Our Big Night in Austin! The doors at Antone’s open at 6. We are like the eager teenaged date and arrive not along after. There is almost no one there, but a band is already setting up on the stage. The bar is long and not-so-narrow, a warehouse looking space until you look at the details. The ceiling has been covered with sound-absorbing material, leaving the rafter exposed. The giant speakers are hung from the rafters, pointing away from the bandstand. The bar is opposite the bandstand, a full bar available. The tables and chairs look well-loved, and totally unstable. Reminds me of the old days at the Wit’s End at Wrightsville Beach. We learned earlier, with Jim, that Pinetop Perkins arrives about every other night, and sits at a table in the hall leading to the bathrooms, right by the shoe shine stand. It’s the Pinetop Table, and no one sits there. He can be found at Nuno’s on the nights he’s not at Antone’s. I do hope tonight is an Antone’s night!
We order a drink, and sat down not far from the stage. The first band is getting started: a 30’s something woman singer, a 50’s something lead guitarist, a younger bass player, a younger harmonica player and a 14 year old drummer! They were good, not great. We learn that tonight is Blues Society Night, and member bands get to perform. The change from one band to the next took about 10 minutes, and they were hustling! Hector Ward and the Big Time took the stage, all eight of them! Hector, the vocalist, who is wheel-chair bound, three brass players, two percussionists, and two guitarists. WOW! They were great! We loved them, loved their energy and their original music. They played longer than the allotted time because of the response. And, the keyboardist for the last band had not arrived. Well, whatever, we loved them.
While Hector was playing, Pinetop Perkins arrived, and Jim helped him to his chair in the back. Pinetop is 94 years old, a little shaky on his feet. Jim stopped by our table with him, to introduce us. What an honor, to meet one of the heroes of the modern blues! To have connected with Jim this afternoon was really a gift, we are grateful for his attention. Mr. Perkins was gracious, and thanked us for coming in to hear the music.
When Hector and The Big Time finished, we talked to most of the band members, happy to thank them for their talents and the music. They were such a happy band, it was obvious they loved what they were doing, and enjoyed each other. They were cool, and I think they believed us when we told them how much we enjoyed them. Stuart bought their cd, and asked a couple of the band members to sign it. I got a hug from Hector!
The last band of the evening (are we still here?!?), was WC Clark, a blues guitarist. He played the kind of music I thought we’d hear at Antone’s: pure blues. WC Clark was an older black man, who’s fingers just danced over the strings and who’s voice was easy and bluesy. Riley Osbourn finally showed up to play the Hammond organ, another old-timer on the Austin Music scene. They were smooth as silk, cool as ice, and damn good. The bass player was younger, veerrry tall, wore a tobogaan and old-man cardigan, and never changed the expression on his face. After a while, the brass section of Hector’s band came on stage, and jammed with WC Clark, what fun to watch them play together!
We went home very late, very happy and very full of good music. We went to Mecca, and came away satisfied.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Calm ends. For two days we’ve been awakened at 6:30am by the sounds of heavy equipment. Remember the condo complex construction project next door? Well, they’re at the parking lot leveling stage. And, the Big Tractors are loud, and they back up a lot, causing that damned beepbeepbeep noise. Our little Cottage shakes with the vibrations of the big tractors. I don’t know how the residents of this campground stand it, but the construction is in the last stages. Last night was so good, and so late, but we waked up early to the sounds of work.
After a late, lazy, meager breakfast ( I need to find the HEB), we shower and head out to the southern Half-Price Books. I can’t make up my mind about purchases easily, and I hope to find a couple of things at this other store. We spent some good time browsing. Then headed out for the Callender’s Boot Store. Just to look. I have such a wide foot, they’ll never have a boot that will fit this snowshoe foot. The box is more comfortable than the shoes, usually. Kim took me to the boot section, asked a few questions, and began to hand me boots to try on. She talked calmly about style and all sorts of things I would never have enough sense to ask. She immediately told me the socks I brought with me were way too thick, and that I should wear the thinnest socks I own. So, I wore the Store Socks for trying on shoes. After a while, I had tried on about 10 boots, and found a pair that not only fit, but I liked! And, they were a price that I could pay. OK, they were a little tight, but she assured me they’d stretch a little. I want a pair of cowboy boots badly enough to believe her! Hooowhheeee! We went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant, where we met a woman from San Luis Potosi, who told us we should visit her home town.
Before we went into lunch I thought I’d put the boots on, and discovered the insoles were missing. We never noticed! I called Callender’s Boots, they told me to come back for a correction. I dropped Stuart at the Cottage and went off by myself. Kim was great: put some higher quality inserts in the shoes for me, and then sprayed them with something to help them stretch a little over the top of my foot. I was wearing a long skirt, and felt good in my new boots!
A quick stop at the grocery store, and I went home to get Stuart. It is a gorgeous afternoon, and we have time for a walk in the Zilker Park, along the Colorado River, before the sun sets. We parked the truck and walked 4 miles along the river, circling across two pedestrian bridges. It was a perfect afternoon! During the walk, we learned that each of us was happy to not go out again, like we’d planned. Great. We had a beer at Uncle Billy’s, and I cooked dinner at home. Being a tourist for two months is exhausting!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reading. We’re both reading a little each night. This trip I’ve read Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie; a couple of Stephanie Plum by Janet Evonovich; Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball; an unusually short Michener, Legacy; SOS by Barbara Arnstsen; A Thousand Splendid Suns; and a couple of others. Right now, I’m reading three books: a Stephanie Plum; a modern book on herbal medicine; and Awakening the Bhudda Within. Stuart has plowed through a couple of books about the Civil War, and is now reading some murder mystery. I thought there would be more time for just hanging out, reading, knitting, and internet surfing (I always have a list of things to look up), but we’ve been moving so much there has been little time for leisurely things. The summer sweater I had hoped to knit is still less than half finished. But, I did finish knitting the wool vest.
Today, we hitched up and headed east from Austin. This one of those Big Cities that has a small town feel. If I wanted to live in a city, I could consider this one. But I have no intentions of leaving my eastern NC garden. A short stop at a fabric shop I saw yesterday, and we spent the day on the road, traveling through the Piney Woods of east Texas. We had lunch at a railroad siding, in our own kitchen.
Somewhere, we picked up a 100 page book outlining the best of Texas, with a tidbit about almost every town of every size in the state. In this state, that’s a lot! I read about a antique three-holer that is the only one on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s in the proud possession of the Depot Museum in Henderson, TX. Well, that’s worth a detour! We drive off US Highway 79, and into the downtown of the tiny town. It reminds me a little bit of Burgaw. After wandering around, dragging the Cottage through the little streets, and finally find the Chamber of Commerce, where the woman proudly gave me directions to the Historic Outhouse. We arrive 10 minutes before closing time, and there is no one inside the museum. Jim, the asst. director, very proudly grabbed the keys and led us out the back door. He was just delightful, and was pleased as punch to show off this tiny structure, with, sure enough, three holes. Then, he took us across the yard, past some other historic structures, to their newest acquisition: an antique carousel. Stuart and I hopped on horses, and he gave us a short ride. What fun! We have learned that all we have to do is ask, and people all over the country are delighted to show off whatever they have to show.
It’s late, we still have 30 miles to Stuart’s destination, Carthage, TX, for the night. I’ve had my new boots on all day, and I’m ready to take them off, and I’m more than ready to get out of this truck.
Our next destination is the Natchez Trace, after blowing through northern Louisiana tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment