Flanfire

Flanfire flew up to New England last week to check out the hometowns of T-Bird Crane and the queen of Momo’s, Princess Grace — and fell in love with both Northampton (MA) and Burlington (VT).  And why not?  Austin’s own (since a year ago, at least) Jess Klein played shows in both cities, opening her first tour with her new CD, Bound to Love.  Jess will be back at Momo’s on October 3rd to formally release the CD, produced by Mark Addison and Scrappy Jud Newcomb, that friends are saying is Jess’ best of the seven recordings she has released in her storied career.

Burlington is on Lake Champlain, which I hear ices over many winters, but which on this weekend had a thriving outdoor music scene highlighted by historic Church Street where restaurants open out into the closed old street and musicians perform up and down the six-block area as people chow down on a wide variety of delicacies and consume local Vermont beer (my favorite, Long Point Blackbeary).  I, however, stopped by The Skinny Pancake to get a Nutella and strawberry crepe (The Love Maker). 

Northampton, home of Smith College and just a few miles south of UMass Amherst, is another smallish city with lots of good restaurants and several music venues.  My man Tim (T-Bird) took me to the Haymarket for tea and some delightful food, and steered me to nearby Look Park where Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals opened at an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the funk band SouLive (those guys are good!).  Ms. Jones and her band put on quite a show (though I think several of Austin’s soul bands have better songs and more overall energy), but the highlight for me was the presence of the Waking Dream puppets.

JESS KLEIN – Bound To Love

There is something apparently magical about the Austin music scene that is attracting seasoned musicians to relocate here and find new energy, new hope for their futures.  In the past year alone Flanfire has had the great pleasure of getting to know such artists as Jackie Bristow, Jess Klein, and Ruby James (others, too) who have come to Austin to live and record new music.  Others (Alyse Black, Aly Tadros, and brand-new Austinite Barbara Nesbitt, for a few) made records elsewhere and then came to live in our fair city – certainly not because they love 100-degree weather all summer long.  Reviews will be coming soon for Ruby, Jackie, Barbara, and hopefully that pixie Jackie Daum (who came here to record with Billy Harvey, worked at Botticellis and rarely graced a stage but made a lot of friends before relocating to San Diego).

She has lived here for a year now, but few Austinites even know Jess Klein, despite the fact that she has six or seven (depends on how you count) prior CD’s, is a Telluride Troubadour Songwriting Contest winner, toured worldwide (Europe and Japan) with her first Rkyodisc release, Draw Them Near, performed her song “Little White Dove” on Good Morning America, and had her song Strawberry Lover  voted as one of the 10 sexiest songs of the year by the New York Daily News. 

The Rochester, New York, native has lived in Boston and New York City but came to Austin, she says, to “find a home where I could park myself between tours and feel inspired and supported. Living here and writing these songs uplifted me. Recording them was so much fun, and playing them live feels like a pure expression of my love for the world.”  Indeed, Jess’ new record, Bound To Love, is a pure expression of her gratefulness — and her courage to stand before sometimes rowdy audiences to pour her heart out, telling stories from deep within her own soul and sometimes her vivid imagination — all of which grip our hearts especially when her voice soars to the higher registers.

I first met Jess Klein at Momo’s Club (where else?), but when I first saw her on stage at Flipnotics in January (it was cold outside) I thought seriously about opening the windows thanks to the hot flamesshe was sending out to an enraptured audience.  I still sometimes get tongue-tied around this gentle woman whose passion for life has been rekindled by her move halfway across the USA.  I recall the other night at Threadgill’s she was sitting on a low wall in the back listening to a Jimmy LaFave song — and you could just see the boogeying energy that was largely in her head but yet emanating out into the night with a force ten.  Probably getting inspired to write another song.

