Flanfire

Quist on a Quest!
Many of you may know Gordy Quist as a member of the Band of Heathens -- but this former Dartmouth linebacker from the same part of northwest Harris County as Lyle Lovett has just released his second solo CD, "Here Comes the Flood," with 10 of his own songs (plus a fine cover of "Satisfied Mind" with Adam Carroll taking a verse) that remind this writer of yet another Texan -- Rhodes scholar Kris Kristofferson.
At a CD release event at Momo's recently, Gordy brought out his Heathen buddies Colin Brooks (photo), Ed Jurdi, bassist Seth Whitney and drummer John Chipman -- but it was a far cry from the usual songwriters in the round showcase that graces the Momo's stage on Wednesdays with lots of places in between. On this night Gordy was the sole focus -- and indeed he had plenty of material to please the sizable crowd who had been warmed up by an absolutely awesome set from Seth Walker and HIS band (see below).
The Momo's set included songs from Gordy's first record, including the title cut, "Songs Play Me" and the wonderful "Broken Heart Strings," plus the brand-new "To See You Again," a couple of Adam Carroll numbers, and "Miss Ohio" -- with as a bonus all of the Heathens doing their classic cover, "No More Cane (on the Brazos)." Let me say it right now -- Gordy's songs will soon be covered by the biggest names in the business.
Quist, who like fellow Heathen Brooks is a former New Folk winner at Kerrville, was persuaded by old pal Steve Wedemeyer, who had moved to Nashville to join the band Last Train Home, to do his new record up there -- at the East Nashville studio of multi-instrumentalist Joe McMahan that Gordy notes is nestled between halfway houses and soul food eateries. The result is an analog soundscape full of grit and gristle -- with Wedemeyer and his bandmates Jim Gray (bass), Martin Lynds (drums), and Jen Gunderman (keyboards) plus Luke Bulla on fiddle, Bryan Owings on percussion and drums, Dave Jacques on upright bass, and McMahan himself on guitars, organs, piano, lap steel, and more. Backing vocalists include Nashvillagers Joseph and Raven Hazlewood and Claire Small, Steve Poulton, and Heathen pal Ed Jurdi.
To the music -- Gordy opens this CD with "Rehab Facility," which sounds like an on "The Band" tune with its driving harmonica [not mentioned in the liner notes?] and quixotic lyrics ("she's a heaven's angel dust running through my blood," "she's a Sunday morning drive to a country side motel room, the ones that are by the hour, where you can make love and take a shower in the afternoon") -- and Wedemeyer's soulful guitar solo that ends the song.
Next up is one of my favorites -- "Quarters and Dimes," which sounds like Lyle Lovett material (that is the kind of song he would cover) "I'll cast my leather and bones down a rattlesnake road ... Ain't nothin' so free as being lost between heaven and hell...." and more great guitar.
But it is "Lady Juliana" that just takes my breath away -- Gordy's tale of the first ship taking women (prisoners, of course) to join the prison colony in Australia -- including 11-year-old Mary Wade. Gordy could have quit right here and I would have been satisfied.
But -- good news -- he kept going. "Skin on Soul" opens like a typical Nashville song -- "Daddy's gone and Mama's crying" -- but this is no Opry tune. It is rich with melody and with the hurt of a man who's "tattered and battered ... burned scared and wandering every which way I can go." "Unsleeping Eye" is a tale of staying awake on the way back from a gig in Dallas -- this is the hardest rocker on the record.
When Gordy started "Green and Blue" at Momo's, I leaned back to the guy sitting next to me and whispered, "Clint Black" -- meaning that this song is a platinum seller of a ballad. Radio stations, though, just ought to start playing the original -- Gordy has as good a voice as most of those guys making the big money.
To many Heathens lovers, "Judas 'Scariot Blues" is Gordy's signature song -- one he ought to dedicate to John Pointer, who is playing Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Zachary Scott. Judas gets his say in this song -- blaming the cards for his bad fortune and accusing God of playing favorites. But a very long time ago one of my river rat friends from Washington, DC, reminded me that the true meaning of the cross was "no more Judases" -- or excuses.
"Irene" is a sad tale of a siren who captures our hero's heart and moves on to other lovers -- the musical swamp created by McMahan and the players is the real sinful pleasure here. You get the feeling you are in the middle of an old silent film horror movie -- Papa Mali should love this.
"Paradise Awaiting" could well be the central Texas theme song for June 2007 -- "The rain's coming down and my jeans are worn out and wearing thin .... darling keep your distance and pray for baby blue skies again ...." And yet the song continues -- "I hear Paradise is waiting, you can see it from down on your knees. The Faithful from a distance strain to see the preacher from the bleacher seats ... Let's go down to Eden, I hear they got shelter from the rain ... I wanna go down to Eden I hear they ain't got no damn rain ...."
The last cut is so apropos for an ending song -- "Diamonds, Dogs and Shooting Stars" -- diamonds make good rings and shiny things; a dog will love you till he breathes no more; shooting stars will take you on a journey -- and TIME will rust the hinges on your door. But sometimes, Gordy moans, "I wonder if there's something more." [Of course, the joke is on us, as Gordy has already let us know that he HAS a satisfied mind!]
Gordy and his fellow Heathens are SCHEDULED to play the Independence Day Festival on July 4th in Marble Falls -- but like "Paradise Awaiting," we wonder if the rains will ever quit coming down there. July 5th, again if the rains hold off, the boys will be at Shady Grove with KGSR.

