Flanfire

This is a hodge-podge — starting at the end, working back a bit … Tonight a bunch of us gathered at Flipnotics to visit in their “living room” with Raina Rose, Drew Pressman and their handsome offspring — with the bonus of hearing Johann (or J) Wagner and special guest Wilson Marks. This was Raina’s first public performance since she was great with child, and she admitted her callouses had disappeared but she and Johann (and also Wilson) tossed out songs that in many cases were full-house sing-alongs and in some cases were heard in rapt silence. I met Jen Hitt, another Austin newcomer, songwriter and host of WAMU 88.5′s (Washington, DC) Capital Americana radio show (yeah, it streams!). She has a show upcoming at the Irie Bean! [Sidebar -- Marks, it seems, once gave a guitar lesson to a very young Matt McCloskey, which apparently worked!]

Earlier today, I got to hear the Jackie Myers Band (Jackie, Mike Brinley, Mark Williams, and Stewart Lane) for the first time since before they went into the studio to cut a new record (release date in early spring 2012). People at the Cedar Park Farmers’ Market loved what they were hearing. I did too!

Friday night Brett Randell had a welcome home to Austin show at One 2 One Bar — soon to be relocating to an as yet undisclosed location, but not before a knock-down New Year’s Eve show hosted by the venerable Donny Jones! Then it was over to Skinny’s Ballsoom (thanks Brad and Maggie for keeping this great room alive!), and I got there in time for some of Kyle Offidani’s amazing guitar work. I was there mainly to hear Digital Antique, one of my favorites (two violins, a viola, a cello, plus electric guitar and electric bass and drums) … and soon, apparently, a vocalist as well! Stay tuned! I stuck around for the second Austin show of The Bellmen (featuring Travis Sutherland of Utopia Fest fame) plus Dustin Halsell (lead guitar), Reid Faist (drums), Jeremiah Silsby (bass), and Benjamin Taylor (keys). Lots of energy there — and they rocked on in spite of equipment issues.

Thursday night was pretty special — the night before I had run into James Hyland while watching Amanda Cevallos at the Broken Spoke (happy hour, with Glen Rexach on guitar!), and he told me about a benefit he was playing the next day – at Spicewood Elementary. So I get there and it is the Stonecastle Family Band, which I had not seen since Lauryn Gould was a teenager (or so) singing with her dad (Rick Steinburg), his wife Deby, and her sisters at the Triumph Cafe (long before I actually MET Lauryn, my favorite flutist/keyboardist). The benefit was for a beloved teacher who has tongue cancer … and it was well attended! Hyland played a set with Will Dupuy on bass and Bobby Socia on guitar; Datri Bean put on an amazing show on piano and accordian; Ryan Gould and two of his fellow Jazz Pharaohs (notably the amazing Stanley Smith); and this gal playing bagpipes! It is always fun to watch Ryan sing and Lauryn dance! And, yeah, they play bass and flute (respectively) pretty well!  Later, I stopped by Baker St. to see the best set yet from JUSTIF and the Missing Pieces (Jenna G and Samantha Burge) — ran into Hector Ward and half of his band who had been dining there, and stuck around for Charlie Mason.  Good times!

[Meanwhile, I am listening to Doug Burr as I write this stuff -- and also Steve Carter!]

Wednesday was, admittedly, ridiculous! Started out at The Crow Bar for Kem Watts (her trio sounded quite good, and HalleyAnna showed up!), then to the Spoke for Amanda (where I also ran into Waldo Wittenmyer, who is now doing some booking at the Hole in the Wall), then all the way up to the NeWorld Deli to catch half a set from Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus (such dear friends!), then over to the Hole in the Wall to hear Ashley Monical (with Brian Paugh on fiddle!), then down to Trophy’s to catch a set from Austin newcomer Jason Ludwig (that boy can wail!), and finally to the Mohawk (thanks for the reminder, amazing woman Sarah Gonzales) for a super set from Danny Malone – with strings and horns (notably Steve Bernal on cello, Andrew Pressman on bass, Jenni Wieland on French horn and more, and Andrew Noble on viola — the others – violin, sax, and trumpet - were from Little Lo and Mother Falcon).

