Flanfire

Corinne Rose was on the bill at the Hole in the Wall on Thursday sandwiched in between Alice Spencer and Her Monkey Butlers (20's and 30's jazz, with Mark Rubin on tuba!) and Bryce Clifford (with Kim Deschamps playing pedal steel and Kullen Fuchs bringing his xylophone, keyboard, omnichord, accordian, and white trumpet - and maybe I forgot something else). So who is Corinne Rose? Not a gal named Corinne, to be sure.

I had forgotten (it had been a while) that the wonderful Maria Mabra had told me that one of the many West Coast (Portland, Seattle) bands she had graced was called Corinne Rose. But what we all want to know is how does a freckle-faced African-American princess get from Oberlin College in Ohio to the Seattle punk scene and end up in Austin singing her own gospel-tinged classic country songs and still playing drums without missing a beat?

I first met Maria when she was playing with Cade Callahan at the Gospel Brunch at Threadgill's. Over time she became friends with Mike Cherry and my pal Leo Rondeau and played some gigs with them (notably at The Carousel Lounge) ... but I really know little of her storied past. Corinne Rose (Austin edition) features Cherry on dobro, the very talented Jen Obert on fiddle, and Scott Stewart on bass -- and Jeremy Terry on lap steel (tho he was on tour last night). The band is working on a new CD featuring Maria's original songs - and powerful songs they are.

"Hello, Stranger" opened the show, and then "Grace" - and then some serious fiddle. After the band had warmed up (and gotten a few kinks in the sound dealt with), Cherry stepped up for a great duet on "Cryin' Holy." After some more fiddle (Jenny Fiddle has really upgraded her performance and she was always just fine), Scott moved over to electric bass for one song only, "Goodbye," [goodbye doesn't mean I don't love you anymore] and Maria showed her vocal range while guys in the audience gasped! [Folks, this is the Hole!]. Then Maria switched to acoustic guitar (no drums) for yet another of her originals, "For Your Eyes Only," which talks of faded memories and making believe. I actually saw people stop talking to each other to listen!

Then Cherry was called upon to do a cover of a Rube Waddell song (She's Got a Body?) - not the old baseball pitcher, but the San Francisco-based three-piece band that has been compared to the Bad Livers. Then Mike and Jen sang a duet on "Don't Call My Name" (now Jen is tall, but Mike is taller by much - and they were sharing a mike -- Jen is from Alabama and Mike from Georgia, and they twanged well together! Finally, Mike and Maria closed the set with a rousing rendition of Mike's "Stumblin' On" -- which Brennen Leigh covered on her newest CD in a duet with James Hand. The audienced wanted more - but Maria gently gave way for the late-night act -- Bryce Clifford and his merry men.

Now I have written a lot about Bryce lately, but I must add that the man bared his soul and tried out some of the many new songs he has been working on in preparation for getting back in the studio to record the followup CD to "Signal the Sun," which is STILL in my CD changer. The rhythm section last night was Zach Firnhaber on bass and Grubdog Mitchell on drums (and for a first-timer with Bryce, he was pretty darn good!). This was the kind of experimentation that I so frequently see at Momo's Club -- and a bunch of Bryce's rowdy friends kept egging him on and harassing him (with hoots, hollers, and heckles) joyfully to keep him focused. Early in the set he pulled out a rarely played chestnut called "Illusion," which he followed with a cover of the Wilco song "How to Fight Loneliness" (smile all the time). The set closed with a winsome version of Neil Young's "Razor Love" followed by a very extended "Open Mike" that featured some cool interplay between Kim, Bryce, and Kullen (on keyboard and more). Bryce is back at the Hole on Bastille Day with Beaver Nelson and more.

It was sort of a private public party on Wednesday when I trolled down to Woody's South to hear Natalie Zoe (and, as it turned out, old and new friends). It was supposed to be a birthday bash for my better half (but she had to skip out while getting some new tests done at Seton) and an opportunity for me to fork over a graduation present to Natalie's lovely daughter Sasha (whom her mom says is already a better singer than she is -- but moms brag). But Sasha was also unable to be there for VERY IMPORTANT reasons, and singing partner Mike Cross took the money and ran to another gig, so Natalie was all alone on stage WHEN SHE STARTED OUT.

Well, not for long. Some gal named Georgia was in picking up takeout and Natalie recruited her to play tambourine on a couple of songs. By that time my pals Thomas and Kelly Mann showed up for the non-party and he had just HAPPENED to have one of his keyboards in the truck, so even though Natalie had never met either of them, she graciously got blessed to have this fine jazz pianist join her on stage. [Later Kelly and Natalie did a duet of "Me and Bobby Magee" and somewhere in the set her friend Tito got up to so some backup vocals.] But then it was the diva alone again, and we persuaded her to reach back into her jazz repertoire -- and she blew us all away with tunes from Chet Baker and Theolonius Monk. Other young friends also joined the party - and by the way did I mention that Miss Zoe first off sat me down at table with her elementary school chum Lynn and her family and I was totally able to relax and let Nancy's medical team take very very good care of her and get some rest for my soul.