SDQ receives Gold Record, Shawn Sahm accepts award on dad Doug's birthday

Fans of Doug Sahm, the Texas Tornados or The Sir Douglas Quintet came out and packed Antone's to capacity Friday night. A number of prominent Texas musicians joined them under the stars of Austin to celebrate the love, music, life and general groovyness of the one and only Douglas Wayne Sahm, Sir Doug for short.

They also came to help raise funds for a monument that will be placed on Doug Sahm Hill, a park in heart of Austin. The show list certainly proves that Sir Doug made an impact on many musicians, and could have been a headliner from many different eras in Texas music. The Sir Douglas Quintet II (featuring Shawn Sahm and Augie Meyers), The Texas Tornados, Jimmy Vaughn, Joe King Carrasco, Tortilla Flats, The Krayolas, Paul Ray Cobras, Greezy Wheel, Ponty Bone and Lucky Tomblin.

What the fans received was a high octane rock show that covered the gamut of Doug's repertoire delivered by some of Doug's closest friends and family. "We're all a family up here," Shawn Sahm said after Groover's Paradise, one of his pop's signature songs.

Opening the show was Jimmy Vaughn, brother of another Texas music legend, Stevie Ray. Jimmy also had Louann Barton on vocals to help showcase his phenomenal band that included original SDQ drummer George Rains and Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff on saxophone.

After Vaughn's set, the crowd grew antsy as the remnants of the Sir Douglas Quintet began taking the stage. As Augie Meyers took his seat behind his organ, some in the crowd began yelling his name. Shawn then led his band which featured Speedy Sparks on bass, Louie Ortega (from Louie and the Lovers, SDQ) on guitar, Ernie Durawa on drums, Michael Guerra on accordion, and Sahm on lead guitar and vocals. The hour long set included a little bit of each of his dad's musical incarnations.

One by one, Shawn, who is a spitting image of his dad, brought out guest musicians from different points of the musical map for renditions of some of Doug's greatest hits. Joe King Carrasco hit the stage for "Adios Mexico" and got into such a groove, he jammed with the band the entire set.

In between songs, Sahm spoke to the revved up crowd "I want to thank you for helping to keep dad's spirit alive," he said. "I also want to say thank you for my brother Shandon who couldn't be here. He's on tour with his band The Meat Puppets." He then invited his sister Dawn on stage who also thanked the crowd to thunderous applause.

Micheal Guerra, who filled in for the famous accordion master Flaco Jimenez, sounded like a younger version of the superstar. To the amazement of the 28-year old Los Angles born Texas resident, young fans knew exactly who's shoes he was filling in for. After the show, as I interviewed the multi-talented musician/producer, fan after fan came up to him and sang his praises. Three such fans, who couldn't have been older then 25, stopped and said "just wanted to say you filled in perfectly for Flaco Jimenez."

"That just amazes me," Guerra said. "They are younger then me and they know this music from the 70's and 80's. It just blows me away the reach that  Doug Sahm still has on real music fans today."

And what he said has some merit. The crowd was a good mix of age groups as young and old enjoyed the music that formed the definition of Texas music almost forty years ago.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of a Gold Record for the 2008 release of The Sir Douglas Quintet, The Scandinavian Years, which sold over 500,000 copies. The Doug Sahm Fan President, Oyvind, handed out Gold Records to Augie Meyers, Ernie Durawa, Speedy Sparks, Louie Ortega and, accepting for Doug, Shawn Sahm.