Live music events

Date

Pug

Venu Performer(s)

Review

Sat, 6/26

X

Austin Farmer's Market Yodlin' Cowgirl and her Saddle Pals This was an odd show. A group of very talented bluegrass/texas swing musicians (banjo, mandolin, dobro, guitar, bass) led by a yodlin' singer with a strong Eastern European accent
Sun, 6/27   The Saxon Pub The Resentments As always this Austin Supergroup was fantastic. Though they were missing Bruce Hughs (touring with Bob Schneider), Scrappy Jud Newcomb, John D Graham, and Steven Bruton filled in the space by rotating through on the bass each song!
Mon, 6/28 X Continental Club Giant City Sextet This was one of the great suprize discoveries of the challenge. Six young guys playing their hearts out on dixiland jazz standards and sounding perfectly authentic. If they don't get you tapping your toes, you should seek help.
Tue, 6/29 X Flipnotics Eric Hokannen It is hard not to be eaqually amazed and amused by this eclectic, eccentric, incredibly tallented multi-instrumentalist. His current band, the Hip Replacements, featured the clarinetist and stand-up bass player from Giant City Sextet. THey alternated between gypsy, bluegrass, jazz, and surf music through their awesome set.
Wed, 6/30 X Ruta Maya Troy Young Campbell Having never caught Austin's Loose Diamonds during their haydays, I had never seen Troy Campbell play live. It was a treat and made me want to go buy some old albums. Lucky for me, I would get to see a Loose Diamond's reunion show in a matter of weeks.
Thu, 7/1 X Maria's Taco Xpress Slim Richey's Dream Band with LeAnn Atherton What could be better than margaritas & tacos under big cottonwood trees in the funkiest South Austin taqueria with one of Austin's best jazz guitarists and female vocalists just 10 feet away?
Fri, 7/2   Ego's Matt Hubbard & Clarence Pierce This was one of those unplanned shows that turned out to be really fun. Mike Labinski and I spent too long lingering over Megan's great cooking after Friday night volleyball. By the time we headed out, we had missed shows at Jovitas (Jane Bond) and Texas Music Cafe (Boxcar Preachers). We looked into Junir Brown at the Continental but it was a $20 cover. So we headed across the street and were treated to a blues soul combo: A young white guy playing keys and singing, an old black dude wailing on the guitar and singing a few soul numbers, and a rhythm section that they borrowed from the previous band. They ended up sounding pretty good - of course that could have been due to the drinks...
Sat, 7/3 X Cole's Ice House Kathleen O'Keefe, James Ryder, & Kyle Rhodes Cole's is a new bar & Grill in S. Austin that is struggling to stay open against an onslaught by the neighborhood association, which objects to their lack of parking and the live music on the back deck. This is exactly what is great about this place: you sit in the backyard overlooking the creek and play horseshoes while listing to singer-songwriters and drinking beer - at this point they don't have a liquor license, so it is BYOB!
Sun, 7/4 X Tecolote Farms 4th of July party The Dead Goats Cjun Accordian, fidlle, and guitar. I sat in with them on the Mandolin for several tunes
Mon, 7/5   The Saxon Pub Matt the Electrician/Bob Schneider & Lonelyland Bob Schneider is alwasy fun to see, but the real treat of the night was seeing Matt play with his full band (including Sela on vocals, Tom Pearson on Bass, and Scrappy Jud Newcomb on electric and lap steel guitars). The band is tight, the arrangements are fantastic, and Matt's normally dry sense of humor and deadpan stage presence are taken to a new level in this scene. I strongly encourage you to check him out when you can.
Tue, 7/6 X The Cactus Cafe Susan Gibson Susan gave a lively performance as a benefit for the Blue Dog Rescue, a group that fosters and finds homes for stray dogs.
Wed, 7/7 X Zilker Park - Blues on the Green Johnny A Instrumental guitar blues - sounded a lot like Stevie Ray Vaughn
Thu, 7/8 X Threadgills World Headquarters Audrey Auld with the Greencards What a great surprize. I was looking forward to seeing this singer/songwriter from Australia, but didn't realize that the Greencards would be backing her up. They are one of Austin's hottest new bands and definitely the best bluegrass around.
Fri, 7/9 X The Cactus Cafe Billy Bright with Sarah Jarose Billy Bright is one of Austin's best mandolin players. He is a member of Two High String Band and the Texas Trio, featuring his wife, Brynn and Peter Rowen. Sarah is an up and coming superstar. She is only 12 years old and is already amazing! She has solid chops, a strong full voice, and a real feeling for the groove of the songs.
Sat, 7/10 X Flipnotics Sara Hickman I have been meaning to see Sara since I moved to Austin, but hadn' yet done it. It was a great show and I got her to sign one of her children's CDs for Pug after the show.
Sun, 7/11

 

Guero's Jardin Stage Gulf Coast Playboys

Ralph white and his traditional Cajun band were great. I hadn't seen Ralph play since he left the Bad Livers. He has certainly found a great band in the Playboys. It is nice to know Austin has such good Cajun music available

Mon, 7/12

 

Artz Rib House Sara Elizabeth Campbell & the Banned

This show was a bit short lived as Pug decided he had had enough music after the first set. But it was a good set.

Tue. 7/13

 

Ruta Maya Open Mic

Like most open mics, this was a mixed bag. There was at least one guy who was horrible, but most were decent. Interesting songs. One guy was particularly good - in a Martin Sexton kind of way.

