Flanfire

Another MoMo's MoMent - with Bonnie Whitmore, Walt Wilkins, Brent Mitchell and special guests Brennen Leigh and Ryan James [Sam Baker, another Wilkins pal, was also in the house for the show]. Later (for those who had all night, it would be Warren and the Hoodlums (minus an ailing Seth Walker but plus drummer Corey Keller, who has joined the party and plus various members of the South Austin Jug Band just hanging out).

Bonnie had promised sister Eleanor - but, alas! The dreadlocked fiddler had stayed up all night looking for (and finding) her lost dog and could not travel down from Dallas. But no matter. Bonnie was radiant in the company of mentor (and first boss) Mitchell, who himself is somewhat a student of Bonnie's dad, folksinger Alex Whitmore. It was songwriters in the round all evening, and no one disappointed.

Wilkins, who just a few months ago moved back to Leander, is a well traveled songwriter (Ricky Scaggs, Ty Herndon, Kenny Rogers and Pam Tillis and especially Pat Green have recorded his songs) and an even better traveled movie man - writing music for half a dozen films and serving as location scout for the Texas Film Commission [for more, go to www.waltwilkins.com]. This night, Walt provided just one song from his newest CD, "Mustang Island," but it was a goodie - "Privileges of Youth" talks about a love affair on Padre Island and much much more. Another winner was "Love Dies Hard," but by far the most exciting song of the night was an oldie, "Ruby's 2 Sad Daughters," which dates back three CD's (Fire, Honey and Angels). Walt and Ryan James (who sang a co-written ditty about Texas during one of Walt's slots) plua Tina Mitchell Wilkins will be sharing a bill at Keller's Corner Grocery in Mason County on July 29, and on August 12 he's at Tavern on the Gruene with Chris Wall - now THAT will be a show!]. The wife especially liked Wilkins' humor and great songs - and is looking forward to our next visit to one of his gigs. One more note -- Walt's newest project, Highway 29 Records (that wonderful road that runs through Bertram and Burnet), is a joint venture with fiddler Tim Lorsch and songwriter Randy Wayne Sitzler. I believe James' new CD will be on the label.

Mitchell, who hired Bonnie for his band in Denton when she was 15, has been sharing living space in Oxford, England, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, and is back in Texas for just a few gigs. His debut (self-titled) CD is not yet backed by a website (though one is coming) includes several of the songs he exhibited Sunday night - "December, Texas," "The Wind," "Old Stone House," and "The Well" - a terrifying story he heard on NPR's All Things Considered. We know about Mitchell, though, because Bonnie had done his very powerful "The Hand of God" on her own CD last year. Mitchell is another of those songwriters with a killer voice and scar-tissue lyrics that you just cannot ignore. "Prodigal Son," for example (also on the CD), starts with a guy who has just paid for sex seeing the Star of Bethlehem, still buys a fifth of Jack, and then drives all the way out into the country till his car runs out of gas and finally he walks out into a pasture on the cold night and lies down and gazes at the star - and falls into his Father's arms. Just when you think you've figured him out, he throws in "Trust," which is about an unfaithful husband, and "Everclear," which is about, well, you know. Yet two other songs were about angels....

Bonnie did some of her old favorites (we have written about her songs a lot here) and lauded girlfriend songwriters Jill Knight ("Carolina") and Harmony McGill (who co-wrote the Lolita song "One Drum"). Brennen favored us with a new gospel tune, "It Won't Come Clean." The bigger Brennen news is that brother Seth Hulbert will be in town for gigs on Thursday (Y Bar & Grill), Friday (Ross' Old Austin), and Saturday (Continental Club).

On Saturday we spent the evening at a private party after stopping briefly by the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture to check in on the Aaron Hamre Band and check out the new exhibit by the legendary Sam Yeates (next to Planet K on South Lamar through August 14). Upcoming dates include August 4 - the Austin debut of the Heidi Little Band at MoMo's - and September 5 - the Labor Day unveiling of the new South Austin Jug Band CD.