Flanfire

What a wonderful present for any occasion -- the brand-new Wendy Colonna two-CD plus DVD, "Old, New, Borrowed and Blue: Live at Antone's." Twenty songs, all but two Wendy originals, that take us from her first song ever written in her high school daze to the brand-new (at the time) "Your Parade," which is part 1 of her Peter Pan trilogy (parts 2 and 3 to come). Wendysongs include "We," "Dirty Wife," "Bound to Fall," Easy," "October" (with a tease of "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" to open), "Weight of the World," "Thunder," "Girls of Stone" (WOW!), "May Day," "Hey," "Vacancy," "Right Where I Belong," "Sodom," "Does It Satisfy," "Hold Me Tight," "Nothin' Gonna Take My Love," and "Coffee Today." Wendy and her band also cover Neal Kassanoff's "Noah" and Wendy and guitarist Chad Pope swap lyrics in the Ike and Tina Turner song, "Poor Little Fool."

Speaking of the band -- Eldrige Goins on drums, Harmoni Kelley on bass, Pope on guitar, Dave Madden on keyboards (and a little guitar) -- plus special guests Will Taylor and Shawn Sanders on viola and cello and Simon Wallace on harmonica on some of the tunes. Wendy also coaxed cameo backup vocals from Ed Jurdi, Shelley King, Mat Edmunson, and Nakia on the anthemic "Nothin' Gonna Take My Love." The REAL backing vocals were from every band member.

I had much earlier reviewed the concert itself (see the archives), so these comments focus on the product -- which is superior in every respect. The DVD, produced by ME Television's Shane Metcalf, features interviews with Wendy pals Shelley King, Guy Forsyth, Ginger Leigh, and others ... plus two bonus tracks and an informative interview with Wendy herself -- and 11 songs out of the 20 in the main DVD section. The concert itself was done in two acts -- Act 1 with Wendy wearing a soft outfit and flowers in her hair, Act 2 with the funkier, sexier Wendy.

Give this package to anyone you know in the phony bologna music business to show them what a REAL Louisiana woman can do WITH HER CLOTHES ON -- there is absolutely no comparison with Wendy's genuine songwriting, singing, and performance talent (not to mention her true earthiness and the poetry in her very fingers as well as on the pages she writes) with that Disneyland produced nonsense that poses for commercial music today.

Speaking of Wendy, I was out at the Saxon Pub the other day to catch her new trio -- Chad Pope on guitar, Dave Madden on keyboards, and Wendy on guitar -- and all on vocals. The big news here was the debut of a new song, "Texas Summer Love," which officially qualifies Wendy for the Texas Music Hall of Fame some day down the road. I got to the pub in time for Beth Black's set - thanks to a standing invite from pedal steel player Kim Deschamps. What a backing band -- hubby Kevin Robinson on drums (from Charlie Robison's band, too), Paul LeMond on guitar, and Cole El-Saleh on keyboards.

My evening was completed with a wonderful show from Casey McPherson and Alpha Rev. Candy Sanders is powerful on vocals and keyboards and Brian Batch appears transformed, playing like Superman, on his blue violin. Dave Wiley plays the cello (or perhaps the "skelo," as this instrument had no body). The rhythm section of Alex Dunlap on bass and Tommy Roalson on drums were right on time, and Zak Loy way over in the corner contributed well to the sound on guitar. And that, of course, is what Alpha Rev is all about -- the vocals are just another of many instruments as McPherson (as he did in Indochine, I am told) creates a wall of sound but even moreso a tapestry upon which the message comes through organically and you hear the words not so much rationally but rather as part of the whole.

Much of the music was from "The Greatest Thing I've Ever Learned," including "Big Blow," which Casey says is about the breakup of a prior relationship. "Colder Months" -- for which the band won the American Songwriter contest -- was another treat ... More than a year ago, my friend Teresa Green had herself just discovered McPherson and Alpha Rev's music and I knew I needed to see this band -- but for some odd reason it took a long time ... and now I am eager to hear these guys (and the fabulous Sweet Darkness!) many many more times. Those geezers who liked the Moody Blues will be thrilled to hear this symphonic music -- Batch (whom I think is STILL in college) seems to have found a niche playing this music that is reminiscent of Ray Thomas on the flute with the Moodys (see Legend of a Mind, aka Timothy Leary's Dead).

