June « 2008 « Janice Williams Loves Austin

June 30, 2008

The June Quest is Over!

Filed under: Music — Janice @ 8:57 pm

Whew. . . my quest to see 30 bands in 30 days is over and, hooray, I did it.

BAND #30 Chip Taylor at Waterloo Records. I’ll report later on his new CD, which I purchased, but I got to hear a few songs from him and his band, including “Wild Thing.” That reminds me of Ray Wylie Hubbard’s advice about songwriting… When you write a song, think to yourself, “Do I still want to be playing this song 25 years from now?” Chip has been playing Wild Thing for over 40 now. Yikes! He’s also Jon Voight’s brother and Angelina Jolie’s uncle, if you didn’t know those details.

Let’s look quickly back over the month of June:

1-0 June 1: Bob Schneider at Live at the Lake at the Lakeway Spa (4)

2-0 June 2: Little Elmore Reed at TC’s Lounge (5)

3-1 June 3: Shawn Nelson at the Scoot Inn (7?)

4-1 June 3: Joel Guzman and Sarah Fox at the Scoot Inn(4?)

5-1 June 4: Ryan James at Hill’s Cafe (4?)

6-1 June 4: Cory Morrow at Hill’s Cafe (5?)

7-1 June 5: Paula Nelson at Shady Grove (3)
8-1 June 5: Micky and the Motorcars at Shady Grove (5)

9-1 June 6: Lucky Tomblin Band at Club 21 in Uhland (7)

JUNE 7: No one

10-1 June 8: Nelo at Live at the Lake (5)

JUNE 9: Little Elmore Reed a second time

11-1 June 10: Reckless Kelly at the ME TV Studios (5)

12-1 June 11: Rich O’Toole at Hill’s Cafe (4?)

13-1 June 11: Johnny Cooper at Hill’s Cafe (5)

14-2 June 12: Nakia and His Southern Cousins at Shady Grove (5)

15-2 June 12: Guy Forsyth at Shady Grove (4)

16-2 June 13: Shawn Pittman at Rick’s on the Square in Tyler (3)

JUNE 14-15: No one

JUNE 16: Little Elmore Reed a third time

JUNE 17: No one

17-3 June 18 Suzanne Smith at B.D. Riley’s (1)

18-3 June 18 Texas Renegade at Hill’s Cafe (5)

19-3 June 18 Aaron Watson at Hill’s Cafe (6)

20-4 June 19 Kissinger at Shady Grove (4)

JUNE 19: Bob Schneider for a second time

21-5 June 20: Smash Cowboy at the Nutty Brown (5)

22-6 June 20: Charla Corn at the Nutty Brown (2)

23-6 June 20: Kevin Fowler at the Nutty Brown (6)

JUNE 21-22-23-24: No one (I’m wearing thin!)

24-6 June 25: Austin Collins at Hill’s Cafe (4)

25-6 June 25: Radney Foster at Hill’s Cafe (6)

26-7 June 26: Susan Gibson at Shady Grove (3)

27-7 June 26: Bruce Robison at Shady Grove (5)

JUNE 27: No one

28-7 June 28 Geezinslaws at the Broken Spoke (6)

29-7 June 29 Belleville Outfit at Momo’s (5)

30-7 June 29 Warren Hood and the Hoodlums at Momo’s (6)

31-8 June 30 Chip Taylor at Waterloo Records (5)

Also: Little Elmore Reed a fourth time
There you go, 31 bands/performers (but 36 performances) at 13 different venues, on 21 days (9 days without music). And 8 of those performers were new to me (maybe 9). And about 142 different musicians? That’s the little numbers on the right. There was some overlap, so maybe not quite that many. You know what is really amazing? I paid a total of $5 at the door for this whole month of music. Granted, I have some advantages and some free shows that others might not get, but the great majority of these shows were free. I was there for work more than pleasure, but anyone could have gone for free, too. I may see how much I see in July, but I’m not going to burden myself with a goal. At least not a live music goal. We’ll see tomorrow what my goal for July will be.

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June 29, 2008

Weekend of Music

Filed under: At home, Family, Food, Music — Janice @ 11:01 pm

I could see going into this weekend that I was going to have to go see some music that was NOT related to my work in order to achieve this goal of 30 bands in 30 days. So I did just that:

BAND #27 The Geezinslaws at the Broken Spoke on Saturday night. I went over without the accordion this time. I decided I didn’t want Sam and the guys to think that was the only reason I came to see them. But they all seemed genuinely to wish that I had my box with me. Okay, next time. I hope there is a next time. There is a very suspicious “TBD” on the last Saturday of the month on the July calendar at the Spoke. What’s that supposed to mean? That’s the Geezinslaws’ Saturday night. I certainly hope there is no change in that long-standing tradition, but I will say they had a small group there Saturday night. I had a good time, though. Troy Kimmel was there and he bought my dinner. First time I’d seen him since way back. WAY back.

BAND #28 The Belleville Outfit at Momo’s. I just got in from Momo’s and it was raining lightly downtown. How wonderful! I wish we’d get a cloudburst. No sign of rain down here in South Austin just yet, but I’m hoping. I was glad to see Phoebe, Rob, Jeff, Connor, Marshall and the drummer that I do NOT know of the Belleville Outfit. Such a tight, fun band with a unique sound. I wish they would work up Be Mir Bist Du Schon (which, I am sure is NOT how to spell that song title at all). That was on a Guy Lombardo album I had as a kid (hello!! I’m OLD!!) and I always have loved it. They have that same cool vibe. Lots of folks there to see them and it was a little bit claustrophobic, but Momo’s has that great outdoor deck so it was easy to go out there and catch a breeze.

BAND #29 Warren Hood and the Hoodlums I think I can count this as new band #8, but I’m not sure. I’ve seen Warren in many configurations and I don’t quite know if I’ve seen the Hoodlums before. Just to make sure I DO see 8 new artists and complete my 30 for the month, I’m going to catch one more tomorrow. But Warren and the guys were fabulous. Great harmonies, very tight band, fun. But, again, even though a lot of Belleville Outfit fans seemed to clear out, a new wave came in and the place was very tight and very full, so I didn’t stay too long.

My other adventure of the day was making homemade ice cream for the first time in my life. Most everyone has memories of the bucket and churning the ice cream at family gatherings. I also have memories of coming home from school and mother making ice cream – - a LOT. Mother was a real ice cream addict and made it regularly, especially once the electric freezer was invented. Maybe because we had it around so much, I’ve never been much of a fan. But since I inherited the bucket, I decided to give it a go this afternoon. It was pretty darn good, too! Maybe there is something to appreciating it more when you’ve turned the crank (figuratively, since this is still the electric maker). I made banana since I had some very ripe bananas in the kitchen and it was very good. I need to go back and try another BIG sample now that it has set up and had time to freeze hard. The funniest part of making it was when I finally plugged it in to begin its freezing. The motor kicks in and I look to the back door and see both kitties sitting, waiting anxiously to come in. I know they were thinking, “Can opener!! Food is on the way.” They dashed in and sat by their food dish and kept looking up, expectantly, like “When is that can opener going to be done?” Finally, Nathan had to get up on the counter to inspect this sound and find out why there was no forthcoming food.

A realization today about the contents of ice cream, too. When I was a little girl, I churned butter a few times. Not like kids of the old farm days did, but not like Girl Scouts do either, it wasn’t a one-time thing. We had a cow and we had cream and milk and we made butter a few times. Butter consists of one ingredient: Cream. Shake it around enough and add a touch of salt and you’ve got butter. Interestingly, you take that same cream, add sugar and eggs and vanilla and shake it around and freeze it at the same time and you’ve got ice cream. Butter with sugar, that’s basically what I’m about to go eat . . . with relish. And a big spoon.

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June 26, 2008

More Music

Filed under: Music, Radio stuff — Janice @ 11:48 pm

I think I put off writing sometimes because there is SO MUCH to write about. I was at the show last night with a fabulous performance by Austin Collins and then a great two hours with Radney Foster and I was writing and rewriting in my mind. By the time I get home and settle in to write, I am overwhelmed by the enormity of the subject and the short deadline I’ve imposed upon myself (because it isn’t like I HAVE to write, right?). So I didn’t get to the writing last night like I should. So briefly:

