1) Thursday night at the Post (2925 Race St) catch a set by pre-teen wunderkind Jack Barksdale, and, per the Facebook invite, “some of his grown-up friends.” Barksdale, you see, is 11, and this whole endeavor makes me want to watch either the 1986 Eddie Murphy hit The Golden Child or the King of the Hill episode where some Buddhist monks are convinced that Bobby is the reincarnated Dalai Lama, or even The Phantom Menace. Is Barksdale is destined to fulfill some ancient prophecy, maybe one that promises to bring “balance” to the blues? If that’s the case, he should probably change his name to “Jack Skywalker.” More likely, though, he’s really just an 11 year-old who is good at singing and playing guitar, and we should all be stoked that such a person exists, because sometimes those persons form bands like Led Zeppelin, or, if we’re really lucky, Bachman Turner Overdrive. The show starts at 8pm, it’s all-ages, and cover is $8. This Jack Barksdale song is blessedly and accurately named “I Haven’t Had the Blues Yet.” Kid is pretty darn good:
2) Also on Thursday: Magnolia Motor Lounge (3005 Morton) hosts Simon Flory with special guest Stefan Prigmore, who is releasing a new EP, as well as hosting two other specials, Meatloaf Sandwich and Pork Belly Tacos. The Facebook invite for this event has this amusingly structured phrase : “Simon Flory with special guest Stefan Prigmore’s EP release.” I hope Stefan Prigmore’s EP release debuts to widespread acclaim, or at least becomes a cult classic like John Carpenter’s Vampires or Nick Mason’s Fictitious Sports. I kid, because both Flory and Prigmore are talented songwriters and deserve your attention. But also, I thought of a scenario in which Simon Flory blows up to the level of mainstream recognition that Sesame Street debuts a dental health-promotion character who is a country and western singer with a big, bright, well-maintained smile named Simon Fluoride, who sings twangy, folky honky tonk tunes about brushing, flossing, and the importance of eating calcium-rich foods. I know, I know. I should really just jump right into that standup comedy career. What the fuck have I been doing with my life? The show is 21+ and starts at 9:30, but I don’t know what the cover is. Here’s an hour’s worth of conversation with Stefan Prigmore, during which he plays a few songs, too:
3) Feels good to get that Simon Fluoride joke off my chest – I thought it up on Saturday, and I told two of my friends, both of whom laughed appreciably, and now I can get on with my life. But here’s something to think about: what do you call a country music traditionalist who asks his girlfriend if she can “whistle baby, whistle baby?” You call this hypothetical character “Simon Flo Rida.” I’ll see myself out, but not before picking three more shows for this week that you may want to attend. The first of these is a heavy show at Tin Panther headlined by doom jazz improv duo Stone Machine Electric, with stoner rock trio FTW, San Antonio-based sludge lords Burn Ritual, and psychedelic rock band Sharpy in the opening slots. Doors are at 8, Sharpy starts the show at 9, it’s 21+, and cover is $5. I listened to Burn Ritual’s album Blood of the Raven earlier, and it hits all the right stoner music dopamine receptors, so here’s a video of them playing live:
4) The other show on Friday that will likely be a big draw is Ansley’s Farewell Hang. Mononymous songwriter Ansley is moving to Nashville to cannonball into the pool of Music City’s songwriting scene, and we here at the FW Weekly all wish her maximum good vibes as she makes this rad journey. To celebrate her big move, she’ll be headlining a bill at the MASS (1002 S Main) that also includes performances from Vodeo and Keanu Leaves. Doors are at 8, show starts at 9, 18+, cover is $8. This is a video of Ansley performing “Lighthouse” live at her album release show. Sound quality is really good!
5) The Team to Beat Show of the Week is probably the Team to Beat Show of the Year: Lola’s Saturday show is a benefit, the proceeds of which will go to the family of the late, great, dearly departed musician Jayson Wortham (Dove Hunter, Mandarin), who passed away earlier this year from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Called Valhalla Festival, this event’s lineup is a pulse-quickening mix of current acts (Son of Stan, Def Rain, the Cush, Royal Sons, Duell) and holy-shit-those-guys-are-playing-I-fuckin-love-those-guys-but-they-hardly-ever-play-I’m-for-sure-not-gonna-miss-this-show-type local legends: Erik Thompson (Lo-Fi Chorus), Will Kapinos (Jetscreamer), Mike Graff (Course of Empire), Tim Delaughter (Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy), Sub Oslo, and headliners Doosu. That’s right, folks. Doosu, featuring frontman Casey Hess and bassist Chad DeAtley with Taz Bentley (Burden Brothers, Rev. Horton Heat) on drums and Jeff Gruber on guitar. Yes fucking way. After seeing them last weekend at Three Links playing under the nom-de-guerre “Dachshund,” they’re as heavy and rad as you remember. The all-ages benefit show opens at 5pm, and cover is $20 (please don’t balk at that – the lineup is more than worth the price of admission, and the money goes to a family who needs it) with bands in both the Trailer Park and the Saloon. Here are the set times:
Trailer Park:
7:10 Will Kapinos
8:10 Mike Graff
9:00 Royal Sons
10:00 Def Rain
11:00 Duell
Saloon:
8:25 Erik Thompson
9:00 Tim Delaughter
9:45 Son of Stan
10:35 The Cush
11:30 Doosu
12:30 Sub Oslo
And while you can see Wortham playing with his bands in the parenthetical citations up above, here’s as video of him performing solo at the Grind, a coffee house in Deep Ellum, 10 years ago. Rest in Power, Jayson:
