Flanfire

It seems that just about every day (or night) I run into yet another musician (like Brett Randell or Colin de los Santos) or music lover who has just moved to Austin to add to our city’s chorus of song.  Maybe that’s why just about every week I also get out to a brand-new (at least to me) bar, restaurant, and/or music venue — for example, Lustre Pearl (behind IHOP at IH-35 and Cesar Chavez) or Quoffer’s out in Elgin, where I recently caught up with Slim Bawb and Gator Bait (northern California music veterans who moved here a few years back).  I could also write volumes (if I ever had time) about emerging bands in Austin (like The Canvas Waiting or Bus to Brooklyn) who are playing good music.

But this column will begin by talking about the band whose members I knew long before I ever got to hear them play together as a band — I have no idea why it took so long for me to get to a porterdavis show, but I will see this amazing trio any time I can. 

PORTERDAVIS – THAT’S SIMON WALLACE, DANIEL BARRETT,AND MIKE MEADOWS (l-r)

You have to feel for Daniel Barrett.  I mean, bandmate Simon Wallace wins the Austin Music Award for best miscellaneous instrument (harmonica, in his case), and bandmate Mike Meadows wins the Austin Music Award hands down for best drummer/percussionist.  Meanwhile Daniel comes in sixth for best electric guitarist — and yet he plays acoustic guitar (and some electric slide) in porterdavis.  An all-star lineup may not always generate great music, but this band grabs at you when you hear them live, and their debut studio album (can this really be?) of music (simply titled porterdavis) is just as captivating.  [There was this "Live at Eddie's Attic" (that's in Atlanta) disc the lads used to tote around, I am told.]

It is not exactly a secret that the band’s name originates in Boston, where Daniel and Mike busked at Porter Square and Davis Square subway stations (according to the band bio), or that the lads have been in Austin since 2004 (where they found this Brit who played Chicago style blues harp).  FIVE years later Ray Wylie Hubbard gets the trio into the studio with the legendary Gurf Morlix, and at long last there is portable porterdavis for the IPOD or the late night spin using older technology (appropriate, given that this recording was done without ProTools).

Stunning!  Beautiful songs!  Yada Yada.  How do you describe this music?  I like what blogger KellieDeAnn in Louisiana said: “Their music can be classified as rootsy blues rock something or ‘nother…or just simply – good stuff!”  As Kellie DeAnn says, Meadows “can make so many differents sounds and keep various beats and rhythms going at the same time…it truly is amazing! Something you have to see to really appreciate. Now he has developed a fancier version of his instrument – the Black Swan Drum – but back then I used to tell folks, ‘He sits on and plays a wooden box!’”

Well, an acoustic guitar is also sort of a wooden box, and Daniel Barrett has darn good skills and writes (sometimes with his bandmates) some darn good songs.  Even so, two of the best songs here are from longtime friends. Atlanta native Brian Webb moved to Boston and busked at the same subway stations as Dan and Mike, and his “Strange Way to Grieve” is but one of his many powerful songs — and, oh yeah, he just might be the guy who turned our lads onto Eddie’s Attic.   “Heaven help me when I think I’m not enough, heaven help me when I think I am,” Webb wrote, and who has not felt both inadequate and overconfident at the same time?  The punch in this number is Wallace’s bouncy solo.

But my clear favorite here is “Grass (Growing Through Concrete),” from Bill Davis (aka William U. Davis or Bill Davis of Underwood), whom you may find on a Tuesday night at Trophy’s helping run the open mike.  If Austinites celebrate the songs of the late Blaze Foley, they ought to recognize in this great rendering of just one of many powerful songs from this UT grad who calls himself “positively unemployed.”  “It’s been different since you left me, some sucker stole them shackles from my feet, left me stronger than when you found me, now I feel like grass growing through concrete….”

Which is not to say that Barrett’s songs are weak — “Carter’s Tune,” which features Eliza Gilkyson on harmony vocals, sings of a wanderer who “found a home,” where he “sang my sadness, sang my love.”  But he is “never going home, tell my mama I love her so …. sometimes a man gotta make the world his own.”  When Barrett sings about reaching Baton Rouge driving down Highway 61, he notes that this is the “Old Man River of which the Gospel spoke” — and having lived there for eight years, and driven up and down Highway 61, I feel a special kinship to this delta blues influenced ballad.

