ZaCH Theatre

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We went to see "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812" at the Topfer stage at ZaCH Theatre here in Austin on Wednesday night with Gord and Leslie. The play is a modern opera/musical/dance comedy/parody done "in the round". It's an immersive experience with the audience on the stage and action/music taking place all over the theatre. There were perhaps 12 actors (no waiting for a fat lady to sing) and another 12 or so musicians. It was the most exciting show we've ever seen and closes after next week. This would be a winner if staged at Stratford. All I can say is: Wow!

Our intention was to show Gord and Leslie the view from the nearby Nido at the Loren overlooking Town Lake and the city where we had caught a glorious sunset the week before when the weather was quite warm. Unfortunately it was pretty cool and breezy; we stayed on the outdoor patio for a while but saner heads prevailed and we share our drinks inside. Nevertheless there are some snaps of the view.

At the ZaCH there was a live music entertainer playing guitar for tips at the bar/lounge before the show. There's live music everywhere in Austin. That's one of the reasons why we keep coming back.

Bullock and Bats

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We had some fun today with Gordon and Leslie. 

First we were at the Bullock State History Museum which is behind the capitol on E. Martin Luther Jr. Blvd. The street in front is actually the continuation of Congress Ave but in recent years has been made into a pedestrian mall/green space. We've been several times before and, it turns out, we had taken Gord and Leslie on their last visit. Nevertheless there were some interesting things to see. First, it being Black History Month, there was an exhibit on the integration history in Texas and Austin — a city that intentionally had a planned "black part of town" (east side of IH35), Texans who refused to integrate, segregation at the State Fair and worse. Fortunately there was President Johnson with the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965).

Second there was a tucked away exhibit of artwork by local students and all of them were outstanding. They also, in part, speak to the problems with discrimination that continue to this day. At this time the Texas governor is fighting with the Federal Government on border security — Gov. Abbott is without compassion. The razor wire on the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass to "protect us from them" is not the way to treat your fellow man.

That evening we took a Uber over to the south shore of Town Lake at the S. Congress Ave bridge is the perfect place to watch for bats. That's us above on some green space waiting for the bats. Gord was skeptical as this isn't the "prime season" but hung in. The weather has been very warm and we've read there a lot of bats coming out right now. As the dusk settles the bats, who have been nesting/hiding in long crevices under the bridge, come out for their feeding. I gather they live on insects which is one good reason to like them. There were 10's of thousands today. These are small bats, not the huge flying foxes that we've seen in Australia. Much like the bats we have at home.

Having caught a very good show with the bats we took an Uber up the street (SoCo: South Congress) to see if we might catch Whitney Rose who has an early show at the Continental Club. She has several records and I am a fan; Kate not so much. She's Canadian and had relocated to Austin (from PEI to Toronto to Austin). In recent years she's had health problems that had her return to Canada. She is back for Dale Watson's Ameripolitan Awards, I don't know if her health problems are over and if she has plans to stay in Austin. When we arrived the place was packed, the band was playing, but it was standing room only. With bad knees and ankles we decided instead to have lunch across the street at Joann's Fine Foods, Tex-Mes of course, where there's a nice outdoor patio. It's part of the Austin Motel which is famous for it's large sign that looks a lot like an erect penis and balls. It used to be a somewhat shabby spot but SoCo is quite trendy these days and the motel seems to be very nice.

Kate and I headed home afterwards. We convinced Gord and Leslie to go back to the Continental Club gallery (upstairs and not so busy) to see a show by Rosie Flores. We convinced them that she's an important long standing Texan artist and worth watching in that intimate environment. The show was jazzy, which none of us are particularly fond of, and they were somewhat disappointed.

Happyland II

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We are back to see Happyland at the Saxon Pub on Monday. We've got Gord and Leslie with us and are sure they'll be impressed — they are! We were here a week ago and really enjoyed the show. This is their last show for a while, as Kimmie Rhodes is going to be out on tour, so it's a bit of a special event. There are some tables reserved for guests of the band but we arrive early and get front row seats of our own. The doorman recognizes me as a regular!

