Flanfire

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!

Thanks to a “chance” encounter at Flipnotics,  Flanfire has become friends with Scottish Western Swing  King Stretch MacFayden and the lovely Gemma Donald from the band Stretch Dawrson and the Mending Hearts who just performed with the Texas Swing Kings at the Old Settlers Festival (among a number of gigs in the Lone Star State).  Stretch had a couple of days off in Austin, so I took him out on the town for some major fun and music.

Last Monday, for example, was the second anniversary of Ming’s Cafe in Austin  – yes, the same Ming’s that graced Houston’s Montrose district for over a decade — and owner (and good buddy — see photo) Fai Jow provided his friends and patrons with an amazing gumbo on top of his tasty Chinese dishes.  Ming’s is one of Austin’s hottest Monday night music venues, thanks to the Mingtones and special guests, and this night was no exception.  Pedal steel genius Gary Newcomb showed ow the instrument works in the jazz idiom, performing with Brad Houser, Eldridge Goins, and an all-star cast that included Jane Bond, Matt Hubbard, and Cole El-Saleh – and later it was Laura Scarborough showing she too can entertain on a drum kit (or just with her hands in the air).  In the house for the annual photo were such luminaries as Shelley King (new CD on the way that is awesome, baby!), Carolyn Wonderland, and others too numerous to mention.

 Later that evening, Stretch and I stopped by the Hole in the Wall to catch a preview of the big Tuesday night bash at the Continental Club at which sets by the Lonesome Heroes and Shotgun Party were wrapped around the big CD release party for Leo Rondeau (see our review, archived at this site).  Mind you, this show came right after the historic Hippie Hour and founder and sequined songbird Toni Price stuck around for the whole shebang (as did earth mother/barn dance queen Leeann Atherton and many of the Hippie Hour regulars).  Now Stretch, being an old friend of Greg Garing, is also an old friend of Shotgun Party’s Katy Rose Cox, who has also been doing shows this week in Austin with the Maybelles (including Happy Hour at the Contintental the very next night).

But let’s get down to basics here — top left below is Shotgun Party with Leo, Missy Beth, and Vaughn Walters of the Shake ‘Em Ups celebrating the debut of fellow Shake-Em-Up Andrew Thomas Austin-Petersen as Shotgun Party bassist and sometime vocalist.  Top right – same group dancing and singing along with the dancing and singing crazy audience.  Bottom left – Leeann and Toni having a ball; bottom middle -Katy Rose with the Maybelles; bottom right – Leo Rondeau and Jenny Parrott.

 Okay — Stretch was already in Bandera on Wednesday evening when Flanfire kicked off a stellar evening that began with the bluegrass trio the Maybelles (Katy Rose with Jan Bell on guitar, harmonica, and British accent, and Eureka Springs, Arkansas, native Melissa Carper on upright bass — and all three on vocals (see photo at top right below with Landry McMeans of the Lonesome Heroes with Melissa and Jan and a handsome devil in the middle). 

Then it was over to Antone’s for a powerful set from The Tiny Tin Hearts (top left below) who OWN that room with their wall of sound, followed by Chris Brecht (bottom left) with ALL of his Dead Flowers Band, and the wonderful Jess Klein (with Scrappy Jud Newcomb, no kin to Gary, apparently) who showcased songs from her forthcoming CD done at Aerie Studios here in town.  Later, a bunch of us went over to Momo’s Club for a late-night set from Deadman, featuring bassist John Michael Schoepf along with frontman Steven Collins, Scott Davis on lead guitar, Kevin McCullough on harmony vocals, Todd Pertll on pedal steel, and with special guest (from the Dead Flowers Band) Matt Mollica on Hammond B-3 (which he lugged up the stairs at Momos after a hot set with Brecht at Antone’s). 

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. 

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.