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Flanfire (Duggan Flanakin) is bringing LIFE to Austin music -- and telling the world how sweet it is!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Mr Brown: Goes with Red Stripe!Last time I had a chance to catch Kris Brown's new reggae band Mr Brown, I could not stay up late enough for the show. But on Saturday (because of a death in the family of the original headliner), the band was picked to open for the Mau Mau Chaplains at the Flamingo Cantina -- my favorite indoor/outdoor club on Sixth Street. Now I had seen Kris play reggae before (in Family Sauce), but this was a serious venture into the land of the Yellowman and the Marley family.
Deke (left) and Kris Brown.
Kris had told me that some of his homeys from Cincinnati had come down to live with him and play music together, yet this was my introduction to reggae rapper Diedrich (Deke) Jones and guitarist P. J. Harrington (both of whom are also writing new songs for the band). The three amigos (including Mr Brown himself) were up front, with saxophonist (and flautist) Mark Wilson and trumpeter Ed McMains and barefoot bass player Michael Van Horn on row 2 and drummer Paul Mills bringing up the rear.
The sound is usually good at the Flamingo, and on this night the house was packed inside and upstairs on the back patio -- but the promised Winston's jerk chicken and such was not to be found. Some of the songs were familiar oldies -- 100 Monkeys, Don't Stray Far, Rub a Dub, and Boderation, the title cut from Mr Brown's forthcoming CD which was cut at Courtney Audain's Coinhead Studios. Others were brand new -- including the stunning "Give Back (Take Back)," written by PJ and Deke, "12 Months," and "Who Has the Roots." Deke raps in a pure Jamaican dialect (which takes a trained ear to fully understand), and he really got down on "Nah Cool Down" and "Mission Impossible." But the band really shone forth on "Fire Burn" and "They're Dancing," right in the middle of the set. And, indeed, a lot of people at the show WERE dancing and celebrating this joyful music that sometimes carries a heavy message.
Word is that several more reggae souls from Cincy will be migrating to Austin in the next few weeks or so.... Up there, the music scene (such as it is) is far too often mixed with violence, I was told, whereas Austin is the hotbed of peace and love. I had other commitments -- my old pal Steve Ulrich was in town -- and had to miss the Chaplains (except for a song or two while I was still visiting friends at the Flamingo), but what a band!
Dony and Donihoo!
Earlier in the week, I had gone over to Momo's to meet up with Andrew Walker and Kim Deschamps and their buddy Lee Winright (who like Kim plays with Charlie Robison and like Charlie is really from Bandera) but got there early enough to catch a set from Elizabeth Donihoo - whose band for the evening included the effervescent Dony Wynn on drums, Bradley Oliver on bass, and Cole Hanson on lead guitar - plus Jodi Lazo on backing vocals. Elizabeth, who has been around Austin quite a while, just released her first full-length (8-song) CD, "Dream," which I would attempt to classify as psychedelic Eighties music. And, oddly, I really liked it.
Kris had told me that some of his homeys from Cincinnati had come down to live with him and play music together, yet this was my introduction to reggae rapper Diedrich (Deke) Jones and guitarist P. J. Harrington (both of whom are also writing new songs for the band). The three amigos (including Mr Brown himself) were up front, with saxophonist (and flautist) Mark Wilson and trumpeter Ed McMains and barefoot bass player Michael Van Horn on row 2 and drummer Paul Mills bringing up the rear.
The sound is usually good at the Flamingo, and on this night the house was packed inside and upstairs on the back patio -- but the promised Winston's jerk chicken and such was not to be found. Some of the songs were familiar oldies -- 100 Monkeys, Don't Stray Far, Rub a Dub, and Boderation, the title cut from Mr Brown's forthcoming CD which was cut at Courtney Audain's Coinhead Studios. Others were brand new -- including the stunning "Give Back (Take Back)," written by PJ and Deke, "12 Months," and "Who Has the Roots." Deke raps in a pure Jamaican dialect (which takes a trained ear to fully understand), and he really got down on "Nah Cool Down" and "Mission Impossible." But the band really shone forth on "Fire Burn" and "They're Dancing," right in the middle of the set. And, indeed, a lot of people at the show WERE dancing and celebrating this joyful music that sometimes carries a heavy message.
Word is that several more reggae souls from Cincy will be migrating to Austin in the next few weeks or so.... Up there, the music scene (such as it is) is far too often mixed with violence, I was told, whereas Austin is the hotbed of peace and love. I had other commitments -- my old pal Steve Ulrich was in town -- and had to miss the Chaplains (except for a song or two while I was still visiting friends at the Flamingo), but what a band!
Dony and Donihoo!
Earlier in the week, I had gone over to Momo's to meet up with Andrew Walker and Kim Deschamps and their buddy Lee Winright (who like Kim plays with Charlie Robison and like Charlie is really from Bandera) but got there early enough to catch a set from Elizabeth Donihoo - whose band for the evening included the effervescent Dony Wynn on drums, Bradley Oliver on bass, and Cole Hanson on lead guitar - plus Jodi Lazo on backing vocals. Elizabeth, who has been around Austin quite a while, just released her first full-length (8-song) CD, "Dream," which I would attempt to classify as psychedelic Eighties music. And, oddly, I really liked it.
Elizabeth Donihoo; Lee Winright.
The Irish lass has a warm alto voice that reminded me right off of Margo Timmons except that Margo is the queen of cool while Elizabeth is sometimes giddy on stage, excited to be sharing her songs with a real audience (even though she has been doing this for a long time). Hanson has been her guitarist for a while and seems to have co-written much of the music, he renders it so smoothly. Six of the songs have one-word titles (a lower percentage than Sam Baker's song list, and he may be the BEST songwriter I have heard in a long time).
