The Crawdaddys, Nashville Ramblers
in Spain: A view from Toledo

Ron Silva, The Crawdaddys; El Sol, Madrid, Spain; June 12, 2011 (Silvia Zadarnowski)In mid-June, the reunited Crawdaddys and Nashville Ramblers were the latest of our San Diego crowd to enjoy the hospitality of Spain. Both bands played the Go Sinner Go! festival in Toledo June 10 and 11, and the Crawdaddys followed up the next day with a surprise appearance at the renowned El Sol club in Madrid.

Go Sinner Go!, Toledo, Spain; June 10, 2011 (Silvia Zadarnowski)I’m grateful to Silvia Zadarnowski (spouse of Crawdaddys bassist Mark) for these photos of all three events and to musician and show organizer Eduardo Arriero Hernandez for answering my questions about the show and Spanish fondness for this San Diego scene.

Buy your tickets now for the Crawdaddys and the Unknowns at San Diego’s Casbah, Sept. 2-3!

What is your own involvement with the Spanish music scene? You have a band, and you’re an organizer of the Go Sinner Go! Festival. Can you tell me briefly about those and how long you’ve been part of the music scene over there?

I’ve played in bands since I was 17, and I’m 32… so half of my life!! I’ve played guitar and sung with Hollywood Sinners for 11 years and keyboard with Fumestones for one year. I started organizing concerts in Toledo, my home town, of national bands I liked, and I continued it in Madrid. I can try get my favorite bands from all around the world, spend some days with them and have fun!!

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in Spain: A view from Toledo

‘I was a Shambles drummer’

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles counts off drummers he’s worked with.)

“I was a Shambles drummer” pin (collection Bart Mendoza)No doubt about it: Kevin Donaker-Ring and I have worked with a lot of drummers over the decades, keeping in mind that we first began our team-up in 1976.

Here are a few of the incredible musicians who have spent time behind a drum kit with Manual Scan or the Shambles over the past 30-plus years. Not pictured: Paul Brewin, Morgan Young, Terry Moore, Rob Wilson, Trace Smith, Brad Kiser. … There’s a future post there.

1) “I was a Shambles drummer” pin. People have sat in with the band for one song to obtain one of these.

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From Scan to the Shambles

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles talks about how he got from there to here.)

Detail: The Shambles’ first lineup (collection Bart Mendoza)Of course the various members of the Shambles knew each other for years before the band’s formation, but I can put down the beginnings of the band to two events.

In the late ’80s, Kevin Donaker-Ring co-produced Manual Scan’s “Days & Maybes” EP with Ray Brandes (side note: humorous liners by Mike Stax), and we were all part of a group of musicians that frequented Megalopolis on Fairmount Ave., often playing round-robin style — David Moye and Jon Kanis amongst the round-robiners who didn’t end up in the band (though we did back up Kanis on a compilation-album track).

Detail: Shambles at the Casbah (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Manual Scan, Adams Ave. Theater (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Manual Scan, Tower Bridge (collection Bart Mendoza)Detail: Mark Zadarnowski / The Shambles (collection Bart Mendoza)

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The Che Underground