Flanfire

Friends, I thought I had done well to have my friend Laura Jean Thompson down from Chicago and play at the Whip In, Romeo’s, Cheatham Street, Baker St.,and the Ham Jam Concert Series — and to meet with Charlie Stewart and work on plans for Folk Alliance and beyond — but that was just the prologue (and indeed Laura and i had some fine adventures togethe!).

No sooner than I had dropped Laura at Austin Bergstrom on Tuesday did I get myself to the Contintental Club to see Dustin Welch with Steve and Mike Bernal on bass (and cello) and drums, Roberto Riggio on violin, and Eric McFadden on lead guitar and lead and/or harmony vocals. What a show — “Two Horses” as I had never seen it before, with Steve Bernal reaching notes on the cello rarely heard. Afterward, I ended up at the Korean karaoke joint on North Lamar singing and wishing Sarah Temple at happy birthday. Wednesday it was Trophy’s for Josh Buckley and Gilded Splinters with Phil Hurley sitting in on lead guitar. Thursday began with Barbara Nesbitt singing her heart out to a warm and fuzzy crowd (lots of fellow musicians) at Maria’s Taco X-press, then a quick jaunt to Baker St. to catch a set by Jennifer Ellen Cook, and off to Stubbs for shows from Les Rav and the White White Lights (with a stopover at the Mohawk in between). Barbara has a voice that melts gold into butter, and Lauren Bruno and Les Rav have added the impeccable Jenni Wieland on French horn and Andrew Noble on violin (and a little lead guitar!). Special thanks to my pal Scott Andrews, who was at the show the night before he played Houston’s House of Blues.

But Friday’s on my mind, and after a long day of work (missing day 1 of the Austin Songwriters’ Group’s annual confab) getting to the Continental Club with my pal Josh Buckley to see the Mastersons (Chris and Eleanor, with the bonus of sister Bonnie Whitmore in the house, and of course Falcon Valdez on drums. Chris has long been one of Austin’s (well, Bertram’s!) finest guitarists and songwriters but even he admits people come just as much to see and hear (and marvel at) Eleanor, who has developed from a strong side woman (violin and mandolin) to hardcore troubadour guitarist and lead singer. Their new CD, Birds Fly South (due in April, except for some advance copies the kids had with them), is just gorgeous, especially IMHO the title track! They’ll be back for SXSW so do not miss your next chance!
At the show (the reconstituted Derailers followed) Josh and I met two great new friends and he got to play them some of his own songs late into the night.
Saturday I finally got to the Omni for the ASG shindig and ran into so many old friends and met a few new ones – and got to hear Sonny Throckmorton and Joe Manuel (with Marvin Dykhuis and Will Sexton) sing some of their greatest hits, hear some top experts in booking, management, and more share their secrets, and have a wonderful time! Thanks again to Lee Duffy and Rick Busby and the whole crew for putting on such a powerful event (featuring indstrry pros from all over the place).
But life is all about Saturday night, and this one was super special — the return to the stage of Jazz Mills and Cowboy and Indian before a packed house at Hotel Vegas (which had already seen Nakia, the Dead Left and the fabulous Greyhounds). Never enough props for Neal Kassanoff’s songwriting, but adding the love of my life, Lauren Gurgiolo (if you ever watch her play guitar you will know why!), to his band (thanks in large part to the genius of Lindsay Greene!) was a stroke of genius mixed with sheer good fortune. Lauren, lead guitarist for Okkervil River, promises new things from her own group, the Dialtones, in coming months, and Neal was beaming when I asked him how his nonprofit music teaching organization for disadvantaged children, the Groundworks Music Project, was going. He had just gotten a major grant that will cover his entire budget for 2012. GOOD TIMES!!!!!! OF COURSE I cannot be objective about Cowboy and Indian — they are all family to me — Dorian, Peter, Daniel James, Jazz, Jesse and Stephanie RULE MY WORLD and are just downright wonderful! Now part of our evening (thanks, Josh and Anita for hanging with!) was spent at the hottest new country bar in Austin, the White Horse, listening to the Carper Family and later to Clyde and Clem’s Whiskey Business (who as always were a barrel of laughs and a joy to behold!) — and Denis O’Donnell, Mashall McHone and the gang also had a packed house. There was also this amazing ring around the moon — part of one magical night in Austin! And tomorrow — new adventures await, as I wait for another show from Cowboy and Indian (to help out our beloved Ruby Jane) and from the stripped down T-Bird and the Breaks quartet!

