October 15, 2004
Strange names, but duo rocked!
Sue Atkinson, Nottingham Evening Post

Two more residents of Austin, Texas, blew into town last night to rock the Maze like a southbound train.

Kicking off with Mad River where "the voice is muddy but the words are clear" they made two guitars sound like at least half a dozen; in particular Scrappy Jud's plangent chords swept with a powerful undertow on through Better Now where "the sun's arising friend", numbers from Beaver's new album Motion and The Beauty in Store, written to Beaver's small son, which was moving in its simple profundity.

Here's some lines to use as a mantra. Say after me: "Pain is an easy load/It's the joy that drags you down."

The pair's very different but beautifully matched voices wreathed through the haze of cigarette smoke surrounding them like the mist of a Texas bluebonnet morning—and there was a bit of very interesting on-stage banter as well: some obscure theories about Scrappy transmogrifying into a cedar tree and a call for questions that turned into a discussion of Superman costumes.

I should have taken the opportunity to ask a question that's long been bugging me—from whence came the names?

I couldn't get to the bottom of Scrappy Jud Newcomb's nickname, and Beaver Nelson has carried his with him since he was four days old, but I failed in my mission to find out more.

A small but discerning audience would not let them leave the stage, and the encore included a couple of solos by Scrappy including the magical Night of the Arrival: I'm still floating on a river that runs through the stars.