A Post With No Name (It Felt Good to Get Out of the Rain)

A couple of events of note since I last blogged:

1. My Dad had his shoulder surgically replaced in Dallas last week, a few days before his 70th birthday. All seemed to go well, for which we are thankful, but we do hope that this surgery represents his last annual trip to Baylor Hospital for major surgery.

2. Winston the repair man finished his work on the back of the house. Then it rained. Water leakage under the back door. Winston, very responsibly, has been back to re-repair the seal under the new threshold, and will return tomorrow with some weather stripping. Then perhaps, a water hose test, 'cause who knows how long until the next rain.

Carrie and I did make it to the Paramount Theater to see "Lone Star," the 1996 John Sayles (written and directed) film about life and death in a border town in Texas. If you've never seen it, you should watch it two or three times. If you've seen it once, as Carrie and I had, it is so worth seeing again. Even characters who are on screen for a short time come across with real depth and complexity. It is like Larry McMurtry could write a book based on this movie. As the story unfolds, family histories and racial divides are revealed in sometimes funny, but more often poignant or painful scenes and flashbacks. This movie is just as good as it was 14 years ago.

Lloyd Maines can do pretty much whatever he wants to do in the Texas music scene. He produces records, and sits in to play with a number of artists. Unofficially, he has appeared on Austin City Limits more than anyone else, always as a side man, not the star of the show. For 13 years or more, his regular gig has been in support of San Marcos songwriter Terri Hendrix. After all that time, they play off each other perfectly, both musically and with the banter between songs. I just think it is cool, and says something good about each of them that even without big financial success, they keep making music together, and do it because they love it, and seem proud to be associated so closely with one another.

I've seen Terri perform probably a dozen or more times since 1998. The first was a Waterloo in-store for "Willory Farm," still my favorite of her albums. She does not seem to smile as freely while she plays as she did back in those days. She's just as kind and appreciative as ever, but it is as if life and the music biz has beaten her down a little over the years. The songs are thoughtful and well-crafted, and she is worth a paid admission if you get a chance to catch a show.

I'd seen Shannon McNally a few years ago at an in-store, in the pre-blog days. Then, it was just her and Charlie Sexton on stage. As a duo, they may have been the most physically attractive pair to ever grace the Waterloo stage. Now she's got four ugly dudes in her band, and she's not trying so hard to look hot, but I am still impressed by her live performance. She's like a Tupelo Bonnie Raitt, all soulful and southern. When she goes high, she's just a couple of steps away from a full yodel. She apparrently took some time off to have a child, and in the meantime she was honing her guitar work, because she was not shy about playing lead. If her show at the Continental Club that night had started at a reasonable time instead of midnight, I'd have made the trip.

If you've heard of Tokyo Police Club or Passion Pit, you are way younger or hipper than I am. I tried to go to an in-store show that featured both bands, but no luck. A throng of cool looking kids were lined up around the corner, braving the heat an hour before their sets. No way was I getting in the door. It was a quick reminder that there is a ton of music out there that is passing me by, but Waterloo caters to the "download generation" now and then.

Peace, JS4