6Am Departure, didn’t even bother taking my clothes off. Slept until noon or so in the back. We began to hit hill country, and the vistas were grand. Rolling hills and twisty roads, we went deep into hillbilly country. We went past a charcoal factory and NLX was struck by memories of her childhood. We stopped at a gas station and while standing in the lot, a car pulled up behind me, as I was stepping out of the way a fellow in the passenger seat started making bizarre hand gestures. He got out and was wearing jeans, a jean jacket and red shirt with a small circular hole in the front. In a thick rural accent he asked us our names, we shook his hand and Tara asked his name. “My name is shit, want a pile?” He replied. We left soon after, up the into the hills. The elevation at Thomas WV, is 3,035 ft (925 m). Arriving into the town, a bleak scene was presented, a big burnt out and collapsing building was the first monument into the community, further along the state road the houses and stores were checkered with both the lived-in look and boarded up windows. The Venue of the evening, the purple fiddle http://www.purplefiddle.com/, seems to be an epicenter of life in the town and surrounding areas. A purple carved elk’s head sits atop the entrance and the windows were a flourish of posters for upcoming shows. Most posters featured acoustic instruments and relaxed looking people. Inside there was a picture of the throat singing Tuvan monks who’d played the week before. There was a distinct smell of old wood and antiques in the cafe, pictures, captions, artifacts and artwork covered the walls. It reminded me of the Rasputin’s in Ottawa, the All Citizen’s in Bruno, Sask, and the General Store in Twin Butte, Alberta. Homey is a work I would use to describe the place. Out front was an elderly man named Tony, who worked maintenance at store and lived next door. He’d been traveling for many years, going wherever there was work. Old church pews draped with quilts sat in front of the stage and the staff and locals where warm and friendly.
We did another song writer’s circle and it went smoothly, although breaking down into a giggle fest a few times. The reception was grand and I think we made enough to get to Pittsburgh. After the gig, we and all hangers on went up to the apartment above the room where the owner Joe had once raised a family. One of the staff members is a young San Francisco musician named Lindsay who was hiding out on the east coast recording a solo project and waiting for the next tour with her band.
http://www.myspace.com/yesalexandermusic
We went for a stroll around town and hung out in the graveyard, good times.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
23
Another early morning departure and another long ride past leafless trees towards Nashville. At least there were a few more hills. We dropped Tara off at her friend Billy Block’s house, then it was off to music city. The van was left at a toyota delership to be serviced and I went for a stroll down broadway, away from downtown. The university area has some cute shops, but I was all about walking the streets under the beating sun. Nashville has some great free arts magazines, puts the express to shame. Arriving back at the dealership, they informed me there was a problem with the van, one of their employees had scraped it against a pole, rear panels were dented there was a black streak on the side. The damage wasn’t horrible and didn’t affect the drive, but it did mean an ongoing problem for Amanda, who’s taking off on a Canadian tour as soon as we get back. Sam and I headed for downtown in search of bluegrass. On the way down broadway we chatted with a couple guys selling tickets to the Nashville Predators game. We got to chatting and he said that people in nashville were “very sociable” and I found it entirely to be the case. He was an example of everyone we met, pleased to meet me, friendly, welcoming. We went a bit further down the street towards where we understood there was some live tunes. Nashville downtown is a wonderfully warm place, each venue has a stage near the front entrance, so music was spilling into the street from every direction. We went to a random bar that had a few ladies playing fiddle and mandolin. Inside, it turned out to be a band called jipsi http://www.jypsi.net/ a blugrass band fronted by four siblings, three sisters and a brother. I was captivated, they were vibrant, skilled players, quirky and each had their own sense of style. They played relentlessly with sustained energy and panache. There website and various links has it all. Later I hit the strip, poking my head in here and there, I think I liked Austin’s strip better, however, there was a cool lady playing the spoons quite well. She had a board on her lap with a washboard strip and various bells and things nailed to it. Listening from a distance I was intrigued, her rhythms were intricate and enticing. After that, I wasn’t booked to play so it was adventure time until the ladies were done their gig. We went back to a friends and ate pizza, it was fun.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Little Rock
22.
