Mo McMorrow, like her good friend Ray Bonneville, is a Canadian (and I love Canadians!) — but after going to art school in Australia and living for aeons in Ireland (where she honed her songwriting), Mo seems more Irish than anything.  Indeed, the songs on “Mona Lisas Don’t Cry” seem to come from that golden land.  I remember Mo telling me about her “little songs” even before I heard her singing them at Ego’s — and meeting up with Kathy Rowell and introducing her to Mo and next I knew they were doing a show at Aces (dutifully reported in the Flanfire archives).  Some of the songs from those early days appear on the new recording, but even these songs seem to have grown up a bit over the past year or so.

Mo’s brand-new record is graced with so many friends making beautiful music with her — Justin Douglas doubled as producer and player of numerous instruments on various tracks, Paul Pearcy on drums and percussion, and Bobby Daniel on bass are the near-constants, but making appearances here and there are such notables as Gurf Morlix (banjo and guitar), Ray Bonneville (harmonica and vocals), Cindy Cashdollar (dobro), Richard Bowden (fiddle), Carrie Elkin and BettySoo and Elizabeth Wills and Eliza Gilkyson (backing vocals), Erin Knight (trumpet), and Sharon Shannon (accordian).  My most recent encounter with Mo was at Cafe Caffeine a couple of Sundays ago, and as usual she seemed pleasantly surprised that anyone would want to listen to her “little songs.”  But of course they demanded an encore and invited her back as a headliner.

About those songs.  “Til the Rain Clouds Come” is clearly an Irish ballad — with references to “Father Kevin” and “cold morning dew.”  You and I might even call this a waltz — but Douglas’ harmonium and mandolin hold our feet back from overexuberances and we just stare joyfully at the gentleness of this kind woman.  “This Field of Mine” — somewhere I have a video of an early version — here it is wholly different, more mature, thanks to the work of Yoda Gurf Morlix.  “Fine Company” is almost a march — compleat with trumpet (and crumpets?), but bittersweet in its content. 

I like “The Wolf Is Gone,” a bouncy number with a country feel — Cashdollar’s dobro dominates but the accordian is a sweet find.  “Never Alone” (morning tea, the lake, and memories — so Ireland) — and then “No Love Child,” a poignant vignette of a song (”feel the winter inside … of me”).  Or how about “God Knows,” musically a shuffle but lyrics wise an arrow into the heart of the unfaithful.  “Polished Metal” could be another typical Irish ballad, or it could even be Canadian (sounds like Lightfoot), but it is so gentle you almost do not realize it is about someone who got left behind.

“Woundup Cowboy” features Bowden on violin, viola and cello — Cody Ground on piano, and Knight on trumpet — mostly in a crescendo near the song’s end.  Mo clearly shows her eternal patience with the untruthful.  All good songs, but my favorite here is the title cut — the title itself is worth the whole record.  Much of this recording is about a former lover, and this song is no exception — “it don’t matter much to me if mountains fall into the sea and rivers run dry, Should the Wall of China tumble down the Mona Lisa won’t frown, Mona Lisas don’t cry.’  Our gal (in the song, that is) left all of her stuff behind for “him” to deal with as he sees fit — how sad, “you never wondered what I hid behind my smile….”  How can strangers live together — surely not for long in harmony.

GINGER LEIGH – Better Than Well (Live at the Saxon)

My beloved friend Ginger Leigh has got herself a brand-spanking-new recording, “Better Than Well,” recorded live at the Saxon Pub with John Pointer on guiart, cello and vocals; Mark “Gumby” Williams on bass, upright bass, and cello; Kris Brown on electric guitar, bass, and vocals: and Frank Favacho on drums.  In short, SICK!  But it could be ME on those instruments and you would still love the show.  Ginger’s mom is one of the original Cone Sisters and Ginger herself is one of the most amazing entertainers I have ever met — and one of the great loves of my life to boot.

I will never forget the first time I saw Ginger (with Sarah Dashew of the killer voice and sailboat heart) singing and making us all laugh as we tried to eat what really was a good dinner at some place on Guadalupe long since torn down for condos.  Now there have been quite a few Ginger records, but this live shot has to be the best my ears have been blessed to hear.  All the songs here are Ginger originals EXCEPT Phoebe Snow’s ”Poetry Man” and “Come on Funny Feelin’,” written by the great Rodney Crowell (whom I got to meet last month — WOW!).  OK there is this other song Ginger cribbed from an unknown author, “Good Ol’ Boy,” but she has made even that one her very own. 

The CD (and live set) kicks off with a bang — “Time to Move On” (how could I have been missing these shows?), which features great solos, better harmonies, and the indefatigible, indomitable spirit of San Antonio’s gift to Austin and all of Italy, the spicy Ginger.  The Crowell song (how does he write such great lyrics?) comes next — and then “Good Ol’ Boy,” and you WANT TO BE that “boy” of whom she sings.  But the set really gets going with the title track — as Ginger sings, “Everything I do is for you…”  [I know well what that feels like, especially when the love flows two ways.]  Ginger is at heart a cabaret singer … maybe it’s because I know her as a friend, but I would put her up against Bette Midler in her prime any day of the month.  One reason – “I will not let myself fail.”

Next up is the quieter “Jetstream,” a sultry song about learning to bask in the love of a partner with “no subtlety, no gravity, so shamelessly…”  “Close Enough” is an oldie but goodie, sounds like a buzzing bee …. And then there is “Best of Me,” with Ginger singing in the mud, encouraging her partner to “get the best of me before I’m gone….”  Somewhere in the middle she does a little rap …  And then there is the raucous tale of Ginger’s lunch with “Napoleon,” before the set and disc close out with seven plus minutes of “Angel,” which opens with those dueling cellos….  and some genuine rock n roll drums.  You had to be there, and sadly I was not — but the moment lives on thanks to the miracles of modern technology.  Now Ginger maintains one of the coolest and most informative websites of anybody in the business — and on that site, Ginger has an extensive piece about the first time she ever played The Saxon Pub — on a Monday night following the Resentments (so she says) — and TONS MORE, including videos, “The Adventures of Ginger and Jane,” that will make your belly sore.  If you have never seen one of Ms. Leigh’s shows, now is the time (if you are a guy) to become a Ginger Man.

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!