Reviews of Beats Walkin'

BEATS WALKIN' Reviewed by Mary Armstrong City Paper (Philadelphia), Critic's Pick: Roots Music May 8, 1997 Beats Walkin' describe themselves as "Philly's premier Texas swing band" on their calling cards. Texas swing is another way of saying Western swing -- a hybrid of hillbilly and hip launched by folks like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1930s. Today, the tradition is kept alive by acts like Asleep at the Wheel and in those bouncy dance numbers that brighten up otherwise sleepy George Strait albums. Steel guitar, fiddle and snappy electric guitar are essential to the sound, along with singers who can bend notes jazz-style while singing a two-step. Claiming to be this city's premier Texas swing band begs the obvious question: Just how many other Texas/Western swing bands are there in town? Jim Cohen, Beats Walkin's founder and pedal steel guitarist, laughs like a man found out and admits his band is the only Texas swing band he knows of in Philly. But if there are any others, the group is ready for a battle of the bands to own the title fair and square. Beats Walkin' also has the distinction of being a Texas swing band made up of folks who've never lived in Texas. How did this happen? Cohen reminds me that Philly has strong ties to the Western swing revival. "It seems to me we are actually carrying on a tradition that is at least 25 years old. Y'know Asleep at the Wheel started in Philly." Back then, mainman Ray Seifert (a.k.a. Ray Benson) was living here and taking music lessons from Bob Zatzman in Chestnut Hill. Local boy Reuben Gossfeld was Asleep at the Wheel's first steel player. Original fiddler Danny Levin was also from these parts. Very well, but those old friendships still aren't responsible for the founding of this highly refined band. That inspiration happened as a result of a chance exposure to Junior Brown at the Continental Club in Austin, TX. "The room was wall-to-wall guitarists, all with their mouths hanging open with this look on their faces, saying, 'He can't do that can he? Isn't that illegal?'" It takes a great guitar player to know one. Cohen's steel-guitar turns also leave people swooning. One of the first people Cohen called after deciding to form a swing band was Dan Gold -- big brother to Julie "From A Distance" Gold. He had recently left the Dukes of Destiny after years as their bassist. His blues experience comes in handy in a Western swing band where "Milk Cow" and other classics are used to break up the set. Other recruits included Jon Dichter on lead guitar and Chuck Lindsey on drums. Everyone named so far takes a turn at singing leads, but the bulk of the singing is handled by Lindsay Gilmour, a.k.a. the Kiwi Cowgirl. A New Zealand native, Gilmour is a testament to the seductive powers of classic Western swing recordings. Clearly she never attended a Bob Wills dance as a kid, but to listen to the way she's mastered the subtleties of the style, you'd never know it. Fiddler Jay Ansill, the newest Beats Walkin' member and a recent convert to this happy music, is best-known for his Celtic harping. Due out within a few weeks, Beats Walkin's debut CD -- the working title is Man Wanted -- was recorded live in the studio to capture the joy and energy Beats Walkin' puts into every performance. Beats Walkin' opens for Rosie Flores at the closing celebration for the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, Sat., May 10, 9:30 p.m., Manayunk Farmers Market, 4120 Main St., 895-6537. --Mary Armstrong