A 16
Three Chords and the Truth
Island Moon
August 22, 2013
By Ronnie Narmour ronnienarmour@gmail.com
Words on a page…
Milk Drive will play the Back Porch on Saturday.
Words on a page. Words on a page. Here we go… I’ve traded one addiction for another. My Shark Week compulsion from last week has been replaced this week by the Little League World Series. I really wonder what normal people do with their time and more importantly, how do they get through life without watching ten straight hours of shark bite reenactments or boys from Chinese Taipei trying to steel third base. Thank the good Lord for live music or I might never leave the house. I did somehow manage to break away and catch some great bands last weekend.
Ruben V played the Back Porch on Friday. talent whose music plays him. He’s a pure spirit and a bonified guitar master. There is nothing contrived about Ruben V. He’s the real deal. Will Gage is a young man who started playing professionally at the ripe old age of 12 and frequently shows up with several noteworthy bands (Dust Devils, Swindles, etc) as sideman on either lead guitar or drums. Most recently he’s been fronting his own trio at Giggity’s about once a month and will be back on September 21st.
Yet another pretty good Americana band from Austin…
Noel McKay & Brennen Leigh…
Tanner Louis and the Aviators played the Back Porch last Thursday. On Thursday I dropped into the Back Porch to see, Tanner Louis and the Aviators (Austin, TX). Actually, I love it when I get to walk into a place to hear a new band play that I know nothing about and have no expectations. The minute I walked into the Porch, several employees rushed me and said, “These guys are good! Really Ronnie, you need to listen to them!” Now when that happens to me, I generally pay attention. What I saw was four young guys on stage in a pretty normal configuration, two guitars, bass and drums. The singer was playing acoustic and had a nice enough singing tone but I didn’t hear anything earth shattering. The songs were original and didn’t immediately bore me with clichés about drinking beer and chasing girls around a dance floor but also didn’t grab me and speak to me and tell me stuff that I didn’t know I needed to hear. In short, it wasn’t Steve Earle or Guy Clark or Townes Van Zandt or Billy Joe Shaver material but it did manage to hold my attention. If forced to pigeon hole these boys, I’d say they’re yet another up and coming Americana band from Austin that are pretty good…but not yet dazzling like Della Mae, Dirty River Boys, blacktopGYPSY, Uncle Lucius, Folk Family Revival, Milk Drive, Noel McKay and Brennen Leigh, Statesboro Revue, The Wheeler Brothers, who have that special combination of energy, drive and songs that demand your attention and won’t let you leave. Try harder boys, I think you’ve got the talent but need to kick it up a notch! There are a kazillion pretty good bands out there… go a little crazy.
Noel McKay and Brennen Leigh played Shorty’s last Saturday. On Saturday, I got to see an absolutely delightful duo, Noel McKay and Brennen Leigh (Austin, TX) perform at Shorty’s. This is a show that came about in a sort of strange way. My gal, Carol Elliott, called me up on the phone one night last winter and told me she was out driving around and heard some music playing outside somewhere that sounded really good and for me to come help her find it. OK… why not? So, I drove over to Avenue G by Shells Restaurant and followed my ears to a makeshift outdoor stage where we found these two artists playing. We literally crashed the private party they were hired to play but nobody seemed to mind. On their break we introduced ourselves and found out that Noel was previously with the family act, The McKay Brothers and that
Will Owen Gage played Giggity’s on Friday.
GIGGITY’S RESTAURANT & BAR THREE WAY STREET EVERY THURSDAY (8-12) ANTONE & THE ALL STARS Every Sunday (8-12) Cathouse Todd Dorn Buster Jiggs Mike Milligan Out of Bounds Toman Brothers
Aug. 23 Aug. 24 Aug. 30 Aug. 31 Sept. 6 Sept. 7
Open 11am-2am Daily. Kitchen open til 1am. 722 Tarpon, Port Aransas, TX
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(361) 749-2388 Private Dinner Parties, Personal Chef, Weddings www.feldergallery.com
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Pick of the Week…
as a musician while attending Texas Tech where he befriended Pat Green. Morrow has sold over 200,000 albums independently. His 2002 release Outside the Lines reached No. 28 on Billboard’s Country Album chart. SoundScan ranked him No. 7 among “country debut artists” that year. He has recorded 14 CD’s since 1997. William Clark Green (Lubbock, TX) will open this outdoor show. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Children under 12 are free. Bring your lawn chairs… the show starts around dusk.
