James McMurtry

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We were at the Continental Club Gallery to see James McMurtry on Wednesday performing solo at 8:30 with a $15 cover charge (he performs with his band downstairs on Tuesdays later in the evening). It's an awful dive bar but gosh we keep coming back. James is an amazing performer — great lyrics and he makes a 6 or 12 string sound like a full orchestra. We first saw him back in 1994 here in Austin at La Zona Rosa (a club in the warehouse district that's long gone as are the warehouses). ... 30yrs ago, so I guess we're fans.

James isn't much of a talker and doesn't tolerate an audience who want to talk over him: "Simon says keep it down" — that small group chatty left. He did many tunes we know like "Levelland" (which was a hit for Robert Earl Keene), "Choctaw Bingo" (described as his hit — a couple got up and danced! I think there's a new verse in there), "Long Island Sound" (Kate says it's her favorite), and "Red Dress" (in protest to some of the recent anti-drag laws he has been performing in a red dress, but not tonight).

He did a new song, "Pinocchio in Las Vegas", which was pretty interesting and more than a little weird. It tells the story of Pinocchio after Geppetto dies, inheritance battles, lawyer fees, ugly rumors and how Pinocchio wins at cards because he has a blank face and now it's his penis that grows when he lies, not his nose. It's weird, I'm not sure what the story is really about. 

He reminded guests to tip big, he suggests you start at 20% and work your way up, as TX does not pay waitstaff (I think I read the wage for staff who receive tips is only $2.15/hr. sic!). I recall our bar tab being quite reasonable and we left a good tip. Prices seem to very widely at the clubs.

We see he's going to be touring soon with BettySoo so we want to catch him here while we can. Perhaps we'll show up next week.

See also "James McMurtry plays in a dress to protest new Tennessee law" (May 10, 2023).

Purgatory Players

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One of our Sunday morning pleasures in Austin is to attend the Purgatory Players performance at the El Mercado South. This is a regular event with a fluid group of local musicians and guests who play together to raise funds for the Central Texas Food Bank. They're mostly professional musicians and pass the hat for the food bank rather than themselves — they are giving their time. They say every dollar raised makes for four good meals and, over the years, have raised quite a bit of money. 

The El Mercado "Backstage", where this event happens, is a very good listening room where you can also have a meal and drinks. We each have a huge Tex/Mex breakfast with Morning Margaritas.

The "regular" players today are Scrappy Jud Newcomb,  Rich Brotherton, and Guy Forsyth who perform a first set of well rehearsed tunes (perhaps a little heavy on the gospel side). All are amazing performers who we've seen around town and on ACL over the years. Guests include Kate Howard (who Kate talked with by the WC — she's a regular), Bonnie Gibson sang Steve Earle's Jerusalem and brought me to tears, and others included Guila Millanta and the sound man Drew Preston. They're all supportive of one another and make sure we're aware of who is playing where in the coming week.

Drew will be playing at the "Regal Rooms" and Guila with Ben Jones at the "04 Center" — venues we will investigate. The 04 Center is pretty across the street from us in Zilker ... well within walking distance.

The link under the picture is to a video of the event recorded by DanViewtube (his nom de plume) who I talked to at the end of the performance. He's been documenting these live music events on YouTube for many years and I have approached him before. We talked about how much I appreciated his work in general and over the pandemic when we've not been here. I especially liked the recording of Christine Albert's Mystery Monday Farewell show back in 2020 (now replaced by a Monday Night Supper Club hosted by Ben Jones and Barbara Nesbitt). Dan suggests we go see Ulla at the Saxon later today (Rich Brotherton is also part of that gang), but I explain that we're off to a house concert. We both comment on how much great music there is to see in Austin. That's why we're here! We'll catch Ulla another day.

Kate and I remark that the house hasn't bounced back to pre-pandemic numbers. It should, these are fine musicians, a worthy cause and a great place for breakfast. We will be back.

Our waiter invites us back ... little does he know how soon he'll see us (we're back the next night).

Rivers of Texas

ACL Stage Moody Theatre

We went to see "A Celebration of Songs and Stories from Deep in the Heart of Texas" at the ACL Moody Theatre here in Austin, TX on Saturday night. This was a benefit show for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The show was organized, headlined and hosted by Alejandro Escovedo with a long list of local performers who were to each do two Texas songs — one by someone they admired and one of their own. 

We had first seen Alejandro at Strange Brew (2014) at another fund raiser so were looking forward to this show. Strange Brew was a great listening room; it's another Austin club that's sadly gone.

We bought good aisle seats on the floor to stage right and took an Uber to the show. Parking downtown might be a burden and the theatre seats probably near 3,000 people so it would be busy.