But then again, there is “That Way,” which Daniel co-wrote with my pal Kevin Carroll – and this, too, is a tender love song that reaches deep inside.  “Smack You Back,” “Hey Now Jack,” and other cuts step up the beat and get you grooving as sometimes live the trio extends a number without ever sounding like a jam band.  Fittingly, the record ends with a Muddy Waters song, “Can’t Be Satisfied.”

SLIM BAWB – Hillbilly Fellini

Slim Bawb (Bob Pearce on national steel, mandolin, banjo, bass, and sometimes pedal steel and who knows what all else) and Gator Bait (James Curry, who once played with Blue Cheer, on drums) are still members of the Bay Area (that’s California) band the Beer Dogs (they play at least one show a year to roaring crowds).  But the gold in California has turned to pyrite, and so our adventurous duo wagon trained to Austin a few years back.  Bob plays often with the Texas Sapphires, and Rebecca Lucille Cannon and Justin Kolb both lend their talents to “Hillbilly Fellini,” which opens the disc with Bawb on banjo (I would swear this is a song about the Beer Dogs):  “First they play a two-step, then they play a Cajun waltz … if you don’t dance, it’s your own fault.”  And, yeah, Bawb plays banjo!

Slim Bawb’s gruff voice sounds like another instrument when he sings and plays live — as I saw the duo out in Elgin the other night.  These guys are seasoned musicians (grizzled and travel-worn) who are a lot of fun and have a lot to sing about.  With so many weapons at his disposal, Slim Bawb can make the twosome sound like Scott H. Biram sometimes and like Tom Waits at others.

Musicians on this record include Bastrop’s Tres Womack (Slim Bawb does live in Cedar Creek), Charlie Irwin, fiddler Josh Drogemueller, Perry Rowe, Kat Kairns, Bo Ely, Dave Moats, Ron Sherrod, Steve Stizzo, and Flaco Jimenez on “Barcelona Rain.”  The record is strewn through and through with Cajun music (”Louisiana,” notably — and quite a story can be found in this song), even though Bob has never lived there or even (so he says) played a Slim Bawb show in the Bayou State.

“Sophistikuts” is another song about a music venue, “a small town place” where “you can drink and you can cuss and you can know who you can really trust.”  Sounds like Sam’s Town Point, a joint that this band ought to KILL in.  “Black Jack Road” gets busy with the pedal steel and dobro — and Gator Bait’s percussive drumming (never overpowers, just keeps the beat interesting).  One of my favorites here is “Bourbon Cowboy,” even though I only drink Irish whiskey (and that for medicinal purposes).  Beer lovers get “I Need a Beer,” “No Bar Too Far,” and really the whole record.  This is danceable music, drinking music, and music to laugh and tell tall tales with your friends to.  As the boys close the bar, the final song of the night (choose your partner and hold her close) is a rendition of “Georgia on My Mind” heavily laden with Bawb’s dobro.  One final note — Bawb says that Rebecca Lucille is back with the Texas Sapphires after a “brief” leave of absence (girls just gotta have fun).  And that, too, is very good news.      

STEVE BERNAL – Decibels

I just realized I had not yet written about this other recording I have had around for a few weeks — by cello virtuoso Steve Bernal (whom I well remember holding a Scoot Inn audience gaspingly quiet one evening as he played solo).  Darwin Smith produced with Steve, with the recordings done in summer 2008 — but you may not have seen Steve perform this music or even the CD itself.  But given the number of cellists now finding work in town, and the even larger number of fans of this wonderful instrument (Steve also plays bass here), I just had to write something for all of you.

One highlight is a 19-minute piece, “Dreams and Concrete,” written with Loren Dent, which was commissioned by First Night Austin 2008 — for solo cello, electric guitar, computer and drum set.  Another is the “suite for solo cello and subsonic continuo” which Steve wrote to accompany the art of Michael Wutz.  A third set, “Pluto: Requiem for an Icy World,” was written by William Meadows and recorded at Real & Imaginary Music Studios.  The piece I most want to hear live, though, is Bernal’s “Hidden,” for three cellos and bass, which opens this recording.  Steve as been playing some shows with Aimee Bobruk, but will showcase his own music for solo cello and electronics at Flipnotics on November 12th (at 8 pm).  Lovers of the cello and just good music would be wise to attend.

Okay, already.  Our first photo here is Mingo Fishtrap – definitely NOT a teenaged band, but one worth mentioning for their Monday night Antone’s residency that is soon coming to an end.  And throughout this missal we may mention other bands whose guys have been shaving for more than a year or two.  But let’s get real — Austin is beginning to recognize the genuine talents and creativity of some of its younger musicians.  Now Flanfire, of course, has been writing about teen music in Austin for years, and so we are more than glad that people like Margaret Moser and Roggie Baer are giving props today.