I woke up to the sun coming up behind the Austin sky line, David was at the art mansion at 730 to pick me up. We had a few moments before meeting the ladies, we went back to the bike/coffee shop that I first landed in and where David works, (owned by Lance Armstrong btw) I thought back to some of my favorite moments of the last five days, two-step breakdancing, hanging out with Dude Man, (I forgot to mention that Bill Murrey went by on a pedi cab during that conversation), playing washers, bboying all over 6th street, hiking the woods, seeing gwar and of course hanging out at the arts mansion. I had a breakfast burrito and a cinnamon cookie that was too soft to sell, and we took off. The barista on duty had a big cast on, double broken arm, but was in good spirits.
A friend of NLX’s called Sam, who’s from london joined in that early morning parking lot, so now I’m traveling with four women. The trip to Little Rock was long and fairly uneventful, I started to miss Austin already. I slept well in the back seat. The rumba room has awesome food and a great staff, we were asked to take the first few spots on the open mike, which didn’t really work because folks hadn’t really shown up yet, but we still had a great time and made some tips.
I went for a stroll in the waterfront park behind the venue and saw a group of about twenty black people standing in a circle, some holding helium balloons. From a distance I could tell that it was a wake; folks were crying, hugging, taking turns speaking, singing gospel. I was drawn to the group and stood by the outer circles, I overheard talk about Terrence, who was just 17. The group huddle and a young man lead us in prayer, we help up raised our fists and “hollered”. I spoke to one of Terrence’s best friends, Marcus I think his name was. They seemed to be inseparable friends, played football together, Marcus ran and Terrence threw discus in track. They had planned to go to the same university together, both to be architects, were supposed to live in the same dorm. Terrence died in a car crash en-route to florida for spring break. There was crying, but lot’s of joy too, I was told Terrence was a deeply happy person, who taught others to see the humor in painful situations, his spirit was certainly present. It seemed to me that he was living is life to the fullest, lots of friends, good at school and sports, loving life and indeed experiencing it to the utmost of his capacities. So it was a joyful celebration of a vibrant life, as well as group mourning for a collective loss. At the end of the ceremony, everyone released their balloons into the night sky, they reflected light from the city, we could see them for a good while, bouncing away in the breeze, up to heaven.
I woke up to the sun coming up behind the Austin sky line, David was at the art mansion at 730 to pick me up. We had a few moments before meeting the ladies, we went back to the bike/coffee shop that I first landed in and where David works, (owned by Lance Armstrong btw) I thought back to some of my favorite moments of the last five days, two-step breakdancing, hanging out with Dude Man, (I forgot to mention that Bill Murrey went by on a pedi cab during that conversation), playing washers, bboying all over 6th street, hiking the woods, seeing gwar and of course hanging out at the arts mansion. I had a breakfast burrito and a cinnamon cookie that was too soft to sell, and we took off. The barista on duty had a big cast on, double broken arm, but was in good spirits.
A friend of NLX’s called Sam, who’s from london joined in that early morning parking lot, so now I’m traveling with four women. The trip to Little Rock was long and fairly uneventful, I started to miss Austin already. I slept well in the back seat. The rumba room has awesome food and a great staff, we were asked to take the first few spots on the open mike, which didn’t really work because folks hadn’t really shown up yet, but we still had a great time and made some tips.
I went for a stroll in the waterfront park behind the venue and saw a group of about twenty black people standing in a circle, some holding helium balloons. From a distance I could tell that it was a wake; folks were crying, hugging, taking turns speaking, singing gospel. I was drawn to the group and stood by the outer circles, I overheard talk about Terrence, who was just 17. The group huddle and a young man lead us in prayer, we help up raised our fists and “hollered”. I spoke to one of Terrence’s best friends, Marcus I think his name was. They seemed to be inseparable friends, played football together, Marcus ran and Terrence threw discus in track. They had planned to go to the same university together, both to be architects, were supposed to live in the same dorm. Terrence died in a car crash en-route to florida for spring break. There was crying, but lot’s of joy too, I was told Terrence was a deeply happy person, who taught others to see the humor in painful situations, his spirit was certainly present. It seemed to me that he was living is life to the fullest, lots of friends, good at school and sports, loving life and indeed experiencing it to the utmost of his capacities. So it was a joyful celebration of a vibrant life, as well as group mourning for a collective loss. At the end of the ceremony, everyone released their balloons into the night sky, they reflected light from the city, we could see them for a good while, bouncing away in the breeze, up to heaven.