The Seth Walker set this evening was just better than ever -- with the handsome Italian (see photo) Stefano Intellizano on keys, Damien Llanes on drums, and the incomparable Lindsay Greene on bass and an infusion of Ephraim Owens on trumpet toward the end of the set. Maybe it was Seth prodding Owens to lend his beautiful baritone to the ensemble during one number -- but band members said the crowd and the great evening itself just made the night magical. Walker will be on tour much of July -- but he will be ringside at Sullivan's on July 6th and back at Shady Grove on July 26th. If Seth Walker is not a national star, then this nation has sunk lower than I had ever thought.

Somehow I had lost my notes and photos of another Momo's show that was pretty darn good -- Adam McInnis drew a huge crowd of people who were just totally blown away during an eight-song set, with hot guitarist-songwriter Tahni Handal and her band following afterwards [more on them soon]. Adam, who is putting the finishing touches on his first Austin-made CD (after bouncing off both coasts to get here), had Candy Sanders on vocals (WOW!), Jason Miller on guitar, Steve Bernal on bass, Darwin Keys on drums (am I right?), and a couple of other players as well (my bad!)
Okay, so Adam's BIG song (which everyone remembers) is "Sex for Breakfast" (with pancakes for dessert!) -- but the crowd soared along with powerful songs like "Beautiful Glow," "More Than Meets the Eye," "Give a Little, Get a Little," "40 Days, 40 Nights," "Not Alone," "If Only for a Little While," and "Sweet Surrender" (lay down my guns tonight). And then there is "War on Drugs," which on the CD features Austin's own MC Overlord. Folks -- this guy is about to take off -- the energy has finally been caught up with by some new-found FOCUS!
Adam will be at the Grove at South Park Meadows on July 7th and back at Momo's with a full band on July 16th -- that should be FUN!

My recent travels also took me to Ego's (well, more than once) to see Sunny Sweeney the budding Nashville Americana music star whom I know as the hummingbird from Longview and my good friends Thomas and Kelly Mann and Melody Mann -- that's Kelly with trumpeter Dave Gilden in the photo. Other notable Ego's evenings (with Gentle Ben himself in charge!) included the Stones-Beatles hoot night, featuring Marshall Jones and the Frontier Phrenologists using some omnimikes that made you listen very hard over the noise ... and Bryce Clifford banging out two of the Stones' more obscure numbers.

Detecting Tracy and Bond

Lonesome Heroes on the Road Again



The real star of the Lonesome Heroes just might be Helga -- Rich Russell's VW microbus that is about to turn 400,000 miles, much of that carrying Rich and singing partner (and best pal) Landry McMeans across the country the past few summers (Landry says she WILL finish college but no summer school please!).



