Flanfire

Jane Bond and Chad Tracy (right) opened for James Hand on Sunday at Jovita's.








What was not to like about the set that Jane Bond and Chad Tracy played at Jovita's on Sunday? Some brand new songs mixed in with real oldies and songs from their debut duet CD (previously reviewed by flanfire -- check our archives). Some say that Chad's younger brother is even more handsome than he, while others prefer Chad's more rugged countenance -- and great guitar licks! But Jane -- especially this fresh, happy Jane -- is singing better than ever!

For my party-loving mother, and for many ladies in particular throughout the audience, James Hand was more than enough real man. The once-troubled troubadour (his songs tell us all we ever need to know about his personal struggles over the years) has mellowed into a gentleman's gentleman, coursing through the tables to greet just about everyone in the house even before he took the stage -- and promising to visit everyone who came in late in between sets.

Alone on the stage with just his guitar, Hand began with four or five songs of his that he may not even have given a title to yet -- that is, after opening with "Just a Heart." Oftentimes he would stop and tell the story of the song, or another story about his life and times. Women -- my mom included (and she's 96!) -- were on the edge of their seats cherishing every spoken word almost as much as Hand's butterscotch vocals that melted across the stage.

We could only stay for the first of two sets, during which he did perform his parakeet song, another about an angelic woman (who would put up with "only a man"), the very honest "I Know What It's Like To Be Lonely," the autobiographical (??) "Old Man with an Old Song," and a rollicking number that opens with a tale of a man sitting on a gold mine of overturned moonshine -- and my favorite, "What Little I Have Left Is Shore Yours To Use."

Earlier in the week, I stopped by KLBJ-FM to catch a live acoustic (two-song) set from MP2 -- that new Austin band featuring Malford Milligan on vocals, Phil Brown on guitar, Mark Andes on bass, and the amazing Pat Mastelotto on drums. Later that evening, I joined the boys and my pal Bob Feldman the stratocaster king (whose own band the Urban Vibrators will be at Nuno's on Sixth a couple times in September) for their electric set at the Saxon Pub.

This is a quartet of rock music veterans whose performance skills are second to nobody's here in Austin (or for that matter anywhere else!) and whose member have a lot of material in their repertoire -- from Brown's "La La Land" off his own Cruel Inventions and his reinterpretations of various Jimi Hendrix tunes to Malford's "Bluest Eyes" and his cover of Craig Ross' "Don't Make Me Cry" (also from his Storyville days) to brand-new songs penned just for MP2 like "Maybe" and "Gasoline" and "Queen." Look for lots of guitar solos juxtaposed against an amazing rhythm section and Malford's and Phil's own contrasting rough and smooth vocals.