| THE MAN...THE MUSIC...TEXAS! |
Real Fromholz...then, now and always!
From an interview with Lee Nichols of The Austin Chronicle: "I haven't had a day job since 1969," Fromholz says with justifiable pride. "And I don't intend to get a day job. I'm a professional entertainer - I do this for a living!" - Steven Fromholz From an interview with Jeff Prince of Ft. Worth Weekly (comment on 2003 stroke) Comments on strokes - "Life is life and sometimes it can suck but that’s all right too. This is the largest suckage factor I’ve ever been involved in — 10 on the suck scale.” -- Steven Fromholz After a nine-day hospital stay, Fromholz went home to. He had an adverse reaction to some medicine, which caused excessive itching and scratching. He took it in stride, and, as usual, made it into a joke. His sister said he was scratching and staring at the sky one day, and when she asked what he was looking at, Fromholz, wondering how many things could go wrong at one time, said, “I’m just waiting for the locusts.” -- Steven Fromholz Eric Taylor in an interview with Mike Leonard, The Scene in Bloomington, Indiana: He chuckles that his dear, departed friend, Townes Van Zandt, is selling more albums in death than he did in life: "Fromholz, who had a bad stroke, said if Townes is still dead, maybe we could at least open for him" -- Eric Taylor |
From a review of Step Inside This House - Lyle Lovett, Artist
by Hobart Rowland, Houston Press
A spare but full-bodied rendition of Steven Fromholz's sprawling regional classic, "Texas
Trilogy," kicks off the second disc of Step Inside This House, Lyle Lovett's loving tribute to
his Lone Star influences. And despite stiff competition from the likes of Townes Van Zandt,
Vince Bell and Guy Clark, the three-movement suite may well be the most majestic
moment on an album full of them -- just as the Lovett version of Fromholz's "Bears" is the
collection's most playful diversion. The real item is also a study in contrasts: aside from
his work as singer/songwriter, the longtime Austinite is part-time actor and a rafting guide.
As is the case for anyone who's lived a little, the years haven't always been easy on
Fromholz, and the hard mileage can show on-stage. But, in the end, if the songs -- and the
stories that accompany them -- are all he has to fall back on, then fair enough. They're
timeless.
by Hobart Rowland, Houston Press
A spare but full-bodied rendition of Steven Fromholz's sprawling regional classic, "Texas
Trilogy," kicks off the second disc of Step Inside This House, Lyle Lovett's loving tribute to
his Lone Star influences. And despite stiff competition from the likes of Townes Van Zandt,
Vince Bell and Guy Clark, the three-movement suite may well be the most majestic
moment on an album full of them -- just as the Lovett version of Fromholz's "Bears" is the
collection's most playful diversion. The real item is also a study in contrasts: aside from
his work as singer/songwriter, the longtime Austinite is part-time actor and a rafting guide.
As is the case for anyone who's lived a little, the years haven't always been easy on
Fromholz, and the hard mileage can show on-stage. But, in the end, if the songs -- and the
stories that accompany them -- are all he has to fall back on, then fair enough. They're
timeless.
From a Record Review by Jerry Renshaw:
Guys like Pat Green or Owen Temple might sing about Lone Stars, the Hill Country, and
other such Texana, but Fromholz has the cred to pull it off, having been here almost as
long as Barton Springs. He's a touchstone to what Austin used to be like without dwelling
on hoary, remember-the-Armadillo nostalgia.
Guys like Pat Green or Owen Temple might sing about Lone Stars, the Hill Country, and
other such Texana, but Fromholz has the cred to pull it off, having been here almost as
long as Barton Springs. He's a touchstone to what Austin used to be like without dwelling
on hoary, remember-the-Armadillo nostalgia.
Live Performance Review - Bottom Line Club, New York, NY:
Murphey's songs of life on the range went over far better with the Yankee audience than
his cowboy jokes did, but he did have the disadvantage of being behind rapscallion
Fromholz in the batting order. "I can't follow that," Murphey grumbled each time Fromholz
polished off a nugget like "I Gave Her a Ring (She Gave Me the Finger)." Few folks could
have!
-- Rolling Stone Magazine
Murphey's songs of life on the range went over far better with the Yankee audience than
his cowboy jokes did, but he did have the disadvantage of being behind rapscallion
Fromholz in the batting order. "I can't follow that," Murphey grumbled each time Fromholz
polished off a nugget like "I Gave Her a Ring (She Gave Me the Finger)." Few folks could
have!
-- Rolling Stone Magazine
From an interview with Lee Nichols of The Austin Chronicle:
"Because it was a bunch of bullshit," states Fromholz. "'Progressive country'? I don't know
a musician in the business today to whom I give any credence, to whom I acknowledge
any class, who ever claimed or admitted to be a 'progressive country musician.' Nobody
did. I never did. Many of us were called 'outlaws,' and that's probably more the case than
'progressive country.' I always blame some guy from Rolling Stone. Maybe it was Chet
Flippo, for godsake, I don't know. But it was something somebody made up because they
didn't know what was going on.
"What happened was all these guys who were drinking tequila and all these guys who
were smoking pot said, 'Here,' and they swapped. And it took. That's what happened. And
the rednecks who used to hate the hippies and the hippies who were afraid of the
rednecks kind of melded and became this hybrid. You had rednecks, you had hippies,
and they were all there for one reason: They loved to get loaded and listen to music and
we were doing something they all liked. It was kind of crazy. No one had ever done
something like [that]. Frankly, no one gave a shit. All the players said, 'Let's go play,'
...not... 'Let's go make a bunch of money!'
-- Steven Fromholz
"Because it was a bunch of bullshit," states Fromholz. "'Progressive country'? I don't know
a musician in the business today to whom I give any credence, to whom I acknowledge
any class, who ever claimed or admitted to be a 'progressive country musician.' Nobody
did. I never did. Many of us were called 'outlaws,' and that's probably more the case than
'progressive country.' I always blame some guy from Rolling Stone. Maybe it was Chet
Flippo, for godsake, I don't know. But it was something somebody made up because they
didn't know what was going on.
"What happened was all these guys who were drinking tequila and all these guys who
were smoking pot said, 'Here,' and they swapped. And it took. That's what happened. And
the rednecks who used to hate the hippies and the hippies who were afraid of the
rednecks kind of melded and became this hybrid. You had rednecks, you had hippies,
and they were all there for one reason: They loved to get loaded and listen to music and
we were doing something they all liked. It was kind of crazy. No one had ever done
something like [that]. Frankly, no one gave a shit. All the players said, 'Let's go play,'
...not... 'Let's go make a bunch of money!'
-- Steven Fromholz
| There's good times And there's bad times But...there's still time! -- Steven Fromholz |
| All Photos on this page by George Brainard Austin, Texas |
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