CORRINA’S DREAMLAND BAND – Blue Moonbeams

Corrina Rachel (Kalish) is tall, blonde, and old-fashioned (at least in her musical taste) — I always think of her as a 1940’s pinup girl who might have graced the noses of many a fighter plane (can anyone say “Betty Grable”?).  Unlike most other Austin jazz singers, Corrina belts em outta the park as her “dreamland band” changes from gig to gig (or so it seems).  The lineup for this five-song EP is Trevor Labonte on lead guitar, Ryan Bowman on bass, Masumi Jones on percussion, and Ephraim Owens on trumpet.  Three of the songs here are originals — I really like “Answer,” a bouncy tune that nonetheless gives our gal ample room to show off her extensive vocal range … The Bert Kaempfert tune “L-O-V-E” is a great way to show off the musical talent she has assembled, nd “Blind in Love” continues the groove (thanks, Trevor).  Corrina’s voice here is its sultriest.  The disc opens with Corrina’s “Blue Moonbeams,” but it is the closer — Mel Torme’s “Born to be Blue” – written before Corrina’s FATHER was born, that steals the show here …. Here our gal puts her Texas twang to work and brings back the grit of Billie Holiday … sultry, swanky, and (you know the word).  Yeah, she is super sweet!

MARGO VALIANTE — I Can’t Pray

You look at Margo Valiante — tall, slender, even a little gawky sometimes — the girl next door.  UNTIL she opens her mouth to sing … where DID that voice come from?  And to be true — she is THE VOICE!  OMG this is the real thing — produced by Rich Brotherton with band members Etan Sekons (electric guitar), Kyle Clayton (the Austin woman’s favorite bass player), and Jordon Ellis on drums (when he is not playing with Ben Sollee).  Riley Osbourn adds keyboards and Brotherton throws in a little of his own guitar prowess .. all the songs are Margo’s.  West Virginia transplanted to Wyoming .. with a pause for college at Skidmore – and a dad who once sang in clubs in Washington, DC, and its suburbs.  All that, and where did these blues and gospel tunes come from?  Tracy Nelson (Mother Earth) meets Janny Grein (my favorite white gospel singer ever).  “Fake Flowers” opens this five-song EP — this is the blues with Osbourn’s organ grinding it out and Sekons’ guitar (what’s a New Yorker doing this down and low?) laying the backdrop for “The Voice” — man, I would never buy plastic after hearing this song!  Their love was not real and the only way he could show it was to give her fake flowers when he goes … and she is just now realizing what happened! 

Next up is the title song – This is a gospel lament of the highest order … in live shows, Margo sets the stage afire with frenzy … you just ACHE when songs like these are done.  “Holy Ghost is my bottle, He won’t tell me my sins, He’s got a mind to drive me crazy, everywhere I go, everywhere I’ve been…. I read the gospel when it needed me, but it’s the label that I seek,, well I’ve got nothing more to show before the demons that I do keep….”  The intensity is way down on
“Sing I Do,” a prayer for a husband and lover … “He’ll come to me with a gesture so grand, he’ll wipe away tears and put a ring on my hand ….”  Then it’s “First Born Son,” with acoustic guitar only and a brooding bass line … “far as the moon on a golden day, he left his seedy eyes behind and drove away.”   TURN UP THE VOLUME AGAIN for “Mama Don’t Know,” a song about whiskey and sin, maybe the best blues song I have heard since “St. James Infirmary.”  Five songs — and I am completely drained.  Be sure to take your blood pressure medicine before going to one of Margo’s live sets.  You will need it — i promise!

MOTHER FALCON — Still Life

OK this is NOT Polyphonic Spree.  The band is NOT wearing robes.  But it is maybe the largest collection of musicians on an Austin stage playing rock operettas since that Dallas-based phenomenon.  Multiple cellos (Italo Benevides, Nick Calvin, and of course founder Nick Gregg), multiple violins and violas (Rita Andrade, Clara Brill, Maurice Chammah, Yun Du, and Austin Harris) plus Tamar Kalifa on accordian and piano, Matt Krolick on trumpet, Gilman Lykken on bassoon, Claire Puckett (the essential one) on guitar and vocals, Matt Puckett on saxophone and vocals, Luke Stence on bass, and Isaac Winburne switching rapidly from sax to drums kit to piano and back.  Their EP release at Central Presbyterian Church was one of the Music Events of the Year .. and why not?  Mother Falcon, whose members average maybe 19 or younger, won this year’s Austin Music Award for “None of the Above” — one of the city’s best bands.  I well remember the first time I saw Mother Falcon – at Cafe Caffeine on Mary Street — Nick struggling to play his cello and sing at the same time (all fixed with better mike placement), an assemblage of players who were not quite sure if this would all work, but something just clicked.  The PASSION!  I am not even going to write about the individual songs, because I hear this EP as a five-movement, high energy symphony (or cacaphony?) … kind of like what Explosions in the Sky does without words.  The heart races along with the violins and cellos.  I am proud to say I talked (it did not take much talk) The Tiny Tin Hearts into doing some shows with Mother Falcon (memorably at The Parish for their own CD release!) — and each band fed off the other’s already considerable fan base. 

MR. BROWN — Invisible To You

Kris Brown is one of my oldest friends in Austin (time, not age) — and I confess I would rather hear him play lead guitar than bass, but then again, with his reggae band Mr. Brown it is the bass that carries the rhythm, and besides Kris has PJ Herrington to play guitar.  Johnny Radelat holds down the drums here, with Courtney Audain supplying additional percussion on the recording and Matt Jacobs playing keyboards.  Plus Deke Jones on additional vocals and the Fresh 2 Def horns — Joseph Serrato on tenor sax, Michael Ray on trumpet, and Javier Stuppard on trombone. 

The title cut shows that Kris can croon with the best of them — this is one classy cut!  Kris wrote “The Name of Love” with Deke Jones, and this is a classic reggae song … you gotta dance, but this is a song about the Almighty Father by many names.  “Wolves in Shepherd’s Clothing” — funny, earlier today I heard a friend describe himself as a sheep i wolves’ clothing (and of course I am friends with real wolves Winter and Luna) could just be Jamaican it is.  “This Love” features General Smiley, and “Wolves Version” features zydeco king Philipidon.)  Lastly, we have the dub version of the title track — groovin’ grooving music.

Mo McMorrow, like her good friend Ray Bonneville, is a Canadian (and I love Canadians!) — but after going to art school in Australia and living for aeons in Ireland (where she honed her songwriting), Mo seems more Irish than anything.  Indeed, the songs on “Mona Lisas Don’t Cry” seem to come from that golden land.  I remember Mo telling me about her “little songs” even before I heard her singing them at Ego’s — and meeting up with Kathy Rowell and introducing her to Mo and next I knew they were doing a show at Aces (dutifully reported in the Flanfire archives).  Some of the songs from those early days appear on the new recording, but even these songs seem to have grown up a bit over the past year or so.

