November 1, 2002
Leaving it to Beaver
By Andy Langer, News 8 Austin (watch the video)

In Austin music circles, it was once known simply as the "Sad Tale of Beaver Nelson." For close to a decade, a series of aborted major-label record deals left the local singer-songwriter with promise and buzz, but not a single album to show for it. Now, by releasing his fourth album in four years, its seems making up for lost time is the new ballad of Beaver Nelson.

"It’s not that I didn’t want to make records all along," Nelson said. "I just didn't get the chance for a long time. It was up to somebody else. Now it's not. I want to make records. I'm a songwriter. I have songs. And I want to record them and play them. It just seems logical."

Nelson's latest, Legends of the Super Heroes, was completed casually and inexpensively in a friends'garage studio. And by recording without a label breathing down his back on a tiny budget, the album clearly represents his most eclectic and festive set yet.

"The sounds themselves probably aren't quite as wide open, but the scope of the possibility for those sounds was much more broad," Nelson said. "It was like, 'Oh, do we want to put a bell and whistle on this one? Do we want a cannonball blast at the end of that one? Sure, why not?' There was nobody there to tell us we couldn’t."

Nelson said he believes the light-hearted tone of the album stems directly from the creative freedom of recording on his own budget and schedule

"It was fun and I think it comes across that way." Nelson said. "I think it comes off not necessarily lighter, but maybe happier and definitely more playful. I think that's a result of not thinking of the guy standing behind your shoulder setting a hundred dollar bill on fire every 20 minutes."

Although the men with hundred dollar bills generally also come equipped with the radio promotion and touring budgets necessary for a shot at national stardom, Nelson said he's significantly tempered his expectation from the days he spent chasing the major label brass ring. In fact, after a series of albums with darker themes, he says he has but one simple goal for Legends of the Super Heroes.

"I hope people are maybe happier when they hear it then when they hear other records," Nelson said. "It’s really that simple."

Each Friday, music critic Andy Langer tours a behind-the-scenes look at the personalities, venues and businesses behind Austin's celebrated music scene in Backstage Pass.