Monday, May 17, 2010
SONGWRITERS IN THE ROUND at Threadgill's, mystery band at Saxon Pub and FLYJACK at Waterloo Records 5-13-10
The Songwriters show featured Jimmy LaFave, David Jacobs Strain, John Fullbright, Jude Johnstone along with accompaniment from John Inmon on lead guitar and David Mansfield on violin. Going into this show, I was familiar with Jimmy and John but not Jude or David.
Jimmy and John are 2 of my favorites, Jimmy an old hand while John is definitely the future. I really can't wait until many more people get to hear this guy. We are spoiled here in Austin, that is for sure.
David, I thought, was great. A bluesy type singer/songwriter and a pretty slick guitar player, also. He had a guy with him who played harmonica but I can't remember his name, darn it. He joined in on everybody else's songs as the night went on.
Jude was fantastic, too! She definitely leans to bluesy stuff, I think. Her voice lends itself that way. A rich sound, kind of jazzy, she has. While the others played guitar, she was the lone pianist on this night. Sounds like she's written songs that others have played, including one she did that Johnny Cash recorded! That's serious stuff!!
I'd love to hear more of her and David.
They each did 3 songs, took a break, came back and the intent was to play 3 more apiece but time ran short. It was still a great night of music. I think the tickets were $10 or $12. Another Austin bargain.
Before this show I went to Waterloo Records to hear a band called Flyjack. They were doing a free in-store. I really like their singer's voice, Tameca Jones. Had heard her before with Will Taylor and Strings Attached. Anyway, she's got a funk band together now, with horns. A breath of fresh air, this kind of music.
After that and still before the songwriters show, we hopped over to Saxon Pub. I don't know if the band has a name but it's David Holt, Will Sexton and Gabe Rhodes on lead guitars along with Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble, Stevie Ray's band) on bass. Can't remember the drummer's name. Isn't that always the way it goes? Anyway, they did all covers and if you ever want to hear only one cover band, this is it! Holy smokes, serious players rockin' it! Everything from Sam Cooke to Jimi to the Stones. It was a Blast! No cover, tips only. They've been doing a Thursday night happy hour gig there but I'm not sure how long it will continue. If you get a chance, go!
So, 1 night, 3 different, fabulous shows...just another Thursday in Austin. Not to mention, to see these I had to pass on Kelly Willis at Shady Grove and Slaid Cleaves at the Cactus Cafe. It's a crazy town.
Jimmy and John are 2 of my favorites, Jimmy an old hand while John is definitely the future. I really can't wait until many more people get to hear this guy. We are spoiled here in Austin, that is for sure.
David, I thought, was great. A bluesy type singer/songwriter and a pretty slick guitar player, also. He had a guy with him who played harmonica but I can't remember his name, darn it. He joined in on everybody else's songs as the night went on.
Jude was fantastic, too! She definitely leans to bluesy stuff, I think. Her voice lends itself that way. A rich sound, kind of jazzy, she has. While the others played guitar, she was the lone pianist on this night. Sounds like she's written songs that others have played, including one she did that Johnny Cash recorded! That's serious stuff!!
I'd love to hear more of her and David.
They each did 3 songs, took a break, came back and the intent was to play 3 more apiece but time ran short. It was still a great night of music. I think the tickets were $10 or $12. Another Austin bargain.
Before this show I went to Waterloo Records to hear a band called Flyjack. They were doing a free in-store. I really like their singer's voice, Tameca Jones. Had heard her before with Will Taylor and Strings Attached. Anyway, she's got a funk band together now, with horns. A breath of fresh air, this kind of music.
After that and still before the songwriters show, we hopped over to Saxon Pub. I don't know if the band has a name but it's David Holt, Will Sexton and Gabe Rhodes on lead guitars along with Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble, Stevie Ray's band) on bass. Can't remember the drummer's name. Isn't that always the way it goes? Anyway, they did all covers and if you ever want to hear only one cover band, this is it! Holy smokes, serious players rockin' it! Everything from Sam Cooke to Jimi to the Stones. It was a Blast! No cover, tips only. They've been doing a Thursday night happy hour gig there but I'm not sure how long it will continue. If you get a chance, go!