We've taken an UberXL, as there are the four of us, which turned out to be a bit of a challenge for these aging seniors. There's a third row seating which Reg struggles into, after he gets in there the driver, who seems to speak no English, shows us how the second row of seats fold down. I can tell you that even with them folded down it was a struggle to get out. Oddly the driver opened the tail gate first as if that were a possible route for Reg to climb over! On our return trip we had a cautious driver from French Guyana (we could try a bit of French ... or at least Leslie could) where we could easily put three in the back seats and one up front. Getting out of that car was a bit of a leap though, Kate sort of fell out but landed on her good foot — there was a running board which might have made that easier.

We have some snacks from the food truck parked in the lot of the Saxon for our dinner. There's very little parking here, we always come by Uber and never attempt to bring our car. In years past we've biked here but not today. The fellow running the food truck is incredibly cheerful and helpful. We place our orders at the truck and he brings them in to us.

In the photo above you can see from left to right: Gabe Rhodes (electric), John Goudie, Kimmie Rhodes, Shawn Pander, Harmoni Kelly (bass) and Louis Rhodes (obscured on keyboards). John Chipman is behind on drums, we saw him on Sunday with the Purgatory Players at the El Mercado for brunch. He sang a lead there but tonight he's just adding harmonies. The Purgatory Players like to call him "John Morocco" — I have no idea why. Everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves as were the audience. There were repeats of several tunes from our last visit but some new songs as well. Apparently John Chipman was responsible for the set list tonight. There was some joking that Kimmie is the band leader but she responded that "No, I'm not your mother!" She is the mother of Gabe (on electric) and the grandmother of Louis (on keyboards).

They made fun of "cow persons" as Kimmie and Shawn were wearing hats. A fellow, who had just came into the bar, was centered out as another cow person as he had a lovely big white cowboy hat. Everyone was laughing and having fun, the audience member was somewhat embarassed, and Kimmie cautioned that's it's never a good idea to heckle the audience. Such is life at Happyland — lots of laughs, good music and fun.

Two time Grammy winner Gary Nicholson was called onto stage to perform a couple of tunes. One that he and Gabe had recently written and another about "Nights Like These".  Kimmie reminded the audience that there's a song writers workshop event that she and Gary were having here at the Saxon on Saturday. Another "rock star" in the audience was the fellow who had mastered Kimmie's latest record which comes out soon.

Another great night of music. I taped the show and will work on the song sequences later. Oddly DanViewtube was not in attendance. Happily, someone else was. Here's some recordings by Kelso King posted to YouTube:

• Where do we go from here?, Kimmie Rhodes & ensemble
• Let's talk about love, Kimmie Rhodes & ensemble
• The table of the Lord, Gabe Rhodes & ensemble
• I wish you love & happiness, Kimmie Rhodes & ensemble

Titles are just my best guess. Kate had bought Kimmie's book at the house concert we attended earlier. She enscribed it "I wish you love & happiness", a lullaby and a gentle wish.

ABGB Dancing

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Pictures are mostly from our visit to the ABGB.

Sunday was an eventful warm spring day with Gord and Leslie and a few false starts. Kate and I had been to the Sagebrush (on way south Congress) to see Los Pinkys (it's Conjunto music which I would describe as accordian polka plus plunking guitar) the day before. It was an ideal sunny and warm day, the bar was dingy and dark, and Los Pinkys just weren't that exciting — we have seen them a few times over the years and although there was a good sized audience of all ages who were enjoying the music we weren't. Anyways, we gave up. Sagebrush has some interesting acts (we've missed Garret T. Capps, Elizabeth Cook and Sophia Johnson who have played there), we had never been before and now we can say we have. I suppose we might return for a night time gig when the lights are low.

Today there's another Conjunto band playing at Sam's Town Point we want to investigate — Josh Baca & the Hot Tamales. While we have found our way to this bar before, it's way, way, way south off Manchaca at Slaughterhouse (Gord asks if we're still in Austin), it's hidden away and hard to get to and, while we've been here once before, we've never seen any acts here. Again we are aware of several interesting gigs that we've missed (Libby and the Loveless and the Guthrie Girls have a regular Wednesday gig) so we are confident that there are good things to see. However, it's another beautifully sunny day and another awfully dingy dirty honky tonk that we decide to skip. We never got to see the band and only briefly stepped inside the bar.

We're all of a mind that it would be far nicer to be outside someplace soaking up the sun. While "under the live oaks" at Guero's on SoCo is a possibility we know it will be very busy with long line ups, scarce seating, and parking will be awfully hard to find and expensive. So we decide instead on ABGB. We've been many times before (most recently for an afternoon Drag Queen show) but Gord and Leslie have not ... and they're both dancers.

