Bassist, organist, composer, member of the infamous Homopolice, one of the Rocks Off 100, self-avowed electronic music geek, flanger aficianado, and suave Poison Girl drink slinger, Beau Beasley has been broadly immersed in the Houston music scene all his adult life. Not long ago over a cold one at Poison Girl, a discussion began about his favorite Houston players.

Rewind:

Beau Beasley, Organist for the End of Time

As Beasley tossed out names and explanations, it became obvious that his vision is deep and his standards are high. Below, in his own words, is a list of his favorite Houston musicians.

Steve Candelari

Drummer for local Brit-rock cover band Picture Book and Continental Club happy-hour favorites Beetle. I saw him play the Who's Who Are You and it was one of the most powerful performances I've ever seen. He was totally channeling the spirit of Keith Moon.

Wilton Felder

A horn player from Houston living in Los Angeles these days, Felder was a founding member of the Crusaders. He eventually switched his emphasis to bass guitar and became one of the in-house bassists for Motown and worked on milestone albums by Billy Joel, Randy Newman, and John Cale. He's so good he played bass on the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." Nuff said.

George Weimer

Houston drummer/groove master I've picked up a lot of concepts on feel and groove from hanging around in the back drum room at Rockin' Robin and watching George fuck around on the kit. This is the guy in Houston that can tell you the difference between Mexican cumbia and the Colombian cumbia. And he was in the Onions at one time, one of Houston's longest-running R&B bands.

Kevin Fitzpatrick

Another longtime rock-and-roll Houston drum heavyweight, Kevin locked down the beat for alt-country rockers the Hollisters during their heyday. I've watched him play drums a handful of times, and every time I'm amazed at his awesome country-rock drumming style. Very swinging and very strong.

I also saw some pictures of him hanging with Rush back when he was a youngster at someone's house. Truly legit. These days Fitzpatrick fronts his own band, Snit's Dog and Pony Show.

Paul Ramirez

Paul showed me the ropes on Latin-style percussion and also taught me quite a bit about theory, professional band etiquette, and true musicianship. The sickest drummer in town if you are into hard hitters, he studied under George Weimer and at the University of North Texas.

He appeared in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger and drummed for Houston noisecore pioneers Splatterrea. He also went to Eisenhower High School and has the old-school NORTH SIDE tattoo to prove it.