So, 1 night, 3 different, fabulous shows...just another Thursday in Austin. Not to mention, to see these I had to pass on Kelly Willis at Shady Grove and Slaid Cleaves at the Cactus Cafe. It's a crazy town.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
KEVIN WELCH at Cactus Cafe 4-23-10
This was a cd release show for his GREAT new record "A Patch Of Blue Sky." It is officially not released but he was selling them at this show. I haven't stopped listening to it. In a different time, the lead track, "Come A Rain," would be a big hit. The entire record, from beginning to end, is terrific. A real rarity these days. Buy it as soon as you can!
On to the show. God, it was good. Kevin had all the players from the recording there except for the drummer. Rick Richards was drumming that night with Ray Wylie Hubbard. In the band were Dustin, his son, on banjo and dobro, Bukka Allen (BoDeans) on keys, Glenn Fukunaga (Eliza Gilksyon among many others) on bass, Brian Standefer (Alejandro Escovedo and various other bands) on cello and Fats Kaplan on everything under the sun; violin, steel, guitar.
He played the entire album. Then he played a bunch of his older songs. What a writer. In a town that is full of them, I do believe he is my favorite. Love his voice. He's the whole enchilada, for my money. The best $15 I've spent all year was the admission to this show. The next best $15 was buying the cd.
If Kevin is not on your radar you need to get him on there.
On to the show. God, it was good. Kevin had all the players from the recording there except for the drummer. Rick Richards was drumming that night with Ray Wylie Hubbard. In the band were Dustin, his son, on banjo and dobro, Bukka Allen (BoDeans) on keys, Glenn Fukunaga (Eliza Gilksyon among many others) on bass, Brian Standefer (Alejandro Escovedo and various other bands) on cello and Fats Kaplan on everything under the sun; violin, steel, guitar.
He played the entire album. Then he played a bunch of his older songs. What a writer. In a town that is full of them, I do believe he is my favorite. Love his voice. He's the whole enchilada, for my money. The best $15 I've spent all year was the admission to this show. The next best $15 was buying the cd.
If Kevin is not on your radar you need to get him on there.
SLAID CLEAVES down at the Horseshoe Lounge 4-20-10
Talk about a really neat idea. Slaid Cleaves's website, tour section, had an interesting tidbit for this date. It said if you're in Austin and want to see Slaid, email for details. Turns out he decided to record a live cd at the Horseshoe Lounge! You'd have to see this place to believe it. A real throwback. The deal was, no tickets, no charge, no list at the door, just show up. Are you kidding me??!!
Well, our group got there around 4:30pm for an 8pm show! We got a table directly in front of where Slaid and his great guitarist, Michael O'Connor, would be playing. The Shoe started filling up around 7pm and by the time 8pm got there, it was crowded. It continued filling up until the place was packed!
They started on time and played for about an hour. Kind of a warm up hour, really. It started out to be a terrific time. Here we were, sitting right in front of these guys while they played all the great Slaid songs, yodels and all! The whole concept, doing a cd at this little saloon in South Austin, a place he's mentioned in several songs, was very cool.
But then the second set started. What had to be his biggest fan in the whole wide world decided to sit down about 2 feet from Slaid, right next to our table, and sing every word to every song in her outside voice. I don't know if she wanted to be on the cd or just wanted everyone to know she knew all of the words. Regardless, it was unGodly annoying. Seriously annoying. Rude. Ridiculous.
We tried to get past it but after a full hour of listening to her ruin every song we couldn't take another set, so we left. I don't know how the 3rd set turned out. I hope it went well and they are able to get a live record out of it. Still think it was an awfully neat thing to try. Just unfortunate we ended up on top of the over the top, um...fan.
Well, our group got there around 4:30pm for an 8pm show! We got a table directly in front of where Slaid and his great guitarist, Michael O'Connor, would be playing. The Shoe started filling up around 7pm and by the time 8pm got there, it was crowded. It continued filling up until the place was packed!
They started on time and played for about an hour. Kind of a warm up hour, really. It started out to be a terrific time. Here we were, sitting right in front of these guys while they played all the great Slaid songs, yodels and all! The whole concept, doing a cd at this little saloon in South Austin, a place he's mentioned in several songs, was very cool.
But then the second set started. What had to be his biggest fan in the whole wide world decided to sit down about 2 feet from Slaid, right next to our table, and sing every word to every song in her outside voice. I don't know if she wanted to be on the cd or just wanted everyone to know she knew all of the words. Regardless, it was unGodly annoying. Seriously annoying. Rude. Ridiculous.
