Flanfire

When you think of Texas songwriters, a few names quickly come to mind: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Willie Nelson … and then everybody has others in their top ten.  But that is not an easy chore.  Do you include Buddy Holly?  Can a rock and roller make the list?  Is a Texas songwriter one who is from Texas and writes songs?  Or is it a person who writes “Texas songs” — and if so, what constitutes a “Texas song”?

Just for the record I will throw in one more name — and ask all of my readers to send me their own top Texas songwriter lists.  But before I get to the punch line here (and, yes, there IS a review of Kevin Higgins’ new CD, Find Your Shine, at the end of this story.  I will here and now say that Stephen Doster says this is one of the best records he has ever produced), there needs to be a little summary of how I got to Sunday night at Threadgills to see the legendary Billy Joe Shaver.

But where to start?  How about Wednesday night at the Amy Farris celebration show, where Dave Alvin, with tears in his eyes over the loss of “that red-headed brat,” playing like a man possessed (and Warren Hood sitting in for Amy on fiddle)?  Dustin Welch followed (as usual on Wednesdays), and Kelley Mickwee of the Trishas sat in with Dustin and I promised to make one of their two shows at Threadgills during the week.  Tidbit of value — piano player Scott Bucklin just moved down to Austin from Dallas and Dustin immediately got him to play in his band.  Worth the trip down just to see this guy (who reminds me a lot of Kevin Lovejoy).

I had also promised Molly Venter I would catch her “happy hour” show at Momo’s the next day, and it was easy enough to do, given that my pal Brett Randell played his first Momo’s show right after Molly.  Later, I stopped by Flipnotics, where Aimee Bobruk was hosting a bunch of songwriters, including herself, Jessie Torrisi (new CD out on October 29th at a show at Lambert’s), and Michael Hall (of the Wild Seeds).  Still later, I hopped over to the Hole in the Wall for the beginning of the farewell to Austin (and the entire US of A) tour for Jessie England, who is getting hitched and moving to Denmark (nice gig, eh?). 

Jessie’s band, the SNAFU Kitties, closed out the evening — upcoming is a CD release party that will be the actual going away party for Jessie.  Also on the bill were Jessie’s other band, Satellite or Slave,” which features Karla Mansour on guitar and vocals and Kim Vogelsang on bass and vocals.  Yeah, Jessie plays drums and sings (and slipped over to her keyboard for one song), and we all had a blast.  My other MAJOR reason for being there was to FINALLY catch a set from Lauren Gurgiolo and the Dialtons.  Lauren, who is playing lead guitar with Okkervil River, is an old friend who also plays mandolin and much more.  I know her through the Brothers Lazaroff and Elizabeth McQueen and such folk — and well remember a show some of those folk did out at the Cathedral of Junk. 

And thinking about Elizabeth leads to Willie (indirectly, perhaps) and thus to the subject at hand.  NOW I can get back to earlier on Wednesday (yeah, the same night I went to the Sessions at the Hideout!), when I was at Z Tejas to catch a set from Bill Carter, Will Sexton, and Stephen Doster — admittedly, these three Texas songwriters sang mostly other people’s songs.  But when Will and Bill were in Houston the other night at the Mucky Duck, they sang their own songs (even though my daughter asked me why Bill Carter was singing all of those “covers,” not knowing he had written so many songs she recognized).  [I have to specify that there may need to be a separate category for Texas FEMALE songwriters (we are SO blessed).]  And then there is this large in-migration of songwriters who move here, buy some cowboy boots, and develop a drawl (or not).

Now, moving on to Saturday night, I went out into the cold early to see Blues Mafia and Hector Ward and the Big Time at Tim’s Porch, then  stopped by Momo’s just to hang out.  Warren Hood was on stage, and he stuck around and sat in for a few songs with the handsome Dan Dyer, who was showing no visible effects from having most of his gear stolen earlier (in the day, or in the week, I forget).  I do know he and his band mates (Mark Williams, aka Gum B, on bass and cello, and Micheal Hale on drums) played the best set I have ever heard them play in the midst of this adversity.  Next time you stop by Momo’s, toss a dollar or two into the bucket for the Dan Dyer stolen gear fund.

