Flanfire

The Vortex Theatre on Manor Road is one cool venue for music -- even though it is mostly used for live experimental theater.

But Roy Taylor works at the place, and he also produced Dana Falconberry's sparkling new recording, and so several dozen of the luckiest people in town got the chance to hear Dana and her vocal trio (backed by bassist Andrew Bergmann) in extremely fine fashion (yes, Roy also ran the sound and hung the stars and kept the songbirds chirping!). He also manages the band.

The glorious night began quietly enough (except for some rustling among the crowd to get another drink during the show, something that would NEVER HAPPEN at the Bugle Boy!). A gushing Erika Maassen (star above her head as it always should be) showed off her pipes with four songs, including Mr. Nothing (which she did not write), then Gina Dvorak followed with five songs that also left most of the audience begging for more. No wonder the three-part harmonies sound so good!

Did I mention that all three women came out in white -- and that the entire aura of the evening was much more heavenly than the cream cheese ads featuring silly angels! Dana Falconberry hails from Dearborn, Michigan, but she came to Austin in part by way of Conway, Arkansas, and her songs are often haunting (Doug Burr's songs are a reference here!) and always unique.

I have to start with a song that has captured my heart -- "Singing Lullabies" is maybe the most joyful tale of death and afterlife that I can remember ... "Nobody knows that I was singing when I died, and I was peaceful, I said all my goodbyes, and I was happy, I was singing lullabies." The title of the new CD, "Oh Skies of Grey," is the first line in "Blue Umbrella," which on stage often features Erika on cola (or beer) can. Indeed, the musical framing of these songs goes way beyond the lyrics themselves to create a special time.

I remember my first encounter with Dana Falconberry -- two Halloweens ago at Epoch Coffee House (outside under the stars) with Bonnie Whitmore all dressed up to play the cello and wearing her roller skates. Sister Eleanor was there that evening, too, with her (then) new BF Chris Masterson. Dana's backing band that evening included Michael Longoria and Luis Guerra (who also play in Terremoto and have Patty Griffin connections), and they of course are all over the new record. Like Seth Walker, Dana seems to have been teleported to Austin from another time -- Seth from the Fifties, Dana maybe from "The Shire."

I started going to see Dana at Momo's and thought as I first heard the trio that this was even better than the earlier (for me) stuff and that maybe she could keep this concept going. But would these two very talented women subsume their own individual careers? Not that long afterward, Erika found out her old high school buddy Andrew was moving to Austin -- and that he had become a pretty fair city-slicker bass player. Next thing you know he was a fixture -- and my joy over this wonderful woman and her musical entourage grew again.

Back to the live set, which includes Dana playing a very fuzzy electric guitar, Gina picking up the banjo, Erika adding keyboards now and then, plus whistling, tambourines, and more. A major highlight was a hot version of Sam Cooke's "Cupid" -- brought down the house! A favorite of mine has to be "Birthday Song," which I can claim is written to me, as MY birthday is in September, too. But it is songs like "Baby Blue Sky" that remind us that Dana has that amazing quality of making everyone around her feel younger -- and cleaner inside and out. Lucky folks can catch Dana on October 15th at the Mohawk opening for Tom Schraeder -- and again at the Mohawk on November 5th opening for Sea Legs (both CD release shows).

My early memories of Eleanor Whitmore are always as Bonnie's amazing sister who plays fiddle and mandolin -- and how she made Slaid Cleaves a household name for me (along with Oliver Steck). I held Bonnie's hand during Eleanor's dreadlocks days ... and rejoiced when she reemerged from exile in Arlington to pick up not only her fiddle and mandolin but also to go to work here and there for Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis. Then I heard that she was singing harmony vocals with Bruce on his new CD -- and so I was excited to get out that cold evening it seems forever ago at the Red Eyed Fly (inside!) to hear Eleanor debut her own songs with sister Bonnie at her side.