We tried to get past it but after a full hour of listening to her ruin every song we couldn't take another set, so we left. I don't know how the 3rd set turned out. I hope it went well and they are able to get a live record out of it. Still think it was an awfully neat thing to try. Just unfortunate we ended up on top of the over the top, um...fan.
RANDY WEEKS at Irie Bean 4-18-10
We skipped day 3 at Old Settler's and headed north to Irie Bean on S. Lamar for what is turning out to be the best darn thing to do on a Sunday afternoon.
Love Randy's music and if that wasn't enough, he is inviting all kinds of folks along to play, also. Jess Klein has been singing with him and doing some of her stuff. She was there again, along with John Fullbright and BettySoo. Will Sexton played bass in Randy's band.
Randy does a set. Gets the crowd revved up. Then the games begin. John Fullbright went up first. Did a nice long set, probably 45 minutes. Broke a couple of guitar strings, kept playing and brought Jess up to sing along on "Moving." Boy, do they sound great together. Then Jess did a set with Randy's band backing her up. She had John come up to join her on "Fool." He did the Slaid Cleaves part. Fanatastic! Then BettySoo got up with Will on lead, Mail Man Dave on drums, did a few songs and had Jess join her on "Whisper My Name." After all this, Randy and his band took the stage and closed out the night with another set.
I'll tell ya, it is so cool to live in this town and experience this stuff, all the collaborations and going to shows, not knowing who may show up and what surprises you'll get to hear.
No cover, tips only. Crazy.
Love Randy's music and if that wasn't enough, he is inviting all kinds of folks along to play, also. Jess Klein has been singing with him and doing some of her stuff. She was there again, along with John Fullbright and BettySoo. Will Sexton played bass in Randy's band.
Randy does a set. Gets the crowd revved up. Then the games begin. John Fullbright went up first. Did a nice long set, probably 45 minutes. Broke a couple of guitar strings, kept playing and brought Jess up to sing along on "Moving." Boy, do they sound great together. Then Jess did a set with Randy's band backing her up. She had John come up to join her on "Fool." He did the Slaid Cleaves part. Fanatastic! Then BettySoo got up with Will on lead, Mail Man Dave on drums, did a few songs and had Jess join her on "Whisper My Name." After all this, Randy and his band took the stage and closed out the night with another set.
I'll tell ya, it is so cool to live in this town and experience this stuff, all the collaborations and going to shows, not knowing who may show up and what surprises you'll get to hear.
No cover, tips only. Crazy.
OLD SETTLER'S MUSIC FESTIVAL 4-16/17-10
This festival is held out by the Salt Lick BBQ, about 15 miles outside South Austin. It has a nice laid back vibe to it. The only downside is that it leans heavily on bluegrass, which for me, a little bit goes a long way. Anyway, we bought the 3 day pass with plans to go Friday and Saturday.
Friday, we arrived in time for John Fullbright's set. Unfortunately, they put him on the stage which is inside a little building that always has terrible sound. To make matters worse, much worse, he was playing at the same time another band, on a stage 50 yards away, was blasting. The kid is already a pro. He sailed through his set and we, his audience, ate him up. I've said it before, but honest to God, he is the real deal. He is Bob Dylan, Woodie Guthrie and Hank Williams rolled into one. I hate to even mention those names because he is an original.
Next we headed to the big stage for Ruthie Foster. Hadn't seen her in well over a year. She and her band were fabulous. Played a great rockin,' rhythmic set.
After that was Alejandro Escovedo and his band called the Sensitive Boys. He has a new record coming out in June and we got to hear a bunch from it. Fantastic. We left before Joe Ely. I know. But we were wiped.
Saturday we saw Buddy Miller and yes, Patty Griffin did join him. I was front row for this set. It was really good. Next was Patty Griffin. The rain stopped, she and the boys, including Buddy, came out and treated us to a ton off "Downtown Church" and just a couple of hours of great music.
That was it for us. Other than John Fullbright, we watched the main stage headliners and called it a day. I think the passes were $135.
