Flanfire

I will never forget Labor Day at Ski Shores … Randy Weeks and Will Sexton playing for over 200 minutes straight (Randy’s songs) for a bunch of friends and with a very special guest who was the one really responsible for getting her daddy and his friends out on a sunny afternoon.  Nor will I forget one Wednesday happy hour earlier this year when I walked into Z Tejas and Will (noticing that every table was occupied) asked if someone would let his friend Duggan sit at their table.

Nor can I forget that night at the Driskill when Will was so excited about going into the studio with Mark Hallman and Andre Moran to cut all the tracks on his brand-new CD “Move the Balance” in one day.  Or his joy at getting a new MySpace page (which of course someone else is monitoring).  Then there was that night a few weeks back when Ruby James and I drove up to NXNW with some friends in from California and Will and Charlie Faye extended their set for a full hour just for us.  And that night, even more recently, when Ruby hopped on stage at the Hole in the Wall and realized that Will could not remember the words to his own songs.

I can write this last note because the whole town now knows that Will had a mild stroke — and that his friends in Austin have responded with great generosity and love to give him a cushion to rest and recuperate.  So right now the best thing we can do for Will — but even moreso for our own enjoyment — is to get down to Waterloo (or wherever good music is sold) and buy one, two, three or more copies (yeah, it’s after Christmas now, but good gifts are always in season) of the CD which has on its inner sleeve, “White Middle Aged Well Dressed Man Looking for Love.”

Will plays guitar and bass here, with Bukka Allen on B3 and accordian; Mike Thompson on piano, guitar and even trombone; and Dony Wynn on drums and percussion.  Ray Bonneville (harmonica), Bill Carter (bass), and Hallman (bass, vocals and lots more) are joined by Ruby (Red) James, Charlie Faye, and Noelle Hampton as guest vocalists for eleven songs written by Will (sometimes with friends and family).  All 11 songs, IMHO, are suitable for lots of airplay, and I even had the “bright idea” that we could raise a lot of money for Will (and get his great songs heard around the world) just by persuading some of his and brother Charlie’s high-profile friends to contribute their own vocal tracks to each of the songs here — for example, Steve Earle, who along with Charlie Sexton co-wrote “Amnesia Lights,” and why not Bob Dylan on “Pissed Off Nights”?  But then again, people worldwide just oughta hear Will singing these songs.

The title cut, “Move the Balance,” opens the CD, with Ruby on backing vocals, and Mike Thompson’s piano paves the way for this lilting, very moving song .. that you just want to play over and over again [but that's true of every song here].  One of my very favorites is “Certain Kind of Something,” with Will serenading his lady, explaining that she has “got me running round in circles with your image in my brain … “  This is like Buddy Holly meets the early Beatles … but up to date musically.  [Mind you, John, Paul & Co. modeled themselves after the Crickets!]  You just have to start singing along by the second time the chorus comes around.

But “Sunday Driver” is just as smart lyrically, with Will singing that, “and I know you’d like to be known as the world’s strongest known survivor, but I’ve done about all I can do, my Sunday driver.”   But ”Pissed Off Nights”  may be even better — “those you left behind keep getting nearer and nearer, and those you stand behind just keep on disappearing ….”  There is a LOT of Mike Thompson here, and Bukka on B3, and that’s always good.  But what about “For Always”?  A bouncy little ditty — easy to dance to — all about “my destination blues” — “but with all of the keepsakes of my heart, you know you will always be a part … for always.”  I again am hearing the ghost of Buddy Holly here …. even in the guitar solo.  And Charlie Faye!

“Best Intentions” is like Will as Tom Waits — his voice gets low and down and dirty … with Bonneville’s harmonica adding in lots of fog.  This song has Greg Goshorn and Stephanie Smith as co-writers … This is late-night music — for the 3 am club.  Next up is “Beauty Pageant,” a lament marked by some beautiful piano … that just grows on you. 

“Amnesia Lights” gets you dancing close with your honey … “we were only trying to find the time that passed us by …  if you try you just might forget it all tonight, underneath the amnesia lights …”  Now Ruby and Noelle join Will on “Little Late for Loving Me Now,” a rocker that once again evokes The Crickets (though Holly’s lads would not have added the ”whoo hoo hoo’s) and a hot guitar solo and Dony’s classic rhythm.  YUM!

All very good — and yet the final two cuts are my very very favorites.  “Closing the Airport” is like “Blue Christmas,” a sad ballad in whic ”time has tangled up all my thoughts, all I need to know no one can tell … seem to have lost, misplaced everything … close the airports and the highways in this town, close the street that I live on….”   Just beautiful.  And then there is “Happy Hour,” one of my favorite songs of all time … and so autobiographical.  Will sings, ”here comes the lonely clown, here comes the lonely clown, here comes the lonely clown with the big red heart … ” And yet, “Since time began the wisest men will meet again at happy hour.”  [Which must mean Bill Carter, Stephen Doster, and Will at Z Tejas every Wednesday.]  We get Thompson’s trombone as part of the happy hour celebration music at the end of the song … as the loneliness fades away while wise men play joyfully together….. you gotta be there!