I did not really want to go. I mean, you drive down this steep hill just to get in, then you park and walk up a lot of steps just to get to the box office. THEN you stand outside in the cold (or heat, or rain, or whatever Texas weather the day brings) before they let you in (or you stay downstairs and hobnob with the usual pretenders crowd of one-percenters, as they are now called). And, yeah, rain or shine you have to walk up this outdoor spiral staircase … and that’s all BEFORE you get into the theatre.
But, OK, it really IS worth it all, because the acoustics are great and there is not a bad seat in the house (unless you do not really enjoy getting up for late arrivers with middle of the row seats). You have to stand in line to get a drink, and there is only a single unisex bathroom upstairs (and who wants to traverse those circular steps and miss half the show?). The theatre seats really are from an old theatre, with oversized cup holders suitable for 40-ounce soda pops. And all of the music — until recently, that is — is out of towners whose clientele is the snobs who never come to the Saxon, the Continental, or even the Spoke. Well, ,mostly.
The truth of course is that none of those venues has what One World has to offer. Parking, to start with (OK, the Spoke has a parking lot!). A huge stage with great lighting. Great sight lines and high ceilings. Not even the heralded Paramount has as many seats that close to the action! And when it is Alyse Black and Little Brave, you feel really great that Austin musicians are on a stage worthy of Austin talent.
Little Brave opened, with Gum-B (Mark Williams) sitting in on cello — a stripped down Brave with K Phillips ONLY on accordian, Michael Christmas on drums, and of course Stephanie Briggs at center stage on guitar, keyboards, and ukulele. [After the show, a 16-year-old singer-songwriter was so thrilled to meet Stephanie, as she too plays those three instruments with her songs!] It was funny to see Stephanie wonder whether it was okay to “cuss”!
But this was Alyse Black’s night. She had a seven piece band PLUS special guests — notably Kalu James and White Widow. The band itself was pretty special: the afore-mentioned Gum-B on standup bass and cello, Shawnee Kilgore on backing vocals and guitar, Will Wallace on lead guitar, Alex Henley on electric bass and guitar, Bruce Logan on drums — and a trumpet player too. One of the things that makes Alyse’s shows special is the care she gives to her fellow players — it is as much their show as hers, in her view.
The show was officially to unveil Alyse’s brand-new project, “The Honesty EP,” along with her live album, “The Triple Door Sessions.” The set list, though, included selections from her two earlier releases and some special surprises — not the least of which was Alyse’s very sexy red sparkly dress, which she claimed to have found just a day earlier at Goodwill (yeah, right!).
The blown away moment was Alyse’s rendering of the Willie Nelson classic, “Crazy,” with only Will Wallace’s acoustic guitar (including an amazing, lengthy solo). Songs like these show off the power and tenor of Alyse’s radiant voice — and this was followed by a song from Shawnee Kilgore about her favorite pirate — with Wallace and Kilgore on twin guitars and Alyse also providing vocal support. White Widow and Alyse rocked out together, and Kalu’s powerful song about his Nigerian homeland was given quite a special full-band arrangement.
The new recording is stripped down — and thus I suspect it will rapidly become my favorite Alyse Black record of all time (until of course she puts out something even newer). I mean, people like her flirtatious spirit onstage and her bouncy songs (including an Adele cover this night), but truth be told, Alyse’s real strength is singing ballads without a lot of instruments to drown out her voice. The banter keeps the show alive and energetic — and then she drops the H-bomb on you with “Even the Best” (or really just about any song from the new EP).
Okay, I admit it. I loved going to One World when we won tickets to see Judy Collins (by knowing that Sandy Denny wrote and originally sang “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”) — but I never saw One World as a local music venue — until tonight! And better yet, the management is talking about an entire SERIES featuring local music … now THAT to me is worth the steep driveway, the outdoor climb, and the other stuff. [Aside - do smokers even care that they sometimes miss half the show to step outside?]
Other Music Highlights from Thanksgiving Week
Bar none — Drew Smith and the Lonely Choir in what may have been the best performance EVER by this amazing band — my favorite (and Ihor’s) for several years running. Jake Owen played what may have been the most powerful guitar solo I have ever heard during Drew’s song, “Bending Like a River Flowing,” and Ryan Bowman (bass), Kyle Thompson (drums), and Matthew Russell (keys), along with Drew, played inspired music in what may have been their last show for a while (the BoDeans are going on tour, taking some of Drew’s players with them).
Earlier that evening, the Beckham Brothers once again showed they are a band to be reckoned with — and one that needs to get off the Willis Alan Ramsey kick and RELEASE the music they have recorded. The Band of Heathens as usual really brought it — and yes I took a detour on Friday evening to go hear Max Frost along with Face, Tiny and Dave Scher rock the house at Beale Street Tavern. Even earlier I had caught a smokin’ set from Edison Chair — which plays Wednesday night at the Parish — if you like the Beatles you will love this band that has that same energy and real potential for playing bigger stages (for example, opening for Fastball New Year’s Eve at Uncle Billy’s on the lake).
Thanksgiving Day was wonderful, the crowd gathered for the third year in a row at Donny Jones’ country estate to chow down and jam. Later I slipped out to catch Dustin Welch’s set with Steve Bernal (cello), Mike Bernal (percussion), and Roberto Riggio (violin) … and it was the way I have been hearing Dustin’s music ever since I saw him with Joe and Trisha Beckham and Brian Standefer on cello at Lambert’s. And Saturday night we stopped by to see Dale Watson (who will be taking a hiatus from performing starting in February to act in a play) and ran into Sunny Sweeney and her new husband at the Spoke — and then dropped by Momo’s to see George DeVore with his brand-new hot band. And there was even MORE!

