You Gotta Buy This Record: Lee Barber's Thief and Rescue

A few months ago, Matt the Electrician asked me to emcee a The Island of Lost Souls, a music extravaganza he was putting on. That was the day I got my first taste of the tunes Lee Barber had written for his debut CD Thief and Rescue. One song in particular, All Night Long, grabbed me and shook me. Partly, this is because it’s a damn fine song. On a more personal note, it happens that, as Lee and his friends were singing it, out in the audience I was having a very intense emotional exchange with a friend of mine, someone with whom I’d had a long time falling out—we’re talking fifteen years—and at that very moment we were, way past when we should have been, patching it over. As someone who associates everything with everything else, this meant that I knew then that, for the rest of my life, anytime I heard the song, it would take me back to that incredible moment.

The next time I heard the song was a few weeks ago. Lee called to let me know the CD was about to come out and asked if I’d like an advance copy. Of course I did. We met up in a parking lot in South Austin, and he handed it over like we were kids swapping small bills for skunkweed. I think it’s always a little nerve wracking for both giver and receiver, when two people know each other and one asks the other to check out his newborn art. The giver wants the gift to be loved. The receiver wants to love it. But what if there’s a disconnect?

I wasn’t especially worried. Not only because I’d heard that set so I already knew I liked Lee’s stuff, but also because I know Lee is… how do you say it? A life artist? Is that too corny? But, you know, someone who lives his beliefs which I think is almost always bound to translate into true beauty. Plus our circle of overlapping friends is big, and within those nonconfining confines are some of my very favorite Austin musicians—Matt the Electrician and Southpaw Jones among them. So I figured I was going to like the CD but I wondered just how much I would like it.

Well…

Well, well, well…

I listened to it on a drive out to the Hill Country where I was headed to perform a wedding. Though I am prone to hyperbole roughly 176% of the time, I have to say there is not a drop of exaggeration in the proclamation of love I am about to make. The record was, in a very weird way, wildly familiar and totally fresh and unknown all at once. I can’t figure out how Lee did that, but he did it. And as I listened, I was pulled in the way I was pulled in by early Bowie when I was a young girl, and later, in my twenties, when I first heard Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man. And, too, for some reason, Mott the Hoople came to mind, though I can’t even say I’m terribly familiar with much MTH beyond All the Young Dudes.

Now when I say these other artists came to mind, I don’t mean to suggest Lee is derivative. He is, in fact, wholly unique—from his writing to his voice. Granted, we’re all influenced by those who precede us. And when I found out later that Lee’s earliest ventures into music when he was a teen included a Leonard Cohen songbook, I wasn’t surprised. But I’m not talking so much about lyrics and musical arrangements when I reference vintage Bowie and Cohen. I’m trying to say that Thief and Rescue made me feel how those early works made me feel. An immediate connection that produced a visceral, palpable emotional… thing for which there is no precise word, but more like a guttural grunt-growl of recognition and gratitude.

There is not a weak cut on this record. And I am so psyched that twice recently, when tuned into different stations—KUT and KGSR—I heard the jocks singing the praises of the record, and playing cuts from it. In a town crawling with stunning songwriting talent, it is nothing short of amazing to quietly put out a piece that is so uncompromising and instantly have others get it and want to play it on the air repeatedly.

I read a profile of Lee that Corcoran wrote for the Statesman, which goes a long way toward explaining how my friend managed to pull off this magnificent musical feat. Turns out there’s nothing new to the “formula” he used, but that this “formula” is rarer and rarer to come by. And that is the no-formula-formula, in which one writes directly from one’s heart, and in this case that heart happened to have the blessing/curse of double-whammy disasters (divorce and utter destruction-via-hurricane of his hometown, New Orleans) inspiring what poured out of him. Anybody remember Richard and Linda Thompson’s Shoot Out the Lights, which they did together while going through a divorce? Well Lee’s ex, harpist Elaine Barber, with whom he used to be in the group The Barbers, is featured on the disk (along with many other incredible musicians, including Curtis McMurtry on baritone sax) which is another clue to the pure emotion that went into the creation.

The whole thing is just over the top. Over. The. Top. It was released yesterday and you can buy it at Waterloo or order it from Lee’s website. And I do hope you’ll all join me Thursday night at 11 pm when he takes the stage at The Continental Club, joined by his band, The Broken Cup. They’ll be playing the whole record, start to finish. I really can’t wait.

