This is maybe the 3rd or 4th time I've seen Jenny but they were always short shows or song swaps. This performance was the 1st time I got to hear much of her material. It was also the only time I've seen Scrappy Jud Newcomb play with her. He produced her latest record, and it's a good one, called "Next To You."
This was a fun night. Hadn't been to Ski Shores before. It is a little waterfront cafe on the shores of Lake Austin. You can pull in by boat or by car. Unfortunately, I have to come by car.
Jenny and Scrappy did 3 sets, each lasting about 45 minutes. Again, another free show. I don't know how anybody makes any money in this town, to tell you the truth. A tip jar and that's it.
Jenny's songs grow on you. I liked her from the start but the more I hear her, the more those songs wrap around you. Simple songs about one red light towns and the people who live in them. There are probably a million songs with those themes but she brings a different, fresh voice to them. You really feel like you know the characters in those songs. I don't know anything about songwriting but I'll bet that's not the easiest thing to do.
She does this song called "Never Let Him Go." You think simple but read those lyrics:
She's still wearing her high school ring.
He left town nine months in
She had a girl, and cried her tears
He's been gone for fifteen years.
He's gone, but she'll never let him go.
Each day comes like the one before
She's thinking 'bout him more and more
He took her out 'cause he was bored
Stole her love in a brand-new Ford.
He's gone, but she'll never let him go.
She breaks down and wonders where he is.
Remembers every word he said, and every kiss.
This is her life, there go those years,
Each new day the same old fears.
He's gone, but she'll never let him go.
He knows that she had his little girl.
He knows that they brought a life into this great big world.
But he don't know her face, don't know her name,
She's on his mind, just the same.
He's gone, but she'll never let him go.
He's gone, but she'll never let him go.
That last verse! Pow!
Needless to say, I appreciate her writing. She is one to really listen to. I would prefer to see her in a less party atmosphere kind of place although I definitely enjoyed the ambiance of Ski Shores. I love the water. It is a pretty little setting there.
And getting to hear Scrappy sit in with anybody is always a special treat. If I ever get the videos posted that I took that night, check out his playing! They did a great cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Mornin' Rain." I swear Jenny was channeling Gillian Welch on that one. At least that's how I imagine Gillian would sing it. Sounded great! Speaking of covers, she also does The Beatles "I'm Looking Through You" on her latest record. She does it justice and usually I don't like covers of Beatles songs.
Monday, June 8, 2009
NAKIA And His SOUTHERN COUSINS, ELIZABETH WILLS at Central Market 6-5-09
This was a doubleheader, so to speak. Central Market, on the north side, (yes, it is a grocery store)has an outdoor patio and have live music quite often, free, no less. Last Friday evening they had 2 people I have been trying to get out and hear. Nakia, I saw briefly at a benefit last summer and also at the Austin Music Awards this past March. Elizabeth, I hadn't heard at all but I've been seeing her name alongside other artists I really like so I figured she was someone I needed to hear. Went to her myspace page, liked what I heard, so off we went.
Elizabeth played for an hour. She is a singer/songwriter, a girl with a guitar. I know, it sometimes seems there are a million of them in Austin. Anyway, we enjoyed her very much. The first time I hear someone I just like to listen to how they sound and if I like their melodies. She has good ones. And her songs don't all sound alike, which I appreciate. She also has a really nice voice. That's about all I ever get out of a first time show. Do I want to hear them again or not? She is one I will want to see again and get more familiar with her music. She will be doing some shows with Shelley King over at ArtZ Ribhouse on Wednesday nights so we will get to some of those shows for sure.
Check her out here:
http://www.myspace.com/elizabethwillsmusic
Nakia. I was familiar with his music a little bit as it is being played on KGSR and from the brief couple of times I have seen him. I'll tell you this. He oozes soul out of every pore. You can tell he just can't help it. The guy is good! I couldn't help but think as I listened, you just don't hear people who sing like that anymore. This is a serious rhythm and blues singer.
