Born of the drum-addled minds of Fastball'sMiles Zuniga and Jeff Groves, The Small Stars early beginnings go way back to Austin, Texas circa 1989. The first performance by Guy Fantasy and Buddy Llamas took place in a lesbian coffee house just off Austin's famous 6th Street music district. Sadly, before a second show could be arranged, rock bands, record deals, platinum albums, and world tours got in the way. Now, 15 years later with the preliminaries behind them, the pair are back, and they've brought a few more musicians with them.
A band that's a musical that's a band, is the seed of The Small Stars' rock-n-roll-vaudevillian nature. The band developed characters, revue acts, and stage play to explore the 'pop'-eratic structure. To push the story of Guy Fantasy and his cabaret, David v. Goliath narrative, Zuniga and Groves have written songs balanced upon the edge of Dean Martin's inebriaic croonings and David Bowie's character glam-slams.
Sounds great on paper, but a funny thing happened on the way to the theater. Unlike most supergroups, this seemingly random amalgam became an actual honest to goodness BAND, the veritable sum-greater-than-the-parts ensemble.
Miles Zuniga as Guy Fantasy the Singer/Master of Ceremonies also from Fastball
Jeff Groves as Buddy Llamas as Saxophonist/Sidekick also from Fastball
John Bush as Brick Masterson on Drums also in New Bohemians/Edie Brickell
Jeff Johnston as Godfrey McCambridge on Bass also from Li'l Cap'n Travis
Landis Armstrong as Richard Steele on Guitar from the El Orbits
The bands first release took Texas by storm garnering much press and praise. Featured in Texas Music magazines CD sampler, Otra Vez became a regional number one song. The band was also chosen as a featured artist on Apples iTunes Music Stores Staff Favorites. Then to top it off, the Austin Chronicle placed the Small Stars Debut on their Best of 2005 list. Naked Calendars, A Movie debut, A West Coast Tour, and over 150 shows behind them the Small Stars are just getting started.
The band just recently finished recording their 2nd CD to be titled Tijuana Dreams. Produced by the jimmies and engineered by Michael Crow, the album came out punchin and kickin. The boys even managed to get super-legend master-mixer Bob Clearmountain (Rolling Stones "Tattoo You", David Bowie "Let's Dance", Bruce Springsteen "Born in the USA", Roxy Music "Avalon", and so on) to mix the album. The Stars took all their favorite bits from the red light cabarets to the latin glam-rock discos and super-sized them stretching the bands oeuvre (ouch). The Small Stars also recruited Texas legend Joe Ely to lend his impeccable voice to the border-style Thats What God Made Whiskey For coming to a download site near you.
"Forgive me for gushing, but I've listened to your CD 6 times now over the last 24 hours. " - Joe Mitchell, Recharge Magazine
"Even if you're pouring on thick-as-syrup Vegas shtick and schmaltzing up the room with titles that sound awfully close to "Volare," if you're in the Small Stars, you're definitely in the hippest, cleverest "lounge" act to hit the Austin area in, oh, possibly ever." - Lynne Margolis, Austin American-Statesman
"...the Small Stars have...enough skill to betray they'll forever be slaves to the bright lights." - Christopher Gray, Austin Chronicle
"The biggest little Reno lounge band from Texas... Austin's hippest, flashiest, Reno-style, all-star lounge act/glam rock band." - Richard Skanse, Texas Music Magazine
"Their fictional biography says they're from Reno, but The Small Stars are an Austin invention - a band of accomplished local musicians exploring the common grounds between cocktail culture, everything but the kitchen sink revues and rock 'n' roll." - Andy Langer, News 8 Television
"Though the tone of the CD teeters on the brink of tragicomedy throughout, before it falls into a Beyond the Valley of the Dolls chasm, it manages a reassuring landing on the cynical side of an MGM Musical... For all those artists out there who toil in obscurity, and may always do so, the Small Stars are singing your song." -Levi Mazelstein, Whoopsy Magazine
"A Small Stars show is nothing short of a show." - Sander Wolf, Dallas Observer
Hey guys just droped by to say man we miss yall back in Port Aransas ,Tx and hope yall put OTRA VEZ on your play list , that is one of my favorites ... great tune ....ADIOS N PEACE..........
This is what music is all about! As Guns 'n Roses guitar player Slash famously quipped: "Whenever society gets too stifling and the rules get too complex, there's some sort of musical explosion."
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