Flanfire

I will always remember the first time I met Jess Klein — at Momo’s, of course — Charlie Faye introduced us.  So a couple of weeks ago, Jess introduces me to her old friend Jessie Torrisi — who, like Jess, escaped from New York (a la Kurt Russell?), another in the never ending parade of wonderful people who were wise enough to come to Paradise where the streets are paved with golded songs and our pockets are lined with lint and sweat.

I will also never forget the first time I heard Jess Klein sing — last January at Flipnotices, and thank God the window was open, because her songs heated up the room.  Last Saturday I got to hear Jess again at Flipnotics, first solo (with her hair down), then with Jud Newcomb (who has just buried his close friend and fellow Resentment, Stephen Bruton, a man whom I admired and loved but nowhere near as much as Scrappy and the guys who knew him best). 

Like Suzanna Choffel, Jess appears the mild-mannered woman off stage but as soon as her guitar gets some action, she is pure dynamite.  I was just sitting there in awe and all of a sudden it hit me — Jess’s songwriting reminds me of the young Bruce Springsteen (and, by inference, Tom Waits at any age) in the way she weaves her stories from the vignettes of life she captures in her soul as she goes through everyday life.  Austin is so very blessed to have her here and yet Jess says that Austin has been a life saver for her as well – and folks, this new record she did with Scrappy and also with Mark Addison is like a seven course meal followed by another one — and dessert and brandy and coffee.  [Which is to say there's a lot of meat, plenty of spice, a touch of sugar but a pound of honey, and vegetables like great-grandma used to make.   [But for us here in Paradise, we get that kind of cookin' so often we may forget to kiss the cook even when it's finger lickin' good!]

Earlier in the evening, I got to see Jessie Torrisi (whose mom told me that Jess has had concerts in her living room), who had dragged me out to see Elvis Perkins in Dearland earlier in the week (a rare event for Flanfire checking out a non-Austin band, but what a wonderful experience that I will tell you about for hours if you just ask (but not here, though DO check out the photo of the young man whose father was Norman Bates and whose mother was Marisa Berenson’s sister).  [The photo is of Elvis to the right of the trombone player from Stillwater (OK) band Other Lives, who opened the show -- the Dearland guys, like Elvis, are Brown graduates.

Now, Jessie is really from Philadelphia but did go to Columbia and lived in NYC for a decade -- so she knows her bagels and her cheesesteak and STILL came to Austin for the music and the life.  And she is a drummer and percussionist and a very good one, as friends have told me.  At Ego's on Saturday, though, she brought out an acoustic and an electric guitar and her friend Alissa Schram to play cello -- and Carl Ryals on drums, Raul Vallejo on trombone and a brand new father Josef Butts on upright bass.  The thing with Ms. Torrisi is that she just gets you before she even sings a note -- maybe it's the time she spent learning Brazilian beats, maybe it's just her natural gift of gab, maybe it's just her devilish smile -- but she filled up the room with fans (some all the way from Manhattan) and with smiles of joy.

Later in the evening, I went over to Momo's to catch Goldcure in their final set before a Southeast tour -- now they are covering the Who, Bowie, and the Beatles and yet their originals are what blow people away.  Even their closest friends are amazed at how these guys have gotten so much better since arriving maybe two years ago from Fort Lauderdale (well, Adam, Craig and Gavin - bassist Marcus is their best Austin find other than producer (and great guitarist and songwriter) Stephen Doster (shown here with birthday boy Gavin Inverso -- and yeah it was also Will Evans' birthday too!)  The big surprise of the evening, though, was Ryan Harkrider and his band -- wish I had gotten the name of that pretty law school student who sang harmonies and leads with Ryan all night long.  Ryan, BTW, won the Austin song contest -- just gotta love the emerging talent this town produces (yup, he's a native!).

Friday was sort of a makeup day for Wednesday, when to accommidate a late-booked private party, Scholz's Biergarten moved the Fireants and Blues Mafia show to the choirlike Sangerrunde Hall, which does not handle electric instruments well and which did not attract anywhere near the normal crowd you get outside at the venue.  Plus, it was a chance to check out Tim's Porch at the Old Backyard -- just a fabulous place to sit outside and listen to great music.  And folks, Malford Milligan is back in town to do a show there on May 30th!

