Acousticity

We were just a couple of days past Eeyore's Birthday drum circle day when it was time for some great live music shows. We got a couple of very special tickets for the Punch Brothers' Austin City Limits TV taping! Didn't not take any pics or video (They really really prefer that you don't take video, esp. since they are filming the show anyway, and all the phone cams make the audience look dorky.) but there are lots of nice pro pics at the link.

This was only our 4th time to get to attend and ACL taping. The tickets are free but must be acquired through a lottery or a connection, it's not easy to get in. The sound is amazing, and so is the camera work on the finished product, that we may get to see on TV this Fall.

If an ACL taping with what is probably my favorite band right now was not enough, we also saw them the next night at a sold-out, little-bit rowdy show at Antone's club. If the crowd at the taping was a bit reserved, this one made up for it - and there's video to show for it. This is actually an old one that mandolinist Chris Thile first wrote and recorded back when he was about 18. It's a gorgeous instrumental that I can't listen to enough.

Punch Brothers - Song For a Young Queen


This one is a cover of a song by The Strokes, but PB has made it their own, IMO. It's not one that they played during the taping because it contains one of those words that you still can't say on TV.
Punch Brothers - Heart in a Cage


Just a couple of days after Punch Brothers came though town, we were happy to welcome The Greencards back to Austin. They have moved back here from Nashville, and it's nice to have them back. Like Punch Brothers, they really tear it up on the strings and vocals. Here's a beautiful instrumental.
The Greencards - Adelaide


Great shows! What a week. Now - a little rest.

Treasure at the taco bar, SXSW Day 2

Continuing on with the Townie's Unofficial SXSW Day Party Journals, Day 2. There will be 2 more installments after this one, so hang in there!! On Thursday AM we went up to Stubb's. Mainly, I wanted to see The Punch Brothers again, and preferred this 10AM party to the earlier one staged by the radio morning show.

Highlights from Stubb's:
Alpha Rev, good local indie band that was already an old favorite, played first, and we enjoyed the cool temperatures and good sound from the stage.

Kopecky Family Band was a nice discovery. Not sure how we've managed to miss them so many times before.

I got a kick out of the superfan next to us for Lucero. So stoked!! And he loudly told the bandleader before the show started that, other than Springsteen, he was the greatest songwriter of our generation! That's some big love. I do understand it... I really do.

Alabama Shakes was the headliner at this party, and the radio gal on the announcement mic made what I thought was a rude faux pas. With the Punch Brothers standing on the stage ready to start, all she can come up with initially was something like "Bet you all can't wait for Alabama Shakes! We're all here for that, right?" The crowd attempted to correct and convince her that many of us were here for these guys!

Punch BrothersThe band was great, and we got some video, but the sound on that stage was no longer something that would show them off, it was hard to hear, especially the vocals. Instead of our video, here's one created the following day by radio KFUV a day later.


Actually, we did stick around for Alabama Shakes, because there is a HUGE buzz for this band right now... magazine covers, an Austin City Limits taping (look for it this Fall), critics choice lists... Their set also suffered from muffled, bad sound, and although I thought they were really pretty good, they did NOT knock my socks off.

Alabama Shakes

By then I was hot and tired, but the long walk to the bus stop is always entertaining on 6th street during the festival. These people are not really naked. They are wearing skin-tight flesh-colored leotards for some promotional purpose.

We went down to South Congress to Guero's Taco Bar courtyard, where we saw 2 really good bands. I really want to recommend The Belle Brigade. It's fronted by a brother and sister who have sweet harmonies and great songwriting skills. Their harmonies reminded me of The Indigo Girls, but they claim influence from Paul Simon and Fleetwood Mac. Good stuff, anyway. Children were romping wildly, dancing and playing in the mulch in front of the stage, we were sitting in the dirt in the shade of a tent, there was a light breeze and the music was so good.

The Belle Brigade (LA)

The band after them, Ivan and Alyosha (Seattle), was so good that I bought both their CDs!


We decided to call it a day at that point, and remember it all as a good time. I will leave you with the image of this pair of busking cuties on South Congress. Ticket money spent today = $0.

Swan Dive and Springsteen, SXSW day 1

Wednesday was a long one. Started out at a place/party where I hadn't been before, it was the Billy Reid American Songwriter held at the Swan Dive. It turned out to be a pretty stylish little hole-in-the-wall, kind of shabby chic decor and (best of all) the walls were lined with padded seating. We were so grateful for those! I had expected we would be standing up in a crowded, sweaty room for 6 hours - something I was better at when I was a lot younger. Instead we managed to get a wall seat with a sidelong view of the stage that wouldn't be obstructed by people. The "sweaty" part still applied though.