Check out an interview and some cuts at KUT Texas Music Matters.

Benefitting Them, Benefitting You

Hey Y'all,
This Wednesday at Antone's there is a benefit for Todd Wolfson. You might not think you know Todd, but if you've lived in Austin for more than five minutes, you've seen his amazing photos of musicians all over the place. And if you've ever owned one of the NAKED calendars I used to produce to help uninsured kids, you also know Todd's work. Todd had a bad bike accident recently and, like so many people, lacks insurance. I'll paste in all the details at the end of this post.

But before I do, please remember that I am also hosting a benefit on Sunday, September 13th, from 11 am til 1 pm at BookPeople on the third floor. That one is for Dan Nugent, long time BP employee, rescuer of swans, and total badass. Dan nearly died after recent surgery. He, too, is uninsured. There is not set minimum donation for Dan's benefit. I'm asking, if you're able, to throw ten bucks in the hat. But more or less is fine. We want to raise Dan's spirits at least as much as we want to help defray his mounting medical bills. There will be readings from cast members of the Dick Monologues and music from Southpaw Jones and we're even throwing breakfast into the deal. So please, please, mark your calendars and come on out.

Okay, Todd benefit info:


“Putting Todd Back Together” with Jon Dee Graham & Jesse Sublett, Skyrocket!, The Trishas, Paula Nelson, Carolyn Wonderland, Ian McLagan & The Bump Band, Alejandro Escovedo, Triple Cobra and Charlie & Will Sexton with Ruby James.

Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Venue: Antone’s, 213 W 5th St. 512.320.8424,

To purchase tickets in advance click here.

Doors: 6:00pm
Show: 7:00pm

Cover Charge: $20 advance/$25 at the door

Silent Auction begins: at 6:00pm
Live Auction begins at: 7:30pm (and after each band performs)

DONATIONS: Help Todd via CHIP IN click here. All proceeds go to Todd V. Wolfson

Special thanks to the sponsors supporting “Putting Todd Back Together:” Antone’s, KGSR-FM, Austin Chronicle, ME Television InSite, Corcoran & Company, 101X, KLBJ-FM

BREATHTAKING!

Ross picked me up for dinner & Elvis Costello last night. He was carrying a very big wrapped package for me-- pretty obvious it was a picture. But I was puzzled. We were supposed to be celebrating his birthday, not mine. He explained this was "an early birthday present" and that it was from him and Henry.

I love and fear presents, worried that I'll not "get" something, or be overwhelmed, or not know what to say. Well, I "got" this one, no problem. But I was also overwhelmed, didn't know what to say, and wept. For inside was a much larger version of the portrait you see above, my darling son, captured at 18 by young local photographer Matt Conant.

I always love pictures of Henry, but this one-- oh this is my new all time favorite, capturing his eyes perfectly. And I can see a glimpse of little Henry but, of course, I can also see the young man he has become. Hen has been gone now for a month or so-- took off for Portland where he is hanging out indefinitely. I am so happy for him-- so happy. But my empty nest syndrome has, at times, gone into high gear. So seeing that picture, nearly life sized in the print Ross gave me, after not seeing Hen for over a month-- it shook me up. Then today I started listening to the mix CDs I made him for his last birthday, and I was still more overwhelmed thinking of all the shows we'd been to together, how excellent it is we love a lot of the same music, etc.

Today when I talked to him I told him I'd been out walking the dogs, listening to the CD that made me think of him, envisioning the portrait in my mind, and weeping. Henry being Henry he said something-- can't remember what precisely, but I think it went like this, "That sounds real healthy, Mom."

Anyway, I can't thank Ross enough for arranging the photo shoot. And I already emailed Matt to heap praise on him. He said I could share the above image. If you want to see more of his work and/or contact him about a portrait, just use the link above.

Mark Your Calendars: Dan-a-Palooza!!

On Sunday, September 13th, I am hosting a little benefit for Dan at BookPeople. We are calling this Dan-a-Palooza. Dan is a longtime employee at BookPeople, a Kick Ass Award winner, and an all around superb human being. He has had some serious health issues lately and-- can you say hot topic-- he has no insurance.

I know these are tight times for everyone. I want to stress that, while we are hoping to at least slightly defray Dan's costs, an even bigger goal is to lift his spirits with a big turnout.

