January 9 2004
Buckhorn Theatre & Opera House
Pinos Altos, NM

Karen Savoca & Pete Heitzman:

Nowhere To Go
Same All Over
Between Girl & Gone
You Just Don't Get It
On The River Road


Greg Brown:

Early
Dear Wrinkled Face
Hillbilly Girl
Hey, Baby, Hey
The Book
InaBell Sale
Our Little Town
These Hills I Call Home
I Want My Country Back
Wash My Eyes *
Two Little Feet *
Never So Far *
Enough *
Driftless *
Hacklebarney Tune *

{Sleeper *}
{The Shape I'm In *}



January 10 2004
Buckhorn Theatre & Opera House
Pinos Altos, NM

Karen Savoca & Pete Heitzman:

I Call Your Name
To Colorado
Somedays
Love Is A Hammer
Woman In A Frame


Greg Brown:

Folsom Prison Blues
Out In The Country
Samson & Delilah
Pretty Polly
Ballad of Billy The Kid [Reverend Andrew Jenkins, not the Billy Joel
version, you sickos ;) ]
The Late John Garfield Blues
Are The Good Times Really Over?
The Girl From The North Country
Ring Of Fire
Where Is Maria?
Me & The Devil Blues
Gambling Barroom Blues [Jimmie Rodgers]
Smell Of Coffee *
Let Me Be Your Gigolo *

{No Place Away *}
{Jacob's Ladder *}

{Hacklebarney Tune *}

* w/ Karen Savoca & Pete Heitzman

Well, another year has come and gone in New Mexico [and I can't wait
to hear about last night w/ Steve Earle, so please, someone fill us
in!] and another coupla treats were had.
First off, thanks to Faye and Tonya, et. all at the Mimbres Region
Arts Council for the shows, Uwe for the great sound and continued
open mind to my cables and mics and mixers and such...and to Mitch
for keeping things straight and o course GregKarenPete for the fun
and trust!

We left Tucson after filling our bellies at brunch w/ Lezlie's boyz
Tony, Bob and Mike and her brother Dave and love Bonnie. It was great
to chill w/ y'all~!
The taping or-deal in Tucson: i sent some of my gear [my small DAT]
down w/ Lezlie with operating instructions on how to plug in and
run...yet she was greated w/ formidable resistance as the lighting
tech had been given a friend's DAT deck to plug in.
Obviously he patched in to the board around soundcheck and left us to
come outta him.
Too bad.
Cuz he peaked the levels a few times and dear Lezlie's not to blame
because the sound engineer made it sound like he had a handle on
things.
And of course the menfolk gave off the competent-we-know-what-we're
doing-/insert Tim Allen gutteral mumbling here/-vibes
The real issue here:
Sexism.
Yup, there just aren't that many female tapers out there and too many
women-bad-with-technology cro-magnon fueled stereotypes.
This is just plain wrong.
So hoist your drink, or lift your mouse and welcome Lezlie to the
club of tapers!
You did an amazing job given the hurdles of attiturd and ignorance!

After soundcheck in Pinos i couldn't save as many seats as I wanted
to, but all had a good time nonetheless.
The backdrop, to many folks' dismay, was not the usual landscape
framed by nudes, but a fake brick facade...oh well, we ain't here for
the architecture...
Or are we?
See, the Buckhorn saloon goes back to 1865 w/ the venue hovering
around near there as well.
A majestic place w/ inlaid wood patterns on the ceiling and wonderful
wrought iron chandeliers, and eight creaky ole boxes hanging above
the floor. Cool felt wallpaper and enough Mimbres pottery on display
to make a few ancestors cringe. The bar sits in the rear corner, just
across from a wood stove that'll take about an 1/8th a cord!
The place sounds spectacular when packed and although the decibels
never get above 90, the room reverberates with it's soul and age.
The bass cycles wave in and out and the treble's clear. With no bad
seat in the house [even if you're planted at the bar], this is an
attentive listener's dream.
The first night's soundcheck was hilarious.
It went right up till doors [6:45] and then some.
It had been fairly mild down by the Gila, but when the sun dropped,
those in line could really feel the bite.

Karen and Pete have won me over.
I know I have held different opinions in the past and now I feel
like that body part that is oft linked with opinions and their
presence....you know the saying ;)
Well, not really; but let's just say that my mind was a tad critical.
Their accompaniment was sublime.
Pete has found the zone for backing Greg.
Heresy! some might scream...
And you'd be damn close to right, as I too am an unabashed Bo-Backer.
But man, listen to him NAIL Rick Danko's bass line on _Shape_, create
little pools for us to move through in _Sleeper_, and spill the dirt
on _Enough_ and you may change camps.
Karen, of course, weaves her silken modulations in and out of the
chorus with perfection. Just right, not too tight, attentive and
aware.
It was nice of them to mix up their sets for us to get a range of
their material.

After the show that night we hung tough, closed down the saloon,
[i've always wanted to say that :) ] and took the party back to the
Bear Creek Cabins into the wee hours.
After only a bit o sleep we piled in my new-to-me-volvo [yes, it
looks as if Simba, the blue car, has shit the bed at 270,000...this
one's an 88 wagon w/ only 150,000] and hit the Center Fork of the
Gila.

When we got there the spring's were pretty much non-existent, save
for a
retaining wall of river rocks nowhere up to normal Maginot Line
standards. I got the pleasure of gathering more river rocks and
building some pools outta memory...hope I came close! It was nice to
repay the countless favours I've received, when upon showing up to
other springs, they're in good shape and clean, etc....
A fast meal and it was off to the Buckhorn to fire up the gear.
A quick note on how nice it is to have multi-night runs: having only
to load tape and do a line check is an immense privilege!
The show, oh intrepid reader, you may ask?

Well, let's hop right to the...end.
I mentioned _Enough_ yeah?
Well, close the door on the sucker cuz I don't know how [though I
always hope it does] get topped. Berry pickin' raps and all. That
space was getting hot!
A show that starts out w/ _Early_ is destined for greatness and we
weren't wrong in calling it that way. The song selection took us
through the topical and the romantic with enough levity to put
everything into perspective. This show's in my top ten! _Feet_ was
sung w/ more recognizable lyrics, but it's-a-morphin' [though it HAD
been pretty much a year since my last gb show].

Saturday night was obviously cover-paradise!
Seven in a row / ten outta the first twelve tunes...
I graciously received a few requests outta this and last night and
admittedly they were mostly covers.
But I like hearing interpretations of things that I might have made
my mind up on, and that's not limited to song stylings...it's just
nice to have a fresh breath blown into an old balloon.
_Devil_ was nice and atmospheric, and I coulda sworn the house lights
flickered a bit :)
The only other band that does Robert Johnson justice is Widespread
Panic, and that's with six musicians!
I don't pretend to know what's in my own mind at times, but I'll
hazard [county] a guess that _Hacklebarney_ needed to come out again
for both familial and clam reasons...the version this night topped
the previous' set closer.

Again, thanks to Greg and karen and Pete and Mitch!
And to Tina, Lezlie, Dave and Bonnie, Lisa, Tony, Bob, Mike, Matt and
Hadassah, TexasMike, and everyone else: can't wait to do it again!

take care
and
happy trails all ye wonderful folk
richard from flagstaff