The Footnotes - Early Show at the Big Top!

About

Veteran singer-guitarist songwriter Rick Eakens from Las Cruces, New Mexico, has led The Footnotes for most of his life, crafting rootsy, high-energy rock and roll that embodies the unpretentious attitude, catchy songcraft, and high-energy abandon of vintage classics that inspired him. Based out of Austin and Houston, The Footnotes perform with Rick Eakens on vocals and electric guitar, Mary Hooper on vocals and percussion, Dave Blassingame on bass and vocals, Kevin Blaine Tate on drums, and Jim Hemphill on guitar and vocals. The Beatles and Buddy Holly serve as touchstones, while garage-rock combos like the Seeds and the Standells are role models. The Footnotes eventually settled in Houston, temporarily relocating to Nashville for a year and a half in the mid-1980s. In Nashville, they became part of a rising Music City rock and roll boom, performing co-bill shows with Southern Culture on the Skids. A proposed major-label deal fell through at the last minute, and they returned to Houston where they remained beloved local heroes. The Footnotes became part of a mythologized movement including True Believers, the Wild Seeds, and Doctors' Mob. After reassessment and recharging, Eakens reactivated the Footnotes in 2011, maintaining the punchy, melodic style that endeared the band to its fans.