The Red Room: week 4

It is an amazing thing, to watch something grow, and change and become something wholly different than it started out. The Red Room started off as a listening room, but seems to be shifting. I have good reason to believe that those who have performed within its walls, and those yet to come, are having an effect in the Soul of the room. The comments about the feel of the place by every artist so far have just blown me away. There is a growing peacefulness, a calmness, to the space. I am personally very surprised at it, because San Antonio is known for having a large number of "hauntings", if you like. A lot of places around this city contain the echo of those who have lived there before; they can effect how the ones currently live there react to the place. This one was so clean, so empty, and is being filled up by the spirit left behind, the little piece that each artist leaves when she/he sings and plays to its walls. It is a wonderous thing to watch progress.

As the reader might figure, this was a very good weekend. Salim Nourallah from Dallas came here Friday, guitarist Chris Holt in tow. Chris did an opening set that was delightful. I knew well how good he was on the guitar but was caught by his singing and songwriting. Then Salim came up and the two of them proceeded to cut a path through the human spirit that few who witnessed will forget. The whole range of emotion was their playing field, with skilled playing, wonderful sublties, and some great harmonies. On the mind of Salim much of the night was the recent and sudden passing of a friend from the Dallas area. He dug down deep and played several songs for her, quite literaly bringing me to tears at one point. I have not often been tempted to walk away from music, but I came close. Brought to my mind were all those who have passed before me, leaving me with one less person to walk through this world with. It was almost overwhelming, and I cannot credit enough his fearless stepping into his own soul for it. It takes much courage to get up there and open like that to an audience, even with so many friends in the room. It was, dare I say, magical. Truly not a night to be forgotten.

This evening was Graham Weber, with friend Chris Bercht along to help out. Chris did a lovely opening set (this was unplanned by us, but quite a nice surprise.) He has a style that closely resembles Dylan's, something Delphine had said of Graham.
Had I judged it strictly from his CD, I might have agreed, but after what Graham did on stage, i am more inclined to compare him to Arlo Guthrie, or to some extent Dan Fogelburg. He has a tremendous way with words, creating pictures that last through the entire song, fade only slightly as he goes on to the next story, and morph into the next patchwork of mind-images. I am at a lack from another metaphor for the guitar work; words just fail sometimes. I just know I seriously look forward to his next visit in about fve weeks. And the next CD. There are some astounding songs due to be recorded for it.

When I find such talent, like my current favourite, Mando Saenz, out there, I am just mind-blown that these guys haven't been discovered and signed. I know if I had the money, there would be a new label out there, trying to catch up all this amazing talent that is making its way into my life. There just shouldn't be such prejudice toward the songwriter who writes with greater depth; I think a lot of people would come to it, if they only could hear of it. For that reason alone, I feel MySpace to be a great thing. It is giving so many performers a chance to be heard, to meet each other, and hook up. So many of them are talking about going to Europe, and I know Europe will take to them. I hope we don't lose them as a result. This nation needs to catch up and appreciate the born talent of its artists, before that can happen.
I think places like the Red Room, and our sister up in Dallas, Bend, and a couple of other little places around the state can make that change happen. We have to make it so that what is out there can be heard. Too much of the radio and the industry aren't going to do it. We must.

I am sort of in a different state of mind. Watching this little business become a warm, welcoming home for the indie artist, the heart-touching, gut wrenching songwriter, ia a trip. I think back on it a lot during the work week. And I seriously look forward to the weeks to come. So far, so many have been awesome surprises, beyond what I think anyone expected. I can't wait to see where it goes.

namaste

Wonderful Weekend

Well, at least I had a good time!
Friday started off with too much work, and then having to deal with wanting to be three places at once! Soundcheck with Matt McCormack w/ Will Sexton et al made me not want to leave! A tremendous sound to be sure, even in the few pieces I got to hear. I will look forward to seeing them again for sure.

I also knew that my little wiz-kid friend Marcus Rubio was playing at the Limelight, and I tell you what, it was a damned hard choice where to be that night, but......