So I was at Momo’s Club tonight (Monday) and ran into my pal Ben Mallott, and he was telling me about his trip to Dallas to see the Longhorns beat North Carolina at the new Cowboys Stadium on Saturday and how after the game he was trekking about town and ran into Graham Wilkinson who was playing a show there.  And so I got the message that it was long past time for me to post comments about Graham’s (to date) masterpiece, “Yearbook,” which Graham had given me a copy of (late even then) at his Halloween party at the Ghost Room.

Truth be told, one reason I had not reviewed it was it has been in my car CD player ever since, and I normally put records (CD’s are records) there AFTER I have finished a review.  I flat-out LOVE the Underground Township, and Graham — dreads and all — is just about larger than life.  But then I know a little something about living with more than one spirit inside … Yeah, there’s enough reggae in this big blond white guy to attract the likes of P. J. Herrington, whom I know through Kris Brown and Mr. Brown, to play guitars.  Other official band members (the “senior class” on the record yearbook) include Matt Morris on drums, Wayne Dalchau on bass, Chris Stringer on keys, and Patrick Herzfeld on drums — but there are often horns, and here and there buddies of Graham (like Alejandro and Hayes Carll) who show up to sing or maybe rap on the furniture in time.  The M&M Horns (Margaret Whitt and Meg Kemp, also known for their work in Jabarvy), Nick Warrenchuk (trombone), Mark Wilson (saxes), and Leila Hanley (alto sax and flute) are on this collection of songs.  For the whole schoolfull, get the record!

Because this column is all about SONGS!  “Let It Go” encourages us to “laugh until life makes sense” when things around us threaten to swallow us whole (such as the death of a daughter or a brother).  “Boys and Girls” yearns for a simpler time, “before the false truths were written in stone.”  After all, what we face in real life today is “criminals as politicians,” and “all this pain in so many lives….”  But this record is all about the “Ragamuffin,” Graham’s brother Aaron, and on this powerful song Lloyd Maines lends his considerable skill on pedal steel.  Indeed, the whole record was inspired (Graham tells us) by a band trip to New York City to play a gig with some of his brother’s friends that turned into a month-long tour in the summer of ‘08.

On the other hand, the record is also about Graham’s big loving heart – songs like “Star Blue – Spend All My Time with You” and “Our 1st Night,” tender love songs (okay, I just see some Red Skelton soft shoe on Star Blue).  Another one of my favorites is “Ghost,” one of many songs here where Graham talks about the discord in today’s world and wonders, “why don’t we love one another?”  The big guy with the big heart sings this great song, “Blame,” when you want to blame the mess on just about everybody else, but if you want to let love win the day you just let them blame it on you and get over it.  My decade in Baton Rouge (and eternity in Houston) makes me smile at “From Covington,” even though “sister Melody has got some felonies, thirteen class A, in all,” when the one I know best got busted mostly for walking to the Randall’s after curfew to get a soda.

“Blank Pages” is just Graham and a piano in that sepia-sounding effect singing, “scraping with worn fingertips and broken nails, I scream, ‘the living stay hungry, the dead they are not alone…..”  And so, after you listen to the 15-song set all the way through, you find yourself back at track 1, a rockin’ number, “Watertowers & Windmills,” a song about coming to grips with things you cannot understand when the world seems about to fall totally apart (the water tower is two days shy of running dry, and the old windmill has stiopped singing it’s song….”  And “Sunrise,” a toe-tapping, horn-happy ditty that must have been written on the bus on the way back from New York that ends with the sounds of real live Boys and Girls (and of course the intro to that reggae song).

I have to close out these comments by mentioning, “Personality Disorder,” a tap-dance number reminiscent of Richard Gere in Chicago — tap-dancing through the muck and mire of a world “so unbelievably full of idiotic super-natural-light-hearted wild turkey babble ….”  And I am brought back to Halloween, with Bobby Perkins playing bass wearing a grass skirt and me in my Zoot suit …

And that brings me back to why Ben and I were at Momo’s this Monday — but before that I gotta tell you Ben was the victim last Friday night of a flying skillet he had to catch with his bare left hand and all of a sudden unable to play his scheduled gig at Flipnotics.  So naturally, BettySoo and Mailman Dave came to the rescue, showing up on half an hour’s notice for unsuspecting folks like me who had been at Momo’s for an early set or two.  Oh, Ben did drop by, ostensibly to sing a duet (on a Tom Waits song) with Noelle Hampton and her band — and the guy, for some strange reason, grabbed Noelle’s guitar and painfully but poignantly gave his friends the treat of his version of “White Christmas” before yielding the floor to Will Sexton and Charlie Faye and later Jess Klein (all of whom Noelle graciously lent her stage to during the evening).