Monday, March 22, 2010
March 20, 21
20
Saturday was a chilly, chilly day. Eddy dropped me off downtown and I strolled until I came across Canadian Blast, where Amanda was playing. Open bar and free mexican food makes Maxim a happy boy. Amos the transparent were playing and were quite enjoyable. The radio personality on hand was giving a way shoes to the person who had the worst shoes, my were pretty bad. Tara has pulled over last week in order to buy me new ones, we compromised on spray. The personality said they were also having a dance contest, I walked away with a pair of shiny new red converse. Downtown was fun, but less eventful, until I came across “psyche fest”. A number of jammy bands were performing in a foozeball club. There were pics of foozeball players from the seventies all over the walls, as well as bleachers in the small room above coyote uglies. Wild movies were projected on the walls, and the bands kicked ass. Some hash found itself my way and I immediately started jumping, did more breaking, then skipped downstairs to 6th street. I continued to skip down the street, slowing down when a beat hit me, I would break it down and continue, up and down the street a few times. All others were bundled up, but my blood was pumping, I kept moving for about three hours straight that night. Off to 4th, into a club, dancing away, back outside, jamming in the lot, back to the foozeball to check on my things, ect.
The solillaquists of sound played last. I have a feeling that Alexandrah is an oracle, real cool vibe. Wild ride, grand times all night. Cool chats, met a reader of Terrence McKenna, a substitute teacher and the creator of a soon to be arts collective.
21
Real Texas BBQ at Rudys, I got a third pound extra tender briquet and some pork ribs. It felt a bit primeval, but I enjoyed it. Dave, Eddy and I went to the green belt, hiked the woods for hours, shooting the shit. We talked about some gross things, funny things, curious things. The weather was great, we were pleasantly full. We found an old stone wall, that just kept going. Then we went to Armanda’s, the artist. Rollingwood is an upscale neighborhood, we were taken aback by the beautiful houses on the way to the get together. We drove past a gargantuan white house, three stories tall and 40 feet wide, greying, the outside looked like it needed help. I said “good lord, look at that place” “that’s the house were going to”, dave replied. Inside, it was bright and beautiful, with lovely smells, people and dogs abounding. A number of artistic people lived there, many small dogs were running wild. We went onto the roof, it was the tallest building in the area, quite a view of the city.
The evening was spent dinning, drinking, singing, playing, hanging out at fire pit in the back yard. I gave a break dance lesson. Dave had to go feed Leroy the Catahoula Leopard Dog, but being the incredible cool friend that he is, agreed to come back at 7 30 in the morning to pick me up, and drop me off down town to meet the ladies. We drank moonshine, sang at the piano, danced the charleston, jumped on the trampoline and ate eggplant parmesan.
Saturday was a chilly, chilly day. Eddy dropped me off downtown and I strolled until I came across Canadian Blast, where Amanda was playing. Open bar and free mexican food makes Maxim a happy boy. Amos the transparent were playing and were quite enjoyable. The radio personality on hand was giving a way shoes to the person who had the worst shoes, my were pretty bad. Tara has pulled over last week in order to buy me new ones, we compromised on spray. The personality said they were also having a dance contest, I walked away with a pair of shiny new red converse. Downtown was fun, but less eventful, until I came across “psyche fest”. A number of jammy bands were performing in a foozeball club. There were pics of foozeball players from the seventies all over the walls, as well as bleachers in the small room above coyote uglies. Wild movies were projected on the walls, and the bands kicked ass. Some hash found itself my way and I immediately started jumping, did more breaking, then skipped downstairs to 6th street. I continued to skip down the street, slowing down when a beat hit me, I would break it down and continue, up and down the street a few times. All others were bundled up, but my blood was pumping, I kept moving for about three hours straight that night. Off to 4th, into a club, dancing away, back outside, jamming in the lot, back to the foozeball to check on my things, ect.