Sunday I knew wsa going to be busy — but there was more than even I knew, starting with a quiet party at Quin Ulrich’s to honor his dad Steve and the lovely Elizabeth (on their way to Guatemala again!). Mark Ambrose was there, as was Tony Velasco and even Matt Silaski got there bfore I headed out to Threadgill’s for the big GRAM PARSONS TRIBUTE, organized once again by Patterson Barrett.

Now if you konw me, you know I always say that Gram Parsons changed my life with his songs. Sunday night, there were over three hours of Gram songs, songs Gram sang and even a couple of songs ABOUT Gram … most of my favorites except “The New Soft Shoe,” which was on the bill but the performer was unable to make the show at the last minute. Now it being Gram’s music, and it also being a lot of my friends on the stage, I liked everything I heard, especially liked the spirit of the evening (and the weather!). But a few performances stand out, perhaps because of the song itself as well as the performance. Earl Poole Ball (WHO PLAYED WITH GRAM) was his always delightful self, and the handsome Steve Carter has not lost a step. Karen Abrahams, who opened the show, reminded me once again why she is just royalty in central Texas, and Leeann Atherton and Julieann Banks showed that Girls STILL just wanna have fun.
Bu when Brian Pounds broke into “A Song for You,” the tears just started streaming down my cheeks. Same story when Phil Hurley (sans guitar) interpreted a song so good not even Townes could have written it — Thousand Dollar Wedding. And Bill Carter with Will Sexton did Hickory Wind, and Noelle Hampton backed by a quartet of lovely ladies sand “She.” I got to hear Sahara Smith for the first time as she sang (in a voice almost too high for the song) “Sin City” — and there was Dallas Wayne (whose powerful voice just survived the fires that took his home) and so many others … Gram Parsons would have turned 65 on November 5th, and he would be very proud of his daughter Polly, who now lives here in Austin and does amazing work through the Gram Parsons Foundation. The Threadgills audience sang together with an expanded band on “In My Time of Darkness,” one of those songs that once again (and I am surely a heretic as a native Texan for saying this!) NOBODY has reached deeper into our hearts with. My only hope is that next year, someone will sign up to sing “Hippie Boy.”

The night at Threadgill’s was over — but not the night itself — heck, it had hardly begun! Next up was the Saxon Pub, where Amanda Cevallos had gathered another group of fine musicians — some of whom were doing double duty (herself, Steve Carter, and the incredible Mike Stinson among them) — to celebrate the music of Texas music legend Doug Sahm on what would have been his 70th birthday. Performers included Leo Rondeau, Mike Harmeier, George DeVore, the beatiful Beth Lee (and of course the equally beautiful Amanda Cevallos), and David Jimenez. The show stopper, though, had to be the finale, with Tameca Jones belting out “She’s About a Mover” as two of the Southern Sirens shook short-skirrted, fishnet-stockinged booty so impressively that more than one of the players admitted being at least a little bit distracted (not enough to affect their playing, to be sure). The house band for the evening included members of Amanda’s own band, most notably the same Neil Flanz who was a member of Gram Parsons’ band the Fallen Angels. This show was a lot of fun and featured a lot of that San Antonio flavor.
And, yeah, after THAT show was done, I trekked over to Momo’s to catch part of the King Biscuit set featuring Will Webster jamming with David Jimenez and Jonah Kane-West of keyboards, with Wil Landin sitting in on sousaphone. Kurt McMahan keeps finding formulas that work for bringing great players together to have a good time and entertain anyone smart enough to come.

