Therapy Sisters

Friday was a gray and cold in the day in the morning – a bit depressing. But you can't have it perfect every day. The sun came out for lunch and it's snowing back home so we are grateful.

Reg went by taxi to Howdy Honda on Ben White (just south of us, the major road to the airport) to get a loaner car this morning. Our car had developed some clunking noises in the suspension and we felt it best to investigate before returning on the long drive back home. He had dropped off the car on Thursday but they weren't able to get parts to fix it right away. Then Friday morning we find they're not going to get parts until Monday so they're renting a car for us from Enterprise. Reg had to be shuttled home to get his passport (in spite of the fact that we've rented from them many times) and then on to Enterprise to rent a car. We're now driving a late model Chevrolet but would rather be in our Honda.

In the afternoon we went out to do a bit of shopping in North Austin. We had a pizza for lunch and some wine outdoors at the Central Market café on North Lamar not too far from Uchiko where we had had dinner with Sam. They often have music events at the café so we were interested in checking that out. The Central Market is an upscale Austin grocery chain competing with Whole Foods. We found some interesting Texas wines to take home as souvenirs for friends. Then on to Sue Patricks on Burnet Rd (got a little lost on the way) to see if Kate could get another pair of the Capri pants she bought there a couple of weeks ago and really liked. They didn’t have any in black in her size and she didn’t like the other color so we didn't get any pants. But we did get a few souvenirs for staff back at work. I think we're pretty much done the souvenir shopping.

At about 5:30, we went to Patsy’s Cowgirl Cafe on Ben White near the Howdy Honda to have dinner and see the Therapy Sisters whom we had seen before at the EmilyFest at La Zona Rosa on a trip with Jack and Doreta back in 1994 and remembered liking them.

Of course, they were doing Emily Kaitz songs at the EmilyFest – we weren’t so crazy about the music they do (sort of jazzy swing) but it was an interesting night. They were very openly lesbian (3 out of 4 in the band dressed pretty manly as well) and had a few friends who had come to see them (both lesbian and straight) so it was a pretty jovial crowd. At the end of the show they thanked everybody who had come out to the show and especially thanked those that had "come out" as well.

Purly Gates who had played with Emily Kaitz every once in a while threw in a protest song – usually to the tune of an existing song – e.g., blowing in the wind done about the environment, one about the health care system. one about never getting same sex marriage in Texas. One of the other singers did a song (more in their style) about being nickle and dimed by the trickle down.

Reg went to talk to Purly in the break to ask if she was the same person who had recorded with Emily – told her we saw them at the EmilyFest, we were from Canada, etc. So of course, during the second set, she mentioned about the wonderful folks visiting from Canada (Reg and his lovely wife – can’t remember her name) and that people should talk to us about our health care system (actually given some of our experiences – maybe they shouldn’t). At the end, one of the other singers said that they were changing the pledge of allegiance – “one country under Canada.” Also at the end of the protest song about same sex marriage, the third singer (who had done the song about trickle down), yelled out “Oh Canada” and held her arm up in a cheering way. It turns out they know about Canadian health care and same sex marriage – which in Austin makes them love us, in the rest of Texas, makes them hate us.

We had a good time with the music. Reg enjoyed his Texas slow smoked BBQ brisket with BBQ sauce and mashed potatoes -- it was melt in your mouth tender. Kate had some fish tacos with rice and beans. And then pecan pie for desert. Mmm ... ain't that Texas cooking something.

And the other good thing? We were home by 9:00!

Amanda Cevallos

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Tuesday was my birthday so we popped into the Broken Spoke on South Lamar for dinner and a bit of music by Amanda Cevallos.

The Broken Spoke is an old time honky tonk dance hall (built in the early 1960's by the owner James White) that is being squeezed out by development on South Lamar. Not too long ago Lamar was a lazy street out in the country and the Broken Spoke was surrounded by empty fields with plenty of parking in the gravel lot. These days Lamar is a busy 4-lane highway and there's new buildings going up on either side with only a bit of parking remaining on the gravel lot in front. While "this [still] ain't no fernie bar" they now have valet parking!

I suspect this honky tonk ain't long for this world what with land prices and development on Lamar. Worse yet, I understand that James White owns the building but only rents the land. And he's not a young man any more. So, if you're ever down this way, soak it up while you can.