But back to the Trishas — Savannah Welch just happened to be at Momo’s that evening with a couple of friends from her movie career, and once again I reminded myself that I had already missed the Trishas’ Friday show and had to get to the Sunday event — and I am glad I did.  Some of my favorite Billy Joe memories include one night at Threadgill’s when Brennen Leigh and brother Seth got to sit in and sing along on “I’m just an old lump of coal, but I’m gonna be a diamond some day,” and that night at the Broken Spoke with Kinky Friedman and Little Jewford along with Jesse Guitar Taylor — just a couple of months after Eddy Shaver’s untimely death on New Year’s Eve 2000.\

Nearing seventy, Billy Joe showed an eager Threadgill’s crowd that he is hardly an old man — dancing, singing a capella, admitting forgetting some lines to a brand new song, joking about drummer Jason MacKenzie being late to the gig, and belting out brand new songs that have the same fire and power as the ones he wrote decades ago.  First-timers included members of the Trishas, members of Stonehoney (whom I had just heard at Threadgill’s Old No. 1 for the bluegrass brunch), and members of Rosemary’s Garden, a rock band from southern California who were playing the Saxon later that evening and who missed their gig the night before at Momo’s and had the further insult of having their vehicle and trailer towed.  But what’s a little money when you end up watching a legend — a man I never get tired of going to see.  A man who just has to be one of the top Texas songwriters of all time.

KEVIN HIGGINS – Find Your Shine

All of which leads us to Kevin Higgins — better known, perhaps for his work with the Dust Devils (formerly the Cosmic Dust Devils), a band whose other lead singer is Barbara Malteze.  Kevin and Stephen Doster assembled an impressive array of musicians to help out — J. J. Johnson on drums, John Gammil on bass, John Leon on pedal steel, Chip Dolan on organ and accordian, and Warren Hood on violin and mandolin.

The liner notes for this record (written by Rob Patterson) state that Doster says of Higgins, “If William Faulkner was from West Texas, played guitar and wrote songs, they might sound like this.”  Patterson adds that, “Higgins ascends to the pantheon of eloquent and evocative American singer-songwriters [he should just say Texan] with that rare grit for articulating the fullness of human experience within splendid and alluring melodies.”  In short, Mssrs. Doster and Patterson envison Higgins as one of the real Texas troubadours — a man whose characters are “like painted portraits.”

But that’s what others are saying.  Doster told me it is important to listen to this record when there is nothing to distract you from its sheer beauty and poetry.  True right.  I recommend a late night snack after everybody else has gone to bed and the telephone will not ring.

This recording runs like a symphony — maybe like Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” –or perhaps like Aaron Copland’s ballet, Rodeo.  Which is to say, this is a song cycle that paints a consistent portrait of rural America and real people searching for a little joy.  As such, each song is like a movement in the symphony, as Higgins takes us on a journey down “Blue Highways” and byways to show us that we have a wonderful country in which to “Find Your Shine” if we will just go where the wind takes us and learn how to love those whom we meet.  [Funny, Billy Joe says the same thing.]

The very first song sets the mood — “Way out in the fields, what once was a treasure, now just pieces of steel….”  these words describe the fears of those facing the horror of a tornado as it touches down on a “small farm in Nebraska that God had spared today.”  Already you realize that this is powerful stuff — Doug Burr powerful, but even more Texas traditional.  Gentler than, say, Steve Earle, more serious, say, than Robert Earl Keen, and much more hopeful than, say, James McMurtry.

“Monahans” opens with a memory of “my sweet West Texas girl,” whom our hero laments that, ”you grab ahold of something good and it’ll slip right through your hands.”  John Leon’s pedal steel and Malteze’s piano define this tune, which opens at a Dairy Queen in a small west Texas town.  “West Texas Aggregate” is about his brother down at Ray’s Garage where he hardens his heart and works on his muscle car — and much more.  Higgins sings, “This is my home, this is my place, these are my people, descending from grace” — with shuttered storefronts and every make and model car parked outside the bar because misery loves company.

“Curtains” (again the piano and pedal steel) laments the end of a family, “always seems like a long time, always seems like a dream to me now as our home becomes a house, and it seems like only yesterday, feels like only yesterday, this was our home.”  Indeed, as the property is now up for sale, ”Freshly painted walls where family pictures used to hang, glossed over all our memories, it’s as if we never came.”  