But this daring duo (who sometimes play with co-conspirators but not this night at Ego's) has taken flight (leaving Helga behind) for a one-month tour of New York City and environs (Rich's hometown stomping grounds) where they are debuting their brand-new CD (recorded live at Flipnotics by Daren Appelt), "Sunny Eyed Highway Songs." Soon the Heroes will be showing off their new songbook (with lots of Landry drawings along with good stuff from their travels) -- and, yes, they will be back in Austin before beginning the second leg of their summer 2007 marathon (in which Helga will be the star!).


Rich mostly plays guitar, with Landry on dobro, but sometimes they switch up, and of course both sing and write their songs. The new CD begins with "Sunny Eyed Highway," which celebrates the "highway queen" (Helga, we presume!). Folks, this is dancing music -- and, yes, as promised, psychedelic alt-country that lightens the heart and makes you laugh. [In addition to the new threads shown above, Landry says she also has a red hot red outfit, too!] Michael Bilger plays upright bass and Sarah Stollak fiddle on most of these tracks, adding to the joy.


Landry contributed three (or is it five?) songs to this collection, including the beautiful "Canary," the haunting "Stardust" (wait a million years and I'll be shining like the sun), and "Headlights on the Highway," which speaks about "the teenaged girls [who] look twice my age in New York City" and makes you feel like you are in the bus with the band. At the Ego's show, she honored her parents on their 33rd anniversary as wonderful role models for true love.


Rich wrote the rest [well, the jacket says so!], including "Don't Play to Lose," the title cut (and great sing-along) from their earlier EP, "Halos Above Our Heads," and crowd favorite "Oyster," which features a tantalizing dobro and fiddle interplay. Landry also sings "The Moon and the Sun" (I'm just a shadow in the light), while Rich takes the lead on "Scattered Thoughts" (another traveling song) and "Drunken Pirate Ship," which features a WICKED fiddle solo by the Austin Fiddlah! The CD closes with a 5-minute version of "Still [choosing?] Life" (the Seldom Scene would love this stuff!) -- "Sing for a land that we will one day call our own."

Maybe my other favorite here is "Visions of Yesterday" (is that not what this band is really ALL about?). Rich lets us know that "these visions of yesterday are leaving me with a bittersweet smile, and I don't know where to go." And yet, the road beckons, and the tender twosome treks on -- in search of the next adventure.


Every time I hang out with Rich and Landry, I remember "Fat City," that insanely joyful band put together by Billy Danoff and Taffy Nivert long before Billy co-wrote songs with John Denver (including "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado") and Emmy Lou Harris ("Boulder to Birmingham," the tribute to Gram Parsons), and he and Taffy formed the Starland Vocal Band ("Afternoon Delight").

I spent many an evening with Bill and Taffy at the 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue club (and elsewhere) and always recall the joy they had singing and sharing life together -- a joy that came to a crashing halt nearly three decades ago after their summer TV series (which introduced David Letterman to television) was not renewed and the band broke up.

Rich assures us that the alt-country Wednesdays at Headhunters will continue in their absence and mentioned that the "Down Here Band," which just arrived from Wisconsin, will be hosting while the Heroes are on the road. OUR hope is that these kids will still be as fresh as the new fallen snow after their NEXT 400,000 miles .....

TIDBITS -- Tallest Heathen (and Dartmouth grad) Gordy Quist will be debuting his solo CD (done in Nashville and reportedly magnificent) later this month in Austin and his hometown Houston area ... the slimmed-and-trimmed down (and, yes, barefoot) Heathen bassist Seth Whitney tied the knot a week ago (and, yes, he cried at his own wedding, we are told by a reliable source) ... This leaves Colin Brooks as the lone bachelor in the fab four, but girls remember this is the same fearless (and often barefoot) picker whose favorite food is "Cornbread" and favorite entertainment personality is Larry the Cable Guy (or maybe Jim Carrey as "The Cable Guy") -- AND his once-long locks have not grown back.

All kidding aside, Colin, Seth, Gordy and the amazing Ed Jurdi were joined on stage at Antone's (for the live DVD recording) by John Chipman on drums and Chip Dolan on keyboards and accordian for one of the finest hours I have ever spent at the storied club. And why not? Fat Caddy Records and the boys treated the entire crowd not only to a great evening of music but also to a free dinner of jambalaya, green beans, cornbread, and red beans and rice supplied by Gene's New Orleans PoBoys -- with Gene himself serving out some of the great food!

Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.