I recall one night long ago in Washington, DC’s Montrose Park, a bunch of us were hanging out long after dark when someone came over and whispered, come into the maze and listen — but be very quiet and still .. and we tiptoed in and heard this young woman playing the flute and it was wonderful and we instantly knew why we had been warned against bluster.  Jess Klein is sometimes like that flautist — you have to be quiet so she can soar and touch your heart in ways you had not imagined possible anymore. 

Her old friends tell me Bound to Love is Jess’ best record yet, and lots of thanks must go to Mark Addison and Jud Newcomb, as well as to supporting musicians Rob Hooper, Harmoni Kelley, George Reiff, Slaid Cleaves, Matt the Electrician, Kim DesChamps, Susan Howe and Freedy Johnston.  The truth is that good as this record is, it cannot capture the electricity of Jess’ live performance, but people often drive while listening to CD’s and we do not need autos on cruise control with drivers and passengers totally oblivious to their surroundings.

Get to a Jess Klein live show (I heartily recommend Momo’s on October 3rd, when Jess will be joined for the evening by fellow TB Artists performers Josh Grider (new CD release that date as well) and the incomparable Randy Weeks (how many songwriters can you listen to for four hours and never get tired?).  But when you come to see Jess Klein, get up close and be quiet and still — well, that is, until she blows you away and you cannot contain yourself.

“When the Time Comes” opens the record — “What you want is up ahead and what you had is all behind, all the voices in your head have finally left you peace of mind, and you walk like you’re on water now, you’re following a sign ….”  This song Jess wrote traveling toward Austin with a clear vision that freedom was in her future and she needed to be ready to soar.  Now let’s imagine Jess is telling a fictional story in “Don’t Wanna Say It,” as she sings that, “I have tried, oh I’ve tried to let no one see me cryin’, but the world passes on and I’m dyin’.”  This is a song about surrender .. and hope.

The title cut speaks to those voices that our writer has “seen the proof in the breeze blowin’ through my window shade, seen the proof in the sun glowin’ on the house I’ve made, where my heart’s growin’, where I’m not afraid — I’m free … and I’m bound to love.”  The key to this new joy and confidence — “My energy comes from giving to you … you help me pull the right things through…”  “I Just Want To Know Your Name” is a penetrating song that asks all of us are we just putting on a show and do we even know who we really are?  About being on stage, our writer says, “When I’m not smilin’ for them I’m starin’ at my shoes, I walk a mile for them, I sing another blues.” 

Then Jess tells another of her famous stories — “Postcard” is about a woman whose “true” love did not quite work out, and her memories of what might have been that keep her going.  Jess’ cover of John Hiatt’s “Before I Go” fit right in with the theme of the recording, and Jess too “will try .. and stumble” but like Hiatt, she can sing, “But I will fly, He told me so.”  Thanks so much to the loverly Abi Tapia (in whose house in the Berkshires Jess spent a few days last week) for co-writing “Fool,” and to Slaid Cleaves for his powerful duet vocal on this airplay-necessary cut.  Another story song — about a waitress and a truck driver finding and quivering through the beginnings of what could be true love.

“Putty” is a tough song about a “mental love affair” — and the presumptions so many of us have that we are so indispensable to another person whose life we want to manipulate for our pleasure.  As Jess says, “Buddy, what will you do when I’ve laid it all out on the floor and I ain’t got no more lazy days or time to spend?”  Life is not a game we can win but an adventure we must let take us where it will.

“It Will Come to Me” is one of my favorites – Jess here sings that she is embarking on a “bigger ship in a broader sea” (could that be Austin?) and yet recognizes that, “you won’t ever get too far if you don’t let the stars do their work and pull you out of that corner where you are.”  And just to remind us that she is one tough cookie, Jess tells a fictional story about a ”Traveling’ Woman” who is just plain frustrated with all of the phony lovers and would be boyfriends none of whom is really true – and she says what she wants — with the key being that whoever would be hers would not try to put her in a cage – if you want her love you had best not try to make her put her suitcase down!  This is a sexy song — and live she just flat out BELTS this one (as Jess says, her family always said she was too loud!).

