In 1991 I had a transformative experience at the Tower Theater.  I sat on the second row and watched, in awe, a concert by Chris Isaak and Silvertone.  After that show, I HAD to learn guitar, so I borrowed one and taught myself Blue Spanish Sky: 

For the next several years I was practically a one man Chris Isaak cover band (a few old covers posted here).   The joy the guitar has brought to my life can be traced straight back to that magical moment in Houston.

I have seen the show many many times since then trying to recapture that experience.  Last night at the Mountain Winery came awfully close.  The highlights included a gospel version of Don’t Make Me Dream About You:

Bass player Roly Salley singing his original, Killing the Blues (a near perfect song that has been covered by Shawn Colvin, John Prine, Alison Kraus and Robert Plant and many others):

And a story about playing the streets of Santa Cruz with his brother (a girl watching whispered to her boyfriend “Is that Chris Isaak” and he said “Yeah, and he used to be BIG!”):

Thanks, Chris, for the inspiration over the last 18 years!  See you next year at the Mountain Winery.

I tried not to post this video (largely because of Mayer’s smug comment at the end) but it stuck with me.  See how John writes a new song by taking three other popular melodies and riffing on the:

That’s pretty much how I write music – start playing a rhythm\chord progression and sing some vowel sounds over them until words emerge.  Hope that the lyrics eventually make sense.  That’s also why I’m having a tough time bringing three new songs to closure – they’re lyrics only and no melody is presenting itself.  I’ll figure it out eventually, I guess…

In addition to Tuesday’s gig with Mary Elizabeth, I’ve got a gig on Saturday with pop troubadour, Erston Pearcy:

Saturday, August 8 from 7:00 – 9:30 PM
Bazaar Café
http://www.bazaarcafe.com/
5927 California Street, between 21st & 22nd Avenues
San Francisco, CA 94121

It’s always a pleasure to play with Erston.  As before, we’ll be trading sets of all original, all acoustic music.  Stop by on Saturday and say hello.

In a slight scheduling snafu of my own making, I’ve got two gigs coming up at the Bazaar Cafe.  The first one is with Mary Elizabeth Beckman:

Tuesday, August 4 from 7:00 – 9:30 PM
Bazaar Café
http://www.bazaarcafe.com/
5927 California Street, between 21st & 22nd Avenues
San Francisco, CA 94121

If you haven’t heard M.E. yet, you are in for a treat.  We’ll be trading sets of all original, all acoustic music.  If you miss this one, check Erston and me out on the 8th…

If you’re not going to the Kenny Chesney\Sugarland concert at AT&T Park on Saturday, come by Simple Pleasures Cafe to See Robin, Eric and Me:

Simple Pleasures Cafe – Saturday, July 18th
Time: 8pm
Address: 3434 Balboa St., San Francisco CA 94121

Simple Pleasures is very casual.  In addition to coffee, they’ve got beer, wine and snacks.  Stop by if you want to relax to some all acoustic, all original music.

And a quick story about Sugarland…

Eddie’s Attic is the premiere acoustic venue in the Southeast.  When I lived in Atlanta, they had Open Mic every Monday and picked a winner who came back for a shootout later in the year.  It was at one of these shootouts that I saw Jennifer Nettles – now part of Sugarland – win as part of a duo called Soul Miner’s Daughter.  They were awesome, so I went to catch them every chance that I could before I moved to the West Coast.

In the final round, they were up against a guy who was a perfect technician on the guitar.  He played first – a very sweet, intricate, all acoustic arrangement of Rubber Ducky from Sesame Street – and brought the house down.  Soul Miner’s Daughter got up and said something like “there’s no way we can compete on guitar, so here’s an acapella song about sex.”  The guitarist never had a chance.  I found the song on YouTube:

See you guys tomorrow night at Simple Pleasures!

Meh.  Critiques wanted!

A couple of weeks ago I started the new recording project in earnest.  I tinkered for three days with mic placement, various recording techniques and a TON of takes on two songs.  Net net, I don’t think I have any stuff that will make the final cut, but the mix is below.  I am hoping that you will listen with a critical ear and give advice on what’s working and what’s not.  These are big, lossless WMA files, so you’ll probably want to download to your hard drive first and play from there:

Nothing Left to Lose
It’s Not You It’s Me

Both started as live takes with acoustic guitar and lead vocals.  I used a couple of C1 Studio Project Mics, close mic-ing the vox and setting the guitar mic about 36 inches back.  This led to a lot of bleed in both mics, but I greatly prefer the live takes over tracking.  The mix includes some EQ and slight reverb to compensate for the dead room.  No other effects added.  My goal is a warm, intimate sound.  Note that this isn’t mastered, so it will sound softer when compared to a normal commercial track.