The very next night I was back at Flipnotics to catch a set from Margo Valiante after stopping by House Wine to hear some new songs from John and Kristen Nixin.  Wise birds got to Momo’s early on Monday to hear Jess Klein and Randy Weeks swap songs for an hour, whetting the appetite for the main event, one that I have a sense might one day be seen as historic.  Dustin Welch has done the string quartet show before — with violinist Trisha Keefer, bassist Joe Beckham, and cellist Brian Standefer, notably at a show I caught at Lambert’s what seems to be a lifetime ago.  This time though Dustin brought out James Duvall and Eli to record the second of two shows also featuring Phoebe Hunt and sister Savannah Welch — with dad Kevin (plus grandparents and little sister) shooting video and the rest of the family basking in the glow. 

And speaking of family week, last Wednesday I got to see Eleanor Whitmore and hubby Chris Masterson at the Scoot Inn and Vanessa and Jason Lively and full band on Vanessa Lively Day at Momo’s.  Just good stuff.  On the horizon — Christmas Night at Antone’s with Blues Mafia, Shelley King, and Carolyn Wonderland, and next Sunday at Threadgill’s North Lamar for Hank and Shadri Alrich (lunch) and then out to the iguana Grill to catch the beautiful Barbara Nesbitt.  Finally, KUDOS to Jazz Mills for collecting (and organizing into gift baskets) tons of stuff for Christmas presents for Austin’s homeless and hopeless.

July (which is far from over) has been an amazing month!  Highlights (some of which will be in my next post!) include Natalie Zoe-Fest (or whatever Sasha and friends called the benefit for her mother at Antone’s – where else?), the wonderful Songs for Laura event at the Wyldwood House Concert, and Dustin Welch’s new haircut.  [Shown below -- the OLD and NEW Dustin, sisters Savannah and Ada, and dad Kevin.]  OK — there was also the Ruby Jane television taping at the Saxon Pub, the amazing Austin to Africa Benefit at Momo’s on July 26th (more on that another day), and a whole lot more.  And, yes, I have a “passle” of new CD’s to review — from the likes of Steve Bernal, the B Sterling Band, Aly Tadros, the Will Evans Project, and more (but who’s counting?).

Here is a little sample of SOME of Austin’s newest music — Chris Jamison at Patsy’s Cowgirl Cafe and John and Kristin Nixin — who just moved here from Kansas City (John’s band was Abracadabra) — at House Wine during Abbi Sims’ Monday Night Open Mike there.  Then there’s “older” Austin music — Kat Edmonson at Lambert’s (this was an AMAZING show nearly stolen by drummer JJ Johnson), and Ian Stewart of the Fireants at Roadhouse Rags showing off a really cool shirt that he will be taking to San Francisco in early October to wear at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park.  Oh, Ian was playing with Victor Ziokowski and Vic Gerard (Victor’s dad, who plays in Chapparal) with Zhenya Rock on guitar — a foursome to be reckoned with!

BULLETIN BULLETIN BULLETIN BULLETIN BULLETIN –

FLANFIRE FAVORITES FEST OCTOBER 10th at CENTRAL MARKET (4001 North Lamar) — from 4 pm till 9-ish …

And THAT leads me to the meat of this report.  The illustrious Sean Hopper (whom I only recently learned is a jazz bassman of some considerable note about town) was kind enough to grant Flanfire a day at the Market to celebrate the best of the new to Austin music we have heard this past year.  Now the fact is that there were WAAAAYYYY too many people we have first for the first time over the past 12 months to fit into one afternoon and early evening of music — so we had to improvise.

Before we go a paragraph longer, I must point out that this day of music will be part of a larger campaign to raise money for the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence to fund the ancillary work needed to transfer the Center’s domestic violence library (created by the late Nancy Flanakin, otherwise known as Mrs. Flanfire) to the University of Texas’ Perry Castaneda Library — where the collection (which will also be able to grow if we are successful) will be of use to a much larger universe.

But back to the lineup — the first hour is dedicated to the song — and the songwriter.  So naturally I asked Ben Mallott (shown here with Andre Moran on electric guitar) to be the “big guy” on the show … he after all is a former defensive lineman.  I just HAD to ask Margo Valiante — this newcomer from Wyoming just has to be heard!  Jarrod Dickenson was another clear choice for me — this guy is 23 going on fifty (note the hat — Sinatra lover he is).  And then (far right) there was Charlie Faye — had to invite the woman whose FIRST CD I played ten times straight through while moving back into my old house last summer.  [But I could have about five to ten hours of great music from other songwriters I have met just this past year.   Some of them, of course, will be on the road in October.

