Hurtin' but Happy, Jon Dee Returns to the Continental

A few people may have thought it wouldn't happen at all, at least early-on, when the grim reports first trickled in. Almost no one thought it would happen this soon.

But Wed. night, a month and two days after a car crash nearly killed Jon Dee Graham, he reclaimed his place on the stage at the Continental Club. Michael Hoinski was there for the Austin American-Statesman, and interviewed Graham before the show.

"Something Wonderful," the set opener, fixed the tone for the evening. This performance, against medical advice, would be both celebratory and therapeutic. Graham has often called the Continental Club his "home office," and frequently speaks of the Wed. night gigs as something transcendent and necessary in his life.

Jon Dee followed-up with "Big Sweet Life" before taking a break to talk to the fans who packed the room.

"There are some rumors floating around," he said. "First of all, I'm not dead ..."

It was a close thing, though. At least three broken ribs (one of which is still "flopping around in there,") cracked vertebra and a ruptured spleen. They're the kind of injuries that keep people from walking, much less pacing a stage and slinging a guitar.

"I have a new lease on life, and I intend to fix some things," Graham said. "Though you may not all like some of what I'm gonna do."

Then -- and we figured it was probably coming -- Graham launched into a song that is clearly less than 30 days old: "Anyone else would have laid down and died/Me? I'm just busted up inside," he sang about his near-death experience.

"Pharmacologically speaking, I've got about 32 minutes left," he joked with the crowd, before launching into another of his relatively new songs.

Next up, "Burning off the Cane," a smoky-sweet remembrance of his childhood on the Rio Grande, then "Not Beautifully Broken," an early 2008 debut that has quickly become an audience favorite.

Before that last song, Jon Dee turned to face his drummer, and -- hunched over -- grimaced in pain. It's doubtful that many in the audience saw it, but the weariness etched in Jon Dee's face as he called for longtime friend Jesse Sublett a few minutes later was obvious.

Graham told the audience about Sublett's daily visits since the accident. "He said, 'Man, if you need someone to spell you ...'," Graham recalled, turning to Sublett. "I need someone to spell me now."

Jon Dee was, he said, off to "chew some OxyContin." It's that kind of pain.

Turning over his gold Strat to the Skunks bassist, Graham disappeared into the Continental's green room. Sublett sang two of his own songs, followed by frequent Graham guest Ben Todd, who gave the audience a lovely, downbeat rendition of "Swept Away."

"You know, it's true that if you chew pain pills, the work a lot faster," Graham joked as he retook the stage. Next up was an extended version of the songwriter's new murder ballad, "How Do You Like Me Now?" followed by what has become Jon Dee's traditional closer, Dan Stuart's (Green on Red) "Muhammad Ali" -- a song about beating the odds, and a call for hope.

It was a short set, for Jon Dee. Short and very, very sweet. He'll be at the Saxon Pub Saturday

Music and more

The summer sure has flown by. Tam and I returned last week from a six-day Pacific Northwest tour, which she has written about for RoadTripAmerica.com (look for the article next weekend).

I'll post a blog about it shortly. School starts for Austin kiddos next week ... Patrick's looking forward to the 4th grade after discovering a couple of his best friends will be in his class this year.

The words around Abilene Trail this month are moths and snakes.

As many of you may know, my all-time favorite songwriter and friend Jon Dee Graham (site, MySpace) was involved in a terrible car accident at the end of July. Word is he's recovering well, if painfully, and he'll be back at the Continental Club this coming Wednesday. Come on out and show your love -- it should be a great show.

It may, however, be a different show. One of the outcomes of the accident (other than huge hospital bills and the loss of Jon Dee's Volvo -- see Greg Garrett's blog entry if you'd like to help) is that Graham had his spleen removed.

Medically, it's sort of a big deal; but the body adapts and, in fact, there's a statistically significant number of folks walking around sans spleen. My concern is what it will mean for the man's songwriting and performances:

According to Wikipedia:

In French, spleen refers to a state of pensive sadness or melancholy ... In German, the word "spleen", pronounced as in English, refers to a persisting somewhat eccentric (but not quite lunatic) idea or habit of a person .... In modern English, "to vent one's spleen" means to vent one's anger, e.g. by shouting, and can be applied to both males and females; similarly, the English term "splenetic" is used to describe a person in a foul mood.

