DESCRIPTION:
Melba Toast's Hulabilly Hoedown featuring Melba Toast & her Hawaiian Hucksters performing The Huki-Lau song and dance at the original Jack's Sugar Shack in Los Angeles, CA . Dancers: Melba-Miki (Melba Toast), Laura-Liki (Laura Tyler) and Toni-Tiki (Toni Dodd), Hawaiian Hucksters: Steve Werner, Sage Guyton, Whitey Anderson, Brent Harding, Jeff MacArthur, Jim "Haystack" Novak. Videographer: Earl Reinhalter, who emailed Melba the folowing:
This was at the original Jack's Sugar Shack on 8/6/94 (fifteen years ago). In my journal (on my computer), I wrote . . . .The Sleepwalkers opened the show and put on a much better performance than what I saw at the Barn Dance a while back. The trio was working with a new drummer, but he seemed to follow them well. After their set, the Sleepwalkers left their equipment on stage because they, along with members of Laura Tyler and the Usual Suspects, formed Melba's backup band.Before Melba's set, I pointed out to her that the lights were a little dim, meaning that the video might turn out grainy. She persuaded the sound guy to remove the gel on the center light so that at least she would be lit well. Melba handed me an envelope which I later found contained three $20 bills, my fee for videotaping the show. So I didn't have to worry about paying for drinks tonight. Melba's show tonight was billed as a "Hula-Billy Hoedown." Like El Vez combining Elvis music with Mexican culture, Melba did a cross-cultural blend of her own, linking country music with the sound of Hawaii. Melba and her two backup singers, Laura Tyler and Toni Dodd, both wore "grass" skirts and did hula dancing throughout the show.
Melba was a real triumph. For the first time her act showed signs of genius. The backup band was a major asset not only musically, but because their ad lib jokes seemed right in tune with Melba's sensibility.-e a r l