By Mark Kneubuhl
Special to LIVE!
August 4, 2007

Put together four proficient musicians, Billboard-level vocals and some extremely catchy original songs and you have a recipe for a band that could very well be sitting on Jay Leno’s couch someday.

“This is the best band we’ve had in the past four years,” declared Steel Penny Pub soundman/critic, Trey Weaver.

The music of this group is more infectious than the fungus that is responsible for its name, “Live Oak Decline.”

And although LIVE! is betting on Live Oak Decline to someday (soon) be listed on the national charts, predictions are tough in this business. So let’s just put our neck out even further: We’re guessing that one or both of the songs “Coffee and Cars” or “Woody Harrelson” will be the singles that make it nationally for the purely Austin Band.

Live Oak Decline has been playing together for years since the young musicians formed their first garage band. Lead singer and Drummer Noah Watson, guitarist Greg Combs, and bass player Keld Ewart were all friends who attended Bowie High School in Austin together. Since then, all the members have generously passed their talent around, serving with other Austin acts.

The three played at the Steel Penny Pub (2412 College Hills, San Angelo, Texas) last Saturday without Keyboard player, Steve Littleton as he was in playing in France and, “sampling all the wine,” he told LIVE! in a telephone interview.

“In Austin you can run around playing different gigs forever and get nowhere. We’ve been hired guns for so long… so one day we just decided to go for it,” said Combs, who also sings backup vocals.

And go for it they did: Their debut album Hello World is well titled, introducing themselves and starting what promises to be a great musical conversation.

First to be talked about will undoubtedly be their single, "Coffee and Cars." It is already settling in on dozens of playlists throughout Texas and beyond.

With that title, one might assume that this song is about the drudgery of the common man’s 8-to-5 ritual, beginning in the early hours with lots of cars and coffee. But no, lead singer and the song’s author Noah Watson explain what sparked the idea, which is basically a transcript of the lyrics:

It’s still dark but the paper’s out.
I’m just gettin’ home, though I’ve never felt better,
After making love in that parking lot.
It’s always fun to watch the sun come up.
To fall asleep while the working world is waking up,
To another cup of coffee and cars,
and cars and coffee and all the rest…

The song “Woody Harrelson” is a haunting song, based on a true (National Enquirer material) story about the Natural Born Killers star lighting up a doobie while lounging around the water at Barton Springs.

“I was actually a lifeguard there,” said Watson. One day Woody showed up and one of the other lifeguards busted him for smoking weed in the bushes. All these other guys were all pissed about it and I was thinking, ‘Gee, it’s just a little weed and you can’t bust Woody Harrelson!’”

Hello World is sure to be a hit: It’s loaded with 12 great songs and recorded with polish. It was mixed and mastered by Nick Brophie. Brophie has been around the business a long time and has worked with many big name groups such as the Rolling Stones.

Live Oak Decline is a must see and if you don’t have the opportunity, check them out on their website at www.liveoakdecline.com. You may sample all of their songs on iTunes (click here).