I cannot leave talk of this great first weekend in November without mentioning yet another music legend — the man whom T-Bone Burnett has called “the soul of Texas music.” — Turner Stephen Bruton. Here is a little vignette:

“He was one of the bright spots in the lives of anyone who was close to him,” said Kris Kristofferson, who hired a 22-year-old Bruton to be his guitar player in 1971. The gig lasted 17 years and made the pair as close as brothers. Bruton also played in the bands of Bonnie Raitt and Delbert McClinton, plus he produced career-defining albums by Alejandro Escovedo, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Marcia Ball..
“I feel fortunate that I was able to get back to L.A. last night and say farewell,” Kristofferson said. “He finally knew he was going, after fighting it so hard for so long. I said I would see him again down the road, probably sooner than later.” The two talked for awhile, then, late Friday night, Bruton said he had to go to sleep. He never woke up. He was 60.
“Stephen Bruton was the soul of Texas music,” T-Bone Burnett said in a statement Saturday. “This is an incalculable loss. He was my oldest friend and I loved him like a brother. I learned more from him than I can say.”

TAG — Monday night madness — began at the Whip In, as Stonehoney’s Nick Randolph played his first solo set in maybe a decade before a packed house that included almost the entire California expatriate musician community in Austin (Josh and Teal, Andre and Noelle, Clint and Q, the list goes on). I had invited my friend Lily out to hear some songwriters, and promised her the second half of the evening would be at House Wine. And what an excellent choice! From Marc Palaoro to Will Wallace to Tammy Kantor (with Drew Howard) to Katy Priestley (of KP and the Boom Boom) to Scott Andrews to Luke Benson (just back from Moab, Utah) to Kole Hansen (just back from a four-month tour) to Craig Marshall, there was no letdown at all — and we missed some very good performers who had gone on earlier in the evening. Kole has a major show at Momo’s on November 17th (a Thursday night), and Will Wallace will be sitting in with her band.

Creative guitarists do seem to abound in Austin. This will be a short post — but I just had to write about Kinky Machine, featuring Ethan Kennedy and Matt Muehling on guitars, with Matt Sheffer, Sam Pankey and Drew D’Entremont on percussion, bass and drums, respectively. Mahshad V. says Kinky Machine is “the new black” — and after just their second show tonight at Frank, the other word is “yum.” This is progressive rock that cannot simply be described — just go see and hear for yourself. There is a lot of work to do here — but this quintet of young but very talented players has already sent a statement that they are a band to be reckoned with — and now they need to (a) do some recording, (b) get a video, but mostly (c) keep playing and getting tighter and adding songs to their repertoire. And of course (d) having fun and making money (ha!). I DO love Frank as a venue — I DID place Madi Diaz and Kyle Andrews there for next Wednesday and add Meggan Carney (with Ethan K on guitar of course) to the bill — and it’s not just because I like a good hot dog (though that’s another reason to like Frank!).

Now I knew that when i got to Momo’s to hear Wisebird I would likely run into Luke Benson, just back in town after a very productive summer — yup, he is working on a new record, too. True, the joint was jumping with lots of friends (including my long-lost pal Rob Cooperman, whom I knew was back in town but had not yet seen) — all were there to relish Joe Beckham (bass), Dave Meservy (drums and vocals), and Will Webster (guitars and vocals) just rip the stage apart with joyous sounds. Eric Hokkanen, who has been a mentor to Webster, also showed up to admire his and Will’s joint handiwork.

Speaking of Matt Muehling, I am reminded that NEXT Friday his old bandmate Sam Lipman releases his debut solo CD, “Nebraska,” at Momo’s — Sam may be the nicest Aussie ever created .. and he is one heckuva musician and creative genius — dress up and make this night special!

Speaking of “special,” Raina Rose is a mom … she and Andrew Pressman are the proud parents of a baby boy! I will never forget the first night I met her at the Ham Jam — her aura just totally filled the living room (which is two stories high) … and her songs were so real you could get your fingers wet just touching their wet paint.