Now Monday was COLD and thus the outdoor open mike at House Wine was short but very sweet … and I was at Momo’s early and later … first for William Kelley, later as Dustin Welch sang the songs of his father Kevin.  But it is Tuesday that made this week special (not counting the amazing show out in Luckenbach by Phil Hurley, Phil Bass, Lonnie Trevino, and Josh Zee with help from Teal Collins Zee — the Moonlighters!)!!!!  SONGWRITER NIGHT at Momo’s, starting with Jenny Reynolds (who brought some really good songs new to my ears) and the awe-inspiring Nathan Hamilton (the Abilene native whose songs ought to be listened to with the reverence others hold for TVZ, Guy C, etc.).  Nathan has a brand-new CD, “Beauty, Wit and Speed,” that like all of his others is just phenomenal!    [Watch for my review!]  Nathan Hamilton is one of my role models (did I mention?) — a man who lives by his code, who speaks the truth, and who has fought through anger to find a quiet peace.

Next up was the Drew Smith-Jon Beckham-Graham Wilkinson song circle, with special guests Nathan Singleton and Will Webster.  I had encouraged new-to-Austin songwriters Jason Ludwig and Josh Buckley to come, and Shilah Morrow and a bunch of other music people were in the house for what turned out to be an amazing circle of songs by friends who supported each other with hot licks, harmonies, and sometimes witty banter.  Highlights (a few among many!) — Jon Beckham’s “Snowy River, Mountain High” (a song covered by James Hyland but sung even better with Jon’s twangy voice), Graham’s “Personality Disorder,” and Will’s song about his parents and his other song about the War Between the States.  Words cannot describe the energy in the room (the garage doors were shut on this cold, damp night, and that perhaps added to the energy!) — and the exhilaration from the love being poured out by every man on stage!  Also in the house were the Los Angeles based trio, The Fallen Stars, who played afterward …

My evening was far from over, as i hustled over to the 29th Street Ballroom at Spider House to hear Meggan Carney with her trio (Johnny Vogelsang and Drew D’Entremont) — with Meggan on electric guitar.  Meggan has a major show at Momo’s on December 23rd, where she will be releasing another new EP .. a teaser is already up on her Facebook page … words and music for “Empathy,” which includes the line, “Understand that I will never be
unwary of your heart….”

One more note — Chicago songbird Laura Jean Thompson flies into Austin on December 20th to play shows at Romeo’s (12-21), Momo’s (12-26), and the Ham Jam House Concert (12-28) — plus the Cedar Park Farmers’ Market and maybe a few surprises!  I am thrilled to be sponsoring this tour … and just as thrilled that well-known author and public speaker Jenni Schaefer will be making her singing (only) debut at the Ham Jam show.  For details just let me know via Facebook, email or slapping me upside my head!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Time flies when you are having fun.  Sometimes you just have to play catch up — and in this case, Flanfire had to back off on this column to write a speech that justified his recent pilgrimage to the shanties outside Cancun with a bunch of eager beaver college kids.  So here we have some of the OTHER stuff from the August month of 100-degree pure joy.  Sometimes we even just put down the camera and enjoyed the day — usually that happens on Monday nights at House Wine, thanks to Abbi Sims and the wonderful Kerry White (and her main man Nick).  Just yesterday we got to hang out with old pal Chris Jamison, my new great friend Ruby James, and a BUNCH of newcomers to the House Wine stage — including one Barbara Nesbitt, transplanted Georgia peach who had just escaped San Diego four days earlier.  Gal has the spunk, the spark, and the smile — and yes she paid her dues in Virginia Beach with a Grateful Dead cover band before embarking on a career as a singer-songwriter.  But that was not all — just two nights earlier I had been hanging with Natalie Zoe as her daughter’s band blew away Gary Clark Jr.’s crowd at Antone’s (see below) and I looked around and saw not only my good friend Nano Whitman (who played a solo set at Botticellis on Monday) but also an even older acquaintance — guitar genius Brad Tretola, whom I had not seen in five years.  He promised me he was back in Austin for good (or at least a good while) this time.  Next I know (maybe I said something), Ruby is over at Nuno’s on Monday recruiting Brad to come and play a few songs at House Wine – and nobody who had stuck around till nearly midnight was disappointed.  Brad’s return to Austin is great news for music lovers — and good friends.

