This being the initial installment of the Texas Three-Step, we added an extra show for your enjoyment.

Warehouse Live – Daniel Barker

On December 26th, the day after Christmas, Hayes Carll topped the bill performing with The Band of Heathens and Adam Carroll at the Warehouse Live Studio in outskirts of downtown Houston, Texas. This venue was larger than most for any of the three artists without doubt but combined the risk paid off with a packed house out early on a vacation day for many of the fans. For undetermined reasons, Adam Carroll cancelled. Oddly enough it was known that AC was performing in the area with Owen Temple leading up to and after this night. As an Adam Carroll fan, it was an interesting career choice, in my opinion, short of a true emergency.

Houston’s own John Evans stepped up to open the show featuring mostly new, unreleased material. Alone and giving Hayes Carll’s acoustic Gibson a rock-a-billy strumming, Evans songs were strong and showed potential for a strong upcoming release. John Evans and Hayes Carll go way back having written and performed together many times from Toga parties at Houston’s Continental Club to most recently The World Cafe. So much in fact, they have an alter-ego act they call the Ego Bros based on the premise of only writing songs about how great they both are…John Evans latest collaboration with Roger Creager, “I’m From the Beer Joint” was the number 1 song on The 2008 Texas Music Chart.

The Bands of Heathens are the only artist of the Texas singer-songwriter based genre that could equal the 2008 rise equal to that of Hayes Carll. By pure fan based demand in THE city of music, Ed Jurdi, Gordy Quist, and Colin Brooks were formed and since have transformed into a wonderful Austin super group of sorts traveling coast to coast to support the self titled studio album released late 2007 on the bands own indie label – BOH Records. The Band of Heathens were recognized at the 2006/2007 Austin Music Awards as the Best New Band and were a standup amongst many contemporaries at the 2nd annual Stingaree Music Festival hosted by Hayes Carll in Crystal Beach, Texas receiving a improbable standing ovation at the end of blistering nooner set.

The BOH with rhythm section of Seth Whitney-bass and John Shipman-percussion had a good set list that included “Hallelujah”, “Heart on My Sleeve”, and a more upbeat version of “Cornbread” for the ladies….Several of which had made it down front and center to get an eyeful of the handsome group. In fact, two ladies in particular were brought to “front row freakin’”  which did seem a tad bit out of place but what the hell you only have Hayes Carll up next…..

Hayes Carll and The Gulf Coast Orchestra consist of Kenny Smith-drums, local boy Scott Davis-lead guitar, Ricky Ray Jackson-Steel/Guitar, and former Dedringer John Michael Schoepf-bass.  Having been back close to home, the recent rest was evident from the very start as Hayes was fired up to see and hear the large crowd singing all his songs. The band had the large room to let loose in and turned it up hitting their stride on Hayes’s interpretation of Scott Nolan’s “Bad Liver & A Broken Heart”…The album version’s driving riff is laid down by The Georgia Satellite’s front man Dan Baird and is the foundation for a musically polar opposite to the slow acoustic, harmonica laced original but upholds the lyrical integrity of the great song. An unusually all business Hayes saved the stories for another night and drove thru the set list like he was on the way to “Little Rock”…He sang Tom Waits “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” with conviction. Interestingly, Tom Waits has his own song titled “Bad Liver and A Broken Heart” as well. The definitive moment of the night was “Beaumont”. A song whose Gulf Coast landmark riddled lyric was spot on for the chilly night… “It was cold as hell for Houston. It was almost New Year’s Eve.”

HC’s voice seemed to be getting back in shape…HC had contracted strep throat while on tour and never truly took the time off he needed to recover fully. It was already better at the unlikely gig I attended in disbelief at The Lighting of The Doves event in The Woodlands. It was hard for Hayes to be at his best when 50% of his audience was under 10. An audience not too keen in the poetry of substance abuse and deep depression but Hayes toned it down and played the gig. The healing was none more apparent than in his soft rendition of a new unreleased song “I’m Grateful for Christmas This Year”. Hayes performed the song in his recent appearance on The Don Imus Show after DI had declared “She Left Me for Jesus” the greatest country song ever and struggled with it vocally. A fitting song for the local son/husband/friend/father singing to a crowd coming to the end of an unprecedented year in the devastation of Hurricane Ike and the inspirational election of Barrack Hussein Obama.

Hayes Carll, reared in The Woodlands, Texas, had decided to live at the family beach house in Crystal Beach, Texas after graduating from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas with a history degree in 1998 after a summer of working corn fields in Iowa. He spent several years on the coast proper playing local dives on the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston’s Old Quarter Acoustic Café owned by Townes Van Zandt’s bass player and dear friend Wrecks Bell. Hayes knew the topography and the people while he watched the fragmented overseas Ike coverage coming in while on tour in Europe.

