Robert Earl Keene has this song on his CD Walking Distance called Feeling Good Again. It pretty much epitomizes how it felt to show up last night at Kenny Pipes’ Almost Austin House Concerts. I’d been gone from the comfortable confines of Kenny’s venue for the better part of a year as we’d built and moved into our house in Johnson City.

“Stepped into the hall and saw all my friends were there.” When circumstances found me in Houston this weekend I knew I had to go to Kenny’s. When I got there it was 30 minutes of hugs, how-are-you’s, and catching up. Lots of smiles in the room. There was Wes, Edge, Rose, Kenny, Mary, John, Theresa, Yvonne, CJ, Piper, and Kenny’s mom to name just a few. I can’t think of anything better than having someone smile when you walk up. It pretty much makes your day.

“A neon light was flashin’ Welcome come on in.” Well, actually it just said Almost Austin, but it was neon and I liked it and it felt like it was telling me to come on in. Wes, who has been battling bureaucrats in LaPorte and the government trying to get his Ike damaged house fixed, and has every reason to be pissed off and surly, still managed to find the time to do something for a friend and remains a guy who seems genuinely happy.

“My favorite band was playing.” Anyone who plays at Kenny’s is my favorite band. This time it was Will Sexton and Charlie Faye. I first saw Will at Kenny’s with Randy Weeks and Idgy Vaughn then trooped on over to see him at the Mucky Duck with Idgy and Charlie a couple of weeks later. Both were good shows, but I wanted more Will, and this time, I got it.

Will has this wonderful, distinctive voice that is especially memorable for the relaxed way it handles lyrics and melody. He never seems to strain to deliver the note and his pronunciation is impeccable. He is also an accomplished guitarist and his fills were exceptional for their simple elegance. To paraphrase one of Will’s own songs he’s got that certain kind of something, that someone can’t explain. You just need to go hear him and trust me.

Charlie is a terrific songstress who does something when she sings that I really appreciate. She smiles. It just makes you feel really good. When she closed the show with Crying Time Again it was simply magical. She is a great balladeer.

“The boys from Silver City were standing by the fire singin’ like they thought they were the tabernacle choir.” At one point Charlie asked everyone if they’d be willing to sing along with her song Runaround, and I don’t think she understood what she was getting herself into. The folks at Almost Austin will gladly sing as though they think they are the tabernacle choir. They did a terrific job on Runaround, and I think Charlie may invite them along to all of her gigs. These people follow instructions, and they are not shy.

During the course of the evening Will and Charlie ran through most of the songs on Will’s new CD, Move the Balance, and Charlie’s CD, Wilson Street. She has a new one in the works based on her adventures in 2010 when she went to ten cities, stayed there a month, got to know the town, and then played gigs. I can hardly wait to hear the results of this musical odyssey. Maybe when she gets its done she’ll preview it at Almost Austin. Now that would be nice.

1. I’d like to stop seeing new CDs that have songs which previously appeared on older CDs unless the new CD is a greatest hits CD. When I’m hooked on an artist I get every CD because I want more good music.
2. I want every musician to come to the gig with a set list. I feel like a show should be treated as though it was an extended song designed to move us. A show should be crafted with the same attention to detail spent writing the songs that make up the show. Coming to a show and asking the audience what they want to hear implies that everyone in the audience knows every song the artist has written and that is not usually the case.
3. Generally speaking, I like artists who stand up when they sing and perform. I seem to remember something about how it frees up the diaphragm and adds power to the voice. Of course, there are folks who have to sit or prefer to sit and that’s OK. It’s just that someone standing up says, I am here to entertain you and knock your socks off.
4. When it comes to shows, keep the talking to a minimum unless you’re a well-respected raconteur or it is part of the script designed to move the show along. Typically, we’re there for the music. Error on the side of caution. Ask someone you trust if you talk too much. Remember, just because a thought pops into your head doesn’t mean it should come out of your mouth.
5. Personally, I think that producing a CD that’s full of electric guitars and drums and other affects then showing up for a show with just an acoustic guitar might be career limiting. I think CDs should probably be as close to what the customer will get at the live show as possible. I still remember Bonnie Raitt’s first album. It was an intense, gut-busting performance. Then she showed up at Liberty hall with an acoustic guitar and a single accompanist. I felt cheated.
6. I want another Sam Baker CD although he has produced in his first three CDs an incomparable body of work.
7. I want a major artist to cover a Walt Wilkins song and make him a gazillionaire.
8. I want to see Jason Eady on the CMA awards or even the Grammies. Besides being a great musician, I’m pretty sure that even if he got really, really famous, he’d still talk to me.
9. I want to see Jimmy Davis perform more than once a year. I’ve never seen a happier more energetic performer. Of course, this is entirely within my control. I’m just warning Jimmy that he’s going to see more of us in 2011.
10. Finally, I think that every artist who makes music for a living, or even part of a living, is providing a really tremendous service to the rest of us and should be roundly applauded. Maybe you could even give the next musician you see a hug.

