Flanfire

Momo's may just be the best musicians' club in Austin. I called up my friend El Goins today and he told me that Wendy Colonna has dropped her band in favor of a duo with Guy Forsyth at the 9:30 hour on Wednesdays (but not the next two weeks - more later). Knowing that Wendy was headed off to Italy with Ginger Leigh tomorrow, I felt I HAD to get down there. So i invited my pal Tahni Handal, who had never been to Momo's before yet will be playing there on April 10 as part of Chicks with Picks on that early Sunday evening. Turns out she got there first and hung out with Jade Day at the end of his 8 pm gig there.

So we settled in and listened to Guy and Wendy do songs like his Children of Jack and her Easy and a bunch of old gospel tunes and other stuff. Guy played the saw on one song and dobro and National Steel (or some similar guitar) on others. He broke out the harmonica only once. This was mostly a quiet set of reflective songs. Wendy's forthcoming CD is nearly done - Stephen Doster is producing - and she plans to finish it up once she returns from the land of her forefathers. Good for her that Ginger speaks fluent Italian and drives like an Italian there. Great for Ginger that she is taking her Austin buds to Italy to expand their horizons.

Next up was Brian Keane - whose new CD, produced by El Goins who also did all the artwork for the jacket and God only knows what all else, is done all except for the pressing. Brian has planned a BIG CD RELEASE at Momo's on May 20. Brian had Seth Whitney on bass and an amazing player - Colin Brooks, who won the top new folk artist at Kerrville in 2003, El tells me - on lap steel, dobro, and electric guitar. What a songwriter Brian is - songs like Another Piece of Me, Better Days, Concrete Sidewalk, Mexico, and a brand new as yet untitled song about a woman who thought she was forbidden to love the songwriter - plus on piano Paul Simon's Still Crazy after all these years. [Guy stuck around for one duet with Brian and even longer to help out Joy Davis on the Daniel Lanois tune The Messenger. ]

The joy of the evening was watching El Goins work -- the guy even admits to working out arrangements to other music while playing drums and singing backup vocals virtually flawlessly and with soul. I first met El when he was playing drums with Carolyn Wonderland, and began to really learn about his manifold skills when he produced the Chris McCarty inspired CD by the "loose collection of saints and sinners" recorded live at the Hotel San Jose.

Tonight, El, Brian, and Colin played as the impromptu band for singer Joy Davis, whose song choices and vocal style bring comfort to the weary soul late in the evening. Joy did a Brian Keane song and then did another duet with Brian on another of his songs that he did not do earlier in the evening. [The guy must have dozens ready to go for another CD.] The latter was a ballad about a Kentucky miner that for the unpteenth time during the evening reminded me that this guy is going to be HUGE once his new record is out. Joy sang "One Hand on the Bible and One Hand on the Gun," swilled whiskey and closed out with a song, "See Through Me" as the band (enhanced by musicians from the audience and even the sound board) played on. Then Colin did MOST of a brand new song of his, and finally we got El up to the mike with Brian's guitar to do a couple of his own marvelous compositions - One Brief Moment with You (from the aforesaid Hotel San Jose collection) and You Can't See Me, during which El directed the "band" on several loops and crescendos and more fun stuff and Joy sang harmonies as she learned the words and the few who had stayed until very late got a HUGE reward.

Talking afterward with Darren Fisher (who wears many hats about town and will soon have a website of his own poetry and stuff up and running), we were just amazed at what we had seen. Darren, by the way, works with Carolyn Wonderland on her Instruments for Orphans effort and is involved with the Austin Volunteer Orchestra (among other things). Even during Joy's set, Eldrige spoke up to let us all know that he was pretty happy about how the guys had convinced Joy not to cancel her show but to let them help her on stage and then how great a job the band guys were doing without ANY rehearsals... AND HE WAS RIGHT!!!

Well, it is VERY VERY LATE and past my bedtime.