Showing posts with label Johnny Moeller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnny Moeller. Show all posts
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Swing Blues - The Moeller Brothers
Johnny Moeller (born Jon Kelly Moeller, 31 October 1970, Fort Worth, Texas) is an American blues guitarist currently with The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
He had early exposure to music in the home as his father played a little boogie-woogie piano and was constantly listening to music. He started playing guitar in his early teen years and soon discovered Slim Harpo and Jimmy Reed in his father's record collection. Additionally, Moeller remembers hearings lots of both ZZ Top and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Over the years Moeller's main influences have been from Freddie King, Lightnin' Hopkins, Earl King and Grant Green. Lesser, but meaningful influences come from a wide variety of other blues, soul and funk artists.
He began playing in Dallas and Fort Worth blues clubs whilst still in high school. During the summers Moeller and his year and a half younger brother Jay Moeller, who was already playing drums (and is now the drummer with The Fabulous Thunderbirds), would travel from their home in Denton down to Austin to "hang out" with their father. The summer they were 16 and 15 their father convinced Clifford Antone of the Austin blues club Antone's to let his sons periodically sit in with the evening's performers. The first night Moeller appeared on Antone's stage was with Little Charlie & The Nightcats. It was an event that Moeller would never forget and from that night on Antone was one of Moeller's biggest supporters.
After Moeller finished high school in Denton he moved to Austin and into the music scene that is 6th Street (Austin). He worked many of the city's well known venues and often soaked in the music of the constant stream of blues artists which Antone brought. Amongst those that played Antone's were Earl King, Albert Collins, and James Cotton.
Years later the Austin Chronicle quoted Antone (who also helped launch Stevie Ray Vaughan) as saying: "Johnny, nobody can burn like that kid. He's got the heart like Stevie had, about the only one I've seen with that kind of heart. Johnny's so quiet and bashful, just a sweet kid and sometimes those kids get overlooked."
By the time Moeller had joined The Fabulous Thunderbirds in mid 2007 he had recorded, played regularly with, or toured North America, Europe and Scandinavia with Darrell Nulisch, Lou Ann Barton, Mike Barfield, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Primich, and Guy Forsyth.
Write on our Facebook Wall or post your Photos of great blues events! - Here
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Return of the Funky Worm - Johnny Moeller and Paul Size
If you don't know Johnny Moeller or Paul Size here's a chance to catch them together. This recording built around in-studio jams and produced by the Dallas Blues Society in 1996.
“Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here
What does Anson Funderburgh have to do with Beavis and Butt-Head
Maybe more than you think. We all know Anson is a gentleman's gentleman but there is a link in there! Many of you probably know the name, Mike Judge, but don't know why. I'll tell you, it's because he is a blues bass player having played with Anson Funderburgh on Rack 'Em Up, and with Doyle Bramhall (The Senior) on numerous recordings over a period of about a decade. But here's another link. I have read that Judge based Beavis's character (appearance) on Anson.
In 1991, Judge's short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following a Dallas animation festival.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters. Beavis and Butt-head visited Wilson Middle School and attended Highland High School in their series, which are the names of schools in Albuquerque, Judge's hometown. In 1997, Judge created King of the Hill for the Fox Network. Many of the show's characters were based on people he had known while living in Texas. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. At heart, however, Judge is a Willie Dixon-loving bass player who's recorded and performed with Bramhall for well over a decade.
In case you aren't familiar with Beavis and Butt-Head, the show centers on two socially awkward, rock/metal-loving teenage delinquents, Beavis and Butt-head (both voiced by Judge), who live in the town of Highland, Texas. They have no apparent adult supervision at home, are woefully undereducated and dim-witted and barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples. One of the most well-known aspects of the series was the inclusion of music videos, which occurred between animated segments. The duo would watch and make humorous observations (about the band, a song's lyrics, and/or a video's visuals), or simply engage in nonsensical dialogs. Mike Judge improvised the video comments, and they were never scripted.
They showed a particular disdain for many generic 1980s "hair bands". They had almost no tolerance for new wave or electronic music (e.g. Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes", Gary Numan's "Cars", and Scatman John's "Scatman" were all instantly shown contempt by the duo). Korn's song "Blind", as an example of Nu metal, was criticized for lacking originality (although they did claim they sounded "kinda cool"). Bands who received considerably large amounts of criticism during the tenure of the show included Poison and Grim Reaper.
When confronted with Milli Vanilli's "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby", the pair looked at one another in horror and changed the channel without speaking a word; this was effectively among the harshest commentary they ever gave a music video. They also non-verbally showed disgust when confronted with a duet between David Bowie and Bing Crosby for The Little Drummer Boy, shielding their eyes before changing the channel. The Europeans' video for "The Animal Song" was the most critically trashed by the duo, as Butt-Head claimed, "This sucks more than anything I have ever seen."
Ok , so the story ends there...right? No. Beavis and Butt-head are supposedly based on the childhood friends and professional musicians and guitar aces Johnny Moeller and Paul Size.
