Save Town Lake Benefit Friday night at Stubb's in Austin
Jack, writing, back in Seattle:
You may remember from an earlier posting that I was going to attend the Concert to Save Town Lake at Stubb's in Austin. Wow. It was very cool. A nice night. The Lone Star beer was cold, and the music was great. Kinky Friedman, a musician in his own right ("The Texas Jew-boy"), and recent candidate for governor, emceed the proceedings. I saw Elana James, Bob Schneider, Dale Watson, Stephen Bruton, Jimmy LaFave, a folkie whose name I missed, and a couple of people who did tributes to Lady Bird Johnson (whose funeral was in Austin last week). I fell out at about midnight, so I don't know if any of the surprise guests appeared (people were speculating Willie, and a few other luminaries).
In addition to a salute to Lady Bird, Kiniky also gave a moving eulogy to his friend, the great Texas (and New York Times) pundit Molly Ivins, who who would have been at the benefit had she still been with us. Elane James, Jimmy LaFave, Stephen Bruton, Dale Watson, and Bob Schneider all put on great shows. This night was a showcase of Austin singer-songwriters, and in the case of Bruton, a great guitar player.
Elena James, EJ and Band
Elena James can fiddle--both traditional and in more of a rock mode. And she can sing. She sang a lot of originals with a bass player and guitar player--both of who could really smoke. She has a good voice, but her fiddling is absolutely astounding. And she took up the fiddle late in life, after earlier careers as an editor and graduate school. Amazing. If that wasn't enough, she wasn't hard on the eyes either.
What endeared me most was a cover of Cotton-eyed Joe, an old folk song that's been around forever, but a song that Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan own as far as I am concerned...although it has been covered by many others, up to and including the Kinkster himself--Kinky Friedman, Nina Simone, and the Rednex. Go see her when she comes to your town. If you happen to be going to the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan at the end of July, she'll be there for three days. As a side note, she played fiddle for Bob Dylan extensively a couple years ago. Not a bad recommendation in itself... It would be great to see her at The Tractor in Seattle.
Dale Watson
Dale Watson! Great patter, and tunes. He has a good website too. You get a good feeling just listening to him talk. He doesn't like to be called country, preferring a word he coined "Ameripolitan." But this is roots country at its best. A fascinating sidenote on Watson: He is featured in the Zalman King documentary Crazy Again, that documents his mental breakdown after his girlfriend Terri Herbert died in a fatal car accident in September 2000. There are rumors that he will star in King's next film, Austin Angel, due out this year. Dale often plays at a place in Austin called Ginny's Little Longhorn. . .often on "chicken shit Sunday." On chicken shit Sunday, they play chicken bingo. You buy in, and you get a $100 if the chicken poops on your number on a board on the floor. Side note: Dale Watson looks a little bit like Paulie Walnuts.
Bob Schneider, an Austin legend--when people in Austin find out I see a lot of music, they always ask if I've seen him--is basically a rock and roller, albeit rock with major tinges of funk, country, folk, even a little R & B and rap. He has released a ton of albums on Universal/Vanguard, and prior to going solo was in several other bands. Outside Austin, he seems to be best known for having been Sandra Bullock's boyfriend for a couple of years. People speculate that it was that link that brought him national attention. Having seen him, I can state that he definitely has the goods. At times, he reminded me of the late 70's Bruce Springsteen...not the music so much as the energetic stage show (and the passionate vocals). He tours all the time, and plays regularly at Antone's and the Saxon Pub in Austin. I like this guy a lot. And he was clearly a hunk in the eyes of many of the women at the show, just in case you thought my mentioning Elana James looks was, uh, piggish...
Jimmy LaFave playing with Lucinda Williams and Kevin Welch at Austin's Hole In The Wall (one of my favorite Austin dives, and where Roger Wallace plays regularly)
Jimmy LaFave performed a solid, rootsy-bluesy, wistful set. Like others on the benefit bill, Jimmy is not so much country as residing somewhere in that amorphous roots rock genre that encompasses a lot of territory. One review of LaFave's recently released Cimmaron Manifesto says: "Delivering his most realized recording to date, LaFave solidifies his place as on the truly great American songwriters." And he did indeed have songs! I have this CD, and in addition to his own original tunes, he also covers: Bob Dylan (Not Dark Yet), Donovan (Catch The Wind) and Joe South (Walk A Mile In My Shoes). . .what a strange trio of songs to cover (not shocking 'though, since he has earlier recovered San Francisco...you know, "if you're going to San Francisco/be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"). The reading of Catch The Wind is especially interesting, because I never much liked the song, at least when it came out 39 years ago, or whatever it was. His reading of the song was moving; maybe it was just not having that quavering Donovan voice that makes what was actually a good tune. Thumbs up on LaFave too! If Lucinda sits in with him in a dive with forty patrons, that in itself tells you this guy has something serious going on.
Stephen Bruton, Singer-songwriter and guitarist par excellence
Stephen Bruton is a singer-songwriter, actor, buddy of Kris Kristofferson and T Bone Burnett, and most of all, a smoking guitar player. His tunes were great too--he's written songs for Willie Nelson, Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt and others. But it was was mostly great to watch him play the guitar. We saw a lot of good players Friday, but he stood out on the guitar.
How often do you see a convergence of talent like this at one show? Not often, and it could only happen in one town. I now have five new people to see anytime I am in Austin, or they venture up north to Seattle.
---o0o---
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