I had just listened to a Sunday night podcast on the Americana Music Show where they shone a spotlight on Amanda Cevallos and her regular appearances at the Broken Spoke. We hadn't been in a while and I hadn't experienced a Chicken Fried Steak with white gravy (the Broken Spoke advertises that there's are the best in the world) so we hopped a cab and headed over for dinner. PS. we had missed Chris Wall who played the dance hall on the day we arrived in Austin.

Amanda and her band (she writes, sings and play acoustic guitar) were setting up in the dining room as we arrived. They play in the dining room from 6-8, there's dance lessons in the big hall from 8-9 then another dance hall band at 9:00. Amanda introduced herself as we entered, welcomed us and asked where we were from. She asks everyone where they're from and predicted, rightly, that people from all over the world would arrive for dinner.

The Americana Music Show had advertised her music as "Tejano". I'd describe it as good old fashioned honky tonk country. The band consists of able musicians on electric, bass and drums. She played some covers and some originals. There wasn't a set list, they just played the tunes that came to them. There were a few folks who were moved to dance between the crowded tables. We really enjoyed the music and bought a copy of her new CD "I'll Never Honky Tonk You" -- that's probably the first time "honky tonk" has been used as a verb.

There weren't many locals there for dinner (I suspect they come later for the dancing) but I did get my Chicken Fried Steak and it was pretty darn good. Unfortunately it was too early for mashed or baked potatoes so I had to settle for french fries. White Gravy really should have mashed potatoes. 

Oh my, momma ain't that Texas Cookin' something
Oh my, momma it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'
Oh my, momma ain't that Texas Cookin' good
Oh my, momma eat it everyday if I could
---- Guy Clark (1970)

Well, it isn't that good if you're a vegetarian.  Kate had cheese quesadillo's -- the only vegetarian dish on the menu apart from salad. This is a meat and potatoes kind of place.

Our waitress spotted our Canadian accents (everyone in Austin is from some place else, how did she spot us?). Turns out she had gone to school in Buffalo, NY where she obtained a Master's in Languages and was familiar with our accents and our part of the world -- Niagara Falls, Ontario, etc. She had even been to Georgian Bay. I'm from a little village called Walter's Falls in the Georgian Bay area. We all agreed that is a beautiful part of the world ... albeit snow covered at this time of the year. We were surprised that she was waitressing with her education but she told us this is what she enjoys most.  I guess she's doing her part -- Keeping Austin Weird!

Hmm.. It's another sunny day this morning and I've rambled quite a bit here. Let's cut to the chase -- I'd recommend you visit the Broken Spoke in Austin and, if you're a fan of honky tonk country, check out Amanda Cevallos and her new CD.

Hug-In Dance

Saturday was a full day for Kate and I with her brother Gord and his squeeze Val at the Luckenbach, Texas Hug-In. That's a Valentine's Day celebration in a tiny village (population 3) made popular many years ago by a Waylon Jennings song entitled "Luckenbach, Texas". There's a general store cum bar and a dance hall -- oh yes, there's the feed lot and an outdoor crapper. But there's also lots of huggers camping, pickers picking with the chickens under the live oaks and just generally hanging out drinking beer, telling lies and singing songs.

Luckenbach's hey-days would have been in the 1970's when it was purchased by an eccentric hill country character by the name of Hondo Crouch. It became a hang out for the developing Outlaw Country music movement -- Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker and more. You can drop in most days to find someone plucking on a guitar and singing some songs. It's a testament to it's popularity that you will find it on most road maps even though there really is no village there. Population 3 is an exaggeration.

Back in Austin we met a server at Joe's Crab shack who said he came from the Fredricksburg area (Luckenbach is about 10 miles from Fredricksburg) but had never heard of Luckenbach. He was a very nice friendly fellow but we told him he lost his Texas-cred on that one.

Kate and I enjoyed an afternoon outside under the live oaks drinking beers and listening to the singers and poet. Gord and Val explored the village and hung out in the camp grounds where they have adventures to tell. We retreated into the store to warm up around the wood stove when evening arrived while Gord and Val grabbed us some seats in the dance hall for the evening's adventures starting at 9:00. We grabbed a corner table in the tiny bar. Kate had brought her guitar (we travelled to Texas with bikes, cats and guitar!) with the intention of encouraging others to sing. It worked! We had a wonderful time sitting in the some of the pickers and even joined in on a few

Luckenbach is about an hour and a half out of Austin and as I was the designated driver I kept my wits about me and stayed sober. We had been to the hug-in several times over the years (the first time we found Luckenbach back in 1990 was a hug-in) this was the 38th annual hug-in. And this was the only time and I was able to stay vertical for the dance.