BAND #23 AUSTIN COLLINS I really like Austin Collins. He is not “country” in the traditional honky-tonk since nor in the Texas country sense. He is country in the “cool vibe” way that so many Jack Ingram songs are. Biting, interesting, different. I like Austin personally a lot. He has always been one of my favorites. I need to hear his music more.
BAND #24 RADNEY FOSTER For someone that writes #1 hits as easily as he smiles and shakes your hand (or at least he makes it appear that way), he is such a humble, nice person. I think Radney was one of the first to ever be on my show that just insisted on singing live. I can’t remember why management was discouraging live performances up until then, but Radney would have none of that and serenaded me with “Just Call Me Lonesome” while I was playing the record and then did some fabulous song or another on the air, too. Easy to talk to, always full of ideas and projects, wonderful father. I like Radney. And I love his performances, too. It was great to have him with the full band and with Georgia Middleman singing, too. I had had her on my show (she was one that I sort of snuck on the air, hoping the boss wouldn’t hear and call and say “Why do you have this person on the air?”). The show was a little rough around the edges last night. I think they haven’t played in a while. There were some forgotten lyrics, some skipped measures, missed chords, but who cares. It was live and energetic and it was Radney!

Today, the music continued and I am still riding high on tonight’s shows:

BAND #25 SUSAN GIBSON I decided tonight that I have NOT seen her before or I would definitely remembered it because it was so outstanding. So she counts as new performer #7 in my quest. She was fabulous. I enjoyed her songs immensely. I bought a CD! I like the songs that make you think and tell a story and make you smile. She sang her own version of “Wide Open Spaces” which has a forgotten verse and makes it even better. And she’s from Amarillo, so we have that in common.

BAND #26 BRUCE ROBISON Oh, what a great night. Bruce always puts on a great show at the Broken Spoke, but he does a lot of the songs that people like to dance to and he likes to play. He’s a big Webb Pierce fan. I love that, but I love HIS music and that’s what I really want to hear. Tonight I got that full 90-minute shot of Bruce and it makes me want to put his albums on the automatic record changer and play side A of every one of them and then flip them and hear all the side Bs. I enjoyed seeing Scott Esbeck who had played bass with Charlie Robison for 7 years. He and I compared notes about being fired. Bruce has a new CD coming out September that I am dying to get my hands on. It is called “The New World” and he has a couple of songs on his myspace. I particularly like “California 85.” He played it tonight and said, “That sounds like 2 in the afternoon at Gilley’s and that’s the sound I was going for.” That paints a picture doesn’t it? It is a country song in the tradition of, oh, Merle Haggard in the 1970s or maybe Charlie Pride. It’s drinking and regret, but has that sense of humor about it all, too. And the song “Bad Girl Blues” was very cute. A line about “I want to be the bridesmaid instead of always the bride.” Who hasn’t know women like that?

I really want to write my whole Bruce story . . . I feel so lucky that I “found” Bruce with his first album and have followed him for 15 years now. I guess I only “found” him because there was a radio station in Dallas (KNON) that would jump out and be different and surprise you with a new artist. Thank you Roy Ashley!! No, Bruce is not the most dynamic performer, his voice isn’t what attracts you to him, but a guy who can write “Angry All the Time” and “Travelin’ Soldier” AND write the strictly entertaining songs like “What Would Willie Do?” is the guy that I am going to pay to see and pay to get his CDs for as long as I can.

And I want to write about weird people. Mark rolls his eyes when I talk about the weird ones. I don’t know if he has a higher tolerance for weird people or he isn’t exposed to them in the same way. I heard Elvis Costello’s “Red Shoes” on the radio today and the lyric “I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.” I try to have that approach, but I end up gritting my teeth and aggravating my TMJ. I usually avoid writing about weird people because I am sincerely afraid of offending them if they know me and they read my blog. But there were weird ones tonight that I know are so far removed from me they have no idea that I have a blog. I promise to write about them soon.

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June 24, 2008

This Crazy Site

Filed under: At home, Family — Janice @ 1:39 am

I have read a lot of blogs in my time where the writers go on and on ad infinitum about the tweaks they make on their website and the troubles they have. Man, now I can relate. After spending hours and hours and FINALLY getting it to look like I want it to look like (well, to a degree), all I can think about writing about is what I’ve gone through.

I will spare you, but please do go admire my July site. I left June as it is (blah) and bedazzled July, now that it has been updated good, too. Mark suggested last night that I add more pictures. Always a great idea, but a lot more time consuming than anyone that hasn’t done it can imagine. But they are there now for the world to see. Still so many other ideas I want to incorporate!
In my quest to see 30 bands in 30 days, I may have hit a wall… I’m tired! I stayed in over the weekend and stayed home from TC’s tonight, too. If I’m going to do it, I will have to get out tomorrow and I hope that I can find at least one band playing early, right after work, so I can catch them and then come home for more recuperating. So that means no Reckless Kelly CD release at Antone’s, but they wouldn’t count on my quest anyway since I saw them last week.