Feel free to post feedback here or drop me a note.  Thanks!

In March I posted a list of upcoming concerts.  I missed Rupa, Cory and Clem but added Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Justin Townes Earle, Steve Earle, Jenny Lewis and the Sadies, a second Neko Case show and Gary Louris \ Mark Olson.  Great music all around!  The highlights:

• Ralph Stanley is 82 years old and a bluegrass legend.  He walked out on stage with a big bandage over his forehead from an early morning fall, but he still put on a great show.  It reminded me of the music we saw at the Mountain View folk festival when I was a kid.
• Justin Townes Earle’s show was polished – he obviously picked up some great experience touring with his dad.  I like the latest album, too.
• I still think the Fleet Foxes’ encore was one of the coolest I have seen.
• Neko Case can do no wrong with me, but I definitely think the experience on the floor of the Warfield is superior to the balcony.
• I almost skipped Junior Brown show and that would have been a big mistake.  Don’t let the hat fool you, he’s a spectacular blues guitarist.
• I really hope that Gary Louris and Mark Olson continue to make music together.
• The Patty Griffin show was actually Patty, Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller trading mostly acoustic songs.  Highly emotional concert at the Mountain Winery – I love this stuff!

I don’t have many shows planned for the summer, but I’m very excited about the Old 97’s Family Show at the Fillmore in July.  More on that later…

I’ve been listening to a lot of music to gain inspiration for my new project.  Two albums that have held my ear the last couple of months…

Clem Snide – Hungry Bird

I had never really listened to Clem Snide, but when NPR posted With All My Heart from Hungry Bird I had to take a closer look.  I love the sparse arrangement of this heartbreakingly beautiful song.  The rest of the album is equally good.  Turn up the volume when you listen to Me No.

Eilen Jewell – Sea of Tears

I read about Eilen Jewell on songs:illinois, a blog where I’m finding more and more of my music lately.  This album has got balls.  I love love love the rockabilly\surf electric guitar all over these songs.  Every so often Eilen will belt out a guttural growl that just kills me.  Check out Sea of Tears and her cover of Shakin’ All Over.  It’s really fun to listen to this music.

More to come soon…

Donny sent me a link to this American Songwriter contest.  Here’s what I entered:

Rhett Miller has written one of the perfect songs – Question (from the Old 97’s Satellite Rides).  Without using words like marriage, propose or ring, Rhett paints a moment when a man asks that question "you say yes to once in your life."  It’s beautiful and intimate and makes the heart soar.  And all in under two and a half minutes!

I’ve played Question at a half dozen weddings and it never fails to impress. 

The Old 97s are playing at the Fillmore next month.  It looks like Rhett and Murry will be opening with some of their solo stuff before the band comes out.  See you guys there.

I’m a native Texan and a Texas music fanatic.  I go see Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle and Willie Nelson and the Old 97s every time they come to town.  I have a subscription to Texas Music Magazine.  And when I stop to tune my guitar during a set, I quote Guy Clark by introducing him as the greatest living Texas songwriter because Townes Van Zandt is dead.  (“You spend half your life tuning your guitar and the other half playing out of tune.”)

To the uninitiated, Townes is the guy that wrote Pancho and Lefty.  To the Texas music community, Townes is the stuff of Texas music legend.  He reportedly dreamt an entire song, teaching himself the chords and lyrics in his sleep.  He’s been covered by Willie & Merle, Lyle Lovett, Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones, Allison Kraus and Robert Plant and countless others.

But I never really got Townes Van Zandt.  I figured out why this week.

A lot of folks hear the lyrics first.  I always hear the performance first.  I can listen to a song 100 times before I ever really listen to the lyrics.  If the melody and the groove don’t grab me, I’m unlikely to listen again.  I’ve listened to Townes’ albums and even saw him play once in Houston, but his performances didn’t draw me in enough to get to the heart of the songs.

All that changed with the release of Steve Earle’s Townes.  Steve’s performance brings outs the best in Townes’ songs.  I’ve heard Townes’ recordings of Brand New Companion several times before, but it took Steve’s rendition to make me hear the beauty in it.  The same can be said for every song on the album (Lungs, Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold, etc.).  Highly recommended. 

And when you’re done devouring Earle’s album, go watch the documentary Be Here To Love Me – a heartbreaking tale of artistry and addiction.

Now I’m going to dust off all of my Townes albums and give them another spin.