This was a big work week for both of us – I started my new job and Diana had her big project in downtown Dallas to spin off a new company go live on Thursday – what we’ve been calling “D Day”. The project went much better than anyone had expected with the CEOs of both companies saying nice words to the team. Diana did a great job of keeping everyone organized and motivated to make this happen so smoothly.
Monday got off to a bit of a slow start for me – had to wait on a replacement plane coming from a hanger and then circled Austin a bit because of fog at the airport. I was happy to see some good breakfast taco options at the airport – I’ll take advantage of those next week.
I made it to the office by 11 am and started the whole on-boarding process – filling out forms, new laptop, phone, meeting oodles of people and trying to remember their names. The office is very modern and comfortable and everybody was very pleasant and welcoming.
Our hotel was just across the river from downtown Austin and I was happy to see turntable and guitar art above the bed. You can see how high the river is from all the recent torrential rain. My boss and I walked to downtown and had a delicious Italian meal at Red Ash – my welcome aboard dinner.
Tuesday was a long day at the office, learning a lot about the business and what needs to be done with Information Technology. We had a quick dinner at the hotel bar and called it a day.
Diana had snuck a card for every day of my first week into my suitcase – my parents just told me how spoiled I am – I know. The Halloween card made me laugh out loud – Pumpkin Penguin.
Each of the groups of hotel employees had created a pumpkin for a competition. Here are my two favourites:
On Halloween night I was able to catch my first concert. Doyle Bramhall II was playing at Antone’s. Doyle has been a favourite for many years – I saw him with the Arc Angels in San Antonio more than 20 years ago and have seen him a few times in Eric Clapton’s band. He is an amazing guitar player and songwriter. I visited Antone’s from San Antonio in their previous location but hadn’t been to the downtown, 5th street location.
Dinner before the concert was at Elizabeth St, a French Vietnamese restaurant that I had noticed while visiting the Seventh Flag coffee shop.
I’ve been very pleased with the number of independent coffee shops in Austin – a nice change from the plethora of Starbucks in the Dallas area. You can see the airstream trailer in the background of the Seventh Flag picture – this is one of many food truck areas throughout the city – another nice feature that I’ll have to start exploring.
Back to Elizabeth St – amazing poached shrimp spring rolls and sauce selection followed by a delicious Banh Mi with chicken liver mousse, pork pate and roasted pork. The house made baguette was very good as well.
And now back to the concert. CC Adcock opened the show with his excellent band from Lafayette. Antone’s was running a costume contest and the majority of the crowd were dressed up. I had seen CC Adcock once before in New Orleans and remembered him as a talented guitar player and songwriter. He put on a great show for over an hour and really got the crowd warmed up. Here’s one of his songs:
Doyle Bramhall delivered an amazing set for close to 2 hours. A highlight for me was when he brought Lukas Nelson (Willie’s son and a big part of “The Star is Born” movie) out to play on a couple of songs. They did an excellent cover of Dylan’s “Going, going, gone”. Here’s the guitar solo form that and then a verse:
It was a little after 1 am when I made it back to the hotel – tired but very happy with the Austin music scene and with Antone’s music club.
Thursday was a reasonable day at the office. I was able to get out at a decent time, look at an apartment (very small) and then go for a walk along the river trail and find the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue.
On Friday morning I tried another one of the local coffee shops – this one is close to my hotel and open 24 hours a day -very good coffee and food and lots of seating. I made it back to Dallas around 4pm and met Diana close to her office downtown for a drink and a snack before we headed over to Oak Cliff for dinner and a concert.
Dinner was at Nova (our new favourite pre-concert dinner spot) and then Marcia Ball at the Kessler.
We’ve seen Marcia a number of times in Dallas and New Orleans and she never disappoints with her one of a kind honky-tonk, barrelhouse piano and a mix of upbeat and melancholy songs. Shelley King opened the show, reminding us of the memorable Poor David’s show we saw where Shelley, Marcia and Carolyn Wonderland all performed together. Here’s a funny song from Shelley:
Marcia had been inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame on Thursday night. Austin City Limits is the long running PBS music show that is revered by its audience and musicians alike. I obviously need to get on some mailing lists so that I don’t miss important Austin events like this going forward.
She delivered an excellent set. My favourite was her outstanding cover of Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927” – such a foreshadowing of Katrina.
As usual, the band was excellent. Here’s a song that showcases Mike Schermer, the guitar player in Marcia’s band for many years.
And finally, here’s a song about Mardi Gras that I enjoyed that includes Shelley King:
I made it home to my own bed for the first time in the week around midnight.
We saw the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” on Saturday afternoon. This was very well done, starting and finishing with the famous Live Aid performance by Queen. I remember watching it at the home of my Gearhart boss, the Sunday before my first day of work following University. My take away from the movie was how happy Freddie Mercury was when performing, and how tortured he was when trying to deal with everyday life – very sad story.
The movie ends with a reenactment of the full 20 minute Live Aid set, and I thought a better ending would have included the final song that Freddie and Brain May perform later in the event – “Is This the World we Created”. What an amazing thing Bob Geldoff did in 1985.
Our typical Sunday started with a workout, then coffee and a crossword – theme “Maniacs” – key clues: “Pork Lo Mein”, “Spanish Main”, “Flowing Mane”, and some city in the state of “Maine” that I don’t remember now. Get it? Different spellings of “Main” comprise “Maniacs”. Right now, I’m watching the New Orleans Saints destroy the Los Angeles Rams (the only undefeated team left at 8-0). 35-17 at the half. I’m officially picking the Saints for the Super Bowl this year.
We probably don’t need any more music this week, but here’s a song that Antone’s was playing before the show. They play a great mix of early 60s soul/R&B music. This is by Eddie Kendricks and I love the sound:
And since I haven’t had a chance to do any real reading this week, we’ll replace the book update with a song from Mighty Mike Schermer (Marcia Ball’s guitarist):