I spent this last weekend in Austin attending the wedding of my Grandniece Amber James and a coincident family reunion. They came from all over the country. My brother Tom and his wife Lois have created a tribe in 50 years and they all showed up for the event. Dennis O'toole a jazz drummer of note and longevity of career hosted me and showed me the Scene in Austin after hours. We went to SoCo, South Congress Ave where the bats under the bridge flow out at dusk. South of the River is where the action is for grown ups. The Continental Club had a band playing early rock i.e. Elvis and Buddy Holly. We ended up at the Jovitas Restaurant for The Cornell Hurd band, Denny knew the piano player T Jarrod Bonta and the base player Randy Glines. Our first drink came from the band. The music was western swing, rock and Austin two-step; I gave it a go asking a woman at the next table to dance. I was at home dancing, it felt great. The women in Austin play it for keeps, within the first dance they knew I wasn't married and was from out of town. By the end of the evening I was one of the boys, but I could dance!
On other nights we made it to the Broken Spoke another spot South of the River on 1st Street and saw Dale Watson and his band with Gene Kurtz on bass. Watson sings in the manner of Merle Haggard. His slide guitar man Don Pawlak is one of the greats. More dancing, more fun.
I went to Eddie "V"s on Saturday night after the wedding reception. Denny was playing drums to a stand-up bass and a singer on piano doing traditional jazz standards. We ended up at the Broken Spoke talking our way out of the cover for the last half hour of the show. The girls sent us to a older cowboy in white hat to deal with the cover. His name was James White, and he looked me in the eye so it was up to me to deal. I said I was just in from California and wanted to see the show and would like a little consideration for the late hour. He asked me if I brought some of that California Money; I said that I did and he said he would save us $14 by letting us in for $5 a person and we found our way to the dance floor.
After that show we went to the Saxon Pub, another famous venue for the great performers like Willie Nelson. A young group were in full play on stage with the young girls dancing in front. (I saw this group on Austin City Limits later in July, named Paolo Nutini, Denny said that they were probably an up-and-coming group; he was right). A woman came by from the stage asking why we weren't dancing with them. I said I was the dancer and found myself up there dancing with her mano a mano; we were showing off for the crowd.
Sunday was a day for kicking back and relaxing, Denny, Carol and I hit the road. We went swimming in Lake Austin which is the Colorado river dammed up along in various place to form lakes. We headed west to the Pedernales River and LBJ country, Johnson City. I expected a City, but it was a small layout of cross streets with old stone faced buildings, beautiful in its authentic architecture and patina. The Lyndon Johnson boyhood home stood near the center crossroads a block away. It was a small house, simple and neat with expansive grounds in the block. I had a sense of the man and his roots and I was moved by how simple and down to earth they both were. It was the highlight of the day. It made me ready to read the Robert Caro bio of LBJ. The next day I went with my family to the Hamilton Pool a natural limestone grotto swimming hole Southwest of Austin. The creek flowing out joins the Pedernales river, we swam in both. Later that day I was on a plane to Oakland. I am planning an Austin return to give those girls another look.
JJ
