Flanfire

So much music -- so little time. And I actually have a writing career outside music. Alas -- and flying to Orlando to speak before the amasses power structure and driving to Shreveport and back with Miss Daisy (well, my beautiful, fun-loving 96-year-old in May mother -- you gotta meet her!). So here is the nutshell --

Floramay Holliday, Shelley King, Carolyn Wonderland

First of all, Sis Deville ROCKS!!! And maybe it is the glow of her second pregnancy, but Floramay Holliday was RADIANT all evening last Monday! Word is we may get MORE Sis Deville shows, even though bassist Ann Marie Harrop has moved to Fort Worth to be closer to her Brave Combo bandmates (she's singing in Polish on their upcoming CD, and she sang in Polish at Momo's with her sistahs!). Sorry, guys, no CD or vinyl yet available, so you have to catch their all too rare shows in person -- also featuring Lisa Pankratz on drums and vocals, Carolyn Wonderful-land on guitars and vocals, and Official Texas Musician of the year 2008

Shelley King on guitar and vocals.

My only other show of late was last Thursday at Momo's, where I FINALLY got to hear Dertybird -- and the band's awesome (from Muscle Shoals, Alabama) lead singer and songwriter, Clayton Colvin -- along with J. T. Holt on guitars, Nick Summers on drums, Doodlbug (Lee Brock) on bass, and Justin Sherburn on keyboards. This is a band that ought to be playing four-hour gigs at major parties ..... for people who know how to have a good time. Slowtrain played late, with Zach Firnhaber sitting in on bass and a guest harpist named Aaron or something like that. But my treat for the evening was my introduction to Goldcure, a band of brothers (of a sort) who escaped the hurricane tracks of Fort Lauderdale last September and found new freedom to be creative in Austin, where they are playing the good venues (Stubb's on Thursday with Loss Rayne and Twilight Broadcast).

Goldcure, which used to be called Lilylock Timbers and was once a folk duo, is Adam Buhrman on guitars and vocals, Craig Haskell on guitars and vocals, Gavin Inverso on drums and currently on bass is Jessica Will. These guys feed on Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams (so they say) with a twinge of Coldplay (note the falsetto!) but have a depth of vision all their own and lyrics that remind me more of Mark Heard. They also have a brand-new seven-song CD, simply called Goldcure, produced by Dean Dydek (part of Buhrman's extended family).

"Stolen Water" opens with visions of an illicit love affair, with a title straight out of Proverbs 9, and a message that "for a time it satisfies, but 100 days in a demon's cave will teach you the harder parts of life." Lots of soft, smooth guitar work all through this music. " One longtime Austin music observer noted this band's need to expand its musical range -- no big surprise for vocal-oriented music makers, but something the band is already aware of and a major reason they are in Austin.

"Thoughts in Letters" has some nice changes -- and talks of responsibility one to another and the challenges that commitment presents. "Dirty" continues that mellow sound (Jon Sanchez would love this song!) about a person "living lost romances" even though his life is "not over yet." "Dirty lost soul, dirty and empty-handed, you know you just can't stand it .. you played the fool many times before ... you cannot find your section, you lost your seat when all you want is to sit and watch the show" [rather than live an active, risk-taking life]. Nice denouement!

"My Own Cure" is a simple song -- "What I see is what I know," and all about "a woman in my life, I thought one day I'd call her wife." Sounds like he got his wish. The "Sage" on the shore is about "the one who's lived every song there was to sing," whom the thief begs to "take me now" to where he is headed. But it is "Glory" that gets my attention -- "There must be this side of glory a place where I can rest my head, There's gotta be this side of glory a place to run ..." This sounds like an old gospel hymn set to modern rhythms ... and is as rich and satisfying as Amy's ice cream or New York cheesecake.

The CD closes with "Never Alone," which is pure testimonial to a God who has always been there for us. The piano here defines the music ... with the guitar as musical fill in this anthemic song of promise ... "Sing to me, sing to me like I never was alone here..... never along, never lost, never shaking in the dark .... " This is U2-ish stuff indeed! Very Seth and the Sad Accordians -- and a song that one can envision the audience singing along in unison as the music crescendoes to its passionate climax. Like that first meal after an unintended 40-day fast (or a 40-year journey through life's dark highways that finally ends at the Jordan River) .... but really like that long pause to give thanks for the rescue, the end of the nightmare ... you just breathe deeply and let all of the relief flow all the way through your pores into your soul.

Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.