Sunday in Luckenbach

Sunday brought about a benefit concert in Luckenbach, Texas to help the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe in Galveston rebuild after Hurricane Ike. A bunch of people and artists turned out, and it was a glorious autumnal-like Sunday afternoon. And I had never been to Luckenbach (with Waylon and Willie and the Boys)...so Katie and I took it as a good excuse to jet on down the road. Plus, SusanG! was playing. I mean, come on. We also got to see Band of Heathens and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Awesome stuff. My hand at 60 mph. Excellent crowd, lovely day. Susan Gibson and John Greenberg. And I got to see my PUPPIES that I had missed since I have not been Merch Girl for a couple of weeks. Aww. Look at that face. (I stole these last two from Katie).

At the Fairmount in Fort Worth

If you squint, you can see the band. Blogging from the merch table...our buddy Amy is here with HER video camera, and she just informed me that she has video of me singing along to "Happiest When I'm Moving" from about 12 minutes ago.  I thought the filmmaker was supposed to remain BEHIND the camera, Amy, hehheh.  The Merch Girl (TM) is a trademarked term to be used only with official permission and affiliation with Susan Gibson, Inc.  Or something.  Yay Fort Worth!  I like it here.

J-Poville

Yep, we made it home. We had one other minor adventure on the way back involving the dogs getting sprayed by a skunk outside of Dallas, so we had 3 hours at a car wash at 10 PM with tomato paste and vinegar (thanks, Beth!)...but we made it back only a little smellier. Ok, much smellier. But it was an adventure as always! Here's a tune from Susan in Charleston, SC...the real version is "Gatesville" from her latest record, but perks of being a Merch Girl include improvised songs for you. Sweet! It's kinda my new fave...

Susan on the Billy Block Show

Nashville, TN 9/23/08

Good times and fire ants.

Terri Hendrix and her band played in San Marcos last night, so of course I made the drive down for a great show. I spent the first set sitting in the grass with some good friends, and even though I have been through this "concert on the lawn" thing countless times, I still forgot a blanket or a chair. My buddies kindly offered my some blanket space, but I thought...what the heck? It's just grass. Grass with a bunch of ants in it. Fire ants, too, apparently. I got a nice stingy bite in my hand and by the drive home my finger was swollen. I'd show you which finger it was but I don't feel like flipping off the internet, haha. The good news is my buddy Richard had a spare chair and I got to sit above the wildlife instead of in it for the 2nd set. Thanks, Richard! Terri and the band sounded great and based on the new songs we have been hearing lately, I am super psyched for the next record. I think she must be superhuman, based on all the traveling she's been doing, hanging out with the Bhutanese and such in Washington, D.C., and still putting on a great hometown show at the end of it all. Props! Also, a lesson: just because you're all comfy and ant-free in your lawn chair does not mean you will not called up to do a little singing sometimes. So much fun! Thanks, Terri.

I love this song.

Stones in the Road - Mary Chapin Carpenter.

The Fridays

Why am I so tired today, was my question until about 3 minutes ago. I can't seem to get a momentum going, so I've done things like answer loads of backed up email and go to the gym at a very slow pace, and then I took a nap. Then I realized I saw 4 nights of live music this week out of a possible 5, and the other night I was working and then playing it myself. And I was very good about not sleeping in and getting up at a consistent time each day. They say that's good for you, I'm kind of wondering about that right now! So...I will proceed to Target at a snail's pace but might pick up some caffeine on the way home. Who says productivity doesn't start at 3 PM on a Friday afternoon? Rock and roll. Also this post will be just text, to demonstrate my laziness, haha.

Mixology

Dan and I spent a good chunk of Tuesday mixing a tune with George, who is a most excellent dude and a really cool mixer. He took "Blonde on Blue" and brought out some neat aspects of our recording (what I like to call "hairy piano" now) while we watched and soaked in the mixing process. Mixers get the fun job of getting the picture of what the artist and producer want/aim for while giving their own touch to the project. I suspect we could give "Blonde on Blue" to 5 mixers and come up with some pretty different sounding tunes, even though it's all the exact same set of tracks I played on. Cool. "New Mexico Boy" is mixed to the point that I smile like a dork when I hear it, so I call that a good finished product. Yay for growly, sweaty guitars! That night we saw Girlyman play at the Cactus, who pretty much rocked the room and were a joy. Dan produced Girlyman Nate's solo record so it was neat to see Nate play. Go see them. Actually, they're in Albuquerque tonight, for you Albuquirks. P.S. Here's Mixer George playing bass on Letterman a couple weeks ago with Jakob Dylan. Cool.