So here we have the members of Edison Chair taking a little break from the hard work they did on a recent Sunday afternoon at Jovita’s, helping Roggie and ALTWorld host an all-afternoon showcase with half a dozen or so bands and four judges evaluating all of the younger musicians and more.  Ms. Moser was indeed one of the judges, as were Harmoni Kelley (my favorite red-headed bassist), Billy Harvey (whose own recognizable talent may soon be eclipsed by his production skills), and designer-photographer Mark Alba.  [Don't they all look superbly intent!]

As Ms. Moser reports in her own Chronicle blog, the bands (I missed half the show for reasons explained below) included South of Center (12-year-old funksters), Euphoria (winners of the Austin High battle of the bands) and a band I heard and liked — playing as an instrumental quartet, Team NEXT (whom I first met at Austin CAN Academy over a year ago), Edison Chair itself, the Fireants — fresh from Old Settlers, followed by a 30-minute jam that all the guys were talking about afterwards, the Carson Brock Group (just back from Germany), and the band I was most glad to see for the first time, the Cafe Racers, featuring Taylor Bartholemew [bottom left] and Brandon Mays (plus Sam on bass and Damian on drums).  This band really brought it — and Taylor writes good songs.

Earlier on Sunday, I had stopped by Jo’s Coffees on South Congress to visit with Ruby Jane Smith (and her lovely mom JoBelle) — and to hear a little of her band — Lefty Nafziger, Willie Pipkin, Lindsay Greene, and Damien Llanes (a more than passable bunch).  But I spent the better part of the day at the Second Annual Shotgun Party Chili Cook-off (I refuse to report on the contest other than to note that Kinky Friedman was one  of three chili judges — and that my two favorites did not even place).  This crowd photo shows people of all ages having a wonderful time — and why not?  Great food, great music, and a great bunch of friends having a blast together.  I got to see sets from J.W.W. and the Prospectors (bottom left — with Heather Rae on fiddle), Deadman, Leo Rondeau and his marvelous band, and Graham Wilkinson (dreads) and the Underground Township (featuring PJ on lead guitar — whose other band is Dub Kids).  Every set I heard was just downright fine and dandy!  And after all of that, I headed over to the Saxon for the Shelley King Band (see my review of Floramay Holliday’s CD).

 OK, that was Sunday.  Saturday was just as wild and crazy — with much of the action out at Threadgill’s World HQ in the form of a benefit concert hosted by none other than Margaret Moser.  Here we have the revitalized El Gaupos (with horns) and the Diving Captain (the band my pal Hoe’s daughter and her friends came to see).  Lots of others had played earlier, and I totally missed the Daze and Blues Mafia playing some Cinco de Mayo event over near Town Lake.

Now I did not take my camera out on Friday, but I have to mention sets at Momos from Jarrod Dickenson (playing solo) and Josh and Jake Halverson (Jake is Josh’s brother who is better known for his bronco riding on the rodeo circuit — but I like his singing, too).  Those, though, were lead-ins to the magnificent show at the Saxon Pub by Jackie Bristow and her hot band — George Reiff, Dony Wynn, and Aussie guitar god Mark Punch.  [But I take way too many photos of Jackie already!]

The photos below here are of Erin Ivey at the Parish (with Jon Dee Graham way down below) — the highlight had to be their duet, if for no other reason than that Jon Dee had never met Erin or impresario Brian Conway until he was asked to do the show with her.  Clearly, the magic was there — and Jon Dee showed why this “miracle man” should be one of the world’s most widely revered people who sing.  The other photo here is of Mike Harmeier and Burton Lee (Mike and the Moonpies) at Uncle Billy’s Second Anniversary Party on Thursday afternoon — Shotgun Party, Leo Rondeau and Slowtrain were also on the bill that day.  

Now here (left) is a major reason (other than the fine music from Jimi Lee and friends) to go to Hyde Park at Westgate on Tuesdays (Tony and his fried chicken are also there on Mondays).  The restaurant also has Sunday night swing (often with the Marshall Ford Swing Band — but look out — the texas Swing Kings will be coming soon!) — and may opt for another night of music here and there (how about late-night weekend jazz or whatever after the movies to nosh on HP’s famed snack foods)?

