Weekend Music Preview: Supersuckers @ The Scoot Inn [Saturday]

We’re well into an age where just about anyone can make their music available to the masses, major label or not, and the previously coveted album sales figure is far from being a primary measure of success. Although legal digital downloads will remain a vital gauge, file sharing and free internet stations have surely changed the rules of the game in the industry forever. Besides essential traits like talent and creativity, a captivating live set is as crucial today as it has ever been and is perhaps the veritable harbinger of longevity.

Seattle’s Supersuckers should have no problems continuing down their chosen road of freewheeling rock ‘n’ roll, having demonstrated their resilience repeatedly in these changing times. The band formed over twenty years ago and has fostered relationships with just about every type of record label over the decades. They started on a small indie (eMpTy Records), moved on to a bigger indie (Sub Pop), earned the attention of a major (Interscope), only to be dumped before releasing any material, and returned to the world of indie (twenty14/KOCH), albeit very briefly. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger eh? The band then started its own label Mid-Fi Recordings, and has kept abreast of recent advances, releasing its Live at the Whole Foods Market (in New Orleans) as a digital download, while its most recent album, 2008’s Get It Together was packaged with a free DVD of a live show from 2007. Earlier this year, they offered up a Fan Club 20th Anniversary 2 CD Set of their show in Seattle from November ’08.

Now into a third decade of a highly credible and eventful career, Supersuckers have collaborated with Willie Nelson, Eddie Vedder, and Paul Leary (to name a few), performed in Austin with the likes of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Hank Williams III, and Toadies, and dropped ten full-lengths (along with a slew of singles) through the years. They’ve also undergone a few line-up changes, rebounding from the loss of their original vocalist early on (the redoubtable Eddie Spaghetti stepping in with great success) and dealing with the temporary departure of guitarist Rontrose Heathman in the 90’s (Rick Sims from the Didjits being an able short term replacement). What hasn’t changed is the band’s penchant for bone-crunching jams, sing-a-long bar stompers, and ditties about vices and excess, which all translate to one heck of a live show. Catch them in concert this Saturday at Scoot Inn; fellow Seattle outfit Bob Wayneand the Outlaw Carnies opens the outside show and L.A.’s Charlie and the Valentine Killers close things out inside later.

Outside:
[Supersuckers MySpace]
[Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies MySpace]
Inside:
[Charlie and the Valentine Killers MySpace]

Flip through the Austinist Weekend Music Preview Slideshow after the jump for information on a number of events in town this weekend.