I, along with several members of the Dick Monologues (including-- yay-- Southpaw Jones) will be performing pieces about healthcare. We might even have some surprise musical guests. Also, we're making this a brunch-- 11 til 1ish and we are providing all the food. So if you can swing a little donation, you get tons of entertainment and lots of good food AND you get to help out Dan.

I am hoping that attendees can make a minimum donation of $10, but there will not be some big bouncer reinforcing this. If $10 is beyond your reach but you still want to help-- COME ON OUT anyway and throw what you can into the hat. If you can't make the event but want to donate anyway, please email me and I'll let you know how to do that.

It would help me very much if you would let me know if you plan on attending so we can plan food accordingly. The event will be on the third floor. You can email an RSVP to spike@spikeg.com.

Please pass this along to other interested parties.
Thanks,
Spike

Mix CD-- Happy Anniversary

A long time ago, way back when I used to blog on MySpace (remember MySpace?) I used to do a monthly post that gave my songlist for my ongoing mix CD for Warren. For the first fourteen months or so of our monthly anniversaries I made him a mixed CD to proclaim my love. The habit waned but today marks our two year anniversary. To celebrate, I went back to that "old" tradition and made another CD. Below is the set list. Happy Anniversary, Monkey!

Happy Anniversary Baby James Chiello Happy
Taller Children Elizabeth & The Catapult
Boots of Spanish Leather Bob Dylan
Reinstalling Windows - Les Barker
Roam The B-52's
Airstream Driver Gomez
Never Had Nobody Like You M. Ward
You and I Wilco
boys don't cry Grant-Lee Phillips
Just Like Heaven Kat Edmonson
Camel Walk Southern Culture On the Skids
Can You Use Any Money Today Ethel Merman
Hold Me Now Thompson Twins
You Belong to Me Bing Crosby
Just Like Heaven The Cure
Careless Whisper George Michael
All Of My Love Led Zeppelin
Absolutely Cuckoo The Magnetic Fields
Couldn't Love You (Any More Than I Do) Nick Lowe
Everything's Coming Up Roses Ethel Merman
C'est Si Bon (It's So Good) Eartha Kitt
Faith George Michael
Sous le ciel de Paris Edith Piaf

Cuisine of the Far East & the Northeast

Above-- that's me eating my favorite food in the world. Okay, one of my favorite foods. Cheese Hoagie. That I am eating a cheese hoagie means, yes, I am on a rare trip to Jersey, hoagies being zee haute cuisine of the Philadelphia vicinity, where I grew up. I zipped up here for a couple of days to have lunch with my mom before she has surgery next week. I planned the whole eating extravaganza before boarding my flight: cheese hoagie, Tastykakes, and Philly pretzels. Behold images of all of these mixed below with documentation of other recent food events.

I'll let you see if you can match the descriptions with the photos as I am too lazy to sort all this out. Below find: images of a recent dim sum run to T&S where Warren and I overindulged, I nearly died with joy at the garlic shrimp, and we sat near some guy dressed in head-to-toe tie dye, including his house key (clipped to his belt) and his shoes. He also had an alien tattooed onto his bald spot. I apologize for not getting a picture.

Also, so pleased with our authentic dim sum, we took Garreth out for some fast food dim sum at Get Sum Dim Sum over at 45th and Lamar. Not bad. What else? There's a DQ single dip cone (shot in West Texas-- DQ is sort of the dim sum of West Texas). There's Warren showing off the spread at the cast party for Wicked (see earlier post about the Wicked Bitch). And the aforementioned pretzels and Tastykakes. No really, I'm going to come home, do the hippie lemonade fast, have a week's worth of colon cleansing, and only have organic smoothies from here on out.

Wicked Bitch

Last night Warren and I went to see Wicked at the Bass Concert Hall. It was awesome-- more on that in my forthcoming review for the Austinist next week. I'm super lucky to be a reviewer because we score all sorts of ridiculously fabulous tickets to events I couldn't otherwise afford. And we usually get extremely rocking seats, which was the case last night. If we were sitting any closer we'd have been forced to don flying monkey costumes. Oh, and prior to the show, we ate Thai food, which was excellent. So you could say that it was a perfect evening.

Then, it got even more spectacular since we had tickets to the cast party afterwards. The spread was beautiful, plentiful and delicious. The drinks were free (I was drinking water, but still...). And then... and then... goddammit why does this always happen to me? Do I have Please Annoy Me! stamped on my forehead or something?