Gary P Nunn and the Bunkhouse Band played the dance hall at 9:00. The hall was packed as pictured above. Fortunately Gord and Val had saved us a seat else we would have been standing -- and Kate can't do that! We were glad of the opportunity to enjoy the music with the 3-500 in attendance.

We've seen Gary a couple of time before at the Broken Spoke in Austin (another old time dance hall) and this is music just made for the dance hall and the Texas 2-step. You will be familiar with the song London Homesick Blues made famous as the theme music for Austin City Limits with the famous "I wanna be home with the Armadillo" refrain and perhaps the haunting What I Like About Texas which enumerates some of what we love about the state. Gary has a ton of great tunes and the Texas-cred to go with them. He's one of the gang that made Outlaw Country what it is today -- Gary was in the Lost Gonzo Band and sang London Homesick Blues on Jerry Jeff Walker's Viva Terlingua album recorded live in this same old dance hall back in 1973.

Gord and Val were dancing the night away while Kate and I played it low key -- with her bum knee dancing was not on our radar. For some a snooze in the car seemed the better part of valour..

We crept away at midnight to the sounds of Gary P Nunn playing "Reggae Armadillo" -- it's time to leave when they parody their hits. An uneventful drive back to Austin with three passengers gently cutting wood made for the end of another perfect day.

"You ask me what I like about Texas? Well I could tell you, but we'd be here all night long." -- Gary P Nunn

Neon at Night

If you like neon lights you'll love Austin. The city glows with beautiful lights advertising one of a kind stores, bars, restaurants, etc. Do a Google image search on "Austin Neon" and you'll see what I mean.

I'm particularly fond of this one on South Lamar because it reminds me of a CD that Pat and Cindy liked -- the "L-Ranko Hotel" by Bell & Shore (1989). Yes I know the El Rancho restaurant has nothing to do with the L-Ranko hotel. I'm not even sure if there is hotel by that name. I'm just saying it reminds me.

Kate tells me there is a connection -- the joke is it's the El-Rancho hotel but the the letter's "E" and "H" are burned out to leave "L-Ranco". We need Pat to clarify.

I'm not sure if the El Rancho really is the "Best Mexican Food in the World" but they advertise that they are. I've written a bit about Guero's and the Magnolia already (both have great neon signs). The "Sorry, we're open" of the Magnolia is a classic. There's lots of Mexican and Tex/Mex restaurants around Austin and quite a few in our neighbourhood. Most are modest and reasonably priced. So much so that we seldom prepare food at home!

We had lunch yesterday at the Habanero Cafe around the corner on Oltorf. It's a short walk and pretty authentic specialising in serving the morning and lunch crowd -- it closes most days at 3:00pm (later on Thurs-Sat). There's a small dining area with a sun room on Oltorf where we ate. While our intentions were to just have a "wee bite" we ended up with a lunch that filled us up for the rest of the day. Kate tried a shrimp gordito while I tucked into a a pair of pulled pork burritos. There were lots of crispy corn chips and a very spicy salsa (perhaps a bit of habanero for heat?) while we checked the menu and placed our order. Our lunches arrived shortly thereafter on huge plates loaded with lots of refried beans, rice, guacamole, salad and smothered in cheese. It was good food, very filling and very reasonably priced.

In the evening we returned yet again to the Strange Brew Cafe and saw the opening act Jodi Adair perform with some friends. Will Knaak on electric guitar (who we've now seen several times -- he must live there!) and Dony Wynn on drums/percussion. These friends raise Jodi's music above the bar; just the right gentle subtle touches and blazing bridges when required. Dony was an interesting treat to see and hear. He doesn't play a conventional drum kit. Even describing the kit as unconventional would  not do it justice. He sits on top of a bass box instead of behind a bass drum and noodles with instruments of his own making.

