txbluesguy : Message: *LIVE HIPPIES*BILLY JOE SHAVER*WEEKEND MUSIC*HIPPIES.TV*SXDE:Giancarlo & Scotty

*GUY SCHWARTZ & THE NEW JACK HIPPIES LIVE

Saturday Night, July 22, JP Hops House, Hwy 6 & Westheimer

*WWW.HIPPIES.TV – Billy Joe Shaver

*WEEKEND MUSIC CALENDAR

*WWW.SOUTHBYDUEEAST.COM - new video (Giancarlo & Scotty)

It’s 4:55am, and I’ve taken out the laptop in order to write this letter, or, more accurately, to keep myself from falling asleep in this torn grey vinyl chair in the waiting area for Gate 44 at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina.

I’m headed to Texas for shows at JP Hops House on Saturday, and our monthly Western Beat/Houston show on the last Friday of the month at Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar in the Heights next Friday.

If you haven't been to JP Hops House, it's a great listening room with an equally great sound, just a block north of Westheimer on Hwy 6.

Things will be a bit weird for me on these shows because I won’t be using my own guitars, which will stay in NC for now. I had intended to drive back, but I ran into good fortune here and elected to stay a few extra days.

What type of good fortune, one might ask?

Well - allow me to digress…

I had intended to come here to relax and edit the SOUTH BY DUE EAST 2006 footage, while enjoying the beautiful change of scenery and slightly cooler climate. Most days, it’s 90 degrees and humid as hell in this part of North Carolina, but that’s 5-10 degrees cooler than Houston!

When I logged onto the myspace page for westernbeat/houston a few weeks ago, I had a ‘friend request’ from Dave Turner of Asheville, North Carolina. After approving Dave as one of my ‘friends’, Dave wrote back to say thanks, and to say that if I ever passed his way, please come join him at a weekly writers-in-the-round which he hosts at The Root Bar in Asheville. Marlo and Donna said that Ashville is is a very cool place, so I wrote back, “It just so happens that I’ll be in NC next week, and would love to join you…”

So, after settling in at Donna’s place for a couple days, Marlo and I took off to Asheville. Asheville is a beautiful town, full of mountains and freaks. It reminds me of Austin before the boom. We checked into the Motel 6 across the highway from the bar, and Marlo went swimming while I went to sound check. Dave Turner is a piano playing singer/songwriter, and his style could best be described as descended from Elton John. Dave’s other guest was a fellow named Paco Shipp. After I mentioned Paco in the last letter, Billy Block wrote back, “I know Paco Shipp! He’s an amazing harp player, and a great guy – used to play with Billy Joe Shaver.”

Cool! Any friend of Billy and Billy is probably going to be a friend of mine!

It was a great night of music. Paco and I jumped right in on Dave’s songs, and then we did the same on each other’s tunes. It was clear that Dave and Max (the owner of The Root Bar) loved every minute of it. Turns out they had never had one of their Tuesdays turn so musical. They had gotten used to each songwriter (in the round) taking turns while the others patiently listened toto the others, or faked listening, as they awaited their turn. This had been the first time that the three featured writers had joined in to back each other up. Paco & I knew no better – we were used to jamming!

The music grooved pretty well!

Poor Dave! Not all songwriters have the musical abilities to jam like that. Not all songwriters have songs which are easy enough to follow. Being able to write songs take a couple of talents, very separate from the talents needed to jam and support another. To do this, one must have a good ear (natural or developed with training) with the proper ability, and willingness to listen, as well some proficiency at playing an instrument – and the knack for improvising on that instrument (again - natural or developed with training). Plus – If a song is too complex (and if the performing songwriter doesn’t know to clue the other songwriters about the tricky parts), the song is over before the others figure it out. I’ve written songs especially simple so that others couls easily follow along and support or jam.

Max loved these inspired jams so much that Dave will be on the spot to create that type of synergy every week from now on! <g>

Marlo got it on video, and Dave always records audio for a podcast, so you’ll be seeing and hearing it soon! I hope to do another of these, and to see more of Paco Shipp before my time in the Carolinas is up.