The lineup was great!

The Punch Brothers, Delta Spirit, The Apache Relay, Phosphorescent, Brendan Benson, Jonny Corndawg, Wild Cub, & Shelly Colvin.

Jonny Corndawg was new for us. Really good music in what I would call "California Country" style, or perhaps "Western" (and I can't write that without thinking of that scene in the Blues Brothers where Bob's Country Bunker informs the band that their club plays both kinds of music, country AND western). J. Corndawg featured a damned good fiddler, an amazing pedal steel, and the added feature of guest Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes (a band I love).

Matt Vasquez (from Delta Spirit/Middle Brother) was enjoying the show from stage front and even jumped up for a quick chorus. John McCauley (Deer Tick/Diamond Rugs/Middle Brother) was spied up there too... and as much as I was hoping for a Middle Brother surprise quickie (Middle Brother is Vasquez, Goldsmith and McCauley), that's as close as it got to happening. I just got their CD and can't leave it alone.

Brendan Benson was really good. I didn't realize (by name) that he was part of The Raconteurs and is generally related to much of Jack White's music with mutual influence on each other. Recommended!

The Apache Relay also a discovery act for me, really want to see them again. Check them out.

Delta Spirit is a band we already liked, and in fact, saw them the previous day at their CD release at Waterloo Records. Great songs, great energy!

I dearly love The Punch Brothers, and they played a rowdy, energetic set to finish out Billy Ried's party. All kinds of awesome.

We needed to get to the Austin Music Awards as quickly as possible. The doors opened while we were still at Swan Dive, and the seats fill up fast. I was grateful to a friend of mine who managed to save us 2nd row seats! This is a combo awards show/concert, so they have a little music interspersed with a few awards. They tailor the lineup with local new hotness, local legends, and everything in-between or both. They had Quiet Company, Austin's hottest indie band, performances from Ruthie Foster, Patty Griffin, Carolyn Wonderland, Joe "King" Carrasco, and Christopher Cross with his original Austin band..

It was strongly rumored that Bruce Springsteen just might put in a surprise appearance at the Awards, and they kept on building that suspense. Sure enough, out he came to sit in with Alejandro Escovedo, Joe Ely, Garland Jeffreys and a whole lot of folks. I'm in the process of getting some videos up on my channel, so check it out if you want (and excuse the gawd awful shitty acoustics at the Austin Music Hall).


Spectacular first day. Started out at noon (not counting the earlier line-waiting time - I am an obsessive early bird to the annoyance of certain people - but there are often big advantages to being first in line) and went until after midnight. Ticket cost for all = $15.

Cats and jammers

Time for a bit of a status update here. Have been spending really far too much of the free time working in the house, although I guess what's 'too much' is a matter of opinion. There are still 3 ladders in the foyer, but I have reached a point where the 8ft. and the 16ft. can possibly go back in the garage for a short time. What a pain in the ass it is to have high ceilings, especially if you want to paint to hang stuff up - and, of course, painting involves as much "taking stuff down" as "hanging stuff up," and my favorite, "moving stuff around."

I also opened the can of worms which is my art collection. It's stuff I created myself throughout my earlier life, and I figured I may as well hang up a few choice items. The figure drawing classes left me with an overabundance of nudes, with a solid number of still-lifes featuring skulls, vases, and drapes. I'm being very selective here. Mentally tiring trying to figure out which ones are worth hanging... I will try to get some photos up here as soon as there's something to show.

Helping out in the process have been some neighbor-cat visitors. We've been allowing a couple of block cats to come inside the house for brief visits (just kidding about the helping out. Cats are unhelpful with tasks - always). Definitely not more than an hour, and no snacks. We have made a vow that we will not take in any pets for a good long time - and that's going to stick. Anyway, these 2 cats in particular are going to break our hearts for sure. They are sweet and affectionate. These cats have homes (2 different ones) but they are left out to roam a lot. They are friends with each other, so I'm glad of that. Such nice kitties.

Love.
Making himself at home.
Most of my energy is being directed toward planning our SXSW day party crawl this month, which means narrowing down an insane number of choices to something humanly possible - and then figuring out the proper combination of buses and boots that will provide the transportation. Parking is a pain, at best, and lots of streets are closed anyway. Looking forward to seeing some of our favorite bands and maybe discovering a new one or two. Here's a favorite we hope to catch once or twice, Punch Brothers, based in NYC.

Here's another one we like, GIVERS, from Lafayette LA:


I will be very glad when festival-time gets here.