Wednesday nights are fast becoming Soul Track Mind parties at TC’s Lounge.  These events are not yet as crowded as Mondays with Little Elmore Reed, but rowdier for sure.  That’s mainly because of lead singer/lover Donovan Keith, who writhes on the floor, prances and dances, and falls into the loving arms of his womenfolk (see top right above).  And I have to mention George DeVore’s new project, the Twalls — who are playing late night Mondays in May at the Saxon but whom I saw at One 2 One (a really cool venue on 5th and Brazos with a great rooftop).

Finally here we have BettySoo playing accordian and singing harmonies with Charlie Faye after her own acoustic set at Momos on Tuesday night.  And, yes, I did see that little bit of Mingo Fishtrap after Stonehoney’s set at Antone’s last Monday (well, they ARE using Mingo’s drummer a lot).  Those California refugees will be on the road most of the summer — unlike Flanfire.

Now just for the record, I DID get out of the house a little bit this week too — Jimi Lee with Kevin Hollingsworth on Tuesday at Hyde Park, and Thursday was wild — but my camera battery was totally dead — so I may as well tell what I know about that night.  OK — I parked at House Wine, walked to Flipnotics for the Troy Campbell showcase that featured Will Cope and Lincoln Durham (out solo these days and sounding manly!) and a full set from Troy (do people here even realize just how good this guy is?) — and a surprise visit from Ray Wylie Hubbard, who is producing Lincoln’s new CD and has been the Itasca native’s mentor for years.  Ray Wylie (that old snake farmer) is playing Shady Grove next Thursday with Lincoln opening, by the way.

Then it was back to House Wine for a little bit of Kelley Mickwee (just back from Italy with Kevin Welch) and Andrew Hardin — and then over to Floramay Holliday’s CD release.  It was like old home week, with Kris Brown on guitar, Chip Dolan on keyboards, Arte Passes on pedal steel, Shelley King on harmony vocals along with Gabor Racz (Floramay’s hubbie who also plays harmonica), Greg Baumgardner on bass, and Vinnie Ambrosone on drums.  And later I got a private, one song concert from Austin newcomer Jessie Torrisi and her cellist, Alissa Schram at the Irie Bean right at closing time (I had missed the duo’s actual set, you see!).  Heck, they had me singing along!

Floramay Holliday no longer lives in Austin — so I rarely get to visit with her and her harmonica player (and husband) Gabor Racz.  But Thursday night (May 7th) Floramay has a CD release party at the Saxon Pub with her OLD Austin band that includes the amazing Arte Passes.  [Just tonight while at Antone's for a Stonehoney set, a fellow whose band had opened for Kevin Fowler recently was telling me just how amazing Arte was in that band!]

The photos below, however, are from the Sunday night Shelley King Band show at the Saxon with Floramay sitting in for a few songs the two women have written together.  Two of those so much fun songs — “Coffee” and “The Things You Do” — are on the new Floramay record, “Dreams.” 

Words cannot express how much these two women (and their husbands and families) mean to Flanfire — they were good friends (and cruise mates) of my beloved Nancy, and Shelley was among the many who was there for her through her long illness.   Shelley and her band were our first friends in the Austin music community — over nine years ago. 

And we never forgot that long night the week after September 11th when Floramay was doing her usual gig at the Texas Chili Parlor (yes, Virginia, it used to be a live music venue) and closed out her set with a powerful version of “Freedom Songs.”  Or that poignant tribute to fallen band member Kris Van Robbins (who, not coincidentally, was a close friend of Kevin Fowler — I will never forget the benefit those guys and others put on to help Kris’ grieving family).  Good times, sad times, that’s how good friendships grow.  Going to Cancun with Shelley and Perry and Floramay and Gabor and the whole entourage was a heluva wonderful way to share our 25th wedding anniversary (even better, our daughter and HER husband came along for the week-long party).

But to the business at hand.  I love this record — nearly every song touches me in the heart.  Floramay, by the way, grew up on a plantation in South Carolina with her musical family (her brother James Ervin plays bass and a little guitar on this record, her sister sang on a prior one) and later spent time working on a dude ranch in Idaho (and with all those Idaho musicians blowing Austin away, maybe picking up some of her musical skills there too).  Then it was Austin for quite a long time — and lots of great memories — and a storybook romance of her own that she will maybe tell you sometime.

OKAY — forget the first 12 cuts for a moment and concentrate on the “Roseneath Romance” that closes out this collection of songs and stories.  This is a tribute to her grandparents, James and FLoramay McLeod, and the romance begins with Floramay on piano, her brother James on acoustic guitar, plus Jeff Stockham on french horn and Joe Devoli on violin.  The moving instrumental eventually gives way to the song itself — a tale of a gentle courtship that grew into a lifelong love, one that formed much of the framework for Floramay’s own childhood.  I would buy the record JUST for these two amazingly wonderful linked pieces.