Just as special in its own way, Graham Wilkinson is releasing his new EP, The Spiritual Acxcessories, on November 4th at Momo’s — with Drew Smith and the Lonely Choir following at midnight. I can only suggest that we in Austin are so blessed with such songwriters as Jon Dee Graham Wilkinson (which is to suggest that Graham’s songs remind me of Jon Dee’s in their raw honesty and passion). This EP may be the record of the year … and Graham says it cost (an unbelievably small sum) to make, leaving him enough money to actually do some marketing. But this is a free tip to the wise — get two, one to keep and one to share (and of course burn baby burn more). And, yes, with Drew Smith in the house, there might even be a Michael Lahrman sighting.

[And downstairs from Momo's there is a sign on the door noting that the "Powder Room" has applied for a liquor license.]

OK, on Amanda Cevallos’ new CD, “Country Music Turns Me On,” she ONLY does “Luxury Liner” that Gram actually wrote, but who else has NEIL FLANZ — who toured with Gram and Emmylou in the Fallen Angels Band (you know the live recording from New Jersey at least!) — as her pedal steel player? PLUS Gram and the Burrito Brothers did maybe the best version ever of “Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud, Loud Music,” and she has Neil Flanz.
Amanda, who has been performing as Loretta Lynn of late (and looking and sounding quite lovely, and whipping out those Conway and Loretta duets with guitarist Will Dabbs), contributed four of her own songs to this fine collection, including the title cut, a paean to playing at the Broken Spoke on Tuesdays for Happy Hour. She also covers Tanya Tucker (“When I Die”), George Jones (“Why Baby Why”), Leon Russell (“Truck Drivin’ Man”), and the Oakridge Boys (“Elvira,” and I gotta luvit!).
Did I mention that the whole band — and yes this is a live recording done by my very close friend Jason Richard of Clockright Studios “at a church in South Austin” — sounds crisp and tight? Dabbs has a fine touch; Chris Trafton is on drums, Ben Eisenberg is on bass, and Grammy nominee Jorge Herada plays acoustic guitar. At her live shows, it’s Robert Maas on drums.

Maybe my favorite song on the record (starting with Dabbs’ opening guitar licks interspersed with the pedal steel) is “Think I’m Goin’ Crazy,” as Amanda sings, she used to think he was “the one,” but now, she tells him “…I’m thinkin’ maybe, you’re just a son of a gun.”

But the truth is that I am a pedal steel junkie — and Neil Flanz played with Gram and made his music sing! He makes Amanda’s music better, too, by also being her musical director — writing the charts, even giving fashion advice (again, he DID play with GP!), and being “very computer savvy” too. But I think the biggest thing Neil Flanz has done for Amanda Cevallos is to give his total affirmation — by, for example, writing out charts to ALL of her songs before they even had their first practice!.
Amanda and her band have been playing Tuesdays at the Spoke for several months, thanks to the wisdom of the legendary James White — and this Sunday (November 6) the band has the 10 pm slot at the Saxon Pub as part of a tribute to Doug Sahm.

[NOTE to self -- Beg, cajole, plead, do ANYTHING to make sure that Neil Flanz gets added to the GRAM PARSONS TRIBUTE SHOW at Threadgill's World Headquarters on Sunday night -- YUP -- that show precedes the Doug Sahm tribute at the Saxon, so you can get to BOTH if you can get in the door!]

Which brings me to a quick point about what an AMAZING TOWN AUSTIN IS! Just take the past couple of daze — great open mikes at Baker St. on Sunday and House Wine on Monday (and Lisa Kettyle is doing a great job at Romeo’s on Mondays as well); over at Momo’s on Monday, it was Meggan Carney and her hot band (in full Halloween regalia!), followed by the Huey Lewis endorsed Chewy Sprewis and the Screws (George DeVore and friends), then by the Velvet Underground as interpreted by Jack Edward Martin and Cause for Applause (with special guests). On Tuesday, I caught Amanda’s Loretta Lynn show at the Spoke, rolled down the street to the Saxon for a smokin’ hot set by The Moonlighters, featuring Lonnie (soon to be married and off to Spain for a honeymoon!) Trevino on bass and front and center vocals, slash and burn guitar gods Josh Zee (Mother Truckers) and Phil Hurley (Stonehoney), and drummer Phil Bass. You might say, “It doesn’t get any better than this!” OR you could go from electric to acoustic (as I did) and head back to Momo’s for the Drew Smith songwriter circle featuring (on this night) Graham Wilkinson, Jon Beckham, Kurt McMahan, and Ethan Kennedy. My idea here is that these guys should turn this into a college credit course in songwriting … and pack the house every week! Graham BTW has a release of his five-song EP “The Spiritual Accessories” on Friday (Drew’s band The Lonely Choir will also be on that bill at Momo’s); Ethan’s new band Kinky Machine (named after a Jimi Hendrix line) has a hot show at Frank on Thursday; Kurt’s band King Biscuit will be playing every Sunday in November at Momo’s; and the Beckham Brothers will open for the Band of Heathens on Thanksgiving Friday (again at Momo’s).