Creature comforts

We make sure there are fluffy beds and nice clean cushy blankies for the kitties, but, as it turns out, the underneath of an old box spring will do fine (as Jax demonstrates here).

Alex loved to get on his back underneath the bed, and drag himself around by pulling on this fibery stuff tacked to the bottom of the box spring. He loved to pull himself to the edge where his head would be sticking out looking at us with a great big teethy grin. There's the hole he left in it. I think he actually got up inside it once. That was one crazy cat. The old mattress set is gone, as of Saturday, and Alex has been gone since July 15, 2007 - almost exactly 3 years. That was also a Sunday when we had to make "the hard decision" as it's called. We'll never forget him.

Raining at Sunset

5 minutes of rain yesterday at sunset, and today at sunset there was more, just light rain but it's been so rare. Temperature went down into the 80s at twilight. The toad in the front yard came out to enjoy the moisture. We need so much more rain.

This is "Raining at Sunset" by the Punch Brothers with Chris Thile.

Punch, Brothers, Punch!

Sunday was our big concert splurge day, because the Punch Brothers were in town for 2 shows at the Cactus. Punch Brothers is Chris Thile's post-Nickel Creek band, and he is without a doubt, the band leader, but all the players are exceptional. Thile's fans are passionately devoted to his music, it's really more in the category of worship, and I am one of those nutty fans (MrB is too. He's just not a fanboy, that's all, doesn't want to go early and hang around late looking for autographs and/or conversation).

I wasn't sure how early the lines would form, so I got there waaay too early. MrB hates that, it drives him nuts, but we just have to work through that situation each time. I am a chronic early bird because of pre-show anxiety... I'd rather just be there and be first in line and have it done. And it was. During soundcheck I thought we were alone in an area of students working on lessons and doing their best to ignore the mandolin - then one came out of the woodwork with a squeeeel OMG IT'S CHRIS THEEELEEE!!! He's my HEEERO!!! OK. The line starts behind me.* :-)

I really do enjoy being around Nickel Creek fans. They are super-nice and nobody cares how old or young you are, or at least they don't show it if they do. Most of my pics were blurred, including these, but flash was out, and the camera blurs in the dark without flash.

Here's a Youtube of this band doing one of Chris's from a few years back. Gorgeous.

We did see lots of friends and acquaintances there, lots of them musicians. Dennis Ludiker and Noah Jeffries (South Austin Jug Band/MiLkDrive) were at 1st show, then they had a MiLkDrive gig to play so they couldn't stay. Warren Hood (Waybacks) sat next to us for 2nd show. He just had his big solo CD release the night before. Sarah Jarosz and her family were there too, and as I kind of expected, she was called up to the stage for the last two numbers. Sarah is a senior in High School, just signed with Sugar Hill Records, and has an upcoming gig opening for Tim O'Brien. How about that? I did record one of the numbers, and that is her Dad taking pictures in it. I hope they turned out better than mine.

After the shows, we did hang around. It was very laid-back, we knew quite a few people there (including Punch guitar player Chris Eldridge) and it felt more like backstage than meet and greet -- so I got to chat with him and also Thile, who was saying what a special city this is to play in because people are actually listening and understand the music (I am paraphrasing). I joked and said "I'll bet you say that to all the cities" but he really meant it. Then he introduced me to Sarah's mom and dad (because we were all in the same conversation) but I said we were old friends, and that we met several years ago waiting in line for Nickel Creek! {true}

I am still buzzing, and it's the only thing getting me through this week, which consists of working day and night, and not much else. Guess I should try and get some sleep now.

Punch, Brothers, Punch -- a short story by Mark Twain

*quote from Tom Petty's character "Lucky" on King of the Hill

Drive-by posting

Still working my danged fool head off, but taking a small break here to check in. So what's coming up that you are excited about?

The Punch Brothers (featuring Chris Thile, previously of Nickel Creek) finally decided to grace Austin with a gig... technically two, one right after the other on the same night at the Cactus Cafe, so I had to scrape all my pennies together for the finest mandolin player on earth (in my very humble opinion) and a great band as well. That show is in mid-September. Here they are playing "Wolfcreek Pass"

As for movies, my cousin has one out now, but I haven't seen it and have to say it doesn't look that good to me. Swing Vote. Kevin Costner is my 2nd cousin once removed (more about that here) but I must admit I haven't seen much of his stuff since Waterworld. {sigh} Has anyone seen Swing Vote? Star Wars: The Clone Wars, this brings another deep sigh. I was very disappointed in the latest Star Wars Trilogy (eps 1-3), and this one looks will be seen by us on DVD while pretending to be 10 years old. Tropic Thunder looks much better, but Burn After Reading (out in September) is the next one I'm psyched about.