Mo’s brand-new record is graced with so many friends making beautiful music with her — Justin Douglas doubled as producer and player of numerous instruments on various tracks, Paul Pearcy on drums and percussion, and Bobby Daniel on bass are the near-constants, but making appearances here and there are such notables as Gurf Morlix (banjo and guitar), Ray Bonneville (harmonica and vocals), Cindy Cashdollar (dobro), Richard Bowden (fiddle), Carrie Elkin and BettySoo and Elizabeth Wills and Eliza Gilkyson (backing vocals), Erin Knight (trumpet), and Sharon Shannon (accordian).  My most recent encounter with Mo was at Cafe Caffeine a couple of Sundays ago, and as usual she seemed pleasantly surprised that anyone would want to listen to her “little songs.”  But of course they demanded an encore and invited her back as a headliner.

About those songs.  “Til the Rain Clouds Come” is clearly an Irish ballad — with references to “Father Kevin” and “cold morning dew.”  You and I might even call this a waltz — but Douglas’ harmonium and mandolin hold our feet back from overexuberances and we just stare joyfully at the gentleness of this kind woman.  “This Field of Mine” — somewhere I have a video of an early version — here it is wholly different, more mature, thanks to the work of Yoda Gurf Morlix.  “Fine Company” is almost a march — compleat with trumpet (and crumpets?), but bittersweet in its content. 

I like “The Wolf Is Gone,” a bouncy number with a country feel — Cashdollar’s dobro dominates but the accordian is a sweet find.  “Never Alone” (morning tea, the lake, and memories — so Ireland) — and then “No Love Child,” a poignant vignette of a song (”feel the winter inside … of me”).  Or how about “God Knows,” musically a shuffle but lyrics wise an arrow into the heart of the unfaithful.  “Polished Metal” could be another typical Irish ballad, or it could even be Canadian (sounds like Lightfoot), but it is so gentle you almost do not realize it is about someone who got left behind.

“Woundup Cowboy” features Bowden on violin, viola and cello — Cody Ground on piano, and Knight on trumpet — mostly in a crescendo near the song’s end.  Mo clearly shows her eternal patience with the untruthful.  All good songs, but my favorite here is the title cut — the title itself is worth the whole record.  Much of this recording is about a former lover, and this song is no exception — “it don’t matter much to me if mountains fall into the sea and rivers run dry, Should the Wall of China tumble down the Mona Lisa won’t frown, Mona Lisas don’t cry.’  Our gal (in the song, that is) left all of her stuff behind for “him” to deal with as he sees fit — how sad, “you never wondered what I hid behind my smile….”  How can strangers live together — surely not for long in harmony.

GINGER LEIGH – Better Than Well (Live at the Saxon)

My beloved friend Ginger Leigh has got herself a brand-spanking-new recording, “Better Than Well,” recorded live at the Saxon Pub with John Pointer on guiart, cello and vocals; Mark “Gumby” Williams on bass, upright bass, and cello; Kris Brown on electric guitar, bass, and vocals: and Frank Favacho on drums.  In short, SICK!  But it could be ME on those instruments and you would still love the show.  Ginger’s mom is one of the original Cone Sisters and Ginger herself is one of the most amazing entertainers I have ever met — and one of the great loves of my life to boot.

I will never forget the first time I saw Ginger (with Sarah Dashew of the killer voice and sailboat heart) singing and making us all laugh as we tried to eat what really was a good dinner at some place on Guadalupe long since torn down for condos.  Now there have been quite a few Ginger records, but this live shot has to be the best my ears have been blessed to hear.  All the songs here are Ginger originals EXCEPT Phoebe Snow’s ”Poetry Man” and “Come on Funny Feelin’,” written by the great Rodney Crowell (whom I got to meet last month — WOW!).  OK there is this other song Ginger cribbed from an unknown author, “Good Ol’ Boy,” but she has made even that one her very own. 

The CD (and live set) kicks off with a bang — “Time to Move On” (how could I have been missing these shows?), which features great solos, better harmonies, and the indefatigible, indomitable spirit of San Antonio’s gift to Austin and all of Italy, the spicy Ginger.  The Crowell song (how does he write such great lyrics?) comes next — and then “Good Ol’ Boy,” and you WANT TO BE that “boy” of whom she sings.  But the set really gets going with the title track — as Ginger sings, “Everything I do is for you…”  [I know well what that feels like, especially when the love flows two ways.]  Ginger is at heart a cabaret singer … maybe it’s because I know her as a friend, but I would put her up against Bette Midler in her prime any day of the month.  One reason – “I will not let myself fail.”

Next up is the quieter “Jetstream,” a sultry song about learning to bask in the love of a partner with “no subtlety, no gravity, so shamelessly…”  “Close Enough” is an oldie but goodie, sounds like a buzzing bee …. And then there is “Best of Me,” with Ginger singing in the mud, encouraging her partner to “get the best of me before I’m gone….”  Somewhere in the middle she does a little rap …  And then there is the raucous tale of Ginger’s lunch with “Napoleon,” before the set and disc close out with seven plus minutes of “Angel,” which opens with those dueling cellos….  and some genuine rock n roll drums.  You had to be there, and sadly I was not — but the moment lives on thanks to the miracles of modern technology.  Now Ginger maintains one of the coolest and most informative websites of anybody in the business — and on that site, Ginger has an extensive piece about the first time she ever played The Saxon Pub — on a Monday night following the Resentments (so she says) — and TONS MORE, including videos, “The Adventures of Ginger and Jane,” that will make your belly sore.  If you have never seen one of Ms. Leigh’s shows, now is the time (if you are a guy) to become a Ginger Man.

THE TEXAS SAPPHIRES – As He Wanders

Billy Brent Malkus is a true Southern gentleman, and I fondly recall the startup of a “side project” (that is, away from Nathan Hamilton and No Deal) with old friend Rebecca Lucille Cannon of the punk rocker band Sincola.  The Sapphires (Texas was added because of an old soul band with the same name) went through a bunch of players until one day Brent and Lucy realized they had a headlining act.  The band’s debut CD, “Valley So Steep,” was just killer, and the studio followup, “As He Wanders,” picks up where the debut left off.  The band today is Brent, Rebecca and Slim Bawb Pearce, generally Scotty Matthews, and whoever else shows up. 

The new CD is chock full of “whoever shows up,” including Billy Dee (Donahue) playing bass, Nathan Fleming on pedal steel (often found with Jesse Dayton), Tommy Detamore on dobro, Justin Kolb on upright bass, and the incomparable Dennis Ludiker on fiddle (well, he IS the 2008 and 2009 Texas State Champion).  Fleming shines just about every time he is on a track, starting off with “Nashville Moon,” written by Brent’s Baltimore buddy Arty Hill.  Ludiker’s fiddling is always “ludicrous-ly” good.  Brent, who grew up on a Maryland hog farm, does not have to fake it to be a kicker icon — it’s in his blood!