Meanwile, I am promoting TWO SHOWS with great lineups NEXT WEEK –

Tuesday, November 8th at Beauty Bar — Holiday, Sorne (fresh from their Southeast tour), and Brooklyn-based RUBBLEBUCKET whom I saw in Chicago three weeks ago and immediately jumped on board to help fill out this bill … This eight-piece band — with Hammond B3 and a great horn section — marched into the crowd at Chicago’s Double Door and they have asked local horn players to show up at the Beauty Bar for what they hope will be a Nawlins style parade as part of the show. My report is that I danced for 90 minutes straight to this band and plan to do so again!

Then on Wednesday, November 9th, it is Meggan Carney and her band opening for Nashville-based Madi Diaz and Kyle Andrews.
Like Gillian Welch and her inseparable, unbilled cohort David Rawlings, Madi Diaz is actually a duo. One half is Diaz herself, and the other is her performing and songwriting partner Kyle Ryan, whom she met while studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The two had begun playing music in their teens, and Diaz even had an odd, early brush with the spotlight: At 16, while attending Philadelphia’s now-infamous Paul Green School of Rock Music, she appeared in the documentary Rock School, which inspired the 2003 Jack Black flick. [OR SO THE STORY GOES -- Dave Sebree recalls that the movie's creators actually spent time at the Austin School of Music and Rock Camp in their research for the film.]

Kyle Andrews may be best known for his song “You Always Make Me Smile,” which was featured in a worldwide Holiday Inn ad that included a massive water balloon fight. He travels with a hot band and will be playing songs from his brand-new release, “Robot Learn Love.”
BOTH these shows will be absolutely awesome — and at Frank you can get waffle fries with your Chicago dog!

Before I go, I have to mention that, among the new to Austin artists whom I have caught at recent open mikes, these few stand out (though others are also pretty good!) –

Ima Nsien with Ashton Sullivan — Ima, whose family came to the U.S. from Nigeria, sings R&B, and Ashton, who hails from Virginia, is a fine jazz guitarist — they had a band together in L.A. and separately decided to move to Austin just a couple of months ago.

Thick Red Wine (aka Mike Wojciechowski) – This New Jersey native found his voice while at college in Chicago and then moved to Austin, where he regales a growing fan base regularly with his witty, self-revealing songs that transmit his zest for everyday life into the hearts of those blinded by boredom.

Erica Nobel — this Phoenix transplant just writes great songs and is attracting top players to back her.

Heidi Nadine — This Canadian songbird just flew in (by way of Denmark) bringing tracks she had recorded in Switzerland and around and borrowing a keyboard from the lovely Kristin Astourian (out on her own after leaving Children of the Feather). She totally STUNNED me at Baker St. the other night.

And let’s not forget nationally known author-public speaker Jenni Schaefer — whose book “Living with ED” has helped untold fellow sufferers of eating disorders — but who is also a singer-songwriter with a lovely voice and powerful lyrics. Jenni, by the way, is speaking (and hopefully also singing) at the National Eating Disorders Austin Walk at Mueller Lake Park in Austin on November 19rth.

AND BEST OF ALL — my new friend Laura Jean Thompson, who debuted her new CD “River of Doubt” at Chicago’s Uncommon Ground last Friday, will be bringing her songs to Austin in late December – shows are already set at Romeo’s (12-21) and the Ham Jam Concert Series (12-28), and others are lining up fast.