Jodi teased Dony into telling a funny story about playing in a sarong.  Yes you heard me right -- a sarong. Definitely the type to keep Austin weird. He doesn't do that any more -- you just end up exposing to much gear even if you are wearing underwear. I shudder to imagine the view. He's no Tom Cruise. Apparently at one event in San Marcos a lady in the audience became quite offended and belligerent when he played in a sarong ... because he was wearing underwear!

Weird eh?

Sam Adventures

Our friend Sam flew in from wintry Winnipeg on Thursday to enjoy a bit of sun with us in Austin.

On Thursday night we took Sam to Guero's on SoCo and caught some live music under the live oaks while exploring some of First Thursday on Soco (a once a month event)

On Friday morning we biked along Town Lake and had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack at Riverside. Friday night saw us to dinner at Uchiko and the play Tru at the ZACH Theatre. A one man play about Truman Capote that we really enjoyed -- it's not a barrel of laughs, very black by times. It wasn't very well attended but we thought it was a great production. It got a standing ovation. Afterwards we stopped in at the Wine House for an after theatre drink and a bit of live music. Fortunately saner minds prevailed and we went home early (I was driving and careful about drinking).

Saturday was a cool wet day so we three spent the afternoon playing a dominoes game called "Mexican Train". It was a Christmas gift from Joan and Ron that we had brought with us. We had lots of laughs and a few drinks while playing the afternoon away. Our plan was to take a taxi to the evening's events.

The ladies we met on Thursday night at Guero's Taco Bar under the live oaks on SoCo had recommended a restaurant on S. Lamar called "Barley Swine" which is near Oltorf and not too far from us. They described it as a "tapas" style service -- little nosh sized dishes. The restaurant web site warned us to arrive early as they do not take reservations and would be busy. We arrived at 5:00 and got the last table which we ended up sharing with another group of three. We really enjoyed the food and would compare it favourably with Uchiko on N. Lamar (rated #1 on Tripadvisor, #3 in the Austin Chronicle's Reader Favourites/AC RF) where we had an early dinner on Friday.  Uchiko is Japanese styled (which we're not very familiar with) while Barley Swine, if I were to put a local, I'd say California or haute-local. The menu at the Barley Swine (rated #18 in AC RF) is much easier to manage (it's much smaller and easier to figure out) and the atmosphere is more casual. The place is much smaller but the service is just as great. At both restaurants each dish is lovingly prepared, plated and served. We would have no hesitation recommending these restaurants.... if you want to get away from the chicken fried steaks and Tex-Mex.

Saturday night we saw some great music. The photo above is Wendy Colonna playing with some friends at the "Strange Brew" coffee club on Manchaca not far from us. It's a great spot to see good music. A place where people listen to the music, where friends gather to play with friends. We were there last week and will go again. It's a very nice spot.

Sunday morning we took Sam to the airport for an early flight home. We returned to bed and slept late. For a hang-over breakfast we headed over to the Magnolia Cafe ("Sorry, we're open") on SoCo for Love Miga's, Huevos Rancheros, etc.  ... a place we've been many times and quite the contrast to the fine dining of the previous evenings.

Keeping Austin Weird

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Kate and I are having a bit of a vacation here in Austin Texas where the city motto is "Keep Austin Weird". We fit right in. The picture at left is from the Cathedral of Junk which Kate had researched before we were on the road. It's a huge lawn art sculpture of found objects located in the backyard of a  modest home on a quiet residential street a little south of where we're staying in the SoCo (South Congress) neigbourhood. Vince, the artist who built the cathedral, was at home when we biked by and invited us in to have a look. It's definitely weird. I gather it's his full time occupation these days. The life of an artist.

We drove down over three days getting out of Ontario just before the nasty winter weather set in. We've been in touch with friends back home (try Google Voice for free calls to any land line in Canada and the USA). Cindy told us about the snow storms and whiteouts that have resulted in huge crashes along the 401 and road closures in the usual snow belt locations. Mike curses our good luck to be away from it all.

We missed all of that nasty weather by leaving early on a rainy morning late in January. Our first day we drove 12 hours. We crossed at Port Huron (where the border guard asked Kate if she had to twist my finger to go to Texas -- I had sliced the tip off my pinky on our kitchen mandolin) and drove to Bowling Green KY just an hour or so from Nashville TN. The next day we put in 8 hours to Texarkana and the last day 6 hours to Austin. That's 26 hours in total. Google Maps had predicted 25 hours (which we were skeptical about).