“Rosalie” goes to the other side — a quiet, tender song about a lost love.  This song makes you cry when Jess’s voice soars into the stratosphere … and if we can learn anything, it teaches us to cherish each moment and be very careful with our own hearts and especially the hearts of those we profess to love.  Maybe Jess is even singing about someone who foolishly walked away from her long ago.  This could be the one song here that defines why Jess Klein touches the heart so deeply.

But “What For” is an anthem — you want to stand and place your hand on your heart.  Jess dedicated this album to her father, and this song reflects a deep love for someone whose “rare, sole example gives a night flyer ample fuel for the burning and the turning up for more.”  This very personal song lets us know that this woman who “live my life safely, making steps like a baby” would get on stage “where I’d open the cage and soar….”  Now, after years of dealing with a world that often makes us call into question our own deepset values, the die is cast and the time has come to stand bravely up and let those whom we love know that “we are all in this together” and maybe it is time that the one who was being led takes the lead in love and grace.  This Jess Klein is quite a woman, and Austin should be proud that she feels loved here …  and just might stick around for a while if we are willing to let her keep her suitcase packed to travel to Narnia and back and places in between.

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.

There’s this old song, “Rueben James,” which asks the question, “Will you remember their names?”  Now here in Austin, folks have gotten accustomed to the name Ruby Jane – which of course is that soon to be 15-year-old Mississippi fiddler whose last name is Smith.  No doubt about it — she’s pretty special.  But just wait, Austin, until you tune your ears into the incomparable Ruby James — whose sulky smooth vocals remind me of the finest dark chocolate with a raspberry center — throaty perfection indeed.  Will Sexton and Charlie Faye kept telling me about this California woman who had come to Austin by way of South Carolina, so we are told, to make a record with the Sexton brothers — both producing AND playing — which may well be generally available by mid-October.  Just wait till you hear this — OR sit outside in the late afternoon sun next Monday at Cedar Street (or get down to the Red Shed Tavern on August 27th) and catch her live and in person, ruby red hair and all.  You will just have to wait to get my CD review — but this stuff is just beautiful.  I got to meet Ruby (after taking her photo at Charlie Faye’s CD release) at House Wine — my favorite Monday night hangout and a great place every night of the week — over cheese and crackers and, well, wine.  Ruby sang a few songs — and I pledged to get out the very next week to Cedar Street — and again at House Wine, where she closed her set with Stevie Nicks’ “Landslide” (for her mom).  But her own songs are just so very good — which of course is why Charlie and Will (and Mike Thompson) were thrilled to work with her on “The Austin Sessions.” 

Now I had been out of the country admonishing college students about how to value the poor enugh to learn from them and work together to build a better life and so missed five days of Austin music — but I returned Saturday night with a vengeance.  Last stuff I had seen before leaving town was The Daze at Waterloo (promoting their own brand new CD and the soundtrack from the movie “Bandslam,” where they and the members of Joker are featured performers) and Max Frost and Sasha Ortiz (from Blues Mafia) doing an acoustic set at Hyde Park Bar & Grill’s Westgate location.

I got off the plane on Saturday, grabbed a cab, changed into going out clothes and went to the Aligator Grill to dine and catch a set from the Carson Brock Group before heading over to the Continental Club for Bruce James’ CD release and a blazing 100-minute set from T-Bird and the Breaks (my first time to see Miranda Dawn as one of the Breaks).  Stephen Beasley put on quite a show on baritone sax — and fellow hornblowers Houston Rawls and Mark Price (he who it is rumored broke out into Michael Jackson routines while on the road recently) clearly out-danced the three girl singers all of whom are very good dancers (Miranda, Sasha, and Stephanie Hunt  –  who is showing off her powerful pipes more and more as she prepares for another season of “Friday Night Lights”).  I hope to write more on Bruce’s new CD later, and he had packed the house with enthusiastic supporters of his keyboard funk.  But T-Bird and the band left the still-packed house screaming and shouting for a good fifteen minutes even though the band was totally spent. 

