Flanfire

Or maybe it can. Dustin Welch said "goodbye" to Mondays at Momo's in style a couple of weeks ago (okay -- flanfire is moving and had no time to write till now!) with about two dozen of his closest friends joining him on stage and singing their favorite Dustin Welch tunes. It was a fitting end to a year-long (plus) run for the young songwriter who is wise beyond his years (he admits to having had great teachers, including his dad) -- and indeed he is blessed with a sister whose voice is as beautiful as her soul.

Maybe it's the Tennessee, but Savannah Welch needs to sing a whole lot more in public. With Sally Allen singing harmonies, the slender songbird proved her brother right for encouraging (well, demanding) that she interpret "Dresden Snow," a song he wrote with her Dolly Parton like voice in mind. Dad Kevin got to sing the first song he and Dustin wrote together, "Glorious Bounties," and it was glorious indeed. And Dustin -- joined by a houseful of friends -- led the entire room in "Poor House" and "Don't Tell Em Nothin."

Highlights were plentiful -- Nathan Singleton on "Heartbreak" and the brand-new "Lost at Sea"; George DeVore on "Idaho Moon"; Suzanna Choffel on "Too Blue to Tango" (another new one); and Kacy Crowley just baring her own soul on "Two Horses." All amazing -- along with songs from Willie and Micky Braun, Dan Dyer, Johnnie Goudie, Bukka and Sally Allen, Jeremy Nail, and the incomparable Drew Smith. Special praise, though, goes to Jack Martin and Justin Wade Thompson (with help from Savannah) on "Whiskey Priest" (you just had to be there!). The packed house will long remember this wonderful evening!

Meanwhile, Dustin has a very busy schedule -- with upcoming shows at Momo's with Freedy Johnson and with the Dedringers, at The Oaks with Graham Wilkinson, at the Continental Club with the Heartless Bastards, and on August 17th at Threadgills with his dad at the Music March for Heroes. But MY favorite upcoming show could be Wednesday night at Threadgills Old No. 1 (North Lamar) -- with Stefanie Fix, Will T. Massey, Jeremy Nail, and Nathan Singleton.

Very quickly I want to mention some other shows I have seen recently -- and to note upcoming reviews of new music from Kacy Crowley and others. First off, maybe I forgot to mention in my review of the Goldcure CD that those boys can P L A Y !!! Especially when Stephen Doster joins them on stage (as he did at a recent Saxon show or two) to make it three guitars (most evident in the lengthy introduction to "Never Alone"). Then there was the lovely Charlie Faye with Jeff Botta on drums, Cornbread on bass (bread and botta, she mused) -- and Will Sexton and John X. Reed on guitars. That was also the night Aimee Bobruk turned me onto Jesse Sykes (and I stayed up till after 4 am listening to her ethereal music).

Speaking of Aimee, she's been doing a video for her song "Fools for Love." Even Flanfire wore a dunce cap at the Hole in the Wall for the shoot, but he was wise enough to catch her short set of brand-new songs a few days later at Momo's -- and wise enough to plan to be back at the Hole for happy hour with Aimee this Thursday.

It was also the same night I met up with Dominique and Niki, the two "blondes" from L.A. (okay, Dominique has a Texas driver's license and owns property here!) who played bass and drums twice this past week with Austin natives Kathy Valentine and Eve Monsees as the Bluebonnets. So I introduced the visitors to Justin Wade Thompson (one of my favorite young bass players -- and poets) and it turns out Dominique was already a fan of his.

So the next night I trekked over to Antone's for the girlie show (uh, lots of women playing music, including Paula Nelson and Carolyn Wonderland and legendary Beaumont native Miss Barbara Lynn) to catch the Bluebonnets and came away quite impressed. Dominique is also a very good singer (so I learned), and the whole band just flat rocked out. I somehow MISSED their Saturday night set at the Continental (but did hear the Mississippi based Blue Mountain), but one guy I spoke with later admitted that HE too wants a female drummer having seen Niki in action.

But back to Tuesday -- later in the evening at the Beauty Bar, the two beauties and their posse [here's Dominique with her makeup on!] showed up for a smokin' set by Justin, Nathan Singleton, and the Sideshow Tragedy. Drummer Jeremy Harrell (see photo) is the oft-neglected huge asset to this high energy trio.

The very next night I was back at Antone's for the Common Threadz benefit -- this nonprofit "marries apparel and art to make a difference in the world" through purchasing school uniforms for children in developing nations out of the proceeds from selling designer T-shirts. Caught sets from Blues Mafia [more next time on their Sunday set with Van Wilks] and American Graveyard (see photo). That millinery-making fiddle player (Sarah Stollack) is quickly becoming a major asset to this band (whom Betsy Moore calls her very favorite in the whole world, and she knows Austin music!).

One recent Monday night also found me at an early show at the Carousel to catch Seth Woods and the Sad Accordians and their sometimes eerie music -- songs like "Bottomless" and "So Slow" and "Into the West" (shades of Aimee Bobruk's new song, "No True West"). One of their new songs was an instrumental that reminded me of spreading apple butter and Nutella on fresh home-baked seven grain bread. Yummy!

I also caught up recently with my pals Jack Martin and David Lloyd Wofford at Beerland for the Austin debut of their one-time New York hot band, Cause for Applause, which also features Jeffrey Bouck on drums. David's vocals here remind one of Screamin' Jay Hawkins doing "I Put a Spell on You," while the band itself has been compared with Captain Beefheart. They play August 5th at the Beauty Bar. What great fun! Here's Jack playing acoustic guitar at a recent Momo's gig.

One final note -- jazz is alive and in increasing health here in Austin. One example -- pianist Nathan Hook and the Austin Jazz Trio, whom I caught at Jovita's a few days ago (with Max Frost on bass and Bowman Thompson and James Wiseman switching off on drums). Yeah -- all these guys are still in high school except the recently graduated Bowman, who will sit in with The Daze this Thursday at Antone's (after Del Castillo).

And Austin is also blessed with Austrian super guitarist Ullrich Ellison (no kin to Sims and Kyle), who is playing an early show at Momo's Wednesday with Billy Wilson and Latin at Heart. Ullrich, for the record, just won this year´s Downbeat magazine student award in the category "Best rock/pop soloist 2008" for his CD, "Tales from the Kingdom Electric." Having heard his music, I invited Ullrich out to hear Van Wilks on Sunday -- but my review of that show will have to wait for another evening!