Jon Dee Graham without a spleen ... is it the end of the hugging booth? Come to the show and find out.

If you can't make it out to the Continental Club for the comeback show, there's always the next Wednesday, and the next ... and Saturday, Aug. 31, Jon Dee will play an 11 p.m. show at the Saxon Pub.

Last night, a happy hour drink with a colleague at my favorite neighborhood bar turned into a few drinks with friends Valerie Fremin (rock photographer: MySpace) and Will T. Massey (rock star: site, MySpace).

Bonus: we got to hear porterdavis (site, MySpace). I knew Mike Meadows (site, MySpace), the band's percussionist, from his gigs with Will T., but I'd never heard the whole band together. Wow. They're really great. A whole lot of sound from a box, some bells, a mouth harp and one six-string guitar.

Catch porterdavis at Tyler Junior College, 8 p.m., Aug. 26, at Schreiner University in Kerrville, 5 p.m. Aug. 27, at Lorraine's in Marble Falls Aug. 29 (9 p.m.), at the Corner Pub in Conroe Sept. 4 (9 p.m.), at the Blues Boot Camp in Dallas Sept. 27 ... and finally, back in Austin at the Saxon Oct. 11.

Speaking of Will T. Massey, his spanking-new album, Wayward Lady, comes out Sept. 9. It's a bold return to folk music roots with political and social commentary and comes with a pretty astonishing backstory.

James McMurtry (site, MySpace) may be pissed-off by what's going on in this country, Will T. is heartbroken. Catch the CD release shows at Flipnotics (Barton Springs Rd.) Sat., Sept. 6 at 11 p.m., at the Opening Bell in Dallas Sept. 13 or Threadgill's North in Austin Friday, Sept. 19.

For you Coastal Benders reading this, you should know that Austin's favorite redhead, Idgy Vaughn (site, MySpace), is playing the Third Coast Theater in Port A tonight with Will Sexton (Sexton also plays on Will T.'s new album). Show starts at 8 p.m., tickets are $15 (and worth it, in my opinion).

Then she's on the road for a while, with a stop in Rhode Island at the Common Fence Music Concert Series in Portsmouth Sept. 27. She plays Austin next Oct. 7 at Waterloo Icehouse, and Oct. 17 at the Cactus Cafe

Speaking of the Cactus Cafe, Ari Hest (site, MySpace) will be there Tues., Sept. 2; Guy Clark (site, MySpace) with Ramblin' Jack Elliott Sept. 18; Lil' Cap'n Travis (site) on the 19th and Jimmy LaFave (site, MySpace) Sept. 27. October brings Carrie Rodriguez (site, MySpace) back home for two nights, Oct. 23 and 24. Carrie has a new album out and it's pretty terrific.

David Wilcox (he had just landed his A&M recording deal when I booked him at UD's Rathskeller back in ... oh, 1989?) (site, MySpace) will be at the Cactus Oct. 29. Wilcox is playing some protest songs these days as well. To round-out the month there, Dar Williams (site, MySpace) and Shawn Mullins (site, MySpace) will play the Cactus Oct. 30. Finally, Nov. 8, Dah-Veed Garza (site, MySpace) plays two shows at the Cactus, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Phew!

Back at the Saxon on South Lamar, Matt the Electrician (site, MySpace) continues to play the 7 p.m. show Monday nights, ahead of Bob Schneider (site, MySpace). Tuesdays are Bruce Hughes (MySpace) at 10 p.m. with some edgy, world-class funk-inspired pop. Through August, the Band of Heathens (site) have been playing the 8 p.m. show at the Saxon, ahead of Bruce. It would be cool if that continues.

Speaking of Matt, he'll be playing the eighth Wyldwood show of the season with buddy Southpaw Jones (site, MySpace). Come on out and groove and laugh under the stars in Amy and Andrew's HUGE back yard. S'mores at intermission, kids welcome (and they get in free).