At security we're stopped and told, "You can't go in with that camera." I had my Canon T6i with a 18-135mm lens and had hoped to take some photos. We argued a bit (after all you're letting everyone in with cell phone cameras), do you want me to Uber home again, where can I leave this camera, etc. .... Finally, they agreed to hold my camera at security and I could retrieve it when we leave. The picture above was one of the very few usable photos taken with our cell phones. It's hard to make out but that's David Ramirez performing; he did a smokin'/swaggerin' version of Terry Allen's "Amarillo Highway". Next time I'll remember to bring a smaller camera and carry it in my pocket (eg. on the Outlaw Country Cruise (2018) I could only bring a pocket camera).

We were surprised when we took our seats that the theatre was only just starting to fill up. The upper balcony, the really cheap seats, seemed to be mostly empty. Alejandro encouraged people to come down from the balcony and take some of the empty better seats. That proved to be a bit of an issue for folks arriving after the show had started.

You might note the house band arranged for this show. That's Glenn Fukunaga on bass (we've seen him with Terri Hendrix) and Gabe Rhodes on guitar. There's a three piece string section and Warren Hood joined them. I'm not sure who was on drums or keyboards. Notably, Lloyd Maines was not there. We were surprised as we often see him in house bands on the ACL stage. It was nevertheless a well rehearsed tight band who made it all seem effortless.

Butch Hancock opened the show with "Rivers of Texas" (the link is to a TVZ version) which he recalled hearing Townes Van Zandt play many times over the years. It's a traditional song we had never heard before but we did bump into it again a few days later. He followed with "She Never Spoke Spanish To Me" (the link is to a Texas Tornados version) and included a verse entirely in Spanish. Given the recent border squabbles (Greg Abbott's razor wire barricades on the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass) this song is particularly poignant recalling a simpler time with open borders.

Alejandro introduced Warren Hood who he had baby sat as a child. We've seen him several times over the years (first back in 2014 playing with Joe Ely at Guero's on our last night) and seems to have a regular gig at the ABGB. He has developed beyond playing as a session musician on fiddle. He did a song I've got to research (I have a tape) and another of his own. He's really coming along.

I've already mentioned David Ramirez; an artist I'd not known about. He was followed by Terry Allen who played a couple of his own tunes (breaking the rules). He has a show case gig coming up soon at the Paramount. Alejandro mentioned how these two regular shows often conflict with one another; but this year they're sharing one another's stage. Terry is more of an artist than a musician and pounds out simple tunes on piano. I was surprised to find about 12 or so different CD's of his at Waterloo Records the other day.

John Doe, of the LA band X (not to be confused with Twitter), has moved to Austin and performed a punk tune he wrote in Austin. Of course neither are very "country". Will Johnson was another performer we did not know. He's young and in the John Doe/punk mold. The first set was closed off by Ruthie Foster who is a blues artist.

The second half of the show would have included Alejandro, Kimmie Rhodes (Gabe's mom), Rosie Flores, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Shakey Graves and Robert Earl Keene but we cut out early. Kate wanted me to stay but I'd not have that!

Christmas for Kate

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Every year, for quite some time now, I've prepared a "Xmas for Kate" CD of tunes to remind us of the year that has past, events we've been to and places we've been. You can find these playlists on my iTunes and YouTube channels (click on the image for the 2023 YouTube playlist). 

This past year we didn't travel as much — covid is still an issue and, more importantly, Kate had surgery to replace an ankle she had broken back in 2025. Between waiting for and recovery from the surgery we've missed a lot of events. E.g., there were a couple of KBS events in South Africa and a Bar Room Health conference in Liverpool we had to miss. Nevertheless, we have some tunes and events to remember. Sadly, many of these tunes are tinged with loss as our favorite singers age and pass away.

Here's an annotation for the 2023 Christmas playlist. Kate has remarked that this year it seems to be dominated by women singers. Well, there's a reason: I know what boys like.