Johnny Moeller (born Jon Kelly Moeller, 31 October 1970, Fort Worth, Texas) is an American blues guitarist currently with The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Paul Size has carved a niche for himself as the guitarist for the blues-soul-party combo Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish.
I bring you Beavis and Butt-Head!
“Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here
In 1991, Judge's short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following a Dallas animation festival.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters. Beavis and Butt-head visited Wilson Middle School and attended Highland High School in their series, which are the names of schools in Albuquerque, Judge's hometown. In 1997, Judge created King of the Hill for the Fox Network. Many of the show's characters were based on people he had known while living in Texas. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. At heart, however, Judge is a Willie Dixon-loving bass player who's recorded and performed with Bramhall for well over a decade.
In case you aren't familiar with Beavis and Butt-Head, the show centers on two socially awkward, rock/metal-loving teenage delinquents, Beavis and Butt-head (both voiced by Judge), who live in the town of Highland, Texas. They have no apparent adult supervision at home, are woefully undereducated and dim-witted and barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples. One of the most well-known aspects of the series was the inclusion of music videos, which occurred between animated segments. The duo would watch and make humorous observations (about the band, a song's lyrics, and/or a video's visuals), or simply engage in nonsensical dialogs. Mike Judge improvised the video comments, and they were never scripted.
They showed a particular disdain for many generic 1980s "hair bands". They had almost no tolerance for new wave or electronic music (e.g. Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Two Tribes", Gary Numan's "Cars", and Scatman John's "Scatman" were all instantly shown contempt by the duo). Korn's song "Blind", as an example of Nu metal, was criticized for lacking originality (although they did claim they sounded "kinda cool"). Bands who received considerably large amounts of criticism during the tenure of the show included Poison and Grim Reaper.
When confronted with Milli Vanilli's "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby", the pair looked at one another in horror and changed the channel without speaking a word; this was effectively among the harshest commentary they ever gave a music video. They also non-verbally showed disgust when confronted with a duet between David Bowie and Bing Crosby for The Little Drummer Boy, shielding their eyes before changing the channel. The Europeans' video for "The Animal Song" was the most critically trashed by the duo, as Butt-Head claimed, "This sucks more than anything I have ever seen."
Ok , so the story ends there...right? No. Beavis and Butt-head are supposedly based on the childhood friends and professional musicians and guitar aces Johnny Moeller and Paul Size.
Johnny Moeller (born Jon Kelly Moeller, 31 October 1970, Fort Worth, Texas) is an American blues guitarist currently with The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Paul Size has carved a niche for himself as the guitarist for the blues-soul-party combo Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish.
I bring you Beavis and Butt-Head!
“Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here
Labels:
Anson Funderburgh,
Beavis,
Butt-Head,
Johnny Moeller,
Paul Size,
Texas
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Something's Wrong - Johnny Moeller - The Moeller Brothers
Johnny Moeller (born Jon Kelly Moeller, 31 October 1970, Fort Worth, Texas) is an American blues guitarist.
He had early exposure to music in the home as his father played a little boogie-woogie piano and was constantly listening to music. He started playing guitar in his early teen years and soon discovered Slim Harpo and Jimmy Reed in his father's record collection. Additionally, Moeller remembers hearings lots of both ZZ Top and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Over the years Moeller's main influences have been from Freddie King, Lightnin' Hopkins, Earl King and Grant Green. Lesser, but meaningful influences come from a wide variety of other blues, soul and funk artists.
He began playing in Dallas and Fort Worth blues clubs whilst still in high school. During the summers Moeller and his year and a half younger brother Jay Moeller, who was already playing drums (and is now the drummer with The Fabulous Thunderbirds), would travel from their home in Denton down to Austin to "hang out" with their father. The summer they were 16 and 15 their father convinced Clifford Antone of the Austin blues club Antone's to let his sons periodically sit in with the evening's performers. The first night Moeller appeared on Antone's stage was with Little Charlie & The Nightcats. It was an event that Moeller would never forget and from that night on Antone was one of Moeller's biggest supporters.
After Moeller finished high school in Denton he moved to Austin and into the music scene that is 6th Street (Austin). He worked many of the city's well known venues and often soaked in the music of the constant stream of blues artists which Antone brought. Amongst those that played Antone's were Earl King, Albert Collins, and James Cotton.
Years later the Austin Chronicle quoted Antone (who also helped launch Stevie Ray Vaughan) as saying: "Johnny, nobody can burn like that kid. He's got the heart like Stevie had, about the only one I've seen with that kind of heart. Johnny's so quiet and bashful, just a sweet kid and sometimes those kids get overlooked."
By the time Moeller had joined The Fabulous Thunderbirds in mid 2007 he had recorded, played regularly with, or toured North America, Europe and Scandinavia with Darrell Nulisch, Lou Ann Barton, Mike Barfield, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Primich, and Guy Forsyth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)