The ABGB (Austin Beer Gardens and Brewery) is a reliable Sunday afternoon adventure. They have a large patio area outside shaded by live oaks and a large area inside, well lit with windows, sturdy long tables, a dance floor, a raised stage and you're guaranteed there will be a band playing dance music and regulars, some in dancing regalia, having a great time dancing. Today is no exception.

Parking is a bit of an issue as the place is hopping but we find a handicap parking place (with Kate's screwed up ankle we need it). Some of the parking lot has been taken over by outside tables. I was willing to drop people off and find street parking in the neighborhood.

The band is Theo Lawrence and the Hearts, he's a French Canadian here via France, now stationed in Austin. We hadn't heard of him and were a bit leary. But, it's the ABGB, so it's guaranteed to be dance music. The band is very young but play original classic country styled tunes from the 1950-60's. We had some beers (Kate had wine) and parked ourselves at the end of one table near the busy dance floor. The sound system is very good but you can't really see the band, even though they're on a raised stage. The dance floor is packed and it's hard to even get through the dancers to take pictures. I did talk briefly to one of the young fellows who was singing (not Theo) and told him how much I liked their music. At the time the drummer, a young woman, was taking the vocals. I've looked up Theo Lawrence on iTunes but have not found any music yet that adequately represents the full band country dance music we had today. California Poppy, from Youtube, is a good representation of the music we heard. Hmmm... his Facebook page says he will be playing Thursday night at Sam's Town Point.

With Kate's ankle problem and Gord's knee we didn't get dancing. It would have been hard to navigate the busy dance floor and, at best, it would be awkward ugly ducklings amongst the graceful swans.

We found a table outside on the reclaimed parking lot just before the band's break (Ps. I can't imagine they can brew beer fast enough to keep up with the crew today!). We tossed around the idea of staying for pizza, they are very good and we recommend them here, but ended up going home and having some quiche from the market lady (yummy) and salads from Costco.

It was a good day — springtime in Austin.

Folk Uke

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We saw Folk Uke at the The Saxon Pub Friday night and talked briefly with Amy Nelson (guitar) and Cathy Guthrie (ukulele) as we were leaving. They had fun and were very pleased that we and the rest of the audience had come out to see them. I guess we're fans as this was probably our 3rd time seeing them here over the years. They have regular jobs and only come out to play tunes here once every couple of months.

This was one of those ticketed events without reserved seats. Why? Why? We arrived early and caught a wild dance party with the band TG BAD. That was fun and we were able to get front row seats for Folk Uke. At our age standing room only is not an option.

We ended up sitting with a couple of retired teachers who kindly let us join them in the front row. We made friends with John, newly sober and eating gummies, who sat beside us and is friend of Guy Forsyth & Jeska. He attends Purgatory Players regularly, we met him at another Saxon event.

They're a very funny folk duo (nothing like Simon and Garfunkel but still musical), we really like their tunes, and it's a real treat to see them when we're visiting Austin. "BJ to a DJ" and "California Stars" are personal favorites. "American Girl" seems to be their most recent release — it's a Tom Petty cover. Their jokes and chatter between tunes is worth the price of admission alone! Many jokes are more than a little raunchy, it's not family friendly, but had us laughing in tears. E.g., the joke about BJ's and practicing on ketchup bottles was a knee slapper. Here's a version of "Star Fucker" recorded live at this show and posted on YouTube by Kelso King.

Here's a couple of jokes Kate recalls:

We always do "Shit makes the flowers grow" as number 2 (in discussing their song list); a song by Harry Nilsson, "He's dead – I tried to marry him but he ghosted me"

Their "Fake Encore" song closed the evening. A humorous reflection on the audience and why they applaud. Oh yes, we enjoyed the show!

You can find them on YouTube and Spotify (they had a brief hit there) or go to their web site (Folkuke.com) and order some CD's. They are definitely worth a listen.

See also an excellent article from Ukulele Magazine (2022).

The Nido

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We had dinner at the Nido restaurant, outside in a comfy lounge area, on the 8th floor of the Loren Hotel overlooking Town Lake (also known as Lady Bird Lake) and the city of Austin. There were amazing views as the sun set behind us and the lights came up on the highrises and office towers on the north shore. Wow!