1. "I Know What Boys Like", The Waitresses (1982). Kate and Sam are doing a bar room research project around male attitudes and behaviours towards women (butt grabbing, that sort of thing). It's pretty clear what boys like, it's not clear they know how to get it. We saw the Waitresses in 1984 in Washington, DC. Patty Donahue, the singer, died back in 1996. 
2. "Friday Night, Saturday Morning", The Specials (1981). A sad reflection on the dance hall scene, very much like the scene Kate and Sam are looking at. Clearly, the boys don't have much luck with the girls. Perhaps their strategies (bum grabbing for example) don't endear them? Terry Hall, the singer, died in 2022.
3. "Strong Enough", Molly Tuttle and Madison Cunningham (2021). This is a great cover of Cheryl Crow's 1993 tune. "Are you strong enough to be my man?" Yup!
4. "The Story", Brandi Carlile (2007). This song is overwrought but the lyrics are quite moving. "I was made for you". Yup again. Brandi Carlile was named one of "The 10 Greatest Female Songwriters of All Time, Period!" by the American Songwriter in 2024.
5. "Been to the Mountain", Margo Price (2022). This is a bit of a drug induced psychedelic rocker from a Nashville singer I have followed for a while now. I like that it tells a story of someone who has been there and done a lot. "Used to be your waitress... I've been on food stamps, I've been outta my mind... stood in the welfare line". Reminds me of a Go-Go Dancer from Montreal.
6. "That River", Margo Cilker (2021). I like the rhythm of this song and the melancholy of looking back but I really can't fathom what it's about. Sample lyric: "That river in the winter, It could fuck me up". Not as romantic as Joni Mitchell's song "River" but I'm sure there's a connection.
7. "Not Ready Yet", Jamie McDell (2022). A new artist for me. And a song about not settling down. When you're our age you start to wonder if we'll ever settle down.
8. "Great Confession", Amanda Platt and the Honeycutters (2021). Another woman singer, one that we did see several years ago in Austin. It's a song about looking back — "Ain't it a crime the way the years go rolling by?" As we get older it certainly seems that way.
9. "Growing Up", Lori McKenna (2023). I've been following Lori McKenna for several years now. Many of her songs are about looking back and tinged with melancholy. This one too.
10. "Lonely Tonight", Jobi Roccio (2023). Winner this year of John Prine Songwriter Fellowship from Newport Folk — what more creds do you need?
11. "The Painkillers Ain't Workin'", Buddy & Julie Miller (2023). This tune, a reference to Kate's recovery, is dominated by Julie Miller's voice. It's a bit of rocker.
12. "The Coo Coo", Townes Van Zandt (1994). This is an acoustic cover of a traditional folk song. I first heard it this year and was impressed by the lyrics. I can't find a full copy of the lyrics Townes sings and on the two versions I've heard he sings different lyrics. I like the idea that he was too lazy for working, and robbing trains was too dangerous, so he ends up a gambler. Some of the lyrics are found in "The Moonshiner". It's a lovely odd tune by another singer who died far too young (January 1, 1997).
13. "Jerusalem", Steve Earle (2002). With a war raging in Gaza it's hard to stay hopeful and believe that "One fine day, all the children of Abraham will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem". We can only hope. We've seen Steve Earle a few times, once in Austin at Waterloo Records.
14. "She Left Me for Jesus", Hayes Carll (2007). A bit of humor on religion. "If I ever find Jesus, I'm kickin' his ass". We've seen Hayes Carll in Austin performing at Waterloo Records. Hayes is married to Allison Moorer who was Steve Earle's 7th wife! He appears on several of our Xmas playlists.
15. "Monk's Chant/He's Not Dead Yet", Spamalot (2005). Kate got us tickets to see Spamalot in Stratford for our anniversary in August. We liked it so much we went back again and I went a third time for the closing night with our friends Erich and Lisa. Erich, the "Half a Bee", was a house mate when I was at university — a time when we were both big fans of Monty Python.
16. "Goo Goo Muck", Geek Music (2022). This song, originally by the Cramps, who I did follow many years ago, was redone for the dance scene in the movie "Wednesday" which built on the Adams Family story. We streamed the movie at home, it was fun. Dark and comedic; I'll recommend the movie.
17. "Barbie Girl", Aqua (1997). This was a pop hit back in the day and, to my surprise, never appears in the Barbie movie, which was a big hit this year. We streamed the movie with Gord and Leslie while in Ottawa. I would recommend the movie and would watch it again.
18. "Push", Ryan Gosling (2023). This did appear in the Barbie movie. It's a retake of a 1996 song by Matchbox Twenty. This bit of misogyny has Ken promising to push Barbie around. See above, Kate and Sam's research on men's attitudes and bar room violence towards women. 
19. "Go Go Round", Gordon Lightfoot (1967). Gordon Lightfoot passed away in the spring of 2023. There are many songs I could have picked but this one is for the Go-Go Dancer from Montreal who I married. In the song the Go-Go dancer is mistreated by a guy who doesn't care — more for Kate and Sam to research.
20. "Fairytale of New York", Glen Hansard & Lisa O'Neill (2023). This song, which has been a Christmas favorite for many years, was performed at the St. Mary of the Rosary church in Nenagh during Shane MacGowan's funeral. It's not a surprise that he died; more a surprise that he lived this long. Nevertheless, he is another singer/songwriter who will be sadly missed.

Anyways, there's usually a reason behind these picks and now you know.