On this night he had the "Fresh Up Girls" with him. Two women who sing background and dance, a real throwback but it works. The band consists of guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. I'm sure in a full concert, Nakia puts on quite the show. This was only an hour so I need to get to a complete gig.
I bought his recently released debut record, "Water To Wine" and it is a good, solid album from beginning to end. If you like r&b, buy this disc, turn it up and roll the windows down!
http://nakia.net/
http://www.myspace.com/nakia
Elizabeth played for an hour. She is a singer/songwriter, a girl with a guitar. I know, it sometimes seems there are a million of them in Austin. Anyway, we enjoyed her very much. The first time I hear someone I just like to listen to how they sound and if I like their melodies. She has good ones. And her songs don't all sound alike, which I appreciate. She also has a really nice voice. That's about all I ever get out of a first time show. Do I want to hear them again or not? She is one I will want to see again and get more familiar with her music. She will be doing some shows with Shelley King over at ArtZ Ribhouse on Wednesday nights so we will get to some of those shows for sure.
Check her out here:
http://www.myspace.com/elizabethwillsmusic
Nakia. I was familiar with his music a little bit as it is being played on KGSR and from the brief couple of times I have seen him. I'll tell you this. He oozes soul out of every pore. You can tell he just can't help it. The guy is good! I couldn't help but think as I listened, you just don't hear people who sing like that anymore. This is a serious rhythm and blues singer.
On this night he had the "Fresh Up Girls" with him. Two women who sing background and dance, a real throwback but it works. The band consists of guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. I'm sure in a full concert, Nakia puts on quite the show. This was only an hour so I need to get to a complete gig.
I bought his recently released debut record, "Water To Wine" and it is a good, solid album from beginning to end. If you like r&b, buy this disc, turn it up and roll the windows down!
http://nakia.net/
http://www.myspace.com/nakia
AUSTIN CITY LIMITS TV Series taping of HEARTLESS BASTARDS 6-3-09
A once in a lifetime chance, maybe. I've watched this show for a very long time and since moving to Austin 3 years ago, I have tried to figure out a way to win tickets to a taping. The studio is tiny, holds around 300, I believe. Tickets can't be bought. The big donors to KLRU, the Austin PBS station, get passes for it. Other than that, it usually works like this: you're listening to the radio and hear "go to the KLRU studio right now as they're giving out passes for the ACL taping of so and so." Unless you are near there, forget it. They are gone in minutes. And that pass doesn't guarantee admission. You line up and once they have the magic number inside, the rest don't get in. Well, got lucky last week and won tickets for the Heartless Bastards taping! I'll tell you what, we could not wait for Wednesday night to get here! Very, very excited. Ended up first in line! The staff at KLRU was chuckling at how early we were there. It will air sometime this coming season, their 35th!
So, we took seats on the front row, side stage near the guitarist because cameras were set up all along the front of the stage and Erika Wennerstrom's (leader of the band) family had the front row seats on her side of the stage! They serve free beer at this thing also!
For those who watch this show, there are the 3 cameras out front, one is a big boom that has the long arm which moves all over the place, while the other 2 are much smaller and kind of roam back and forth along the front. There is a 4th camera, a hand held, and that guy shoots from the back to the front mostly. He was on the drum riser most of the time shooting Erika and I swear, inches away from the drummer. It didn't seem to bother him, he played hard all night, like the guy wasn't there sitting on top of him.
I don't have any other taping to judge from so I don't know if this is how it always works or if each artist is different. The Heartless Bastards did several start and stop, do overs. It was not like being at a concert. They wanted to get each song right so if Erika didn't like the way it sounded, she'd stop and they'd start over. They played for 1 1/2 hours and it will be edited down to 30 minutes for the show, basically.