“190,” the first of many Malkus cuts, features Rebecca on vocals, is another old-time country “standard” (notably because of the style of pedal steel Fleming uses here, and you have to realize the kid is still on the short side of thirty!).  “Riddled Days” is a Malkus standard that features Detamore’s dobro and Slim Bawb on mandolin — this waltz is just good songwriting.  “Stunt Double” gets back to honkytonking — and a great idea for a two-timing man who wants to avoid his woman’s wrath.  Rebecca ( aka Lucy) wrote “Teardrops or Rain,” an old style country ballad light years better than the “songs” Taylor Swift primps through on CMT.  I just LOVE THIS SONG!

It’s back to honkytonking with Brent’s fun song, ”How Did I Get So Sloppy Drunk (When I Was Drinking Neat)?” and back to Rebecca on Brent’s ballad “Make Him Make Me” (yup, she’s singing the harmony parts too).  Another great song with some great instrumental breaks … CLASSIC!  Just play this on every radio station that ever called itself country and the Texas Sapphires will suddenly be on the bigtime rodeo circuit and the Opry on the side. 

Next up is “Baltimore Cage,” which opens with Slim Bawb on mandolin and Dennis on fiddle — this is a song about being in jail.  Another great one to hear live (as I did at the band’s Continental Club CD release party a few weeks back).  Then it’s Slim Bawb’s “Farmers Tan,” a song that also appears on Pearce’s own CD (reviewed here earlier) — one that tests the ability of the human ear to keep up with (super?)human fingers.  Back to Rebecca on vocals on “Spirits,” and then “Freiheit Rag,” with Brent and Slim Bawb picking and Justin Kolb thumping away, before you get to “Pure Land,” the destination of choice.  This song cries out against littering, potholes, and other evidences of human debris that show our failure to appreciate the gifts we have been given by the Great Spirit.  This is a gospel song much moreso than “Bring Out the Bible (We Ain’t Got a Prayer)” from “Valley So Steep.”

The Sapphires are on tour in Colorado and New Mexico until March 18th, when they play a SXSW party at the Whip In (and play again at Roadhouse Rags on the 21st of March).  These guys (and gal) are the real deal!

HANK & SHAIDRI ALRICH with DOUG HARMAN — Carry Me Home

Hank Alrich is an Austin legend if for nothing less than his service managing the original Armadillo (taking over from longtime buddy Eddie Wilson), even though he left town decades ago and moved to California where he raised a passel of daughters and son.  The Austin American-Statesman quotes Wilson as saying that, “Hank is a hero.  If not for Hank, the Armadillo would have been closed in two years instead of open for 10.”

Just one of Hank’s many daughters is the quiet Shaidri, whose talent is just off the chart.   Doug Harman makes it a trio on cello.  I will defer all of the GOOD details about Hank and Shaidri to my pal John Conquest — you should really read HIS review of this delightful recording at Third Coast Music.  This is old timey music … I can only say I am grateful to get to hear Shaidri when her dad comes to town and that I am still hopeful that she will get out more (or that Hank will just start playing a LOT more shows here), because her voice (and her fiddle and guitar playing) takes you back to a simpler, sweeter time — even when she is singing the sad ballad, “The Death of Ellenton,” about a town “that’s gone forevermore.”  Conquest reminds us that Shaidri was winning fiddle contests at age 6 and that “she glows in the dark.”  I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE!  The trio cover songs from Utah Phillips, Peter Rowan, and others but include four Hank Alrich originals, including “Austin City Limits,” which opens the CD.  You get a taste of Shaidri’s Celtic music prowess on “Blarney’s Ghost Medley,” six minutes of pure joy.  Hank’s vocals shine on ”If I Don’t Get You” and Shaidri’s glisten on “Carry Me Home,” just two of the many songs Hank has written over the years.  This stuff is Carter Family good — and Shaidri joyously is beginning to get out more into the Austin music community, a light destined to shine VERY brightly over our city.

Now Hank is promoting a second valuable release — In this, the 40th Birthday year of Armadillo World Headquarters, Armadillo Records will release Taking Turns, a song swap from Austin artists, musicians, engineers and studios. It has always been Armadillo’s mission to present a wide range of quality talents, musicians and styles to satisfy and provoke the adventurous and discriminating tastes of our audiences.  Leading off this new CD is (who else?) Shaidri Alrich, but the CD also includes songs from Beto y los Fairlanes, Denim, Michael Durbin, Tommy Elskes, Greezy Wheels, Lindsay Haisley, Mady Kaye, Maryann Price, Shake Russell, Craig Toungate, and Elizabeth Wills.  Fans of old-time Austin music will line up to get this jewel.

JAMES MORAN (self-titled)

I could say that James Moran is a dirtier (Nawlins does that), grittier Danny Malone — but that would not be fair to either performer.  Both are intense guys who sing pop songs [Moran prefers "soul," but acoustic they are soulful pop], both wear fedoras, both are loved by the ladies, and neither is as tall as I am.  Both, however, write great songs that are all their own.  So let’s move past the outward appearance and get to the nitty gritty.  Daniel Coffey produced Moran’s debut; Bryan Williams recorded the guitars (all James), and Damian Rodriguez the vocals (again, all James).  I also have to say the last time I saw James on stage was at B. D. Riley’s with Rob Cooperman joining in now and then — it was a TOTAL GAS!  These guys are fun!

“Come What May” opens the CD, and this is a catchy song.  “Jadi’s Song” is all about “writing this song on your guitar” to the woman whom he loves.  “Agree to Disagree” shows a great vocabulary — something he shares with Tim Buckley (father of Jeff Buckley, whose work Moran dearly admires).  We do look forward to the full band version of these songs — because with a band, James will be able to emote more.  “Mea Culpa?” is a sad song about a broken relationship – how do lovers learn to listen before it is too late?  How do we know when there is nothing left to try?  But more importantly, how do we know when to shut up and just wait until the storm clouds disappear? 

[What we] “Could Be” is a plea to stick together to see what good things can happen in a mutually supportive relationship.  “Home To Stay” is yet another tale of a guy who goes off track in a relationship [notice that James is always a lover], while “Least That I Could Do” is a reflective ballad about how good a relationship can be when giving is at the bottom on both sides.  I like this song.  “Believe It or Not” is the jazziest song on the record — this time the relationship seems adrift, with some loss of meaning, and yet our gallant lad holds out hope.  [We have the] “Solution,” James sings on the final song — but you have to open up your eyes.  Sometimes Moran’s lyrics sound like rap set to music — so many rhymes in one long phrase.  Moran will be joining Rob Cooperman on February 8th at Momo’s Club — and maybe some Mondays at B. D. Riley’s (but there was some cryptic message about the “final show” for the Undercover Songwriters Showcase). 