It was back to Sam's for me, for the Del Castillo CD release show for "Brotherhood".
It was crammed, so I never got anywhere near the stage during the show, but it was okay really. I watched the crowd and the stage cams that were being shown on the screens and monitors around the room, and frankly may have seen more than only those closest to the stage. I do not know whose idea it was to try and make a Del Castillo crowd sit down, but I daresay, should the group ever play there again, there will not be any chairs put down front again! Silly. This is definitely a band to get up and shake it to. Vallejo put on one butt-shaking funky set, I must say. I stood outside talking to folks, but I was slippin' and slidin' all around the entire time they played. Good set guys!
DC, well, what can I say. They are always amazing, even on not-so-good nights, and this was a GREAT night. They were all obviously in a good mood and it so showed throughout the gig. Zeoli was so worn out, at one point he tried to lean back on the wall behind him, only to find it wasn't solid! They were just on fire (saag paneer engineered, if I may say so myself! Long story.)
And I got to sit around and chat with most of them for awhile, after they had been mobbed for autographs. It's always good to get down time with my musicians. Keeps it real, and lets them know I do care about them as people, not just objects. I am pretty sure DC and crew know that already, but it never hurts to remind any of the people I like that I am there for them.

Saturday evening I had been looking forward to for some time. I found Mike Rosenthal at Flipnotics in Austin,many months ago, opening for Billy Harvey. I was the only person in the room for quite awhile and got to know Mike and his keyboardist, Chris Sayer, pretty well for a bunch of strangers. I was really impressed with Mike and thought San Antonio would be too. Damn those holiday weekends- a small but appreciative group came out for Mike and I think when he comes back, many more will follow the buzz to come see him. He and Chris seemed to have a really good time, and I sure as hell did. Tremendous songwriter, singer, and entertainer. Chris is just wonderful on the Korg, mostly as piano, just perfect backup to Mike's songs. I know from chatting with Chris that he's into jazz, and would love to tap that for the Red Room sometime too.
Much, much fun!

Sunday, my buddy Casey and I went out to Alice's Restaurant in Niederwald for good food and good music. Miss Pearl's Viper Tea(Slim Richie, Francie Meaux Jeaux and two gal singers whose names I am afraid I didn't catch) rocked the house, and were followed by my friends Jelly Jar. I am afraid the sweltering, sticky heat of an early Texas summer day drove many folks home, but I have just not been able to get anywhere to see the Jar in too long, so I planted myself squarely there and enjoyed it all. I slept like a rock that night due to the heat of the day, but I had sweet sounds in my head when I did.
All in all, a good weekend, one I will relish when the work week gets hectic.

Got much to do beore this next weekend, with Salim Nourallah and Chris Holt gracing our lil stage. I am just so tickled to have them down here. What talent. the world does seem to get better as one ages; maybe one just learns to appreciate the little things more.

right now, sleep and sweet dreams. New pictures of the Red Room adventures and the last Grackle Mundy to put up as soon as time permits.
night all.

I am so enthused

I cannot even think of a good title for this!
Saturday night, Marcus Rubio, a local little secret I think, played the Red Room with his special guest of the month, Matt the Electrician, from Austin. Now, I have heard of both these fellows, but frankly had never had the time to HEAR either of them......was I in for a surprise!
Matt is a soft-spoken, well-mannered, tremendous singer-songwriter. We sat around outside for quite awhile before the gig and chatted, and I was impressed with him just from the little soundcheck we did.
Marcus is a high-spirited, lively 17 year old from SA, who I must label as some sort of musical genius. Genius doesn't lie within the confines of one's education, but what one finds to do with that education. Marcus has got something deep inside that is starting to blossom, and frankly, I expect him to go very far, if he so chooses.
I think I understand why local guitar master Joe Reyes chooses to work with this kid- Joe is a genius in his own right, and sees and hears what Marcus can become. Someday he might even eclipse Joe....and trust me, I do not say something like that lightly. My adoration of Joe is deep; I often wonder if he was like this youngster when he himself was in school.

When the evening started off, Marcus played a tune and then had Matt do a tune. It was obvious they had a feel for each others' music. As the evening progressed, They interacted more and more, until one would have sworn they had played together, at least in practice. This was not the case. These two, while they may have listened to each others' CDs, had never actually played onstage to together at all! It was astounding. They became so in synch with one another as musicians, that by the end of the show, they seemed flawless in the execution. I was floored to find out they hadn't played together.
I was also fascinated by both their diversities on instruments. Marcus plays not only guitar, but violin. He has only been playing since August. As a long time veteran of classical music, literally since childhood, I was once again floored, because his delivery of that instrument was nearly flawless. The violin is not an easy instrument to master. He had it set up through a repeater system like some guitar players use, would start a beautiful on the violin, putting it through the repeat cycle, put down the violin and pick up the guitar. Matt backed him up on both guitar and trumpet! Wow. I wanted to call everyone I knew and tell them to get to the Red Room, to not miss this amazing performance. I was too enthralled to get on the phone!