What a night — Cowboy Indian Bear, Holiday, All the Elements (Drew Smith, brian Beken and birthday boy Joe Humel) — and then the Wheeler Brothers packing out the Mohawk and giving their audience even more than most expected – and lots of friends at the show. But then I got home and picked up a CD I had been given during my last trip to Chicago. My old pal Ryan Sweeney introduced me to Jane Thatcher at Martyrs’ as we were all there to see Utah native Kole Hansen, my buddy Brett Randell, and the lovely Jackie Myers plus the Down Feathers and the Ben Ripani Band. Kole had just met Jane a couple of days earlier — and they were already planning to get together during Kole’s current tour out West. It was a busy trip to Chicago and I threw the CD Jane gave me into my suitcase … until I got home tonight.
I mean, I hear a LOT of music — last night’s Momo’s celebration of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street is but one exmaple — so it is rare that a songwriter just blows me away. Meggan Carney blows me away …. Drew Smith makes my heart feel good. The humanitarian photographer Esther Havens blows me away …. There are others … but I was TOTALLY UNPREPARED for what I was about to hear. It took about five … maybe three .. notes and I KNEW I was in for something SPECIAL.
Jane has moved from Chicago back home to Utah for very good reasons … so I may have to go out there to hear her live in the near future. Meanwhile I have these thirteen songs on “Poundin’ a Heartbeat.”

This is Jane in a biographical sketch on her website — and it does not take much here to realize from whence this brillilance — this power and passion and energy and SOUL — is coming from: a life well lived, pouring herself out and getting refilled to overflowing..

“I’ve been bit, hit, hit-on, threatened, loved, needed, and idealized as a social worker. It has been profound. It has been life changing. I have seen people take giant leaps of faith, lay themselves bare, ask for help, be still, be wild. I have sat in deep, dark places with divorcees, multiple personalities, schizophrenic adolescents. Spent hours talking about depression, fear, lost love, abuse that I never want to think about again. I will tell you true; you are never, ever the same after you hear children recount the insidious tales of abuse they have encountered in this violent city. As a therapist I was unconventional, creative, and probably far too transparent. As with most things, I did therapy my own way. In time, it became nothing more than the process of seeing beauty where others might see craziness, ugliness, weakness or worse, nothing at all.”

I can hardly wait to get to know this remarkable woman — and yes, remarkable singer-songwriter — better. I can only recommend that you find her website and experience this amazing music — and amazing Jane — for yourself. I leave you, my friends, with these words of hers –

“I started writing music simply because I was in pain and I needed to transform what felt ugly and unsafe. I found that once something is in a song, it is suddenly and mysteriously universal, acceptable…. beautiful. I am forever healed by the process of seeing something jagged and heavy in the softer glow of a lyric or a melody. It opens me up to parts of myself that I was refusing to let in. And opening up always allows us to shine, shine, shine.”

\"Time to Forgive,\" Latin at Heart (Billy Wilson, vocals)

My good friend Billy Wilson is taking his band Latin at Heart in a new direction. The band has evolved dramatically over the past year; half the set of unique melodic rock is now in English. New music has been co-written by Billy and Austin songstress Libby Belle Bryer, who brings elements of fun, passion, and pizz-zazz… with an edge!

The music of Latin at Heart is reminiscent of original album rock, kind of like the late 70s and early 80s, with flamenco-ish hooks in the melodies. Billy, who was raised in Central America and is fluent in Spanish and English, leads the band with his strong vocals — but just about everybody (except Steve Zirkel on bass and sometimes trumpet) sings. Lead guitarist Ulrich Ellison came to Austin on a Fulbright Scholarship and proceeded to win three straight Downbeat awards for student blues rock composition while also serving as a soloist with the Austin Pops; drummer Jeff Botta (whose other band The Coveters is also quite the hit about town) is an opera-trained vocalist and multi-instrumentalist; and Dr. Marianna Tanguy is one heluva keyboard player who doubles as a psychology professor when not also performing on stage with Uncle Bruno or Les and the Funk Mob. As for Mr. Zirkel, you might say the crown of his distinguished career was touring with Leonard Cohen and performing with Cohen on Austin City Limits. Yeah — this is a SUPER GROUP of a BAND … get out to the show!!!

02 Track 2

Gotta love the Chicago sound — starts with great singing!