At Kevin Fowler’s show Friday night, he led into the song “Long Line of Losers” by talking about family.

By the way, congratulations to Kevin for getting a big Nashville cut. Montgomery Gentry just did that song on their new CD. I have only heard about 60 seconds of it, but it didn’t seem to me they have the wink in their eye when they sing it that Kevin does. Not nearly as good, but I hope it brings in lots of mailbox money for the Fowlers.

But Kevin does his introduction and he says “We’ve all got them, members of our family that are white trash! And you just hate ‘em.” He went on from there, but Christy and I looked at each other. She claims she doesn’t have any white trash in her family. I said I most certainly DO have some white trash in my family, but I love them just the same. None of that family would ever read my blog, I’m sure, but I will still refrain from telling tales, but there are plenty!

I was thinking about putting in a family picture or two into the blog tonight because I had a conversation yesterday with a man in Brownwood. I am related to him on my mother’s side and to his wife on my father’s side. Interesting to find that out. I am not-so-distantly related to her (second cousins, once removed), but very very distantly related to him. I will refrain from putting any family pictures today because I wouldn’t want you to think that was an indication that any of these folks were/are white trash.

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June 22, 2008

Night at the Nutt

Filed under: Accordion gigs, Kevin Fowler, Music — Janice @ 11:57 pm

It is time to tell the story of Friday night and playing accordion with Kevin Fowler. I haven’t gotten to it yet because life keeps getting in my way. Cleaning, gardening, laundry, sleep. I feel like an update of my site should take priority, too, but I am procrastinating on that and I will procrastinate by finishing this tale.

Have I said lately what a great place the Nutty Brown Cafe is to see a great show? Mark and I used to go there for just a fabulous Sunday brunch or any meal (and I still recommend that), but then they built the huge stage and there are lots of places you can just “be” at a show without being stuck in the middle of a crowd. The VIP seating is very nice and restricted, but the smart folks that bring their lawn chairs create their own VIP seating.

It was a beautiful hot summer night for a show, but not as hot as I thought it might be. Those thunderheads were building off to the east, but nothing that was going to interrupt this show.

The Nutty Brown's clouds

Just about as soon as I got there and rolled my accordion in from the parking lot because I had missed an important call from Thomas, the production director of the Nutt, telling me where I could have easily parked backstage. Oh well, it is fun to have lots of people wonder what is in that big gray case.

I took my “gear” (I would like to be able to say that with a straight face, but I can’t, I’m an amateur) up to the stage so I wouldn’t be hauling it around all night. A quick trip to Kevin’s bus to find out about the set list (mine was song number 10 on the list) and a big happy birthday to my friend Sarah, who was on the bus celebrating #29. She’s the woman I want to be my Girl Friday when I become famous and need a handler.

Before I had been there very long I saw one of my favorite radio listeners, Mike Connor. The last time I had seen him was at Kevin Fowler’s CD release up at the HEB in Round Rock, which was PACKED with fans wanting that CD (the store ran out and had to go to the closest Best Buy to get more!). Mike and I had a good visit and caught up.

I found Thomas and Ron, the guys who make everything click at the Nutt. They work with me a lot at Hill’s Cafe and Shady Grove. Later Thomas made me VERY nervous when I saw him climbing among the scaffolding of that huge stage (see above? up at that top?) readjusting the lights.

Next I found Sam and Dana and their friend (I can’t think of his name!). All old great listeners that I frequently would run into as I was out and about. They caught me up on their lives and the baby and I caught them up and let them know I wasn’t with the radio station anymore. They hadn’t heard that news and were surprised.

I moved down to the cement apron in front of the stage and found Pat and “Texas Deb” (that’s her motorcycle name) and Joe and Lisa, more listener/friends that I see most often at musical events (well, duh, it’s not like I’m going to run into these people at the grocery store). I saw a man looking at me and then he said, “We sure miss you on the air!” I introduced myself and then found out we’d met before and I knew him best from being a winner on “Let’s Learn About Austin.” Richard and wife Janice looked sharp and it was nice to catch up with them.

Mike Farr, the owner of the Nutty Brown, came along and gave me a sweaty hug (at my insistence). He was working hard getting it all together and making sure it was a great night. He has really built a wonderful venue, not only for the audience, but for the performers to, with a secure backstage area and a fabulous “green room” house that is readily available and big and comfortable. From my perspective, he’s thought of things that most venues don’t realize are important at all ( . . . what? you mean the star of the show can’t just go to the portapotties on the other side of the audience?).

