Janice Williams Loves Austin

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.