Run-ins with the law and other sight-seeing in Texas

Hey kids! I've been MIA because my good friend and college roommate, Beth, braved the Austin heat to come visit and hang out. We packed a lot into a few days before she jetted back west to be a med student. Here's Beth carrying around her loot...er...bag of ice. Hey, I said it's been warm here. I think I fulfilled my mission of showing Beth the Live Music Capital of the World in style. When she flew in Friday night, we headed over to the legendary Continental Club and caught part of Guitar Shorty's set. He's one of those blues legend types, and he puts on an entertaining show to say the least. He plays guitar with his teeth, feet, and even his butt. (I know. I'll find a video soon.) On Saturday Beth was kind and carried my gear for me when I played at the Art Walk in downtown Elgin, about 25 miles outside of Austin. Cute town and very nice people! I played in the Bremond House Gallery, a fabulous old building with wood floors and a pressed tin ceiling. That evening we saw my good friends Blue J play some jazz and then headed over to the Green Mesquite to see my buddy Geno play. That's a lot of music in one day, but all of it was delish. On Sunday we headed down to Gruene Hall to see Nathan Hamilton play, where we met a cool couple from New Jersey and chatted for a while. The randomness of these things is the fun part! After that we headed up to San Marcos and rented some tubes to float down the river. Now, I've floated before and Beth hasn't at all, but I had never floated with beer along for the ride. It seemed like the Texan thing to do and since it was so blazing hot, we bought some (hence the bag of ice above). And we were floating along lazily when a cop on an ATV on the bank beeps his ATV horn and Beth says, "Haha, what's he going to do? Pull someone over in a tube?" And then we realized he was pointing at us. Oops. So we paddled over to shore and apparently, glass bottles are a no-no. Only cans on the river. Since we were obviously clueless to this fact and all-around harmless looking kids (I'd like to think so, anyway), he just took our beer and let us float away. In our defense, Beth's from Colorado where the rivers are such that you're probably wearing helmets and praying for your life when you're rafting down them so there's no time for beer rules, and I am from New Mexico where you don't float down the river because you'd just be scooting through mud. We are new at this. I'm pretty proud that my first run-in with the law involved me in a bright yellow plastic tube. So we floated to the end and happened to land outside the San Marcos River Pub, where Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines were playing that night. More live music from my favorite people! That show managed to make Beth have a giggle fit and tear up all in one evening. I call that a good show (though, as those who know her well can attest, giggle fits are frequent. We like that about her). So that's what's up...I made it through without a criminal record and a tan. I call that a successful weekend.

Blue Dog Rescue Benefit

Jana Sandwich! Susan and Terri share the love. Whoa. My head did almost explode at the amount of coolness at this show, except it was all nice coolness so really...it was what they call "chill." (Yeah, I'm a nerd. Whatevs.) I stole Dan's sunglasses. I think I look creepy. Blue Dog Rescue...check them out. They foster dogs and find them homes when otherwise...these guys would not find homes and then sad things happen. Blue Dog packs the Gingerman Pub a couple of times a year with good music, beer, and LOTS of puppies to raise awareness and funds. Insane amounts of puppies all over. So fun! Graham Wilkinson was playing when I got there...great tunes and I am positive Business Partner Josh is eyeing Graham's dreads with much respect right now. (Keep 'em growing, J!) Sally Allen played next and had great songs and great tone coming out of her guitar. Very glad to be introduced to her music. Lloyd = Simpsons character. Really. Read on. Then it was Terri and Lloyd time. What can I say? Always so much joy. And Terri has an awesome new Gibson guitar; it made me drool a little bit. Luckily, this was a dog benefit and half the attendees were drooling...I fit right in. (By the way...Lloyd has been immortalized as a character in a Simpsons episode. That's how cool he is. More on that soon). Geetar! Susan was on next and I dogsat her kids for her while she played, so this is pretty much the only decent shot I got of her set. And that's ok. Both of these sweeties are former Blue Dogs. Dan jamz. Simon and his harp skillz. porterdavis finished off the night with a great set and I think everyone went home with tails happily wagging. No fleas, either. Good day. Like I said earlier, I couldn't have designed a better line up myself. Bring on the next one, and talk me out of wanting a puppy!

Perros de Mayo EXCITEMENT

Guess where I'll be on Sunday? Seeing Susan, Terri & Lloyd, and porterdavis. It's like this weird alignment of stars and moons and "who would Jana like to see play today?" And it doesn't even involve any venue-hopping! I like to save gas when I can, you know. It's also a benefit for Blue Dog Rescue, which is about as cool as you can get. Come benefit with us. By now as you can tell, I'm pretty much a Photoshop pro.

Katie and Jana take on Gruene Hall

Oh Katie. One might call her a partner in crime, or maybe an enabler. However you word it, Katie agreed to roadtrip down to Gruene Hall with me to see one suSANG! play. I love seeing shows at Gruene because the town itself is all cute and German, and the Hall has a great historic, gritty vibe. Plus Katie made sandwiches. Wot? It starts as all good blog posts do, with an inside joke. These curry chips were on stage all night. That is all. The crowd was kickin'. I saw Suz make a Sharpie tattoo on someone's hand. Rockstar! Jana: Too bad her last name isn't "Miller." Katie: Yeah...then it would always be HER TIME! I brought in a contraband Diet Coke. Because it was in my bag, dangit. So Katie took a dark photo of my drinking the contraband. Recycled the evidence. I took this photo of the artist and the tip jar to reiterate to all you kind folks: LOVE THE TIP JAR. That is all. There's "Johnny (Hearts) Jessica" and such written/scratched all over the ancient Gruene Hall tables. I suppose we are not to take photos of evidence yet again, but...well, we had to. I hope to go back to Gruene Hall in 2028 and see this note. Did we mention there's a new CD coming? Head to the Myspace to hear a track or dos. How does live music make me feel? Like THIS.

Mean People Suck

Fer reals and can I get an "Amen"? It's time for a Terri and Lloyd Break! Let go of that computer mouse/pen/stapler/crowbar/steering wheel (ok NOT the steering wheel) and dig. It.

San Antonio Webcast

It was lovely and glorious fun to hang out with Kelli and D.C. -- both Life's A Songers -- this past Sunday. The Scenic Loop Cafe is a ritzy kind of place for a folkie like me. Best wheat bread EVER, too. Here's an archived version of the webcast. If you hit up the 2nd song, you'll hear a brand new one never before played out...when I decide to debut, I go all out and make sure it's on the internet forever, haha. I think it's called "West." Watch live video from Wild West Webcast on Justin.tv

Gruene Hall

The Gruene water tower thing. On Sunday I headed down to New Braunfels -- actually, to Gruene ("green") which as far as I can tell is in New Braunfels. It was Fred Eaglesmith weekend and Fred booked a festival at Gruene Hall. What band was playing the choice set right after Fred? porterdavis. Who needed a reliable Merch Girl to sell their CDs to the masses while they rocked the Fred Head (I kid you not) population? porterdavis. Heck yeah! It was fun. Lots of good music. Audrey Auld Mezera was there, Band of Heathens was there, Darrell Scott was there (he wrote one of my favorite Dixie Chicks songs, "Long Time Gone"). porterdavis put on a heck of a show and won over the Fred Heads, which may now be termed...pd-heads. Or something. I need to think about that one. Meet the producer. His name is Dan. He's cool.

Terri Hendrix Band at the Cactus

Um, yeah. So Saturday night was cool. Any time Terri Hendrix plays at the Cactus, it's a good time. The place is always full, and it's a definite electric atmosphere. BettySoo started the night off with her fantastic tunes and some hilarious stage banter. Stage banter is an art form, and being hilarious while doing it is like...triple the talent. Go see BettySoo's web site for more joy (and fabulous design!) Then it was time for Terri+Lloyd+Paul+Glen. I have pretty much gushed about their performances before, maybe a few times, perhaps...so in an effort to keep gushing to a minimum, we'll do a list. - It was the week of Terri's birthday, so that was cool. Happy (late) birthday, Terri! - It was also the birthday weekend of my friend Melissa, who I met at Life's a Song. (Once you attend a Life's A Song workshop together, you kind of just follow each other around all the time. Melissa studies at Red Leaf, too. See what I mean?) So Melissa was there partying it up with her awesome friends. They let me sit with them. That made me happy. - Happy Birthday, Melissa! - It was also, if you hadn't noticed, Valentine's week. Terri did a love song in honor of the holiday. It was called "The Masochistic Tango," and here's an excerpt: Take your cigarette from its holder And burn your initials in my shoulder Fracture my spine And swear that you're mine As we dance to the Masochistic Tango - I can hang with that kind of Valentine's Day song, hehheh. (That one's by Tom Lehrer). Right. So...awesome show all around, and then it was time for the last 2 songs. Somehow, in some blinding awesomeness of Terri, I ended up singing a little bit o' harmony onstage with BettySoo and Melissa. Yep. Ron Baker takes awesome photos, and he was kind enough to share! Music is clearly all work and no fun. Everyone had to duck so Paul could rock out on his solo. And take a bow. All those photos were taken/copyrighted by Ron Baker, and you can check out his most excellent collection of photos from this show, more Terri shows, and a BUNCH of great musicians in general at his Flickr site or here.