I find my friend Christy and her friend Mindy and end up spending most of the night watching the show with them.

I haven’t mentioned the opening acts, which helped add to my bands for the month and especially the new ones.

BAND #20 (and new band #5) was Smash Cowboys, or something like that. I’m not coming up with anything on them on myspace so I could be totally wrong. I didn’t think they were too bad. I’ve heard some really bad opening acts that make me cringe and these guys were melodic and rocking without being over the top. I thought they were a good match for a Kevin Fowler show. They didn’t try to out-rock him (you just can’t—unless you are Aerosmith) and they weren’t too traditional either.

BAND/PERFORMER #21 (and new artist #6) was Charla Corn. I had just met her a week or so ago at Hill’s Cafe. Her brother, Clay Corn, used my accordions on the new Honeybrowne CD (which I still do not have a copy of, but I heard one song on the radio and it sounded great). Charla just moved to Austin from Nashville. She played a duo with Tracy Martin of Kevin’s band playing guitar with her and she was good. Strong voice, confident, very pretty. She just needs to knock the Nashville off her act a bit and she’ll be fine here.

Okay, finally, it is Kevin Fowler showtime. (BAND #22) And what a show it is. He has the lights, the smoke machines, the stage crew, and the band that make it all work so flawlessly. I have been seeing Kevin since 2001, I think, and he has changed and grown, but it is always an amazing, entertaining performance. There are so many times I plan on only staying for an hour or so, but his show keeps you right there and there is no way you want to be the one to leave!

The band is top notch: Tracy Martin on guitar, Gary Herman on bass, Artie Passons on steel, Ken Tondre on drums, and the newest member, Jason McBride on fiddle. I met Jason on Wednesday night at Hill’s when his brother was playing with Aaron Watson, but I had no idea he was going to be playing with Kevin when I got there.
So, okay, let’s get to ME. I was amazing. I have finally played that song with Kevin and the band enough to know what I’m doing up there. No, I dont’ know what I’m doing on the accordion necessarily, but I know how the stage feels and how the others perform and I know that there is only a couple of times that the audience can even hear my accordion. It is all smoke and mirrors. But I played my heart out, and, yes, I do know how to play the song so I was basically playing it although I couldn’t hear myself either. It is an incredible rush to play to that many people in an audience. I can see why Kevin does it.

Exhilarated, I left the stage, put away my accordion, saw Kevin’s manager George Couri and told him I was seeking a new manager and I went back to stand wit Christy and Mindy. Now that is an experience none of those guys on stage ever get to have… Going into the audience during their show. It was nice to have some of those “Good jobs!” as I went back to them.

Kevin and the band played on and worked the crowd right up until the 11:30 p.m. curfew. I made a quick dash to the car with my accordion rattling behind me and came home feeling flushed with success. What a night! Thank you, Kevin, for making it possible.

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June 20, 2008

Accordion Rock Star

Filed under: Accordion gigs, Austin, Kevin Fowler, Music — Janice @ 11:59 pm

So I’m driving home from my most awesome gig EVER as the featured accordion player with Kevin Fowler at the Nutty Brown Cafe. I pull up to the stoplight and I hear accordion music playing in the next car. I glance over and see a young guy give me a smile. I roll down the window a little so I could hear more of this great accordion music from his radio or CD. I’m digging it and then, just as the vocals begin, the light changes to green . . . The young man starts singing the lyric “Que bonita . . . ” and he’s singing to me! I’ve had a cute young Mexican boy flirt with me at a stoplight with accordion music at midnight in South Austin. What a nice capper to an amazing night.

Full report manana. Buenas noches. Tengo que dormir.

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More Music, More Questing

Filed under: Music — Janice @ 12:03 am

Last night I said I would be up to 20 and 4 after tonight. Make that NINETEEN and 4. I forgot that I’d already seen Bob Schneider this month, so I can’t count his band again.

But his band was better than it was at Lakeway, if that is possible. Maybe it is because I had a piece of added information. I talked to Conrad, the drummer, before the show tonight. We are old friends and I was asking him about whether the set list would be basically the same tonight as it was the last time. He said they don’t use a set list. How do they know what they are playing then? I asked, because they go rapidly from one song to another without talking or discussion. He said Bob just starts the songs and sometimes he isn’t even sure what song he is playing for a bit because Bob has changed the sound or tempo. So I paid more attention to their set and it was amazing to see them all pick up and just “know” what Bob was doing.