 
The city scape has changed a ton since we first stayed here in 1990. It's unrecognizable now and even hard to fathom the changes since our last visit in 2020. All of that area dominated by super highrise apartments and office towers was called the warehouse district when we first came. There were old one and two story buildings and a few night clubs. Notably we went to several shows at La Zona Rosa (James McMurtry and the Emilyfest (1994), Guy Forsyth and the Asylum Street Spankers), a warehouse bar that was owned by Marcia Ball. That bar was at 612 4th St W, it's now surrounded by high rises and federal buildings, and has been repurposed and renamed LZR. See also our visit to Austin & San Antonio in 1994

The "Sail" building, pictured at the left above, is a recently completed office building which will house Google, to the left is the new Austin Central Library, to the left of that is the repurposed Seaholm Power Bldg with the old outlets to the river lit up in color, the Independent is the tallest tower with the floor shifts. There's a lot of interesting buildings which have turned the downtown into busy dark canyons. Austin is no longer a small town, it's a big city, ... an awfully big city.

There are very few dining places that take advantage of the views along Town Lake. We used to go to Joe's Crab Shack (south shore between Congress and the I35 traffic jam) but that's now a gaming arcade. There is a nice restaurant at the Hyatt and across the river at the Line (both at the Congress bridge) but the Nido is by far the best. There was a nice Alta Cafe on the north shore at the rowing club by Waller Creek but that is no longer.

Kate discovered the Nido as we were driving on Lamar. She noted some lights and what looked like a patio area on the roof of the Loren which is located on the south shore at the Lamar bridge. Thinking that it might be a restaurant she did the research to find out that the hotel (the Loren is a modern pricey hotel) has a ground floor cafe and a large fancy dining room with an outdoor lounge/patio area on the top floor. 

Kate made sunset reservations for us on the patio where we had some wine and a couple of dishes. I had the cod; Kate had the shrimp. Both were pricey dishes — quite tasty and beautifully presented. I note that others on the patio just came for the wine and had a quick nosh (fries). We'll do the same next time when we take Gord and Leslie before the show at Zach.

Happyland

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On Monday, my 72nd birthday, we had a late lunch at the Magnolia Cafe (they opened on SoCo in 1988, we've been going there since 1990, their window slogan is "Sorry, we're open") and went to Happyland at the Saxon Pub for their early show — it's followed by Lonelyland, Bob Schneider's show which I've written about earlier.

We bought tickets and arrived by Uber shortly after 5:00pm for their 6:00pm show. The doors were open already, there was no queue, we got in right away and were able to get front row seats. There was a good crowd, some empty tables, some standing or sitting at the bar. Unlike the Ameripolitan event on Friday where we could not get a seat and had to leave without seeing much of the show.

Happyland is a musical ensemble with Kimmie, Gabe and Louis Rhodes (mother, son and grandson) and several others. We were to a house concert the day before and heard Kimmie and Gabe Rhodes there. Kimmie is about our age and has a long history in Texas country music (she has a book about her life that Kate bought). Gabe, her son, is an amazing guitar player who has written several compelling tunes as well (e.g. a story about childhood adventures and drinking from the hose).  That event, especially the stories, enticed us to see this show.

There's quite a contrast between an acoustic house concert and a full blown six piece band (drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboard and a guest on saxophone). We both agreed that the Alejandro event at the Saxon and the acoustic house concert were the best we've seen so far. I would put this Happyland event first, Kate was not as keen. But then their music is closer to blues/pop/soft rock than traditional country even if they still wear the boots and cowboy hats.

I'd say the music was dominated by the three men on guitars (Gabe Rhodes, John Goudie and Shawn Pander) who played originals they had written with one another. Michael Fracasso co-wrote one with Gabe but wasn't there. There were other co-write authors mentioned.

They've been playing regularly under the Happyland banner for a month or so and have been busy recording music. This is their second last show (perhaps we'll take Gord and Leslie to the last show) as Kimmie and her band are going on the road — she has a new album she's promoting. I'm not sure how much of this ensemble will be travelling with her or if Happyland recordings will ever appear. For the tour it's Gabe for sure, perhaps Louis who is amazing on the keyboards. John Mills was the guest on saxophone, John Chipman on drums, Harmoni Kelley on bass. These are all professional players, it's a tight well rehearsed band even when they play some tunes for the first time!!

