Flanfire

Barn dance mania -- Theresa Andersson (born in Sweden, lives in New Orleans) rocked out - with Papa Mali helping on guitar along with her full band. This fiddle-playing virtuoso and singer blew everyone away (as might be expected). But perhaps even better was the Barn Dance debut of the Kim DesChamps blues band, featuring Tony Velasco on bass and Willie Pipkin (of the South Austin Jug Band) on guitar and a drummer pal of Kim's -- this troupe will be playing Tuesdays at Momo's starting in the not too distant future. Jackson himself joined Sunny Coleman for some fine jamming, and Erik Hokkanen also dazzled the crowd with his virtuosity. Wendy Colonna joined Tucker Livingston on stage for one song - she was to play with Guy Forsyth later (but I had to leave and missed Guy and the Grassy Knoll Boys and more). Also missed some early stuff. The weather was fabulous after a rainy Sunday morning. Nice breakfast at Threadgill's followed by a short but sufficient set by the incomparable Soul Stirrers -- the remnants of a group that left Trinity, Texas, for Chicago in 1929 and took with them a sound made even better by the late great Sam Cooke and later Lou Rawls (and more). Willie Rogers has been a Soul Stirrer for decades, and he knows how to show the love. Among their contributions - the Soul Stirrers was the first gospel group to feature a lead singer with backup singers (as opposed to the jubilee style and the first to use a guitar as a lead instrument. They are also the only gospel group ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The great music at Threadgill's continued with the Brennen Leigh Band (which will have a new CD out this week, Too Thin to Plow) and the Original Bells of Joy - whom Willie Rogers calls "legendary."

Now, back to the barn dance - at Dave and Cindy Cassles on Slaughter Creek. My first visit, and hopefully not my last. First time I ever met the little biker dude I had no idea as to the breadth of his creativity or his generosity, but over time I ahave grown to love this man of medicine and his lovely wife. As usual, the barn dance food was full of variety - from the grab and go to the home cooked delicacies. These are (for those uninitiated) parties to which people bring their children and their best friends. And so I brought my new and good friend Tom Hinze, whom I met last year at this time at a GIT concert at a private party east of IH-35 (other groups also played that day, but we hung with the Aussie girls). Tom, after months of jumping through bureaucratic hoops, has opened up Tom's Garage in Appleton, Wisconsin, which has already been host to the Danny Leigh Band (which coincidentally was the first act we saw in full this afternoon) and at least one other from the Austin area -- and he wants to bring more, more more. So naturally, I introduced Tom to Jane Bond, Wendy Colonna, and the fabulous Leeann herself (well, he is a bachelor these days) and also to a bunch of pals of mine who hail from the Badger State (Jackson, for instance). I also brought Seth Hulbert and his sis, Brennen Leigh and some more of her pals to the barn dance for the first time.

Leeann was handing out copies of her new CD with Slim Richey and the Dream Band, and Beth Richard was handing out copies of the new Addictions demo (that's Quatropaw's lineup plus one now playing harder rock). Leeann's other new CD is nearing completion (the one with HER songs), and that is really good news. I ran into Beatle Bob and the fabulous Amanda (who informed me she had driven the St. Louis DJ and super cool dude to the party) - twin harbingers of joy, to be true.

All very good - but the BEST thing I saw at the barn dance was the sight of my beautiful wife Nancy showing up to join in the fun and frolic. She visited long and hard with my pal Steve Ulrich and with various others, and was able to wind down from a long day (Saturday) of shortening the three skirts on our daughters' wedding dress. Reinforcements begin arriving Monday (our older daughter and Nancy's dear sister), and others continue to arrive as the week unfolds. All we ask is for sunshine and sweetness - and lots of love.