Erika, you could see, was nervous to start. After the first song she turned to her bass player, Jesse Ebaugh, and said "did I play that too fast?" Then she exhaled a very deep breath. It was endearing to see her so wanting to make this show as good as she possibly could. Like I said, she stopped several songs to start them over. She brought out a couple of special guests, one of which was Alex Mass, the lead singer for the Black Angels. They sang "If I Were A Carpenter" as Erika said, in the tradition of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Well, it was a train wreck. They started over 3 times and my guess is, it won't make the final edit. We'll see. She also brought out a fiddle player for a couple of songs. He was great! Didn't get his name but he was terrific.
The Heartless Bastards have a new album out called The Mountain. They are, with this record, making a pretty big splash. You don't get on this show otherwise. This band has been a trio for the last 5 years or so but they had another guy tonight on guitar. Having a true lead guitarist allowed Jesse to play other instruments besides the bass. At any rate, no matter how good the players, this band is all Erika. She writes the songs and with that voice, you don't need much else.
For me, the Heartless Bastards are a garage rock band in the best sense with a leader who can really tear it up when she wants to. Man, that girl has got soul.
For us though, on this night, it didn't matter who was playing, it was all about being there.
One side note to this day; had we not won the tickets to this we would have gone to the opening KGSR Blues on the Green summer concert series which had Ruthie Foster playing. That afternoon we got the word that Koko Taylor had died. Kind of wanted to be at that concert because I knew it would be special. It seemed natural to be at a blues show on that day if you could be. I did hear that Jody Denberg of KGSR came out and talked about Koko before introducing Ruthie and Ruthie also dedicated a song to her memory. As it should be.
So, we took seats on the front row, side stage near the guitarist because cameras were set up all along the front of the stage and Erika Wennerstrom's (leader of the band) family had the front row seats on her side of the stage! They serve free beer at this thing also!
For those who watch this show, there are the 3 cameras out front, one is a big boom that has the long arm which moves all over the place, while the other 2 are much smaller and kind of roam back and forth along the front. There is a 4th camera, a hand held, and that guy shoots from the back to the front mostly. He was on the drum riser most of the time shooting Erika and I swear, inches away from the drummer. It didn't seem to bother him, he played hard all night, like the guy wasn't there sitting on top of him.
I don't have any other taping to judge from so I don't know if this is how it always works or if each artist is different. The Heartless Bastards did several start and stop, do overs. It was not like being at a concert. They wanted to get each song right so if Erika didn't like the way it sounded, she'd stop and they'd start over. They played for 1 1/2 hours and it will be edited down to 30 minutes for the show, basically.
Erika, you could see, was nervous to start. After the first song she turned to her bass player, Jesse Ebaugh, and said "did I play that too fast?" Then she exhaled a very deep breath. It was endearing to see her so wanting to make this show as good as she possibly could. Like I said, she stopped several songs to start them over. She brought out a couple of special guests, one of which was Alex Mass, the lead singer for the Black Angels. They sang "If I Were A Carpenter" as Erika said, in the tradition of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Well, it was a train wreck. They started over 3 times and my guess is, it won't make the final edit. We'll see. She also brought out a fiddle player for a couple of songs. He was great! Didn't get his name but he was terrific.
The Heartless Bastards have a new album out called The Mountain. They are, with this record, making a pretty big splash. You don't get on this show otherwise. This band has been a trio for the last 5 years or so but they had another guy tonight on guitar. Having a true lead guitarist allowed Jesse to play other instruments besides the bass. At any rate, no matter how good the players, this band is all Erika. She writes the songs and with that voice, you don't need much else.
For me, the Heartless Bastards are a garage rock band in the best sense with a leader who can really tear it up when she wants to. Man, that girl has got soul.
For us though, on this night, it didn't matter who was playing, it was all about being there.
One side note to this day; had we not won the tickets to this we would have gone to the opening KGSR Blues on the Green summer concert series which had Ruthie Foster playing. That afternoon we got the word that Koko Taylor had died. Kind of wanted to be at that concert because I knew it would be special. It seemed natural to be at a blues show on that day if you could be. I did hear that Jody Denberg of KGSR came out and talked about Koko before introducing Ruthie and Ruthie also dedicated a song to her memory. As it should be.
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