Our friend DanViewtube taped the event if you'd care to see and hear on YouTube (see Happyland at Saxon Pub 021924). I taped the audio event as well but we won't share that with a wide audience.

Anyways, great show. We really like the music. Hmm.... this year we seem to be spending a lot of our time at the Saxon Pub. Austin music — so many places, so little time.

Lonelyland

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Tonight (Monday Feb 12) we caught Bob Schneider Music at the The Saxon Pub. We've been here a few times over the years for the Lonelyland show and keep coming back for more. It's a regular Monday evening residency that we quite enjoy. Others seem to know every song, we're not that fanatic.

Lonelyland (2001) was Bob Schneider's first album. The show isn't a rendition of that album.  He has a back catalogue of about 20 albums to draw from but I think most of his stuff at this show is now material he's working on.

We got tickets a while ago and made sure we had good seats rather than standing room. One of our new colleagues at the table has been here many times, for his friend it's the first. As we were leaving we talked briefly with Bob, he asked about photos and I promised to share these on Facebook and tag his page.

The audience was largely women. It's odd as his ribald tunes and stories often venture into queasy areas — like playing around the butt-hole (and I liked it), or farting chunks. One tune had the audience hollering out his name for the chorus. Our waitress had a T-shirt with "Bob Schneider adult music for adult children" so I guess it's all part of "keeping Austin weird". There was a couple at a table next to us who left early. I wonder if they were offended? Here's a sample (from another night, July 2021) of "Cheese Cake Factory Bar" which everyone sang along to; it's a good representation of what the show is like.

He has a big show on Valentine's Day at the ACL/Moody Theatre. I wonder if the set list and song patter are adjusted for that audience.

The musicians are quite accomplished. The bass player pictured we've seen on the ACL/Moody stage several times. Along with the usual drums, guitar and bass he has a fellow on stage left with a keyboard, violin and cello (sic!) who performs from sheet music (sic! again!).

We'll be back, next year when we return to Austin we'll drop in again. Until then ...

Ps. the show immediately before this one is "Happyland". The pair of them are regular events at the Saxon on Monday nights.

See also Lonelyland (2020) posting in this blog and Bob Schneider on Wikipedia.

Libby & the Loveless

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Today, Sunday February 11, was a fairly quiet day for us. The weather is cool and grey but there are a couple of things we'll do. The Blanton Art Gallery is a quick visit and requires more standing and walking than Kate can handle so we're there only briefly. We had hoped to have lunch at the gallery's cafe but it's been closed since the pandemic — there are plans to reopen sometime.

Late in the day we pop over to the ABGB (Austin Beer Garden and Brewery) for the regular Sunday afternoon dance party. There are different bands who play every Sunday. This is the same place we went for the Drag Show a while ago. It's close, we could easily bike there but today we drive.

There's a good sized dance area, a raised stage, and Libby & the Loveless are playing. They play traditional country with a twang and the dancers love it. We do too! We recognize several dancers from events over the years. I see they have a regular Wednesday night gig at Sam's Townpoint — we'll have to go sometime. Their music is eclectic including lots of country and bluegrass that we only vaguely recognize. I suspect they're all cover tunes, but whatever, they're done well. They did a nice version of Gillian Welch's "Dry Town". Today the band has Libby Hallet on vocals and acoustic, Salena Rosanbalm on vocals and drums, Preston Rhone on bass, Schley Barrack on electric guitar and a guest (haven't got her name) on fiddle/violin. Three women and two men, all are very good musicians and we see they've been playing all over town (Sam's, Sagebrush, The Whitehorse, ABGB, The Little Longhorn, The Whipp Inn, etc.) at honky tonks we love.

Their show today runs from 4:00 until 7:00 when the bar is shutting down. It's Superbowl Sunday and everyone, other than us, will be glued to their TV's to see if Taylor Swift announces her support for Joe Biden (the MAGA media are apoplectic that it might happen). They have a break between sets and the sound track that continues is also great. We have some pizza slices with our beer and wine.

The photos show a crowded dance floor and there's even a bit of live footage that Kate took. I'm not into filming, editing is not very much fun but if Kate continues I guess I'll have to.