But of course that’s not all, folks!  This may be Floramay’s best songwriting to date (and I have loved both of her prior recordings) — some songs are silly, others (including one “co-written” with 18th Century evangelist John Wesley) cut deep, but in all of them we get Floramay’s honest voice and that twinkle in her eye that she is famous for.

“Yesterday’s Girl” kicks off the festivities.  Is Floramay telling on herself (or maybe just exaggerating? — or is she totally making it all up — when she sings, “Born spoiled raised in the land of cotton Way on down in Dixie, She used to dance till dawn with her high heels on, feelin’ young and sexy ….”  Now, I have to mention that Floramay went all the way to upstate New York to find the Barrigar Brothers (Kevin and Loren, on guitars and vocals) and their pals Matthew Rockwell (drums), Andy Rudy (piano), Leonard Stephens (pedal steel), Jeff Stockham (trumpet and French horn), and Devoli.  Shelley King also sings, Gabor sings and plays harmonica, and a huge chorus of Racz women and friends — the Amazing Women of the Lake, or AWOL Singers, contribute to “Girl’s Night Out,” which MUST truly be an autobiographical song!

Speaking of fun, first there’s “Momma’s Motorcycle,” “that pretty little engine R-65,” and yet this simple little song (with pedal steel, no less) has this line about “dreams get lost when you get distracted…”  Then there’s that song Gabor helped write, “Rainbows,” and that line, “You don’t need direction to know where you are…”  See — fun with a bite!  And there’s that good-time-feeling “Big Blue Eyes,” about taking a family drive in the summertime.

“These Days” is anything but funny — “little girl lookin’ out an old front door, Watch her daddy drive away, she’s seen it before … “  But later, “We’re all under the stars, So many children with a broken heart, Find a way to believe in love, Say your prayers before you dream, God gives us the reason, To forgive Daddy’s leavin’ ….” 

My pals Jack Dorman and Geno Hildebrandt over at Hope Chapel love to quote John Wesley’s famed saying, “Earn all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can.”  Here Floramay, in “As Long As You Can,” reminds us that we are loved “by the One up above” and we must therefore not forget to “do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, whenever you can, by and by, to all the ones you can, as long as you can — Amen, Amen.”

One of the best songs (from a songwriter’s perspective) here is a joint effort with Floramay, Loren Barrigar, and Peter Ryan called “Perfect You.”  On the record, it’s just Floramay on vocals and Loren Barrigar on acoustic guitar — and you never really know if this is a tragedy or a song of joy.  Now, there is one cover tune — Megan Peters’ “Something To Tell You,” from her 1997 album “About Time,” which featured Mike Cross on bass and Paul Pearcy on drums.  I think Floramay picked this one to sing to her husband — that part about him being a wrinkled old dude in a hundred years.

My favorite song (other than the Roseneath Romance) on the record seems to be “Slow Rain,”a pure and simple love song — “Singing you a new song Always sets me free, And I love it when you sing along in sweet harmony…..”  But it is the chorus that makes this one special to me — “The sun rose and the moon goes around this old world, And the seasons flow like water when you’re near .. As we grow, I know there’s nothing left to fear, Home is where the heart is, and my heart will be right here, There’s a slow rain falling to wash away the tears…”  And, yes Jenni W., there IS a French horn here!

FINALLY Flanfire gets out to the Old Settlers’ shindig — and what a lovely day (despite rain all day Friday and ominous skies early Saturday morning)!  Got there just in time to hear the 1 am set from the Fireants (while wearing one of their T-shirts) and a wee bit of Green Mountain Grass (that’s mando player Dave Wilmoth and fiddler Adam “Pickles” Moss shown below) at the Hill Country Stage before heading over to the Bluebonnet Stage for a great set from Lone Star Swing (featuring Gemma Donal on fiddle and my pal Stretch MacFayden (Dawrson) on snare. 

Lest anyone not know, Lone Star Swing is fronted by vocalist/rhythm guitarist Gary Hartman, who is director of the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State and a heluva guy.  Bassist Terry Hale and guitar virtuoso Rick McRae long ago found a young singer named George Strait and are still members of his Ace in the Hole Band, mandolin player Paul Glasse may be found with Willie or Lyle on a given day, and youngster Billy Curtis (well, he has a 2-year-old!) on fiddle, saxophone, and great vocals has done duets with Johnny Gimble.  Billy’s vocal on “Faded Love” was one of the highlights of the entire week of music.  Plus, these guys are maybe MORE fun than the Austin Lounge Lizards.