“The Levee Boys” is a memory of youth in the Bosque, boys who broke some windows, bent some laws, barefoot warriors … all for one and one for all.”  Then this family moved in from Albuquerque, with sullen faces and a lot of fighting and a boy named Curly whom they befriended and thus protected from his abusive father — until the law came and the family moved away, likely to continue its cycle of abuse.   The title cut, “Find Your Shine,” is a travelogue of oddly names places across America and a couple who run off from their home in search of a better life. 

“Infinity” opens with ”each of us a single thread, woven to the fine fabric of the grand design, she smiles, says the stars look great tonight…. All we are is all that is, there are no two moments quite like this … and all that matters now with our eyes above the clouds is to see the light.”  This is a beautiful song about “we create what we believe, we can live in fear, we can go in peace, we can give to God or always be at odds with our mortality.”   What a meditation this song is.  The final three songs are “Hanging On,” “Kickaround Kid,” and “Alone Star,” and since I know you will want to know what they are about, I will just let you find out the old fashioned way.  Kevin and Barbara, by the way, are performing out at the Iguana Grill on Lake (?) Travis on Friday at 6:30 pm.

Flanfire decided to take the night off from carousing around town listening to live music and instead catch up a little on his backlog of unreviewed CD’s (and EP’s, for that matter).  But before we get to new music from Alyse Black, Colin de los Santos, Kevin Higgins (of the Dust Devils), and Courrier, we have a few brief announcements.

First, thanks to everyone who performed, came out, or even said a good word about the Flanfire Favorites benefit concert last Saturday at Central Market (and thanks especially to bassman Sean Hopper, who made it all possible).  We raised significant seed money for the domestic violence library project — enough we hope to pique the interest of the University of Texas in securing this unique resource for its Perry Castenada Library.  But just as important, we all had a barrel of fun.  Thanks to Jarrod Dickenson, Ben Mallott, Charlie Faye, Margo Valiante, Stonehoney, Noelle Hampton and her band (including a special thanks to Teal Collins), and the Tiny Tin Hearts.  Thanks to State Representative Valinda Bolton and to Professor Noel Busch and to Amanda Winters, without whom we could not have kept track of the donations or the people who kept coming by.  Thanks also to KUT for the many promos and to KXAN-TV for coming out and interviewing me for the Six O’Clock News.

Kudos, meanwhile, to Blues Mafia for making the finals of the HOUSTON Blues Challenge.  One more victory (October 25th at Dan Electro’s there) and it’s off to Memphis!  Meanwhile, catch the band with Hector Ward and the Big Time on October 24th at Tim’s Porch at the Backyard — or at midnight on Halloween at the Saxon Pub.  Kudos also to my pal A. J. Vincent and his bandmates in Bright Light Social Hour, who won The Sound and the Jury and got to play in the mudfest also known as the Austin City Limits Music Festival!

In other great Austin news, the Lonesome Heroes are back after an extended summer tour (no school any more for Landry McMeans), and Shelley King’s long-awaited collaboration with members of the Subdudes — entitled  “Welcome Home” — is finally ready for release.  Good stuff!

ALYSE BLACK – Hold Onto This

Alyse Black came to Austin nearly two years ago from Seattle, then went back there — with her new Austin-based band — long enough to complete work on her second CD, “Hold onto This.”  Cody Rahn on drums and percussion and Juke Wyatt on bass, with help from Jeff Miller on trumpet and Kimo Muraki on just about everything else, have created with Alyse a collection of grown-up songs whose themes range from breakups to bombers — songs that float along on clouds that all too often carry rain and too rarely yield rainbows.

Alyse, who is on tour with Aly Tadros across the Eastern U.S. right now, is a redhead full of energy and a sensuality that comes across on stage as playfully flirtatious – you know she is having a good time just being gorgeous for you, and yet she never takes herself that seriously.  Or maybe she does, but just does not want us to realize that life is more than a video game existence — hurt hurts!