The five o’clock hour will feature the four-part harmonies of Stonehoney — guys whom I helped move into their new “fraternity house” (as one of the guys has called it) and who have introduced me to so many of their fellow California refugees now in Austin (or wanting to be here).  Continuing the California refugee modus, Flanfire will proudly present Noelle Hampton (with Andre Moran and a full band) in the third hour of music — and maybe a special guest or two.   Closing the evening will be The Tiny Tin Hearts, whom my pal Ihor Gowda turned me onto one night at Lambert’s during a Suzanna Choffel show.  And, yes, I am getting an advance copy of their new CD very very soon — cain’t hardly wait!  Now it is my hope that Central Market breaks all records for music-related traffic on October 10th (or we could have a hurricane for all I know) — and that Sean will let us do this again sometime.  

So mark your calendars — and if you have an afternoon free and maybe have kids or friends and want to grab some grub, maybe a bottle of wine, and chill, then help Flanfire do for Central Market what Voices for a Grateful Nation is seeking to do on August 23rd at Luckenbach (that is, break a record — in their case the number of guitarists for a single recording).

BETTYSOO – HEAT SIN WATER SKIN

Sometimes we import ‘em — the Jess Kleins and Charlie Fayes and Jenny Reynolds’ of the world.  Other times we grow ‘em right here in Austin (Suzanna Choffel, for example), or at least here in Texas (that would be BettySoo).  Or you could throw in Kat Edmonson or Carolyn Wonderland (both, like BettySoo, from Houston), or Eve Monsees (Austin’s own) — or a bunch of others.  Bottom line — there is NO PLACE LIKE AUSTIN for live music.  Not when you are at Momo’s Club (for example) and Jess Klein brings up BettySoo and Suzanna Choffel (with Charlie Faye looking on joyfully) or last Saturday at the Cactus when BettySoo at her own CD release party brought up Jess and Aimee Bobruk and Jenny Reynolds and Ben Mallott and Graham Weber and of course Gurf Morlix himself sang a song for us all. 

WHO IS THIS BETTYSOO?  That was a question I was asking myself after totally missing her contirbution to last year’s Hank and Lucinda Hoot Night at the Cactus (hosted by Jenny Reynolds).  Then one night at the Saxon Pub when I was there to see Charlie Faye and Will Sexton and friends there was BettySoo jumping on stage to sing harmonies.  And there were parties and such — and still it took months for me to get to hear this woman sing — and all I could say was WOWOWOWOWOW!  Plus she’s just a great friend and a real wit.  And she haws a great husband (Mail Man Dave) who plays in her band sometimes.

Okay, you can read all about BettySoo in this week’s Austin Chronicle (she’s the COVER GIRL — not bad for a woman who wrote that amazing song, “Never the Pretty Girl”).  Did I mention that she is scheduled to open for Joan Baez (yeah, that’s JOAN BAEZ!!!) in Wisconsin in August?  Right in the middle of her California tour.  Well, if YOU were BettySoo, you’d drop it all to open for the woman with that pure soprano who was the voice of the Sixties.  Then again, if you are Joan Baez and heard BettySoo on stage before your set, you just might want to get out and share that spotlight — with a woman who not only has a voice to compare with your own but whose real life story (which is really that of her family ofwhich she is a living, breathing part) is more than captivating.

BettySoo did not even tell her parents about her CD release party — she’s had two of those before, and thought, “My folks would drive all the way back to Houston after the show so they could work (as medical doctors to Houston’s poor) the next morning.  But they showed up anyway — and this modest couple had a hard time getting a seat until someone let out who they were).  The CD release party (sorry, folks, no photos) was hands down the BEST SHOW that Flanfire has EVER seen atthis venue.  Standing room only, with people turned away (including Jim Patton and Sherry Brokus, who hosted BettySoo at the Amsterdam along with Karen Mal and Will Taylor the next Thursday [that was tonight]). 

I guess I have to mention her songs — starting with that Little Secrets song from an older album that sends chills up the spine of any cheating husband.  But this is all about “Heat Sin Water Skin,” produced by Gurf Morlix with Fred Remmert doing various things and Gene Elders on violin (and, yes, folks, the incomparable John Conquest has compared the quality of BettySoo’s voice to that of Gene’s lovely wife Betty  – and he is DEAD ON).  Gurf even stuck around hot, sticky Austin just to play at the CD release party — and his guitar solos (someone once said he can play a 3-note solo and it is better than anything most other guitarists can do with much more fanfare) on the two songs JEnny Reynolds did were phenomenal (drawing huge applause).