It was also a day when my pals from Stonehoney (happy birthday, Dave Phenicie) backed up legenday songwriter Dan Navarro and then did their own set on the Discovery stage.  All of these guys had told me to be sure to listen to the Lovell Sisters — and was I blown away by these three north Georgia bluegrass darlings who were debuting their brand-new (second) CD, “Time to Grow.”  Jessica (age 23, fiddle), Megan (age 19, dobro), and Rebecca (age 18, mandolin, guitar) are on their way back to MerleFest and a major world tour — well, of course, their sisterly harmonies are perfect, their musicianship is excellent, and they will hopefully remain unfazed by the publicity that may focus all too much on their good looks than on their talent (think Dolly Parton, one of the finest pure bluegrass singers I have ever heard).  Here they are on stage, and here is Rebecca with Dan Navarro, who got to know their whole family over chicken tacos he made at a festival campsite far away and long ago.

As day turned toward evening (and after listening to the McCoury brothers for a while), I had to stroll back to the Hill Country stage to catch Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women (mostly Austinites of course) — Lisa Pankratz on drums, Cindy Cashdollar on steel guitars, one-time Austinite Amy Farris (and her lovely red hair) on fiddle, the legendary Sarah Brown on bass, and Seattle’s Christy McWilson on vocals.  Earlier, I had caught only a small part of Sarah Jarosz’s wonderful set (with Alex Hargreaves on fiddle and Sam Grisman on bass)  — that’s the downside of too many stages to see everything!  I also caught just a tad of the Colorado-based Spring Creek but enough to be blown away by their banjo player.   Down there somewhere is a photo of Gemma with Billy Curtis warming up before their smokin’ set.

So here are photos of Stonehoney’s Phil Hurley and Shawn Davis with Dan Navarro, Ms. Farris, the Belleville Outfit, and Lone Star Swing.  Yeah, we COULD have stuck around to see more of the McCourys, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Robert Earl Keen (all good!), but the big “miss” was the campground jam with the “Grass” and The Blue Hit (which features Pickles’ brother David on cello), just back from their West Coast tour and with their brand-new CD ready for a May 9th party at Club DeVille.    But, heck, we were tired enough, and Stretch and Gemma had a long drive out to Turkey, Texas, for a Monday night gig with the house band at the Church of Western Swing just days before the annual Bob Wills Festival there.  But before I move on I have to mention the harmonica workshop with Jimi Lee, Dave Spalding, and Cara Cooke and the songwriter showcase featuring Jenny Reynolds and a heart-wrenching duet by Ben Mallott and Betty Soo on Gram Parsons’ “Grievous Angel.”

To catch up with missed days and nights, there was that Sunday night at Shut Up and Sing when I caught up with Alyse Black and Aly Tadros, who are about to go on tour together.  And here is the handsome (just ask Wendy!) Chad Pope on the indoor stage at the brand-new Red Shed Tavern and a photo of the tavern’s backyard that shows the SHADOW of the beautiful stage that Chad bdesigned and built for the venue, which hopes to get through the tangled web that is the city of Austin to get an outdoor venue permit.  [I also caught a set from Paul Finley, but will write about that when reviewing his new CD, Butterfly, which features both this acoustic virtuoso and artwork by Gregory Gruett Smith.]

But I cannot depart without a short diatribe condemning the city of Austin for its very trange poplicy that has already shut down live music at Freddie’s, Botticelli’s (at least amplified music), and apparently Guero’s and is having a stifling impact on the ability of the Austin  music community to earn a living — not to mention on the entire live music scene for those who want music with their meals.  It is as though the city is telling folks, you can have music or you can have dinner — but not both!  Elections for city council are coming up in just a very few days, and it is time for these candidates to go on record so that we will know for sure who are enemies are and not let them ruin Austin.

 Have to mention the set  I caught at Flipnotics by the Celestialites (Jonny Konya from Belleville, the wonderful Carley Wolf, and Najeeb Sabour), the new trio that I really like, and a very enjoyable Sunday brunch at Threadgills featuring Hank Alrich and his lovely daughter Shairdri, shown here with Threadgills’ own Melanie in what we hope will be a regular feature … their harmonies wowed us!

UNCLE LUCIUS – BRINGING BACK THE SIXTIES!