I well remember the first night Alyse and Aly played on the same stage at the Shut Up and Sing! songwriters’ showcase at a “dingy bar” on Sixth Street.  Who knew these two would become musically inseparable so quickly?  OK — the songs?  I like “Into the Sunlight,” as here Alyse demonstrates her vocal range … and her romantic aspirations.  “Up in the Air (Not Too Late)” shows off the lady’s lower vocal register in the opening lines — this woman can flat out sing!

My favorite cut, though, has to be “B-17 Bomber Girl,” for which Alyse says she was inspired by the full-sized pinup girls whose images once graced the planes our servicemen flew — and how seeing such women helped her overcome youthful disdain that her own shape was more than perfect.  [Totally different genre, but one quickly recalls Susan Gibson's "My Best Feature."]  Truth be told, you can hardly keep your eyes off Alyse she is so vivacious and you never had any idea she used to be or may still be a little self-conscious on or off the stage.

COLIN DE LOS SANTOS – Songland

I know Colin de los Santos through Doug Boyd, Kalu James, and the bratpack of guys who used to hang out at Shut Up and Sing!  So the other night I was at Botticellis and Colin hands me this disc, “Songland,” and I had no idea the power he had unleashed with great help from producer (and fellow songwriter) Chris Hawkes.  The lads are all playing on Friday (October 16th) at Lambert’s (high end BBQ, expensive beer, but a great music venue) and I plan to be there.

Colin spent his last few years at Sam Houston State University along with Zach Arrington and Jon-Michael Hamman, and the three have this singer-songwriter collective known as StrangeLove.  The key word on this recording is “strings” (they get you at the outset) – kudos to Mike and Erin Ross for their work here, as well as to Joe Gerfers (drums), J. T. Holt (lap steel on “The Ripper”), A. J. Siedner (guitar strum on “You Lovin’ Me”)), Aly Tadros and Stella (sultry backing vocals on “Silhouette”), Sara Hamman-Ludwig (vocals on “Megan Rose”) , and Doug Boyd (trumpet — I did not even know he played!).

This record just SOUNDS good — I am still deciphering the lyrics, but this is just good music.  [BTW, Aimee Bobruk and sister Erin hail from Huntsville, home to SHSU.]  From the opening notes of “Texas Pearl,” though the bouncy “You Lovin’ Me,” to the funky “The Ripper,” Colin captures your attention.  “Silhouette” is like an entire suite with a broad range of emotions, notably hot passion.  “Gypsy” has some nice acoustic guitar work (well, what else, given the title?); but it is “Megan Rose” that is the CD’s signature song (or at least Colin thinks so — it is the featured cut on his website).  The strings that opened the record [with "Texas Pearl" and the two "Pink Buzz" cuts (Austin and Boston)] are back and even more beautiful — this is like a ballet set to song, and Sara Hamman’s voice is that of the ballerina (Megan herself, one supposes) searching out the elusive sun and moon.  But “maybe this is just fantasy, I suppose” ….. hmmmmmm.

I love the intro to “Old Blind Man,” maybe MY favorite song here … perhaps because I too often “remember what it was like to truly sing.”  “Shadowed Fervency” further reveals Colin as much more than superficial in his lyrical patterns — there is a humility here, though, that is uncommon in the young poets I have known (and been).  The final cut, “Something,” again opens with acoustic guitar and strings — this is a love song for two people who have been through some tough times yet have the grit to keep on going.  “The way we danced with no shoes to some old reggae blues….” Yeah!

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 — KEVIN HIGGINS and COURRIER!

HECTOR WARD AND THE BIG TIME — Freightline Funk

Hector Ward is a big guy hitting the big time with his band’s brand-new record, “Freightline Funk.”  If you have not seen this guy – who is not quite confined in his wheelchair as he rocks the stage and wails on his guitar – then you must either not like bands with horn sections or you just got back from Antarctica (or Australia?).  Their stellar CD release party at the Backyard (soon to be an even more exciting venue, I am told!) featured a duet with the boys from Uncle Lucius (and their horn section too) — a smokin’ version of Killing Floor (which I hope has been recorded for posterity).

Hector, who sings in English and Spanich, will remind you a lot of Omar Dykes if you keep your eyes shut, but there is really no one like him.  He is the poster child for overcoming misfortune and his infectious smile can turn anyone’s bad day into gold.  You may remember Hector from Sigmund Fraud — but all that really matters is that when you come out to his show, you had best have your dancing shoes on — because he is on wheels and will out-dance just about anyone in the house.

