Flanfire

Cuadra first brought up the wonderful Candy Sanders and later sang with his close friend Jennifer Appelquist (his fellow LA expatriate with whom I fell in love at first listen -- and that was just her harmony vocals). With his first song, "Autopilot" (from his 2005 "Details on Lost Napkins"), I knew we were in for quite an evening -- "sleep till you run away ... takes you to die to realize you were in heaven; cradled in your pain, escape to the promise that you made."

Next up was Lang Freeman, lead singer of the band "Sounds under Radio," who opened with his song, "Portrait of a Summer Thief," which you likely heard on the soundtrack of "Spiderman 3." This dark knight also offered up "The Arsonist," "Science" -- "someday you will see everything in me is dead" -- and the amazing "Wasteland," which challenges his friend to "wake up" and live. What a voice this guy has -- and anthemic songs.

Gotta catch his full band sometime soon!

Stefanie then showed the purity of her soul and her voice with "Don't Go, Don't Stay," from her 2007 CD produced by Stephen Doster (of whom I will write more later) and followed later with "Both Sides of the Divide," "Must've Been the Devil" (on which she showcased her slide guitar licks), the brand-new "Bouquet and a Fistful of Doubt" (a personal favorite of mine, on which Cole Hanson figured out a nice lead break), and finally "No Reason Now."

Last up in the first three rounds was Adam McInnis -- and he did not disappoint! First off, he had Candy Sanders on harmonies along with guitarists Jason Miller and Cole Hanson (electric) -- all from his wonderful band. More importantly, he opened with the powerful "Rain," in which he asks "not to be forgotten, only to forgive" and begs God to "let the pain evaporate." His second song was "Passerbys," a poignant song of hope for a love that will stand the test of time. But this IS Adam -- so he had to sing "I Love Titties" and "Sex for Breakfast," as well as "Not Alone."

Aaron's second song, "Lucid," proved beyong the shadow of a doubt that this guy is a true heavyweight (indeed, this entire evening was a heavyweight showcase) -- "comfortable in my grief, unable to change, everything I was I've thrown away." By "Till I Save Myself," I realized this is THE GUY to host the highest-level songwriter roundtable in Austin as often as he can. Later he shared his very first song, written at age 16 after his mother passed away. "Broken" is true riches expressed in words -- how do you survive such a tremendous loss without having every bone in your body needing to learn all over again how to exist? "Outside" ended the set.

Good as all these songwriters are, the clear highlight of the evening for much of the crowd was the three-song interval set from MariClaire Gamble (backed by her brother Evan and a conga player named Mike). This X-sporting (under 21!) University of Texas student [left] thrilled her fans with "War Zone," the Hawaii-esque "Something New," and "Read Your Mind," which many could sing along with. Brother Evan and his band Jabberwocky closed out the evening. Aaron and Jennifer will be back at Antone's on March 5th with an all-new lineup.

Earlier on Wednesday I stopped by the Cactus Cafe to catch the release of Jenny Reynolds' new CD "Next to You" (produced by Mark Addison and Scrappy Jud Newcomb) and totally miss the release of a beautiful new CD from "Carrie Elkin" entitled "The Jeopardy of Circumstance."

Then on Thursday I was invited down to Stubbs' for the release of Austin Collins' new Fat Caddy CD, "Roses Are Black," and the preview release (the real one is Saturday night at the Cactus) of Graham Weber's brilliant "The Door to the Morning." -- Look for reviews of all four of these wonderful recordings once I have heard them a few more times! I gotta tell you, though -- Graham has a brand new band that he can hardly wait for all his fans to hear!

I also got out to TWO Goldcure shows --Saturday at Club One 2 One on 5th Street and Monday at The Saxon Pub -- and both featuring Stephen Doster on guitar and vocals. Doster and the boys just wrapped up the new recording (which may also unveil a new name for the band), and the live shows reflect the work of this master with his newly favorite pupils. The addition of bassist John Allison (who doubles as guitarist with T-Bird and the Breaks) has solidified this band, which emigrated from south Florida about a year or so ago. They've got a bunch of new songs (including "Stanley") and new arrangements for old songs that are tighter, meatier. Just ask the two ladies who stood mesmerized as Adam Buhrman sang that song.

But what a week it was. Sunday featured the Bells of Joy at Threadgills' --complete with original member A. D. Watson, who has been with the band ever since 1951. Tuesday night was busy -- Aimee Bobruk at the Scoot, then over to Ego's for sets from Jeremy Nail (whom I had also seen on Monday at Momo's), Suzanna Choffel, and Dustin Welch, and finally to The Saxon to hang out with Charlie Faye and her band -- Will Sexton, Gabe Rhodes, Joe Humel and Phillip Gibbs. Will and Charlie were just back from Folk Alliance, and somehow they got into a country set that cracked us all up.

Gotta say that Jeremy Nail has excellent taste -- Harmoni Kelley on bass! And great songs, too -- including "Storm," a terrifying tale fresh from Hurricane Katrina, and "Forgotten Child's Cry." Jeremy is a little Tom Petty, a little Uncle Tupelo, and all Texas -- from Albany by way of Texas Tech (which gives his Lubbock props). And Charlie Faye -- I had met her and knew that she was attracting great players for her sets -- but boy are we stealing the best of New York City! And as a return gift, flanfire is flying up to Gotham for a 3-day event (not music related) -- what a trade!

Gotta get some shuteye.

Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.