Bob is an incredible performer and songwriter. I don’t know how he comes up with things he sings about. One song was about “Everything is Brown.” With the drought-stricken roadsides, that’s how I feel lately, but I wouldn’t think of writing it into a cute song. He is also a spectacular entertainer. During the show, the electricity at the Shady Grove went off partially. All the lights and the restaurant electricity went out, but the stage and the instruments and mics still had power. The trumpet player jumped into the crowd and started playing. Bob TRIED to put on an accordion and play, but he didn’t quite succeed. I think he may have even had it upside down. The band didn’t miss a lick and continued on for the few minutes it took to get the power back. When it returned, the crowd jumped to their feet with a standing ovation DURING the song.

It’s unplanned events like that that make a Bob show so amazing. The manager, Rusty, told me about another Bob Schneider show at the Grove. An armed robber had held up a gas station nearby and fled on foot. The police called the restaurant to warn them that there was the possibility of an armed felon being among their crowd (a huge crowd). Rusty was on the roof watching the show and keeping an eye on things and a police helicopter flew over and had its bright spotlight playing across the crowd. Somehow, it seemed like just part of the event that Bob Schneider was creating.

Wonderful show and I don’t get to count it in my count. But I do get to count Kissinger, the opening band. Rusty, the manager, is the drummer of the band, so I’ve known about them as long as I’ve known Rusty, but I hadn’t seen them and I wasn’t even sure what kind of music they played, other than “rock.” So tonight I got to see them play and I liked them a lot! I guess it is classified as “rock” but it was more the indie rock sound that I prefer and there were interesting lyrics to go along with a great band and great harmonies. I liked a song that described a woman who couldn’t get out of bed because the bedsheets were too heavy. Who hasn’t felt that way at one time or another (or possibly for weeks at a time?). Chopper, the lead singer, writes the songs and he was a very nice guy. So count them as #4 on my new bands/performers list with a big thumbs up. They don’t play in Austin often, so catch them when you can.

I have decided we need to hire “seat fillers” at the Grove like they have at the Academy awards. We have a band table and a table for the people from the radio station. Sometimes there will be an empty seat, or even two or three. That doesn’t mean that those seats are free for the taking, but an unbelievable amount of people think that they can come sit, without asking. Some ask and some are very nice about being aware that they are taking someone’s chair or sharing a table with others. I have had the disc jockey go to the stage and someone sit down in their chair while they are gone. It is unbelievably rude. I thought I was going to have to kick some ass tonight with a guy and I’ll be watching for him at future shows. I know in his mind, if the chair is vacant, he might as well be in it, but I don’t see it that way. These people have a chair and a table because of the service they are providing for YOU. What you get is a free show that might mean you are inconvenienced if you weren’t here early enough to get a seat. So I’m thinking if we had seat fillers that would jump up and disappear on a moment’s notice, but prevent strangers from sitting in those seats, that would be a cool thing. Like I heard someone say this week, “I’m not bitching, I’m just bitching,” so take it from a very tired, very sweaty and grimey, very headachey woman and take it with a grain of salt (and possibly a margarita).

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June 19, 2008

More Music

Filed under: Music — Janice @ 2:12 am

The quest continues—

BAND #17 (well, performer) Suzanne Smith at B.D. Riley’s Pub on 6th Street. You hadn’t thought about catching music during the lunch hour, had you? Suzanne is a regular from TC’s and she and Mark have been friends for a good long while. She performs every Wednesday from noon to two. I enjoyed lunch there with a friend and listened to her perform. She said there is a good lunch crowd, often people in town on business or for conventions. She was right, she had an audience and she has a beautiful voice. And she is so brave! How does anyone just sit with a guitar and sing like that? Oh, and I hadn’t seen her before so this brings me up to 3 new artists this month.
BAND #18 Texas Renegade at Hill’s Cafe . . . the crowd was there early tonight and they played to an almost packed house. It was a great show. These guys are great entertainers and they are just good people. Go see them.

BAND #19 Aaron Watson and the Orphans of the Brazos . . . I could go on and on about Aaron Watson and how much I loved him the first time I saw him in Pflugerville years ago (summer of 2002, I think). He is a fabulous entertainer and runs a tight ship and has a tighter band. He is always gracious, nice, easy to be around, and talented. And I love the guys in his band, too. Always fun to see Eric and Justin.