Okay, already — my favorites are cuts 1-11 (there are 11 cuts).  But how can you not be moved by “Never the Pretty Girl” and “Whisper My Name” (actually, the Chronicle reviewer — not Margaret Moser — called the “Pretty Girl” a little “naked” and “Whisper” “a little schmaltzy” and complained that she does not belt it out enough — is she just jealous?) 

But BettySoo DOES belt out the opening cut — “Never Knew No Love” — and for that matter “Still Small Voice,” a song that bespeaks her upbringing.  “Just Another Lover” opens with Gene Elders on fiddle — and then BettySoo hits us in the breadbasket, asking whether this relationship is real or just a fill-in for self-gratification, without any real contact with the person in the skin he is touching.  Women — and men, too, these days — ought to ask that question if they are looking for real love.  Saves a lot of heartache — and disappointment.  That’s what she is saying to all of us.

Gurf’s guitar is dark and murky on “Who Knows,” and Todd Wilson’s organ adds to the aura of this powerful song that sounds a little like one Stefanie Fix would write.  “Forever” fits right in with Deadman’s music — rich and warm and yet quite sad.  “Get Clean” also rocks — especially when she does it live.  But let’s get real — “What We’ve Got” is a love song that is just gorgeous and rich in its imagery (as are many of this woman’s songs).

I will mention the rendition of “Lonesome Whistle,” a collaboration between Gov. Himmie Davis and Hank Williams, for its pure simplicity and BettySoo’s awesome quiet delivery — but ther emay not be a better song on the record than “Next Big Thing,” which opens with a wailing steel and tells th story of the woman who left home in Iowa to become a star on “that music highway.”  Now I guess it was just the right thing that BettySoo made me wait for weeks (well, she cannot find her keys sometime either, I hear) to get my review copy — and I had a self-imposed deadline of getting this done BEFORE the JOINT BETTYSOO-CHARLIE FAYE show at Momo’s on June Teenth [ a show I may not even make, given that Jess Klein and Noelle Hampton are on at the same time in two other venues -- NOT FAIR!].

CHARLIE FAYE – WILSON ST.

So back when a friend of mine was raving about Charlie Faye, I was thinking, who is this Nashville country singer who has come to Austin?  And then I met Charlie Faye — the New York woman with the heels as tall as she is who single-handedly (later on, of course) saved at least some of the famed Wilson Street cottages [hence this album title] from the wrecking ball and kept herself and fantastic neighbors like Jess Klein from being homeless.  Then I got Charlie Faye’s first record and played it 15 times while I was moving back into my old house on Hermitage Drive — alternating with Steve Carter’s great record that Courtney Audain produced.

So the new – AUSTIN – record opens with one of my favorites off that old record, “Bottletops,” a song I must by now have played 300 or more times (it is on my late-night personal playlist), and there is “Lady of the Leading Man” again as well.  But this is not just a redo of the New York record — what we have here is Mark Hallman’s genius and Andre Moran’s engineering (he who is Noelle Hampton’s hubby and guitarist) and featuring that man about town Will Sexton on bass, guitar, and vocals, David Holt on guitar and Rick Richards on drums — with appearances from half the town on various songs.

“Runaround” (co-written with Will) is brassy (reminiscent of Runaround Sue in its chorus, oddly enough), while “She’s Gonna Go” (written with Philip Gibbs) also has a little Dion in it.  Then there is “Simple Seduction,” one of Charlie’s signature songs — about a woman (or a man?) needing a little attention from her man — for example, “you alone without the children and the triple evening blues.”  This cut features Katy Rose Cox on fiddle, Gabe Rhodes on guitar, George Reiff on bass, and JJ Johnson on drums. 

Charlie and Will also co-wrote “Waitin’ (on Something)”, a ballad that has that lazy bayou feel, a song to listen to with a glass of wine and a cigarette (and you know I don’t smoke) in the reverie of the very late evening — a song that provokes us to think about our own failures to follow through with those with whom we are entwined but perhaps not inspired.  This is a KILLER song!

But it is not “Jersey Pride” (and did I mention that Charlie, Jess Klein, and Jenifer Jackson are ALL New Jersey refugees, as are some other of my “New York” friends).  The land of Bruce and Bon Jovi and the Amboy Dukes and the FREAKIN’ RAMONES!!!! — THIS is a song that just shouts out at you — you can leave New Jersey (and “the smell of the backyard pines”) and yet you never forget that it was something good you left behind.  My favorite line — “Now you’re left with all of those damn memories and stories too sweet to tell of secret and unstolen nights in the cradle of America …..”  And, oh yeah, Gurf Morlix plays lead guitar and Joe Humel is on drums and Cornbread on bass here. 