Later in the week it was over to Antone's to check out the five finalists in "The Sound and the Jury," Dell Lounge's promotion to find the final band for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Out of 600 entrants, these guys got the most votes -- and I say "guys" because there was not a single female on the stage the entire evening except for one member of the video crew. First up was the lone non-Texas band in the finals (who had to be really really good to get that many people to vote for them in an Austin-centered contest), Flashing Blue Light out of Athens, Georgia -- and, yes, they handed out rings with a flashing blue light! These guys rocked the house with some energetic, joyous music and lots of hopping around on stage (except for the keyboard player, who had broken his heel jumping off the Dell Stage the day before -- thrilled to be in Austin with a shot at the big stage, we guess). I met JJ the big tall drummer, and then other members of the band -- two brothers from Akron, Ohio (home of Chrissie Hynde and many other rockers) provide the songwriting impetus for the group, with the guitarists and rhythm section mostly Georgia boys.

Next up was the eventual winner - Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys, out of Abilene. This six-piece band (with up to three keyboards plus two xylophones and of course guitars) started with low energy but built to a mighty crescendo with their signature song, "Heartbeat," which had their many fans (three of the band members hail from Van, a very small town in east Texas about half an hour west of Tyler) singing out loud and others joining in. Bandleader Brandon Kinder and guitarist Mitchell Holt hail from Memphis and met up with their bandmates out at Abilene Christian University -- and, yes, the band will one day soon be playing a special show in Huntsville, Alabama, for their namesake and hero, NASA's Homer Hickam (whose story was told in the movie "October Sky"). Other band members are Josh Campbell (bass), Philip Ellis (drums), Daniel Wheeler (guitar and keys) and Justin Wiseman (keys).

Third up was Taylor Muse and Quiet Company, who are pals of the Rocketboys (having played several gigs together) and who left a nice road trip to Florida to get back for the Austin shows. This three-piece band (Muse and Thomas Blank who play guitar and keyboards off and on, along with hunky drummer Tim Robbins) matched the energy of Blue Flashing Light man for man and had time for five strong songs, maybe six, with titles that I would have to look up. I really like this band, too, which seems to have gotten much better than when I saw them last.

Nelo, the fourth band up was a huge crowd favorite and also had the advantage of having played at Antone's just a few days earlier, opening for Storyville. These guys play very pop, happy music with titles like "Sunny Day," Little Flowers," "Footsteps," and "Last Night" (a brand-new song with the line "rainbows running round). The band is half transplanted North Texas State University guys from Denton, half Austin guys, but oddly enough they earlier spent much time in Athens and played gigs with Blue Flashing Light long long ago. It was easy to see why the band is so loved by the mostly young female and older parental unit type fan base -- they made almost no musical mistakes, they reach to the heart, and they sound a little like Dave Mathews. Reid Umstattd and Matt Ragland carry the brunt of the vocals, Stephen Goodson powers up the electric guitar, David Long blows the crowd away on sax, and drummer Chris Hill and bassist Mike St. Clair hold down the bottom. There were some unhappy -- and quite surprised -- folks in the house when the winner turned out to be someone else.

The final group of the evening -- and surely one of the most innovative in Austin -- was Golden Bear: lead singer Chris Gregory and his merrie men, plus a four-piece horn section that helped close down the show on "Ten Thousand Orchestras." I want to hear more of Golden Bear, but on this night it was hard to hear them -- perhaps they were turned up too loud, or perhaps the sound team was exhausted and unable to cope with one more setup, but my own idea is that they rushed through the set having perhaps conceded too early the victory they might have won for themselves. This band is right up there with Future Clouds and Radar and similar Austin bands in originality and hubris -- I am eager to see them again soon.

Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.