Flanfire

Young Austin – if you REALLY want to get a hint of what Austin was like in the Sixties (which officially ended somewhere in the early Seventies), you can get over to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar on Christmas Eve for the Hot Greezy (Wheels) Gonzo Reunion. Okay, maybe you can catch Roky Erickson or Shiva’s Headband or even the Uranium Savages.

OR you could just go listen to Mandy Mercier - the one true heiress to Janis Joplin, another bluesy woman whose voice just broke your heart. Mandy's voice did just that to me the very first time I heard her sing – back at the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers’ gospel brunch at the long-defunct (and much missed) Empanada Parlour. Mandy had only recently started singing again after nearly succumbing to a killer disease – several months later, she released "Wild Dreams of the Shy Boys" - one of my favorite recordings of this decade.

I was sure that Miss Mercier just had to be a Louisiana Cajun – after all, she is a longtime close pal of Lucinda Williams – but the truth is she grew up in Connecticut, honed her musical skills in New York and San Francisco (and eventually New Orleans), and did not arrive in Austin until 1980. And found her home at the Armadillo and Threadgill’s – becoming a regular on Champ Hood’s Wednesday Sittin’ and Singin’ for Supper Sessions (which also featured Christine Gage, Jimmy Dale Gilmour, and Marvin Dykhius – and many others).

Mandy once told me she was the one who stayed up all night playing music and having fun, but unlike most of her guy friends got up the next morning and went to work. As either girlfriend or just good buddy, she probably kept bunches of our heroes alive and able to make the music we still revere (while nearly killing herself in the process). Blaze Foley was one of her buds, as was Ray Wylie Hubbard, whose "Run Out of Darkness" is the title track on her brand-new CD -- and, yes, the song is a great duet!

"Shy Boys" showcased Mandy’s songwriting and even her fiddling skills, but there is not a fiddle in sight on this serious blues album and only one of the songs is Mandy’s own. That song - "Get There" - Mandy wrote on her way to Nashville to Walter Hyatt’s funeral. Tying strings together, this version features Uncle Walt’s bandmate and Austin legend Champ Hood on guitar – just one more memory for those who loved him to share. For good measure, we also get Dana Cooper and Shake Russell singing backing vocals on the track.

Austin insiders will be pleased to know that the band for this recording is Tommy Taylor on drums, Andy Salmon on bass, Chip Dolan on organ, Marvin Dykhuis and Ben Cocke on guitars, plus Dan Earhart on piano and James Fenner on percussion – and Paul Skelton plays guitar on "You’ve Got to Move," the old standard (but as arranged by Mandy and Blaze) which closes out the CD. There is also Willie Dixon’s "Spoonful," Sippy Wallace’s "Special Delivery Blues," John Sebastian’s "Sportin’ Life," and Tom Pacheco’s "Wild Heart" – which is killer!

But the show stopper – and as a veteran of Mandy and band on Janis’ birthday – we get the Mandy Mercier version of Big Mama Thornton’s "Ball & Chain." No - Mandy does not sound "like Janis" – she just makes you feel the same way Janis did when she sings. It’s in her phrasing, it’s in her vocal power – but what makes all the difference is that Mandy is maybe the ONLY woman who has walked in Janis-like shoes and paid her dues – and survived [which is an amazing thing in itself given that our gal will admit herself that she has not always been her own body’s best friend]. And among living white woman blues singers, Mandy to me ranks right up there with my all-time favorite Tracy Nelson (Mother Earth) and maybe ahead of Mandy’s own girlhood idol - Maria Muldaur.

Several members of the Hood family drove over from Lake Charles to celebrate the release of Mandy's new CD at her two-set show at Guero's beautiful garden -- and her very hot band included Taylor, Salmon, and Dolan -- plus the left-handed Mark Viator on lead guitar and Mandy herself on acoustic and electric guitar -- and fiddle in the second set.

TIDBITS: Earlier on Saturday I stopped by the GAT-5 collective to check out the work of Charles and James Ferraro

and to listen to tunes from Stefanie Fix and Jabarvy. The highlight had to be the unveiling of Jabarvy guitarist Charlie Narayan’s new song, "Ground Zero," though I have to admit that meeting Miss Fix was a joy and a delight. MUST GET to her Monday Free Radical Social Hour shows (with Jean Synodinos) – both women and full bands for FREE! Later on Saturday, it was over to a packed out Saxon Pub for the Leeann Atherton CD release and birthday party – which featured 13 people on the Saxon stage for "Mambo John" and backing vocals by the handsome Austin Atherton. [More on this show and Leeann’s new blues CD later.]

Finally, Sunday was the annual Empty Bowls charity event at Clayways on Burnet Road – where Austin’s best restaurants donate their signature soups, celebrities and ordinary folks make (or just sign) bowls for soup eaters and souvenirs, and some of Austin’s finest sing and play – including the red-headed Idgy Vaughn (WOW she’s pretty! – but so is Bonnie Whitmore and all of the OTHER women who graced the flat-ground stage).

Oh, and do not forget that Sunny Sweeney is about to hit the big time (signing a real contract and moving to Nashville). Just three more of her Sunday night shows at the Poodle Dog! Maybe your last chance to buy her a beer and thrill to the twang up close and personal (and get to hear her killer band).