KALU JAMES – Live

Of course the second to last time I saw James was at a Kalu James (and Josh Halverson) show at One 2 One Bar the very night before — and Kalu handed me an advance copy of his new live record, cut at Ruta Maya with his full band — Randall Squires (bass and producer), Ed Miles (drums), Drew Howard (lead guitar), Michael Rubin (harmonica, mandolin, vocals), Erik Telford (trumpet, keyboards),  and the inimitable Josh Halverson on two songs.  Curiously, Jeff Buckley is at the very top of Kalu’s “influences” list on HIS MySpace — me, I prefer Nick Drake, but most of these guys may not even know who he was.  But he also likes Tracy Chapman, and she is clearly a HUGE influence on his vocal style.   

Kalu has a BIG voice (and he is a big man who admits he sweats during shows, kinda like Marvin Dykhuis) — and his band is just topnotch.  The first time I heard Kalu sing was at a Ham Jam, and his pure vocal tone was just stunning!  Kalu must mean “bear” in some language he speaks — because he just oozes warmth even when not on stage.  I listen to this live record and hardly hear the words — and then I really listen and sometimes cry.  “SCheck” opens quietly, then the guitar comes in like a xylophone hitting solo notes — and you know you are up for something good.  Then comes that gravelly vocal and you wonder what is this song all about?  And it does not matter — it is all about introducing the band.  And, OH — it is really “soundcheck.”

Then the REAL music begins — “The Way I Feel” opens with the organ holding a long note — and the guitar comes in underneath, and then Kalu … singing a love song ….. about Rochester and the love he found there as a young African man in America where the summers are colder than whatever he thought was winter and the winters are a whole other planet.  The sheer energy of this performer already comes through, and we are just getting started.  “Dreams” is a bouncy tune, Simon and Garfunkely even, about a “brand new chapter for this love.”  “Love for Someone Else” is a quiet song about ending an affair – “I’ve built mansions, you leave me with a leaky roof,” and so it is time to move on.  Next is “To Be in Love with Me,” a song about smiling … and why not?  Malaria is prevalent in Africa, and this song evokes memories that left Kalu smiling in the face of danger.  And then there is “Big Heart,” which opens with a monologue and ends with a smile.  “The World Needs You” is just beautiful.  Did I mention these are lengthy cuts — four of the songs are over 7 minutes long.  “Listen to the Wind” opens with an Erik Telford trumpet solo and later there is this mandolin dolo from Michael Rubin}  The final cut, “Answers,” is yet another ballad … oddly, his live sets are anything but.  This is lovely stuf — even thugh i am very tired after a long day.  But just get out to see Kalu soon.

Friday the 14th was a very special evening at Momo’s Club — the first ever pairing of Ouachita with the Belleville Outfit.  I walked in, got my colleague a seat, found none for me, looked over to stage left, and saw Phoebe Hunt dancing enticingly — and so of course I joined her as Ouachita just grooved one.  This band – two of whose members (Drew De France and Dave Pennington) hail from Camden, Arkansas, which is on the Ouachita River – has made major strides in the last couple of months after installing Alabama native Kurt McMahan as the sole lead singer and adding bassist Sonny White.  Keyboardist Jonah Kane-West and saxophonist Hank Bragg round out the band (for now) — do not be surprised if the horn section expands soon.  The lads hope to have their own new CD out well before SXSW — catch them every Wednesday through March at the Saxon Pub or wherever they are playing.  Belleville — they just keep getting better.

BONNIE WHITMORE — Embers To Ashes

Flanfire and the late Mrs. Flanfire became friends with Bonnie Whitmore when she was about 19 and starting to play bass with the Shelley King Band.  We traveled by boat to Cancun together and deepened that friendship, then augmented it greatly as friends of Bonnie and (Jamie) Blythe, getting to know sister Eleanor in the process.  Like Austin native (Bonnie hails from Denton) Rachel Loy, Bonnie was first known for her bass licks, but her singing and songwriting have emerged as she has found her voice.  Many of these songs we can thank to the aftermath of an aborted romance (maybe even her own) – that’s obvious!  — the details of which shall not grace these pages.  Bonnie, as the lyrics show, is one tough cookie despite her curls and (well) curves.

Chris Masterson (Eleanor’s husband) produced and added numerous instrumentation, and Eleanor played fiddle.  Falcon Valdez did the drums and percussion, George Reiff the bass, and Rich Hinman threw down some hot pedal steel.  Most of the songs were recorded here in Austin by Andrew Hernandez.  And that’s enough shop talk.

“Cotton Sheets” opens the disc — where did this city girl get so country?  [DUH - in Nashville!]  I happen to know that Bonnie bought her first cowboy hat in Austin the other day.  ”Embers to Ashes,” the title cut, is toe-tapping and just plain fonky — and that’s all that’s left of that former love.  I would hate to be under these boots!  “Cowboy Lullaby” and “GTO” were co-written with the amazing Amanda Shires, that West Texas woman whirlwind.  The pedal steel on Lullaby leads the way for a gentle waltz that hearkens back to earlier days in love …. yet perhaps the first hint of trouble in paradise (”cowboy return to me”).  GTO is a lament that the end of the engagement left our gal a little dead inside … and wanting to get in her car and drive.  I gotta say this is a very commercial record — but an honest one, too.  Bonnie is just awesome!

Sandwiched in between these two is “Tin Man” (guess who?) — as our gal has been “replaced by a girl named Mary who shares my middle name.”  Yet whether she is the lion or the scarecrow she plans to follow the Yellow Brick Road — “Please Take the Words Back” is a piercing plea to the thief of her heart to undo the damage he has done — and yet she cries, “I didn’t mean to hurt you …”  By contrast, “She Walks” is a ballsy Shawn Colvin like song — and, yeah, Bonnie is playing LOTS of gigs in Music City.  Then there’s “Cry on My Pillow,” which might sound very sad — as Bonnie sings, “I’m not made meek, cos I’m not a sheep, but I’m going to the slaughter anyway.”  Yet it is her choice to cry (or not) — this is sultry Bonnie regaining her edge … maybe after a long talk with sister Eleanor.  The guitar work here (Chris M of course) is gritty and a little like gears grinding their teeth. 

Indeed, Eleanor contributed to “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” a very pop song and maybe my favorite of this album.  There’s that Shawn Colvin reference again — I just cannot help myself.  I gotta see this one done live — it will just flat out KICK!  And she will need no machine to pour out the smoke.  The album closes with an oldie but goodie — “Love Too Sweet,” cowritten by Texas songwriter (and longtime friend) Brent Mitchell.  Eleanor’s fiddle   Bonnie promises to play shows in Austin during SXSW — and please, friends, kidnap her if necessary but do not let her get back to Nashville too soon.

