After a stop in Tucson - I rolled into Austin late the following night and got some rest finally. Later that day I met up with my part time music partner, Lauren Austin who lives in Nashville - thus the part time tag. We've been playing together for several years together. We met when she lived in LA, and then I moved to Nashville for a year, and we connect we ever we can - when ever we can break away from our jobs.
There's always so much going on during this time that it's hard to keep track of everything. There are so many shows and people that you want to see - and it gets harder to get to everything when you have your own shows to play. This trip we spent a lot of time at the Saxon Pub - they had lots of good line-ups during the week - so it was a good place to park.
I spent a lot of time with my friend Jackie Bristow, who I was staying with on her couch. She's a singer/songwriter from New Zealand who I met several years ago through my friend Todd - who happened to skip SXSW this year for the first time in something like 15 years - he thought it had gotten too big last year and didn't really enjoy it. Jackie and I did some running around town and spent a couple nights up late talking and hanging out. She's great so you should check her out.
The shows we had went well. The first was dubbed Mouth By Mouthwest which was in a dentist office downtown. It was two levels and downstairs it had a little reception area - and that's where the bands played. Upstairs was a big lounge area and all you had to do was look over the ledge down to the performing area. It was a cool set up and it went well.
The next show was the 17th Street Party at the Rail - which was on the east side of town right at a rail stop. It was 7 hour or so event and they had some good bands on the bill and we happy to be included. That morning it had rained and it looked like it was going to do some more but it never did. It just made it humid and sticky outside. For the show we enlisted two local guys who had played with some bands we knew - and played our set - with some minor sound issues, but it went well.
The last show was through our friends at Rubydog Booking - Jason Swedberg and Penny Jo Pullus. Jason sent me a message early in the morning about a cancellation and would we be interested in the filling in the slot. We said yes and in a bit we made our way over to Opal's Penn Field - a nice restaurant with a good sized deck (where the stage was set), a great selection of beers, and a view over South Austin. We got set up and got to playing - which again went well.
to be continued...
From Rudy's BBQ in El Paso, TX - it was good even coming from a chain BBQ place. I definitely would go back
Playing at Mouth By Mouthwest - Wednesday afternoon
and here's what the view looked like from the upstairs lounge area
This from the Saxon Pub Wednesday night - that's my friend Kim Grant who is also from LA - and some random girl in the background
From the 17th St. Party at the Rail - with Andy on bass and Pete on drums - it was a fun day
and from our Friday show at Opal's Penn Field for Rubydog booking - this spot was awesome
The sampler platter from Iron Works BBQ in Austin. My cousin Annie suggested it and on Thursday when I was wandering around looking for something to do, I decided to stop in. I do recommend stopping by - the line moves quickly so don't be put off if it's out the door.
more later -
yours truly,
Jeremiah
