Four Bands, Four Barbecue Joints

Published on Tuesday, April 15, 2008, by The CHOW Editorial Team / Edit Post

Four Bands, Four Barbecue Joints

A sonic tour through American barbecue

Matt Tyson and Mike Grimes, the team behind the music blog Ear Farm, take the indie music scene pretty seriously. The other thing they take seriously: barbecue. And on a road trip to Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival, these worlds collided. Passing through four barbecue meccas—Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee; Austin, Texas; and Kansas City, Missouri—they enlisted the help of local musicians the Rosebuds, Amy LaVere, Tapes ’n Tapes, and Skatterman & Snug Brim to find the best ’cue in town.

Click a link to the right to see photos from each stop on the tour, and to listen to a song from each band.

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POST A COMMENT |12 Comments

COMMENT

  • denk & el jefe:

    So true. It's just fine if people don't care to drive out to one of the really great Central Texas 'cue joints. But I wish they wouldn't then judge and denigrate all Texas 'cue because what they had in Austin doesn't quite measure up to what they had in other locales.

  • El Jefe,

    Well said. What a lousy sampling of the umpteen BBQ joints within 15 minutes from Ironworks. Don't get me wrong. Ironworks is solid, but not the blue ribbon winner.
    Even certain gas station BBQ restaurants are better. ; )

  • I'm sure the music is great, but the choice of BBQ is questionable.
    They were in KC and didn't go to Bryants? Bad. Missed the best the area has to offer.

  • killer western q...at ridgewood bbq...elizabethton tn....split the pork bbq sammie ....split the fries...everyone have the bbq beans.

  • I live in Austin but I would not call it a barbecue mecca. Lockhart to the south qualifies, as does Taylor to the north, but there's precious little great 'cue here Good? Sure. Sublime? Not so much. Also, Iron Works is far from the best Austin has to offer. Good? Sure. Great? Meh.

  • It's BLUES and BBq in KC. Jack Stack is great corporate, polite BBq, there are other places in the KC area and serve "true" KC BBq.

  • Based on the photo and description, they went to the Jack Stack in the Crossroads neighborhood down by Union Station. However, if you want to follow in their footsteps, I'd still suggest that the first of the Jack Stack restaurants, located in Martin City on the south end of KC, is the best of the bunch.

  • Funny you mention the fries in NC; they are the only thing I don't like at Allen and Sons! The BBQ sandwich and onion rings with a side of hush puppies is the way to go

  • Funny you mention the fries in NC; they are the only thing I don't like at Allen and Sons! The BBQ sandwich and onion rings with a side of hush puppies is the way to go

  • Great article and photos and I enjoyed playing the music whilst reading the reviews and salivating over the thought of the french fries from NC and the pork ribs from Kansas!

  • Matt and Mike said that Kansas City may have been their favorite. Was this because of the restaurant, the company, or the general preparation of KC bbq? I have to say that the picture of the pulled pork in NC had my mouth watering!

  • This is a really great story - mixing two of my favourite things - food and music!!! Great idea and well written. Photos are also awesome.