Magnolia Cafe/Lucy's St. Francisville/New Orleans, LA - March 1 - 3, 2003 ~ REH Friday, February 28, 2003 - Firehouse Saloon in Houston, TX & Saturday, March 1, 2003 - Magnolia Cafe in St. Francisville, LA Pack it up, pack it in & let me begin... Fan boy here, reporting live from Firehouse in Houston, TX. It’s Friday, February 28th and I’m FREAKING OUT! Have you ever taken the Greyhound from Houston to Baton Rouge, LA? Yeah, me neither... not the best thing I ever did (I’ll be proven wrong in about 3 days). I thought the trip there was unbearable – nope, that would be the trip back. Talk about extras from any Billy Jack or Walking Tall movie – sheesh! So anyhoo, there I am standing in the parking lot at The Firehouse post RK/Seth James (not necessarily in that order). By the way, if you haven't seen Seth play, get to a show. He is a monster on that twanger and it does the heart good to see the boys from RK sitting there just as in awe as I was. Good times, good times... Back to the story… So RK's road "mangler", Kirk, is trying to get some yuppie scum to move their 4x4 Tahoe (with no mud on it) out of the way of the RK van so that we can get to the trailer and get Lil' Braun bro Gary's amp out and in to my ride. Seems easy enuff right? Nope. So its like 3:00 AM, my bus leaves for Baton Rouge at like 3:45 AM and I’m no way close to being ready. Typical Everlovin’ behavior. Well instant karma got a hold of me and all things worked out just fine. Low and behold, I caught the 1:00 PM bus instead - much better... except for the bus part. Yikes! Luckily I had just purchased a copy of Hard Core Troubadour: The Life and Near Death of Steve Earle so I cranked up something on the Discman (I think it was Jon Dee Graham) and got to reading. Talk about amazing - get this book or you can borrow mine. After about 5 hours of a hayride straight from hell I ran into my rescue team, Gregg and Tracy from Desolation-Angel.com, who met me in Baton Rouge and we hauled ass to St. Francisville for the show at the Magnolia Cafe. St. Francisville is an AMAZING corner of the world. It has this vibe that makes me really want to get back there fast and just walk around and absorb... Spanish moss, some remnants of the Antebellum period with a touch of Steal Your Face and of course the Magnolia Café - a little slice of heaven here on earth. This place holds about 50 people for a show and it felt like maybe 30 peeps were in the house including the band. The usual suspects this round included the aforementioned Gregg & Tracy, Selest (and the irrepressible "I got a blister from the sun" Philip Dave), Simon "Right On" Beck, and "To know him is to love him" Heals and Co. from Boston Mass (good to meet ya chief!). We also had the late arrival of Rags "first and last name unknown" and Micky "Its All Good" Braun. (Note to all readership: Have your butts at the Mucky Duck on the 10th of April for the MMC show! Do not miss this show.) Finally, I can’t forget to mention, my new favorite Nashville expatriate, Christene LeDoux, who opened the show literally as she was on her way to Cali from NashVegas - talk about the ultimate road dog. Kudos to you. Christene is a great singer-songwriter and catching her with Cody Braun on fiddle for an impromptu addition to one of her compositions was a pretty good indication of how the show was going to be - in the immortal words of Goldilocks, just right. The sound quality at the MC was stellar. It was an acoustic show and we were stage front and had feasted on some rocking grub and some Texas sized libations. (Note to self and to Willy: DO NOT ASK FOR A SHOT OF JAMESON AT THE MAGNOLIA CAFE. ITS NOT A DRINK, ITS A COMMITMENT!) They also make a fine cup of coffee ... hot too. I have a new fave cover by the boys – “Wheels” by ole Gram Parsons. Man it just sounds so perfect when they spin that tune - really splendid. Also fine was Bobby Dylan's “Girl From The North Country”. Does Everlovin have a thing for midwestern girls?? In the general Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota area??? Well maybe I do so sue me - they rock. (Hint: most of ‘em are in TX now) One of my new fave originals Cody, Willy and David all conspired on is “Hiram (And His Old Lady)". It’s a tune that talks about hitting the road with Pinto Bennett and the Motel Cowboys and it is well suited to be played "unplugged." It’s really a joy to hear - once again one of my favorite kind of tunes: cinematic and tongue in cheek all at once. I know I am gonna start a small riot with this, but I think St.Francisville might have been one of the best shows I've seen. It was made all the better by the addition of Micky Braun hitting the stage for a brother to brother exchange on the co-penned song “Nobody’s Girl. (Soon to be available on the Sugar Hill release “Under the Table and Above the Sun”. Look for it nationwide on May 13th). MB and WB really compliment each other vocally on this tune. To cap it off, they traded off verses on another RK staple - Bobby Dylan’s “Easy Chair”... such a great tune. It’s a toss up for me as to whether I prefer the full-blown electric tour de force that is “So Lonely” OR the stripped down acoustic version. Kirk and I were betting on some serious pyrotechnics from David on this tune since he seemed to be bent on wringing something otherworldly from the big black Alverez. I’m pretty sure I caught a touch of Cream’s "Sunshine of your Love" in the midst of all that is right in an Abeyta solo. Nice touch your Honor - David is the unofficial Mayor of Bartlesville. OK - GO BRUINS!! All is well that ends well and the boys had arranged to stay at the 3V Tourist Court – a motor court after the gig and we joined them for the post gig wind down. I'll tell you this - Cody Braun is about the funniest multi-instrumentalist ever. He was cracking me up! Sheesh! Oh and Jazz? Nice teeth.... Your dissertation on restroom etiquette was... well to say the least memorable. Jam and Simon had the quotes of the weekend but you'll have to ask them your own self... I just can’t bring myself to even begin to quote such brilliance… I think I vaguely remember some gunfire between two passing cars. It seems someone had the bright idea to poke our collective heads into a Blues club down the street... I think we nixed that. I had a Waffle House need and wasn’t gonna be stopped by any small arms fire. P.S. Tommy and Marla – 1, HillbillyWilly - 0 (bottom of the 9th, full count… a swing and a miss! Major heat on that one!) Catch your breath & move on to Sunday in New Orleans

Share your thoughts.

all non-lyric text, © Copyright 2003 Desolation Angel