Wed, 7/14

 

Big Red Sun Matt McCormic & Collin Gilmore

Both Megan and I agreed the Mat McCormic is worth seeing again. Collin Gilmore got an early leg up by riding on his dad's coattails. He is fun to watch, though it may be a while before he settles into his own style.

Thu, 7/15

 

TC's Moving Blues 

What a great joint! TCs is located in East Austin and is an old school blues joint. It is a small, run down shack with personality oozing out of it. There were signs on the wall prohibiting all kinds of behavior that seemed to be going on anyway in and around the place (e.g. gambling, fighting, smoking pot, prostitution, etc...). Mike put on a strong show and they clearly love his band. One old woman who was particularly taken with him and who had just won the lottery that day bought drinks for everyone in the house - that's a first for me!

Fri, 7/16

 

Zilker Hillside Theater Summer Musical

The Musical this year was The Secret Garden. It was done well, though Big River still remains my favorite. It was nice to see the show where Eric Stratman got the song Lilly's Eyes.

Sat, 7/17

 

Elephant Room  Gnappy 

I got home late from a pool party with some friends and couldn't convince anyone to go out to see music with me. So I headed downtown alone to see what was going down at the Elephant room, the best jazz club in town. I was treated to the funky instrumental jazz of gnappy - sax, guitar, bass, drums. I will definitely look for them again.

Sun, 7/18

 

Threadgill's World Headquarters Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers,
Loose Diamonds
Walter Traggart
Austin Lounge Lizards

The best part of this show was being introduced to Walter Traggart. He has gotten lucky enough to have Scrappy Jud put together his entire band (nearly everyone from Loose diamonds except for Troy Campbell), but there is a reason scrappy took interest in this new artist. Walter has an incredible voice - strongly reminicient of Elvis Costello with that same huge range and range of styles. The rest of the show was fun as well, particularly the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers who I hadn't seen up to that day.

Mon, 7/19

 

Opal Divine's Elizabeth McQueen and the Firebrands

Opal Divine's has a great multi-story outdoor deck that is perfect for watching the sunset and listing to music. The food is decent, but the scotch selection is fantastic. Elizabeth is standard swing /vocal music that is remenicient of Patsy Cline. Fun, but I wasn't blown away.

Tue, 7/20

 

Continental Club Toni Price

After all these years, Toni has finally started charging a cover for Hippy Hour. It is about time. It works out better for her, I always put $5 in the tip jar anyway, so it is no extra cost, but it keeps the crowd down to a manageable level. It is still packed, but there was no line. The show was excellent and we were treated to Warren Hood sitting in his father's old seat and playing fiddle and mandolin.

Wed, 7/21

 

Zilker Park Blues on the Green The Holmes Brothers

Old style blues act with three harmonizing singers. Each of them had huge soulful voices. We listened to the show from the volleyball courts and managed to get in a few games

Thu, 7/22

 

Lucky Lounge Ian McGlauchlin & the Bump Band

With Scrappy Jud playing guitar (he plays with just about everybody these days!), Ian's band is really solid. For those who aren't familiar, Ian was the keyboardist for the British supergroup, the Faces (featureing Ron Wood and Rod Stewart). Since the 80's, he has been living in Austin and filling in Scrappy's role on the keys - he has played on more albums than I can count over those years.

Fri, 7/23

 

Guero's Jardin Stage Cosmic Dust Devils

Strange combination of musicians, but it worked. THey alternated between country rock standards (e.g. Charlie Daniels Band, Hank Williams Jr, Lynard Skynard), Texas swing, and originals.

Sat, 7/24

 

No Music   

Birthday Challenge one-day event and party at our place. No time to see music.

Sun, 7/25

 

Guero's Jardin Stage CLV

I went there expecting to see Los Jazz Vatos, but instead was treated to this band I had never heard of. CLV could most closely be compared to Santana - and they did several covers of his songs. But they also did originals and their interpretation of old soul tunes. Strong guitar, percussion, horns, and singing.

Mon, 7/26

 

Continental Club Paris 49

Another excellent discovery for the Birthday Challenge. Fronted by the old guitarist for 8 1/2 Souvenirs, this new band was formed around a love for Jango Reinhart style jazz. It features two guitar players who alternate rifs, a sax/clarinet player, bass, and drums. They play at a smoke-free happy hour every third Monday and the swing dancers show up in force.

Tue, 7/27

 

 No Music   

Working on quartet arrangements for the upcoming weekend.

Wed, 7/28

 

 No Music    

Flew to San Francisco after work.

Thu, 7/29

 

Field Circle  BC Jazz Band

Jazz band concert featuring the works of Count Bassie. Spectacular show! What more can I say?

Thu, 7/29

 

Rattler's  Various players

Jam with Trevor & Danny Wheatman, Matt Montgomery, Tim & Todd Carter, Phil Salazar, Ed Littlefield Jr, Joe Viticoe, & many others - The jam was watched by many including Steve Miller in the front row

Fri, 7/30   Aviary Steve Miller & Jim Salestrom Cocktail hour concert staring with Jim and then followed by Steve. My brother, Tim and our mutual friend, Miguel sang back-up harmony with Steve.
Fri, 7/30   Grove Stage The Grove Play A musical drama set during the time of the American revolutionary war.
Fri, 7/30   Woof Variety Show A show that featured many musical and comedy acts incluing the Carter Quartet (Dad, brothers Tim & Todd, and me)