It’s 7am, and I’m now in the waiting area by gate C9 at the airport in Charlotte. I’m right next to a Nathan’s Hot Dogs which is across from Sbarro’s Pizza and Starbuck’s. There’s a seafoof restaurant on the other side of me, and fried chicken next to that. The chairs are comfortable enough, but I think it’s time to eat. These are some of my favorite fast foods. I’m gonna stop writing for a bit. I wonder where the restrooms are. I may decide to live here…

At Donna’s recommendation, we ate at a place called Salsa’s in Asheville, and listened to her favorite western NC radio station. The food was Mexican and Carribean, and although it was beautiful, colorful, and full of veggies, I found myself longing for Tex-Mex. I mean – their enchiladas were flat and layered, not a rolled-up tortilla in site!

The food on this trip has been great! Besides Donna's gourmet southern fare, I was looking forward to some great Italian food and pizza. MArlo thought I was nuts to expect good Italian here in the south, but I explained to her that Italians who came to NYC didn't all stay there. Many a son or daughter of that first generation moved west or south to escape their families or just to set out on their own. Philly was first, but that generation moved places like D.C. and Boston, too. I was certain that there would be third and fifth generations who moved a bit further south, and that we could probably stop at the first pizza joint we came to and blow the socks off anything in Houston (except Sal's, Antonio's, and Fuzzy's, of course). I was right! The pizzas and strombolis I've eaten have been fantastic!

After food, we went on a scenic drive up The Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Marshall (?), and took in a few scenic vistas. MMmmmm…VISTAS!

While walking around downtown Asheville (sic), I noted that I had friends playing in Asheville on the weekend. My friend Kingbee from Section7 would play on Saturday night with Dark Star Orchestra (he plays Bobby Weir), and Billy Joe Shaver would be at the same venue on Friday night. I had the feeling I would return soon.

On the way home to Winston, after listening to this great radio station for the past 24 hours, I decided that we would stop at WNCW. What a great group of radio people. Dennis showed me their live recording/broadcasting studio, which rivaled many a good prto-audio studio! He also showed me some sock-monkeys, and told me that he is a long-time correspondent of Olivia’s (from Super Happy Fun Land & Organ Failure). Cool! Roger took me on the station tour, where I met a half-dozen staff members, all of whom made me feel welcome. I’ll be back there, too!

When I returned to Winston-Salem, I checked out a few websites. Looked like Billy Joe would be in the state a few days, playing Winston on the Saturday night after that Asheville Friday night show. Although more convenient, the Winston show was a high-dollar charity event at a large theatre, so I figured I’d have a better time finding Billy Joe at the smaller venue in Asheville. Besides, I really liked Asheville a lot!

On Wednesday, I attended a blues jam in Greensboro, and on Thursday, Donna and Paul took us to hear The Waybacks from San Francisco. The Waybacks play a jazz/bluegrass/folk/rock acoustic fusion which rivals anyone on that field. Bela Fleck – watch out! Although each musician in The Waybacks was brilliant on their instruments, Warren Hood, from Austin (son of the late great Champ Hood), was the newest member of the band, and really stuck out as the star of the show. You can check out Warren on our www.hippies.tv episode from last season at Gruene Hall. After that, Marlo and I went to a jam, and discovered a bluesman named Ray Barnett. If you ever hear that name...

On Friday, I decided to head back to Asheville for the Billy Joe Shaver concert at a place called The Orange Peel. A former roller-skating rink, this place was well suited for Billy’s type of concert, with a large proscenium stage and open hall with good lights, sound and staff. And those wooden planks on the floor – look down and you’d think you were still skating! Billy Joe greeted me enthusiastically, and after catching up on our personal lives (what personal lives?) and finding out why I was on the eastern seaboard, introduced me to his new band. These guys were from the Waco area, and called themselves DIAMONDBACK TEXAS. They were already a band before they started playing with Billy Joe, and I’m sure they will continue being a band on their own, too.

The lighting was great, so I whipped out the Panasonic (with Billy’s permission), and shot the whole show. It looked beautiful in the viewfinder, but there was a tape screwup. One out of every 100-200 cassettes turns out to be bad, but why did it have to be this one. I was so disappointed.

Billy was beat and headed to the motel, and the band invited me to go drinking and looking for women with them. It was still early enough for an easy 2 hour drive (11:30pm), so I headed back to Winston. The mist on the mountain restricted visibility to the point where I couldn’t go faster than 20mph, so I wound up pulling over at 3am and sleeping at a rest stop for a couple hours.

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