A double dose of guitarist Ethan Kennedy tonight — first at Momo’s where his band morphs itself into three-quarters of the Meggan Carney Group (with Meggan on rhythm guitar and keyboard), then as themselves at the (soon to be shuttered) Ghost Room. I cannot get enough of Ethan and his music, which attracted quite a rogue’s list of good players from about town who hung out perhaps after what I am told was a smokin’ set by Ghosts along the Brazos. Ethan announced tonight that yesterday was his last at his day job and that he is now living off the salaries of his friends and fans. It is about time this guy got loose to do what he does best. Daniel McKenna and Drew D’Etremont round out this trio — and as I noted earlier in the evening they had put on very different hats to make their music work with Meggan Carney’s complex song structures. My friend Darwin Smith recorded Meggan and Ethan as a duo during our SX620 show at the Iguana Grill — I listened to some of the early mixes tonight, and we all hope Meggan will soon have a full band profile and all of the other things that will make it easier to find her music. Their set with Meggan tonight (Wednesday) was stunning. Rose Reyes and Amanda Garcia from the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau there (at my insistence!), getting an eyeful of the woman the CVB is sending as its representative to Washington, DC, and Chicago in coming weeks.
Also at Momo’s tonight, Will T. Massey and his new band (featuring Ram Zimmerman on drums, Jeff Joiner on bass, Richard Bowden on fiddle, and Dave Ducharme-Jones on lead guitar) rocked the house at Momo’s … what a night.

Three days (daze?), thirty (plus) bands, and of course a few side projects. SX620 and SXSW have come and gone — and we are just now sorting out all of the music we recorded and the video we shot. One thing we know. There is some great stuff out there — for example, Meggan Carney’s quirky songs and powerful voice, which she will be taking to Washington, DC, and Chicago on behalf of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau in coming weeks. Flanfire will be joining Meggan and the incomparable Drew Smith in the Windy City (barring strange incidents that could happen). Meanwhile, Drew’s Lonely Choir played an amazing set last weekend at Momo’s that left even Ihor Gowda gasping for breath…. And I met Merri Palmer … at long last. Raw .. her new CD, Drinking and Dreaming, is as raw as an open wound from intentional cutting, so honest Abe Lincoln would blush, and so intense (and yet often funny but even more often poignant) that you just through the songs (and maybe an on-stage performance or two) you sense that this woman way too soon wants to fix every broken thing but knows she cannot … and wonders why. “Early in the Morning” is a deja vu moment in time as one copes with the non-reality that you tried to keep real but could not — one of the most haunting songs ever. “The Daily Grind” speaks of the earthquakes in people’s lives that so disrupt normal and always seem to come with aftershocks. “Underage Smokers” takes us back to high school memories — and a wish that “you’ve grown up to grow sane.” “Hopeless Romantic” bounces into your head to open the show, and you realize that this seemingly happy song has its darker overtones, as “everything I’ve loved so far’s gone bad.” The title cut has this line, “plans are what you make until something more important comes along,” and so relationships sometimes come to an end. There are songs here about which I cannot write — maybe because Merri has a heart the size of the moon itself and a passion for people daring to seek their own truth that comes from seeing hypocrisy way up too close. This offering follows her earlier acoustic EP, “The First Five Years,” and features new new synthesizer and lots of harmonies (many her own). Merri will have a residency at Flipnotics next month and has other shows about town … that is, if she doesn’t hop on a cruise ship to sing for her supper.

Elsewhere I recently gave high praise to the new CD by Jenny Parrott and Vaughn Walters, aka Loves It! Tonight I stopped by the Whip In to catch Jess Klein with Patterson Barrett as they sang an amazing duet of “Grievous Angel” that evoked the passion and joy of the original Gram and Emmy Lou that changed my life. Also on the stage, Professor Feathers aka Mark Addison (who will be sharing HIS songs with Jess i a fw weeks) and Danish songbird Annemarie Jensen (who has been “touring” with Chris Hawkes and will be in town through the end of April).
Then it was off to the Continental Gallery to check out The Frank Mustard Project — I liked their songs but even moreso their cover of Link Wray’s “Comanche.”

Coming up — Thursday at Threadgills’ – Cowboy and Indian (wear a costume); Friday at the Cactus, the beautiful Bonnie Whitmore (with Graham Weber), at the Continental Club, the long-awaited CD release by Slowtrain, and at Momo’s round 2 of Dave maden’s OMG Orchestra featuring Sara Hickman, John Pointer, and more … and the show I really want to see — Merri Palmer with D. B. Rouse (Kiddo) and others at Hornitos — which starts at 7 pm. It’s gonna be a looonnng night!