day thirteen, austin

we wake up and borrow the hotel’s wireless after checkout to plan our day. we find our room for tonight, find a possible place to play our open mic and determine that we will see "fishbone" at emo’s tonight.

we check in to the super 8 (or, as matt likes to call it, the super great) and like real rock stars we party and rehearse in the hotel room before our show. we pack up our instruments and walk the 14 blocks to the little coffee shop called "the hideout." there are several other guitarists scattered around the place messing around waiting for things to get started. i feel a little anxious because they each eye us as we pass and i cannot tell if they are friendly.

someone (derek t. washington) gets up to play and he is better than i expected an open mic nighter at a coffee shop to be. but this is austin. and each act that follows is better than the previous and they are all trying to “make it.” matt and i are impressed from our table in the back and drink our beers faster until it’s our turn.

it is uncomfortable. in about 100 square feet of space there are 10 people on couches and at tables. right in front of you. not two feet away. but we start. we play “lonely gift” and make it through without error. polite applause. we play “you will always be the same” and it sounds good. according to matt he flubs a couple of times but i couldn’t tell. more applause and it is a relief to be finished. everyone is exceedingly complimentary and makes us feel at home. we move up to the couches in front and watch the other acts play again through more of their own songs.

it is a real musical community. they all know each other, improv with each other and jam together. they perform covers and originals and it is truly entertaining to be there. i am a regular at coffee houses, coast to coast and i have seen my share of open mics. but being there as a part of the action and actually participating was a different experience. and really fun. matt is a newby on the coffeehouse scene but i tell matt he should do this in Chicago. he would get to know talented people and kindred spirits.

we talk with the artists after the music is over. chase Holbrook has a band called the porch cats. they consist of a guitarist (chase), violinist and drummer. they have a country flair and played standards like “rocky top” but it’s also a little angsty and when the girl sings with him it sounds like the soundtrack from “once.”


andrew stone is a very talented and rather young guitar player. he reminded me a little of jeff buckley. matt would describe his sound as “blues infused indie rock.” he just quit his job to record his first cd.

aaron also played. he seemed to play more to the crowd doing more covers than the others and inviting everyone to join in.

overall, it was a fantastic experience and i wish we had remembered to video tape it. we haul our instruments back to the hotel, regroup and head back out.

our first stop is a little pizza place that serves new jersey style pizza. meanwhile, it starts snowing. snowing in austin, texas when it was in the 70s just a few hours before. how can this be? everyone mutters as they come in the pizza place “i thought i came to austin to get away from this.”

next stop, emo’s. hands stamped, we are greeted by the sounds of heavy mojo . they have an extremely heavy sounding guitar, keys and two rappers. i can dig it.

a mass exodus to the smoking area.

and now it’s time for the main event. fishbone comes on stage to the cheers of a dedicated group of fans. they must be dedicated because the place is packed at midnight on a school night. doesn’t anyone in this town have a real job to get to tomorrow morning?

if you haven’t heard of fishbone, i can feel comfortable recommending you check them out. matt is familiar with them and thinks he may have seen them perform in baltimore 20 years ago. their sound runs the gamut from salsa to punk to reggae to ska to blues to you name it. they have a 3 piece horn section—the lead singer plays the saxophone, which i think is really cool. they also emphasize the bass line in a lot of their songs and this is fitting because the bassist is amazing. in fact, the review in the paper for tonight’s show simply read “slap bass never dies.” he opens the set playing on a fretless electric bass. again, i think this is really cool.

a few songs in, they play one of their more famous songs (matt knows it) called “everyday sunshine.” this gets the crowd really going and inspires the lead singer to jump from the stage and crowd surf. you just don’t see that much anymore these days. at least i don’t. it is crazy.

as the night goes on, each band member sheds articles of clothing. the lead singer is topless and extremely sweaty and one of the horn players sports a fishbone “fuck racism” t-shirt. while i appreciate and support this sentiment, i do not buy one of these from the merch booth.

matt voices his regret that there are just not bands around anymore like fishbone. he thinks the younger generations are missing out. except that fishbone is still playing today. and i count myself glad to have seen them.

it is windy, dark, and freezing as we return to the super gr8t but we are warmed by our buzzes and the glow of having just witnessed a great show. that and the 14 blocks of walking help, too.