My PICK OF THE WEEK goes to Milk Drive (Austin, TX) this week. They will be playing the Back Porch on Saturday night. I first heard about Milk Drive from my Okie friend Joe Mack. They’re a young New Grass band who are turning heads all over the nation. Of the four members, Brian Beken, Noah Jeffries, Dennis Ludiker are multi-instrumentalist who trade guitars, fiddles and mandolins around like they are baseball cards. Matt Mefford plays upright bass. The Todd Dorn will term “New Grass” describes this kind of progressive bluegrass using traditional play Giggity’s on bluegrass instruments (acoustic guitar, Saturday night. stand-up bass, mandolin, fiddle and banjo) but incorporating jazz and rock into the arrangements and sometimes using non-traditional chord progressions and electric instrumentation. Nickle Creek, The String Cheese Incident, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and New Grass Revival are examples of this flourishing genre. Prepare yourself to be amazed… this is excellent stuff.
Cory Morrow to play Sharkey’s… Red Dirt artist Cory Morrow (Austin, TX) will play another installment of Cory Morrow the Port Aransas Summer Fest concert series at Sharkey’s this Saturday night. will play the Port Morrow is a Texas country music singer Aransas Summer who has gained a good bit of popularity Fest at Sharkeys on throughout the Southwest. He developed Saturday.
Thursday, August 22 Three Way Street @ Giggity’s The Ones @ Back Porch Free Beer Band @ Tarpon Vampires Ice House Fabian Rivera @ Mon-Sat Scuttlebutt’s 10am- 2am Pop Pistol @ House of Sun Rock Noon2am Jon Wolfe @ Brewster Street Ray T & the
On Friday, I paid homage to a couple of San Antonio guitar slingers that I know pretty well. Ruben V played the Porch and Will Owen Gage played Giggity’s. FIN E A RRuben T had some new sidemen with him that included a conga player, which (361) gave them749-2388 a nice Latin feel. I thought the new band had a good chemistry going and www.feldergallery.com sounded great. Ruben Vela is a magnificent
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Leslie Willey will play Shortys on Friday night.
This weekend… On Thursday, August 22nd, The Ones (Port Aransas, TX) will play the Back Porch, country boot scooters, Three Way Street (Port Aransas, TX) will play Giggity’s and the great string band Free Beer will play the Tarpon Ice House. On Friday, August 23rd, Americana favorite Darryl Lee Rush (Dallas, TX) will return to the Back Porch, the blues and classic rock band Cathouse (Corpus Christi, TX) will play Giggity’s, Billy Snipes will be at The Upper Deck, Victoria’s Secret (Victoria, TX) will be at the Tarpon Ice House and island veteran Leslie Willey Sr. (who wants us to call him Uncle Willey now) will play Shorty’s from 8-12. Willey has been playing Shorty’s for about fifty years now. On Saturday, August 24th, country crooner Todd Dorn and the Sea Drifters (San Antonio, TX) will return to Giggity’s, Uel Jackson will be at the Tarpon Ice House and Lyrical Bynge (Corpus Christi, TX) will rock Shorty’s.
And that’s the truth!
Live Music Tonight
Ruben V / Will Owen Gage…
SOUTH SWELL WINDOW TINT
Brennen used to play with bluegrass bands. We exchanged contact info and eventually got them down here to play Shorty’s. I’m telling you, I really, really love these guys. They are GREAT! They have a ton of superb original songs about everything from Andrew Jackson on a Twenty Dollar Bill to Let’s Go to Lubbock on Vacation (and Then I’ll Know You Really Love Me) and El Coyote (which Noel co-wrote with Guy Clark). They are both quite excellent on guitar and trade off tasty lead runs on every song. Best believe, I’ll be bringing them back before long. They are mighty impressive.
