Flanfire

WOW -- what an evening. Just shows to go you that here in Austin, some of the BEST MUSIC you can find can be at a local diner without a real stage and with no cover charge (tip well, friends)!

After watching the obligatory Joan of Arcadia (new episode), I fulfilled my promise to Karen Mal and trekked down to Waterloo Ice House on 38th Street to catch her gig with Jenny Reynolds. Oh, well. It did not hit me that this was THE Jenny Reynolds from Boston whose lovely voice I used to hear on KPFT when I lived in Houston. Nor did I recognize bassist Will Landon as THE Will Landon of the Jimmy LaFave Band until he strapped on his bass. Then there was the surprise visit by Kerrville (and Texas songwriter) legend Rex Foster, who says he is trying to get Karen to join him on an upcoming tour sometime. Fiddler Martin Norgaard joined Karen for two short sets, and Karen and Will joined Jenny for two short sets, and another Austin songwriter, Kerry Polk, ran the sound while members of the Folk Alliance sat at tables to enjoy the shows. Karen, in case you did not know it, has this voice that suddenly reaches into the upper ranges of human vocal tones and shines through the night, taking listeners back to a simpler time.

I cannot say it any better than Michael Jaworek of the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia (one of my old stomping grounds): Karen Mal 's songs are like the old time remedy that mixed honey and lemon....They are sweet without being precious and have a lasting bite to them that makes them both memorable and good for you. Add a voice to match, and you have a musical panacea, curing our ills and adding to the grace of living.

But as good as Karen is as a songwriter and singer, she may be even better as a backup singer and mandolinist in the folk vein. (She also just got back from a cruise playing Irish music and is an accomplished actor and all-round theater person -- and, as many of my friends continue to remind me, she is lovely to look at, easy on the eyes.)

After Karen's first set, which included Gibraltar Road and Rosalie from her new CD Mercury's Wings, it was Jenny's turn. She brought Karen up to play and sing with her and Will - and we got to hear songs from her new CD, Bet on the Wind (including the title track) and her first CD, Colored in Poetry (and this former high school English teacher is indeed a poetess). Jenny told me she moved here last August (presumably after Kerrville) at the behest of Paul Barker and the Southwest Folk Alliance folks -- great recruiters, one must say.

In their second sets, Karen sang Mercury's Wings and Jenny sang a song about her mom called "She." But what can one say? Karen got Rex up to sing two songs - one he said was inspired by a challenge to write a song from an old man's perspective - I think the title is I Remember When I Was Young - and the other may be titled Every Time - and it speaks about the power to forgive. Blown Away is an understatement -- I must stock up on this man's work. [For the record, he also makes jewelry for the stars and anyone who likes that sort of stuff - bolos, chokers, necklaces, and much more.] While sitting at table together, Rex mentioned a musician he knows who said he would not go to California to play because he feared getting arrested for smoking a cigarette. True story.

Later, chatting with Kerry Polk, she noted that David Hamburger and Catherine Berry (see prior post) play and sing (respectively) on her forthcoming CD, and that my young pal Bonnie Whitmore has recorded one of Jenny's songs (Was It You?) for the forthcoming Bonnie and Blythe CD (at least I think it is the duo CD and not some other new Bonnie only CD). It IS a small world - and a wonderful one.

OH -- Jenny and Karen will be traveling together for joint gigs in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Oklahoma City, and Wichita and Lawrence, Kansas starting next Wednesday -- so if you have any friends in those cities who love folkish music, send them an e-mail directing them to just go. It WILL be worth it.