The other photo here is longtime Troubadillo and old friend Pat McCann playing at Ming’s with Eldridge Goins, Brad Houser, and Cole El-Saleh.  I stopped by long enough to chow down on the spinach stir-fry and visit with Parker Delaune and catch him rapping into his headphones (his mike, of course) out on the patio.  Parker, BTW, will enter first grade later this month – as will my grandson Caleb, who is already working on his guitar licks.

Okay — HERE are the guys from the Daze — Evan, Eric and Chris — signing BandSlam posters.  I had to show a photo of the stately rocker Amanda Lombard whose new band Struck debuted at Momo’s recently (and they will be back soon).  And that’s Tammy Brown, whose pesto made me dance — and who made a fabulous feast for the hundreds of folks (including dozens of children) who showed up at Momo’s on a HOT Sunday afternoon for another of Feeding 5000′s renowned “feeds.”  Tammy’s husband Aaron (who doubles as music teacher at Gymboree and thus as rugrat hero) is the band’s keyboard player, of course.  And I just had to throw in this great photo of Joe Beckham playing with Wisebird (he is also back with the Beckham Brothers too!) — one of Austin’s really good guys.

More to come in a companion post — don’t want to overload the program.

If it’s June in Austin it must be Kerrville spillover city — so naturally, Flanfire went out to the beautiful Wyldwood House Concert site in deep south Austin (thank you Andrew and Amy for sharing your home with all of us — and Andy’s birthday cake!) to see my old friend Carrie Elkin (you know, that blonde who hangs out with that Danny Schmidt who is topping the folk charts these days) and a friend of hers whom I had met a few months back at the Continental Club — Tennessean Robby Hecht (with whom Carrie will be headed on tour to England very soon).

There is NOTHING like great food, great music, and the beautiful Texas sky (complete this night with an amazing full moon and lots of stars).  Let’s start with the FOOD!  Okay — Andy and Amy DO provide hot dogs and s’mores (by the campfire) for their guests as part of the suggeseted donation (sic) — but of late they have added an extra special deal — gourmet barbecue from Brendan Retherford and Nakita Santiago!  Here’s the deal (for anyone going to see Kevin Russell on June 20th or any future shows) — you order by Wednesday and your food is there for you on Saturday (and you must order ahead to get this great deal).  Brendan is founder of Sapor, a personal chef and catering service, while Nakita’s parents were longtime staff at Castle Hill Cafe who passed on their skills to their daughter.  OK they let me try some of their food — and one bite of the macaroni and cheese (which they normally feed to the kiddies) was enough to make my day!  And that was before I had the prime rib.

But this IS a music column, and so I guess I have to tell you about Carrie Elkin (who enjoys letting her pal Danny grab all the headlines while she just writes and sings great songs) and Robby Hecht (who has been called a young James Taylor in both voice and songwriting quality even though he is grousing about not having enough songs for a second album yet).  “But you will,” said Flanfire, promising he will gain great inspiration from days on the road in Merrie Olde England and Scotland with Ms. Elkin, who once wrote a song while stranded somewhere in NEBRASKA until her car got fixed.  One MIGHT say the performers were joined in song by a chorus of crickets OR that one of the macaroni generation danced in front of the stage showing off a FROG he had caught somewhere on the property (or was it, as Robby speculated, just a TOAD?) 

Just a day or so earlier, I had been called out to Lambert’s by my pals Andre and Noelle to meet Andy and Amy and hear a set from folk-punker Cory Branan (whose next Austin show will be at the Red 7′s Punk Rock BBQ on July 4th).  Cory (red shirt) who hails from North Mississippi and made his first mark in Memphis, reminds one a little of John Prine in his voice and his humor — and yet he can lay down some very heady stuff with significant power.  I have been seeing Cory here and there in Austin since he moved here about a year ago but this was my first time to hear him on stage.  I WILL be back!  I absolutely LOVED the “Prettiest Waitress in Memphis.”