Armadillo Christmas Bazaar 2007

So I'm not sure why...but last year at the 2006 Armadillo Christmas Bazaar was the first time I had seen Terri and Lloyd play since moving to Austin...and it had been a few years since I had seen them previous to that. I think they were touring a lot, and I was poor so I didn't go to a lot of shows (and now I'm still poor but I go to shows anyway...booyah! Priorities = straightened out). Point being I was blown away at that show and have clearly seen The Hendrix and The Maines play quite a bit in 2007. Yes. Yes that is a cowboy seemingly upchucking an armadillo on that backdrop. This is all about "keep Austin weird," after all. Fittingly, I topped it all off with their performance at the Armadillo Bazaar once again. It was excellent, the company was grand (I actually KNOW people in town now!), and the chair was padded. Life is sweet. I think I got some pretty ok photos. Check out the Flickr gallery for the whole shebang. Merry Armadillos to you all!

Cheatham Street: Songwriters' Class of '87

On Thursday night I headed down to San Marcos, TX to Cheatham Street Warehouse -- a legendary Texas venue where people like George Strait and Stevie Ray Vaughn got their starts. It's also where an astoundingly diverse and talented group of open mic-ers from 1987 re-converged on Thursday to swap songs and celebrate their beginnings. So who were these '87ers? A rundown: Terri Hendrix: You read this blog. You know Terri. She was great. Lloyd Maines jammed with everyone in the circle, too. Note: we had awesome seats behind Terri and Lloyd, and since it was in the round...every photo I took contains the head of either Terri or Lloyd...sometimes both. :) Bruce Robison: When he's not performing all over the country himself, his songs are being cut by the likes of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, George Strait, and the Dixie Chicks. Not too shabby. Bruce Robison...and Terri's hair. James McMurtry: He has fabulous words and stories in his songs. Why, here's one now. John Arthur Martinez: He was on the show Nashville Star, and has a fabulous voice and a traditional sound. John Arthur and Hal...and Lloyd's head. Todd Snider: He lives in Nashville now, and had the crowd in stitches with his great storytelling as well as his awesome songs. Yay! Hal Ketchum: I listened to Hal on the radio back in the 90's when I was first getting into country music..."Small Town Saturday Night" -- great song. I never knew he was from around here. His voice is perfect. Everyone kind of joined in on other people's stuff when they felt like it...Terri played a couple of mean harmonica solos, Lloyd played a new baritone Tacoma guitar and it sounded excellent. Kent Finlay, who owns Cheatham, presided over the circle and played his great tunes as well. He must be extremely proud to have fostered so many accomplished writers. He's always kind to me when I head down to San Marcos to the open mic. Kent is one of a kind! So...I'm hoping we don't have to wait 20 years for another reunion, but this one did quite all right by me. A birthday, a short New Mexico tour, a successful JP Project No. 2...it's a good way to end the month. Happy December, y'all!

The Week

Um. Ok...it's Friday already? I didn't post all week? What did I do? Where was I? Well. I guess it went fast because I spent a lot of time doing things and very little time sleeping. Wednesday night I met my good buddy Heidi from California at the Continental Club for the James McMurtry show. Heidi had flown in to see the Class of '87 Reunion show at Cheatham Street (and gifted me with a birthday ticket thanksverymuch, Heidi!), and we decided to take in a pre-show show. The next night was the Reunion show, which was amazing and which I will tell you all about in excruciating detail once I sleep and once Heidi sends me some snaps. Send me some snaps, Heidi. (Wow, I am tired. "Snaps?" What is this, 1988?) So because of all this, and because we "had us a time" after the show as they say here in Texas (do they? I do)...I have had 2 hours of sleep in the last 24. So I think I'll take care of that. More blogging to come folks. I'm back on the train.

Proud.

I just saw an amazing show at the Cactus Cafe tonight with the Terri Hendrix Band. Paul Pearcy opened the show, and he's Terri's longtime drummer/percussionist who happens to write great songs and play guitar, too. Glen Fukunaga, the ever-steady bassist, was in fine form. Lloyd was kicking arse on guitar/mandolin/papoose/dobro...and Terri. Oh, Terri. She picks a mean guitar, plays a great harp, and seriously hit some notes I did not think possible from a human. It was glorious. The best thing is that Terri writes these songs that are positive. I know. I listen to a LOT of sad folk because I LOVE it and I write it, too...but Terri takes you to church and makes you want to sing along and hug the people next to you and go out into the world and conquer it. Not in a trite or sappy way...in an empowering "yes, this is the way it's supposed to be and this is music's place in the world" sort of way. Makes me proud and honored to be a musician. Makes me want to put that sort of thing out into the world. There's a lesson in that. I love learning lessons on Saturday nights.