The Fireants were missing Rebecca Pledger (bass) and Steven Campbell (keys) but then again that put Danny Levin on fiddle, cello, and keys and Jon Blondell on bass for quite a show.  Carson Brock even sat in on a song or two -- after telling me he was a little ill and "glad he was not playing." But of course he is a featured member of the Lake Travis Fiddlers (playing guitar) as is my old friend Richard Parke's lovely daughter Catherine.  I really enjoyed this ensemble, which is directed by Anna Macias who has been such a developer of young talent for so long in this town.  And yet -- the best show of the night may just have been the very informal jam sessions with Carson Brock (he of the weak-kneed feeling earlier), Victor ZIolkowski, Zeke Jarmon, and Danny Levin -- sometimes with Zeke or Carson sitting in on drums).

Later on Friday, I stopped by Ginny's Little Longhorn for a set from Jenny and the Corn Ponies (which includes my pal Missy Beth on fiddle and vocals) -- and Vaughan and Sly from the Shake-Em-Ups showed up, Mr. Barrack on his brand-new motorcycle!

 NOTE - I am reserving an entire post just for the Ricky Stein CD release and family fun fest at the Continental Club last Thursday.  Earlier that evening, the lovely Jackie Bristow (with Mark Punch and Mark Hays) put on an amazing show at the Amsterdam despite the ongoing renovations at the venue that its owners hope will turn the former diner into one of the city's top intimate music venues.  ANd I even had been to Momo's for Happy Hour thanks to Aimee Bobruk who had told me not to miss her friend from south Georgia via Noo Yawk City (there's that place again!), Mary Bragg.  ANd boy she was RIGHT!  Lovely woman (with her husband on bass), gorgeous songs.

Despite the last-minute relocation, there was much good to say about the Fireants and Blues Mafia at Scholz's -- first, I had never been to Sangerrunde Hall, but now I see why acoustic groups love to play there during SXSW or at any time.  Second, I got to go see and hear Stefanie Fix with Mark Williams on bass and cello down at Botticellis.  [Which makes me wonder just how good "the Marks brothers" would be -- Mark Williams on bass/cello, Mark Hays on drums/percussion, Mark Addison on keyboards and some guitar, and Mark Punch on lead guitar, all from this post. 

 Gotta throw in a few kudos for Slaid Cleaves, out with his brand-new CD (I caught part of his Waterloo show, which was phenomenal -- and have to note he sings a duet with Jess Klein on her new CD.]  And then there’s that great new project for George DeVore (he gets to wear his overalls), the Twalls, which also features Matt Powell — and Curley Sue Twall on bass.  The garralous Douglas Jay Boyd made his Saxon Pub debut last week (he’s also singing with Dertybird of late) — and the always fun Nathan Hubble delivered as promised with Miss Brennen Leigh on electric, rock and roll mandolin at Momo’s.  [I might also mention Jackie Bristow’s warmup show at Flipnotics and my late-night taste of Warren Hood with Ruby Jane Smith at Momo’s on Sunday — after the Kris Brown Taurus birthday party — his mom and girlfriend are also Taureans, and it was a great party at Happiness Nursery which I heretofore had not even known about but which was such a cool little place tudked away off South First Street.

Finally, I have to give kudos to Blues Mafia (and to the Greyhounds and to Stephen Marcus of San Antonio’s blues rock band The 46, who also played) for helping raise nearly a thousand dollars for hte Leukemia and Lymphoma Society last weekend at Jovita’s.  Stephen’s drummer was in bed recovering from a tonsillectomy so he just came solo but ended up in another of those famous Austin jams with Patrick Mertens, Chris Copeland and Kai Roach of Blues Mafia and later Syd Sanchez on guitar.  The Mafia then put on a show that brought out the dancers (young and older, got a saxophonist up on stage for a song or two, and unveiled another new song that totally blew me away.  Later that evening I stopped by Botticellis to see Margo Valiante, dropped in at the Continental to catch two songs from LZ Love, and then went over to the Saxon and watched in total awe as New Orleans’ Theresa Andersson (who lived in Austin after Katrina) just mesmerized a packed house with her one-woman, five voices band show — violin, guitar, drum kit, various other percussion, and of course her loop machine that enables her to dance around barefoot pushing pedals and harmonizing with herself in four octaves. 

And after she sang a joyful tribute song  in the Nawlins tradition to Poodie Locke (it really WAS a hard week for Austin music, losing two of its finest who were both born in 1948), Theresa got a note telling her that Stephen Bruton, too, had died.  She paused for just a moment, then announced she was doing one more song — and proceeded to sing “Find the Cost of Freedom,” that great anthem from CSNY, with just her voice (looped for effect) — and as we cried our bitter tears we were slowly transfigured by the power of her soul as Bruton’s spirit entered the room and calmed all of our hearts.  My boys from Stonehoney closed out the night, but even their sweet four-part harmonies could not touch what we all had just seen and heard.