Flanfire

Ginger Leigh has finally got her "Sugar in My Coffee" CD on the shelves - and one presumes coming off the shelves as people listen and purchase this fine recording, done in conjunction with Merel Bregante (longtime drummer for Loggins and Messina who married Austin's Sarah Pierce and opened a studio here a while back). About 300 people showed up at Momo's Club last month for her CD release, and I finally caught her new set at Momo's this week. Backed by Nina Singh on drums, Will Landin on bass, and Hedda Layne's Troy Lee on guitar, Ginger rocked the house, interweaving songs from "Sugar" with older material that in my humble opinion now seems sharper and sassier than ever.

I first heard Ginger years ago in a now-demolished eatery at the upper end of the "drag" - it was the Ginger and Sarah (Dashew) Band, and they made you laugh as they bounced all over the musical marketplace and told stories in between songs. Ginger is a huge giver of her time and talent to making Austin (and much of Italy, I am told) a better place to live, as I have continually learned over the years.

[Editor's note: Sarah has a new CD out soon, "Jealous Girl," and had one of her songs featured on the TV show "My Name Is Earl" -- curiously, one of the songs on HER new CD speaks of "cream in my coffee" -- and I am eagerly awaiting Sarah's return to Austin to showcase this new music and celebrate life with this woman who has overcome so much.]

Sarah co-wrote one song on Ginger's new record - "Close Enough," and another with business and personal partner Cindy Hill - the amazing "Mexican Man." The rest are all Ginger-ly done... Brad Gilley plays drums on the CD, and Stewart Cochran (Will's bandmate with Jimmy LaFave) tickles the ivories -- check out the website (www.gleigh.com) for other players.

To tell the truth, I was not paying that much attention to who was on stage (though I had ID'ed Nina, who arrived early) until the second song of the set, when I perked up to the bass solo on "Crumble" and said, "That's Will Landin!" Next up was the soulful, churchy "Time To Move On," and then "Passion and Deception" (another cut off "Charge Laughing," Ginger's prior CD named after an e.e. cummings verse). The title cut is a talking poem about Ginger's travels, life and times that always gets back to her hot desire - "I want YOU!" "Whisper" is one of two cuts that appears twice on the CD - the long and the radio edit version. "Mexican Man" tells a little of Ginger's life story and lets all of us know that she is at peace with her crazy quilt life that others might find conflicted if they go by legalisms -- the best news in the song is that Ginger is happy with herself (something clearly reflected in how she deals with others).

Ginger's set at Momo's followed one by Rachel Loy (backed by her beautiful two-time mom sister Sarah Lear) and pals Chris and Brad. Watching Rachel and Sarah on stage brought many thoughts to mind -- cheesiest among them that the Loy sisters are far better musicians and better representatives of Texas than either the Simpson or Duff sisters (Jessica and Ashlee and Hailie and Hilary) -- yet they are the ones making the least money. Shows to go you just how absurd the "business" is -- but the good news is that Rachel will be wowing audiences for the next forty years while those who choose fame may fade away). Rachel, however, reminds me much more of another central Texas icon - Leigh Nash - both bubbly and deep at the same time. [Leigh, BTW, a new mom, has a solo CD ready for release sometime this spring!]

Rachel started her set solo on guitar and completely quieted a chatting crowd with a song that might be titled, "Humanity," and then brought up the band for songs like "Parachute Boy" off "Love the Mess" [she ended her set with the title cut, which again reminds me of Leigh's "This Beautiful Mess" from the second Sixpence None the Richer CD]. Noting a baseball-capped youngster in the audience, Rachel dedicated "Silly Girl" which is her attempt to remember her days as a 12-year-old. My favorite lyric of the evening is from "Inconsolable" - yet still so full of hope - which Rachel again did solo (with Sarah backing on vocals). Back to the band for "You Gave Up on Me," in which Rachel showed her chops on bass to the fullest extent of the night. On her blog, she has recently lamented being dumped by both her label and her ex-boyfriend, but her fan base is probably growing every time new audiences get to watch her live.

Earlier in the week I fulfilled a pledge to Matt Hubbard to catch his Monday show at Ruta Maya - and boy was THAT a good idea! Matt played harmonica, keyboards, drums, and trombone (at least) during the evening and had Charlie Pritchard and Landis Armstrong swapping out Telecaster and Stratocaster licks all evening long. [Folks, Landis has this Strat that is absolutely AMAZING! -- No wonder El Goins continues to rave about his work recording The Breathers last CD!] Vocalists included Mario Matteoli of the Weary Boys (for whom Matt is recording a solo CD even as we write) and the lovely Paula Nelson - plus fellow Small Star Vic Oden (sic). The next Small Stars show in Austin will be January 21 at the fabulous Carousel Lounge - an ideal video shoot for this amazing band of imposters. Later that evening I stopped by Ego's to catch up with Tony and Charlotte (new mom yet??) Velasco and hear a mostly acoustic set from Tony's band People Skills -- and Tony, Russell, Freddy, and Grady B sounded better than ever.