The short days on the drive were largely  motivated by our cats Richard Parker and Piscine Patel (see the Life of Pi) who have come with us -- Kate was worried about them. Actually they travelled very well and settled down pretty quickly. We're talking about zooming back in two long days on our return since the critters are so well behaved.

We stayed at the La Quinta hotel chain while travelling as they have a cat friendly policy. Both hotels where very nice and I would not hesitate to recommend them to others who are travelling with pets. We met lots of dog lovers staying at the hotels. You don't see as many people travelling with cats.

We also brought our bikes which made packing and unpacking each night interesting. We've been making good use of them biking around the neighborhood, along Town Lake and down to Zilker Park where we sadly discovered that the sacred waters of Barton Springs are closed until March for renovations of the dam and the creek bypass! Damn! The weather here has been very warm (in the mid 70's rather than the usual mid 60's) and we had hoped to go in for a swim.

We've rented a 2 bedroom home called Casita del Sol in the SoCo neighborhood through an Austin property management firm called VacationCake. The house is just great -- check out the photos on their web site. We have two bedrooms (we are expecting some family and friends), a great living and kitchen area and, best of all, a big back yard for the cats to play. The cats have settled in and are starting to expect regular supervised play time in the back yard. We indulge them several times a day. The house is very well appointed and in the few days we've been here we're already talking about booking again next year. We're just around the corner from 1st St S and a short bike ride from the SoCo funky area on Congress.

We've been to the Magnolia Cafe (an all day breakfast joint we always visit -- "Sorry, we're open") and Gueros (a large taco joint -- Bill Clinton eats here (sic!)) for dinner and music in the garden under the live oaks. Kate says the best tacos so far were at "Torchy's Tacos". It's a small chain which started here in Austin. We went to the one around the corner on 1st St S where we had a quick snack before going to see some conjunto music by Susan Torres y Conjunto Clemencia at a dive called the Scoot Inn on the east side of town. We liked the music a lot. We especially like that it was an early evening gig as we've not got in to staying up late.

We have plans to see more music, lots more music. We'll blog about that another day.

Keeping Austin Weird -- one day at a time.

Conjunto Festival

On Sunday we caught a bit of the Rancho Alegre Conjunto Festival (a three day festival with a ton of performers) in east Austin at the Austin Moose Lodge No. 1735, 2103 E.M. Franklin. This is the second year for the festival and it seems to be a success. They're already planning for next year.

The Moose Lodge is a bit of a dark and dreary spot with no windows and it was a beautifully bright day so we only stayed long enough to see a couple of acts -- the Conjunto Cats (young fellows) and Conjunto Los Pinkys (very seasoned fellows). The photo at left is "Los Pinkys". I understand they've been playing together for 60 years or so! I'm not surprised.

It was at this festival where I bumped into the record dealer who runs "Turntable Records" just down the street from us on 1st in SoCo. He seems to specialise in obscure music like conjunto. While it is popular amongst a certain population you need to search it out. You'll not bump into it in the many bars along Pecan Street downtown. I bought a CD by Los Pinkys ("Los Pinkys con Isidro Samelpa -- !Seguro que Si!" from 1994 -- they have been around for a while) and a T-shirt for Susan Torres and Conjunto Clemencia who he raved about. They had played earlier another day. On that recommendation we ventured over to east Austin on Tuesday night where we caught their early show at the Scoot Inn.

I've been aware of conjunto music for some years having been introduced by our friend Padric who is no longer around to vicariously enjoy our adventures in places like Austin. The Texas Tornados are, I suppose, a popularised version of the style. I can certainly hear where they come from when I sit in a dance hall with conjunto playing.

Clearly the music is shaped by the Germans who brought accordions to this part of the world as settlers in the late 1800's. A conjunto band should have four instruments -- an accordion, a 12 (or sometimes) 10 string guitar, bass guitar and drums. The accordion is the defining instrument -- likewise for Zydeco. Like Zydeco it's good time party music just made for dancing. For conjunto the dance is often a polka beat (there's that German influence) but sometimes a waltz or samba beat. People come to these gigs to dance and it's great to see. With Kate's bum knees we're not able to participate in the dancing .. but we sure enjoyed the music.

There's lots more music to see and hear. We're only here for a month but hope to see much more in more of the myriad styles available in this music capitol.