Maybe even better is “Coward’s Lament,” a song that may soon catch up with “Bottletops” on my personal playlist — “Baby, I’m so afraid that the truth will set you free, I’ll become a coward and a liar just to keep you right here with me….”  “Summer Legs,” like Bottletops, features Abra Moore on harmony vocals and Will Sexton singing some key lines as well.  And John X Reed plays guitar on “Lady of the Leading Man,” which features Will and Philip Gibbs on harmonies.  No claws here!

“Ready to Fall” is the final cut here — a love song of sorts.  What we know is that Will Sexton has recorded his own brand-new song collection, and that he even has a new MySpace page.  Meanwhile, Charlie Faye may be gearing up for a run for city council (or to run off the city council that has been shutting down music venues on technicalities that could have easily been worked out peacefully) — and that she is bringing down her friends from New York to live and vote in Austin – and make great music (well, it was Charlie Faye who introduced me to Jess Klein).

Sorry, no photos — the camera is on the fritz!  But soon!  Monday night very late (after Bukka Allen) at Momo’s a bunch of us were sitting out on the deck and this long-haired guy with a high voice (someone suggested Ray LaMontagne like) was up on stage singing and playing guitar to an empty room (inside).  We of course could hear quite well, and we knew right away this guy had something.  So on Tuesday I am down at Jovita’s for the Tiny Tin Hearts and there he is again — Chris Jamison, hair and all, and his guitar — and his songs.  Guy’s got a big smile as he steps off stage to introduce himself.  Hands me BOTH of his CD’s.  Hangs out all evening — and later I find out maybe why.

Turns out Chris is a native Texan with lots of family around here — but his folks moved up to Radford, Virginia, and he ended up going to the University of Virginia and becoming quite a songwriter.  Put a band together up there and made a record, “Into Surrender,” some of which was recorded at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire, all of it mixed there, and the whole shebang mastered at Abbey Road.  A year later he made his second record, “Strangers and Lovers,” mostly in Virginia but again taking it to Abbey Road for mastering.  Now he’s working on his third song collection, but here in Austin.

And what songs — powerful stuff like “Savage Nation” and “A Heart Unbroken” on the first record, and “Hollywood Cemetery,” “Holy Ghost” (absolutely stunning!), and “Wonderland Avenue” and “River of Tears” on the second — and he is closing his sets now with even newer material that is pure poetry.  Chris is out at Patsy’s Cowgirl Cafe on Friday — HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (as is the Sin City showcase at the Scoot Inn, featuring Stonehoney’s final set in central Texas until September 6 at Gruene Hall, and the Book People showcase featuring Tiny Tin Hearts at Momos).

Speaking of the Hearts, I simply cannot get enough of these guys and gals — new songs galore as they prepare to unveil their still in the final stages CD that George Reiff is producing.  But that’s nowhere near ALL the good music that has been popping up in town.  I already mentioned Bukka Allen, fresh from opening for the Flatlanders (and playing with them as well) out at the Boulder Theatre (I got a great report from my Devil in My Closet pal who saw the show!) with Robbie Gjersoe on guitar.  Freedy Johnston is also off on the road now, having played his final Monday night show at Momo’s for quite a while — though he will be back at the Continental Club in late July for a couple of shows.  Lots of folks are on tour for much of the late spring and summer — as it should be.  It’s getting hot here and the long winters of preparation have brought forth new flowers (for example, new CD’s from Charlie Faye, BettySoo, and a whole lot more) that need to be admired by a nation in great need of the real thing.

For this report, I will merely skim the highlights (memory and camera failing of late).  Let’s start with Ming’s, home to great jazz every Monday and tasty food every day (thanks, Fai Jow, for moving to Austin!).  Last week it was Gary Newcomb and his amazing skills on the pedal steel — so good that steel player John Leon showed up to take notes and get his picture taken with the master.  This week ringleaders Brad Houser and Eldridge Goins (now THERE’s a rhythm section for you) gathered together pianist extraordinaire Cole El-Saleh (Carolyn Wonderland, for starters) and Landis Armstrong (Paula Nelson, of late) with special guest Pat McCann (Troubadillos — but 25 years playing with Cole beginning in Shreveport and along with Landis one of the finest guitarists in town).  These guys are playing Autumn Leaves and Chopsticks and other standards (Moondance) — and Landis and Pat are trading off vocals as well as breathtaking guitar licks.  Did I mention the food – or the wine (BYO)?

Somewhere in between was a trip out to the Red Shed Tavern to see Shelley King and Floramay Holliday on their SASS tour — this place is flat out comfortable, and I had some tasty tamales from the Airstream diner on the premises.  [BTW, the Scoot now has its own semi-diner, too!]  Later that evening I stopped by House Wine (another great outdoor sitting venue) to visit with Margo Valiante, fresh from her successful showcase at the Wildflower Festival in Richardson (where she was one of three runners-up to the big kahuna winner and thus got to play again on Sunday).  There’s Margo through the rails with Etan Sekons — and the lovely smiling lady on the right is “Singer of the Year” Aria Hollingsworth, daughter of guitarist Kevin Hollingsworth, whom I ran into at Maria’s Taco X-press playing a set with Mandy Mercier (to whom I owe an apology for talking to Kevin while she was introing a song).  Aria, who will soon be at McCallum High, will tell you that it was “only” for her eighth grade class at school, but we know the girl is relentless and will have a good time on many stages in years to come. 

