Flanfire

Did YOU get "Shocked" over SXSW week? East Texas fireball Michelle (Johnston) Shocked must have played a dozen gigs during the week (if not more), none better than her stint at Maria's Taco X-Press on Friday afternoon (that is, after the sound man figured out which mike she was using and got it all right). Bouncing in with her new band led by Dusty Wakeman (see www.michelleshocked.com for details on her forthcoming triple CD release in June), and wearing cutoff jeans with Daisy (?) Duck on the right front leg and Q-U-A-C-K! on the posterior (yup, she was all quacked up and had a quack on her ......) , Michelle was rockin' and tellin' stories (her best schtick) about turning into a rabbit and other such stuff --- and having lots of mischievous fun (reminiscent of her Gladewater beer run days though in a very different genre). Word was she was later to be serenading the state legislature and all of its employees brave enough to be seen in her presence -- but is there any truth to the rumor she will be chairing Kinky Friedman's gubernatorial campaign? [Now there is some pure gossip!]

Also on board at Maria' s during my stay (with 4-year-old in tow) were the Be Good Tanyas, the trio of folkie, vintage clothing wearing women from British Columbia whose music is all about their harmonies, as the wooden instruments are merely backdrop. The gals (Frazey, Trish, and Sam plus a standup bassist and drummer) were on holiday with their extended families - Trish had her mom and daughter (about 2) along for the ride, and all were having a jolly good time. Later in the week I ran into fellow Canuck Wyckham Porteous, who says he is Frazey's neighbor and that the Tanyas are indeed "good" people. Wyckham, who has played and taught at Kerrville and is a pal of Jimmy LaFave, is working on a new CD of his own to be produced by (former Rolling Stones manager and legendary producer) Andrew Loog Oldham. A recent West Coast Musician of the Year in Canada, Wyckham says he rises early, has a cuppa joe, walks an hour or so, has a second cuppa joe, chills, works on his writing for a few hours, and is ready for whatever life brings him -- what a way to spark the creative muse. Me - I write at night when no one else in the house is awake other than the cat (Shadow the Magnificent).

This conversation with Wyckham came as the thunderstorm interrupted Penny Jo Pullus' own set during her TeXchromosome (women in Texas music) showcase at Opal Divine's. We took the whole family down for some free range burgers and some live music beginning with the Hummingbirds - Susanna Van Tassel, Karen Poston, and Jim Stringer - who are now promising a forthcoming CD they have yet to start real work on. Joyful harmonies that I first heard at that paragon of Austin bars - the Carousel. Susan Gibson had just finished her set when we got there, but she gave me her brand-new (not yet in stores) CD to review - and WOW THIS IS HER BEST WORK YET!!!!!

Now, the website has one name and one song order for the CD, but what I got is called Outer.Space and begins with the sardonic "Sheep in Wolves Clothing." She has co-writes with Jim Lauderdale (Happiest When I'm Moving), Randy Scruggs (Together Strong), producer Jack Saunders (Company Man), Billy Burnet (Upon Re-Entry), and Yvonne Peres and Delbi Smart (Too Big Love), but for me the best songs on the record are all Susan -- the haunting "First Sign of Spring," the even darker "Stop the Bleeding," "Sisterhood" which reminds us of galpal Terri Hendrix's "Sister Song," and - well - a new, live version of "Wide Open Spaces." I also missed another Susan gig - with Bonnie Whitmore and Kim DesChamps - that was doubtless ethereal! But I did wear my Susan shirt to the barn dance on Sunday (next installment).