As had happened the year before, this year started off with another of those Millenium Babbles; this one for those who insisted that 2001 started the new Millenimineum-o-rama-lama. Pretty unenventful after the Presidential Election Snafu in Florida. And, once again, I really didn't care about the Minnaminum. I don't remember if I had a banana this time but at least we can all agree that the Memlemunama has finally started, for chrissakes!!

After 2000's Sleaze Tour I had to make a decision to stay close to home and not tour for a while. Too bad, but it was time to grab the debt dilemma by the horns and, poetically, time to do some maintenance (new power steering pump, rear brakes, fix the door, etc) on the Toyota (at this writing with 256,000 miles on the odometer) so it'd be ready for some outta town gigs in the spring. Heck, gotta keep a good car running!

Feb. 1 Thur— KVRX "Local Live" CD Release In-store • ABCD's
Back in October of '99 I played a live radio show on local college station KVRX and they included me on Volume Five - a double CD. They chose my rendition of "Dog, Duck, Dildos, Bondage, Toys" which I kinda like myself. For information: www.kvrx.org

DeLorean Mechanics went into the studio for three days (Feb. 19-21)
Yep, we did basic tracks which have since been overdubbed and mixed. Aside from the fact that the session occured just after the untimely death of the great Dale Earnhardt... y'see, Tom, the bassist is a big Nascar fan and, of course, Dale was one of his heros... I think you get the picture. Aside from this it was a great, fun project. We recorded 14 tracks at Sweat Box for a full blown album of da "Celtic Serf Muzic" Thang. This is fully electric; nothing like "Unhalfbaking..." Mostly instrumental, we took a bunch of the traditional reworkings (including some Liz Carroll and Roger Landes originals) and added some recognizable covers that, hell, we just felt like doing! I mean, there's no immutable law that says a band must do nothing but original material all the time.

I had been scheduled to play a Kiss Offs Hoot/CD Release @ Red Eyed Fly on Thur Mar. 1 but, as fate would have it, the preceeding weekend I stepped on a rusty nail in my backyard while cleaning up some lumber and building materials. OUCH! That kept me off my feet and unable to rehease my version of "Bottle Blond". Damn! Plus I absolutely had to be ready for.....

Mar. 2-4 Fri-Sun— North Texas Irish Festival! • State Fair Grounds, Fair Park • Dallas, TX
Wowzers! Shazam! Yeehaaawwww! Etc! I have played at NTIF in the past as part of a band and I've attended the event since '89 (only year I missed was '94). This time, however, I performed under my own name. YAY! Pardon me if I get a little giddy here but I've wanted to do this for a long time. For those who don't know, this is easily the biggest such festival in the Southwest and this was its 19th year.
I had two good shows in the "In The Tradition" tent. Not big audiences but definitely good audiences. Frankie Gavin (who at the time was an Austin resident) came up and sessioned on Saturday night. Yep, the tune sessions were good ones. The highlight was probably sessioning with Brian McNeil and John Taylor—ostensibly, two of the finest Scottish fiddlers in the world. When these guys get going they really get going! Great time!

Mar. 8 Thur— Flipnotics Coffeespace
Did another show with that Heather Bishop gal. I was still recovering from NTIF and allergies were kicking my ass. We had no chance to rehearse together so we just winged it and it was easily as much fun as the previous gig we did if not better. Cool!

Mar. 16-17 Fri, Sat— St. Paddy's Day Festival • Dog & Duck Pub
They made this celebration a two-day affair and I was the stage manager. DeLorean Mechanics played two real good sets on both friday and saturday. We really can't complain about this one!

April 28, Sat— Rudyard's • Houston, TX
I was on a bill with The Sadies, one of the bands on the Bloodshot label. They did a lotta cool twin guitar work that woulda made Merle and Chet proud, and I can't help but like any band that does a Jerry Reed song. As it turned out, the Houston International Music Festival was happening that weekend. It featured Ireland this year but I sure was surprised to see Mr. Albert Alphonso at my gig! Of course, it wasn't too difficult to get him to sit in on bodhran on a few jiggies and reelies.

May 25-27, Fri.-Sun. • GARAGE SHOCK • Emo's • Austin, TX
The Fender Tweed of all Garage/Punk/Surf/Trash Festivals! First of all I should say that I had possibly too good a time. It was the last performance of my band DeLorean Mechanics (though billed as SPOT) in the opening slot on Saturday night. It wasn't exactly the best show we've ever done..... heck, maybe the pressure of it being the last waltz got to us. At least we went out in a blaze of fuzz and Dave Crider himself had to turn my amp over and pull my guitar cord to make me stop and get the hell off the stage. Rumor has it that the Shock will be in Tokyo in 2002. I just might be crazy enough to get my ass over there for that!

June 2-3, Sat.-Sun. • Woodshock • Emo's • Austin, TX
Back in the "glory days" of Austin punk there were some great bands that were all different. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that none of those bands are still around. Hmmm..... I guess it makes some kinda poetic sense that I was the first to play on Saturday afternoon... in the bright 102 degree sunlight... under the tin roofed stage... with no fans or ventilation... so I got a cup of hot coffee... welcome to my weight loss program...

June 30, Sat.— Cactus Cafe • Austin, TX
A kinda last minute booking, this was an opening slot for Celtical rockers Tempest.