"Dream" was produced by Lars Goransson, whose body of work is way too long to list here, but includes the chart hot What Made Milwaukee Famous CD and the upcoming Future Clouds and Radar CD. Mark Younger-Smith (Billy Idol's less famous guitarist) mixed the songs and added his own touches. And Traci Goudie did the very cool CD design work and layout that should get at least some votes for best of the year in this category.
Elizabeth as produced sounds as much like Mazzy Star as anything I have listened to over the years -- lots of texture and fills, and that dreamy (what else?) sound that makes for great date music. "Secret," which opens the CD, is all lovey dovey "Let me fill you with the secret of a better place." "Believe" is more a question than a statement, and "Undertow" is what you might feel when you wake up and last night's lover (who could well be your only lover) is gone you know not where and you are all spaced out from the glow and yet have to face the coming day (and whatever it brings).
"Dream" is a true song of hope for a better love -- again, "Take me to a higher place" is the theme, but this time the woman is waiting on her man to lead (and dreams of what will happen when he does). "Fear" asks "how can anything last if what you say -- which cannot be good -- is true?" But really, it is a plea for the guy to dream of what might be tomorrow if he will just let loose of his fear of commitment. "We're All the Same" is memorable for Hanson's guitar solo and the pulsating title theme, and for Darin Murphy's duet vocals.
"Don't Know Why" may be the coolest song musically on the whole record -- it's a straight-ahead ballad that is classic Eighties Pop -- cuddle music if ever there was such (or at least the stuff that slow dancing was made for) ... and the lyrics pound home the idea - "Delicate and all, hold my breath and fall .... and undo... Save me (the funny thing you see), Save me .... " This theme continues in the final number, "Weave" -- ""What do you know that will save me?" Here we get the clearest glimpse of Elizabeth's passion for all things George Harrison, as you can almost hear a sitar hidden in the sound track (it's not there, though).
Just a short note about the three amigos (well, mainly about Lee, since I had recently written a lot about Kim and Andrew). But first, Andrew unveiled a brand new song, "Where Did Love Go?," one of several he has written on this visit to Austin -- and of course it was another great joy to hear this poet and his songs. Lee's songs run the gamut from hilarious stories to dead-serious songs that touch the soul. My favorite may have been, "Nobody Saw It Coming," a lament about the ever-eager TABC and its efforts to keep Bandera clean and sober (and close down music bars whenever it has the chance). He opened his set with "Goodbye Brooklyn -- Michigan," and closed with "Eight Pains," but in the middle of the set gave us, "Cherry Lane," a song about an ex-girlfriend and his ex-best friend and their lives just two doors down from his empty household.
The Irish lass has a warm alto voice that reminded me right off of Margo Timmons except that Margo is the queen of cool while Elizabeth is sometimes giddy on stage, excited to be sharing her songs with a real audience (even though she has been doing this for a long time). Hanson has been her guitarist for a while and seems to have co-written much of the music, he renders it so smoothly. Six of the songs have one-word titles (a lower percentage than Sam Baker's song list, and he may be the BEST songwriter I have heard in a long time).
"Dream" was produced by Lars Goransson, whose body of work is way too long to list here, but includes the chart hot What Made Milwaukee Famous CD and the upcoming Future Clouds and Radar CD. Mark Younger-Smith (Billy Idol's less famous guitarist) mixed the songs and added his own touches. And Traci Goudie did the very cool CD design work and layout that should get at least some votes for best of the year in this category.
Elizabeth as produced sounds as much like Mazzy Star as anything I have listened to over the years -- lots of texture and fills, and that dreamy (what else?) sound that makes for great date music. "Secret," which opens the CD, is all lovey dovey "Let me fill you with the secret of a better place." "Believe" is more a question than a statement, and "Undertow" is what you might feel when you wake up and last night's lover (who could well be your only lover) is gone you know not where and you are all spaced out from the glow and yet have to face the coming day (and whatever it brings).
"Dream" is a true song of hope for a better love -- again, "Take me to a higher place" is the theme, but this time the woman is waiting on her man to lead (and dreams of what will happen when he does). "Fear" asks "how can anything last if what you say -- which cannot be good -- is true?" But really, it is a plea for the guy to dream of what might be tomorrow if he will just let loose of his fear of commitment. "We're All the Same" is memorable for Hanson's guitar solo and the pulsating title theme, and for Darin Murphy's duet vocals.
"Don't Know Why" may be the coolest song musically on the whole record -- it's a straight-ahead ballad that is classic Eighties Pop -- cuddle music if ever there was such (or at least the stuff that slow dancing was made for) ... and the lyrics pound home the idea - "Delicate and all, hold my breath and fall .... and undo... Save me (the funny thing you see), Save me .... " This theme continues in the final number, "Weave" -- ""What do you know that will save me?" Here we get the clearest glimpse of Elizabeth's passion for all things George Harrison, as you can almost hear a sitar hidden in the sound track (it's not there, though).
Just a short note about the three amigos (well, mainly about Lee, since I had recently written a lot about Kim and Andrew). But first, Andrew unveiled a brand new song, "Where Did Love Go?," one of several he has written on this visit to Austin -- and of course it was another great joy to hear this poet and his songs. Lee's songs run the gamut from hilarious stories to dead-serious songs that touch the soul. My favorite may have been, "Nobody Saw It Coming," a lament about the ever-eager TABC and its efforts to keep Bandera clean and sober (and close down music bars whenever it has the chance). He opened his set with "Goodbye Brooklyn -- Michigan," and closed with "Eight Pains," but in the middle of the set gave us, "Cherry Lane," a song about an ex-girlfriend and his ex-best friend and their lives just two doors down from his empty household.
