A Swan Song from Thr33

A local legend says goodbye to an era with an eye on the future

Jul 17, 2023

Jim Voodoo Gideon / all photos by author

The Wichita Falls trio known as THR33 is coming to an end, and I was fortunate enough to catch their second-to-last performance at the Iron Horse, as the opening act for A.A. Bottom.

THR33 is led by local legend Jim “Voodoo” Gideon, who has a history on the Wichita Falls music scene that stretches back half a century. On this particular night, it was Jim and his band, plus a few special guests, but the real star of the show was Jim’s songs — heartfelt songs for his muse, his wife, Laura.

Ross Luttrell plays his Fender Telecaster-series bass with an effortless style, and he is the most active of the three onstage, striding back and forth and adding background vocals.

In the absence of a full drum kit, percussionist Keith Gaurkee compliments THR33’s jug band tone and aesthetic. Keith mentioned at one point during the show that he was selling his house to go live on a boat with his wife and two young children. The expression on his face was, Yeah, I said what I said.

There were a couple of special guests during the show, too, including guitarist Nick Ware.

“Nick & I played together in a mid 70's band, A Small Wooden Band, then again in the mid 80's with The Obvious (heavy metal new age computer jazz w/ a refreshing twist) then again after 9/11 we formed Voodoo Johnson,” Gideon told me via DM. “Lasted til our orginal drummer, Randy McClung, died in a motorcycle accident,” he said. “We went another year.”

Nick’s leads caught my ear right away. Really soulful, and the tone he gets from his Les Paul is a fat, bluesy sound that makes you go woooooooo.

The other special guest was Dylan Williams, a gifted young blues guitarist who can make his semi-hollowbody sing. The way Jim tells it, Dylan is tugging at him to do something new, now that THR33 is coming to an end. “Dylan Williams has been luring Nick & me into a blues band with him. We'll play some of my tunes too,” Jim said.

The show I saw literally transformed into a blues jam when Nick and Dylan got up, and any future project with these guys, side-by-side, is one I’ll go see.