One thing I would like to point about this particular show besides how TGCO rocked was the artist presence in the crowd…John Evens, all the BOH, Mando Saenz as well as members of The Front Porch Society including Matt Harlan plus numerous people that are in “the biz” where hanging out and having a hell of time. The night proved to be the official homecoming for Hayes Carll and he looked glad to be home.

McGonigal’s Mucky Duck – Daniel Barker

On January 23rd, Hayes Carll and TGCO were at McGonigals Mucky Duck for a more intimate performance at a great music club in Southwest Houston, Texas. Hayes naturally ran late on the 7 show and the 9:30 crowd was filling up the porch in the back of The Duck eagerly anticipating Hayes return back in his premiere setting in almost a year. No Hayes Carll show is complete without storytelling a way only Hayes can deliver. It is all in the timing and Hayes has it. This night served up a nice large salad of songs and tales lightly tossed with TGCO…

The proven venue was the setting for hearing songs as close to their recordings as available on the road without “Trouble in Mind” producer Brad Jones. “Girl Downtown”, “It’s a Shame” and the banjo blessed “I Got a Gig” were standouts. Hayes also played a quirky unreleased song that has become a mainstay in his sets called “Learn Your Name”. Prefacing “Gig”, Hayes told the story of his working musician days in Crystal Beach at one point encouraging anyone to attend a Sharky’s Ladies Night for “more shrimper boots and Virginia Slim 120’s then you’ve ever seen”. Then reminded that Sharky’s is gone, HC took this time to announce that the Stingaree Festival was on for 2009 for the weekend of May 30th on Bolivar Peninsula.  They were teaming up with the local annual Crab Festival as a fundraiser for the locals affected by Hurricane Ike. He had recently been back to view the raw power of nature firsthand.

The highlight of the night was what HC refers to as his “Arkansas Trilogy” pointing out that his manager thought it was a not a good career move while working with an very stubborn mike stand especially equipped with Hayes’s cup holder for his glass of bourbon. Fact is, HC is doing something right for his career racking up one award after another…Trouble in Mind was the #1 album on Americana Radio in 2008 & was rated the #2 Album of 2008 by No Depression magazine. “She Left Me for Jesus” won Song of the Year from the Americana Music Association. All this and already booked to tour with The Drive by Truckers and then Robert Earl Keen.

The trilogy consisted of a heart breaking version of the rarely played “Arkansas Blues” wrapped with Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” as a backdrop. I’ll save that punch line for the ones there that night. The sequel proved to be “Trouble in Mind” followed by the pumping finally “Little Rock”. The night ended with an encore of Hayes and guitarist Scott Davis playing “Easy Come and Easy Go”. As with most shows, Hayes was seen outback shortly after greeting fans and signing autographs.

In a likely turn of events, HMR had heard that John Evans was over at Blanco’s catching a Hollister’s reunion show that was sure to be badass this same night. We headed over to catch the second set and see if Hayes rolled over for anything impromptu with his Ego Bros. Hayes & crew did show up but left the tunes up to the Houston treasure…I would have loved to be a fly on Snit’s shoulder listening to the shop talk going out on the porch with likes of Barfield, Snit, Eddie Dale, Cletus, Hayes, & Evans….With that said, the Ego Bros did fill in it at the last minute for the Robinon brothers cancelled gig to help Rusty at The Duck shortly after…

Old Quarter Acoustic Café – Daniel Barker

On January 31st, Wrecks Bell welcomed the son he never wanted back to his Old Quarter Acoustic Café for night that would be a celebration of many things this night represented. The OQAC had just recently re-opened post Ike after many fundraisers all around Texas and a motley crew of volunteers got the historic venue back on its feet. The night was also the 4th wedding anniversary of Hayes and Jenna Carll, and with Jenna in attendance this night, it would add only another layer to the seemingly unflappable Hayes persona. The ladies like Hayes and they would be disappointed tonight as it was evident how much he loves his wife.

This night would also prove trying for fans of the more rocking Hayes. Playing with only an accompanying guitarist, the set list reflected the comfort that HC felt at this place he really developed as a singer-songwriter. And what a place to begin, literally playing stage right of Wrecks Bell’s shrine to his friends and collaborators Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt. An interesting comparison can be made about the use of their middle names as their first names for the oddly referred to pair as Hayes and Townes…Also, with the likes of Ray Wylie Hubbard, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and The Sister Morales often booking gigs at OQAC, Hayes was a singer-songwriter boot camp. Everyone took a shine to Hayes and the rest is history…

Tonight also marked a reunion for Hayes with guitarist Gary Reagan. Gary was a member of the short lived group Hayes Carll and The Hayseeds not to be confused with Hayes actual first band, The Southern Comforts which consisted of four rhythm guitar players and a guy that looked like he could play bass. Gary Reagan then became an original member in The Gulf Coast Orchestra which now forever the backing band with member changes periodically.