Texas Longhorns vs New Mexico State Saturday, August 31
Thur, Fri, Sat Smoking on Patio Only 1023 State Highway 361 + Port Aransas, TX + (361) 749-5637 No Cover Charge Smoking on Patio Lisabellas Bistro & Bar Casual(361) Dining at it’s Finest Port Aransas 749-JOES Celebrating Coastal Cuisine 361-749-4222 Open Monday - Saturday at 5:00 pm
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Friday, August 23 Darryl Lee Rush @ Back Porch Cathouse @ Giggity’s Uncle Willey @ Shorty’s Billy Snipes @ Uppity’s Ray T & the City Crew @ The Flats Lounge Victoria’s Secret @ Tarpon Ice House Ken Barnett @ Coffee Waves Robert Brown @ Scuttlebutt’s Out of Bounds @ South Texas Ice House Lyrical Bynge @ Executive Surf Club John Cortez @ Dr. Rockits DJ S&M @ Boat House Saturday, August 24 Milk Drive @ Back Porch Todd Dorn @ Giggity’s Lyrical Bynge @ Shorty’s Cory Morrow/ Wm. Clark Green @ Sharkeys Uel Jackson @ Tarpon Ice House Get Off the Lawn @ Coffee Waves Blake Sparx @ Scuttlebutt’s Public Disturbance @ Executive Surf Club Peace and Quiet, Bertha, Not in the Face @ House of Rock Rockin’ H Band @ South Texas Ice House Tiffany Duckworth @ La Playa DJ Steve @ Boat House Sunday, August 25 Open Jam w/ Uel Jackson @ Tarpon Ice House Antone & the All Stars @ Giggity’s Tumble Dry Low @ Bernie’s Beach House Open Jam @ Neptune’s John Eric Open Mic @ South Texas Ice House Brian & Dave @ Scuttlebutt’s Green Party @ Dr. Rockits DJ Chris Vibe @ Boat House Monday, August 26 Mike Williams @ Tarpon Ice House Justin Estes Band @ Dr. Rockits John Eric @ Scuttlebutt’s
Tuesday, August 27 Seether @ Concrete Street Open Mic @ House of Rock Josh Heinrichs, Skillnjah, Green Party @ Dr. Rockits
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Wednesday, August 28 Open Jam w/ Wolfjaw @ Flats Lounge HOBO @ House of Rock Cathouse @ Dr. Rockits Thursday, August 29 Brooke Graham @ Back Porch Three Way Street @ Giggity’s Free Beer Band @ Tarpon Ice House The Booked @ House of Rock Kevin Hill @ Scuttlebutt’s Brandon Rhyder, The Washers @ Brewster Street Friday, August 30 Davin James @ Back Porch Buster Jiggs @ Giggity’s Pete Denny Blues Band @ Shorty’s Ray T & the City Crew @ The Flats Lounge Victoria’s Secret @ Tarpon Ice House Ken Barnett @ Coffee Waves The Groove @ Executive Surf Club Fabian Rivera @ Scuttlebutt’s Jesse Lopez @ South Texas Ice House Reno & the Groovegetters @ Dr. Rockits Saturday, August 31 Larry Joe Taylor @ Back Porch Mike Milligan & the Altar Boys @ Giggity’s Hold Fast Fables @ Shorty’s Jack Ingram/ Mark Alan Atwood @ Sharkeys Grassfire @ Coffee Waves Pat Green, Randy Rogers, Stoney LaRue, Granger Smith @ Concrete Street Sam Riggs @ South Texas Ice House Someone Like You @ Dr. Rockits Sunday, September 1 Los Lonely Boys @ Sharkeys Open Jam w/ Uel Jackson @ Tarpon Ice House Antone & the All Stars @ Giggity’s Ruben Limas Band @ Shorty’s Open Mic @ Doc’s Seafood