JENNIFER ELLEN COOK – A Storytelling of Crows

I remember meeting Jennifer Ellen Cook at Jovita’s as she was dashing around during the heyday of her band Smash Riley.  HIGH energy, I daresay, suitable for the lead guitarist with the Jessica Rabbit (stolen from Indie Sounds NY) wiggle in her walk.  I met Jennifer the other night at Momo’s Club, and met up with her by design a few minutes later at the Gallery at the Continental Club (to watch McLemore Avenue with Landis Armstrong and an all-star cast).  I could write a big piece on that band, but Jennifer is, well, persuasive.  I missed her Carousel show on Thursday with bandmates Julio Figueroa (drums, percussion) and Nathan Lynch (Bas) — Seth Forster, who plays guitar on the CD, is now emeritus with the band.  Indeed, most of the hot guitar here on the record is JEC herself.

Truth be told, Jennifer reminds me a LOT of Cyndi Lauper — and that’s a huge compliment.  She can sing her “Time after Time” songs and her “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” songs with equal verve.  And for that matter, some Annie Lennox could be thrown in here too — like on the first cut, “Snow,” which has that light and darkness duality that is consistent throughout this song cycle (and more I think).  Almost Zoroastrian, she opens with “I will ride a dark horse into light.”  And this is a song about leaving someone behind — except in the mind.  And so it goes.  Song 2, “In My Light,” starts with “I think there is a naughty angel hovering over my bed.”

“Tell It Like It Is” – a bluesy song about that recognition without admission that the jig is up.  In “God Is a Mean Drunk,” Jennifer says she loves the road because there is no moral code .. and if God is love, “well then, love is to blame” for leaving her alone in a “speeding metal box.”  One of my favorites here is “Strangers in Wonderland,” where Jennifer notes that the crow flies away without looking back, but people carry on and destroy even wonderful days.  “Pillow Talk” is a Lauperesque ballad — “I want to steal from poets just to meet our needs…” and yet “a well of darkness and a shotgun blast” may be needed to ger her to listen.

Jennifer ain’t no “Devil’s Doll” — indeed, while he is “praying for a fight, but I’m just praying,” and oh yeah, he has this lover who is not a secret anymore.  So he is a rattlesname who “tastes blood and gin” and wants to play but she is just not having all that.  Yet the next cut, “One Sure Thing,” is from a more hopeful time “when the lights go out and this town [Hollywood, that is] lies naked, I’ll be your guiding star, even if the ground is still shaking…..”  The last cut is “Creekbed,” a flat-out rocker (live, especially) about a woman who “gave up the moral high ground so you could put me down” and who “ain’t your Superman.” 

OK — Kalu and James Moran to follow next time.  Meanwhile, get out to the Haiti fundraiser at Dominican Joe’s on January 18th — and Chad Pope turns 40 (or some age, anyway) on Saturday night at Momo’s with Wendy Colonna.  Bring a paddle to spank him … but do NOT buy him any alcohol.

Nor can I forget that night at the Driskill when Will was so excited about going into the studio with Mark Hallman and Andre Moran to cut all the tracks on his brand-new CD “Move the Balance” in one day.  Or his joy at getting a new MySpace page (which of course someone else is monitoring).  Then there was that night a few weeks back when Ruby James and I drove up to NXNW with some friends in from California and Will and Charlie Faye extended their set for a full hour just for us.  And that night, even more recently, when Ruby hopped on stage at the Hole in the Wall and realized that Will could not remember the words to his own songs.

I can write this last note because the whole town now knows that Will had a mild stroke — and that his friends in Austin have responded with great generosity and love to give him a cushion to rest and recuperate.  So right now the best thing we can do for Will — but even moreso for our own enjoyment — is to get down to Waterloo (or wherever good music is sold) and buy one, two, three or more copies (yeah, it’s after Christmas now, but good gifts are always in season) of the CD which has on its inner sleeve, “White Middle Aged Well Dressed Man Looking for Love.”

Will plays guitar and bass here, with Bukka Allen on B3 and accordian; Mike Thompson on piano, guitar and even trombone; and Dony Wynn on drums and percussion.  Ray Bonneville (harmonica), Bill Carter (bass), and Hallman (bass, vocals and lots more) are joined by Ruby (Red) James, Charlie Faye, and Noelle Hampton as guest vocalists for eleven songs written by Will (sometimes with friends and family).  All 11 songs, IMHO, are suitable for lots of airplay, and I even had the “bright idea” that we could raise a lot of money for Will (and get his great songs heard around the world) just by persuading some of his and brother Charlie’s high-profile friends to contribute their own vocal tracks to each of the songs here — for example, Steve Earle, who along with Charlie Sexton co-wrote “Amnesia Lights,” and why not Bob Dylan on “Pissed Off Nights”?  But then again, people worldwide just oughta hear Will singing these songs.

The title cut, “Move the Balance,” opens the CD, with Ruby on backing vocals, and Mike Thompson’s piano paves the way for this lilting, very moving song .. that you just want to play over and over again [but that's true of every song here].  One of my very favorites is “Certain Kind of Something,” with Will serenading his lady, explaining that she has “got me running round in circles with your image in my brain … “  This is like Buddy Holly meets the early Beatles … but up to date musically.  [Mind you, John, Paul & Co. modeled themselves after the Crickets!]  You just have to start singing along by the second time the chorus comes around.

But “Sunday Driver” is just as smart lyrically, with Will singing that, “and I know you’d like to be known as the world’s strongest known survivor, but I’ve done about all I can do, my Sunday driver.”   But ”Pissed Off Nights”  may be even better — “those you left behind keep getting nearer and nearer, and those you stand behind just keep on disappearing ….”  There is a LOT of Mike Thompson here, and Bukka on B3, and that’s always good.  But what about “For Always”?  A bouncy little ditty — easy to dance to — all about “my destination blues” — “but with all of the keepsakes of my heart, you know you will always be a part … for always.”  I again am hearing the ghost of Buddy Holly here …. even in the guitar solo.  And Charlie Faye!

“Best Intentions” is like Will as Tom Waits — his voice gets low and down and dirty … with Bonneville’s harmonica adding in lots of fog.  This song has Greg Goshorn and Stephanie Smith as co-writers … This is late-night music — for the 3 am club.  Next up is “Beauty Pageant,” a lament marked by some beautiful piano … that just grows on you. 

“Amnesia Lights” gets you dancing close with your honey … “we were only trying to find the time that passed us by …  if you try you just might forget it all tonight, underneath the amnesia lights …”  Now Ruby and Noelle join Will on “Little Late for Loving Me Now,” a rocker that once again evokes The Crickets (though Holly’s lads would not have added the ”whoo hoo hoo’s) and a hot guitar solo and Dony’s classic rhythm.  YUM!