Libby and the Loveless don't have much of a presence on the internet (I do find a page on Instagram) but they are a band we really enjoyed. I hope to see them again. The ABGB dance party on Sundays is not to be missed.

Alejandro Escovedo

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Saturday, February 10, finds us at a 10:00pm pop-up event at the Saxon Pub. Alejandro Escovedo is having a show accompanied by a drummer and keyboard/violinist. We had seen him earlier at the Texas Songwriters celebration at the Moody/ACL Theatre but this is an up close and personal event in a small club.  I gather the club has room for about 140 patrons, we have reserved seats up front at a small table only inches from the stage.

The club is only a few blocks away on Lamar South but we take an Uber ride — there's virtually no parking there. There's already a queue but we have reserved seats and there's a fellow processing the queue to make sure everyone is on the list and gets an arm band to enter. While we're waiting the previous band is clearing out and Alejandro's band is setting up.

It's a sold out house of devoted fans to hear stripped down versions of tunes from his extensive catalogue. One of the best parts was they (Alejandro, drummer and keyboard/violin) came off the stage and gathered in the crowd to sing a couple of acoustic numbers -- Something Blue and the Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (everyone knows John Prine). We caught him a couple of weeks ago at the Moody Theatre for a Celebration of Texas Songs. A nice contrast between this small bar and the huge theatre. We prefer honky-tonks in Austin ... at least they don't take your camera away. Today I've brought my small pocket camera (a Canon G11) rather than my DSLR. Either would have been fine.

We have two women near our our age who are sharing our table. They are devoted fans who were first in line and seem to be simply mad for Alejandro. They're both teachers, one is now retired and had spent her time in Uvalde (see 2022 Uvalde School Shooting) where her three children were raised and went to school. We talk about the shooting, how just awful it was. Her friend is from El Paso and reminds us of the 2019 Walmart Shooting there. We spend some time talking about health care (how expensive it is here) and how poorly teachers, and especially retired teachers, are paid in Texas. 

But, we also get a line on an interesting travel suggestion. Apparently, in San Marcos, there's a spring fed swimming hole where it's always 72F — something like Barton Springs. If the weather warms we might take a dip!

Blanco Pickers

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On Friday we drove out to Blanco (it's an hour or so west of Austin past Dripping Springs, south of Johnson City, towards Fredricksburg and Luckenbach) to visit with our friends Wendy and Tammy who we know from our Galapagos Tour (2019). We've kept in touch over the years by email but haven't seen them since 2020 when we were last in Austin (pre-pandemic). They are a lovely couple, fun to be with and very energetic. I don't know how they have the strength.

There were a couple of reasons for the visit. First, they are building a home atop a hill in the rolling mesquite covered hill-country between Blanco and Johnson City. I like to think we have "friends in high places". It's an architected "California modern", still under construction, but, apart from landscaping, is really taking shape. They hope to be finished by summer time. The photo album has a panorama photo of their infinity pool with a view of the valley and country side beyond. I didn't take any other pictures  — I should have but didn't. 

They have 26 acres or so of scrub country in a gated community of similar hill top homes. One reason it's gated is for the "wild life". There are African gazelles and other exotics wandering about! It's gated and fenced to keep the critters in (and, I suppose, to keep the hoodlums out). 

The other interesting thing about this build is the fact that it's out in the country where the land is really harsh and unforgiving. That anything grows here, beyond the scrub brush, is a miracle. You'd be hard pressed to find any water if you were to drill a well. From their hill top you can see a dammed river in the valley below but it's not for them. Instead, they have a huge water tank (30,000 gallons) and collect all the rain water from the roofs of their home and nearby garage/gym. That also means they have their own water treatment system to filter the water and then UV sterilization. Wendy tells me the infinity pool will lose a thousand gallons a month to evaporation so who knows how well this will work in the hot dry summer months. We did have a torrential rainfall one day while in Austin, that would have helped.

They have their own infrastructure beyond the water supply to support living here. They had to trench in electricity, they have a large propane tank in ground and a propane fired generator should the electricity fail, and of course there's a septic system and weeping bed scratched out of the rocky hillside. The road up to their build is pretty steep and quite rough — it will be paved in due course.

There is an attached, but separate, guest quarters with two bedrooms, two baths, with showers glassed floor to ceiling so you can enjoy the view while soaping up. It's quite luxurious; our digs in Austin (and our home in St Marys) are very modest by comparison.

