+ Click to View Photos		Zookeeper by Seth Woods Chris Simpson writes songs and sings them, and he calls himself Zookeeper when he does this. He used to be in some other bands a long time ago. One was called Mineral. The one after that was called the Gloria Record. When TGR stopped playing together, Chris had no home for his songs. But he kept writing them of course. When he had so many songs that he couldn't hold them in any longer, he called a bunch of his friends, and everyone got together in a studio in Austin (where we all live) and recorded them (you can hear how the first attempt at this turned out on the song "delivery room" from zookeeper's debut ep). Everybody had a real good time, and thought the songs were just top notch. So we traded instruments, invited more friends, learned more songs, recorded more songs, played a few shows, recorded again, played some more, drove to Los Angeles and back, rove to New Mexico and back, recorded, played, recorded, played... That's pretty much how it's been going ever since. Chris writes really wonderful songs. And his friends love them, and love getting to play them in front of other people, or all together in the studio. So he keeps writing them, and he keeps singing them, and we keep playing them. And that is Zookeeper.
		Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor band Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor Band rejoice with the anticipated summer release of this second full-length recording. Picking up where the debut self-titled album (released April 2006) left off, the singer and collective have trumped themselves with this epic exploration. Recorded throughout the fall and winter of '06, Las Meridanzas builds upon the stirring briskness of the bango-picked debut, showcasing forays into chamber pop and rock grandiflora, all the while retaining the intimacy of the folk heart that endeared so many to the musician's first recording. An engaged year of activity is already being drafted for the Trapdoor Band; tours to coincide with album's release, as well as future recording sessions and releases appear nestled firmly on the docket. "From the first drumbeats of Wexford Arch, I sat stunned, probably a similar sense to the first astronomer to spot a comet on collision course with Earth." —Burnside Writer's collective on Alex Dupree's debut self-titled album, 2006.
		Ye Gods Four releases and 100's of shows. A record 6 straight appearances, at noon, for the now defunct Angel Fest (Festival Grounds, Racine, WI). These are the facts of a band whose music met too few an ear. Occupying an era dominated by locals Compound Red, The Promise Ring, the Gufs and internationalist's Oasis, Nirvana, the Verve, and the Verve Pipe, yegods somehow, remarkably, witnessed their music dance before eyes for 7 years, albeit exclusively their own more often than not.. Hard to believe considering the perpetual media spotlight continually dousing the shores of southeastern Wisconsin. Rejoice my friends! For their many works have finally found a conduit here at bellecitypop! Featuring Eric Osterman of Camden, Brian Malone of The Gloria Record, and brothers Eric and Jason Jossart, currently of Atmosphere Engineering, yegods records will soon be available to the masses. Slip on your toe-tappers, get ready to rumble, yegods is upon us, coming this fall 2007.
		Sad Accordions Seth Woods and Ben Lance grew up in Houston. While Seth was really bad at sports, Lance excelled, most notably at surfing. After a year or so of knowing each other, the pair wound up living in the same house, which was a small converted chapel in the Montrose neighborhood. It was here, at this old church, that Seth eventually stumbled upon the most haunting music he had ever encountered, down the hall, and echoing from the guitar of the reformed surfer. A predictable move to Austin soon followed for the pair, leaving plans for art studies, surfing, and chapel maintenance in their mist. Befriended soon enough by the twosome was Lee Kitchens, a bass player with whom Ben had met in Magnolia, TX. Nathaniel Gallagher and Pete appeared out of nowhere to fill out the sound with percussion and lap steel. Initial performances had the quintet billed as Seth Woods and the Sad Accordions. A bunch of shows followed mostly at the Carosol Lounge in front of a paper mache pink elephant. Nathaniel's wife was coaxed into augmenting the group on keyboards. In two short years, a couple of harmony making chapel dwellers had matured into a sextet of evocative musicianship. Eventually they came to realize that Accordion wasn't spelled with an "A", and the "The", preceding their name, was superfluous. Ladies and Gentlemen. Guys and Dolls. I give you, Sad Accordions.