Some friends of mine made it into the room for only the last three tunes these guys did, the last of which involved bells. No I am not kidding. There is a...fad?....fashion?...something going on locally with these neat little fine-tuned glass bells. The Wwhite Stripes, I think, are the ones to blame, but it has been fun. Buttercup has aa wonderful bit done with them. Marcus pulled them out for the last tune, and completely proved to me his tremendous musical ear and flexiblity. at that very moment, I was wishing more than anything that there was a way to capture everything they had played all evening on tape, video, hologram, anything! just to be able to replay it. Those friends of mine were so impressed by just three songs, they bought Marcus's Cd and both of Matt's.

Delphine and I had worked at changing the lighting in the stage area of the room, and so changed the mood in there! The place already has a good feel to it, something I have received in the way of compliments repeatedly in just the last two weeks. I think San Antonio is going to take well to this new approach to music. I am just certain that it is meant to be; this city is hungry for original music, and she and I know so much that hasn't been here yet. I sort of miss the traveling to go find something new. It feels weird not to be on the road to somewhere every weekend. But ....now we bring here what used to draw us elsewhere.

Besides, I don't know that I would've ever heard Marcus anywhere BUT SA. Not yet at least. This is a future star rising, and now I get to say I saw him when.....and at a place I am helping give birth to. what better story could one ask for when talking to the grandkids about "I knew him when....." ;) Peoples....Matt the Electrician is worth getting out of your humdrum lives for, Austin or wherever you get a chance to catch him. Marcus will take you out of your life altogether, between his wonderful talent and his delightful personality. Should you ever get the chance to see them together, oh, do not miss! Perhaps, you'll find them here in San Antonio, in a homey little artspace called the Red Room.

(and I think the key words for that evening should be 'flawless' and 'floored', they were, and so was I!)

And I must make kudos to Marcus' family- mom, dad and brother. The level of support has very definitely got something to do with the young man's progress. Hold tight to them, Marcus. It will keep your feet on the ground if you are ever tempted to lose yourself in the music business.

Hail to Thee, Ram Ayala.

For those who do not know the San Antonio music scene, and thus may not know the names Ram Ayala and Tacoland, this time is a period of mourning, and celebrating, a life that meant more to the music community here than can be truly expressed in words.

Tacoland was a mainstay of the live music scene here for most of my time in Texas. It was a grungy little neighbourhood bar that brought in, encouraged, and nurtured a lot of local and non-local bands. Especially in the punk days of the early '80's, you were no one until no played Tacoland. And back behind the bar, gruff and mean-looking, was a teddybear of a man named Ram. Tacoland was his baby, and the bands who played there, his children.

Last year,on the evening the SA Spurs won a majour game, two little punks tried to hold up Tacoland for the small amount of money in the till. They shot and killed Ram.
They also shot fellow bar employees Doug and Denise. Doug died some weeks later, while Denise is recovering. This city was thrown into a state of shock. The music scene was floored; there were no words for the pain, just the music, and the joining together.

The little bastards were caught and face double capital murder charges, but some things cannot be changed.

Tacoland now stands alone, dark and quiet, a continuous reminder of the past, its good times, and its horrible end. There is a broken place in the heart of this city.

My friend Delphine said the other day that she felt the spirit of Ram was guiding her, and others, in this city to rebuild, remake, and keep moving forward. The Wiggle Room, Limelight, now the Red Room....she may have something. The spirit of Ram Ayala is pervasive in the musicians of this city. It is quite possible that through them, and the rest of us who knew Tacoland, he chooses to live on. After all, Tacoland was just a building. It was what went on inside (and sometimes outside on those sweltering Texas summer nights) that made it what it was. It wasn't the things, or the location. Those were what came to mean something to us, but WHY was Ram. The best of what a parent can be to a child never, ever leaves that child. I don't think anyone would deny the influence tha man had, individually, or as a community. I don't think it has stopped yet.

Perhaps, just maybe, Ram is trying to help all of us heal. I know that passing over isn't nearly as hard as being left behind. I suspect he and Doug do too. The one gift they can give from beyond is the knowledge that it is okay to go on living.

I will be checking the shadows from now on in some of these places. I have a feeling Ram and Doug just might be hanging out, watching over their "kids."


Thanks, Ram. The time was too short.