The second reason for the visit is the "Blanco Pickers' Circle". Every Friday night around 5:00 to 7:00 local players gather at the Lavender and Leather shop on the town square to play a few tunes. Tammy is one of those pickers and she was there to play a couple of tunes. During the warmer days, when the sun is out longer, they gather outside on the street at this store. At this time of year the sun is down by 6:00 so they are performing in the basement (back room) of the shop. The lady who runs the shop welcomes us and we end up with some souvenir T-shirts that Wendy and Tammy insist they will buy for us. We get a third for our friend Dianne back home who is also a picker and is watching our house.

Blanco is a small town of not quite 2,000 residents but there are quite a few of them at this event!  I count about 20 players, some on guitar, others on ukulele, several on percussion and tunes varied from originals, to covers (everyone sings along with "Angel from Montgomery") and even some Rap music but no Conjunto! One guy did a funny song about there not being any Reggae in Blanco. Another did a very clever country parody song about a Tennessee breakup where the fellow didn't miss his ex but sure did miss the double-wide and the satellite dish. That was another song you could join in on. It was quite a lively gathering.

Wendy and Tammy know everyone and everyone knows them. For a small backwater town it seems to have attracted more than it's fair share of lefties, liberals, libertines and democrats. For example, Wendy and Tammy are getting training to be Poll Workers for the coming election — they're not doing it for the money. I'm not going to repeat the stories that Wendy told us, but suffice to say there are some very interesting characters and some stories to tell. I think some of these characters have retreated here for the small town anonymity which I will honor.

After the pickin' we went across the town square to the Redbud for dinner. There was live music there as well! What an interesting town.

Don't Touch My Hair

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Sunday morning and we're off to see the Purgatory Players at the El Mercado for brunch and a bit of gospel. The usual gang is there — Scrappy Judd Newcomb, Rich Brotherton and Guy Forsyth. They have a guest drummer today, Jordan Cook. All are performing free, giving of their time, to raise funds for the Central Texas Foodbank. 

One reason we're here is we've read on Facebook that it's Guy and Jeska Forsyth's 6th wedding anniversary. This morning is to be a wee bit of a celebration with more later in the day in Smithville, her home town, about an hour to the south east. Apparently, everyone is invited. Kate is keen to go; I'm not keen at all. We don't know these people!

They're setting up some gifts and things by the entry way which we think might have something to do with the anniversary — it turns out to be something to do with a pet event afterwards. This might help to explain why there's a good house this morning.

Anyways, in spite of it being their anniversary, they don't make any fuss about it until she comes up in the second set to play Joan Osborne's song, "What If God Were One Of Us?" We understand that she's a regular performer around town but today is our first experience of her. 

The Purgatory Players repeat several gospel tunes from last week including "This Train". Guy is an enthusiastic peformer, plays a wicked harmonica, and has some rhythm instruments (tamborine, shaker and even a saw — we know he's also accomplished on guitar). Scrappy is very laid back by comparison and keeps a bass line going with frequent guitar runs to the higher notes. Rich Brotherton plays 6 and 12 string guitars, does a version of "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize", and encourages everyone to get involved and vote in the coming election. While not telling you who to vote for it's pretty clear that, like much of Austin, they all lean a little to the left.

We first bumped into Guy at La Zona Rosa when he played with an all acoustic band, "The Asylum Street Spankers". That would have been back in the 1990's.

Rich does an excellent version of the Iris Dement's song, "Let the Mystery Be", that moves me to tears.  It's sort of an anti-gospel song, as is "What If God Were One Of Us?".

Kate Howard, she's a regular in the second set, does a funny song about "Don't Touch My Hair" (if you value your life). She's very witty and will be performing on Feb 15 at the NewWorldDeli with Scrappy. We've seen her many times over the years and she always has some uniquely bizarre story set in verse and played on her ukulele. The Purgatory Players seem to enjoy her as an addition to play with. Kate and I both speak to her, she's grateful to be recognized.

DanViewTube is there recording again and I say hello. We bump into him later in the day at the Saxon Pub where he's recording Rich Brotherton's Celtic group, "Ulla". At this writing he has posted this Purgatory Players 02/04/24 event. There's some tunes I'll grab from that posting.