And speaking of those returning to town, here is Jackie Bristow fresh from six weeks in Australia working on her new record at the Red Shed Tavern (how about that stage built by Chad Pope?) with my favorite Austin guitarist, Van Wilks.  I think these two ought to play LOTS of shows together — Van was as energetic as I have seen him on acoustic guitar making beautiful notes happen, and my good pal Mark Addison was caught playing DRUMS on one of the songs they did together.

In the middle is that same David Ramirez whose new record I just reviewed — shown here playing at Momo’s Club just before embarking on a lengthy tour with Boerne native Matt McCloskey (last I heard the boys were chowing down at Katz’s Deli in Noo Yawk City).  And truth be told, no collection of photos of Austin music would be complete without Scrappy Jud Newcomb, shown here on the Momo’s stage backing Jess Klein just before the two left on a West Coast tour.  Jess will be back at Flipnotics on September 3rd before heading east this time — to New England where the rain has been falling every day this summer, I am told by old friends) and the Carolinas. 

There is NOBODY better as a lead singer on any stage in Austin than Drew Smith — and I mean NOBODY.  Last week Drew was set to play a trio with drummer Kyle (the Smile) Thompson and Ryan (Beef Beeferson) Bowman, but at the last minute Guitar Hero Jake Owens (who admits to being influenced by fellow San Antonian Joe Reyes) showed up, and it was the Lonely Choir in toto sans keyboardist Matt Russell — and thus a brand-new sound, edgier in some ways.  And Drew?  He was just out there sweating and shouting and bringing goosebumps to just about everybody at Momo’s Club — especially that lovely woman in the second tier of tables who inspires many of his songs.

My very next trip to Momo’s was just as good — what with Ian Stewart and the Fireants down to just three members for the night (Victor Ziolkowski and Rebecca Pledger) but with musical magician Erik Hokkanen swapping licks with Ian, nobody seemed to mind.  Just WOW!  Erik has also been spotted at Momo’s lately sitting in with Utah emigres Wisebird (a band NOT to be missed while the price of admission is still affordable).  Earlier that same evening I had stopped by Flipnotics for a RARE appearance by sultry songbird Tawnya Lorae (again, a packed house cheering her every breath).  And to my joy and surprise there was Ram Zimmerman tapping out the rhythm to her blues … but no wonder!  I had not seen Ram since the Kim Deschamps Band days of olde. 

Here we have Austin newcomer (and Berklee grad who hails from California) Michelle Alany playing fiddle with The Inheritance (featuring Amanda Kitchens on accordian) at a packed-out Flipnotics (this band is HOT and will be back there and elsewhere soon).  Next up is Sasha Ortiz in total ecstasy at a Blues Mafia show at Antone’s (opening for Gary Clark, Jr., who along with Eric Zapata and a killer rhythm section blew the walls off the storied blues venue on Saturday night.  Blues Mafia was just as impressive in a shorter set — and they will be back at Antone’s on August 27th with the Bubbles as openers at The Daze CD release party.  The rowdy Mandy Rowden, she of Girl Guitar, is shown HERE with her all girl (what else?) band, Cover Girl (playing, what else, covers!) during a nine-band, six hour showcase at Antone’s sponsored by Austin Music Marketing.  I got in early to catch a short set from my old pal James Bullard and returned later for a kicking set from The Skeletons — punkabilly at its very best!  I have long been fond of Jeremiah and Amanda Ingram (that gal can pound the skins!), and bassist Vincent Salcedo is just pure slap-happy — but the band has taken on new life with lead guitarist Dan Nettles and mandolinist Nick Wicker.  I wanted these guys to play another hour or two.

