Dennis Diken With Amy Rigby, At Katie Bloom's

by Dave Persails

Saturday, March 15, 1997
The Smithereens' time keeper made his way into Austin, Texas on the Wednesday before to take in the music that the South By Southwest Music Festival had to offer. Many bands (signed and unsigned), as well as members of the music industry gather there annually in hopes of scoring a contract or discovering some untapped talent. If nothing else, just to enjoy some great music.

Dennis was also at SXSW to lend his support and talent to the very capable Amy Rigby. Rigby herself was in town to drum up a little attention for her Diary Of A Mod Housewife CD. She deserves it, too. As she and her band paced through live renditions of tracks from that record, the strength of her songwriting shined brightly. One hates to make easy comparisons, but you might think of Rigby as the Roger McGuinn meets the 90's Modern Woman. One thing about her, though. She was refreshingly sincere onstage, with none of the rock star trappings most of us are all too familiar with. Amy is impossible not to like.

Dennis took his place behind the kit, and simply played the part that any great drummer of a great rock and roll band playing great music would. And he appeared as if he even liked doing it, too. Smithereens fans have come to expect that from Dennis, though. After viewing four other bands on this same evening, I am reminded how the drummer extraordinaire is a big beat above all the rest. I hear and watch him in action, and I realize how pleasant it is to be reminded in person, too.

Rigby's set this night won over the crowd in Austin, as they loudly cheered between numbers. Too bad the set was only about three-quarters of an hour too, because she and her band were only getting warmed up. She asked the crowd, "What time is it? How much time do I have?" When someone told her, she said "I want to bring a very special guest on to play the last two songs with us. I'm very sorry." There was no need to apologize, because the special guest was her producer Eliot Easton. Yeah, that Eliot Easton. The guitar hero from the Cars. He sizzled his way through the last two numbers. What a band. What a show. Thank you Eliot. Thank you Dennis. Thank you Amy Rigby for bringing them together.