For those who remember the outfit's early years, the notion that it would survive four decades might seem almost unthinkable. After all, some of its brilliant-but-ramshackle performances from that era seemed like they might blow apart after four songs — and some certainly did.
Be that as it may, Smith and Hickoids will celebrate the anniversary of their live debut with a Thursday, March 28, show at the Lonesome Rose that will include a full performance of the group's debut album, We're in it for the Corn. Old-school San Antonio Tex-Mex rockers The Krayolas will open.
For those who need a refresher in Texas punk history, Hickoids played its first gig at long-gone San Antonio venue Villa Fontana in 1984, sharing a bill with now-legendary acts Black Flag and the Meat Puppets.
"I don't remember much about the show itself," Smith said with a laugh. "We'd taken mushrooms and were drinking all day. Went and got flattops at the fucking military barber shop that day. Pretty wild." He pauses, then interjects with a deadpan drawl, "I don't know. It wasn't a very well-considered haircut choice. I'll put it that way."
Smith not only played that first show but helped promote it — a testament to his tireless dedication to building a scene while melting audiences' faces.
"That's been a running theme, to varying degrees, as time and money have allowed," said Smith, who also operates San Antonio's long-running Saustex Records label. "You try to benefit from the synergies that are created by a scene."
Smith continues to help create that scene with a full slate of releases from his label and the recent formation of the Corn Pound, a DIY compound in Windcrest that packs an outdoor venue, record shop, rehearsal spaces and a recording studio along with the South Texas Center for Popular Culture.
Hardcore punk, hardcore country
Smith, then a teen, experienced the first wave of punk when it hit in the late 1970s. Inspired by its energy and DIY fervor, he fronted bands including the Dwarves (no, not that one), the Smart Dads and the Bang Gang. By the time of Hickoids' inception, the musical movement had morphed into numerous subgenres.
"I started the band with a guy named Jukebox in 1983," Smith said. "He was a guy that sold mushrooms, my drinking buddy. We went to shows and stuff. I didn't know he really played guitar. He told me he wanted to start a band, and I said, 'Sure, whatever.' He liked my band at the time, the Bang Gang, a lot. One day he popped up with this [Fender] Mustang and was playing the shit out of it. We decided to fuse hardcore punk with hardcore country. I mean, there were signifiers of country in there, but it definitely wasn't country-rock."
The Hickoids emerged as part of a tight-knit Austin scene that included The Offenders, Scratch Acid and other groups unafraid to fuse punk aggression with other forms of music.
After a brief period with shifting personnel — Pat Deason from legendary Austin punk band The Dicks was a member as was Flynn Mauthe of San Antonio's Mystery Dates — the group settled on a definitive early lineup. Smith and Jukebox were joined by second guitarist Davy Jones, bassist Dick Hays and drummer Arthur Hays.
Still in it for the corn
That lineup recorded the We're in it for the Corn, a sprawling and often hilarious rave-up that was originally self-released but eventually picked by U.S. indie Toxic Shock as well as other labels in Europe. Known for chaotic, booze-fueled live shows, the group improbably won the 1985 Austin Music Award for Best Country Act.
"All it really did was piss off people who actually played country music, and we, of course, dug that," Smith once told music scribe David Ensminger. "Mission accomplished. That award and two bucks would have got us a six-pack of Lone Star back then."
The band continued touring and releasing records but dissolved in the early '90s in a haze of substance abuse and chaos. At present, Smith is the only member of the first-album lineup who's still alive.
A sober Smith reformed Hickoids in 2006 and began performing and releasing material that built on the band's foundation of strong musicianship, offbeat humor and absence of fucks to give.
The lineup performing at the 40-year anniversary show includes Smith along with keyboardist Harvey McLaughlin, bassist Tom Trusnovic, guitarist Cody Richardson and drummer Lance Farley.
Here's to 40 more.
$11, 8 p.m. Thursday, March 28, The Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary's St., thelonesomerose.com.
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