July 1, Sun.— MY BIRTHDAY BASH at LOVEJOY'S • Austin, TX
Ouch! 40 was big but 50 was better!
So what better place to throw down a party than at my favorite bar? Luckily, I played my set early and got it over with cuz there wuz sum serious drinkin' ta be dun. Ouch! And though I was told in lurid detail about it later by more than a few people... I still don't remember how I got home that night. O-O-O-OOUUCH!!!

Aug. 25, Sat.— Trophy's • Austin, TX
A birthday party for a friend of mine at a place where I used to hang out. The building that now houses the bar Trophy's used to be a great club called Big Mamou. I'd played and attended many shows there back in the late 80's and I remember the many nights I spent sitting at the corner of the bar nursing a beer (when a longneck was only $1.50... [sigh]) and wondering why "that woman" (y'know... the little speedfreak punker gal) was twisting my mind into an emotional knot. Damn! Wasn't I old and smart enough not to let these things break or otherwise affect what seems to be my heart? Huh?
Anyway, I hadn't been in that building in a long ass time. It was, after all, the stage where I gave birth and the pro-lifers took my baby from me and I haven't seen the little pink thing since that eerie, fateful but fun night, lo, those many years ago.

Sept. 8-9, Sat.-Sun.— CelticFest • Jackson, MS
Yep, back for the third year. Thanks, Don!

Oct. 13, Sat.— Celtic Heritage Festival • Bedford, TX
Hadn't played this festival before. So far, I think it's the first one where they don't sell beer. Darn! Still, it was a good time hanging out with some good friends. AND, with the band Idle Road and dancer Catherine Sherer, we launched the Austin Ceili Conspiracy. Ha!

Oct. 22, Mon.— Hole In The Wall • Austin, TX
This was one of the "Unplug This" nights (not exactly an open-mike... thank god!) where I filled in for the regular host, Larry Seaman. I've done a few of these nights before but this one was really a whole lotta fun with some great music. Notably, Chris Canipe—a friend of Nora, an employee—who knew some of the same folks and had played some of the same places I had played in Missouri. Cool!

Oct. 27, Sat.— House Party • Austin, TX
A couple of friends of mine had a housewarming party (like I've never been able to get around to in my own house. sheesh!) and damned if they didn't get a great deal in the over-priced real estate capitol of Texas! I played and then sat in on banjo with the Jane Bond band. Aside from the beer and food, this was a good time!

Nov. 3-4, Sat.-Sun.— Austin Celtic Festival • Austin, TX
Finally, an unqualified success! I was an organizer for this festival the first two years of its existence... when it got completely rained out two years in a row (the next two years it was in the parking lot of the Dog & Duck Pub). This year they had a good outdoor site with permanent stages, great weather and a healthy turnout. Wow! Aside from my sets I sat in with Michael Fracasso, one of my fave Austin songwriters, on a few tunes. Cool! Of course, Catherine and Chuck from Idle Road came down for the Ceili (remember the conspiracy?) and a bit more conspiring, hehehehe!

Nov. 8, Thur.— Flipnotics Coffeespace • Austin, TX
Fun show. Heck, it got me out of work and made me more money. Ha!

Dec. 11-13 — Songwriters Tour w/Jen Hamel & Kirk Ferris
I'm pleased to say that this mini-tour was a successful venture. Jen y'all know from the band Clandestine. Kirk is an unknown writer who doesn't have a record out yet, but he's a damned interesting kinda guy with some really good songs. I'd never done a songwriter's circle-type gig and had always felt I would be out of my element there but I'm happy to prove myself wrong; I really enjoyed it! It went like this:

12/11 Tue— Cactus Cafe • Austin, TX
This was a GREAT show! Nuff said!
12/12 Wed— Poor David's • Dallas, TX
A poor turnout at an underpromoted show, and then we got robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot afterward. A kinda shitty night all around... but nobody got hurt. Whew!
12/13 Thur— Mucky Duck • Houston, TX
Our luck bounced back big time on this day! Ironically, Jen received a phone call with the good news that she had won a $3000 grant from Jim Beam to promote her album. Wow! Pinch me, willya? Robbed one night, rewarded the day after! And later that night we had a good, lively crowd and a good performance. Can't ask for much more than that!
Hmmm.... is this a Karmic lesson here?

Dec. 20, Thur.— Hole In The Wall • Austin, TX
This was a solo gig. I played right after Da Nortons' early set and their drummer Rusty sat in with me on a few tunes. Good fun that ran a gamut from folks saying they thought "it was great" to saying "it really sucked." HA! I guess I must be doing something right!
After my set, Greaser, a band I described as "the trashing-of-some-kinda-billy", got on stage and the night was capped off with Blues Condition, a great bare-bones trio ala old Jimi Hendrix Experience and Jack Bruce-driven Cream. Shazam!

(OK, I should also send kudos to the Knaack Attack. This is a band featuring guitarist Will Knaack who happens to be one of the best 17 year old pickers you're likely to hear anywhere. He grew up under the tutelage of some classic Texas artists (like Doug Sahm and the Texas Tornados) and some of the best Austin sidemen (like John X. Reed, Speedy Sparks, Will Indian, Alvin Crow, Jesse Taylor) and it shows. On Tuesday nights when I worked a bar shift at the Hole I had a chance to sit in with the band for a set or two. It was great fun and maybe we'll be able to do it again on some other stage.)

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