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<\/a>I\u2019ve seen John Egan play, probably dozens of times, which isn\u2019t hard to do in H-town because he has more regular tip jar gigs than anybody else in town, Mondays at The Big Easy, Wednesday\u2019s at La Grange, Sunday brunch at The Presidio and all kinds of places in between. He\u2019s always been that background, low key, blues artist and historian. He does wonders with his resonator guitars and never ceases to be an immaculate musician. I was excited, though, to catch him in a house concert environment.<\/p>\nThere are probably three dozen house concert series in the Houston area. They provide a lucrative income to musicians, in that they can be guaranteed a $500- $1000 take for the show, which can help keep the rent paid for another month or so. They also give them a format where they can interact a little more with the audience, as everyone in attendance came for the music and are actively listening.<\/p>\n
John came in to the house after playing a set for St. Arnold\u2019s Brewery\u2019s anniversary and set up to play. He only got about half-way through his first number, \u201cPeaceful Mind\u201d, when this usually stoic performer took off his Batman mask and asked if Justify had won the Triple Crown in a most random quandary, before laying back into the subtle slide work of the song.<\/p>\n
Also in attendance at this evening\u2019s show was a certain Steve Boado, a performer in his own right, doing Blues Brothers and Elvis Presley tribute shows and obviously a close friend of Egan\u2019s. They set right in developing an entertaining back and forth which in combination with the warm and open attitude of the other attendees helped John loosen up. He played the country blues original, \u201cAnother Falling Summer\u201d, followed by \u201cThe Mississippi Ran Backwards\u201d interspersing the verses with the backstories of where the lyrics came from and blues history tidbits. He introduced \u201csomething new\u201d as a cross between ZZ Top and John Lee Hooker, throwing in a few guttural \u201cuhn-uhn-un\u2019s\u201d and a few bars of \u201cBaby Please Don\u2019t Go\u201d. He closed out the first set with stories of growing up writing songs and performing one of his earliest compositions, \u201cThe Man I\u2019ll Never Be\u201d.<\/p>\n
After the intermission of conversation and CD sales, the second set kicked off with Steve Boado performing some abbreviated Elvis impressions as penance for the cardinal listening room sin of failing to silence his cell phone. John\u2019s first number was a Delta Blues version of Prince\u2019s \u201cDarling Nikki\u201d, which probably would not be performed in a lot of forums due to some lyrics that Tipper Gore didn\u2019t approve of. He followed that with Willie Dixon\u2019s often covered \u201cSpoonful\u201d and Blind Lemon Jefferson\u2019s \u201cSee my Is Kept Clean\u201d.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>After that string of covers, John leaped into one of his own, \u201cDown in Houston\u201d stringing together many images that are familiar to those that grew up (and partied) in this area in the 1970\u2019s and 80\u2019s, with the whole room joining in on the three word refrain. John took the time to talk about the Son House gospel origin of the often covered, \u201cJohn the Revelator\u201d, before launching into his own foot tapping version.<\/p>\n