I went BACK to the Madison (5th Street next to Rainbow Cattle Co.) to catch a longer set from Graham Wilkinson (at this dance club with some pretty nice amenities and lots of people having fun) — and this time he had (in addition to Mr. Swift on drums and vocals) Joe Beckham on bass (filling in on four hours’ notice) and a horn player.  It was a GAS the second week in a row.   I also caught a second set from Meagan Tubb and Shady People — that long-legged gal can flat out wear some threads, and she sings and picks guitar pretty well, too! 

Okay — I did not see any shows this week at Flipnotics, but I DID stop by to take a photo of the new outdoor seating areas that the new owners have graced the place with (along with a whole new deck, new paint, and a lot more work that really spruces up the old place).  Carrie Elkin, Molly Venter and Vanessa Lively will be at the venue on June 13th, but I have been told by Miss BettySoo NOT to miss HER CD release party at the Cactus.  Of course I would also love to be up at Journey for Grace Pettis’s show there — and down at the Amsterdam to see Jarrod Dickenson (but I just saw HIM at Momo’s).  Jarrod would get a photo spot here but he sings with his eyes closed — so I am throwing in a photo of the lovely Caitlin Bailey (cello), who is moving to New York State to further her musical education. 

Now THAT is a lead-in to talk about Jessie Torrisi, who came to Austin from New York in January and is already doing shows at places like Botticellis with cellist Alissa Schramm and multi-talented Rob Jewett (who played everything BUT standup bass that evening).  Later I went out to see Goldcure at the Szxon (great show and another debut song or two — these guys are ROCKSTARS!).  And then back to Momo’s for Jess Klein with Mark Addison, Rob Hooper, Scrappy Jud Newcomb and special guest Suzanna Choffel (she of the Momo’s late night dance club that was founded by Johnnie Goudie).

And the hits just keep on coming!  Just wait till you see the astounding video of the stormy West Texas gal Jen Womble’s Momo’s debut with Kalu James and Josh Halverson — on Kalu James Day in Austin but also Ms. Womble’s own birthday!  Ahhhh — but that’s enough of a foretaste.  I gotta get out to the club district for some more great Austin music.

I will always remember the first time I met Jess Klein — at Momo’s, of course — Charlie Faye introduced us.  So a couple of weeks ago, Jess introduces me to her old friend Jessie Torrisi — who, like Jess, escaped from New York (a la Kurt Russell?), another in the never ending parade of wonderful people who were wise enough to come to Paradise where the streets are paved with golded songs and our pockets are lined with lint and sweat.

I will also never forget the first time I heard Jess Klein sing — last January at Flipnotices, and thank God the window was open, because her songs heated up the room.  Last Saturday I got to hear Jess again at Flipnotics, first solo (with her hair down), then with Jud Newcomb (who has just buried his close friend and fellow Resentment, Stephen Bruton, a man whom I admired and loved but nowhere near as much as Scrappy and the guys who knew him best). 

Like Suzanna Choffel, Jess appears the mild-mannered woman off stage but as soon as her guitar gets some action, she is pure dynamite.  I was just sitting there in awe and all of a sudden it hit me — Jess’s songwriting reminds me of the young Bruce Springsteen (and, by inference, Tom Waits at any age) in the way she weaves her stories from the vignettes of life she captures in her soul as she goes through everyday life.  Austin is so very blessed to have her here and yet Jess says that Austin has been a life saver for her as well – and folks, this new record she did with Scrappy and also with Mark Addison is like a seven course meal followed by another one — and dessert and brandy and coffee.  [Which is to say there's a lot of meat, plenty of spice, a touch of sugar but a pound of honey, and vegetables like great-grandma used to make.   [But for us here in Paradise, we get that kind of cookin' so often we may forget to kiss the cook even when it's finger lickin' good!]