All very good — and yet the final two cuts are my very very favorites.  “Closing the Airport” is like “Blue Christmas,” a sad ballad in whic ”time has tangled up all my thoughts, all I need to know no one can tell … seem to have lost, misplaced everything … close the airports and the highways in this town, close the street that I live on….”   Just beautiful.  And then there is “Happy Hour,” one of my favorite songs of all time … and so autobiographical.  Will sings, ”here comes the lonely clown, here comes the lonely clown, here comes the lonely clown with the big red heart … ” And yet, “Since time began the wisest men will meet again at happy hour.”  [Which must mean Bill Carter, Stephen Doster, and Will at Z Tejas every Wednesday.]  We get Thompson’s trombone as part of the happy hour celebration music at the end of the song … as the loneliness fades away while wise men play joyfully together….. you gotta be there!

Truth be told, one reason I had not reviewed it was it has been in my car CD player ever since, and I normally put records (CD’s are records) there AFTER I have finished a review.  I flat-out LOVE the Underground Township, and Graham — dreads and all — is just about larger than life.  But then I know a little something about living with more than one spirit inside … Yeah, there’s enough reggae in this big blond white guy to attract the likes of P. J. Herrington, whom I know through Kris Brown and Mr. Brown, to play guitars.  Other official band members (the “senior class” on the record yearbook) include Matt Morris on drums, Wayne Dalchau on bass, Chris Stringer on keys, and Patrick Herzfeld on drums — but there are often horns, and here and there buddies of Graham (like Alejandro and Hayes Carll) who show up to sing or maybe rap on the furniture in time.  The M&M Horns (Margaret Whitt and Meg Kemp, also known for their work in Jabarvy), Nick Warrenchuk (trombone), Mark Wilson (saxes), and Leila Hanley (alto sax and flute) are on this collection of songs.  For the whole schoolfull, get the record!

Because this column is all about SONGS!  “Let It Go” encourages us to “laugh until life makes sense” when things around us threaten to swallow us whole (such as the death of a daughter or a brother).  “Boys and Girls” yearns for a simpler time, “before the false truths were written in stone.”  After all, what we face in real life today is “criminals as politicians,” and “all this pain in so many lives….”  But this record is all about the “Ragamuffin,” Graham’s brother Aaron, and on this powerful song Lloyd Maines lends his considerable skill on pedal steel.  Indeed, the whole record was inspired (Graham tells us) by a band trip to New York City to play a gig with some of his brother’s friends that turned into a month-long tour in the summer of ‘08.

On the other hand, the record is also about Graham’s big loving heart – songs like “Star Blue – Spend All My Time with You” and “Our 1st Night,” tender love songs (okay, I just see some Red Skelton soft shoe on Star Blue).  Another one of my favorites is “Ghost,” one of many songs here where Graham talks about the discord in today’s world and wonders, “why don’t we love one another?”  The big guy with the big heart sings this great song, “Blame,” when you want to blame the mess on just about everybody else, but if you want to let love win the day you just let them blame it on you and get over it.  My decade in Baton Rouge (and eternity in Houston) makes me smile at “From Covington,” even though “sister Melody has got some felonies, thirteen class A, in all,” when the one I know best got busted mostly for walking to the Randall’s after curfew to get a soda.

“Blank Pages” is just Graham and a piano in that sepia-sounding effect singing, “scraping with worn fingertips and broken nails, I scream, ‘the living stay hungry, the dead they are not alone…..”  And so, after you listen to the 15-song set all the way through, you find yourself back at track 1, a rockin’ number, “Watertowers & Windmills,” a song about coming to grips with things you cannot understand when the world seems about to fall totally apart (the water tower is two days shy of running dry, and the old windmill has stiopped singing it’s song….”  And “Sunrise,” a toe-tapping, horn-happy ditty that must have been written on the bus on the way back from New York that ends with the sounds of real live Boys and Girls (and of course the intro to that reggae song).

I have to close out these comments by mentioning, “Personality Disorder,” a tap-dance number reminiscent of Richard Gere in Chicago — tap-dancing through the muck and mire of a world “so unbelievably full of idiotic super-natural-light-hearted wild turkey babble ….”  And I am brought back to Halloween, with Bobby Perkins playing bass wearing a grass skirt and me in my Zoot suit …

And that brings me back to why Ben and I were at Momo’s this Monday — but before that I gotta tell you Ben was the victim last Friday night of a flying skillet he had to catch with his bare left hand and all of a sudden unable to play his scheduled gig at Flipnotics.  So naturally, BettySoo and Mailman Dave came to the rescue, showing up on half an hour’s notice for unsuspecting folks like me who had been at Momo’s for an early set or two.  Oh, Ben did drop by, ostensibly to sing a duet (on a Tom Waits song) with Noelle Hampton and her band — and the guy, for some strange reason, grabbed Noelle’s guitar and painfully but poignantly gave his friends the treat of his version of “White Christmas” before yielding the floor to Will Sexton and Charlie Faye and later Jess Klein (all of whom Noelle graciously lent her stage to during the evening).

The very next night I was back at Flipnotics to catch a set from Margo Valiante after stopping by House Wine to hear some new songs from John and Kristen Nixin.  Wise birds got to Momo’s early on Monday to hear Jess Klein and Randy Weeks swap songs for an hour, whetting the appetite for the main event, one that I have a sense might one day be seen as historic.  Dustin Welch has done the string quartet show before — with violinist Trisha Keefer, bassist Joe Beckham, and cellist Brian Standefer, notably at a show I caught at Lambert’s what seems to be a lifetime ago.  This time though Dustin brought out James Duvall and Eli to record the second of two shows also featuring Phoebe Hunt and sister Savannah Welch — with dad Kevin (plus grandparents and little sister) shooting video and the rest of the family basking in the glow. 

And speaking of family week, last Wednesday I got to see Eleanor Whitmore and hubby Chris Masterson at the Scoot Inn and Vanessa and Jason Lively and full band on Vanessa Lively Day at Momo’s.  Just good stuff.  On the horizon — Christmas Night at Antone’s with Blues Mafia, Shelley King, and Carolyn Wonderland, and next Sunday at Threadgill’s North Lamar for Hank and Shadri Alrich (lunch) and then out to the iguana Grill to catch the beautiful Barbara Nesbitt.  Finally, KUDOS to Jazz Mills for collecting (and organizing into gift baskets) tons of stuff for Christmas presents for Austin’s homeless and hopeless.

Thursday night was no exception — with the early show featuring Wayne Sutton and Wayne Duncan, always a quality act.  I got there in time for the later set — the Dank Trio (Douglas Jay Boyd, Clayton Colvin, and David Jimenez) plus J. T. Holt from Dertybird sitting in.  DO check out the videos — Doug singing with JT and David jamming on one and Clayton singing on the other. 