This record makes me cry!  Stephen Doster has performed a major miracle with the help of four young Texans who were willing to learn from a master.  And now they are on tour and we will not see them for weeks — and it is killing me.  At least I have Deadman as consolation (and a big dose of Dustin Welch — and yes a lot more good Austin music).  But this is like Canned Heat meets The Band meets the Allman Brothers (especially with Red Young on stage at their CD release).

Let’s start with the cover art — grainy photos from a time gone by portraying visions from several of the songs — “Lift Your Head Up” (the title cut), “A Million Ways,” “One Day My Soul Will Fly Again.”   This stuff looks more like Stephen Foster than even Stephen Doster.  There can be no contest either locally or worldwide for best album cover art and design — this is just beautiful. 

Then there’s the band — Big Sandy’s Kevin Galloway, with his hair and beard grown out, on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, San Antonio’s Joshua Dane Greco on drums and percussion — yeah, he’s a jazz player in his first rock and roll band, and he grew out his hair as part of the “look” this band exhibits in spades!  Cypress Creek HIgh’s (I used to watch him play football!) Michael Carpenter on lead guitar, vocals, and harmonica, and yes he has a LOT more hair than in his football days, but more to the point he also uses a bow to play the guitar and (yes, I saw the Yardbirds with Beck and Page) with much more creativity than the guy who later became the backbone of Led Zeppelin.  Hal Jon Vorpahl on bass with the curly long hair (as long as John Michael’s from Deadman, but much curlier) and the hat. 

And, yeah, the band SMOKES as the guys grind out their Southern Classic Rock with all of the fervor of Mylon Lefevre in his prime.  As at the CD release (see video below), the band has help from producer Stephen Doster on guitar, Mark Wilson on alto and baritone sax, Ed McNames on trumpet, Red Young on keyboards and organ, and Devon Guilford, Sonia Moore, and Decamp on backing vocals (only Guilford was at th CD release, and she was flat out amazing!). 

At Threadgill’s I met the parents of most of the band – all solid Texas folk who are the salt of the Earth.  No wonder these guys have been able to put together a band that is beyond time.  Like Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir CD, there is not a cut here that is not a hit in its own right.  The crowd at Threadgills, by the way, was pegged as maybe the best ever for any show at the venue — and yes a good bit of that was spillover fom the sparkling opening set from Hector Ward and the Big Time (who will have their own CD release party at Threadgills on May 9th). 

There are, as there just about have to be in such timeless music, lots of gospel overtones in nearly every song, starting with the title cut, “Pick Your Head Up,” which is an exhortation (that there is still time to get away) that ends with a kicked-up verse of “I’ll Fly Away.”  Now this is very different songwriting from that of a Dustin Welch – yes, there is plenty of meat here, but this record is all about the SOUND — and the feelings it evokes. 

 Galloway has a voice as distinctive as that of John Fogerty — “Everybody Got Soul,” though has layers of guitars that remind one of Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul.”  Here the line is “the only one controlling my future is me….”  “Liquor Store” is a tale about losing — at the track, in life in general — and I’m searching for grace in the bottle tonight …   “Hold on Your Heart” is a rocker that ought to get people up onto the dance floor.

One of my favorites here is “San Bernadino” (where the Jokers play) — this is classicf Bob Seger music!  Another story song, that is — slowed down, opens with harmonica and organ (thanks, Red Young!) … “couldn’t see the stars in the Milky Way….”   But he moved to San Bernadino and became a local legend.

“Mississippi Highway” is a classic blues tribute to all of those who have gone before on the southern music circuit — and a lament that “they sent my jobs off to Japan.”  “Ain’t It the Same?” opens with a fistfight on a five dollar bill.  This is a song about a guy who “”used to have a woman and two more on the side ….”  but they ”cut my hair last winter, ain’t it the same?”

Carpenter sings lead on “Fire on the Rooftop,” and his Steve Winwood style tenor provides quite a contrast to Galloway’s gruss baritone.  But wow what a guitar solo!  “A Million Ways” is a dirge (opens with bass and organ) about how the powerful seek to deceive, while “Coming Down” is a flat-out rocker that opens with drums and then the guitar’s wail.  This is more city music .. “I know the believers and they say it’s coming down…”  and more smoking guitar.  The CD ends with “All Your Gold,” which opens quietly with these lines: “If I could stand out in the cold with all your gold in my hands, I’d throw it far as I could see, turn around and walk  away….”   and goes on to speak of one day “my soul will fly again….”   The pace picks up, and the guitar comes in and you realize this is a modern gospel song of the highest order.  Play this record loud on a day when you can just sit back and watch the clouds … drinking Dublin Dr Pepper and eating Moon Pies, playing baseball on a real sandlot and drinking grape Kool-Aid and talking about  nothin.  This record is grits and Virginia ham and old-fashioned barbecue music …                                                                        