The Whisky Priest and the Arc Angels – three nights in a row at Austin’s famed Continental Club!  April 22-24, 2009 — right before Doyle Bramhall II, Charlie Sexton, and Chris Layton leave town to play New York’s Fillmore Auditorium and then a dozen shows in London (11 at Royal Albert Hall) with the even more legendary Eric Clapton!  And all of that after Dustin Welch (whose brand-new CD is entitled, “Whiskey Priest”) celebrates the Resurrection as Easter Sunday begins at that same Continental Club after midnight on April 11th.

Okay — maybe that’s a little too heavy for the twenty-something son of longtime Nashville-based singer-songwriter Kevin Welch (with whom Dustin will be playing a BUNCH of shows next month at Gruene Hall).  But Dustin has never said that HE is the whisky priest (in fact, my pal Seth Woods, who doubles as worship leader at Mosaic, and his band Whiskey Priest are playing at the Carousel on April 13th).  Truth be told, Dustin is more of a prophet — and a storyteller of the highest order.

Witness his wonderful song, “Sparrows,” written to commemorate the lives of so many who came back less than whole from Vietnam (but equally applicable to returning Iraq war veterans).  “.. I’m stumbling down this back street of another town, upset every silo but I have yet to drown, and everywhere I turn expecting slander and scorn, for the life of me I beg to be reborn.  Gotta find somewhere to get out of the rain, this coat don’t keep the cold out anymore, and my heart don’t beat the same as it did before.” 

Maybe it his Native American heritage, maybe it is the mantle laid on five-year-old Dustin by the wonderful songwriter Harlan Howard — or maybe just the natural progression of a skinny little kid who developed his own style of banjo picking as he just naturally absorbed knowledge and energy from the belly of that Nashville songwriting culture.  What we all know about Dustin is that his songs just jump into your gut — with melodies and harmonies and, yes, layers of poetry and prose that most likely Dustin himself has to ponder over and over again as he and we search for the mysteries his music searches out and unveils.

Now, picking just ten of Dustin’s captivating songs for his first collection had to be the hardest job producer Mark Addison has done in quite a while (admittedly, with help from Dustin).  There are just so many good ones.  But here we open with “One False Move” (co-written with Willie Braun of Reckless Kelly), which just drives the ball out of the park — “At first glance, we’re still in the game, ah but there’s the desperate chance that hope just may remain … [but] until we come to see the error of our ways, we’re just one false move away.”  And that wailing guitar from Kyle Ellison and the House Band that also includes Joe Beckham on bass, Trisha Keefer on fiddle, and my favorite bagel maker Joe Humel on drums — plus Drew Smith on rhythm guitar and vocals and the glorious Savannah Welch keeping her brother happy with her positive energy and lovely voice. 

And that’s just the core of Dustin’s ever-expanding band of brothers (and sisters) who jump on stage now and then to join the chorus (that’s Drew who has the “choir”).  Other players on this CD include Mr. Addison himself, Bukka Allen (also the son of a famous songwriter), Brian Standefer, Suzanna Choffel, Jeremy Nail, Dan Dyer, Kacy Crowley, Mick Braun, Carrie Elkin and Susan Howe. 