Walt Wilkins and his music came into my life in 2004 on the banks of the Llano River in the art studio of Bill Worrell. It was early December with a nice chill in the air and Christmas was right around the corner. I was in the company of my wife, Pharaby, good friends, Larry and Terri Seiler, with just enough whiskey in me to make my clock run comfortably slow.

Little did I realize that six years later I’d find myself in another December, this time at the Auslander Restaurant in Fredericksburg standing on the top bench of the bleachers dancing while Walt and his family celebrated his fiftieth birthday on the 29th.

Once again I was in the company of Pharaby, but this time the good friends were Tom and Nancy Laura, and my sister-in-law Kara Cruse, her husband Dennis and my niece Grace and nephew, Ben. Newcastle beer was on clock-slow-down duty.

The next biggest difference on this December evening was that Walt’s music, through numerous CDs and live performances, now occupied a pre-eminent place in my life and my company of friends now included such fine folks as John Nelson of Houston, and Gary and Christy Colvin of Rochester New York not to mention Walt and Tina and their son Luke who happens to have great eye-hand coordination and can hit anything you throw at him.

To get an idea of how the evening progressed, think back to any party you ever attended where everything came together in just the right way with all the right people. It was an evening tied together with enormous amounts of music, love, respect, and boundless energy.

Autumn Boukadakis, who’s most recent CD, Velvet Sky, was produced by Walt, opened the show with a finely wrought set that culminated with a rousing version of her classic song, Sugarcane. Unfortunately, writing about the performance is grossly unfair to the quality of the song and Autumn’s rendition because these words just lay there and the song does everything but. It certainly was a nice way to start the show.

Walt took the stage with a supporting cast comprised of Corby Schaub (from Ryan Bingham’s Dead Horses) on guitar, Marcus Eldridge on guitar, Chris Dodds from Two Tons of Steel on drums, Bill Small on bass, and Jimmy Davis on guitar. From there a floating cast of great musicians moved effortlessly in and off the stage during the course of the evening. In no particular order and in no way meaning to be comprehensive:

• Ron Flynt sang Dylan’s The Chimes of Freedom,
• Jimmy Davis did If I Had a Truck
• Josh Grider with his wife, Kristi performed his hit, Crazy Like You
• Tommy Alverson gave us a rousing rendition of Uno Mas Cerveza
• Tina Wilkins sang More Like the River

Randy Wayne Sitzler also took a turn on stage as did Brian Langlinais and Billy Newberry who just happens to be the guy who gave Walt his first paying gig in a band (if I understood the story correctly from my perch on top of the bleachers). It was easy to see, that we were in the company of musicians who loved one another and enjoyed making music for the pleasure it gave them and by transference, us.

The experience was encapsulated during the performance of Standing by the Rambler from Hopewell, which, if I may digress, just happens to be, from beginning to end, one of the most finely realized album slash CDs that I’ve ever had the pleasure to hear and thus has a spot in my collection next to the Byrd’s Mr. Tamborine Man, Springsteen’s The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle, the Dead’s American Beauty, and Lou Reed’s Rock and Roll Animal.

Back to Standing by the Rambler. It is a great song about families and their beginnings and continuations with the memorable line, “The world was so new it was still crying from the spanking.” As the song and its performance moved along on this December evening it came to represent, for me, musical beginnings and continuations.