Then there was that WILD Thursday night (oh, wait!  That was right after seeing Aria!) when I ran back and forth between the Amsterdam Cafe and Momo’s because I first had to catch some o fJackie Bristow’s set, then hightail it outta there to fall in love over and over again with Molly Venter who for the first time in MY memory was playing with a full band (Bryan Austin on drums, Steve Zirkle on bass and keys, and the dashing Dave Madden on melodica?) — then back to the Amsterdam to catch a set from Noelle Hampton and Andre Moran (with Teal Collins and later though I missed it Josh Zee as well), and back to Momo’s for the David Newbould extravaganzabonanza whytheheckareyouleavingusforNashville celebration party where he both blew everyone awy on stage and handed out (for a small donation) hand-made copies of his brand-new CD.

David, who has after all given Austin seven pretty wonderful years (hosting the open mike at the Hideout, for example), nonetheless has been coming into his own as a kickass performer.  On this memorable occasion (with Cindy Cashdollar, Warren Hood, the unable to perform Redd Voelkart, Wendy Colonna, and Lord knows who all else — I DID miss a couple or three songs — plus the lovely new mom Megan Melara on vocals along with GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY!  And, yes, David closed his smashing set with a tribute to his opening act — which is just the type of dude he is!  And why Flanfire hopes to get to know this guy better on his occasional visits in the near and distant future.  Good GRIEF!  He is moving to Nashvegas! to become a BIG STAR!  Heck, he already IS a big star!

Finally, I have to mention yet another visit to the Amsterdam — to see Leeann Atherton and the wonderful Sunny Coleman.  Now while we were there in walked a vision of loveliness wearing a mask — a mystery woman, to be sure (who just happens to be a dynamic singer who was born in Wyoming).  And so we will leave you with the unsolved along with yet another photo of Molly Venter “posing” with Aimee Bobruk (that’s two of my favorite women in the world who just happen to write topnotch songs).

 Now be patient.  I am saving the best for last — Jack Valen has a new CD.  Who is this Jack Valen?  Again, be patient (but he IS the guy with the hat just below). 

But I will start with Sunday and work backwards .. and Sunday next Will Taylor promises us Warren Hood and Chris Maresh as his special guests.  Tonight, though, it was Jamie Deshotels of the Austin Pops and an all-star cast straight from the Austin Symphony performance during the afternoon.  Later, I stopped by the Continental to see Heybale but also went upstairs to the Gallery (for my first time) and caught an entire set from Mike Flanigan with Frosty on drums, Derek O’Brien on guitar, and a couple of horn players whose names you would likely recognize.  Man, I like that place — it’s an aerie and they play jazz — and there is a ping-pong table in the upstairs back.  And Hilary York and Shae Stuart were working and otherwise hanging out.

 Now back to Saturday, which ended early in the morning at an undiscolosed location at a going away party for impresario Michael Lahrman that featured a live backporch 2 am set by T-Bird and the Breaks.  That’s Austin, babee!  I ran into Jeremy Nail and almost got a copy of his brand-new EP and also caught up with Brian Keane and now-fiancee Rachel Loy, who is in town to record her own EP.  Someone took this photo of five HANDSOME MEN — Flanfire, Ihor Gowda, the honoree Michael, Dustin Welch, and Rockslide’s John Grubbs.  I would party with these guys anytime.

Earlier, I had stopped by the Amsterdam Cafe to catch half a set from Noelle Hampton and her brand-new band, anchored by the handsome Andre Moran (shown here with the now-blonde bombshell).  Dad George Hampton and the whole extended family were still celebrating George’s work on the brand-new statue of Texas (and national) hero Barbara Jordan.  [His art exhibit at Z Tejas is also notable.]

I got to Momos in time for opening sets from Miguel Briones and Kalu James and then the main course — Jack Valen himself with his hot band (more later) — and then the dessert, a great set from Tiny Tin Hearts (who also played Momos on Sunday night).

Now for Friday — which began at the brand-new (same old Barton Springs) Flipnotics, which already has a brand-new porch floor and will by the time you read this have a brand new air conditioning system — with more great changes to come, courtesy of the venue’s new owner.  That “Censored” beer from California was pretty good, too.

