Flanfire

A full moon, the Nutty Brown Cafe, and Charlie Robison -- what a perfect combination for a lovely and joyful evening with an old friend. Well, in fact, several old friends. Charlie's band has both Kim Deschamps on pedal steel (lap steel, mandolin, etc., too) and Kevin Carroll on lead guitar -- Kevin is working on a new recording, BTW, while Kim's lovely spouse Karen has seen her own music business mushroom in recent months. Then there are fixtures Scott Esbeck on bass (and backing vocals) and Keith RobiNson on drums - professionals extraordinaire all.

Charlie opened with Good Times and New Year's Day from his newest (2004) CD, then went back in time, playing favorites from every one of his recordings. He even played a little lead guitar, trading off riffs with Carroll, and introduced little sis Robyn Ludwick (who had opened the evening with her wonderful original songs - more later), who sang (and danced) on a song about an angel from Amarillo. He told a dirty joke during the middle of oldie "You're Not the Best (But You're the Best That I Can Do)," and talked about politics (zipping his lip) while introducing his rendition of Kinky Friedman's "Wild Man of Borneo" (soon to be available on a compilation CD that will support the Kinksta's gubernatorial campaign). And on "Sunset Boulevard," Charlie Sheen disappeared in favor of Monica and Bill (the odd couple of the 90's).

The highlight of the set -- with about 800 in attendance -- had a good number of the crowd singing with (or instead of) Charlie on "Loving County," a tale of woe about a man and a diamond ring that was not his to give. It's my favorite Charlie song and has been since 1998 (or was it very early 1999?) when I first saw him at the Satellite Lounge in Houston and bought one o fhis tank tops for one of my girls (who LOVED the record as much as the shirt). The crowd kept singing to "Bar Light," Charlie's adult nursery tale, and quieted down for El Cerrito Place before erupting again for the "finale," John O'Reilly. Of course, Charlie played another song after that before really closing with the crowd doing most of the singing on "My Hometown."

My first big surprise of the evening was looking up during Robyn (Robison) Ludwick's set to see old pal Matt Slusher on lead guitar (and occasional mandolin). Matt (an original member of the South Austin Jug Band) has also been working with Kerrville New Folk winner Gordy Quist on a demo and doing other work in his home studio as well as playing here and there - and with Robyn quite a bit. Kim Deschamps is set to join the band for their Austin City Limits Festival set, I am told. Smart woman, that Robyn - who got Bad Liver Danny Barnes to produce her 2005 CD, "For So Long," from which most of her set was taken.

Robyn also persuaded hubby John "lunchmeat" Ludwick to play bass on her record, with Mark Thomas Patterson on drums. Guests included Warren Hood (fiddle), Chip Dolan (B-3), the legendary Marty Muse (pedal steel), Jon Dee Graham (lap steel), Rich Brotherton (mandolin), and brother and sis-in-law Bruce and Kelly on harmony vocals (along with Carol Young from the Greencards). Not bad work - but then Robyn's songs are well worth the effort. As Matt explained his joy in playing in her band, "it's all about the songs."

Robyn herself says that, "The lyrics and storytelling of this album are mostly autobiographical while touching on themes such as life, love and sorrow in American folk with a 'swig' of Texas country." In my view, she sings like Charlie (in a storyteller voice) but writes like Bruce (well, not "What Would Willie Do?," but more like "Rayne, Louisiana" and "Angry All the Time"). Her record is sultry and dark but with lighter touches and her live show was mesmerizing at times. In upcoming weeks, she's opening for Bruce and Charlie and for sis-in-law Kelly Willis, and playing other notable gigs as well -- then it's off to Europe for a week in October. Who knows? Maybe little sister will catch on and be as well known as both her brothers combined. Okay - I am NOT going to review the CD here - but I will direct you to her website, www.robynludwick.com, where there are both excellent reviews and some downloads.

Squeezed in between the Robison family band leaders was the all-Wimberley quintet, Texas Renegade, which does feature twin brothers on bass (Eli Carver) and various stringed instruments and vocals (Tyson Carver) - plus songwriter and lead vocalist and guitarist Andy Bertelsen. Drummer Matt Pigg and harmonica player (wow he good!) Kasey Klepfe round out the band. Their debut CD, "3 a.m." has been out for a while, and the boys are headed back to the studio on July 10 to start work on a followup. Just to show you they are Wimberley boys, the bank is planning its First ANnual TXR and Friends float trip in Canyon Lake for July 29 -- with details coming soon at their website, www.txrenegade.com .

They debuted at least one song from the forthcoming plastic near the end of their set - it's called "Fight over You." They also covered "I'm In" (Radney Foster) and Like a Rolling Stone (yeah, that one!), and a song Jeff Plankenhorn did on his debut CD (Mary Magdelen). The boys will be back in Austin on July 28 for a FREE show at Hill's Cafe (another nice outdoor Austin venue that is supported by a fixture restaurant). I liked these guys, who have lots of merch to sell, too.