The Apostles of Manchaca: One Questionably Dirty Night at Strange Brew

(…musically speaking, of course)

Jul 01, 2025

Join my patreon to hear “Hot Legs” by The Apostles Of Manchaca, and for new unreleased music every month at patreon.com/jeffplankenhorn

🇨🇦 Happy Canada Day, y’all — eh?
Just dropping in to wish everyone well and share something from deep in the vault — raw, unreleased, and full of fire.

🎶 The Setting

Roughly from 2013–2018 (if I remember correctly), I helped front a band every Tuesday night at the now-defunct South Austin venue called Strange Brew Lounge Side. We were known as The Apostles of Manchaca — a name donned on us by local guitar hero Van Wilks (who liked to say he was “famous because I taught Billy Gibbons”). He saw our long hair that first night and said, “Y’all look like the apostles.”

We also named ourselves after the street the club sat on — back when it was still spelled Manchaca. (It was later corrected to the original Spanish spelling, Menchaca — a reminder of how many Texas place names got “whitened up” over the years. As a transplant, I knew better, but I wasn’t about to die on the hill of pronunciation.)

The mighty Michael O’Connor, Malford Milligan, and yours truly circa 2013ish?

🧨 The Band

It all started with my longtime brother-in-arms Michael O’Connor, and then one day Austin soul legend Malford Milligan (Storyville) just showed up — and then he was in. That’s how it went.

The band evolved over time, but on the night this track was recorded, the lineup was:

Me, usually on lead vocals (most of but not all of the time), playing a bitchin’ Collings electric guitar borrowed from a good friend
Brannen Temple, drums
Yoggie Musgrove, bass
Phil Redmond, lead vocals (on this one) and keys — he only sang a couple tunes a night

I’m not sure why Malford or Dave Scher weren’t there that night — probably off gigging somewhere — but this four-man lineup locked in and went off.

🧨 The Band

The band evolved over time, but on the night this track was recorded, the lineup was:

Me, usually on lead vocals (most of but not all of the time), playing a bitchin’ Collings electric guitar borrowed from a good friend
Brannen Temple, drums
Yoggie Musgrove, bass
Phil Redmond, lead vocals (on this one) and keys — he only sang a couple tunes a night

I’m not sure why Malford or Dave Scher weren’t there that night — probably off gigging somewhere — but this four-man lineup locked in and went off.

🔥 The Track

The tune? “Hot Legs” — Rod Stewart.
Yeah, the lyrics haven’t aged well. Let’s be honest: a lot of ‘70s rock swagger comes across as flat-out misogynistic now.

But Phil didn’t pull it out for the message — he pulled it out because he could kill it, had played it with Yoggie (I assume in other configurations), and wanted to see what would happen with Brannen and me off the cuff.

What happened was wild, loose, and full of life.

🎛️ The Recording

It’s a board tape. No mix. Nothing polished.
And that’s what makes it special — a real moment, caught by whoever happened to be running sound that night.

It’s messy.
It’s inspired.
It’s exactly what live music is supposed to be sometimes.

🗣️ Got Memories?

If you ever came to a Tuesday night at Strange Brew, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
What do you remember?
What stayed with you?
What got loud, or weird, or beautiful?

🎁 Why This Song? Why Now?

Because it’s real. Because it’s part of my path.
The amount that each of these gentlemen taught me is immeasurable.
Besides: perfection is overrated — but feeling never is.

Thanks for being here.
Thanks for reading.
And once again: Happy Canada Day — and right around the corner, Happy Fourth of July!

👇 join my patreon to hear “Hot Legs – Live at Strange Brew (2017)”

patreon.com/jeffplankenhorn

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