I of course was there to see the esteemed Kyle Clayton and his debut with Margo Valiante — with Etan Sekons on guitar.  Margo, by the way, is a finalist in the Wildflower Festival (in RIchardson) songwriter contest, and she and the other nine finalists will share the stage on May 16th right before my pal BettySoo.  Needless to say, the highlight of the evening was Kyle’s bass solo on the last song — and the text messaging back and forth to Hawaii with Geron Hoy.  Margo sounded great, and so did Etan.

Later I stopped by Momos to catch a very hot set from Dertybird, with Robby Kidd on drums and JT Holt on guitars (with Lee Brock on bass) — and song stylist Clayton Colvin on vocals.  Sitting in were Douglas Jay Boyd on vocals and on a couple of songs the amazing David Jimenez (Bruce James is where I first saw him) on guitar.  This set was fun, and downright nasty when JT and David set out on an extended jam.

JACK VALEN — WHAT WAS, WHAT IS

What was Kris Brown doing NOT playing lead guitar for way too long? 

What is Jack Valen doing that is so very right?  Well, one thing is working with Kris’ roommate Randall Squires, whose prior credits include Grimy Styles “Rewind” CD.

What shall be — now that is all up to those who actually take a listen to this young songwriter of Brazilian heritage who has been based in Austin for some time now.  My advice — do not be like the guy who failed to get to the U2 concert in College Park, Maryland, when the price was low and the venue was a mile or two from his house.  Now Jack may never become a world-renowned star, but this writer will get out to as many of his shows as possible — really good songs, a great vibe, and Kris Brown on lead guitar showcasing talents he rarely unveils to even his closest friends.

Are there really 14 songs on this record?  You listen, you hear a little Dylan, a little Crash Test Dummies, and maybe even a little Seattle grunge — but what you get is a guy whose songs insist on being taken seriously.  And better yet — this guy will just get better and better the more he does it.

The uptempo “Please Melinda” and its lovely harmonies AND handclaps (very California sound) opens the listen .. a plea to stick around, not let the “snakes” whisper “words that will blister your soft, delicate ears.”  Then the tempo slows and the falsetto appears for the final plea — and then the tender, short guitar solo.  Anyone figure out already why this is the guy women want to hear sing? 

“Thank You” is more of a prayer — “When clouds were raging above me you kept me on my page, I had nothing to do with you but you did it in your name.”  And how about, “The wicked smile through their teeth to keep themselves from crying.”  There is this bouncy segment in the middle, then back to the main theme.

Okay – Jack can have a little fun, too — hence the “Ballad of Tipsy Bill,” a guy who professes that “having holes in your clothes has been hip for quite a while.”  Another song to dance to and laugh along as we hear about “that aroma that you smell , so good that it could kill, it’s all natural, baby, I call it “’ssence Tipsy Bill’.”  So where does that amazing guitar solo at the end come from?

“Back Home” is one of my favorites (there are many).  It opens like a Grateful Dead song, feels a little like Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” for a second, and then a touch of classic Eighties crooning.   “It Takes Two” is realizing that love is a two-way street — here Jack shows off his falsetto.  But what do you do with a harmonica player whose lyrics promise to dry “the tears off from your eyes”?

“What Do I Have To Do” is a flat-out rocke that gets EVERYBODY up on the dance floor.  And then we are hit in the breadbasket with “When I’m Gone,” a song about a man speaking his dying wishes to his oldest son.  This is pure Eddie Vedder with a little Kurt Cobain.  Then there’s the curious “She Cursed Me,” which has this line — “the wind has a thing for men who hide their broken hearts, gets in their lungs and then rips them all apart.”  This poor guy is already preparing for death over the loss of a woman — yeah, this is a killer.

“Nothing Left To Say” is another bouncy rocker — a song you just have to dance to.  And there’s Jack’s harmonica finally.  “Reason To Believe” (not the famous cut) is more majestic, like a Kansas tune (well, close) — and MORE harmonica. 

“You May Be Able To Fool Yourself” is like an early Dylan ballad — except this guy sings on key.  And “My Sweet Lady” is an even slower ballad — this is turn off the lights, light up the incense and the barely able to see candles, and open that bottle of good wine music.

“Midnight” is just gorgeous – like Don McLean’s masterpiece, “Vincent,” and with the encouraging word that “through a broken window, a light can still shine, [but] you were’re looking for existence, you wanted to claim mine.”  A little mournful harmonica … and then …… the transition to the climactic (and anthemic) ”We Are,” which features pal Kalu James on harmony vocals.  Lyrics like, “I may not have much but at least my soul is fed, And at night I can easily lay my head, with no neeed to keep one eye open.”  And then there is this WOW guitar solo from Mr. Brown … the guy has the soul (maybe it is the years of playing reggae plus the jazz guitar training coming together).  At the end, you just feel refreshed — the meal is over and you are totally satisfied.

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.