Flanfire

After four days in Arizona, it did the body and soul good to drop by the Elephant Room to catch a set from the Leah Zeger Quartet. The long-legged violinist (and budding fiddler) is, as we have noted before, a wonderful jazz singer who has assembled quite an array of talent around her -- that would include Pat Kennedy on drums, Ryan Bowman on five-string bass, and the amazing Matt Raines on seven-string guitar (his own design, by the way!).

The only thing better than Leah would have to be Fai Jow's great food at Ming's -- and a jazz trio featuring Matt Hubbard on piano, Eldridge Goins on drums, and Brad Houser on bass (WOW!) and baritone saxophone. Plus Matt did a soft-shoe dance as an encore, and promised an even better show on Labor Day (with the lovely Jane Bond and others too). Check out the Udon noodle soup (a Japanese dish, by the way) -- I had it with chicken.

On Tuesday (August 12th), we were privileged to be invited to the inaugural taping of Greg Garing's American Backroads Revival -- a 2-hour musical revue hosted by the illustrious iterant fiddler (guitarist, mandolinist, and more!) and his exuberant sidekick, the fun-loving Ruby Jane Smith. Guest stars on the program included Austin's own Shotgun Party, Leo Rondeau, Dustin Welch, Phoebe and Stephanie Hunt, Bill Carter, Mrs. Glass, Matt Downing, and Cousin Royann Cooper (from Nashville!) -- plus a cast of "characters" that included some of the sponsors and the really cute Shannon Patterson from Garing's own band. Willie Pipkin (guitar) and Howdy Darrell (bass) played with just about everybody -- and those fiddling females were all over the place all evening long.

Garing opened the show with "Dig a Hole" and "Simple Melodies," with Ruby Jane, Howdy and Willie. Then Shotgun Party performed "Pickled Eggs" and another song -- and then Phoebe Hunt (fiddler/vocalist for the Belleville Outfit) accompanied Dustin Welch (on banjo) on two songs before Ruby Jane and the house band did two or three numbers. All of this was quite good -- but the best was yet to come.

First, Leo Rondeau, with Burton Lee on dobro and Howdy on bass, sang the classic "Don't Fence Me In," and then with Katy Rose Cox from Shotgun Party on fiddle, blew the place away with his "Lousianne" (and yes he had his own dancers for this Cajun fiddle song). THEN, Phoebe and Stephanie Hunt (from T-Bird and the Breaks) joined Ruby Jane for three-part vocal and fiddle harmonies on Johnny Mercer's "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive (Mr. In-Between)," and Stephanie sang her own "Through and Over You," which she said was about high school and not some guy. It may be coincidence, but Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters recorded both "Don't Fence Me In" and "Mr. In-Between" -- but while the fiddling ladies are just as hot as the world-famous sisters, Leo's performance was much more reminiscent of the Roy Rogers version of this Cole Porter favorite (though Porter merely borrowed, with permission, the words of a poem written by Montana highway engineer Robert Fletcher).

Bill Carter brought out a full ensemble of players for Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'" and another number, and then Mrs. Glass (whom you can also see in "Best Love in Town") flat out rocked the house with his Delta blues on slide guitar and rough-hewn vocals. And that was just the FIRST rotation -- Greg brought everybody back a second time, and it was like having bananas Foster after eating tiramisu! [Double dessert for the uninitiated!]

On this round we got more of Matt Downing and his flaming banjo (okay, it just feels like fire is coming out from that little round box) -- and did I mention the comedy? For the record, on at least one occasion, Phoebe, Stephanie, and Ruby Jane billed themselves as the Wild Flowers -- but do not hold them to it.

Now this is supposed to be the pilot of what will one day soon become a weekly show -- featuring all kinds of music (Garing plays bluegrass, country, jazz, R&B, and even electronica -- and who knows what all else?). But for now, the best we can offer is (when the site is back up) archives from the streaming video that was shown LIVE at http://www.eventjourney.com/ and http://www.tvknob.com/ -- sites hosted by Anthony de los Santos and Doug Watkins, respectively. I also have to tip my hat to my old pal Jason Richard, chief sound engineer for the show, and to the lovely Jaime, who worked very hard on the show and also plays snare drum with the Greg Garing Band.

Before I leave off here, I have to tip my hat to the Austin American-Statesman for its wonderful article on five young Austin-based bands -- the Dedringers, the Fire Ants, Belleville Outfit, Dustin Welch, and Ruby Jane -- and to note that members of three of these bands were featured on this debut show of Greg Garing's American Backroads Revival. Gotta also note that Phoebe, and then Ruby Jane, and now Ian Stewart of the Fire Ants are the last three holders (for a year) of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin!

And speaking of the Belleville Outfit, I caught them a couple of Sundays ago at Hot Mama's Expresso Bar where they were performing for a benefit held by John Grubbs that raised money to fight leukemia and lymphoma -- the event, "Blood Feud - Melinda's Revenge," was named in honor of John's late sister who was stricken by leukemia in the 1960's when just 4 years old.

The night before I just HAD to get over to the Hole in the Wall for the mid-summer visit home by the Lonesome Heroes (and what a show they put on). The show also featured sets from Chris Brecht, the revamped Frank Smith (no banjo, no girl singer, and louder guitars), and the McMercy Family Band (whose faux gospel music is hard to tell from the real thing). [Lindsey Verrill joins the Heroes on "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" -- AFTER she hd persuaded an entire roomful of beer-drinkers to join hands and sing "Amazing race" along with her band.]

Seems like a long time ago now that I trekked over to Thunderbird Coffeehouse (on Koenig Lane) to catch a set from the wonderful Tara Craig and her new band -- Marco Arroyo on drums and Wayne Decker on bass. Love her passionate, thoughtful songs (like "Hiding" and "City of Sorrows") -- and her gentle soul. That same evening I also checked out the Dimestore Poets (who are working on their FOURTH record!) at the Irie Bean and the soulful LZ Love at the Saxon Pub.

Another highlight was the songwriters in a straight line at Threadgill's Old No. 1 on North Lamar -- also known as Stefanie Fix and the four fellows, Dustin Welch, Jeremy Nail, Will T. Massey (whose new political album will soon be released), and Nathan Singleton (who played his guitar acoustic and sidesaddle). One of the many highlights was the duet by Jeremy and Dustin on their co-written "Forgotten Child's Cry." Word is there will be more of these events!

I continue to listen to Kacy Crowley's intense new record -- and will soon share my thoughts on the eternal teenager and wanna-be roller girl (see her "Badass" video) and her songs. Warren Hood's long-awaited debut solo album is also on the horizon -- and I am eagerly awaiting the Drew Smith CD release at the Continental early in September. And somewhere along the way we will be getting the tracks from Dustin Welch's studio work.

One more thing -- there is room in the Flanfire house for an extra person or two. North Austin near Emmis Radio (KGSR, KLBJ, etc.) -- and right off IH-35 and US 183. Has to be the right person! Also, we are selling our family's other house -- check it out at www.8111shenandoah.com and pass the word on to people you know who are looking!