Music this week: We will try to see Paula Nelson at Central Market on Friday (that's a free one), and Grupo Fantasma at the Nutty Brown on Saturday. Probably maybe on those.

Back to running in the wheel. Too bad I can't use the motion of the mouse to send power to the house.

Finishing this drive-by with a completely off-topic left-field comment, and I have previously given my opinion about his campaign in light of the recent revelations, and now think that this is not news anymore: anyone in the media who claims to care about the feelings of a woman with cancer (and also claims to somehow embody family values, talking to you, right-wing nutjobs) should stop harping on endlessly (over the airwaves and on the newsstands) about the sordid details of her husband's extramarital affairs. The woman already hurts bad enough.

Tags: Music - Austin - Texas - Texas Music

Nickel Creek, Farewell (For Now)

Listen in the background: Full concert streamed via NPR -- Live from Washington D.C.

The big event this weekend was the Nickel Creek show at Stubb's. My favorite band since early 2001. Last summer they issued an announcement that the band would break up at the end of 2007, so here it is. They had just 3 shows to do after Stubb's -- 2 at the Ryman in Nashville. For the breakup they went with a scheduled demolition instead of letting attrition wear them down -- possibly postponing the inevitable for years -- hanging on for way too long like those last seasons of The X-Files. I was really bummed about it at first, and although I still feel sad, I can see that it's necessary. These guys have been in a band together since a couple of them were 8 and the other 12. They spent 18 years in that band... they've grown up and are growing out. It happens.

It was a fantastic show, and one of the highlights was that our young friend Sarah Jarosz was called up onto the stage during the last encore (she was in the crowd and had to be lifted up over the rail to the stage), so that she even got to take the final final bow with the band!! We met her and her parents waiting in the Nickel Creek line a few years ago. Her dad told us later that although she has shared the stage with Chris Thile a lot (along with every other mandolin god you can think of and a few fiddle, guitar, and songwriter gods as well -- see the pics on her MySpace at the link) (I took one of those shots!), she had never gotten to play on stage with Nickel Creek before. It was AWESOME! I think she is about 16 by now, maybe 17? Not sure. They are really nice people. In fact, all the NC hard-core fans I've met are extremely nice folks. Most of the ones we've met are also musicians. Maybe being in Austin has something to do with that (seems like most people I meet are either musicians or photographers... guitar-playing photographers)

NC has called this last tour "Farewell (For Now)", and I really hope that if they ever do get back together as a band for touring or recording, it will be because of the music, and not just because they need money. I realize that it's a livelihood and everybody's gotta make a living and all, but as sad as the breakup is -- if they get back together just for money and not passion for the music, that situation will be a lot sadder.

Tags: Nickel Creek - Austin

Nickel Creek moving on

We drove down to San Antonio (actually, the tiny nearby town of Helotes, TX) to see Nickel Creek on the Farewell Tour. Very bittersweet, they are our favorite band. They made their first record together when the youngest two were just 8 years old, and have been touring and recording as a band for ~18 years. It's easy to understand why they need to move on in order to grow. They are like an old married couple whose brother has always lived with them. Their stage banter was definitely unhinged with hilarious, joking jabs at each other... in fun, but the underlying tension was there and for this tour they are not hiding it on stage. [POSTSCRIPT: I should add that nobody in the band has ever been married to, or romantically linked to any other band member. The Watkinses are brother and sister. The "old married couple" analogy just refers to relationships of people who have been together for a long, long time.]
Their audience is predominately very young, and very devoted... will a few sprinkles of us older, parent or grandparent-aged very devoted folks. Seems like most of them are players, and many were inspired to play by this very band. I have to say that this is the first concert I've ever attended where I didn't notice anyone being drunk or otherwise inebriated... but everyone had a fantastic time. Yes, I know lots of them were too young to drink... that doesn't explain it... it's just that the crowd was not there for the PURPOSE of drinking. It was all about the adoration of the band and their music.

Links: [Nickel Creek Website] and better for listening: [Creek on MySpace] [Chris Thile on MySpace] [Sara Watkins on MySpace] [Sean Watkins on MySpace]

Tags: Music - Nickel Creek - mandolin - fiddle - guitar

I Heart You

They talk about those "Hallmark" holidays, the ones made up not only to sell cards but to sell MUCH more stuff... and so there it is. Another day where you can't measure up and can't do anything right. Both sexes (and/or parties) are victims of the retail pressure -- you'd better not show your face unless it's behind a dozen roses or a rock that costs a month's pay. I gave up on this "holiday" about 15 years ago when I discovered that my sweetie was even less sentimental about this stuff than I was.