Friday, we arrived in time for John Fullbright's set. Unfortunately, they put him on the stage which is inside a little building that always has terrible sound. To make matters worse, much worse, he was playing at the same time another band, on a stage 50 yards away, was blasting. The kid is already a pro. He sailed through his set and we, his audience, ate him up. I've said it before, but honest to God, he is the real deal. He is Bob Dylan, Woodie Guthrie and Hank Williams rolled into one. I hate to even mention those names because he is an original.
Next we headed to the big stage for Ruthie Foster. Hadn't seen her in well over a year. She and her band were fabulous. Played a great rockin,' rhythmic set.
After that was Alejandro Escovedo and his band called the Sensitive Boys. He has a new record coming out in June and we got to hear a bunch from it. Fantastic. We left before Joe Ely. I know. But we were wiped.
Saturday we saw Buddy Miller and yes, Patty Griffin did join him. I was front row for this set. It was really good. Next was Patty Griffin. The rain stopped, she and the boys, including Buddy, came out and treated us to a ton off "Downtown Church" and just a couple of hours of great music.
That was it for us. Other than John Fullbright, we watched the main stage headliners and called it a day. I think the passes were $135.
SIS DEVILLE at Threadgill's 4-13-10
First time seeing this band. This is a group made up of some of Austin's (ok, Texas's) best musicians/songwriters/singers/players. You have from Austin Sarah Brown, Shelley King, Lisa Pankratz and Carolyn Wonderland while from Dallas, Floramay Holliday. Shelley, Carolyn and Floramay all lead their own bands while Sarah and Lisa play in different groups including Dave Alvin's Guilty Women. Suffice to say, a ton of talent on 1 stage.
They only get together now and then which is a shame because boy, are they ever terrific. They do what I call rocktonk as in some seriously rockin' honky tonk. But they also do some blues, a little of this, a little of that and combined, it all sounds great.
All 5 sing and their voices together, I can't tell you how good they sound. You need to go see/hear them! Check them out here:
http://www.myspace.com/sisdeville
Go see them the next time they're at Threadgill's. You will have a fantastic time!
$10 cover is a real bargain.
They only get together now and then which is a shame because boy, are they ever terrific. They do what I call rocktonk as in some seriously rockin' honky tonk. But they also do some blues, a little of this, a little of that and combined, it all sounds great.
All 5 sing and their voices together, I can't tell you how good they sound. You need to go see/hear them! Check them out here:
http://www.myspace.com/sisdeville
Go see them the next time they're at Threadgill's. You will have a fantastic time!
$10 cover is a real bargain.
ANI DIFRANCO at Paramount Theatre 4-9-10
This week was filled with a ton of music and we're ending it with Ani DiFranco? Awesome, huh? Finally, she played somewhere besides Stubb's. It was fantastic to see her in a venue with good sound and sight lines.
Terrific show! Nobody like her. She played some new stuff which sounded great. She bounced all over the stage, like always. Doesn't pound the guitar like she used to but still plays the hell out of it.
Terrific show! Nobody like her. She played some new stuff which sounded great. She bounced all over the stage, like always. Doesn't pound the guitar like she used to but still plays the hell out of it.
PAUL THORN at Threadgill's 4-8-10
After the Amy Cook cd release show at Hotel San Jose, I headed over to Threadgill's to see Paul Thorn. I had never seen him before, hadn't heard much of his music, either. I had friends who had seen him the year before and raved about him. $10 cover so off we went/
The guy is GREAT! Music is bluesy, rockin', swampy and terrific! And beyond fantastic music, the guy is hilarious! Wonderful band with a lead guitarist who would sure fit in here in Austin.
He has a new record coming out soon, "Pimps and Preachers." I will be buying it.
The guy is GREAT! Music is bluesy, rockin', swampy and terrific! And beyond fantastic music, the guy is hilarious! Wonderful band with a lead guitarist who would sure fit in here in Austin.
He has a new record coming out soon, "Pimps and Preachers." I will be buying it.
MERLE HAGGARD Birthday Bash at Threadgill's 4-6-10
After the Amy Cook cd release show at Waterloo, I headed over to Threadgill's as a bunch of Austin's best were getting together for the annual Merle show.
God, what a blast! About 3 hours of music, tips only, no cover and Merle's lead guitarist, Joe Manuel led the band! Oh my God, this guy is off the charts.
God, what a blast! About 3 hours of music, tips only, no cover and Merle's lead guitarist, Joe Manuel led the band! Oh my God, this guy is off the charts.
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