They are funny, unpredictable, South Austin country, and (just ask anyone dancing the night away at the Continental Club or Jovita's with them on the bandstand) great music makers. Song of South Austin, from 2002, contains 23 songs, mostly band originals but with a few other Austin songwriter's tunes and a show tune from "Bye Bye Birdie" thrown in the mix.
Live at the Texacalli is from the Cornell Hurd Band, a group that proclaims itself to be from deep in the bowels of south Austin. Band leader Cornell Hurd supplies the vocals and rhythm guitar, Paul Skelton plays lead Guitar, Cody Nicolas plays piano and provides vocals, Danny Roy Young plays rubboard, Karen Biller on drums and vocals, Vanessa Gordon on fiddle, Blackie White on rhythm guitar and vocals, Herb Steiner on steel guitar and Mark Pollard on bass and vocals make up the band.
The band has two live albums, the new Live at the Texacalli and Live! At the Broken Spoke, recorded at the famous Austin honky tonk/dance hall. Critic Steve Reid called Live! At the Broken Spoke, "One of the 100 best country albums of all time". Their Texas Fruit Shack features 21 songs, honky tonk legend Johnny Bush and the Texana Dames. Johnny Bush also worked with them on the 1996 Cool and Unusual Punishment, which one critic called one of the top 10 country albums of the year. Their discography goes back to 1980 with several more albums.
They play at Jovita's on South 1st every Thursday. Their schedule and a complete discography are available on their web site.
You can buy albums by the Cornell Hurd Band at amazon.com.
