Flanfire

These posts are going to be short and sweet!  Just a few photos and everything out of timeline order.  It is hot — and we have been busy.  OK so here is the lovely Kiwi Jackie Bristow, who lived in Australiia for many years and is back in Sydney as we write to finish up work on the new recordings she just finished here in Austin (at Church House and Cedar Creek) with JJ Johnson on drums, Chris Maresh on bass, and her old Aussie guitarist Mark Punch.  That handsome fellow with Jackie (and no wonder he is smiling) is Australian guitar maker Allan Tomkins, whose mentoring of Mr. Punch goes back nearly 40 years.  Tomkins was at the Continental Club to showcase some of his latest work — and out to see Heybale because Redd Voelkart is playing one of his creations. 

Moving over, we find Mark Ambrose and Bob Livingston egging the crowd at Kathy and Bill’s House Concert on as the whole place erupted in “London Homesick Blues.”  Now THIS was an OLD AUSTIN event, held at a century old house at 910 E. Cesar Chavez, where the amazing Eric Taylor will hold forth on Sunday, July 26th — with David Olney and Vince Bell coming the following two months.  For details go to www.myspace.com/housebooker or call (512) 743-8424.  Mark’s last CD was made with David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, who are his old friends from Nashville, and Bob of course is an original Lost Gonzo who has more stories than the tallest tower in Austin.

Then there is Austria’s contribution to Austin music, Ulrich Ellison (fresh from finishing his graduate work at the University of Texas, where he was on a Fulbright Scholarship and only won Downbeat’s jazz student composer of the year two years in a row) teaching two young guitarists prior to playing a set at It’s A Grind Coffeehouse in (nosebleeders catch your breath!) CEDAR PARK.  Now I gotta say, the folks who run this place have a great idea that is working well — they are moving the music outside (as weather permits) to a shaded area that faces the sidewalk so that more people can stop by for the fun.

Finally, here is Leaving, TX, songwriter Chris Patterson at Flipnotics as a guest of Troy Campbell (who has since turned the Thursdays over To Ben Mallott so he could play a few shows in Europe).  Chris was in town for a few weeks prior to relocating from the Washington, DC, area to Dallas (North Texas).  Now I just picked up the brand-new July issue of 3rd Coast Music  (thanks, John Conquest, and Leaving, TX is tied for 16th place on the Freeform American Roots music chart.  No. 1 with a bullet is Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women (nearly all of whom he borrowed from right here in Austin) — but sneaking up to No. 5 on that chart (ahead of Steve Earle and Slaid Cleaves) is my old buddy (and North Dakota native) Leo Rondeau.  Also making the chart is Waco native Steve Martiin (yeah, the guy from “The Jerk”) who will be playing his banjo out at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park in early October — the same event that will feature Austin’s own Fireants and many other NAMES YOU WILL KNOW (including other Texas bands).

[Photographs by Flanfire, collage by Gene Chavez -- that's Gina's dad!]

Will Taylor’s genius is not limited to his great arrangements or to his excellent viola (or violin) work.  Will (in the spiffy shirt) has this knack of getting great musicians to play with him — and great singers to perform at his shows (for example, Lisa Tingle blew the doors off the Led Zeppelin review, I am told).  Will is also a genius in finding new ways to present himself and his friends — the newest being the Will Taylor Jazz Strings Quartet, which last week began a Sunday night series (starting at 6 pm) at Opal Divine’s Penn Field.  Backed by longtime confederate Shawn Sanders on cello and Jason Allen on viola, Taylor scores again with the fabulous Leah Zeger on violin — and even though we do not (yet, at least) get to hear her glorious jazz vocals in this ensemble, her skills on the violin (she was the youngest ever to be a regular with the Austin Symphony, I seem to recall) are just what the doctor ordered.  [Indeed, scroll down a bit and you will find Leah singing (and playing violin) at Ming's Cafe along with regulars Brad Houser and El Goins and guitarist Trevor Labonte, another of those lads who seems to prefer Austin summers to Wisconsin winters.

