The homeless duo, “Loves It,” played the Starlight last night.
Although they are officially from Austin, they have a storage room in Nashville and live on the road in their touring van. Apparently, this is a trend- Ray Tarantino, Jon Hogan and Maria Moss, Hank Woji… have discovered the economic reality that you can just skip all that rent and utilities stuff if you just keep on moving.
I’d never heard them before, but reviews from their show at Lajitas were good, so I hung out at the Starlight with Cosmic Kathy, Jeffro Greasewood and Sha, and other locals at the bar. It was a full house, which is just weird. It seems like spring break will never end…
Yesterday, we hung out on the porch before dinner…
Chase Peeler, Jeffro Greasewood, Hillie Bills, Mark Lewis, Hank Woji, and a few others were playing… I was enjoying a cigar and the scenery and the scene.
Over the course of about an hour I snapped a few pics. What struck me when I looked back on them was how the band morphed and changed over that hour. People switch instruments, go on beer runs, see someone they want to talk to…
The 1st Terlingua Microbrew and Music festival was held yesterday, 3/29/14, at the pavilion behind Delia’s store in Terlingua.
It was a day of sunshine, music, beer, and community.
Like the original Chili cook-off, SXSW, and the Kerrville Folk Festival, this event started out slow- which worked out great for the lucky ones who attended. Stand-out music sets were provided by Trevor Reichman and Chase Peeler and Alex and Marti Whitmore, George Goss, Jeffro Greasewood, Charley Maxwell, Clayton Drinkhard, Neil Trammel, Webster, Mark Lewis, Shirley Bird, Marshall (Dammit) Spires, and several others.
There was plenty of parking, lots of room on the dance floor, and Big Bend Brewing Company provided the beer- the IPA was perfect for a hot day of music. The only thing in short supply was Scotty’s brisket, which went WAY too fast.
After the show was over, Jeff and a few others sat around discussing how to make the next show even bigger and better.
Paper Moon Shiners is a duo from Austin, Texas. They specialize in vintage songs and originals inspired by American music from the early Twientieth Century including blues, jazz, swing, ragtime, americana roots and folk. Elena Antinelli fronts the band with her shoo-fly pie syrupy vibratos and turpentine tinged belly growls.
Frank Meyer toured with Gary Primich, played bass with B.B. King and roadied for Junior Brown once. He’s the string man in the band and his fingers pull thumpin’ notes from the stand up bass, delicate ripples from the ukelele, and soothing rhythms from his jazz guitar. Mix all that with deep vocal tones that resonate like shifts in tectonic plates and yes, you’ll feel the earth beneath your feet move.
All that and a bag of chips.
Although I’ve played with Frank on the porch and at the Boathouse, I’d never heard the band before. They’re like a musical time machine, showing how and why the 20’s and 30’s were so musically interesting and fun.
Elena has an amazing voice, with shadings of Ella and Janis, with the occasional Billie Holiday inflection. Frank is tasteful on guitar, uke, and national steel, and his deep voice provides an interesting counterpoint and contrast to Elena’s.
Local sax-whiz Chase Peeler sat in on Tenor and added some spicy leads.
All in all, it was a surprising contrast – music we don’t normally hear in Terlingua that fit right in.
It’s Spring Break in the Big Bend and there’s music everywhere- on the porch, in the clubs, at the horseshoe pit…
Austin’s (and soon to be Terlingua’s) own Bruce Salmon brought his Brewski Salmineo show to the Starlight Theatre last night. He was joined by Chase Peeler on Saxophone.
Yesterday, as Betsy and I were sitting on the porch in the Terlingua Ghost town watching the sun set in the East, smoking a delicious Cohiba Maduro and sipping a locally brewed Porter, Sharron Reed introduced me to Trevor Smith, an alarmingly talented banjo player from Austin, and his wife Christina.
Trevor plays with “Wood and Wire,” a well-known bluesgrass group that travels the country irritating traditionalists and delighting music lovers, I suspect.
Last Sunday, 3/2/14, there was a benefit at the Starlight Theatre for:
Food Distribution in Terlingua Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend, Inc.
Once again, the Terlingua community came together to take care of our own. Terlinguans, wherever you are, give yourselves a hand.
“Hungry children in Terlingua? Not on my watch.” Glenn Felts
I did a blog post HERE explaining why this is something we had to do right now. A few weeks ago, Mike Drinkard told me he could provide food assistance for the 600 or so people in the Terlingua area who needed it for $300, and he was having trouble coming up with the $300.
Sunday night we raised about $2,000 for food distribution. More importantly, over 30 people signed pledge forms to contribute monthly. When you add in Lajitas Golf Resort for $250/month (thank you Ruffin Moore, GM) and the Terlingua Preservation Society for $420/month- they picked up Glenn Felt’s donation as a memorial to Glenn, that gives Mike over $1,000 a month in recurring income to buy food.
On Saturday, 2/22/14, Terlingua said good-bye to Glenn Felts in a fashion he would have approved of.
There was a wake/party at La Kiva with live music, beverages, and a delicious pot-luck dinner.
Terlinguans from all over the country travelled to gather one last time. Friends who hadn’t seen each other in years hugged. There were tears, laughter, and dancing.
Attendance was limited to close friends and family. Glenn was much loved and had a lot of friends. The parking lot was full. There were cars parked along the road. The club was packed.
As the sun dropped low in the sky, shots of Glenn’s favorite drink – 12 year old Macallen single-malt scotch – were passed out to all attendees and we gathered for a final toast to Glenn.
Gumby walked to the microphone and, raised his glass, and said, “To Glenn. He was my brother. I loved him. He loved all of you.”
pot-luck dinner… Just Us Girls (JUGS) held a reunion the world-famous penisaurus erectus
Sunday night, 2/16/14, there was a benefit concert at the Starlight Theatre to generate funds to send a girl from Boquillas off to school.
The Terlingua community raised $1,075 for the scholarship fund. Since Cynta only needs $250 right now, TerlinguaCares has set up a fund for Cynta’s projects with the remainder of the money.
In the process of raising the money, we had an amazing party. It’s the Terlingua way. Music was provided by Laird Considine, Charlotte Teer, Jeff Haislip, Moses Martinez, Tom Delaney, Webster, Al Berry, Ted Arbogast, Mike Davidson, Chase Peeler, Collie Ryan, and many other local pickers. Trevor Hickle was there and ready…
The plan was for the “band of angels” to play an acoustic set early in the evening and rock out later on… and, once again, I discovered that making plans is for amateurs. We had so many musicians who wanted to contribute that it turned into a concert.
Buckner ran sound and herded cats. The Starlight Theatre provided a comfy and friendly location for the benefit as well as paying the band – and the band donated that paycheck to the fund-raiser.
We were hoping to raise $500, which will cover the tuition for a year. Terlingua reached deep and more than doubled that. I’m proud of my community – we funding compassion in action and having a party while we’re at it. It’s the Terlingua way.
