The show at Opal's Penn Field was cool - it was nice being out on the open deck - having a few beers and some food - enjoying the down time before we knew we had to run off to the big Friday show at Maria's Tacos Express. The dark clouds gathered in the distance which thankfully kept it cool. Soon though we, Lauren, Mark Gonzales, and I, jumped over to the Sin City Social Club party at Maria's - it was the 10th anniversary - and met up with the crew there. It was a good gathering of people from Austin and people from Los Angeles. It's one of the events that I always look forward to for SXSW.
It took a while to find a table, but eventually one open up and we jumped on it. We got a bucket of Shiner Bocks and we were set. One of the bands on the bill was Ponderosa who were pretty awesome - a sort of country-ish dreamy sound - I had heard of them before but had never seen them - so I was glad when I caught them. Then it was a great line-up of SHURMAN (who I had already seen twice this trip), Mike Stinson, and Jesse Dayton - sort of a trifecta of acts - and they were all incredible - lots of rocking, honky-tonking fun.
After the Sin City show we went down the street to the Saxon Pub to try to see Lukas Nelson and Shooter Jennings - but there was a good sized line and after a few minutes of waiting we decided to head to Ginny's to see Mike Stinson who was going to be playing for the rest of the night. So we rolled on up the road, found the place and settled in for the rest of the night. Mike is an amazing singer/songwriter who used to live in LA but moved to Houston a few years ago - so I always go try to see him whenever I can. This night was a fun night - the music was awesome, the crowd was mostly friends and people who knew each other, I ended up dancing (or trying to anyway) and we stayed until they closed.
From there we didn't want the night to end so we found a place on the east side and had a few more rounds. We talked late into the early morning and I eventually made it back and to bed at around 5:30am. The next day, Saturday, I got a late start - I was thankful that I was able to sleep in. There were a few shows I wanted to see that were starting around 2pm, but it was hard getting starting and out the door.
We decided to go see Randy Weeks, who also had lived in LA and now lived in Austin. Mike Stinson used to play drums in Randy's band and they played at The Cinema Bar a lot. Those were great nights - the place would be packed - the music would be rocking and it was just such a good time. Randy was playing a new place - Lucy's Fried Chicken on South Congress - so I met up with Lauren and Mark over there. We ordered some much needed food and listened and drank some beer as the band played.
The fried chicken was really good - I don't eat much fried chicken these days - since I have enough fried food - but here I had to give in. It was crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside - a little spicy too. I also had a side order of the smashed potatoes - which I was thinking were going to be more like mashed potatoes but it was a whole potato - smashed and grilled. There was a spicy pepper that was added to the outside and it was a good amount of heat.
During this trip I had several different types of beers. Whenever I travel I always try to get whatever is local. That first night in Tucson though I had first chosen the Deschutes Porter which I've had before - at the brewery up in Portland. I really like it a lot and even though there were some local Arizona brews on tap I chose that one since you can't get it all that often. I also had a Left Hand Milk Stout which was really good too.
In Austin I usually go for Shiner Bock - like we had the day before at Maria's. This time I really enjoyed the Real Ale's Rio Blanco Pale Ale, and the Fireman's #4 - the #4 was lighter, but still had a good taste to it. But probably my favorite of the trip was the Stash IPA from the Independence Brewing Company in Austin. It was a good hearty, hoppy IPA - which the middle of the country doesn't really do. The West Coast and Colorado aren't afraid of strong flavors and alcohol percentage - a lot of the country seems to be. The stuff I've had is good and there seems to be a lot of breweries popping up across the country - which I think is a good thing - but a lot of it is pretty mellow compared to the West Coast and Colorado.