Now I have some great Jackie Bristow news to report -- first, her lifelong guitarist, Mark Punch, one of Australia's top session players (for example, all but the latest Kasey Chambers record and both of Jackie's) and an excellent singer, flew into Austin to stay a month or so and do some live shows (like this one with drummer Mark Hays at Flipnotics -- which by the way has a brand-new owner, a new porch floor, a new A/C system as of Monday, and maybe some more surprises as well).  Second, Jackie is opening for Bob Schneider at the Cactus Cafe on April 30 and has her own debut at the Saxon Pub the very next night.  Third (and maybe best of all), a chance (??) encounter with composer-arranger Stephen Barber led to a surprise reunion with David Boyle, an Aussie whom Jackie had met years before he came to Austin to play with the Scabs and after numerous adventures purchased the old Providence Primitive Baptist Church facilities and built the Church House studio in East Austin.  Word is our favorite Kiwi songbird is already in the studio with David, Mark, and who knows who else -- to lay down a couple of tracks right now and maybe more later.  [For double the please, check out the photo of Jackie Bristow and Jackie Daum -- whose own new record will be out before long.]

 We also got out last Sunday to see Heybale — and my favorite former Burrito Brother Earl Poole Ball (who also played with Johnny Cash) along with Redd Voelkart and half the town’s musicians in the audience.  Monday night early it was the McKay Brothers (Noel and Hollin) doing their acoustic duo set at the Hole in the Wall (just more proof that Bandera is a songwriters’ town), and later (after an amazing set from Bukka Allen with Brian Standefer, Mike Meadows, and Will Sexton – shown below) out to TC’s Lounge for the Little Elmore Reed Blues Band [Mark Hays on drums, Willie Pipkin and Mike Keller on guitars, and Dale Spalding and his big grin on vocals and harmonica -- and, yes, that's Sarah Brown of the Guilty Women on bass!]

 Tuesday night was ladies’ night — the evening began with the wonderful Greencards (whose new 18-year-old guitarist they swiped from the Lovell Sisters) at a CD release throwdown at Waterloo Records.  Kym and Carol were in fine form, and Eamon had enough energy left after the set to show a young fiddle player a few of the tricks up his sleeve.  Then it was over to Momo’s Club for a set from the Reliques (they grow on me) followed by two rounds with Joe Humel on drums — first for BettySoo (her first show with a new band that includes Jeff Plankenhorn on guitar, then with Charlie Faye (whose brand-new CD produced by Mark Hallman at Congress House was in her hands)!  BettySoo had last Saturday wowed us at Old Settlers (and she and Ben Mallott reprised their rendition of “Grievous Angel” at Momos), wowed the crowd at the Evangeline Cafe Saturday night along with Gurf Morlix — producer of her own brand-new CD soon to be released, and wowed us again last Tuesday.  But so did the equally diminuitive dynamite package from New Jersey/New York and her hot band.  Best of all — both ladies sang harmonies on each other’s songs.  Even better — they’ll be at it again next Tuesday.

 Wednesday started out with T-Bird and the Breaks at Scholz’s Biergarten — thanks to a late ttext from Sammy P!  [Sorry, guys -- no camera!]  This made it easy to float over to the Cactus for sets from the Maybelles (and that lovely Katy Rose Cox) and a CD release party featuring Greezy Wheels’ Lissa Hattersley and an all-star band — nine people on that little stage!  Paul Pearcy on drums, Andrew Bjorkland on bass, David Roach on keyboards, Chris Gage on guitar (and keyboard), John Mills on  sax, Michael Austin on clarinet and vocals, Cara Cooke on harmonica and vocals, and of course  sister-in-great-joy Sweet Mary Hattersley on that magnificent fiddle that has fed the soul of this town for decades.  And then it was back to TC’s for a stirring set from Soul Track Mind (Sarah Lincoln sitting in) and some of that delicious goulash!  And a LOT of dancing! 

Thursday was very special — my first show to see Aimee Bobruk and Erin Bobruk sharing the sage (at the Amsterdam) — Erin taking time from her Conspirare schedule to sing harmonies with little sis, whose songs are just so very good!  Shawn Davis of Stonehoney had asked me to stop by Headhunters (out back!) for their set, but I got there just late enough to hang out with the boys and listen to an old favorite of mine, Eric Hisaw, and his band — Vicente Rodriguez on drums, Matt Hudson (whom I had seen at TC’s the night before) on bass, and the lovely Chrissy Flatt (who is working on her own C right now) on rhythm guitar and vocals.  I have been listening a LOT to Eric’s 2008 CD, “Nature of the Blues,” which is a worthwhile addition to anyone’s collection.  The guy can SING!  Later that night I stopped by the Mohawk to catch a set from Bryce Clifford … fighting a cold that left me sleepy.  But the work is never done — CD’s to review are again stacking up, and then there were this weekend’s shows, which will be covered in a forthcoming report.  I WILL note here that I ran into Brian Keane and Rachel Loy (sporting a lovely rock!) at a secret show that doubled as a going away party for Michael Lahrman, impresario and dear friend whom we shall just have to visit in a land far away.