Wonderful to see Kevin and Gillian Fowler there, too, and to get the okay to play on Friday night at the Nutty Brown with him again. Be there!

So a long Wednesday comes to a close (there was more office moving between lunch and Hill’s and then more other work tonight after Hill’s) and I can tally up to 19 and 3 now on my quest of 30 and 8. Tomorrow should bring it to 20 and 4 unless I can find some more lunchtime music! I’ll see you, for sure, at Shady Grove for Kissinger and Bob Schneider (well, it will be horribly crowded, so if you don’t see me, just know that I am there).

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June 18, 2008

And now back to real time

Filed under: Music — Janice @ 2:09 am

Okay, now to catch up on the music I saw after Little Elmore Reed last week. If you are keeping up with my quest, I was only at band #10, with only one new artist, so 10 and 1 instead of the goal of 30 and 8, but there is still a lot of month to go.

BAND #11 — Reckless Kelly with the CD release of “Bulletproof” at the METV studios.

BAND #12 — Rich O’Toole opening at Hill’s Cafe on Wednesday. That is one loud band.

BAND #13 — Johnny Cooper at Hill’s Cafe. Johnny is a cute 19-year-old kid and he’s a very good entertainer and he has a talented OLD band (they are all my age!). What he isn’t is a country artist. He does a lot of rock-and-roll cover songs, Tom Petty, Steve Miller, Eagles, etc. Enjoyable, but I don’t know what his goal is with that as his primary music. He’s doing well and drawing big crowds, but I would like to see him concentrate more on his originals.

BAND #14 — Nakia and his Southern Cousins at Shady Grove for Unplugged at the Grove. This was a new band for me, so we are up to 14 and 2 if you are following along. I was surprised to find that they HAD an accordion player in the band and that I KNEW the accordion player, except I knew him as a keyboard player. The band was soulful and entertaining, but they didn’t seem to take their job very seriously, I thought.

BAND #15 — Guy Forsyth at Shady Grove. Always a great entertainer and he forged through the heat and the talkative crowd to enthrall and have them on their feet. I’ve seen Guy countless times. I was a fan years ago (before we even moved to Austin) and then Mark was fortunate enough to become Guy’s drummer for a few years and was able to tour Europe with him three times. I’m still a fan and appreciate the effort he puts into a performance. I enjoyed seeing his lovely wife and darling baby, Mary, too.

BAND #16 –Shawn Pittman at Rick’s on the Square in Tyler. Mark has played for Shawn many times so I’ve seen them at Gruene and in Corpus and other fun places. He’s an interesting blues singer/player. Rick’s was one of those venues that has music as a sort of afterthought. They had lights on the stage, but they were pointing the completely wrong direction so Shawn and Pierre, the bass player, were both in the dark the whole night. Mark, who has a light over his drum kit so he can see, was the only thing you could see from the audience. Okay by me.

No more music on the weekend and Monday night brought me back out to TC’s so another musical performance, but it doesn’t apply to my count. Tonight is Tuesday and I’m taking the night off. Tomorrow it is back at it with Texas Renegade and Aaron Watson at Hill’s Cafe, Thursday is Kissinger (a new one for me!) and Bob Schneider at Shady Grove. Friday it is Kevin Fowler at the Nutty Brown (who is opening, I wonder? Maybe they’ll be new to me). I need to get serious about making a schedule and finding those five bands that I haven’t seen before and getting out to experience something new. It is hard to get myself out of my rut!

Meanwhile, there is a big giant yellow cat taking over the top of this desk and pushing my keyboard off into my lap. How can I leave him to go see music? This is the life.

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More Catch-Up and the Quest Continues

Filed under: Family, Music — Janice @ 1:47 am

I wrote this in Tyler this weekend when I didn’t have internet access, so let’s catch up no the weekend and the musical quest…

I really hate when I get behind on the blog— so much going on and I really do want to write about it.

As for the 30/30 band quest, I’m still on track with #10 Nelo on Sunday at the Lakeway Music Series. They didn’t excite me and draw me in as much as they had the night I saw them at Antone’s, but that could have totally been the difference between a dark, cool club at night and a hot, sunny venue after an already long day. I enjoyed meeting the guys from the band and talking about our days at the University of North Texas (which, in no way resembled one another). These guys were in the jazz groups and music programs at UNT and I was a once a week commuter.