As I watched Marcus and Corby trade extended guitar licks I was reminded of a night long ago when I watched Duane Allman and Dickey Betts do much the same. On this night, when Walt and the boys paid homage to the Temptations with Papa Was a Rolling Stone tt brought to mind similar evenings when ZZ Top lifted them up at the Old Quarter in Houston with Jailhouse Rock, or Springsteen did Santa Claus is Coming to Town. These were musicians saying this is what I loved to do then, this is what I love to do now, and this is what I will always love.

The theme continued as the show closed out with Marcus doing Fleetwood Mac’s World Turning, Jimmy Davis giving us the raw emotion of Sanctuary, and finally the mighty chorus doing the country classic Living on Tulsa Time.

At this point the Fredericksburg police had politely made their way to the back of the stage to remind everyone that no matter how great a time we were having all things have to end and that as much as an encore was deserved it would have to happen on another day. The birthday party was over. The clock had ticked and it was a new day.

So, we packed up our happy memories, gave hugs and kisses all the way around, and headed off down the road. Singing.

The Austin Music Hall played host to a ten hour show recently in an effort to raise money for the relief effort going on in Haiti.  As one might imagine, that is a long freakin time to be standing about watching music and swilling your favorite beverage.  Add to that fact that the show was held on a Sunday, and you have a real possibility of keeping people from their respectable day jobs the next day.  I got to ground zero and was in the door by 1:45 p.m.  The first band was already playing their last song.  I did not leave the Music Hall again until just before midnight.  It was a marathon show to be sure, but it was a wonderful opportunity to see Austin’s best musicians.

The show was put together in less than a week by Joe Ely.  He sent out the call to arms to everyone in the Austin scene.  By Tuesday before the show he had a 3 hour set.  By Thursday that had grown to 10 hours.  He worked hard to get items and services for a silent auction and many people came to aid him in that endeavor. There was everything from fine confectionary tastys to all manner of rare music memorabilia and Austin cool.  Many a dollar was raised in that one little room.  The final tally at the end of the night was unspoken, but nearly 3000 people paid the 33 bucks to get in the door.  There was food as well, all donated by Austin’s coolest and most notorious eateries.  Torchies Tacos, The Salt Lick, and Austin Pizza served Thousands of dollars worth of food.  So after all was said and done, the evening can only be called a success.
The band roster for the night was simply spectacular.  Any one of these artists are worth going to see, but when they are all going to be playing 20 minute sets stacked up on top of one another, well as I said it was spectacular.

Asleep At The Wheel
Patricia Vonne
Guy Forsyth
Paula Nelson
Band of Heathens
Bob Schnider
The Flatlanders
Shawn Colvin
Bruce Robinson
Kelly Willis
Ray Wylie Hubbard
The Gourds
Reckless Kelly
The Joe Ely Band
Marcia Ball
Robert Earl Keen
Charlie Sexton with Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon

How could I possibly pick one or two performances to highlight?  I thought that Patricia Vonne was awesome.  The Highlanders was a treat.  Sharing Ribs and eating beans that were made by Ray Wylie Hubbard was definitely a highlight.  I left before midnight so I missed Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton.  Charlie Sexton was so late that we all feared that he might not make it at all.  That is easily forgiven considering the fact that he was in L.A. playing the big Cable benefit for George Clooney only a couple of days before with Justin Timberlake.   There was a nasty rumor that the Arc Angels were going to play, but I had it from good authority that Doyle Bramhall II was in L.A. in the recording studio.  Always a good thing, but that meant that there would be no Angels reunion for the cause.

All in all it was a very special night of music in Austin Texas.  There was something for everyone, and by the end of the night I saw many people that would still be drunk if they ventured into work in the morning.  I, having kept it down to three beers in 10 hours, had no problem with that the next morning.  If you were there or participated in the Auction I thank you.  If you were not there, then I feel sorry for you.  You missed something rare.  I guess what touched me most is that all of these people, with there busy schedules and tours and careers, dropped everything at a moments notice to be there and try to help make a difference.

Get out and see a show.  Support these special people who make up the scene of the Live Music Capitol of the world.