Written by Eddie Ferranti
Apr 12, 2012 at 07:30 PM
ImageOne of the best things about covering musicians is looking forward to the ‘slam dunk’ gigs on my busy schedule. That happened to Rose & I recently at the cozy confines of the Mucky Duck when our bud, Will Kimbrough, came to H-Town.

WK is the kind of guy who responds to e-mails personally when asked for tips about his home in Nashville. Dude gave us a laundry list of music spots and eateries that made our visit complete. He chatted with us about his stop in Sweden where he got to appear on the “Today Show of Sweden” which he beamed about. We’ve had the pleasure of seeing this cat since his early days with ‘Todd Snider and the Nervous Wrecks’ at the epic Satellite Lounge. But first and foremost, Will Kimbrough is a musician 24/7. When he’s not touring with the likes of Emmy Lou Harris or doing studio work for the likes of Jimmy Buffet, he’s traveling the world sharing his own licks and lyrics with a small but avid group of fans.

Kimbrough, fresh off of a Northern European tour, hit Houston after a fourteen hour drive from Alabama and fought his way through rush hour traffic to get set up at the Mucky Duck in time for his Thursday night gig. Tonight, it was all acoustic. Kimbrough was perched on a bar stool with a box full of harmonicas at his side. Being the professional that he is, it was plain to see that he “was just tired”, and yet the show went on.

He soldiered through acoustic versions of old favorites like the tender “3 Angels”, “Wings” with killer harp, and “Girls of the Hill Country”, all along sharing the stories behind the songs. His demeanor was as if he was channeling some old nameless Mississippi blues man, like the guy who taught Robert Johnson how to play guitar. His fine fret work was punctuated by pauses and harmonica riffs before he threw himself back into the guitar work like a man possessed.

His tongue-in-cheek humor is always classic and I loved when he said that we as an audience had “passed the test”. “Showing up is rule #1 and applauding is Rule #2!”  Epic. Other standout gig moments were “I Don’t Like It”, “Grown Up Now”, touching “A Couple Hundred Miracles”, and a downright stunning “Philadelphia Mississippi”.

By the end of the show he was spent and staggered a bit as he hopped down off the stool to a roomful of applause. Even though this gypsy (as he so graphically described himself) was scheduled to drive to Austin in the morning for his next gig, he still took the time to do a short encore before taking his final bow.

I long for the day I get to catch Will with his bro Tommy Womack in their side project called ‘Daddy”. As good as this always hungry to be better dude that he is, when he plays electric he’s down right nasty. I know we’ll be at ANY show this hard workin’ lovable man performs! Have a nice day and a better tomorrow…