turn for the worse. I think that even “Americana” music is vague by definition, but I do feel it has a lot to do with roots and origin! But lets face it, we are a very diverse nation so “American” or “Americana” be any style, jazz, country, blues, rock or punk for instance, but it’s got to be true to it’s roots, not necessarily repetitive or clich . There, I’ve said too much. Hell, I honestly couldn’t tell you what we are. I think we are Country-er than most “Country” and more Rock..ier than most “Rock and Roll” you’re gonna hear on the radio. I digress....

-Sometimes these genres (labels) can help classify you, help your audience find you or recognize you. Sometimes it just clumps you in with a bunch of crap. I’d be pleased as pie just to be called “good.”

A couple of years ago I saw one of the coolest things I’ve seen in Amarillo. You hanging from the rafters of the Golden Light still playing guitar.... So ya still playin with that kind of intensity? And if so why?
“I don’t remember that.” -We have always had this crazy raw energy, that people in our physical shape really shouldn’t be capable of. We feed off of each other, so when one of us is having a really good night, we all start having a really good time up there. Sometimes we get carried away. Sometimes we fall down. We definitely still play with at least that intensity, it’s just a lot closer to the ground.

What’s the number one goal of Bo Salling and The Brakes Rre All Gone Bband?
To never stop .

Have any records out? Where did you record them? Where are they available?
> Si, Dos: SPITSHINE (2001) ,60 (2005). Both of these were recorded with Drew Holder at A.M.P. Recording in Amarillo. You can purchase these fine products at www.brakes areallgone. com or at www.Lonestar music.com, we also have shirts, hats, koozies, chicletts, pistolas, etc. We are going to try and make up for lost time this year with for sure two new albums.

Any new records on the horizon?
Yes, yes and yes. We do have TWO new albums that are scheduled to release at the first part on 2007. Although at any given time, somebody in this band is recording in one of probably five projects we each might be invovled in outside of BSATBAAGB. It’s how we keep fresh in our abilities, that is, to play with other bands and experience other playing styles, when we are not touring.

Please check our websites for information, as well as other projects you might catch us on!

Any show dates coming up in the next couple months? YES

Anything else you want to add? Yes, I would like to add bacon to this.