The solillaquists of sound played last. I have a feeling that Alexandrah is an oracle, real cool vibe. Wild ride, grand times all night. Cool chats, met a reader of Terrence McKenna, a substitute teacher and the creator of a soon to be arts collective.
21
Real Texas BBQ at Rudys, I got a third pound extra tender briquet and some pork ribs. It felt a bit primeval, but I enjoyed it. Dave, Eddy and I went to the green belt, hiked the woods for hours, shooting the shit. We talked about some gross things, funny things, curious things. The weather was great, we were pleasantly full. We found an old stone wall, that just kept going. Then we went to Armanda’s, the artist. Rollingwood is an upscale neighborhood, we were taken aback by the beautiful houses on the way to the get together. We drove past a gargantuan white house, three stories tall and 40 feet wide, greying, the outside looked like it needed help. I said “good lord, look at that place” “that’s the house were going to”, dave replied. Inside, it was bright and beautiful, with lovely smells, people and dogs abounding. A number of artistic people lived there, many small dogs were running wild. We went onto the roof, it was the tallest building in the area, quite a view of the city.
The evening was spent dinning, drinking, singing, playing, hanging out at fire pit in the back yard. I gave a break dance lesson. Dave had to go feed Leroy the Catahoula Leopard Dog, but being the incredible cool friend that he is, agreed to come back at 7 30 in the morning to pick me up, and drop me off down town to meet the ladies. We drank moonshine, sang at the piano, danced the charleston, jumped on the trampoline and ate eggplant parmesan.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Margeritas
19th
Today I woke up late and happy. Dan asked if I wanted BBQ, but we ended up going to a place named Chewy’s for happy hour. THe margarita’s were about three or for dollars, the five of us got 19 of them, for about 60$ I think. The best thing about that place is that there a nacho bar that can fill up at anytime, for free. Big bags of chips were emptied into the tray every twenty minutes or so and you have a choice of three different salsas, metled cheez with jalepinions, refried beans, all for free. And, the place was an elvis shrine, too cool.
We then went to Katy’s house, who’s a Dan’s boss. We spent the evening two-stepping, playing banjo, drinking beer, shooting the shit and playing a great game I’ve never heard of called “washers”.
http://www.washers.org/
It was pure texas. Afterwords we went to the tacorea, mexican food is mind blowing.
Best,
M
Today I woke up late and happy. Dan asked if I wanted BBQ, but we ended up going to a place named Chewy’s for happy hour. THe margarita’s were about three or for dollars, the five of us got 19 of them, for about 60$ I think. The best thing about that place is that there a nacho bar that can fill up at anytime, for free. Big bags of chips were emptied into the tray every twenty minutes or so and you have a choice of three different salsas, metled cheez with jalepinions, refried beans, all for free. And, the place was an elvis shrine, too cool.
We then went to Katy’s house, who’s a Dan’s boss. We spent the evening two-stepping, playing banjo, drinking beer, shooting the shit and playing a great game I’ve never heard of called “washers”.
http://www.washers.org/
It was pure texas. Afterwords we went to the tacorea, mexican food is mind blowing.
Best,
M
6th ave
18th
Well well well, it’s two AM, Saturday morning and things have indeed gotten extremely wild, then cool again. I’m tired, so I’ll give you the barebones. Friday I woke up to Dan’s roommate Eddy treating me with great hospitality and friendship. Eggs with cajun spices was dang fine. He took off and I had the house to myself for a bit, after recording an old song that my mother had written some time ago I took Leroy, the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog http://www.bulldoginformation.com/catahoula-leopard.html for a walk. I cleaned the house then took off on the two mile walk downtown. Austin is an incredibly beautiful city, the river has lot’s of greenspace and everyone seem happy and relaxed.