It was before we were married. We went down to Cancun for a 4-day stay that included Valentine's Day. Our hotel was just gorgeous and there was a perfect beach view, great weather, great food, fresh-squeezed orange juice and breakfast every day by the water with our feet in the sand, brushing our teeth with beer (you can't be too careful!). When the day arrived, we exchanged cards, as we always do, by placing them where the other one will find it first thing in the morning like it magically appeared. The trouble we had on this particular occasion happened because he found my card, read it, and placed it prominently in the trash can. After the yelling subsided, mostly mine, it was determined by him that the card had served its purpose and did not need to be kept. Following that declaration, I went over some of the finer points about how the minimum level of politeness would require that you at least pretend that you are going to keep it long enough to dispose of it out of the person's sight... assuming you like the person, that is. [sigh] Well, we endured that and a whole lot more, much bigger challenges to a relationship, and seems to me that we are getting to the important stuff now. Whatever love may be, I am convinced in my heart that it's not the same as romance. It's dusty and gritty and frayed. All that candy and jewelry is meaningless. Don't take my word for it though. I'm as confused as everyone else.

I will leave you with one of my favorite players, Chris Thile, playing his composition "Song For a Young Queen"* with his new post-Nickel Creek band. It's a thing of unashamed beauty, written by an unbroken heart. Enjoy.


*recorded in 2001 on his solo album "Not All Who Wander Are Lost"

Mandosaurus roams the earth!

Finally got out and went to a show in spite of still being under the weather a bit, but I would have to be dead to have missed this one. If you read this blog, you know that I idolize Chris Thile as a musician. On Saturday night, Chris and Mike Marshall played their duet show at the Cactus Cafe. Chris has been doing duet tours in the winter when Nickel Creek shows slow down - usually they are with Mike Marshall, not always - but they have skipped Austin up to now.

Mike and Chris are definitely in the same league as musicians, you can't really say one is better than the other, it all comes down to preference for style. They are both amazing players, and "Amazing" was the most commonly used word I heard used to describe the shows afterward (there were 2 shows). Music styles were all over the map: choro, Bulgarian-flavor, Celtic, and hard-to-categorize. Just beautiful music.

During the encores, they brought young Sarah Jarosz up on stage. I think she is 14, she's a great talent - mandolin player and what a voice! She knows these guys from attending Symposiums with them. With her, everyone played Bluegrass. It was extremely cool. The whole house was singing along. I won't be surprised if we see her onstage next week at the David Grisman/Greencards show at the Paramount. More on that one later! If you get a chance to see Chris Thile and/or Mike Marshall, DO it, especially if you love great playing and acoustic music.
EDIT: At the end of the show, they did an unplugged, unmiked version of the Strokes "JuiceBox" on two mandolins. Yes, that's right! It was funny and very well-done! I loved it! That's such a Chris-thing. Hard to explain.

- Music - Mandolin -

Nickel Creek, Texas. Population, 2

Here is the luscious goodness, a ticket for 2 to the only Nickel Creek appearance I think they've scheduled in Texas since 2003! And it's limited access (radio ticket winners only).

They were supposed to play Shady Grove on September 13, 2001... but you-know-what happened right before that and there was no transportation available and people weren't in the mood for concerts anyway. They got really, really popular in the months to follow, and by the time the first ACL Festival happened they rated an evening show on one of the big stages.

People usually start describing them by mentioning how young they are. Two of them are now 24, or will be this year, and the other is 3 years older, but they made their first record when the youngest players were 9! It's a kid's record of old cowboy songs, but they play and sing pretty well on it! Chris Thile, the mandolin player, put out solo records at age 13 and 16... and I swear that his playing on those is as good as anyone else I've ever heard... anywhere! Also he wrote all the songs except for a few old standards, and they are great! They call him the "Mozart of the Mandolin", and I don't know if such a thing is possible, but it's a pretty good moniker. They are all prodigies, extremely talented and making the most of it from practically Day One.

They have insisted on sticking to their creative guns and haven't let labels (record or genre) or stuffy traditionists tell them how to sound. It also helps to have the clout of record sales to back up their efforts, and it's nice when your last genre-busting release wins a Grammy.

This show is part of a tour of small venues where the tickets must be acquired through certain radio stations, and the setlist will be the list of songs on their next release. Cool, huh? Yessss.

Now, if they played regular concerts here more often, I might not be in this raging Creek-freaked deprived state (which also describes Texas). After all, they are named after this place.