WUIS' Bedrock 66 Live! welcomes legendary Memphis rocker Tav Falco and his Panther Burns to Bar None, 245 S. 5th St. in downtown Springfield Thursday, May 23 at 8 pm. opening the show will be Springfield surf rock favorites Go! Tsunami. Tickets are available at www.bedrock66.com
Falco moved from rural Arkansas to Memphis in 1973 where he quickly made himself known in the underground film and music counter culture. His work as a videographer acquainted him with an older generation of artists like Fat Possum Records legend R L Burnside and Sun Records artist Charlie Feathers. After an avant garde performance involving R.L.'s "Bourgeois Blues" and chainsawing a guitar, Falco caught the attention of legendary Memphis rocker Alex Chilton (The Boxtops, Big Star). This performance led to Chilton and Falco forming what would be The Panther Burns in 1979. The Panther Burns specialized in obscure, wild rock and roll from the 1950's that had all but disappeared to the listening public by the late 1970's.The Panther Burns, along with The Cramps, introduced this raw and crazy rock and roll of the 1950's to younger artists. This neo-rockabilly with its penchant for fifties horror movie theatrics was coined psycho-billy (an homage to Johnny Cash's "One Piece At a Time"). Chilton produced the Cramps lp "Songs the Lord Taught Us" in 1978. Chilton died in 2010 at the age of 59.
Falco has continued to perform all of these years from his adopted home in Vienna, Austria and is touring the US in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The Panther Burns in 2019. He spoke from the road with SVRR host Sean Burns about his most recent lp "Cabaret of Daggers" and his upcoming Springfield appearance.