My first new friend of the day was Dustin Thomas http://www.myspace.com/dustinthomas a young man with great passion and talent. We sat by the river with his bass player Tim and chatted about life and love, digging each moment to the core. I followed the river into the city and things were coming alive, I’d never scene so many cool looking young people all at once. Sounds, smells and sights were coming from all over and it was all beautiful. I spotted a fellow with dreds, a plaid shirt and overalls, CJ and I became instant friends. I was on my way down sixth street to catch the watson twins, but their show turned out to be a bit boring so I went back the other way and found CJ again. He was with a girl named Emma, another traveler who was playing a resonator guitar. She has a wild swing, ragtime voice/style that wasn’t expected from her street person/traveler look. We got along splendidly, smoking, drinking, eating, jamming the afternoon away. We parted ways for a bit and made contact again while meeting up with the rest of their traveling crew. The rag tag bunch of acoustic musicians were preparing a number with a dance crew led by a pop singer, who’s name escapes me, something like unique, or mystique, who had wild makeup and a leopard print dress. The plan was to burst out in the middle of the busy street with in a flash mob style performance, I broke out my banjo and played along with the rehearsal.
Back on 6th, the street was closed off for full street party style craziness. The road was packed with every kind of strange and beautiful person you could imagine. The street and surrounding area has about, and I’m not exaggerating, about a hundred music bars, all of the with music audible from the street. I strolled with awe and glee and the marvel. There was a five piece bluegrass band that I quite enjoyed. I hooked up with the street performance group and we gave it hell, an audience gathered, all quite enjoyable. To wander was a great pleasure, all sorts of sounds and sights permeated the atmosphere, indescribable really, sensory overload is a good way to it. I ran into my friend Shawn who gave me my first every rock gig, we chatted for a good deal of time. Some grass found itself my way and soon after came the breakdancing.
At one end of the street I met a fellow who’s name is pronounced like “Diem” but it’s really DM, as in the dude man. He’s a black dude from Lafayette Louisiana who was wearing all leather and carrying a skateboard like a shield. He sings in a metal band sang a love ballad for me with a great voice. His voice was sweet but with passion and twang. We talked about various kinds of skateboarding, he’s into freestyle. Freestyle skateboarding is usually done on one’s own and is highly technical, influenced by dance and gymnastics. It’s starting to regain popularity after dying out in the last decade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqPaayUYGe8&feature=related
It was a great hangout with DM, he also shot some film pictures of me.
We strolled the avenue and he pointed out some of the cool bars. It seems there’s awesome live music every night of the week in Austin. We ran into a freestyle rap cypher, heard some metal and parted ways. I was strolling with my banjo out and played for a number of different people. I met a pixy girl named katy who sells precisous stones for neckaleces, we danced together on the street and talked life for a good little while. Then I walked the two miles or so back to Dan’s place. I didn’t want to wake him up so I slept in the shed behind the house. There was a mattress in there so I was comfortable, it got a bit chilly though, so I covered myself in a rug that was in there.
Around 8 AM I got up to see if Dan was awake, there was no movement so I texted him, he said he didn’t mind waking up at anytime, so now I know. I crashed on the warm couch and slept quite well.
Well well well, it’s two AM, Saturday morning and things have indeed gotten extremely wild, then cool again. I’m tired, so I’ll give you the barebones. Friday I woke up to Dan’s roommate Eddy treating me with great hospitality and friendship. Eggs with cajun spices was dang fine. He took off and I had the house to myself for a bit, after recording an old song that my mother had written some time ago I took Leroy, the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog http://www.bulldoginformation.com/catahoula-leopard.html for a walk. I cleaned the house then took off on the two mile walk downtown. Austin is an incredibly beautiful city, the river has lot’s of greenspace and everyone seem happy and relaxed.
