Thursday Flew By

I started the day out with my Unitarian Universalist friends Deva and Elise at free show at Mohawk...

Bowerbirds - the subtlety of this group was unfortunately lost at the show I saw at Mohawk (too much reverb), but check out the link for mandolin, accordion, guitar and vocals. Deva was so frustrated with the sound that he left, which was a bad idea because up next was...

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - This R&B/Soul group is the definition of entertainment... well at least for people with ears. 2 saxes, trumpet, lead & rhythm guitar, bass, kit drummer, congo player and of course the mean, loud, vocal stylings of Sharon Jones. She grabbed a young cute boy from the audience, Justin, and sang up on him about how to get a woman.

After Mohawk, Elise and I headed to Headhunters for cheap Stoli drinks and...

Melissa McClelland - Fun Americana artist from Canada (is that an oxymoron?), Melissa has a powerful voice and fills her songs with repeated word choruses to make sure you get the point.

And I took a brief break in the middle of the day to walk around the South Austin neighborhood, Bouldin Creek. The 60 year old Green Pastures Restaurant has a restored Victorian House and a lawn filled with albino and regular peacocks!

Jim Lauderdale with special guests Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller - The Americana Music Association kicked off their showcase at Antone's with Jim Lauderdale and his fabulous pants. He played tunes from his new project with Greatful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, Patchwork River. I was struck by the title track, particularly the bridge, it felt like it came out of left field yet fit with the song perfectly, as only Jim can do.

After Jim, I met up with Ciro for...

Nneka - a bit more mellow than I had expected, Nigerian Nneka uses her high pitched breathy voice to create percussive effects with lyrics, sometimes stretching a word out over several measures of marcato notes.

And after some street tacos, I hooked back up with the UU crew (Jay, Jessie, Louie, Daniel, Elise, and Deva) for some more fun. We caught the band Home Video, danced to some DJs, Daniel and I danced on top of a shark filled tank at QUA, and finally headed to Lamberts for...

Yes Giantess - I finally got my dance party band... in spades. These Boston guys ripped it up around 1am with funky falsetto vocals, tight drums, and fun lines on the microKorg. The crowd was hot and dancey and friendly. I will go see these guys whenever I have the chance.

And the perfect ending to the night was biking back to Ciro's in the cool air at 3am to pass out on his wonderfully comfy guest bed.

Austin is a great town.