Earlier in the evening I was up at the Nomad Bar just off Cameron Road to catch part of a set from my old friend Rich Restaino and the Obits — now an eight-piece R&B flavored band with three Ronette-style girl singers (featuring the lovely and talented Sara Shansky, Ellzie Restaino, and Roz Mandola), Lloyd Wright on keyboards, Dave Wylie on drums, Alex Sefchick on bass, and Hunt Wellborn on guitar.  Rich and the band have a new CD in the works and were handing out free samples of “Susie” (after she woke up) to anyone willing to pick one up.  Sara showed her pipes on “You Don’t Miss Your Water (till your well runs dry),” and the girls kicked on “Please Mr. Postman.”  Early in 2010 we should begin to see the band on bigger stages — I am liking this.

The night before I stopped by Maria’s Taco X-Press for Jessica Shepherd’s CD release — which was moved INDOORS due to the 34-degree weather outside.  First time I had ever seen live music INSIDE at Maria’s but with the rousing success of this evening I anticipate it will not be the last time.  Jessica was stunning in a long black and white dress and her rich vocal power — and her band began with Perry Drake on drums and Kyle Judd on acoustic guitar, and David Valley on bass.  Spicing up the mix were Laurie Gibson on fiddle and vocals, Sally Gibson, Dee Ann Smith and Eric Leikam on vocals, Washboard Judy on, well, washboard, and special guest Danny B Harvey on electric guitar.  PLUS Maria Corbalan herself was in the house looking fabulous!  [Reports that Sin City's Shilah Morrow was sipping Mexican martinis with an unidentified music reporter are just not undeniable.]  But the real star of the evening was the room itself — Maria’s is so colorful, and the sound was so very good — do not be surprised if the Argentine Angel comes up with yet another winning idea!

But the food is just the appetizer.  Phil notes that his band (he’s the lead guitarist with Hector Ward and the Big Time) is headed to Houston on Saturday to play at show at Walter’s on Washington with, ta-da, his brother Kai’s band Blues Mafia and — oh, wow! — Uncle Lucius, which of course features Michael Carpenter from my daughters’ high school on lead guitar.  So now I text my daughter to let her know we have a show to go to this Saturday.  Which means I will NOT be rippin’ up the dance floor at the new Gibson Room at Maggie Mae’s for T-Bird — but that’s all right since I had that pleasure on Thanksgiving Night (dancing with some Trishas and the wife of a well-known snake farmer about town — and a WHOLE LOTTA OTHER PEEPS).  Yeah, the Mafia were on that bill, too — and they opened the next night at Antone’s for Gary Clark, Jr. (or do we just call him Gary these days).  Kids are all right — opening for Carolyn Wonderland at Poodie’s New Year’s Eve. 

I ought not tell you all that House Wine on Monday nights (even inside when it’s cold and/or rainy) is still the happening thing (okay, one of many great Monday night scenes in this town).  But I will mention that Daren has scheduled a Ham Jam for NEXT Monday.  Details if you are on his list — OR if you are NEW to town in 2009, just buzz me and I will hook you up.  Not to be missed — but remember our good friend is still on his way back from a big setback, so make sure he gets his rest.

Also during the week, I got to see Rachel Loy and her lubby-dubby-hubby Brian Keane (who has a couple shows at Momo’s in December) along with the Band of Heathens, and earlier I had gotten to see the very best ever (for me, at least) show from the Belleville Outfit right after a smashing set from the Fireants.  Below you can see the handsome Colin Brooks, the charming Chris Cataline with the beautiful Stephanie Hunt dressed up for their new project The Ghost Songs, and that is indeed Phoebe Hunt dancing on the countertop at Momo’s long after the band quit playing (with me of course dancing on the floor along with her).

My good friend Ruby James was in town for a few days and I took her out to Jimi Lee’s grand finale for the fall season at Hyde Park Bar & Grill – but that was just the warmup before we trekked down to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center for the festivities following the marriage of local favorite Sarah Lincoln to her Argentine hero Alberto Cosano (and, yeah, he plays amazing guitar).  Sarah in her wedding dress blaring away on her alto sax (dainty for her) was a sight (and sound) to behold.  Then on Friday last (after her set at Cedar Street) Ruby and I drove up to NXNW just in time for the final song of Will Sexton’s and Charlie Faye’s SCHEDULED set — but the band played on, as it were, and I got to hear (and later grab a copy of) music from WIll’s brand-new CD (of which the writeup will follow soon).  That was even better than the orange chicken I wolfed down — food for the body, music for the soul.

[Jonny and Claire; Brett Randell with cellist Chris Rains and Music Reed on drums at Momo’s; and Blues Mafia’s Max Frost grinding out the blues.

Now to go back a few days more, I could mention a great set at Flipnotics from Jon Sanchez and Claire Hamilton (both of the Summer Wardrobe, and she also of The Breathers) and an equally fine sets from Noelle Hampton and Lee Barber and my dear new friend Barbara Nesbitt.  OR I could mention an amazing turkey day party somewhere out at the far western edge of Hays County featuring music from JusTif (a duo you have to hear!).  I will not say much about a recent strange illness except that I got aid and comfort from afar from the sisters Bristow — Jackie who is now in Australia playing before big crowds after her highly successful first-ever tour of Japan, and Katrina who sent me some rough cuts from her forthcoming CD and some great advice about how to cope.  Jackie will be back in late February, hopefully with her new CD (recorded mostly here in Austin) in her lovely hands.

It was just two years ago today that my darling Nancy slipped away — or rather was gathered up by a whole band of angels who had been preparing her for the journey to another kingdom for several days as her loved ones and dear friends came to send her off and hold me up.  Kevin Hollingsworth (who is now facing his own fight for his health), Brennen Leigh (with our old friend Leo and also with her brother Seth), Wendy Colonna and Chad Pope (who drove nonstop from Lake Charles just to get to play for her on her last day of consciousness), and Malford Milligan and Nick Connolly — and more.

Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday, and I will be eternally grateful for the love shown to me that year at this heart-wrenching time.  I lost my dad on Thanksgiving Saturday 18 years ago, as he fell carrying the American flag at the hometown Christmas parade — serving his country and his community and showing folks like me how to give from the heart without guile. 

Now we move into the Christmas season (Hanukah too, and Kwanzaa as well — and who knows what all else these days), when the world tells us to think about what we can get and yet is it not in truth a time to think about how much we can give to others?  A time of reflection — and of hope … and new beginnings.  Here in Austin, that is often easy enough, given the sheer number (and quality) of people moving into the Austin music community from all over the place every week. 

And yet, as I start my second decade as an Austin resident, those old friends can never be far from the mind and heart.  One such old friend is Phil Fajardo, whom I met nearly a decade ago through Greg Adkins, Phil’s partner in The Gospel According to Austin project.  Phil has been put through the ringer with uncertain diagnoses, and so his friends threw a big benefit at the Scoot Inn on Sunday — and I got there in time to see The Monstas and a quartet that included Marvin Dykhuis, Chip Dolan, Glen Fukunaga, and Danny Britt (playing without the brace I had seen on his right arm the night before at Jim Patton’s 39th birthday party).  And that’s not the only benefit I got out to in November.  It’s like, when anyone in our great big community needs a hand, we circle the wagons and throw down for them — and thereby always remember our own mortality and need to give out to others.  Which is what led me into this community in the first place — watching Papa Mali and the rest of the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers at Shaggy’s on Easter Sunday 2000.