Earlier in the evening, I got to see Jessie Torrisi (whose mom told me that Jess has had concerts in her living room), who had dragged me out to see Elvis Perkins in Dearland earlier in the week (a rare event for Flanfire checking out a non-Austin band, but what a wonderful experience that I will tell you about for hours if you just ask (but not here, though DO check out the photo of the young man whose father was Norman Bates and whose mother was Marisa Berenson’s sister).  [The photo is of Elvis to the right of the trombone player from Stillwater (OK) band Other Lives, who opened the show -- the Dearland guys, like Elvis, are Brown graduates.

Now, Jessie is really from Philadelphia but did go to Columbia and lived in NYC for a decade -- so she knows her bagels and her cheesesteak and STILL came to Austin for the music and the life.  And she is a drummer and percussionist and a very good one, as friends have told me.  At Ego's on Saturday, though, she brought out an acoustic and an electric guitar and her friend Alissa Schram to play cello -- and Carl Ryals on drums, Raul Vallejo on trombone and a brand new father Josef Butts on upright bass.  The thing with Ms. Torrisi is that she just gets you before she even sings a note -- maybe it's the time she spent learning Brazilian beats, maybe it's just her natural gift of gab, maybe it's just her devilish smile -- but she filled up the room with fans (some all the way from Manhattan) and with smiles of joy.

Later in the evening, I went over to Momo's to catch Goldcure in their final set before a Southeast tour -- now they are covering the Who, Bowie, and the Beatles and yet their originals are what blow people away.  Even their closest friends are amazed at how these guys have gotten so much better since arriving maybe two years ago from Fort Lauderdale (well, Adam, Craig and Gavin - bassist Marcus is their best Austin find other than producer (and great guitarist and songwriter) Stephen Doster (shown here with birthday boy Gavin Inverso -- and yeah it was also Will Evans' birthday too!)  The big surprise of the evening, though, was Ryan Harkrider and his band -- wish I had gotten the name of that pretty law school student who sang harmonies and leads with Ryan all night long.  Ryan, BTW, won the Austin song contest -- just gotta love the emerging talent this town produces (yup, he's a native!).

Friday was sort of a makeup day for Wednesday, when to accommidate a late-booked private party, Scholz's Biergarten moved the Fireants and Blues Mafia show to the choirlike Sangerrunde Hall, which does not handle electric instruments well and which did not attract anywhere near the normal crowd you get outside at the venue.  Plus, it was a chance to check out Tim's Porch at the Old Backyard -- just a fabulous place to sit outside and listen to great music.  And folks, Malford Milligan is back in town to do a show there on May 30th!

The Fireants were missing Rebecca Pledger (bass) and Steven Campbell (keys) but then again that put Danny Levin on fiddle, cello, and keys and Jon Blondell on bass for quite a show.  Carson Brock even sat in on a song or two -- after telling me he was a little ill and "glad he was not playing." But of course he is a featured member of the Lake Travis Fiddlers (playing guitar) as is my old friend Richard Parke's lovely daughter Catherine.  I really enjoyed this ensemble, which is directed by Anna Macias who has been such a developer of young talent for so long in this town.  And yet -- the best show of the night may just have been the very informal jam sessions with Carson Brock (he of the weak-kneed feeling earlier), Victor ZIolkowski, Zeke Jarmon, and Danny Levin -- sometimes with Zeke or Carson sitting in on drums).

Later on Friday, I stopped by Ginny's Little Longhorn for a set from Jenny and the Corn Ponies (which includes my pal Missy Beth on fiddle and vocals) -- and Vaughan and Sly from the Shake-Em-Ups showed up, Mr. Barrack on his brand-new motorcycle!