The Big Time is a hot combo — old pal Scott Beardsley (Melody Mann) on bass, Ali Beardsley on vocals when she is NOT in Boulder in college and Deseree DeSalia during the school year (sometimes we get both!), Phil Roach (David’s son) on lead guitar, Mike McGurk on drums and vibes, David Farris on congas and percussion, T-Bird’s Matthew Price on trombone, Tiger Anaya on trumpet and Mitch Quintanilla on saxes.  This is GOOD MUSIC!

The CD opens with McGurk’s “Dirty Soul Shaker” and Ward’s “Gypsy River,” two rockers that get you off your feet.  Next up is “Vibro” (which I think of as December Rain), a ballad Ward wrote with Phil Roach that features the vibes and a guest trumpet appearance from David Gilden — this is classic stuff that might have come from Bob Seger.  A little surf music (”Voodoo Surf”) gets you back up and shaking your thang — a little Screaming Jay Hawkins music here.  “Uncle Chas” opens quietly then picks it up — a softer sound that shows this band’s versatility (you might hear a little Grateful Dead here).  Did I mention that you cannot sit down long when this band is playing?  Even if you are in a wheelchair! 

Hector launches against “Mr. President” with a reggae beat, while “Azucar” (Sugar) has that Latin beat that comes from Hector’s Cuban roots … and, of course, you just have to dance.  [This band is its own weight loss program!]  “Brown Liquor” features the horn section out front and nasty — and some downright dirty guitar licks, as befits this funk rock classic (gotta hear the trumpet).  Oh, yeah — play this record L O U D !!!!!  “Esperando” has that Santana feel — and then there is “Black Finger,” which (well) is about getting high and Irie (yup, this is more reggae funk).  One more time — this record will ALWAYS be a party favorite wherever people like to dance — and play.  The final, title cut is just good rock and roll funk — with Phil Roach’s nasty guitar (that boy can play!) — I can imagine THIS cut with the doubled up bands (Uncle Lucius could easily cover this song and no one would know).  Just in case you have not gotten the point, Hector Ward and the Big Time is a Big Time Band.

WILL EVANS PROJECT  — Plantenga

That’s Will Evans above in the middle (Hector and his horn section are on the left, and I just had to throw in a photo of the Beckham Brothers of whom we will hopefully be writing more soon).  Lots of folks know Will as that handsome lad who tends bar at Momos’ Club, but whenever this guy has a show, the young ladies show up in droves.  Will, Jason Pollan and Jeff Hartsough (with John Olrech on bass on the record) have put together a progressive rock record that has a ton of energy — by trekking out to Salem, Oregon, to what Will says was an amazing vibe and better studio. 

This record is all about the sounds — yes, there are 12 songs, and the lyrics are out there to be heard, but the whole purpose here is to take the listener on a “journey to the center of the mind.”  I mean, I could write poetic fluff about the lyrics, but these guys could be singing the phone book and you would not care.  But that does not mean to ignore the lyrics — “Dead Wrong” is just one of the many good songs here, as is the quiet, acoustic ”Maya” and the equally gentle “Serenity” that are back to back.  [I think these are the songs that bring out the ladies, but quien sabe?]  “Elaine” has its quieter moments, yet what we remember is the wailing guitar in the middle … the best of both of Will’s worlds.  ”The Moment” just explodes out of a Zeppelin mist.  Once again, you FEEL this music more than listen to it … I recommend incense and maybe some soft cloths and fragrant oils …. and very soft, multicoloured lighting.  “Shifting Shapes” — the final cut — is pure smoke … an acid trip of a song that invites you to let the music take you where it will.  [Oh, and Will and the band play every Thursday in September at Momo's Club.]   And OBTW do NOT turn the player off too soon.

NEXT UP — More reviews — Kevin Higgins’ new “Find Your Shine” — produced by Stephen Doster, plus music from the amazing Jess Klein, my sweetheart Ruby James, and the Tiny Tin Hearts — and lots more too (if I can get around to all of it).  Off to New England next week to hang out with the cooler weather and the beautiful leaves.