“What Heartbreak Will Make You Do” (written with Kevin Welch and Claudia Scott) is another rocker but again with depths not noticed by the casual listener — “You keep telling yourself you’ve got it all under control but to me you’re just a long lost child … one of these days the time will come, you will find out that love is real …”  But earlier, the little slip “I’ve got all of the answers if you want ‘em but nobody ever listened to me.”  Gotta love that fiddle!  [Claudia's own version is smokier!  And you should definitely check it out -- both have that Kevin Welch tom-tom beat down at the bottom.]

Then there’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em Nothin’,” written with childhood friend Cary Ann Hearst  (see the pattern — Dustin says he likes to work with others so that his songs have different voices but what seems to be the case is that his friends and mentors act as mirrors to better help him see the vision he has had for his songs).  “Dirty Mind” has help from Sean Locke, while “Whisky Priest,” “Green Badge,” and “Two Horses” all were guided in part by Mark Germino, who will be joining Dustin on May 8th and 9th for two Austin shows.  And “Lower East Side” had help from another childhood pal, Justin Townes Earle, with whom Dustin played in The Swindlers band for years.  The all-out rocker “Empty Parking Lots” was a collaboration with Nail, Choffel, and dad (and who knows who all else?) — duly noted that Dustin gets everyone involved with his music and his life itself, and everyone who works with him gets a blessing.

I ran into Dustin on Tuesday night at the Saxon Pub, and he mentioned in passing that he was playing a set at House Wine with Kelley Mickwee and so after taking in a rare movie Thursday afternoon I headed over for a glass and some music — and found Kevin Welch also sitting in the living room.  Outside folks were prepping the “stage” (that is, the front porch) for an evening with nominees for the Texas Music Awards, so what transpired was an informal work session for Kelley and Kevin’s upcoming tour of Italy.  Afterward I stuck around for a while, stopped by Botticelli’s to check in on Jackie Bristow, and then went over to Lovejoy’s for more of Stretch Dawrson and fellow Mending Heart Gemma Donald (here from Scotland for Old Settler’s).  Then I ran into Dustin again that evening at the Hole in the Wall as we all reveled in the music of Sideshow Tragedy and celebrated Nathan Singleton’s birthday. 

But back to the review.  “Dirty Mind” is another hard-driving song that requires a jug and a jig, while “Whisky Priest” is a stomper that punches you right in the mouth:  “I am a man of faith, I am a child of the crow, and all my bed of angels, well they touch and they go, I get no self-satisfaction from salvation when it’s sold with a 10-digit digital magnetic  bar code ….” 

“Two Horses” I have written about — Dustin has placed their skulls on the back cover of the record — just to let you know that this song tells a lot more about what it is to be in his shoes than you might otherwise realize.  It is tough being able to see so much — how do you handle what you see, how to translate it into something that gets to the person(s) who need to hear but without scaring them off from that truth that might just save them from themselves.  Especially when that someone is you!

Maybe that’s a clue to the mysterious “whisky priest” on the album’s front cover — the layers of jewels and trinkets that keep you from seeing what the eyes of the priest are looking at.  But who knows?  It’s just cool.  And just listen to ”Lower East Side” – a song Lou Reed might endorse though written by two kids from Nashville who ought not know so much about his territory.  Trisha’s fiddle here is a thing of beauty — and the song is a classic.

But Dustin is, first off, a rocker — and we are back to “Empty Parking Lots,” a collaboration of the highest order and always a favorite at Dustin’s old Monday night shows at Momos.  Jeremy Nail (whose own brand-new record is nearly done – I can hardly wait!) lends his energy, and Suzanna Choffel her innate sultriness to a song that is to me like a rock and roll “The Road Goes on Forever” in that you just want to hear it over and over again.

“Green Badge” must come from Dustin’s Scotch Greens daze — the San Diego based band that opened for Flogging Molly and lived and died on the Warped tour.  The CD, as with many Dustin Welch live sets, closes with “Poorhouse,” which thankfully drains listeners (play this record L-O-U-D!) of all remaining energy and leaves them willing to wait for the next set of Dustin songs on disc.