We have some drinks and food. The waiter remembers us from last week and last Monday, Kate has a "Morning Margarita" — a frozen margarita with a bit of orange juice. Reg has a "Mexican Martini" — a large margarita on the rocks with some olives and a splash of olive juice. Kate orders some chips and queso, Reg orders a couple of breakfast tacos but when they arrive they're not what he ordered so he sends them back. Our waiter arrives later with them again and the other waiter, who we had sent them back with, arrives with another pair which again, while close, aren't what I ordered. Rather than press the issue I eat one pair and take the other home for later.

Barbara Nesbitt & Friends

Click image for more photos ...

We were back to the Continental Club Gallery last night (Thursday Feb 1, 2024) to see Barbara Nesbitt and friends. Doors opened at 8:00pm with the performance starting at 8:30. It's "First Thursdays" on South Congress so the streets are pretty busy, there's a lot going on. I drop Kate off at the door and go searching for a parking spot. Luckily I found street parking on James Street right by the iconic "I love you so much" graffiti on Jo's Coffee.

The cover at the door is only $10, and when I arrive Kate has purchased a couple of Margarita's ($10 for two! Wow!), and laid claim to one of the ratty couches, under a Dale Watson mural, near where the performers will be. This is where we were seated for James McMurtry the other night. Again the lighting is less than minimal, hence the B/W photos. When we arrive there are only a few friends of the performers there, who are all greeted warmly, so finding a good place to enjoy the evening wasn't difficult. As the evening progressed more arrived so ultimately it was a good house — not crowded but about as many as at the McMurtry event. Many were, of course, friends/family or performers who played. There was a gang who arrived a bit late having thought the show was downstairs at the Continental Club.

In the picture above, that's Shawnee Kilgore with Michael O'Connor behind and Barbara seated to her left. Shawnee sang a very funny song about "Too Much Texas" (which dates back to at least 2019); Kate remembers seeing her last Sunday at the Purgatory Players; I remember seeing her there over the years and at other events (e.g., at Threadgills, The Austin Acoustic Cafe, etc.). In any case, she was a guest tonight who only performed this one song. But that one song really helped to make the evening.

 Michael and Barbara did a song swap over the evening with all original tunes. Barbara repeated some of the songs we had heard earlier this week at the Monday Night Dinner Club with Ben Jones. We had never seen Michael before but he was a very good accompanist with songs of his own and others he had co-written with Geoff Plankenhorn and/or Gabe Rhodes (performers we do know). He's a big gentle bear kind of guy. There's some confusion and laughs around his middle name — is it Sterling, or Scott, or Scott Sterling? Or perhaps it's just the whiskey that's talking.

In the photo album there's some photos of Nevada Newman who, it turns out, is Barbara's house painter. .. or at least so they said. He's another great guitar player and came up to play while Barbara snuck off to the pisser. TMI! He played her guitar and tuned down the bass strings which was quite a surprise to her when she returned. I thought it was pretty brave/foolish of him to do that. Others were warning her, but she missed their warnings.

Barbara was nipping on some tequila having been dry for the last couple of months. So she was a little wild and a bit raunchy. She sang a song about "batting for the other team" having had her fair share of failed relationships with men. The song about "I know what you did!", another failed relationship with a guy who "done her wrong", had her naming Dale Watson and pointing to the Dale Watson mural where I was sitting — it seemed like she was pointing at me! I don't look anything like Dale, certainly haven't done her wrong and, for a while there, people might have thought she was pointing at me. Ultimately, we all had it figured out that it was the Dale Watson of the mural and not me! She and Michael thought the mural looked like Dale was enjoying a blow-job and when Kate purposely took a picture of me with the mural Michael thought the picture would be better if I turned around so it looked like I was giving the blow-job (sic!).

We cut out a little early as Kate's ankle pain became hard to bare. Barbara asked why we were leaving and Kate replied "Too much Dale Watson" (cf. Too much Texas). Everyone hooted at Kate's witty response and Barbara replied  "Well played." She then added that "Dale would be playing downstairs on Monday ... no pun intended". He has a residency at the club.

We have seen Barbara several times over the years starting with "The Whiskey Sisters" in 2013, a house concert in 2019, Purgatory Plays and most recently at the Monday Night Dinner Club with Ben Jones.

We enjoyed the event and, no doubt, will be back before our visit to Austin ends.