My first new friend of the day was Dustin Thomas http://www.myspace.com/dustinthomas a young man with great passion and talent. We sat by the river with his bass player Tim and chatted about life and love, digging each moment to the core. I followed the river into the city and things were coming alive, I’d never scene so many cool looking young people all at once. Sounds, smells and sights were coming from all over and it was all beautiful. I spotted a fellow with dreds, a plaid shirt and overalls, CJ and I became instant friends. I was on my way down sixth street to catch the watson twins, but their show turned out to be a bit boring so I went back the other way and found CJ again. He was with a girl named Emma, another traveler who was playing a resonator guitar. She has a wild swing, ragtime voice/style that wasn’t expected from her street person/traveler look. We got along splendidly, smoking, drinking, eating, jamming the afternoon away. We parted ways for a bit and made contact again while meeting up with the rest of their traveling crew. The rag tag bunch of acoustic musicians were preparing a number with a dance crew led by a pop singer, who’s name escapes me, something like unique, or mystique, who had wild makeup and a leopard print dress. The plan was to burst out in the middle of the busy street with in a flash mob style performance, I broke out my banjo and played along with the rehearsal.
Back on 6th, the street was closed off for full street party style craziness. The road was packed with every kind of strange and beautiful person you could imagine. The street and surrounding area has about, and I’m not exaggerating, about a hundred music bars, all of the with music audible from the street. I strolled with awe and glee and the marvel. There was a five piece bluegrass band that I quite enjoyed. I hooked up with the street performance group and we gave it hell, an audience gathered, all quite enjoyable. To wander was a great pleasure, all sorts of sounds and sights permeated the atmosphere, indescribable really, sensory overload is a good way to it. I ran into my friend Shawn who gave me my first every rock gig, we chatted for a good deal of time. Some grass found itself my way and soon after came the breakdancing.
At one end of the street I met a fellow who’s name is pronounced like “Diem” but it’s really DM, as in the dude man. He’s a black dude from Lafayette Louisiana who was wearing all leather and carrying a skateboard like a shield. He sings in a metal band sang a love ballad for me with a great voice. His voice was sweet but with passion and twang. We talked about various kinds of skateboarding, he’s into freestyle. Freestyle skateboarding is usually done on one’s own and is highly technical, influenced by dance and gymnastics. It’s starting to regain popularity after dying out in the last decade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqPaayUYGe8&feature=related
It was a great hangout with DM, he also shot some film pictures of me.
We strolled the avenue and he pointed out some of the cool bars. It seems there’s awesome live music every night of the week in Austin. We ran into a freestyle rap cypher, heard some metal and parted ways. I was strolling with my banjo out and played for a number of different people. I met a pixy girl named katy who sells precisous stones for neckaleces, we danced together on the street and talked life for a good little while. Then I walked the two miles or so back to Dan’s place. I didn’t want to wake him up so I slept in the shed behind the house. There was a mattress in there so I was comfortable, it got a bit chilly though, so I covered myself in a rug that was in there.
Around 8 AM I got up to see if Dan was awake, there was no movement so I texted him, he said he didn’t mind waking up at anytime, so now I know. I crashed on the warm couch and slept quite well.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Austin and the broken spoke, march 17th.
17th
Beautiful day so far, brilliant day. Texas is quite vast, lot’s of plains, ranches. One highlight of the drive was a speckled cow in the a cage pulled by a truck, Amanda took a picture. I got dropped off in the middle of Austin and within minutes was given a beer and place to stay. There was a coffee shop attached to a bike shop, while buying a java, I got into a lively chat with a fellow with some fancy flattop laptop, was well received by the cool barista then sat on the deck under the beating sun. I pulled out the banjo and my tunes fell on grateful ears. Three fellah had united in Austin for the weekend and we started chatting, they had all met in San Fran and were having a reunion. I mentioned I had come from Cape Girardeau Missouri, and it turned out there was a banjo player from that same city working at the bike shop. David turned out to be a real cool guy, who offered me his couch within moments of our meeting. The sun beat down on my appreciative skin, the stella tasted so good and I played that banjo with joy. Pedal cabs seem to be quite popular here, that’s bikes modified to have a seat for three or four on the back. All types of cool looking people waked in front of me and got in line for the hip hop show next door. I got some hints about places I might check out in texas and the Pacific north west, then headed inside to check out the bike store. I picked some tunes for the staff as they packed up, then helped take bikes from the main room to storage in the basement. A pretty lady with cool style asked if I started working there. Eventually it was time to take off and the streets were crawling st Patrick’s day activities. The plan was to go to the broken spoke for two step dancing lessons. David is a real cool cat, former completive cyclist, classical trumpet player and amateur pilot, now he’s all about picking the banjo and doing the two step.