 NOTE - I am reserving an entire post just for the Ricky Stein CD release and family fun fest at the Continental Club last Thursday.  Earlier that evening, the lovely Jackie Bristow (with Mark Punch and Mark Hays) put on an amazing show at the Amsterdam despite the ongoing renovations at the venue that its owners hope will turn the former diner into one of the city's top intimate music venues.  ANd I even had been to Momo's for Happy Hour thanks to Aimee Bobruk who had told me not to miss her friend from south Georgia via Noo Yawk City (there's that place again!), Mary Bragg.  ANd boy she was RIGHT!  Lovely woman (with her husband on bass), gorgeous songs.

Despite the last-minute relocation, there was much good to say about the Fireants and Blues Mafia at Scholz's -- first, I had never been to Sangerrunde Hall, but now I see why acoustic groups love to play there during SXSW or at any time.  Second, I got to go see and hear Stefanie Fix with Mark Williams on bass and cello down at Botticellis.  [Which makes me wonder just how good "the Marks brothers" would be -- Mark Williams on bass/cello, Mark Hays on drums/percussion, Mark Addison on keyboards and some guitar, and Mark Punch on lead guitar, all from this post. 

 Gotta throw in a few kudos for Slaid Cleaves, out with his brand-new CD (I caught part of his Waterloo show, which was phenomenal -- and have to note he sings a duet with Jess Klein on her new CD.]  And then there’s that great new project for George DeVore (he gets to wear his overalls), the Twalls, which also features Matt Powell — and Curley Sue Twall on bass.  The garralous Douglas Jay Boyd made his Saxon Pub debut last week (he’s also singing with Dertybird of late) — and the always fun Nathan Hubble delivered as promised with Miss Brennen Leigh on electric, rock and roll mandolin at Momo’s.  [I might also mention Jackie Bristow’s warmup show at Flipnotics and my late-night taste of Warren Hood with Ruby Jane Smith at Momo’s on Sunday — after the Kris Brown Taurus birthday party — his mom and girlfriend are also Taureans, and it was a great party at Happiness Nursery which I heretofore had not even known about but which was such a cool little place tudked away off South First Street.

Finally, I have to give kudos to Blues Mafia (and to the Greyhounds and to Stephen Marcus of San Antonio’s blues rock band The 46, who also played) for helping raise nearly a thousand dollars for hte Leukemia and Lymphoma Society last weekend at Jovita’s.  Stephen’s drummer was in bed recovering from a tonsillectomy so he just came solo but ended up in another of those famous Austin jams with Patrick Mertens, Chris Copeland and Kai Roach of Blues Mafia and later Syd Sanchez on guitar.  The Mafia then put on a show that brought out the dancers (young and older, got a saxophonist up on stage for a song or two, and unveiled another new song that totally blew me away.  Later that evening I stopped by Botticellis to see Margo Valiante, dropped in at the Continental to catch two songs from LZ Love, and then went over to the Saxon and watched in total awe as New Orleans’ Theresa Andersson (who lived in Austin after Katrina) just mesmerized a packed house with her one-woman, five voices band show — violin, guitar, drum kit, various other percussion, and of course her loop machine that enables her to dance around barefoot pushing pedals and harmonizing with herself in four octaves. 

And after she sang a joyful tribute song  in the Nawlins tradition to Poodie Locke (it really WAS a hard week for Austin music, losing two of its finest who were both born in 1948), Theresa got a note telling her that Stephen Bruton, too, had died.  She paused for just a moment, then announced she was doing one more song — and proceeded to sing “Find the Cost of Freedom,” that great anthem from CSNY, with just her voice (looped for effect) — and as we cried our bitter tears we were slowly transfigured by the power of her soul as Bruton’s spirit entered the room and calmed all of our hearts.  My boys from Stonehoney closed out the night, but even their sweet four-part harmonies could not touch what we all had just seen and heard.

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.