In the miscellaneous category, Martin Sexton (site, MySpace) will be at the Handlebar in Greenville, SC, Oct. 15, at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta Oct. 17 and at Antone's right here in Austin Oct. 19. He'll also be at Seattle's Town Hall Oct. 25.

The Mother Truckers (site, MySpace) are still burning up the road on their Let's All go to Bed tour. I bet Josh and Teal's dog, Ajax, really misses them. They'll be back in Austin at the Continental Club Oct. 4 and at Threadgill's Oct. 25. They'll be in Portland, Ore., at Berbati's Pan Nov. 21.

Finally, check out M&S Artist Development's free happy hour shows. Mark and Sarah rep Joel Guzman and Sarah Fox (site, MySpace), No Show Ponies (site, MySpace), Shawn Nelson (site, MySpace) and more.

That should be enough to keep everyone's ears happy for a while. I'm sure I'm missing some really good stuff, but I promise the shows mentioned here don't suck!

If you're not fortunate enough to live in Austin ... if you live, say, on the Olympic Peninsula but are planning to visit Austin soon, check out some of the links and get a preview of what you might hear when you get here.

Even if you're not planning on visiting Austin anytime soon, check the artists' individual schedules; Austin musicians travel, maybe they're coming to a venue near you.

JDG is AOK

Tam and I just got back from the "anniversary" show at The Continental Club. The Continental Club is always standing room only, but it was even more so tonight. Big crowd.

Loud crowd, in the back; I assume they also paid $10 cover to get in and hear Jon Dee and the Fighting Cocks return to the stage after a 3-month hiatus, but they must have forgotten why they were there.

Bastards.

Seriously, it ticks me off. I'm all for drinking beer and BSing with my buds ... just not at the same time other people are trying to listen to music.

I've written elsewhere that Jon Dee Graham wields his guitar like it's a part of his body, another appendage. It's more than that. He is so utterly confident, so completely in control of the instrument, it's something else entirely. Something powerful. He owns that guitar, and the stage he stands on. And any audience he plays in front of.

Except for the guys in the back, who won't shut up.

Andrew Duplantis is always a pleasure to watch and listen to. Sometimes, like when he's on tour with Son Volt, he's not on stage with Graham. Then we have the pleasure of watching and listening to Harmoni Kelley, star of Naked 2007.

It's always an amazing show. It's real rock and roll, the kind where the guys (and gal) on stage are having as much fun playing as the audience is listening and dancing. It's also thought-provoking, heart-warming ... and a lot of other hyphenated adjectives.

Graham has talked publicly about his longtime struggle with depression. Some of his songs are about that; about the human condition, really.

Mark Finkelpearl, the director and producer of the forthcoming DVD about JDG's life, personally gave me permission to use that YouTube video, below, by the way. Of course, that's why he uploaded it. He'd like lots and lots of folks to post it to their blogs.

If you haven't already, give Jon Dee Graham a listen. You won't regret it.

Insider's Austin

As the deadline approached for my latest RoadTripAmerica.com contribution, I asked Tamara: "What's so great about Austin, anyway?"

"Our back porch, apparently," she replied.

I do spend a lot of time there, and I think maybe she was hinting that she would like to get out a little more than we have been lately. Okay, done. Tonight we'll head down to The Continental Club for Jon Dee Graham's CD release party.

The new, live CD is called "Swept Away" and is a companion to feature-length documentary that is scheduled to be released sometime in January. Both the CD and the DVD include bits of my first date with Tam, at Graham's Mercury Hall show early this year.

Cool, huh? I mean, how often does an established documentary filmmaker with National Geographic, Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel credits create a first-date keepsake?

I write just a little about Graham (see some thoughts on an earlier recording here) and a few other Austin singer-songwriters in the new RoadTripAmerica.com article, and also touch on some of my favorite local eateries. These are my opinions of course, and may be opinions that are not shared by other Austin residents.

My take on the city -- which for years I quietly labeled as "the most over-rated city in America" -- has changed. It's true that Austin is a bit full of itself. It's also true that it has diverse offerings that are possibly unique in this state, or even in the entire country.

One of those, of course, is my back porch. I'm heading out there now, but I'll leave you with a view of Jon Dee Graham on his back porch. This is the trailer for the upcoming DVD.