 Let’s see — here’s a photo of Sarah [okay, they are BOTH named Sarah, and I am not sure which is which, but this is Sarah from Montgomery as opposed to Sarah from Corpus Christi) of the Reliques at the Hole in the Wall last Wednesday.  I was admittedly prepared to toss these two off until I heard them sing -- and now I am eager to get out to their next big show (not Momos on April 21 but the Living Water International Benefit on April 25th which also has my new friend David Ramirez on the bill).  There is just something good about this music and the women who are making it.

The duo opened for Greg Garing (shown below with his beloved Jaime) and Stretch Dawrson and the Mending Hearts.  Greg, by the way, has played his last Austin show for a while as he is moving to California where he has a bunch of shows lined up.  But if you see him before he heads west, just ask about his health (amazingly better!).  You may have seen the video I put up on my Youtube site of Stretch and Gemma Donald, the 20-year-old fiddler from the Shetland Islands who is fast becoming an international sensation (and she has family in Houston so may be in Texas more often if we just invite her). 

Then there's the photo of Kelley Mickwee and Savannah Welch singing harmonies for brother Dustin at his CD release Saturday night at the Continental.  What a show that was, with Eldridge Goins on drums and Andrew Duplantis on bass (plus Trisha Keefer on fiddle and Kyle Ellison on guitar).  Regular bassist Joe Beckham is on the road with Papa Mali (way to go, Joe!), and yes Dustin did get Jeremy Nail, Kacy Crowley, and Kevin Welch to help out a little here and there, but this was Savannah's real debut as lead backup singer (no Drew Smith) -- amazing energy plus a maturing voice that just cuts through. 

Next up is a photo of a painting from George Hampton (father of Noelle) taken at athe opening party for his exhibition at Z Tejas ... this one is of the Broken Spoke, and there are more to come featuring other historic Austin venues.  Not bad for a lifelong Californian who moved to Texas four years ago.

And here (above) we have Phil Roach with the horn section -- Mitch Vontes on saxes, Matt Price on trombone, and David Gilden on trumpet -- of the very hot band Hector Ward and the Big Time, who will have their own CD release in May after opening in April for Uncle Lucius at Threadgills.  This was my first time to see Kai's older brother play, and I was duly impressed.  My pal Scott Beardsley, whom I know through keyboardist Thomas Mann, is the bassist in this large band, which also has Dave Farris on congas, Mike McGurk on drums, and Kheli Kitts on backing vocals (a job shared with Alison Beardsley when she is not off in Boulder getting educated).  Hector -- whose prior band was Sigmond Fraud (with my old pal Long Distance Lance) -- also plays guitar and sings and dances -- all in a wheelchair that seems like a prop he is so vivacious in it.  This band has some GREAT songs, and Hector's voice is so strong he can cover both Elvis and Johnny Cash (and probably Bob Seger too), but he reminds me more of an Hispanic Omar Dykes.  This band truly is Big Time!

Had to throw in a photo of Dave Wilcox and his wonderful Gretsch -- from Brothers and Sisters (who were sans sister at the Continental Club as they opened for Li'l Cap'n Travis -- my first chance in a while to see Gary Newcomb and as always he does not disappoint.  [An aside -- got to see him playing jazz pedal steel at Mings' Second Anniversary Party along with El Goins, Brad Houser, and an all-star cast of characters -- chief among whom is owner and motorcyclist Fai Jow, whose coconut soup is to die for!  But for this party he brought out some mighty fine Louisiana gumbo!]  Gary is off to Holland next week for a Bruce Robison show across the pond. 

And here are Brennen Leigh and Sly Barrack jamming together on Telecasters along with Missy Beth (fiddle and vocals) and her badass band that also featured ATAP’s debut (that’s Andrew Thomas Austin-Petersen for novices) on electric bass.  The lovely women at the right — Tanya Winch, Elizabeth Wills (who only played percussion this evening), Karen Chisholm, who had invited me to the show, and Amanda Hickey – were all on stage at First Friday at Gateway Church along with the wonderful Jess Klein — and actually several other fine performers.  Just for the record, headlining their May 1 extravaganza will be Deadman – a band I really love.