I came back from a trip to the ladies' room to discover two women had joined Warren at the cocktail table we'd been standing at. I said hello and one of them, tipped off by Warren, said to me, "You're writing about this?!" And I said yes, and sort of downplayed it. She proceeded to launch into a nonstop stream of every detail of every performance of the show she'd seen. I saw "Know-It-All" flashing in my head, but I kept a lid on it. Because, even though her delivery was a little bit annoying, she was actually making some interesting points, and she was excited, and I certainly have, I'm sure, also come across as an overzealous know-it-all at times. (Hate to admit that.)

When I was able to squeeze a word in edgewise, I put a question to her. I asked about the green witch's makeup, curious if was actually makeup or some sort of latex suit or a combination. During the show I'd seen a wrinkle here and a seam there and I couldn't figure out if there was a bodysuit or what. This is where it got weird.

The woman looks at me and says, as if to answer, "This is a CAST PARTY!!"

Figuring she misheard my question, I asked again, clarifying I didn't want to know what kind of party it was, but rather the secret to the makeup. She repeated herself, more loudly, and then made her point clear. The cast was standing right behind me and I MUST GO AND ASK THEM!!

For whatever reasons, I get edgy at the thought of going up to actors and musicians post-performance. There's a part of me, of course, that loves the idea that I could be new best friends with every amazing talented person I'm lucky enough to see/hear perform. But a part of me is shy. And another part of me thinks I should just leave them alone because, after all, they just got off work and want to chill. It's not by any stretch the biggest conflict of my life. But when Know-It-All got in my face, DEMANDING that I approach the cast, it pushed some big fat button in me.

At first I said, softly (for me), "Oh I don't want to talk to the cast."

Now she got belligerent, insisting I HAD TO. It was so strange. I felt really creeped out and in a huge hurry to get away from her. Which I did. But it was too late. She'd already soured my mood. And then, ironically, as we were exiting, Warren and I ran into the male lead, a role that happened to be originated by an old friend of mine, a guy I worked with in a pizza parlor in St. Louis twenty years ago. Norbert went on to great things, including a Tony Award for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. From time to time over the years I've tried to track him down, to congratulate him, but no luck.

Anyway, so we say to the guy, "Nice job," and Warren cracks a joke and then I say, "Do you know Norbert?" He didn't but he happened to also be from St. Louis and we chatted a bit and then left. So there-- after my big internal protest, I wound up talking to a cast member. Warren teased me for asking three different people if the knew Norbert. I suppose in my own way, despite my desire to appear cool and unaffected when in a room full of stars, I was dropping hints, like a little kid, that I knew somebody important, too.

This whole thing should've rolled right off of me. For some reason, it didn't. I wrestled with it more than I should've and looked for the trigger. Warren points out that I have more triggers than anyone on the planet and I think maybe he's right. The good part about associating everything with everything else is that I have a great memory and it serves me well as a reporter. The bad part about having such a good memory is that I can look at, say, a chocolate cake, and remember some incident from thirty years ago, some terrible something, that just happened to have a chocolate cake in the background. It's a pretty big pain in the ass to have a brain that works like this, and Warren does have his work cut out for him some days.

As I tried to parse what really got to me about the Know-It-All and the Norbert-teasing, I had two distinct recollections. One occurred a few years ago in an organic corn farm in rural Mexico. Some woman, high as a fucking kite, was demanding-- utterly INSISTING-- that I take peyote. I declined politely at first. Then I was more firm. But she pursued me, got in my face, told me it was spiritual. I really, really, really did not want to harsh her buzz by pointing out that I'm an addict and as such refrain from drugs and alcohol. Finally, someone intervened (and, if I might name drop, I'll say this guy happened to once be the chef for Brad Pitt). I assigned him heroic qualities but it's entirely possible he took the peyote from Pushy Woman just because he wanted it for himself, not because he wanted to rescue me.

The other thing I remembered is that, twenty-four years ago, I had dinner with Michael Stipe. I told everybody. For fucking years. A few years into my Stipe bragging, I had an alleged "best friend" who liked to get on my case for this. I mean, she was a total bitch about it, just really making me feel like an idiot.

Well, Warren saved the night, I must say, leading me across campus to the little turtle pond he'd introduced me to a few months ago. Those little guys are so darn cute that I was actually distracted enough to forget about the Wicked Bitch, at least for a little while.