Hayes opened the night with Adam Carroll’s “Girl with the Dirty Hair”. A song written by Carroll about his experience with Galveston Island.  A nice idea but Hayes did not do the homework and stumbled thru chord changes and left out a verse but recovered nicely with “Beaumont”. Feeling vulnerable without a full band, Hayes broke into a story of the surreal sort. HC was invited an a wife-swap meets song swap type TV show while in Amsterdam with guitar gods David Gilmour and Jeff Beck and is introduced by MC with “If I could have anybody from Texas on this show it would be Lightin’ Hopkins but tonight we have Hayes Carll” . He timidly broke into his best guitar work on intro to “Beaumont” but gained confidence after receiving respectful head bobbing from the two….

Everyone knew it would not be long before Wrecks Bell was on stage. After the usually banter between the two Wrecks showed the audience where the waterline was 9ft high marked now by a string of lights. Wrecks thanked Hayed for agreeing to play two fundraiser shows due to the demand. They then broke out into the amusing “I’ve Done Every Drug”. A take on the song Johnny Cash made famous only inserting drugs in lieu of cities… U get the point…

The crowd was in good spirits and was respectful of Hayes when he admitted his doubt in his voice being able to hold up for his anniversary tribute to Jenna, “Willing to Love Again”. It was a touching moment…The Arkansas Trilogy was prefaced by a story of Hayes’s days working Iowa cornfields being made sport of by the hick locals….Hayes was feelin’ the love and wanted to give the ladies something to hang they’re hat on with all the anniversary lovey-dovey crap. He dusted off the Ego Bros one and only classic hit “Ain’t Enough of Me to Go Around” played in the English version. The night was ended with a solo cover of a Greg Brown song.

What the difference a night can make. HMR received an email regarding the Sunday night show following the Superbowl. Hayes, looking tired, may have overdone his anniversary celebration coupled with a drunk and preoccupied crowd didn’t really work out like the night before. I understand it was not the best night Hayes has had the OQAC. I would have liked to hear the solo version with harmonica on “Drunken Poet’s Dream” though.

The Saxon Pub – Eddie Ferranti

When Rosie & I headed for Austin to cover the 4th gig in the self titled “Trek Across Texas” at the Saxon Pub, we were a bit apprehensive. We did not know which show was going to be presented after seeing the other 3 being quite diverse in nature. Our fears were soon calmed.

We arrived early for the sold out gig at 6:30pm and lo and behold Hayes is just chillin’ out front on a bench!  Got to “chew the fat” with him on various subjects including HMR coverage of the 4 shows. Hayes was most appreciative, even asking if we needed tix for the SOLD OUT show. How cool is that? HC is a laid back individual that defies the natural urge to be a rock star. Him & his sweet wife, Jenna, openly greeted us shaking hands and hugging. HMR has covered the first 2 Stingaree Fests and they remember that big time. By seeing the first three shows dating back to 12/26/08, I’ve found that Hayes prepares a “routine” if you will to fit that evening’s gig. Tonight’s was no different being Valentine’s Day.

Some classic gems from the evening:
-“Your not going to get many love songs from me, but I got some good ones about sex.”
-When a heckler pointed out that Valentine’s was not a holiday, HC rubbed his beard and proclaimed: “When I go to Wal Mart and they got a whole fuckeen section of shit for that occasion, it IS a holiday!”

The place was rolling !  Hayes chose to start the show proclaiming: “Here ladies and gents, all the way from Austin, Hayes Carll and his imaginary band!”  He did an entire set (about an hour) by his lonesome. To this reviewer I thought it was a tad too long, but being Valentines Day it was a forum for him to do his slower material from the heart. Tunes like “Beaumont”, “Easy Come Easy Go”, “Wild as a Turkey”, “Girl Downtown” and “Arkansas Blues” were very nicely done. He pulled out a classic “joke tune” he said he got from his father called “Idaho”, which had nothing to do with the state!

The night took off though after the break. The super strong combo of Scott Davis and very versatile Ricky Ray Jackson (slide and electric) unleashed an unabashed fury on the crowd after the more sedate opening set. That is what I find appealing about Mr.Carll’s band. They can slow it down and let Hayes interact as only he can, or they can just flame throw your ass on red hot numbers like “Little Rock”, “I Got a Gig” (never thought banjo could sound this strong!), “Good Friends” and “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” ! Hayes’ radio friendly toungue in cheek classic “She Left Me for Jesus” got a big roar.

In closing, I found this 4 gig tour very satisfying. Houston Music Review has hitched its’ wagon to a truly budding star in our book. Hayes announced again that Stingaree 3 is in the planning stages (last weekend of May) and asked from the heart to come support an area in need of help on the Hurricane Ike ravaged Gulf Coast. I know we’ll be there and I hope y’all are, too………….God Bless Hayes Carll.