I’m at the broken spoke, which refers to a wagon wheel and this place is pure Texas. Red and white checkered table cloths cover folding tables and chairs, in the middle of the long room is the dance floor where a bleached blond vivacious 50 year old is telling everyone not to hesitate with the swing. “Rock Step” she hollers as they swing. David looks nervous out there, but he’s having a good time. Yesterday I put a sticker that says “listen to the devil” on the back of my lap top, I wonder what people think of it. Cowboy hats, boots and neon beer signs abound. I’m going to watch the lesson.
I think I’ve reached a new plane of existence, I bought a beer for a girl who reminded me of my childhood friend Kristy. Hanna turned out to be a song writing, horse breaking, truck driving, competitive soft ball playing, two stepping seventeen year old. Dale Watson and his band were playing, and they were incredibly tasty. He calls his music “ameripolitan” heavily influenced by roots, it’s basically how country is supposed to sound like. http://www.myspace.com/dalewatson
I had a number of different dance partners and had some wicked conversations, the one that sticks in my head the most was with a evangelical Christian named Karen of Asian decent; she organizes dodgeball tournaments to raise money for AIDS charities in Africa and in Austin. Another said she was political, big into the second amendment, gun rights. Made for interesting conversations later on. Eventually I started breakdancing, Dale called it the first ever “two step breakdancing” I got lot’s of smiles. The evening felt surreal, so much love, awesome music and the two stepping was quite special. There’s something highly intimate and erotic about falling into repetitive rhythms with a dance partner.... when I’m not flailing around the room, trying not to bump into the twenty other couples on the floor.
Plus and most especially fun, I met some super cool musicians, one was Marike Jager, http://www.myspace.com/marikejager , from Holland, who met Dale in europe, and was in Austin to help shoot a documentary about Dale. She started a record label, is drop dead gorgeous, is a good dancer and is hella cool. We had some good business chats, The consensus seems to be that no one know what the hell is happening with the industry. Just how I like it. My favorite song of hers is Fling Flack Toodah, check out the video on her myspace.
Another musician I met was Whitey Morgan. http://www.myspace.com/whiteymorgan All day I’ve been on band alert, whenever I see a group of people dressed in similar fashions, I’ve been chatting them up. At the table were three huge guys with beards, jean vests and tattoos. Whitey and his crew were the coolest dressed folks I’ve come across so far, well...Bears of Blue River are in contention, I’ll repost their link. http://www.myspace.com/thebearsofblueriver
But listen to Whitey, I hadn’t heard his music since checking it out now. Hell yeah.
After the gig, Daniel, his friend Jason from New Zeland, Hanna, her friend Angela and an Italian artistic Iron worker who’s fist name I forgot, but who’s last name is something like fortunado, and I went to a diner. We were all feeling the vibe, it felt like we were all old friends.
So if any of you are ever in Austin, check out the broken spoke. http://www.brokenspokeaustintx.com
Who knows where it goes from here. I’m thinking the country.