Monday brought us a nice visit. My sister is married to a Dutchman and for 26 years his family has become our family, much more than most in-laws become acquainted. As much as Mark’s family and my family like one another, we have rarely shared big occasions and have never gone on vacation with one another or spent nights at one another’s homes. But when you have relatives in a foreign country, it is a whole different relationship. My brother-in-law’s parents and brothers came and joined us for an American Christmas when my sister first married. I went to Holland once and the entire Schaars family from Holland and from America went on a bus trip across Europe to Vienna. Last week Theo (my brother-in-law and that is pronounced TAY-oh) welcomed his stepmother Leike (LIKE-uh) and his 16-year-old nephew Roel (RULE) to America for a visit. They spent the first week in Dallas, but then came down to see Austin and tour the Capitol and to visit with us.

They joined me downtown at my new office and oohed and aahed over it and then we all came to my house. Unbeknownst to me or to most folks in Austin, there is a big soccer tournament going on in Europe that is the Europe equivalent to the World Cup and only happens once every four years. The Dutch are as crazy about their national soccer team as we are about the UT Horns (and we all get to wear orange to cheer our teams on). We came back to my house, the boys all donned their orange jerseys and we ordered pizza and watched soccer as Holland defeated Italy 3 to 0. I saw “we.” I watched a full 30 seconds or so before I decided a nice visit on the porch with my sister would be more interesting. But it was fun to hear the whoop that went up when Holland scored that last goal.

After the game, Theo and Leike headed on back to Dallas. My sister and the boys remained. We all crawled off to take afternoon naps. The boys were playing games, watching TV, entertaining themselves. A couple of hours later, Mark ventured into the living room and came back and said it looked like a suicide cult in there. One boy stretched on the couch, one on the recliner, and one at the kitchen table with his head on the table, sound asleep. Once they were awake , the kitchen table sleeper, Brandt, said he tried to nap on the porch, but it was just too hot.

Monday night so that meant we all went to TC’s for the blues. That was why the boys had remained, they needed their cousin Roel to experience this, too. I can’t count Little Elmore Reed again on my count for the month, dang it. Lisa Mills sang with them, but, according to the rules I set up for mayself, I won’t count her as another show either since it wasn’t her own performance, she was just sitting in.

The place wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been last week. I got aggravated as patrons, though. I don’t like to get aggravated when I’m there enjoying music. There was a birthday party for Bethany going on [NOTE: Usually I avoid griping or making fun of people in my blog because I wouldn't want to hurt someone's feelings if they read it, but I feel quite sure Bethany and her friends won't find this. Or don't read.] She aggravated me to start with because she brought her own Coco-Cola. At TC’s, you are welcome to bring your own liquor, but you are not allowed to bring anything they sell there. Obviously, they are in business to sell beer, ice, Cokes, juices, etc. When people bring those things in, it is killing the Golden Goose! What was funny, she appeared to be surreptitious with her liquor, like she was afraid to let someone see that. That was perfectly okay there, only the Coke was verboten. Her friends also had their own Cokes in their purses and then, as more got there, they continued to place their standing bodies between me and the band. Ergh. Then, the topper. Smoking was banned in Austin bars some time ago. I was against the ban at the time, feeling that bar owners should be able to decide whether that was something they wanted to do. It passed without my support. But then it turned into a wonderful thing. Mark started coming home not reeking of smoke. He and I both felt better. It was a nice thing to not have the smoke in TC’s. And TC’s didn’t seem to suffer. There were just as many people there as there had been before, each and every week. If smokers stayed home, others replaced them, but it seemed that there were still plenty of smokers that would go outside and smoke. But then as the law about who was responsible to keep the smokers from smoking in clubs became cloudy, more and more people decided to smoke again inside, despite the signs that say “no smoking,” knowing no one (supposedly) is going to enforce the ban. Monday night, a brother of one of our friends was sitting across from me. He pulled out a cigarette. Immediately one of the Bethany bunch said “Oh can you smoke in here? Can I have one?” I immediately jumped in and said, “No, you can’t smoke in here, please don’t.” And I pointed at the “No Smoking” sign. Paul immediately put out his cigarette, seeing that his tablemate didn’t want him to smoke. But Bethany’s friend just looked through me and lit up. Bitch.

Okay, but aside from the girls and their friends, we had a very good time. In fact, one of their friends, Matt, was incredibly considerate and when he would see his friend standing in my vision, he would have them move and apologized and was very cognizant of those of us trying to see and hear the band behind him.

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