Nearly ten years ago, Flanfire and the late Mrs. Flanfire stepped out into the Austin music scene — our first venture was the swan song at Shaggy’s for the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers’ SXSW Sunday show featuring Dave Alvin and the late E. R. Shorts.  Just days later, though, we stopped in to Jovita’s to catch the first of our MANY shows from the Shelley King Band (Tony Velasco, Perry Drake, and Kyle Judd the Guitar Stud plus Shelley).  After the show (during which numerous toddlers danced all over the Jovita’s floor), Shelley gave us a copy of her debut CD … and we have been close friends ever since.  That includes a family cruise (that is, Shelley’s musical family as well) to Mexico and the second wedding of her mom and dad (now there’s a major story for you). 

I got to hear the songs from Shelley’s new CD, “Welcome Home,” for the first time at SXSW this past spring at a showcase at Austin Java (with Chip Dolan and Marvin Dykhuis), but this record has been in the making for over two years (I know because she had to miss my Nancy’s celebration service to meet up with the Subdudes in Colorado two Januarys ago).  Margaret Moser still hopes someone else will make Shelley a rich woman by recording some of these songs — my hope instead is that Oprah will make Shelley rich by just having her on her show.  And why not?  State Musician of Texas — and first woman ever to win that honor — in 2008.  The list could continue — but Margaret IS right that others OUGHT to record some of these songs that the whole audience always sings along with.

I also well remember how excited Shelley was a few years back to get a gig on the same bill with the Subdudes, and how she was even more excited to learn they liked HER music.  It really was not that much later on that Shelley got together with John Magnie, Tim Cook and Steve Amedée to start to work on the recording that became “Welcome Home.”  It just took seemingly forever to get the finished product — but it has been well worth the wait.

“Summer Wine,” the very first cut, has already made a splash on worldwide radio, and the Katrina-influendced title cut is likely to be sung at gospel brunches from here to eternity.  “I Remember” is a zydeco shuffle that also has its roots in old gospel music — with lots of wailing and foot stomping that gets your blood going and then the quiet moans.  Before I forget, I should mention Shelley has an “official” CD release at the Cactus Cafe on December 2nd  — though when the record came out on November 10th Shelley sang and signed CD’s at Waterloo and then at an afternoon show at the Saxon Pub.  I love this record, which combines the best of Shelley as dance band leader and gospel singer.

The dance beat picks up again with “Everything’s All Right” (written with the amazing Theresa Andersson, another of Shelley’s close friends), and trust me, you can always dance to Shelley’s music (gotta love that accordian here).  And yeah those old guys can really sing harmony.  “Asking Too Much” (written by longtime Subdudes collaborators Tim Cook and Steve Strickland) is classic country, right from the opening piano riffs … a song Patsy Cline would have killed for.  [Note to Margaret -- run this song by Margo Timmons!]  “How You Make Me Feel” is a cowrite with longtime pal Floramay Holliday (another passenger on the good ship Shelleypop a few years back), and “I Can’t Make It Easy” is a Shelley co-write with Subdude John Magnie — this is a song to squeeze your honey to on the dance floor.

“It’s Starting to Rain” gets Shelley back to belting out the ballad — soulful, funky, and again very danceable — and singable.  I would have loved to hear Janis sing this one.  “Falling Fast” is a little faster two-stepper that will get many a pretty woman swung to and fro and maybe even kissed.  This is Gruene Hall music (where Shelley recorded her first live album, BTW).  Then Shelley underscores the main theme of the album with the passionate “Grain of Sand,” reminding us of her long-time membership in the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers (this is where we came in!).  DO remember the first Sunday in every month at Maria’s Taco X-Press — and oh yeah, that’s coming up soon!  [And speaking of Papa Mali, the next big thing he has been working on is the upcoming Wendy Colonna record -- more on that in a month or three.]

COURRIER – Like the Cold of Snow in the Time of Harvest

I first saw Courrier at Stubbs a few months back opening for Austin Collins and was immediately impressed.  I caught up with the band recently at La Zona Rosa at their EP release party.  These guys come from the same tradition as The Rocketboys and Quiet Company (and several other bands with powerful themes in their music and lots of passion in their music), though they like being compared with bands like Death Cab for Cutie.  The six songs here are not likely to make dance cards, but a couple could easily be sung as anthems, particularly “Wildfire,”  or as hymns, like “The Ascendist,
which includes a song within a song — “O the answer, I looked for the answer And I found the trail, I found the trail, I don’t want to walk no more…..”

JESSIE TORRISI – Bruler, Bruler

Jessie Torrisi is originally from Philadelphia but since she lived in New York as a professional jazz drummer for the past decade, she gets props as part of that music scene — from which she has emerged as a singer-songwriter in her new-found home in Austin.  Jessie is engaging and fun, and her energy electric.  For a drummer, she is a pretty good singer — one that others are taking notice of around the country.  Jessie rooked new friend Alissa Schram into dusting off her old cello and getting back into the groove (taking her away from her day job only now and then), and pieced together one after another group of outstanding players for her various shows about town (including at times multi-instrumentalists Rob Jewett and Carley Wolf).  Indeed, Jessie’s shows are sometimes circus-like as musicians switch instruments, she gets everyone involved in singing, and that includes the entire audience.  Like the record title says, she just loves to burn and burn brighter. 

The first cut is her signature song, “Hungry Like Me,” which I recall singing with her in an impromptu performance indoors at the Irie Bean months ago.  Then there are the “travelogue” songs — “X in TeXas,” “Breeze in Carolina,” “Runaway Train,” and “So Many Miles.”  “Cannonball” has an old-time Broadway feel — or better, off- off- Broadway, Bette Midler style.  Which is to say this is a showtune dance number (I can even envision this interpreted by a mime) — and if you look at the waiflike Jessie on the cover of the EP, you can also see her with broom in hand making mischief wherever she flies (somewhere between Eastwick and Practical Magic).  “Runaway Train” has a calliope feel, and “Storm Clouds” showcases Jessie’s vocal strength.  “So Many Miles” is a true ballad — slow dance music.  “The Brighter Side” encapsulates Jessie’s own hope for her future — keep your chin up and full of smiles and magic … the piano opens up and then Jessie sings that, “I’ve been down so long I can’t tell the sky from the ground….”   But then there is her inspiration, of whom she sings – “It seems you’ve been through everything and never lose your shine…..”  A song of hope and depth — a fitting ending to a nice debut, a song that tells us she has something real to go home to after the circus tent goes down.