Questions, comments and love/hate mail : maximk7@gmail.com
Best,
M
Beautiful day so far, brilliant day. Texas is quite vast, lot’s of plains, ranches. One highlight of the drive was a speckled cow in the a cage pulled by a truck, Amanda took a picture. I got dropped off in the middle of Austin and within minutes was given a beer and place to stay. There was a coffee shop attached to a bike shop, while buying a java, I got into a lively chat with a fellow with some fancy flattop laptop, was well received by the cool barista then sat on the deck under the beating sun. I pulled out the banjo and my tunes fell on grateful ears. Three fellah had united in Austin for the weekend and we started chatting, they had all met in San Fran and were having a reunion. I mentioned I had come from Cape Girardeau Missouri, and it turned out there was a banjo player from that same city working at the bike shop. David turned out to be a real cool guy, who offered me his couch within moments of our meeting. The sun beat down on my appreciative skin, the stella tasted so good and I played that banjo with joy. Pedal cabs seem to be quite popular here, that’s bikes modified to have a seat for three or four on the back. All types of cool looking people waked in front of me and got in line for the hip hop show next door. I got some hints about places I might check out in texas and the Pacific north west, then headed inside to check out the bike store. I picked some tunes for the staff as they packed up, then helped take bikes from the main room to storage in the basement. A pretty lady with cool style asked if I started working there. Eventually it was time to take off and the streets were crawling st Patrick’s day activities. The plan was to go to the broken spoke for two step dancing lessons. David is a real cool cat, former completive cyclist, classical trumpet player and amateur pilot, now he’s all about picking the banjo and doing the two step.
I’m at the broken spoke, which refers to a wagon wheel and this place is pure Texas. Red and white checkered table cloths cover folding tables and chairs, in the middle of the long room is the dance floor where a bleached blond vivacious 50 year old is telling everyone not to hesitate with the swing. “Rock Step” she hollers as they swing. David looks nervous out there, but he’s having a good time. Yesterday I put a sticker that says “listen to the devil” on the back of my lap top, I wonder what people think of it. Cowboy hats, boots and neon beer signs abound. I’m going to watch the lesson.
I think I’ve reached a new plane of existence, I bought a beer for a girl who reminded me of my childhood friend Kristy. Hanna turned out to be a song writing, horse breaking, truck driving, competitive soft ball playing, two stepping seventeen year old. Dale Watson and his band were playing, and they were incredibly tasty. He calls his music “ameripolitan” heavily influenced by roots, it’s basically how country is supposed to sound like. http://www.myspace.com/dalewatson
I had a number of different dance partners and had some wicked conversations, the one that sticks in my head the most was with a evangelical Christian named Karen of Asian decent; she organizes dodgeball tournaments to raise money for AIDS charities in Africa and in Austin. Another said she was political, big into the second amendment, gun rights. Made for interesting conversations later on. Eventually I started breakdancing, Dale called it the first ever “two step breakdancing” I got lot’s of smiles. The evening felt surreal, so much love, awesome music and the two stepping was quite special. There’s something highly intimate and erotic about falling into repetitive rhythms with a dance partner.... when I’m not flailing around the room, trying not to bump into the twenty other couples on the floor.
Plus and most especially fun, I met some super cool musicians, one was Marike Jager, http://www.myspace.com/marikejager , from Holland, who met Dale in europe, and was in Austin to help shoot a documentary about Dale. She started a record label, is drop dead gorgeous, is a good dancer and is hella cool. We had some good business chats, The consensus seems to be that no one know what the hell is happening with the industry. Just how I like it. My favorite song of hers is Fling Flack Toodah, check out the video on her myspace.
Another musician I met was Whitey Morgan. http://www.myspace.com/whiteymorgan All day I’ve been on band alert, whenever I see a group of people dressed in similar fashions, I’ve been chatting them up. At the table were three huge guys with beards, jean vests and tattoos. Whitey and his crew were the coolest dressed folks I’ve come across so far, well...Bears of Blue River are in contention, I’ll repost their link. http://www.myspace.com/thebearsofblueriver
But listen to Whitey, I hadn’t heard his music since checking it out now. Hell yeah.
After the gig, Daniel, his friend Jason from New Zeland, Hanna, her friend Angela and an Italian artistic Iron worker who’s fist name I forgot, but who’s last name is something like fortunado, and I went to a diner. We were all feeling the vibe, it felt like we were all old friends.
So if any of you are ever in Austin, check out the broken spoke. http://www.brokenspokeaustintx.com
Who knows where it goes from here. I’m thinking the country.
Questions, comments and love/hate mail : maximk7@gmail.com
Best,
M
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