This, of course, was long after that fateful aforementioned Halloween, so I am certain that SOMEONE was encouraging her to step up. Maybe it was that certain SOMEONE who also was smiling at her as she debuted her guitar picking at Antone's a few weeks later. That SOMEONE (Chris, of course), also produced the new recording, Airplanes (which to me is a counterpart to Dana's Paper Sailboat).

I love these songs -- "The River," cowritten with Michael O'Connor (whom I got to know years ago on a big boat with Shelley King and Miss Bonnie and others), "Airplanes," cowritten with Chris Masterson, but particularly songs like "Sing" and "Coffee in the Rain" (so honest!) Maybe the second best thing on the record (besides Eleanor's gentle voice) is Eleanor's heart-warming fiddle (sometimes violin! -- after all she is also a symphony player). Speaking of players, the cast of characters on this recording includes George Reiff on bass, Paul "Falcon" Valdez on drums, Sweney Tidball on piano and Wurlitzer, and maybe a few others whose identities have so far been unrevealed.

The record opens with "Never Say a Word" with one of those microphonic gizmos (harmonica mike?) and then all of a sudden you get the real Eleanor and that Wurlitzer -- and then there are some sepia-toned background harmonies to give the song that old-time feeling (a not-so-distant relative of Dana's music). But of course, with Eleanor, you get the violin/fiddle and are carried away to Never-Never Land where she really lives (she only SAYS she lives in Brooklyn now). [And you have to know that a skinny kid from Bertram must be flying high to have such a genuine musical princess at his side.]

"Sister Sleeps" is a nice little song that speaks of everyday life when your lover is away. "Waltz of the Mystery Ship" is just a little interlude that sets up "Just Friends" (when she really wants more!) -- subtly subtitled Eleanor ROCKS! "Awake To Remember Me'' really showcases the growth in Eleanor's vocal power -- this song has that Sixties feel (early Airplane?) - I hope for a real power solo by Mr. Masterson at the next Eleanor show (which in Austin means opening on October 22 and 23 for Carrie Rodriguez -- yet another fiddle player who can really sing!).

I also love "Fly," which is the nearest thing to a traditional top 40 ballad on the record. I can just hear Donna Fargo on this one (if she could handle the subtle political reference). "Sorry" opens with muted trumpets ... OKAY, this too is a real ballad ... that ought to be heard on Majik 95 and other stations that play music for people to really listen to and enjoy. The more I listen, the more I love this song! Even so, "Coffee in the Rain" to me is the purest Eleanor -- I can just see her with her finger properly curled around a fine china coffee cup while wearing cutoff jeans. "Sing" is yet another waltz (with lots of action along the way). And "The River" is ALSO a waltz, but one with that Wimberley touch! Guess I will just have to cough up the big bucks for Carrie (even if I end up missing her set) because I just cannot get enough of Bonnie's Big Sis!


And speaking of fiddle players, here's the perky JoBelle Smith (aka Ruby Jane's mom) with a pal having a BLAST at Roadhouse Rags -- dancing to the sounds of the Austin Fiddlah. [When the kid's away in Washington, DC, Mom gets a night out to live it up!]

Sarah Stollak organized this fine evening of music, in what she has billed as her farewell performances with the Lonesome Heroes and American Graveyard, who shared the stage with the Flatcar Rattlers - and will again on November 15th BTW. LUV Roadhouse Rags!

Sarah says that all that fiddling around has just made her crabby and she wants to focus on her jewelry and other handicrafts (she has also been known in this town as Sarah Millenary). We have been blessed in this town to hear Sarah with these two bands plus Marshall Jones and the Frontier Phrenologists and here and there with Girls with Vices and still more performers. I have to say the Heroes show was bittersweet -- Sarah is just tired and may not even realize just how much her music has moved so many of us over the years. Meanwhile, Kullen Fuchs was showing his stuff for a special visitor -- even brought out HIS Wurlitzer piano for the night.

Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.