Blonde on Blue Live in Taos: Nov. 7, 2007

Terri Hendrix @ Waterloo Records

The Spiritual Kind...

All Fall Down

My statement of independence for the day...live at the Santa Fe Brewing Company in New Mexico with Susan Gibson. Sweet.

New Mexico Boy Live in...New Mexico.

Live at the Santa Fe Brewing Company...for your listening (I hope) pleasure. Susan Gibson sings, too. Thank you, Ms. G! It's always nice to hear 2 voices instead of one, I think. That's why Simon and Garfunkle do so well with the kids these days.

Happy Mom's Day

Well, I couldn't spend Mother's Day with my mum (hi, Mom!) in New Mexico, so I went to a concert instead. As mom would tell you...my life is full of burdens, hehheh. The good news is I get to see her in a week when Susan and I roll into the 505, so it's all good. I'll bring her a present then, I promise. Today it was Love on the Lawn with Shelley King, Carolyn Wonderland, Susan Gibson, and Ginger Leigh. It pretty much was awesome. Lots of moms and kids, lots of front yardness, lots of good stories, and lots of songwriters. Four of them. Good times.

Captured Moments

My buddy Melissa Mullins was rockin' it at Austin Java this past Tuesday. I was being a laptop fiend earlier in the night and had it along...and realized I hadn't really tested the video camera out in a live music situation before. THEN I got lucky and Melissa busted out a great acapella version of her "Do Nothing Artist." It all worked out into media-joy. Have fun. :) (Yes, that's me and my lame little "yay!" in the beginning. I get excited).

A good footing.

This weekend at the artist market some fabulous ladies were doing henna tattoos for a mere $7. It's always dangerous when you have tip money sitting right there in your guitar case, just waiting to be turned right around and contributed back to the economy. I am quite enamoured with the design...I've never had henna done before. I recommend it for a little foot-lift. Today Dawn and I brunched at Magnolia Cafe before trying to find parking at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Apparently, when the flowers are blooming, EVERYONE goes to the Wildflower Center. Needless to say, we're going back some other week. We did jet over to the Austin Fine Arts Festival to see Terri Hendrix and her fabulous band. The weather was perfect, the art was expensive, and the music was grand! This town is cool. Very cool.

Snot by Southwest

Porterdavis at SXSW 3.15.07 I thought I'd riff on the popular hobby of making fun of the SXSW (TM) brand behemoth here...some of the happy little knock-offs I encountered last week: - The geographically oriented South by South Congress and South by South Lamar...simple street names. I can handle that. - The more obvious ripoffs like...South by San Antonio and South by San Jose. Oh, and South by Northwest. That one makes my head spin. Perhaps my favorite is South by Way South, in case you're not South enough. - Then there were the more flippant copycats...almost too cool for SXSW but still able to mock it by ripping it off...South by So What? and Free by No Charge. (Now we're getting into the territory of "Anything by Anything Else" is free game). - The best? Ok, maybe not the best. But the one that stood out? FXFU. You figure it out. My blatant title is derived from the unfortunate circumstance of being sick for most of SXSW week. This severely cramped my desire to stand, walk, breathe, or do anything but sleep. I did manage to see some cool music, though. Pam Tillis played in a parking lot. She was so totally on Country Music Television a decade ago. I happily stumbled in on Porterdavis at The Gingerman...they are one of my very favorite local groups and they rocked. Melissa on the Rocks...rocks. Melissa on the Rocks totally amped it up for Cafe Caffeine's stage on Sunday...and then Melissa and I tromped over to B Exhibition Studio for the GoGirls Showcase. I played right after 3 Kisses, the band that was on Wife Swap. They are awesome people. They have a song called Swapping Wives. They have wonderful senses of humor. :) And here I am a full week after encountering the cold virus of the century, feeling much better and looking back on 2 weeks of really fun gigs. The Jana Susana Banana Rama was just fun...the GoGirls gig was inspiring...my St. Patrick's Day show at the Irie Bean was a nice little window into Spring weather and blue skies. Last night I saw an incredible lineup at Maria's Taco Express...Cindy Cashdollar, Redd Volkaert, and Elana James...all who have played with Bob Dylan and a plethora of other people...all hanging out at Maria's in South Austin on a Wednesday night. These are certainly grand times indeed. Swingin' joy at Maria's Taco Express