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Flanfire (Duggan Flanakin) is bringing LIFE to Austin music -- and telling the world how sweet it is!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Happy Fifth Birthday, Momo's!
Brian Keane and the Band of the Heathens aim to please. Joy Davis and her "Rockstar" sister Patrice Pike just came by to show their support for one of their favorite clubs and listen to some of their own favorite friends. Also on the bill were Wendy Colonna, Suzanna Choffel, Rachel Loy (with a special appearance by 54 Seconds), and the South Austin Jug Band!
I got to Momo's just in time to catch almost all of 54 Seconds - my first time to see them (I rarely get down to the Lucky Lounge or anywhere else downtown during rush hour -- but I really ought to). Very impressed with Spencer Gibb -- always good to hear Stewart Cochran. Jeff Botta was playing drums, and of course Rachel Loy on bass -- and singing harmony vocals. Songs like "Ben's Letter" pierce through the night and make you want to hear the band again -- indeed, there are over 10,000 hits on that song on the 54 Seconds myspace account.
I had noticed that Rachel has lighter and longer hair - and the guys teased her about her newly revealed "dark side" (something about a fist!) -- but when she took the stage (backed by Botta, John Sanchez on guitar, and Sam Lipman on keyboards) I was astonished to see the formerly soft-pop sugar plum fairy had turned into a free-wheeling, funny girl diva (reminded me a little of Reese Witherspoon's on-screen June Carter in her ability to keep people smiling and a lot like Ruthie Foster in her new command of the stage. No more cute card tricks on songs, just deep-down gut wrenching soaring vocals and a dance-like energy that I first saw from Natalie Merchant a long, long time ago. Botta says that Rachel's "heart is a lot closer to her skin" in her singing these days -- the honesty is what makes a true singer touch your own soul, and Rachel is doing it! This is a HUGE change from the last time I saw her six months ago -- and light years from the high school girl I first saw at Jovita's many years ago. Most of the songs from still fairly new CD have been totally redone -- and "Unscrew You" was scorching!
The night continued with the ""Band of the Heathens" (missing Colin Brooks, who was on assignment) -- with Botta sitting in for his very first time on drums. Bassist Seth Whitney (from Olympia, Washington, originally) is the glue that holds the lead players to the fire -- and on this night South Carolina native Brian Keane (keyboards and guitar on one of his songs), New England refugee Ed Jurdi [our Red Sox have fallen apart with Jason Varitek on the disabled list] and NATIVE TEXAN Gordy Quist on guitars -- trading leads when not singing (for the most part). There may not have been a lineup of singer-songwriters working together as a band since the guys who made "Music from Big Pink" -- and Gordy informs me that HE lives in a pink house!
Now this was a real treat for me - Brian is an old favorite, and Seth has, I believe, played bass for just about all of these guys -- but I had never seen either Ed or Gordy live but had heard their music here and there and Ed is a friend of various friends and Gordy was a big winner at Kerrville this year and also won a songwriters' competition in Dallas a year back. Their upcoming CD, Live at Momo's, will be out in a few weeks (I hope to get out a review soon) and from what I heard on Saturday (and what folks can hear every Wednesday at Momo's and quite a few Mondays at Gruene Hall) these guys may have to put their solo careers on the back burner long enough to get famous collectively (just for economic reasons -- Gordy has a new CD he just completed up in Nashville which may take him places fast! but then The Band needed Mister Zimmerman to make themselves household names).
Last year, when El Goins played me the early versions of Brian's CD, "I Ain't Ever Lonely," I laughed at his funny songs and mellowed out reveling in the rest of the songs. On Saturday, the band the title cut as a duet with Ed and Brian as well as the hilarious "Odysseus" (updated for the venue) plus "Ain't No Great Mystery," which you can pick up on Brian's myspace site.
Ed made two notable recordings before moving to Austin about a year ago, and "Walking and Talking," "Bumblebee," and "Keep on Trying" were all from his newer release "Longshores Drive." This guy is pure white soul -- I hear a little (and paler) Sam Cooke or Lou Rawls... Ed writes a lot of songs about cities (maybe where he has been). The wonderful Nancy Coplin first turned me on to Ed's music -- and I urge ANYONE who has not heard him (or seen his hirsute chest, ladies!) to trot on over to myspace.com/edjurdi and treat yourselves to a taste of what I am talking about!
Now Gordy I heard on KUT - was blown away by his songs (and I am clearly in good company here) - and found out his beautiful bride (of three months) went to high school with my daughters. Gordy himself is from Klein High School (home of Lyle Lovett -- a VERY good sign) and went to college at a little Ivy League school in New Hampshire. "Judas Iscariot Blues" and "Rehab Facility" are new songs from his forthcoming CD, plus the band did a song that might be "What Love Makes You Do." The final number of the evening featured all three - plus Seth - taking the vocal lead on verses of "No More Cane on the Brazos," which sounds like something Colin Brooks would write but is in reality an old Texas prison work song that Leadbelly learned before he was released and which The Band also recorded. [Judas Iscariot will also be on the forthcoming Heathens CD.]
I did stick around for the South Austin Jug Band, but I was exhausted from three hours of fabulous music that was mostly new to me (well, Rachel's PERFORMANCE was all new! even on her old songs) and just relaxed - hanging out with Ginger Leigh, Nina Singh, and Wil Landin who had driven up after their gig in San Antonio and with Rachel Lynn -- and lots of other folks. Earlier in the evening I got to greet the abfab sister team of Joy Davis and Patrice Pike -- Joy has a gig coming up at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, by the way - and is also finishing up her debut CD (with help from A. J. Vallejo, sister Patrice, Wayne Sutton and a cast of thousands). Joy and Patrice share an amazing grace with people and a gentle optimism that is infectious. But you knew that!
