T Bird and the Breaks | en

High School for Tim Crane, A.K.A. T-Bird, wasn't a school at all; it was a record shop. T-Bird spent most skipped schooldays tagging cars with flyers in exchange for records – really good records. An inch-thick stack of flyers might be worth Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" pts. 1 and 2, or James Brown's "I Can't Stand It (When You Touch Me)" backed with "There Was A Time".

Fast-forward six or seven years. Bird hits the road looking for a place where the music's going down.

It wasn't a plane or a bus that first brought Tim Crane to Austin. It was a train. T-Bird spent the summer of 2006 riding the rails from the hills of New England through New York and Philly to the California Coast. Along the way he jammed with Nashville backups, toured the hallowed grounds of Memphis, and (to hear him tell it) broke a heart or two in New Orleans. But it was a cock-eyed stroll down Sixth St. in Austin that had the biggest impact on the wandering songwriter. Through the din of reveling tourists and bar hopping college kids, T-Bird heard the unmistakable strains of some real blues. He walked into the bar and ended up sitting in with the band for a few tunes, thinking, "yeah, this is the place." As good as his word - he was back a few months later, showing up with a slim roll of bills, a car full of vinyl, and very big plans for the city. It took him just one year in Texas to assemble T-Bird and the Breaks.

What a band it is.

Rhythm guitarist, Sammy P., is an import from the Hill Towns of Western Massachusetts. Raised on a hippy commune with no flush toilets or TV, Sammy grew up to the music of the Stones, Chuck Berry, Elvis, and Wilson Pickett. When he and T-Bird met in ninth grade they formed a musical connection - strong to this very day. Sammy got the call that the band was forming in Austin and didn't think twice.

Before they even had a name, drummer Marc Lionetti showed up like a gift from God at the first rehearsal. Next came guitarist, John "Too-Bad" Allison, a Texan from 10 miles outside the middle-of-nowhere with a mean crossover and killer jump shot. Allison says he hasn't "met a groove I couldn't kick, or a solo I couldn't lick." It shows in the playing.

About that groove...

Cody "Sir" Furr grew up listening to Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan, got a Rickenbacher from his dad at twelve, and now holds down bass like no other. Baritone-saxophonist Sarah Lincoln has played everywhere from Carnegie Hall in NYC to the town hall in Luckenbach. She's joined by honkin', Houston "H-Town" Rawls, on tenor sax and Matthew Price on trombone. All told they fill out one of the meanest horn sections you're likely to hear in this lifetime.

It wouldn't be much without the kind of back up vocals that put a lump in your throat and stomp in your boot. Sasha Ortiz started out singing to Aretha Franklin songs at the age of three, and went on to be the youngest performer at the Austin City Limits Music Festival three years in a row, gigging with her musical mother Natalie Zoe. Stephanie Hunt, Austin born and raised, has played violin since she was six. When she's not singing in The Breaks she's teaching music around town. The most exciting thing for fans is that The Breaks are still a young band. Their impact on the Austin music scene has been immediate, but their impact on the world of music is just beginning. Consider it just another reason to clap your hands. .