Flanfire

What a difference a year -- and a whole lotta practice -- can make! Take Blues Mafia, the "teenager" band whose members blew away the competition at the Austin School of Music's Rock Camp USA Austin last summer. Based on their growth both personally and on stage over the past 12 months, it is a very good bet that this time next year they will be THE BUZZ at the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival.

It was just a year ago that Blues Mafia emerged from Dave Sebree's Rock Camp USA as the new kid band on the block. Lead singer Sasha Ortiz had just graduated from high school and was on her way to California before reassessing her options and deciding to stick around Austin. Guitarist Max Frost was just 14, and his voice was still changing, while drummer Chris Copeland, bassist Kai Roach, and guitarist Patrick Mertens were all 16 and headed into their junior year of high school.

The kids started out doing short sets for the city's movies in the parks program, the Paramount's Young Director's Cut Awards Show, a benefit concert at the firehouse in Manchaca, and, yes, at City Hall on New Year's Eve. The band really began to take off, though, after agreeing to host a monthly get-together of teenager bands at Jovita's. "Second Saturdays" (which sometimes happens on Sundays! here in Austin) brought out lots of players (including some elder statesmen of Austin rock!) and listeners for what soon became longer sets.

Every month, it seemed, Blues Mafia just got better. Copeland and Roach moved from one side project (Rubber Monster) to another (Joker, also featuring J. W. Wright), Mertens switched from his SG to a Stratocaster, Roach honed up his Clarence Henry voice for the band's version of "Summertime Blues" and he and Mertens upgraded their own harmony and lead vocals -- and Ortiz began singing on weekdays at major blues jams about town. The quintet also worked on their songwriting and performance -- and all but Ortiz spent another two weeks at Rock Camp.

The result has been nothing short of phenomenal. These "kids" are no longer a "teenager band" in Austin but a group of seasoned professionals who are both helping to build the future of Austin music among their peers and wowing audiences with their intricate rhythms, blazing vocals (including harmonies), and synchronized twin leads.

Their 17-song Friday night set at Jovita's opened with two originals, "Freedom Song" and "Alone," that reminded this ancient mariner of his days with Sixties Rock -- and then got everyone all shook up with a rousing rendition of "Jailhouse Rock." Later it was their brand-new "I'm on Fire" (funkier and slower till the jam at the end) followed by Stevie Ray's "Texas Flood." Max took the lead on "Killing Floor" and Patrick on "Outside Woman Blues," then Sasha was back leading the entire house in "(I've Got My) Mojo Working." My personal favorite, "Too Long," features an amazing solo by Patrick at the end, but then again "Waiting on My Love" showcased band member swapping leads one line at a time. "Higher" and "Devil's Jam" can be heard at their myspace page, and the final song of the evening was "The Man," which sounds (musically) like the Quicksilver Messenger Service version of Hamilton Camp's "Pride of Man."

The band was out again on Saturday night, closing out a "Perfect Storm" evening at Ruta Maya that began with sets featuring Penny Jo Pullus and Paul Pearcy, both of whom were back on stage for the wonderful set from Greezy Wheels (which also features Kai's dad David Roach on keyboards, Cleve Hattersley on guitars and vocals, Sweet Mary Hattersley on fiddle and vocals, the lovely Lissa Hattersley on lead vocals, and Johnny Jordan on seven-string bass). The band did 10 songs, inclduing the title track of their new CD "String Theory" and my personal favorite "Yo Yo Yo" from HipPop. The Greezys (whose Austin musical roots go back three decades including a 25-year layoff before their grand return for the Soap Creek Saloon reunion show a few years back) closed with Sweet Mary on "Orange Blossom Special" and the gospel tune "99-1/2 Won't Do."

Next up on Saturday was the amazing Barbara K (backed by Jordan, Pearcy on conga drum, and Richard Bowden on fiddle) in an ensemble she calls "Ghosts and Sparrows." The audience was graced and challenged by Thom the World Poet when Barbara's guitar battery died, and later Thom joined the band onstage for a reprise of his warning about our loss of freedoms. Barbara (Timbuk 3 for those who may not remember) allowed as how she is spending most of her time these days in her living room and very little playing out -- but if she has any more songs half as powerful as the few she shared this evening, Austin needs to coax this local treasure (24 years here!) out of the shadows and into the night lights much more often.

And can I say that Bowden's playing (he is a veteran of the Maines Brothers Band, Don Henley, and many many others) this evening was reminiscent of David Laflamme of It's a Beautiful Day (whom Bowden admits was one of his early influences) -- and so Barbara, too, reminded me of the late great Pattie Santos of that seminal San Francisco band -- or even more appropriately, of the "White Bird" of whom they so eloquently sang.

My Saturday evening began, however, at Flipnotic's new space at the Triangle (where Lamar meets Guadalupe) -- where I caught part of a well received set from Darin Murphy and his band (Johnny Vogelsang on bass, Cory Glazer on guitar and Trip Wiggins on drums). Nice stage, good sound, and by the way no cover charge -- the place is all one big room. Nathan Hamilton is playing there on Wednesdays, and Matt the Electrician and Southpaw Jones on Thursdays these days. It's still the same great Flip's -- just a little yuppier audience.

I cannot quit without mentioning the Lost and Nameless Orchestra, which opened for Blues Mafia at Jovita's on Friday night ... in their acoustic trio mode (that is, without bassist Harmoni Kelley or drummer Joe Molloy). Singer-songwriter (and recording engineer) Patrick Conway and multi-instrumentalist Chris Peterson secured a lifetime friendship by busking across Europe in 1994 -- and their music shows their rapport well. Joining them on stage was keyboardist Nathan Quiring -- and sometimes it sounded like there was a real orchestra backing them up. ALSO on stage for much of the evening was the beautiful Ciara Conway (Patrick's daughter), whose dancing was much like the music itself -- uplifting and spiritually restful.

"Golden" and "Ciara" were both written for our dancer; other favorites included "Counting Stars" and the stark "Put Down Your Gun." They also rocked the crowd with "Streets of Bakersfield," which they once performed at an all-Tejano bar whose denizens hardly looked up during the rest of their set but who whooped and hollered when they heard something familiar.

Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.