After Randy played and eating some good fried chicken, it was time to rest. Well I did go see Jackie play an backyard show and then I went and rested. It felt good to get off my feet and lay down for a bit - even if I didn't sleep that much. As the evening approached we got our plans together for what we wanted to do. The first was to do our annual gathering at Matt's El Rancho. Every year Lauren and I went to El Rancho and it'd become a thing now - one of the reasons why I like to going to Austin for SXSW - there's something fun to the tradition of it all. It started the first year Lauren and I made the trek to Austin from Nashville. That year we didn't know where a lot of things were so we drove around a lot looking for things. On that Friday afternoon we passed by Maria's Tacos, where the big party was, and we drove into the next drive way to turn around, and as we pulled in Lauren recognized the driveway and the restaurant - it had been a place that her family had gone to when she was little and when they lived there. So before we drove back to Nashville, we stopped in for a meal - and the amount of food they gave us was ridiculous - but it was awesome and much needed since the Mexican food in Nashville left a lot to be desired. So this year was the Fourth Annual Feast at Matt's El Rancho and Mark joined us - and hopefully we can get some more people out next year. With our bellies full of food and margaritas, we went up the road, back to the Saxon Pub - a bunch of people were playing in various bands over the night - including Aaron Beavers from SHURMAN - who was doing his 14th gig in 4 days - which is some sort of crazy record. I hung around for a bit and then took off to see Jackie again and Anne McCue who was playing right before her. I had met Anne years ago in LA when she would stop by and play the open mic that I would always do - Highland Grounds. Since then I have kept running into her - in Austin during SXSW or in around town in Nashville, where she currently lives. It had been a while since I had seen her play, so I was glad that I made it in time to catch her set. Anne played a truly awesome set - bluesy - incredible guitar playing - she had an cool band too - one of Lauren's friends from Nashville was playing drums - and Rosie Flores joined her for a song where she added some reverby, vibrato guitar that was a perfect addition to the song. The place was at Austin Java and the room was a very intimate setting - a good overall acoustically sounding room made of mostly wood - with chairs set up for people to relax in. Jackie played next and her friend Leroy came in and sat next to me. Jackie has a lot of great songs and she gets such a good sound out of her guitar. I was really happy that I had seen both sets by Anne and Jackie.
Afterwards, we, Jackie, Leroy,and I headed over to the Four Seasons hotel to meet up with some of Jackie's friends. The hotel bar was hopping - lots of people hanging out - a lot of people celebrating St. Patrick's Day and the last day of SXSW. As we had made our way to the hotel, which is downtown, the streets were crowded with people going here and there. It was a good night and we ended up in her friend's room hanging out with Glen Campbell's sons and a few more drinks - some more Stash IPA for me. The night ended with a stop for tacos on the way back home - and bed finally at 5am - again.
After getting a few hours of sleep, I had to get up and get my things ready for the drive back to the West Coast. I had to make it to El Paso at least that day. I really didn't feel like spending around 10 hours in my car, but I knew it had to be done. Jackie was surprisingly awake so I was able to say goodbye and thank you to her before I left. I made sure I had everything - I did't want a repeat of last year when I left my laptop charger at her place.
The day wasn't anything special - just a lot of driving across Texas - the green surroundings changed to the dry desert and the road rolled through small towns spread out across the land.
All along the way the wind was blowing hard, but as I got closer to El Paso - after about 8 hours of driving - the wind picked up and it was a struggle to keep the car straight on the road. After a stop at Starbucks in El Paso I made a stop for the night in Las Cruces at a cheap motel and I was happy to have a room all to myself and a full bed - not just a couch. I also saw that the winds that I had been driving through had gusts from 60 to 70 mph - and not too much further out of the way gusts had reached up to 80.
The next day I had a good drive ahead of me - at least 12 hours, so after some breakfast I hit the road. I had also heard about a good storm that was going to be passing through Arizona, so I was prepared for some bad weather. Before I made it out of New Mexico, right before Lordsburg, I saw the storm ahead. The western sky in front of me was all dark and cloudy and soon I saw snow falling, then sleet, then some rain, then hail - and then it repeated itself - sometimes the blue sky would cut through but then it would get dark again and all the various things would fall from the sky again.
After the stormy weather I made it to Tucson where I was planning to stop for a break. From there I knew I had only 8 hours to go till I was home. I rested then got some food supplies from the Trader Joe's there - not wanting to eat some fast food - so I got enough to keep me satisfied for the rest of the trip. About 8 hours later I made it home - having a bunch of laundry to do, rest to catch up on, and a job that I had to be at the next morning at 10am. And that's the end of the trip to SXSW. It's taken me several days to feel somewhat normal again - lots of sleep was missed and the driving definitely had me worn out. That's the last big trip for a while. Since the middle of December I've driven just over 16k miles - so besides a trip to Arizona next month that's all I have planned. I am planning a trip to England in June which hopefully all comes together - but no big trips until later in the year.
Looking forward to Austin and SXSW next year already
yours truly,
Jeremiah
John Doe at the Continental Club - Thursday night with Cindy Wasserman and David Carpenter
At Opal's Penn Field on the deck
Lauren and I - enjoying some brews and some food
SHURMAN at Maria's Tacos
Lauren and Mark hanging out on Friday afternoon
The mighty Mike Stinson Friday evening
working our way through another bucket of Shiner Bocks
The Fourth Annual Feast at Matt's El Rancho
Anne McCue at Austin Java
Jackie Bristow at Austin Java
From our Thursday afternoon show - 17th Street Party at the Rail
