Lee was not only the bartender on the evening of the show but also a named tropical storm that had ruined any chance of me having a successful weekend in business. The media did the rest of the job leaving Bolivar baron and the Old Quarter quiet. The show now served as an escape from my severe cabin fever after several Monk marathons on Ion.

This impromptu hurricane party would also serve as a regularly scheduled CD release party. Michael O’Connor released “The Devil Stole The Moon” August 2^nd on Bare Knuckles Recordings Label produced and engineered by Jack Saunders at his White Cat Studios in Houston, Texas. Adam Carroll has co-writing credits on three of the ten songs so it was a treat to have him here to support MOC tonight. OQA is owned and operated by the legendary sound tech Wrecks Bell who made his way to the stage to introduce the two Texas troubadours. Wrecks enjoys having either of these two in town but when they are together it’s always twice the agony. MOC played on Wrecks CD and all three are very close friends.

MOC started the night with “Throw a Nickel” off the Hard Times disc that he and AC released in 2009. I reviewed the CD release for that album the last time we were all in this same building – #5 – Adam Carroll & Michael O’Connor – Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe – Galveston, TX . AC began his end of the song-swap with “Girl With The Dirty Hair” – a song he would have named “Galveston” if Glenn Campbell had not beat him to it. A lyric about his brief stay on the island and often covered by OQA alum Hayes Carll. Wrecks loves to give AC hell – “Adam Carroll is the man that put Hayes Carll on the map”.

In keeping with the Galveston/Hard Times theme, MOC busted out another one off that disc – “Bernadine”. A song which holds a line that is one of my possible epitaphs – “Off a run down, low rent, Gulf Coast loser like me”. Despite all the pomp and circumstance tonight, MOC and AC are storytellers that drag their nets in the Bay of Real Life – two grown men who toil over syllable and rhyme for hours, days, weeks and/or years until they present their prized catch to the other sullied seamen.

An OQA jersey wearing, Jake-leg limping, and Starbock drinking AC segued into the reason for Labor Day. LABOR – imagine that. Organized labor that is with “AFL-CIO” and talk of bumper stickers that say “The Union Gave You The Weekend”. AFL-CIO is a song about him sitting in on a bluegrass jam with union plant workers. The Labor movement and folk music are blood brothers and even though unions seem to have fallen out of favor it is good to be reminded by Adam Carroll and Otis Gibbs of the sacrifices workers made for the work benefits we take for granted. That is if you are lucky enough to have a job today.

I’m learning that MOC is like Elvis-freakin’-Costello when it comes to Texas music knowledge. He drops all sorts of names which I jot down and intend to research. The one name that was in the spotlight tonight was Rocky Benton – a blind black man born in Silsbee that spent the better part of 20 years blowing the prison whistle in Corpus Christi’s blues scene before he died in 2009 at age 57. MOC wrote “Burn” in honor of his friend. A harmonica player that wore harps of all keys in a waist belt and was revered for being able to sit in right on time and in key – every time – 3 and 4 gigs a night. AC’s harp playing on this song was soul piercing and the best I have ever heard him play – even if his D harp had been broken the night before.

Still feeling the sting from his fresh upper arm tattoo of his latest album’s cover, Michael O’Connor was busting balls in a way that only he can. It did not help that there were only 25 paid attendees max when a couple in the back row sitting next to me began to irritate our host. In her defense, I had been overhearing the lady try to explain the intricacies of what I have laid out earlier in this review to her tool of a date. MOC stopped mid-song and stared their way – “I can hear everything your saying baby!!” The two walked out shortly which lead MOC to deliver the punch line – “I thought they were never gonna leave!!” Short laughs were interrupted when someone told O’Connor there was a speaker outside….without missing a note he joked throughout the next few songs until the lady came back in by herself to hear the rest of the show. She sat and shouted toward the stage – “I am here because of you!!” MOC had met his match and thanked her for being able to take a joke….It was a classic!!!

Other highlights of the night for me were hearing MOC play “Getaway Car”. A superb song that I was introduced to by Slaid Cleaves on his “Unsung” album many years back. MOC plays guitar for Slaid on tour. Also, AC played a new song he has been working on that deals with a guitar that only has one song in it and he wrote it for a love….rough and unfinished but undoubtedly AC will toil over before serving on CD.

I would have to say that I was once again taught that just when you think you have it all figured out you eventually will be humbled. Some people just need to be more humbled than others. Actual results may vary. Until next time, I will see you out supporting live music.