The Flatlanders at John McCall's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The Flatlanders
Hometown: Lubbock, Texas
http://www.TheFlatlanders.com
The Flatlanders Concert Photos
Saturday , June 9th, 2007
John McCall's House (Austin, Texas)
Back when I was much much younger if someone said, "There's a party at so-and-so's house and they have a band," you immediately knew that whoever was giving the party's parents were out of town, the liquor cabinet would be emptied in the first thirty minutes, the band was going to be terrible (unless it was Watchtower), and if the cops showed up everybody was supposed to jump the fence and cut out through the neighbors back yard.
Now that I'm an adult, my orthopedist requests that I refrain from the occasional fence jump, and my insurance agent concurs. Luckily, due to my sister being the plugged-in supermodel, my party invites of late have been a bit more upscale in nature. A couple of weekends ago, it was my pleasure to receive an invite to attend John McCall's birthday party. John and I share many common traits, aside from the fact that we both never seem to age beyond 39: John is a successful entrepreneur, has a love of Austin music stretching back to the days of the dillo, we sat next to each other at my sister's wedding rehearsal dinner, and we are both friends with Kinky Friedman. Ok, so John is a much more successful an entrepreneur than I am, but what's six or seven zeroes on your net income between friends?
When John has a party, though, it's almost the complete opposite of my high school experiences. A catered event, with sheriff's deputies providing security and keeping an eye on John's extensive and expensive collection of original artwork and memorabilia, and John's idea of a "party band" -- a private acoustic performance by Lubbock, Texas' legendary Flatlanders. Good food, good music, good company; the only thing missing would be Kinky Friedman, and that was only because a prior speaking engagement kept him away.
John's house being a good clip from mine, I mis-judged the traffic and arrived 30 minutes early, but I arrived just in time to help move the pool table out of the way with the band. It was kind of a silly picture really, me, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, and John McCall huffing and puffing to move this nice slate pool table out of the way. Here I am moving furniture with three legends of Texas music and one of Austin's most successful entrepreneurs. I don't think any of us are interested in making it a career though.
The table out of the way. I had a great opportunity to chat with them about Texas music, with Kinky piping in on John's cell phone when we were stumped on an artist or song. More a bunch of guys bullshitting about music than an interview, it was as much a treat to talk to them as it was watching perform.
Joe Ely at John McCall's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
The first, last, and only time I had ever seen Joe Ely play was when he opened for the Clash at a number of gigs in Texas in the very early 80s. Joe said that kids keep coming up to him asking how to break into the music industry and that the industry has changed so much, he didn't have an answer. Butch piped in only half-seriously that he spent the last 10 years trying to break OUT of the music industry. Joe was concerned because his daughters only listen to new artists for about a week before they move on, and they never seem to go back. When he was growing up new music was scarce and each new release was cherished and listened to until the vinyl was virtually unplayable. We both talked about how the internet has unleashed a flood of new music and artists in quantities unfathomable 10 years ago. Too many bands, too many releases, too many channels of information.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore at John McCall's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
I asked Jimmie Dale if he was playing ACL fest again this year. He said he wasn't sure, that his manager scheduled his gigs. I related to him how much of a nightmare huge festivals like ACL could be from the fan's perspective, and asked him what it was like from his standpoint. Jimmie said that his favorite festival to do was the bluegrass festival in San Francisco, because they really go out of the way to treat both the musicians and the fans well, and, because it was a free festival, the whole show was more about the music. He felt that the more commercial the show, the less the festival seemed to care about the fans or the performers, not simply because they were commercial, but because the people involved were less personally connected to the music and the performances
Butch Hancock at John McCall's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
I told Butch that my sister told me
Herbie Hancock was playing tonight and I was wondering if he brought the keyboard. Butch chuckled and told me the only difference between him and Herbie was his fingers were a little longer than Herbie's. We talked for a bit about playing Austin and playing on the road and the difference. With Austin being such a music town it's tough for a professional musician to make a living playing here because there are simply too many venues, too many performers, drawing from too few concert goers. On any given Friday there are easily 40 or 50 live music venues, and you throw in 3 or 4 road shows and it's a tough choice for the music consumer. It's a great choice, but let's look at June 19th, a Tuesday. I have to cover the Les Claypool show at Stubb's but I just as easily could (and want to be) covering the Tesla show at La Zona Rosa. And there will be at least 30 other venues with local music - on a Tuesday!
After such great conversation it was tough to imagine the night getting any better, but after a good hot meal of fajitas with all the trimmings, watching the Flatlanders perform their West Texas standards for a couple hours in John's living room was dessert in itself. The only thing missing was Kinky and his cigar.
The Flatlanders at John McCall's - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer
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